Love's Not A Competition But Running Is

Loves not a competition but I'm winning,

or at least I thought I was

but there's no way of knowing

- Paramore

"why are you here?"

Elle didn't even fight the hostility in her voice, he would hear it even if she tried.

"can I come in please, we need to talk." Elle deliberated quickly, taking in his wet clothes and the sound of the rain still pouring outside. His face was urgent and Elle had a fleeting but still disconcerting thought of injuries within the team. It was small and silly but still scary. She let him in.

"thank you." he said, the model of manners and without the customary awkwardness that comes form barging into ones house late at night. He contrasted oddly against her apartment, it was open, bright and he was towering, dark.

She shut the door and motioned for him to sit on the window seat, he hesitated and she could see him searching for something. But both knew he wouldn't find it, he'd removed the blood when she was in the hospital. She slowly lowered herself down next to him, mindful not to let he robe open. She spoke first.

"are you going to tell me what you're doing here?"

"we want you back at the BAU." he said it easily and that bothered her.

"I know, I got your message."

"so, what do you say?"

"No" she told him quickly, she was not going to do this.

"Why not?" he asked quietly, scooting the tiniest bit closer. That angered her, how the hell dare he! But she knew enough not to let her disgust show. It wouldn't help her. So she didn't answer his question, she countered with one of her own.

"I'm curious, why did they send you, the very person who drove me out, to bring me back in."

"drove you out?" he repeated and she didn't even have to look at him to see the eyebrow raising.

"oh, don't act like it was your idea to come here and bring me back, or like you want me back Hotch. Because you made it damn clear, even with all you fucking cryptics that that's not what you want."

She wished he would answer her, but he was just staring at her like she had grown a few extra heads. And she probably had, anger, hurt, betrayal.

"I'll just go then." he said and she just watched him get up, and leave. She told herself that she didn't care that he didn't even look back. She was always so bad at lying to herself. Time hadn't changed that.

"why the hell couldn't I have stayed hidden?"

Three days earlier…

"Elle, Griss wants you, and Ecklies in there too." Catherine Willows called to her brown haired colleague, pulling a face. Elle nodded and changed her course for her supervisors office. She smiled at the look on Catherine's face, even several moments after the older CSI was out of sight, Ecklie was pain in everyone's ass and even Cat hated him, though she was on better ground than the rest of the team and certainly grissom.

Catherine Willows was a pretty strawberry blond with a daughter and a calming sense to go with it, Elle didn't know her well, but she'd always enjoyed how soothing Cat could be when you'd just worked a 30 hour shift and were practically dead on your feet. Her special talent, in Elle's opinion lay with the ability to coax even the elusive grissom and the stubborn Sara to go home and take a break, it was a very handy talent too, with the way the team was. All dedication and no sleep.

It was still half laughing at this that Elle Greenaway, formally of the BAU made her way down the hall. Elle had been at the Las Vegas Crime Lab for almost a year now, and lord will it, but she was happy. No one at the BAU really knew it but she had gone to school for forensics before she joined sex crimes and she loved being a CSI, how she got to get the evidence first, and make theory's later. Loved the easy comradeitie she felt with her new colleagues, something that she'd never had in her former job, not like here.

"hey, Elle" she half turned when she heard her name called, now only a few feet from Griss's office. Her smile renewed when she saw Warrick Brown, Nick Stokes and Greg Sanders walking towards her.

Warrick Brown had to be the single tallest and most attractive black man Elle had ever known, and she'd worked with Derek Morgan for a good year and a half. Warrick, or Rick as they all called him, was the classic soul type guy, loved jazz and the blues, hated the way people in Las Vegas drove and loved his grandmother with a kind of dedication most only wished they showed to their parents. He was also involved with one Cat Willows, the two had been together now for 5 years but had known each other several handfuls before that.

