Erin let out a long breath as she stared at the information in front of her. The Replicator case had been dragging on for entirely too long without a move on his part, and that meant she was unable to take any action against him. They had even been ordered to stand down by the Director, since it was considered a waste of resources on their part, trying to hunt after a ghost. She was loathe to remind him that they had spent so much money hunting down the Reaper when it had been Aaron in danger. There was something about the fact that the Replicator didn't have a definitive target that seemed to imply to those above her paygrade that the danger wasn't exactly imminent.

Shaking her head a little, she pushed away from her desk and got to her feet, cracking her back before making her way out into the hallway, giving her assistant a small nod before leaving the office entirely. There weren't many people milling around at that time of day, and she was grateful for that, since it meant she would be able to head unnoticed to the place that she wanted to be. Still, she didn't linger in the hallway, instead walking at a fast clip to Derek's office, knowing that it was entirely likely he was in there, and perhaps covertly looking into the Replicator, if she knew him half as well as she thought she did.

Derek was indeed bent over his computer, a focused look on his face as he scrolled through some information that looked very familiar. Clearing her throat a little, Erin took a seat on his desk, waiting for him to acknowledge her. It didn't take too long for him to glance her way, giving her a small wink before going back to his work. "Derek!"

"What, Pretty Lady?"

"Is your off the books work that much more important than your partner?"

He shrugged a little before closing the browser and turning to look at her. "Someone has to do something about this jack off, before he hurts someone on the team. We know that he's hunting us, we all saw those pictures in his accomplice's place, and there were even images of you there."

She shuddered as she tried not to think about that particular truth, since she knew that if she dwelt on it, she would become overwhelmed in cravings. Derek seemed to see the indecision on her face, as he reached out and took hold of her hand, stroking it softly as he leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips. "You always seem to know the perfect way to get me out of my head," she murmured as she tightened her hold on his hand.

"I would hope so, seeing as how you're my partner. I love you, and keeping you safe is an important part of the social contract that I made when I entered into this relationship with you." Letting go of her hand, Derek reached up and stroked her cheek before kissing her once more. "You're more unsettled by this case than you're letting on, aren't you?"

"Am I that obvious?"

He shrugged a little as he got to his feet and gently tugged her off the desk before wrapping his arms around her in a warm embrace. It was so easy to rest her cheek against his chest as she tried to breathe in tandem with him. The silence between them stretched out into something so unbearably comfortable that Erin found she didn't want to let go of him or leave the safety of his presence. "I think that since I've been able to really see you, outside of work, I am a little more knowledgeable about what makes you tick."

It felt like Derek was about to kiss her once more when the door to his office opened, and Erin stiffened, wanting to pull away from him, since they weren't officially a couple in the workplace. There were too many people who wished her ill, that wanted to see her fail and fall, despite all she had done to claw her way back to a semblance of normalcy. So instead of turning to see who had entered Derek's office, Erin closed her eyes and pressed her cheek tighter to his chest, almost believing that she could feel the thumping of his heart against her skin. "I didn't realise that you were occupied, Morgan. I can come back later…"

Alex's voice caused her to stiffen even more, her spine starting to ache from how tense she was, and Derek moved his hand to the middle of her back in a clear display of possessiveness. "No, you can talk to both of us. Take a seat."

Erin was not happy about that response, and she could tell by the way that Alex's breathing shifted that she wasn't pleased, either. "Derek," she said lowly, "what do you think that you're doing?"

"I am facilitating a sit down meeting between my partner and her former friend. I think that this animosity has gone on for long enough, and since you're both more stubborn than a goat, it appears that I'll have to be the one who takes things in hand. I would have thought that Hotch would have done this himself, but that does not appear to be the case."

She frowned deeply as she stepped away from Derek, surprised to see that Alex had stayed, despite the lingering feelings of resentment towards her. As she let out a long breath, Erin made her way around the desk to take the other open seat. Derek gave her a small nod of encouragement before he went over to the door and locked it. "I will unlock this door after I feel like the two of you have made a little bit of headway. And since I'm here, I have a good feeling that neither of you will try to kill the other."

"I never wanted to kill her, Derek. I just wanted to let her know that there are some amends that can never be accepted. But your partner seems to think that she can keep holding out olive branches until one is taken."

"You were my best friend," Erin whispered, looking down into her lap as she struggled to keep from crying. "If I hadn't tried, I don't think I could have remained sober. And my sobriety means so much to me. I've failed so many times in my life. I've messed up so many dreams. I knew that it was too much for you to accept, but you were mine, once."

Erin dared not look up after speaking her quiet words of explanation. She didn't think that her heart could take yet one more rejection from Alex, not when this one had been the most desperate and yearning, and perhaps the most honest. As tears started to roll down her cheeks, she drew herself into as small of a space that she could, knowing that she had to try and stay calm, to not draw more attention to herself. Alex wasn't the one looking for a cure from this awful well of loneliness that was Erin's to draw from when she thought about their friendship. Derek closed his hand around her shoulder, and she shrugged him off, unable to bear a tender touch in that moment.

"Derek, would you please leave us for a few minutes? I'll text you when we're done here."

Erin frowned as she looked up into her partner's face, wishing that he would say no, as she didn't want to lose the security of his presence. Derek gave her a small smile before nodding, and she let out a bereft sigh before smiling sadly when he bent down and pressed his lips against her forehead. "I will do so only on the promise that you won't harangue Erin. She's more worked up over the Replicator case than she's letting on, and I don't need her to feel like she's so out of control that the only recourse is to give in to the cravings."

