The Stone Wall and His Weakness [A.H.]

II

━━━━━━⊱༻ ༺⊰━━━━━━

𝕆 𝕟 𝕖  𝕐 𝕖 𝕒 𝕣   𝕃 𝕒 𝕥 𝕖 𝕣

I stood rigidly in the elevator, watching the numbers rise on the small screen above the doors... 2...3...4... I tapped my fingers against my leg, my nerves rising as I pass the fourth floor. The elevator halts at five, the ding alerting me to my arrival. I pushed my shoulders back and held my head up, staring at the glass doors across the hall. It wasn't my first time visiting the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI, but it was my first time coming to work with them. I walked through the bullpen, glancing to my right at all the desks and people working on paperwork. I caught the eyes of a certain blonde girl, her bright orange glasses a stark contract to her gray and pink dress and white heels.

"Alex?!" She shouted giddily, rushing over to me as fast at her heels would let her.

"Hey, Penelope!" I smiled, her free arm enveloping me in a tight hug. I returned the gesture, my nerves calming at the familiar face.

"What are you doing here?! I thought your team had off today? I heard about your takedown of that dude who was planning to bomb the Mall of America!" She switched her files between arms, shifting her weight between legs.

"Yeah, yeah we did. You should have seen it, we barely made it in time, but we caught him and his team before they even made it into the mall. But no, I'm actually here to see Agent Hotchner." The side of my mouth ticked up at the mention of his name.

"Oh, he's in his office! Why do you need to see him? Ohhh, are you transferring to the BAU?! Or are you..." She tried to wink at me, alluding to something much less professional than a work relationship. I laughed.

"I'll see you later, Pen." I walked past the grouping of desk that the team sat at, nodding to them as a hello before I walked up the stairs. I knocked on the door, which was open, and leaned against the doorframe, "Hey."

He looked up from his mountain of paperwork and smiled softly, "Hello, Agent Grey. Close the door." I did as he said as he closed the blinds, blocking out the curious eyes of the team.

"Oh, now they're going to be even more curious as to why I'm here."

"Let them." He walked over to me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders, mine looping around his waist, "I missed you this morning."

I laid my head on his chest, his warmth calming me down and easing any nervousness I had left. "I know, I'm sorry. I had to get here early and get all my paperwork in order... Today's the day."

"Oh, yeah." He took a step back, his smile dropping slightly.

"Hotch... we talked about this. You signed off on it. You said you wouldn't fight me on this." My hands went to my hips, the nervousness coming back.