Dakota is her name. She is new. She's verybeautiful. Her skin had a dark tint to it, not very dark but dark enough to lead me to believe she may not mark "Caucasian" on surveys. She has dark, silky hair and dark brown eyes with flecks of olive green and gold in them. She's very kind and generous, always telling people that she's there for them if they need to talk. And a few have asked to talk to her and she'll drop everything she's doing, go somewhere private, and talk to them. I believe she does that because she didn't have somebody to talk to in the past and doesn't want anyone to feel the way she did then. I predict she lost a parent young, probably her mother. She flirtatious too, not like Morgan. She milder, subtler. She'll wrap her arm around somebody's waist or wink at them and then walk away. I think she only flirts with people she believes may be self conscious about themselves or their bodies. One day Garcia told us about how a guy had called her "thick". Then next day Dakota was touching her arm and playing with her hair. I think I felt jealous. I don't think she actually had any feelings for the people she flirted with. I think she drinks her prom lens away. After a hard case, she usually calls in sick and then comes in extremely hungover the next day. One day she unexpectedly came in with a nose ring, after taking a sick day I might add. I find myself looking to her when anybody says anything, wanting to see what she thinks about before I form my own opinion. I think I have a crush on her. I don't remember how a crush should feel. To call it a crush sounds immature. I'm nearly fifty years old and I have a crush on a woman who is barely twenty five. It's ridiculous.

"How are you?" I ask Dakota as I pour my coffee. "I'm okay. And you?" She replies. That's weird. Usually when I ask her how she is, she replies with something like "great", "fantastic", or "amazing". Today she said "okay". "I'm fine," I turn to face her fully. "Something wrong?" She shakes her head and takes a drink of her coffee, "It's nothing." "Are you sure? You seem different," I tell her. She had dark purple bags under her eyes. "Just had a rough morning." "It seems like you had a rough night too," I say quietly. I decide to do what she would do, asking, "Do you want to talk about it?" "No. Thank you though, Alex. Do you want to talk?" She asks. "No... why would I need to talk?" I ask her, confused. "You took your wedding ring off," she replies, nodding to my hand. I chuckle, "I hate working with profilers." She smiles, "But seriously though, I'm here if you need anything. I know the people at the supermarket pretty well, they usually give me a discount on ice cream if I ask." "Thank you. I'll remember that." Then she walked off, complimenting Reid on the vest he was wearing. It made him blush. He didn't get many compliments, despite the fact that he was a good looking man. I watch her sit at her desk. He phone starts buzzing and she sighs and holds it to her ear. I can't make out what she's saying but I can tell it's not good.

Dakota's POV

I sigh and hold my head in my hands. I stand up swiftly and walk quickly to Hotch's office. "Hey, Hotch," I say sitting down in a chair in front of his desk. "Hello. Everything alright?" "I need the day off," I tell him. "Alright, but if you don't mind me asking, why?" He asks. "It's my father." He nods, "Alright. Be careful, please. Don't hesitate to call me if you need something." "Thank you." I walk out of his office and out of the building, saying nothing to anybody. I sit in car for a few minutes, just trying to process what I had been told a few minutes before. I wanted to tell him that I don't care. But I couldn't do that because it's a lie. I do care. I shouldn't though. I drive to my destination and get out. I sign in and go through the requirements, getting wander, giving my gun to them, generally just being checked for anything. A guard leads me to where I need to go, the infirmary. "So he's in there?" I ask. "Yeah," he says. "Okay." I knock gently on the door and walk in. "Hello," I say coldly. "Dakota," my father smiles. "What happened?" I ask. "I got jumped," he replies. "Are you okay?" "I'll live." "Do you need anything?" "No, I don't think so." "Okay," I say. "I'm leaving." "You just got here," he says as if he couldn't believe I was already leaving. "I left work to come here," I tell him angrily. "I had to go to my boss and tell him I needed to leave so I could come and see you, you son of a bitch! Don't tell me when I got here! I know when I fucking got here!" I walk out, slamming the door behind me. I gather my things and walk back out to my car. I hate going there. I hate seeing him because he just pisses me off. I drive back to Quantico and let Hotch know that I'm back. He seems concerned. I sit at my desk for a while, not doing anything. I rub my temples, my brain throbbing in pain. "Are you okay?" JJ asks. "I just have a headache," I tell her. "I have some ibuprofen, if you want it?" "No, thank you Jayje. I'm fine, we leave in a few hours." "Okay, if you change your mind, I'm not going anywhere." "Thank you," I tell her.

