The next morning, Alex dragged herself out of bed at five in the morning, cursing Hotch for making them get up so early the morning after solving a huge case. She dressed as quickly as her sluggish mind would allow her without coffee and then headed to the jet so she could get a seat and go back to sleep.

"You know, if I didn't know better, I would think you were doing this on purpose." she muttered when she got on and found Erin already there once again. Erin glanced up at her with a questioning look. "This is the third, no fourth, time that I have gone somewhere I didn't expect to see you only for you to be there. First it was the briefing room, then it was the jet on the way here, then it was the hotel bar, now it's here."

"I can assure you that I am not following you if that's what you're implying." the blonde replied, somewhat defensively. Alex rolled her eyes.

"I was kidding Erin." she muttered, dropping into a seat and leaning her head against the back of it. Her eyes closed, and a soft sigh escaped her. She could hear the others starting to climb onto the plane, but she couldn't bring herself to say something or to even open her eyes. She was completely drained, and her nerves about meeting up with Erin later were not helping at all. So as the engine began to rumble from being crunk and the jet began to taxi down the runway, she let the white noise lull her to sleep.

Alex pulled into the familiar driveway with a feeling of determination that she hadn't felt in quite a long time. But there was also some apprehension there. The last time she'd been to this house, there had been tears, heartache, and pain, not to mention plenty of yelling and cursing. That had been the last time she'd seen Erin before returning to the BAU. She wasn't sure what would happen this time. The circumstances were completely different, and yet the brunette didn't know how this was going to go.

She got out of the car anyway. She walked purposefully up the drive and climbed the stairs before knocking sharply three times. Holding her breath, she waited. The sound of high heels was faint behind the door but grew louder as the house's occupant approached. And when the door finally swung open, she started to get nervous again. To her credit, Erin didn't comment on it.

"Alex?" she questioned.

"Can I come in? Just for a minute?" the linguist requested, pleased when the blonde opened the door further and stepped aside without hesitation.

"Are you alright?" Erin asked, a little alarmed at seeing the normally calm and cool brunette so flustered.

"Yes...no...I don't know." Alex answered, the slightest bit of frustration coloring her tone. "I knew what I was going to say when I came, but now that I'm here, it's all gone." Erin frowned, her brow furrowing in confusion.

"I don't understand." she shook her head. "I thought you wanted to keep our distances?" The brunette stayed silent for a few moments, trying to recall what she'd been planning to say. However, after a few moments with no results, she gave up.

"Screw it." she muttered, stepping forward and kissing the blonde with a passion both of them had never believed they would have again. It didn't take long for Erin to respond, kissing her back with just as much passion. They started out with Alex simply pinning her to the wall, but eventually they stumbled their way upstairs. They fell onto the bed, and Alex began trailing kisses down the blonde's neck as she straddled her, paying special attention to her pulse point. She heard Erin's breath catch, as it always had whenever Alex had kissed amy of her pulse points. The blonde whimpered quietly, a sound no one would have ever associated with the formidable Erin Strauss, when Alex sat up slightly. The brunette in question let out a breathy laugh at the sound. She opened her mouth to say something but was prevented from doing so by Erin yanking her down for another kiss.

However, it was around that moment that Alex began to feel different. Her mind began to get fuzzy, and she couldn't move or speak. She tried to speak, to beg Erin to help her, to do something. But it was impossible. She felt a tug at her navel, and before she knew it, she couldn't see Erin anymore. She couldn't feel her, and the room was beginning to disappear.

"Erin!" Alex sat up so fast she nearly gave herself whiplash. She looked around the jet, catching glimpses of her sleeping co-workers in the faint orange lights from above them. Her heart was racing, and she was sure her face was flushed as her eyes finally landed on the blonde who had been occupying her thoughts for weeks. For a moment, she was terrified that they had all heard her yelling out for their boss, but every one of them remained dead to the world. All except for Erin. The blonde was slowly stirring in her spot tucked into Dave's side, but Alex was mostly confident that it was from the volume at which she had shouted rather than what.

"Alex?" Erin questioned, her eyes still half closed and her voice still holding remnants of sleep.

"Go back to sleep Erin." the linguist sighed tiredly, bringing a hand up to rub her forehead in frustration. Of course, however, the blonde was stubborn as usual and sat up the rest of the way anyway, gently pushing Dave's arm off of her shoulders.

"What's wrong? I heard you yelling." she said, loud enough that the brunette could hear but quiet enough that she wouldn't wake the others. Alex felt it was miracle that her own yelling hadn't woken them.

"Nothing's wrong. It was just a dream." she replied. "Go back to sleep." Erin shook her head, and though she wanted to be annoyed, Alex was secretly elated that the blonde still cared enough to know she was lying and that she wanted to be sure the brunette was alright.

"I know things are still difficult between us right now, but you know I know you better than that. What happened?" Erin pressed. Alex debated with herself. She could either continue to lie and keep her distance, or she could finally take a small step towards allowing the blonde to make amends and tell her about the dream...twisting it, that is. She took a deep breath and let herself fall without thinking about it.

"I had a dream. And in the dream, I was trying to talk to someone. But I didn't know what to say. So I didn't say anything. I just let myself feel. And it was going...extremely well. But I started to feel weird, and the room started to change, and then I woke up. Honestly, I think I'm just a little disoriented because it felt so real." she explained vaguely, letting her eyes fall to the floor. She heard Erin moving but was too afraid to look up. The seat next to her dipped slightly, and she felt Erin's hand cover her own. Only then did she gather the courage to look into her former...whatever's eyes. The blue-green eyes that had haunted her dreams for over a decade.

"Do you want to talk about it?" the blonde asked softly. Alex shook her head.

"No. But...thank you." she replied, offering a tentative olive branch.

"Of course." Erin nodded. "I know there's still quite a lot to work through between us, but I hope you know you can still talk to me."

"I know that." Alex said, and surprisingly, she meant it. Despite everything that had happened between them, she had always known that she could talk to Erin about her problems without being judged. It was unexpectedly easy to simply sit there and talk to the blonde the rest of the way back to Quantico, and by the time the others woke up, the two of them were talking and laughing like they used to.

It was almost enough to make Alex forget just how imperative it was that she stay away from Erin.