Next to him was his best friend, Nick Stokes, affection ally dubbed Nicky. Nicky was shorter than Rick, but still taller than the other man on his left, Greg Sanders. Being the southern gentleman that he as, nicky had waved as soon as he saw her, taking off his hat in what elle suspected was a down home habit. He looked better than when she'd first met him, after as the others had explained one night, his kidnapping. Elle had come about 4 months afterwards. Nick was the kind of guy you could trust to feed your cat, the kind who left the room when you changed your shirt mumbling, 'I'll just give you some privacy now', and best of all he was cute too. He had brown hair, (when he had any) and pretty blue eyes that were always smiling. He was a sweetheart, and he was also dating in house, a detective named Sophia Curtis. She in all her blond and cute and tough glory made a rather cute pair….

"so, Elle did you hear about Hodges date with Mandy?" Greg asked her excitedly., Elle humored him.

"what? I heard they had a good time."

"they did, its so weird, because he's so weird, yeah know."

"I think the correct reply to that would be uh huh, yep and that's fascinating." nick laughed as Greg reached a hand out to smack him, missing him by only a little.

Greg Sanders was a former lab rat with a dynamic personality, well dynamic as in as energetic as hell. Even after his accident, which Elle missed by two weeks, he was a never ending light. Personally Elle had a feeling that he liked her because she took away his rep as the 'new guy' as he was the newest CSI to cross over before her. Elle looked at him smiling, still trying again to deck nick, and still not quite making it, it was Greg that had always made her feel the most welcomed, it was in his nature.

"well, I gotta go, Griss and Ecklie call."

"'Kay, but were meeting for drinks after shift, and it looks like we might actually leave on time." Warricks low rumbling voice cut in.

"yeah, " put in Greg excitedly," and we even got Griss to come!"

"'Kay, I'll see you in 20"she called over her shoulder, laughing and shaking her head in amusement. She soon stopped though as she approached Gilbert Grissom's office. The door was mostly open, but she knocked anyways. "Griss?"

"come in Elle," her gray haired supervisor said to her, "and shut the door please." she did as she was bid and forwent sitting to stand in front of him.

Gilbert Grissom was the oldest CSI currently working for the "Las Vegas Crime Lab, and probably the smartest too. He was literally a living enigma, and a complicated one at that. With ice blue eyes and a habit for quoting people, he was also one person that Elle highly respected.

"So, why am I here?" she asked, one thing about Griss was that though brilliant for all intents and purposes, he was also a little bit strange (as if any of them weren't) and he tended to get lost in thought.

"oh, Ecklies has brought in some special team to help with the Kumiko Ai case."

Elle nodded, the case had been opened about a day or two ago, it was involving a very beautiful 17 year old, half Japanese, half Jamaican girl who was currently under investigation in correlation to a double disappearance of a set of 3 year old twins. It looked like a string of disappearances as 9 other sets of about the same age had disappeared over the course of 2 years.

"Okay,." they stood in silence for a minute or two until. "when will they we arriving?"

"tomorrow, I want you to spread the word, as I know that you and everyone are going out after work today.

"wait, I thought you were going to?" Elle looked at him skeptically, "what changed?"

"I, uh have other plans now." he smiled almost imperceptibly, but Elle knew why.

"Sara kidnapping you again?" she smiled when he just nodded.

'good, he's been working too hard' she thought, and then smiled because really she couldn't think of two people better suited for each other.

Sara Sidle was a few years older than Elle and one hell of a great CSI. And yeah, she was a bundle of emotions too, ones that sometimes got the better of her, but Sara was also strong and skilled. She'd been kidnapped a few months ago, during which Elle had been a bit newer, but still good friends with her. Sara was a fighter, and Elle would be damned if that girl didn't fight her way back to grissom and everyone else. Elle supposed you had to be tough when your mom killed your dad, you grew up in foster care, you fell for your oblivious supervisor and then got kidnapped because he'd finally brought his head out the bug cages enough to admit that, yes he was in love with you.

"I'll let everyone know." Elle nodded when Griss started to g into dreamland again.

"Have a good time tonight Elle." he said as she began to walk out the door.

"you too, don't keep Sara up too late, she promised to go clubbing with all of us tomorrow night and I'm holding her to it." Elle called over her shoulder as she made her way to meet the guys and Cat. As night shifters, the only time they really went to bars was late into the mornings so instead they often went to the Diner, which thankfully served liquor, and liquor was always a good idea.

A/N if you reveiw i wil love you forever and ever, and ever, and ever, and a bit past that too