Elle pushed open the door leading into the BAU slowly. She let out a loud sigh as she hurried towards her desk and heard her colleagues loudly boasting on how wonderful their Thanksgiving weekends were; Elle had spent her's alone, and the thought made her quite sad. Letting out a second small sigh, she threw her long, gray coat made of a shiny yet warm fabric over her uncomfortable swivel chair. As she was about to lower herself into the seat, Aaron Hotchner's deep voice filled her ears.
"Elle, my office please." As usual, his tone was harsh yet seductive in a strange way. Attempting not to chuckle at the thought, she bit down on her tongue and slowly walked toward an aggravated looking Hotch.
"What's up?" Elle casually questioned as she entered the plain office.
"Sit down." He extended a long finger in the direction of an unpleasant looking seat positioned in front of his desk. Elle raised her brows and plopped down into the cushioned chair while he closed the door behind her. "I've been wondering what's up with you lately. And don't say 'nothing,' because it's my job to know when a person's behavior is off and you have been acting absently lately."
A few awkward moments passed in complete silence. Elle was never one to speak of her problems to another human being and she certainly wasn't going to start with Aaron Hotchner. She shrugged and avoided his dark eyes, which seemed to be analyzing her.
"Elle yo-" Aaron began, but Elle angrily cut him off.
"Hotch, don't profile me. I'm not some sort of twisted UNSUB. And don't treat me like i'm some sort of victim either." Her voice was vicious and she stood up from the seat and quickly retreated from the room.
A few long and tiring days later, Elle found herself on the usual jet which was flying her home from a small town in New Jersey. Sadly staring out the window, Morgan's bellowing snores filled her ears; the whole team seemed to be sound asleep except herself and a quiet Hotch who was intently examining a stack of files that lay upon a small table. Distracted in her own thoughts, Elle hadn't noticed Hotch drop the unorganized and half-bent files onto the the table and cautiously walk towards where she sat.
"Hey... Look, I really am sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to analyze your personal life or anything. I was just a bit worried. I want you to know that i'm - I mean the team is always here for you." Hotch nodded as Elle sat in silence for a few moments, than focused her eyes upon him. He then spun on his heels about to return to his original seat when Elle's tone told him otherwise.
"How do you do it? I'm just so scared I'm gonna turn into a person who has no family and look up and see that my life has passed me by while I was chasing monsters." Elle looked down as she finished her sentence, a sad expression written across her face while she awkwardly played with her hands. Aaron was taken aback; he hadn't expected Elle to openly ask such a question. Although in a way, he wasn't surprised at all; she always was fearless.
"It's hard. This job will eat you up if you let it. However, it's all about priorities, Elle. It's about setting them and keeping them." He noticed Elle gave a weak smile in return and continued to avoid his eyes. Hotch's eyes now narrowed and before he knew what he was doing, he cupped her chin and made her look up at him. "Are you sure that's all you needed to talk about?" Elle bit down on her lip when she looked into his lovely eyes and scoffed while rolling her own eyes dramatically to cover up her odd reaction.
"I'm tired. We should probably both try and get some rest before we arrive back at Quantico. Night." And with this, Elle rested her head onto the stiff, tiny pillow at the end of the seat and slammed her eyes shut, leaving a confused Hotch to finish his paperwork in silence.