I pour myself more coffee, practically dumping the sugar in it. "Want some coffee with that sugar?" I hear somebody say behind me. I turn and smile, "What are you doing?" I ask. "Talking to you," Alex replies. And for the first time, I notice her. Like really notice her. I mean sure, I work with her but you can't really take somebody in until you look at all of them. She's very attractive. You can't really see under her pantsuit but she has a really nice body. "Why, though?" I ask. "I don't know," she says. "I find you very... interesting." "Well, Agent Blake, you're pretty interesting yourself." "Why, thank you, Agent Yankton." "So, what do you find interesting about me?" I ask. "Your name." I raise an eyebrow. "Dakota means friend or ally in the Yankton-Yanktonai and Santee dialects of the Lakota Sioux language. However, the name Yankton is from the Nakota Sioux, meaning the end village. Therefore, your name means "the friend at the end village", which I find very fitting to you." I smile at her. "How about you tell me more about names and their meanings tonight?" I ask. She looks confused. "At my place?" I add. "We can order pizza and I can get that ice cream I was talking about earlier." "Okay," she says. "What time?" "Is seven-ish good for you?" I ask. "Yes. That's great." "I'll see you then," I say, touching her shoulder lightly as I walk away. I decide that I decide that maybe I'd like to try dating her. I wonder how she would feel about that.

Seven rolls around and Alex shows up. "I brought wine. I wasn't sure what to bring or what you liked so..." she trails off. "It's fine, thank you," I say. There's a silence. "So I looked up your name," I tell her. "Oh really?" She says, intrigued. "Alex means defender of men, protector of mankind. And Blake is a nickname for someone with pale hair or skin, but could also mean son of lake," I say. "And you're an FBI agent, so I'd say 'defender of men' suits you too." "I suppose it does." The night begins to fade away, we talked and ate, and now we are watching a movie. Well, I'm watching a movie. Alex is asleep on my shoulder. Her chest rises and falls slowly. I carefully replace my shoulder with a pillow. I don't have the heart to wake her up even though I probably should. I place a blanket over her body and walk to my room, pulling down my jeans down and replacing them with sweatpants. I take my shirt off and unhook my bra, throwing them all in the hamper before pulling a t shirt on. I pull my hair up into a ponytail and sit down on my bed. I turn on some soft music, unsure what the songs are and pull out a bottle of vodka that is sitting next to my bed. I take swig of it and set it on my dresser. I flip through the pages of a magazine, not thoroughly reading any of it. I set it down and sigh, unsatisfied. I suddenly feel sick. I grab the nearest trash can and begin vomiting into it. When I'm done, I set it back down and lay back. I take a few more swigs of the vodka and open my dresser drawer and pull out a pill bottle labeled "Hydrocodone". I got them right after I got shot the first time and I never took them. I uncap it a pour a couple in my hand. I hold my hand to my mouth and hesitate. I put the pills back in the bottle and put the bottle back in the drawer. I look at the door and see a sleepy Alex standing there. She had watched me. She saw me almost take those pills. Shit. "What were those?" She asks me raspily. "Nothing, Alex, come in here and lay down," I tell her. "What were they?" She demands. "Painkillers, Alex." "Are you in pain?" "No." "Then why were you going to take them?" She asks. "I wasn't, Alex. Go back to sleep," I tell her. I guess she decides not to argue anymore. "With you?" "Does that make you uncomfortable? I can sleep on the couch," I say. "No, it's fine. I just wasn't sure." She walks in, unsure of herself and sits down on my bed. "It's okay, Alex, lie down." She does and falls asleep quickly.

The next morning when I wake up she's gone. There was a post it note of the fridge that read, "Good morning. I woke up early and left. Hope to see to you at work. -Alex" I smile. She left a note. I take a shower and get ready, wearing a dark blue chiffon v neck shirt and skinny jeans. I walk into the bullpen and immediately JJ says we have a case. Penelope tells us the details of the case but I'm not really paying attention. I'm looking at Alex. "Wheels up in thirty," Hotch says. I make a beeline to the coffee machine and then head for Alex's desk. "How are you?" She asks. "Great. And how is the defender of men today?" She chuckles slightly, "I'm good. Sorry for leaving. I had to get clothes and..." she trails off. "It's fine," I say. "So, um, how much of last night do you remember?" "Are you asking if I remember you almost taking pain medication?" She asks quietly. "Not anymore," I say. "Would you like to talk somewhere more privately about this?" She's asks me. "No," I tell her. "I just want you to know that I don't do that often and I have never actually taken them." "Alright, but you were extremely close to taking them last night. You were drinking. That kills people, Dakota," she tells me, her features laced with concern. I scoff. "Do you not believe me?" "No, I do, Alex, but I was not going to take them." "You had them in your hand, against your mouth. It sure looked like you were about swallow them and guzzle some vodka down with it," she remarks. "Are you trying to say something?" "I think you have a problem with alcohol," she says bluntly. "And I think you know you do. And I think you aren't willing to admit it for some unknown reason. But when you are ready to talk about it, I'm here. We need to get ready to leave."