Derek never took his eyes off her as he spoke, and she felt her smile wobble a little as his face grew blurry from her tears. After a long silence, Alex finally spoke. "I suppose that I can agree to those terms. We'll see you in a little while."

There was a dismissiveness in Alex's tone that rankled her a little, though that feeling was mitigated a little when Derek kissed her forehead once more, very much claiming her in front of Alex. It was strange to feel bereft of his warmth and she wished that she could hold on to that for longer, since it seemed like the room turned so cold with his absence. Taking a deep breath, Erin finally looked up at Alex, seeing that she was studying her intently, and she gave her friend a trembling smile as she waited to see if Alex would speak, or if she would have to take the bull by the horns. "Why did you send Derek away?" she finally asked, hoping that that would be a safe place to start their dialogue.

"Because there are things that we might have to say that you probably haven't spoken about with him. Like how we slept together." She blushed guiltily, but refused to look away from Alex now that they were engaging in some sort of conversation. She didn't want to lose out on this moment, not when it was what she had been asking for ever since Alex's return. "We burned too bright, Erin."

"I know, and I know that I destroyed you. I was awful, you have every right to hate me. But I would do anything to earn your neutrality. I'm not even asking for friendship once more, I just want to have a little spot of peace right now. And this relationship with Derek is still so new that I feel like I'm going to misstep and ruin the one last thing in my life that will say I at least accomplished something. You know that I'm good at politics, and that's what's allowed me to keep your team together over the years, when everyone wanted to split you up and ship you off to different departments. I fought for you to be part of my team, when Emily left. Because I wanted you to have that second chance that should never have been needed in the first place. And if I'm honest with myself, even though I love Derek, there is still an ember of desire that burns lowly in my chest when I think of you."

"There are still embers burning in my chest, too. Which is why I've kept you at arm's length, since that would mean I could deny the fact that we never had appropriate closure. I don't think that we can have neutrality, since our personalities never worked like that. Perhaps, with time, we can be friends once more. But Derek does have a point, we are more stubborn than goats, and it's time that we set this acrimony behind us as we work to find the Replicator. Somehow, I feel like he is far closer to us than we realise."

"I have that same feeling, Alex. It's like there's something tugging at the back of my memory and yet I can't pull that particular memory to the surface. Will you help me to figure out what I am obviously too close to see?"

Her words seemed to shimmer in the air between them as Alex fell quiet, looking at her closely. As the silence extended to eternity, Erin felt her lower lip start to wobble and she pursed her mouth together in a tight line in an effort to keep control over her emotions. Alex was right about one thing, she had always burned too brightly, and she was going to end up destroying everything once more. "Destruction."

The word was so quiet that Erin almost missed Alex saying it, and she rapidly blinked away the tears that had been threatening to fall. "I'm sorry?" she asked as she pulled open the bottom drawer of Derek's desk, pulling out two bottles of water. "Water?"

Alex nodded as she took the bottle from Erin's outstretched hand, her fingers brushing against Erin's skin in a long-missed caress. "You mentioned earlier that you didn't want to destroy the relationship you are creating with Morgan, like you had done to me. Only, I wasn't the only person that you destroyed back then, was I?"

She slowly shook her head as she cracked open the water bottle, taking a small sip as she allowed herself to think about the other member of their triad, the one who had always been so quiet and watchful, as if he was gathering away all the information that he would need to use at a later time. "You don't think…"

"He was furious with you, Erin, more so than he might have let on to you before we were ushered out of the Director's office and you stayed behind to reap your reward."

"Some reward. It came at the cost of you," she muttered, looking away from Alex in order to miss the look that she was surely throwing her way. "How angry was he?" she asked a little louder, slowly returning her eyes to Alex's face.

"Enough to where he tried to recruit me in a lawsuit against you and the FBI. I turned him down, since I had been offered the chance to retain some semblance of my former pride. Even if it was in a demoted position."

"Oh," she murmured. "Well, if he's figured out how to get close to all of us, that means that there really isn't a good way to track him without him cottoning on to what we're doing. I have no pride left and can fully admit that he is much more intelligent than I am when it comes to matters like that. My brain doesn't work that way, not like him or Penelope. I wish it did, but…"

"But you were always focused on how people worked and how to use that for your advantage." Erin blushed as she nodded. "When you used that power for good, things were very good. Especially between us."

"No one liked me as a child. I was too serious, too quiet. So I learned how to make them like me without that being obvious. And then you barreled into my life in the Academy, and I wanted so terribly to be in your orbit."

"I figured that out quick enough, but I was intrigued by you as well, so I allowed myself to fall for you." Alex finally gave her a tiny smile as she rose to her feet and came over to Erin's side and sank down onto the desk in front of her. "It would be so easy to lay aside this anger and allow you to worm your way into my life again, but I'm happy with James."

"And I'm happy with Derek. I love him, Alex, and I know that you could take that information and thoroughly destroy me, which would be well within your rights. I'm trusting that you won't, because I trust that your heart is still made of pure gold, to my coal."

"Oh, Erin," Alex breathed out as she shook her head. "Your heart might just become a diamond when all this is through." Those were the words that broke the dam on Erin's emotions, and she nodded as she began to cry, never taking her eyes off Alex. She wasn't expecting a hug, she knew that that might come later, after they had patched things up more, but she was so grateful to feel her friend's hand close around her shoulder in a comforting touch as they began to softly make inroads on their former relationship.