Discs.: I don't own CM nor its characters!

A/N: Here is finally the update for this fic. I changed the ending like three or four times... It was partly beta read by my friend Shannon who I wanna thank for all her help!

He loves you not

3. Confusion

The next day they had another tough case. Two cops had been killed in DC.

Hotch, Morgan and Elle had spent the last two hours at the place of the cop who seemed to have been involved with his female partner.

"Well, think about it, they have a dangerous job and need to know that they can trust each other. Their life depends on the knowledge that the other one has their back."

"Morgan is right, I mean, in a line of work like this it is a natural thing that the bond between colleagues is closer and stronger than if you have a less dangerous job. There have been weirder things..."

"Yeah maybe, but that doesn't mean that it is alright - it makes you vulnerable on the job."

"So what is your point? That people who work for law-enforcement shouldn't socialize with colleagues?"

Elle didn't even look at Hotch.

"No. I'm only saying that it can cause trouble at work when you overstep specific lines. And with that this discussion is over. We have more important stuff to do."

Morgan felt a little bit uncomfortable because of the tension between two of his colleagues, so he decided to keep quiet.

Later that day :

Hotch and Elle were on their way to talk with a potential witness. After a while Hotch broke the silence :

"What's wrong, Elle?"

"You know exactly what is wrong!"

Hotch looked at Elle, but she just kept staring out of the window. They stopped at a red light and Hotch ordered :

"Look at me, Elle...Why are you so mad?"

Elle turned her head toward him.

"Because you are a damn hypocrite!"

"Excuse me?"

Hotch looked once again at her, before he had to concentrate on the street again when the stoplight turned green. She raised her eyebrows.

"Come on, your whole spiel about how wrong it is to get involved with a colleague..."

"I know what your point is. But I meant what I said - last night as well as today."

Elle just shook her head. The rest of the ride passed in silence. Hotch kept wondering about what he should do to solve his problem.

Back at the office :

Elle was still mad at Hotch - everybody was aware of it, but no-one knew the real reason.

After they had finished the briefing Hotch approached Elle.

"You got a moment?"

She rolled her eyes but followed him to his office anyway.

"What do you want?"

Hotch closed the door.

"We need to find a solution for this - it affects our work..."

He looked at her with a sad expression on his face.

"There's nothing we need to solve, is there?"

She glared stubbornly at him. Before he was able to answer Elle turned and went to the bullpen.

Hotch closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh. He kept wondering how long it was going to take until he and Elle would be able to talk with each other the way they used to before last night.

Later that day :

After they had closed the case Hotch went straight to his office, focusing his complete attention on his paperwork. He needed to keep himself from thinking too deeply about his feelings for Elle.

After a short moment he was interrupted in his train of thought by a knock against his door.

"Yeah?"

The door opened and Gideon entered the room. He closed the door and approached Hotch.

"What's up Gideon?"

Hotch looked up from his report.

"I'm just wondering about what is bothering you lately."

Hotch sighed, then he looked at his friend and stated :

"It's nothing - except all of the work..."

"Oh, come on...May I remind you of the fact that I'm a trained profiler? It's obvious that something is wrong with you - and it involves Elle...So what is it?!"

Gideon gave Hotch a questioning glance.

"First of all - stop profiling me! And second - there's nothing wrong with me!"

"Do you really think I believe this crap? The whole team is aware of the tension between you and Elle!"

"My private-life is none of your business..." Hotch got up from his seat.

"It IS my business - if your private problems affect the work...So what is the problem between you and Elle?"

"Listen Gideon, why don't you ask her that?"

"I'm asking you because I think that you evoked the conflict...If I had to guess, I'd say, judging by your odd behavior since she works with the BAU - especially since that incident in Texas - that it is about you having feelings for her, am I right?"

Hotch just stared at Gideon.

"I nailed it, huh? You love her..."

"Are you kidding?"

Hotch glared at his friend.

"I'm not stupid - nor am I blind. And she feels the same - which makes it that much more difficult. So what are you going to do about it? Because you need to do something - the situation can't go on like this."

Hotch realized that it was pointless to keep trying to make Gideon stop so he surrendered and said :

"Hell, I don't know what to do...I only know that she invades my mind no matter what I do - especially after what happened in Texas...You know, that incident made me aware of quite a few things. The fact that I could have lost her that day - and especially the feelings and thoughts this realization evoked..."

Hotch trailed off shaking his head and sighed. He was feeling unbelievably bad because of his feelings for Elle - but there wasn't a single thing he could do about it.

"What's with Haley?"

Hotch looked up - the inner battle he was fighting clearly written on his face.

"I love her - but...It's difficult...My working-hours, the job itself..."

"Does she know?"

"No. Of course not...And by the way there's nothing she needs to know. Why should I make things even more complicated? I can handle this..."

A stubborn expression appeared on his face - he was capable of handling this situation by himself, he was going to find a solution - right? He tried to reassure himself of that - he just had to be able to handle all of it!

Tbc

A/N: Hope you liked it! Please take the time to REVIEW!