We finally have him. We're speeding towards the unsub's house where we believe he is holding two nine year old girls. Everyone jumps out of the SUVs and run to the house, their guns already drawn and ready to shoot. Morgan bursts through the door and everyone is running in. Alex is nearer the front and I'm closer to the back I hear people yelling clear and I run into what looks like the kitchen. There is blood everywhere, pooled in the floor, splattered on the walls and the fridge and cabinets and just... everywhere. And lying in the middle of the floor are the bodies of the nine year old girls that had gone missing. They had blood on their faces and stab wounds all over their chest and stomach. "Hotch!" I yell, not sure what else to do. I hear everyone's footsteps coming into the room but I can't take my eyes off of them. Their eyes are still open. "Jesus Christ," I hear someone mutter. A crime scene unit is called and Morgan and I leave because Garcia found another place he might be hiding and Hotch didn't think everyone should go. We walk carefully into the small building. "I'll take the basement," I say quietly. He nods. I walk down the stairs slowly. And I see him. "Robert?" I say carefully. He looks at me, scared. He knows he has nowhere to run. He hold a gun in his hand. He points it at me. "Hey, hey, no need for that. I'm not gonna hurt you. Here, I'll put mine down," I say, lowering my gun slowly. His gun stays on me. "My name is Dakota. I'm with the FBI. I work for the Behavoir Analysis Unit. We study behavoir." I start moving closer to him. "Don't come any closer. I'll shoot. I swear to God, I'll kill you," he threatens. "Okay, okay. Don't shoot," I raise my hands. I test him. I take one step further. "Stop! Don't move!" "I'm not gonna hurt you, Robert." I take another step further. And another. And then there's a bang. And then screaming and another gunshot. And I'm suddenly on the ground, blood beginning to pool around my body. Morgan is yelling into his radio. He leans over me, his hands on my chest. "It's okay, Dakota. I'm here. Don't worry." I try to sit up. "Don't try moving. Help is on the way, okay? Just ham in there." I breath raspily. It hurts all over. It started in my chest and grew until my entire body felt like it was on fire. "Derek," I murmur. "What is it? What do you need?" He asks urgently. "It hurts. Why does it hurt?" And then I black out.

I wake up and everything is white. I look around carefully. It's to move my neck. It hurts to breathe. Then I realize I can't breath. There's something in my throat. I choke. I try screaming. I move my hands up to my mouth, searching for the thing in my throat. "Stop!" Someone yells. "Let me help! Let me help!" I don't recognize the voice. I feel the thing being removed from my throat. "Thank you," I say. I can barely see. Everything is blurry. My voice is raspy. "Here, drink." I feel something touch my lips, a straw. I drink from it. "Thank you. Who are you?" I ask. "I'm your nurse, Karen," she says. "What do you remember?" She asks. "Blood. And those dead kids." I don't think I could ever forget them. "And then the unsub, he had a gun. And then the noises and then Morgan. And it hurt." "Alright. Honey, you were shot in the chest. If the ambulance had gotten there any later than it had, you'd probably be dead right now." "Where's my team? Can I see them? I can't see." "Oh, right, you had contacts." Karen hands me a pair of glasses and things clear up. "Thanks," I say. "My team?" I ask again. "In the lobby." "Help me up. I want to go see them." "Woah, woah, woah, they can come see you. There is no way in hell you will be able to stand up, much less walk, right now." "I need to see them." "I will go get them." "All of them?" "The policy is that only two people can come in at a time," Karen tells me. "But you're FBI, so I think I can make an exception," she smiles. "Thank you," I say gratefully. She walks away and is gone for a minute before coming back, with Morgan, Rossi, Reid, JJ, Hotch, and Blake behind her. To my surprise, Erin Strauss is also behind them. "Hello, Agent," she is the first one to speak. "How are you?" "She just got shot, how the fuck do you think she is?" Derek asks angrily. "Morgan," Hotch warns him. "Sorry," he mumbles. "Did you catch him?" I ask. "He died," Reid says. We all talk for a while, just small talk, we couldn't joke much with Strauss around but I was okay with it. I would warm her up to me eventually. Alex didn't say much. Then we do a one on one thing. Reid is first. He tells me about the recovery statistics for gunshot wounds to the chest. Then Hotch. He tells me that I will get paid leave so I won't have to worry about anything. Strauss is after him. I actually got her to give me a hug. Rossi tells me that he'll make food everyday. And Morgan apologizes several times and I have to tell him that it wasn't his fault. JJ is the next one to come in. She breaks down and starts crying and mentions Emily, who was on the team before I was. She says she doesn't know how Morgan handles it because Emily almost died in his arms and then I almost did too. I try to comfort her and we FaceTime Garcia and she is very happy to see me, promising to nurse me back to health once we are in D.C. again. Alex comes in last. "Are you okay?" She asks quietly. "I will be," I promise her. "Okay." "You know, I didn't get to say anything earlier, but maybe when we get back, we could go somewhere together... alone. Like a restaraunt?" I ask her. "I don't know." She says. "I think you should really just focus on getting better right now." "Alright." "I guess I'll go." "Alright, talk to you later," I say as she walks out the door. I sigh and lean back into my pillow. I am exhausted.

