Erin felt herself flagging as the hour grew later and later without them catching a break or finding out where John might be hiding out. Knowing exactly who was after them was doing little for actually finding him, and she found herself exhausted from the fact that she was still trying to figure out a way to slip outside and go hunting on her own. Finally, though, she knew that she was too tired to do anything, and David caught her yawning once too often.

"Alex, why don't you run Erin back to the hotel? I think that we're all about ready to call it a night, but since we're waiting on Kitten to call us with information, I think we'll be here for a little while longer. Do not leave her side."

She narrowed her eyes at him, listening to Jennifer titter in the background at the look she was giving him. "I'm not a child, David."

Leaning in close, he whispered in her ear. "Exactly. I don't spank children." She tried to swallow the gasp that tore from her lips, but it was too late, and she turned and walked slowly from the room, trying to keep her composure until she and Alex were in the parking lot.

"Wait for me!" the woman called out, and Erin paused on the steps, knowing that Alex would call David if she didn't stay in line. Still, she smiled when Alex took hold of her hand and they walked like that to the car. "So, since we'll be the only ones back at the hotel, do you want to spend some time in my room talking?"

"I'm really tired, Alex. How about you spend time in my room, and then you can leave when I fall asleep?" It was only half a lie, since Erin really did plan on getting a little sleep before waking up and sneaking out of her hotel room to track John down. Still, it seemed like Alex was going to buy it, and she gave her a small nod as she pulled out of the space and drove to the parking lot near their hotel. Erin knew enough not to press her luck by slipping away in that moment, and she waited for Alex to come around to her side, and then they linked arms as they made the short trek back to the hotel. It felt right to have her so close, and Erin knew that she would miss this, if anything did happen to her. "I'll just head to my room, and you can change and come back?"

"No, I think that I'll just hang out in your room while you change in the bathroom. You know how angry Dave would be with me if I let you out of my sight."

"I know, but I just wanted you to be comfortable."

"Erin, I'm in jeans, you're in a skirt. I think that I am most definitely the more comfortable of us." Erin nodded as they stepped into the elevator and her eyes closed heavily as she leaned against the back of the car, feeling every one of her years in her bones. "Here, rest against me, it will be more comfortable." She nodded as she allowed her body to fall gently against Alex's, suddenly grateful for all the progress they had made in reconciliation in the last few months.

"I love you," she breathed out, snaking her arm around the woman's waist as her head came to rest against her shoulder.

"And I love you. It took me so long to get back to this place of tenderness, but I am glad for it." She nodded a little, wondering if she would be able to wake up and sneak out at this point. Somehow, Alex managed to get her over to her room, and Erin fumbled with the key until she was opening the door, letting them in. "All right, go change, and I'll find something on the television for us to veg out to until the rest of the team is back."

She nodded as she rummaged through her bag, frowning a little to see that her clothes were not as neatly arranged as when she had left the room. "Lexie…?" she began, feeling a surge of adrenaline flood through her veins as she reached for her service weapon, turning on her heel to see that John was in her room, one arm around Alex's neck, close to choking her, the other hovering over her thigh and holding a syringe. "Don't do anything stupid, John. You can still come out of this alive."

"And you might be even dumber than I thought. Really, Erin? You think any of us are coming out of this alive? First, I'm going to inject our dear Doctor Blake with my little MDMA cocktail, and then I'm going to watch you try to get an ambulance here in time to save her before I inject you as well. It will be so sweet to watch you both get the comeuppance that you so rightly deserve."

She found her hand trembling a little as she took in the situation, trying to find a clear shot that would take him out before he hurt Alex. It would have to be a head shot, which was difficult in the best of situations. Here, it would be even more difficult, because she would need to shoot him before he had a chance to plunge the syringe into Alex's thigh. And given that it would be an intramuscular shot, that meant that his brutal little cocktail would be entering her bloodstream in fifteen minutes or less. She gave a little shudder at the knowledge that the previous victims had all ingested the cocktail and it had only taken three hours from ingestion until death. Who knew what would happen with a direct shot of it, other than death occurring that much quicker. "Why don't we talk about this? You don't really want to hurt Alex, do you? I'm the one who truly did the most damage, right?"

He gave her a suspicious look, as if he hadn't planned on those words coming from her lips, before giving her a tiny nod. "That's right, you were the person who destroyed my life."

"But you could have gone back into the private sector, like Alex did. She rebuilt her life from the ground up, after I did my level best to ensure that her reputation was ruined. Just like I ruined your reputation. Where did you go? I couldn't find you to make my amends."

"That's right, you and your damn amends. You think that by drying out and going through the Program, that everyone needs to fawn at your feet and offer you universal applause for your struggle. If David knew even half of the crap you pulled, he would leave you in a heartbeat."

A flicker of a smile slipped across her lips when she noticed his agitation meant that his hand was floating away from Alex's thigh, and she used that as her opening, whipping up her gun and getting off a clean shot. The splatter covered Alex's face in blood and bone and gore, but Erin couldn't take time to focus on that when she had to make certain that he was dead. "That, that was amazing," Alex managed to stammer out before she fainted, and Erin dropped to her knees as she pulled out her phone and hurriedly dialed David.

"You need to get here, now," she said, hating the tremble in her voice. "I just shot John, and I think I'm going to pass out." And before he could answer, her vision went dark as she collapsed the rest of the way to the floor.