"Were you expecting any visitors?" David asked when the doorbell rang at half past nine. Erin shook her head, frowning a little as he got to his feet and left the living room. She felt on edge as she waited for him to return, knowing that while he didn't take the things that had been happening to them as seriously as she was, there was still that element of danger to him, in case that unsub decided to grow bolder. "We were just about to settle in for the night, Alex, but you're free to talk to her."
Erin's spine stiffened as she saw her husband return with Alex, unsurprised to see that the woman was wearing a wary look as she glanced over at Erin. "If you don't mind, I'd like to discuss this with Erin alone. I promise, I won't say anything to upset her, but this needs to be kept private."
David nodded before coming over to her side, giving her a quick kiss before heading back to the doorway. "I'll just put in some work on my next book, then. Though I'm certain that Erin will inform you that our bedtime, when we're home, is strictly eleven o'clock. Someone gets rather testy when she doesn't have her full eight hours of beauty sleep."
"I rather think that you are the one who needs his beauty sleep, darling. Now shoo, so that we can talk." She quirked up an eyebrow at him before waving him from the room, and then turned her focus to Alex. "What brings you here this evening?" she asked as calmly as she could, not knowing why the woman had shown up at her home.
"Has Anderson been able to figure anything out about your letter and package?"
"He thinks that the sender is a man, around our age, but there's no other forensic evidence that he could discover, since it was left on our porch, and the unsub wore gloves so that he wouldn't leave behind any fingerprints or DNA. So until he has more things to work with, we're at a dead end."
Alex nodded as she came over to the sofa and took a seat, leaving the middle open between them. "Catherine is an adorable child."
The quick subject change set her off kilter, and Erin blinked a few times before nodding. "That she is. I cannot get over the fact that my last child is a sweet little cuddlebug."
"Let me guess, Garcia gave her that nickname?"
Erin nodded. "She spends some time with us, which is nice, but she's not you." The soft truth hung in the air between them and Alex blinked a few times before she gave Erin a small nod. "Though having Jessica in my life has been the best thing that happened to us, especially after Haley was murdered."
"Before I tell you why I'm here, would you tell me more about that? You were so upset that afternoon you unloaded on me, that I'm not certain I understood the full story."
She drew in a deep breath as she licked her lips, nodding nervously. "Haley had gone into Witness Protection, because of the very credible threat against her life. Since no one knew about Elise at that time, besides the three of us, we assumed that everything would be all right. Until Haley decided to flout her protection rules and call or text Jessica, her mother, and me, more so than was allowed."
"She wouldn't have been allowed."
"Exactly. But I couldn't say no when she reached out to me, because she was the one who told me about Elise's congenital heart defect, passed through Aaron's side of the family, and assured me that everything would be all right after she had her surgery. We were a strong trio of women until Foyet managed to trick her into believing that Aaron was dead, and that she needed to come back to Quantico to take the next steps. And then, he called me, and gave me the same story, and for the first time in my life, I was paralysed with fear. Because I knew that Elise was in danger, if Foyet found out about us, and I reacted out of that fear by setting aside my instincts and listening to the fear voice."
"And he lured you and Haley back to Hotch's house?"
She nodded. "Yes. He made it sound like he was with the Marshals, and that he would be taking us away to a secure location until he was caught. I didn't know anything was wrong until entering the living room, and again, the terror was overwhelming. He kept me docile by showing me his knife and gun, and we had to listen as he taunted Aaron about what he was about to do. Thankfully, Aaron was quick on his feet, even in tragedy, and told Jack how to hide and how to protect Elise, and then, he stayed on the line as Foyet shot Haley twice in the neck and then shot me in the shoulder."
"I've never been shot."
"It's worse than you think it is. I hope that you never experience it." Erin took a deep breath, feeling close to tears. "That's the bare bones of what happened. Would you care to tell me why you came by this evening?"
Alex nodded as she opened her purse, pulling out three envelopes. "These are the letters that I received. Now that I know the reason for your paranoia about who might be sending us strange missives, I get why you want to be proactive about these letters."
Relief caused her shoulders to sag as she nodded. "I can take these to Agent Anderson in the morning, if you'd like. And while it won't be anyone other than us three working the case, we can start to pool our resources?"
"I think that I'd like that, Erin. And…I think that I'm ready to start taking baby steps towards reconciliation. If you still want that."
"I would like that very much, Alex." She gave her friend a shy smile before looking down at the envelopes in her hands. "I hope that there wasn't anything too threatening in your letters. Though I'm worried about the fact that you've received multiple letters."
"You can read them, if you'd like, but there's nothing particularly off putting about them. I just took them as the rantings of someone who feels like I don't deserve my current position with the BAU."
Erin frowned as she opened the first envelope, quickly scanning the contents before looking back up at Alex. "This person sounds a lot like the voice of the person who sent my letter. Which means that we have someone very angry with both of us. I wonder if any of the others have received anything?"
"I'll keep my ears open, Erin, though it will be awkward to ask too many questions. I don't want to rock the boat too much just yet."
She nodded a little as she slipped the letter back into the envelope before setting them all on the coffee table. "How are you doing?"
"It's been an adjustment, I won't lie. And I don't think that I made things easier on myself by being so harsh towards you when I first returned, as I find myself having to do some work to make things right between Garcia and myself. Knowing that she's close with your family makes it all make sense."
Erin nodded as Alex reached out and rested her hand on her knee. Freezing slightly, she dared to look up into Alex's face and saw that she was giving her the softest look Erin had seen on her face in quite some time. Not wanting to break that tender bubble, she brought her hand down to her thigh and waited to see what Alex's next move would be. The moment she touched their pinkies together, Erin sighed, hooking her pinky around Alex's, reminded of their time together at the Academy, and hoping that they could find that closeness once more.