"How are you feeling?" Karen asks. "Okay." "Your team went back today." "I know." "And you didn't" "The stupid doctor said I couldn't. 'You aren't stable enough'." I mock him. "He can go shove his fucking clipboard up his stuck up ass." "Someone's feeling vulgar today," she comments. "What did Alex say before they left?" "She didn't! She didn't even come in here to say goodbye! I don't know what her fucking problem is," I say angrily. "Why are women so complicated, Karen?" She chuckles, "I don't know, hon." "Is liking men any better?" I ask her. "I wouldn't know," she replies. "You're gay?" I ask. "Yup. I though you knew." "Guess I need to have my gaydar fixed while I'm here." She scoffs, "You are ridiculous. But you're my patient so if you need anything, ask, but now I have other patients." "Okay." She walks out of my room. I loot at the TV. The new is on. They talk about the weather and then my face comes up. I turn it up. "FBI Agent, Dakota Yankton, was shot in the chest earlier this week by murderer Robert Hall. During the altercation, Hall was shot and died. Earlier that day, Hall had stabbed two nine year old girls to death and Yankton pursued him. Yankton was rushed into surgery and now resides in the ICU of Baltimore Reigional Hospital. Thank you," the woman says and then it goes to the sportsman. I sigh. I'm still on the news and I didn't do anything except get shot. My phone rings. I answer it," Yankton." "Hello, beautiful." "Garcia," I smile. "How are you?" "I'd be better if you were here with me! But I guess being on the phone with you will have to do for now," she says sadly. "Don't worry, I'll be coming back soon. Did the team make it back?" "Yeah. Chocolate Thunder thinks it's his fault. I think you getting shot brought up some pretty bad memories of both his dad and Emily." "You think he'll be okay?" "Yes, as soon as he sees you're okay, he'll be back to his usual self." "And what about Alex?" "She's just scared, 'Kota." "Of what?" "A relationship. She's been divorced for nearly a year and I don't think she's been on a date since before she got married. She doesn't know how to be in a dating relationship." "Well neither do I." "I know. And why is that?... Because you have trust issues, Dakota. You don't want to get hurt and neither does she. Give her time. She'll come around," she promises me. "And you know this how?" I ask her. "Because I'm the All-Knowing Oracle, sweetheart. And she talks to me. I gotta go do techy stuff now," she says. "Bye." And she clicks off.

In a week, I'm up and walking around and the doctor tells me I'm stable enough to fly back to D.C. as long as there is a doctor on the plane and I have someone willing to stay with me. I tell him I do even though I don't. I can probably convince JJ and/or Garcia to stay with. They'll probably insist on it, actually. I sit on the plane, the doctor watching me carefully. We arrive safely in D.C. and I get in a cab and tell him Penelope's address. When we arrive I call her. "Guess where I am?" "Where?" I can almost hear her smile. "Open your door." A moment later, her door opens and she squeals, "Oh my god! You're here! You're back! Come in!" I walk into her apartment where I see an open bottle of wine sitting on the coffee table, along with movie cases and popcorn. "Hmm. Having a night in?" I ask her. "JJ was supposed to come but then got tied up and I really wanted an excuse to drink wine but now you're here so I don't need an excuse! I can't wait to call Derek tomorrow and tell him you're back!" We sit down and talk about what's been going on. "So you wanna stay at my place for a while?" I ask her. "Oh my god, yes, I do. Of course I do! It'll be like a really long sleepover." "I'm so glad that I'm not in the hospital anymore," I tell her. "I got tired of all the white stuff. White beds, white walls, white floors, white dudes." She laughs, "it getting late, we should go to bed. I have an extra bedroom." "Alright." I go into the bedroom she led me to and collapse on the bed, falling asleep almost immediately.

Author's Note

I'm not really sure where this story is going. I know that Alex and Dakota will eventually get together but that's about it. Let me know what you think of it and where you think I should go with it. Should I make the chapters longer or shorter than this one or leave it about the same? Most of the story will be Dakota's POV, a little bit of Alex's and I might do a couple chapters with Garcia's POV. What do you think? Thanks for reading.