"We missed you at Christmas and New Year's this year, Aaron," Erin shyly said as she carried the packages into his office on their first day back in the office after their holiday break. "But I hope that you and Jack had a wonderful time at Sean's."
"It was good to reconnect with him, yes, though Jack managed to pick up a stomach bug from him, which is why we missed the party at Roy's. But you already gave Jack and me our presents. What are those?"
She took a deep breath as she set the two boxes down on his desk before taking a seat in a chair. "I have to do a little explaining before I get into those gifts. You will be happy to know that over the holiday, Alex and I started making our amends. She showed up on our doorstep on Christmas Eve, with a gift for me, and we ended up talking the night away before she spent Christmas proper with us. And it was while she was at our house that we received those presents on our stoop. Tabitha noticed them upon returning from Midnight Mass and brought them inside, so they've already been forensically compromised."
"I see."
She nodded as she took a deep breath. "I also opened Alex's, to see what she had received from our mystery giver, and David opened mine. We both agree that there is someone dangerous watching Alex and myself, and when you look inside those boxes, you'll see why we both feel that way. I, I haven't told Alex what's in there, because she doesn't need that sort of stress in her life."
Aaron nodded as he looked at the tags, his eyebrows quickly rising and falling. "This handwriting looks strikingly similar to the letters that you and Blake received."
"We both noticed that as well." She let out a long breath through her nose as she watched Aaron open Alex's box first, and it wasn't hard to see his reaction, since it was so large. "What the fuck?" he whispered out, sounding so incredulous at what he saw. "Erin?"
"I know. And that's why I'm glad that she never saw that. I never knew anyone had taken pictures of us during the Amerithrax case, and especially not of an intimate moment like that."
He looked up at her, his expression sliding into a glower. "I need to know what happened between the two of you during that time, because those pictures make it look like you were having an affair. I mean, you were both married during that case, yes?"
Erin nodded. "We were. Well, she still is married to James. And that was as far as we allowed things to get between us, kisses in the heat of the moment, when we were both so stressed out over everything that was happening that we needed a way to comfort each other. It's part of what made my betrayal that much harder for her to take. And before you ask, yes, David knows that we've shared a few kisses and touches. He found out about that when it was made known that Alex would be returning to the team. But circling back to those pictures, I don't know who would have taken them. Because we thought we were in a private area when we let our instincts take control rather than our brains. You see, I've always been stupidly reckless when emotionally off kilter. You weren't the first mistake I've made in my life."
He nodded before getting up and coming over to her side, taking a seat in the other chair before reaching out and taking hold of her hand. "I can understand why you wouldn't want to speak of that, since it was hard enough for us to talk about our indiscretions. But did you also notice what else was in that box?"
"I assume that you're referring to the voodoo doll effigy of me." He nodded. "Yes, I saw that as well. David wouldn't let me see what was in my box, and I think that I want to keep it that way, if you don't mind. There are some things that I want to keep from my brain. Now, I think that we should have Grant try to get as much forensic data from those as he possibly can, since he has been compiling all this information so far. I hate that I'm starting off a fresh year with this, but I know that we have to deal with it. I just wish I didn't have to deal with it. Which I understand is thoroughly selfish, but I want to focus on my children and my job, not on the fact that we have two stalkers attached to our team."
"Two?"
"Yes. This person and whoever is replicating our previous cases. Unless you feel that they're one and the same person?"
"It's hard to say, Erin, since we don't have all that much information on who that person might be. But I will definitely hand these over to Anderson as soon as I've finished briefing this case with the team. Unsubs never seem to give us a moment to breathe."
"Isn't that the truth?" she asked wryly as she got to her feet, watching him copy her movement. Before she could make her way to the door, he pulled her close to his chest, and she allowed him to embrace her for a moment. "You have to let me go. I'm too close to tears, and it wouldn't look right for me to be seen crying while leaving your office."
He nodded and stepped away from her, reaching out to rest his hand on her shoulder before reaching out with his other hand to gently swipe beneath her eyes with his thumb. "If you want to stop in and see your husband to tell him that the briefing is about to start, I'll round up the others."
"Thank you," she said as she took a few breaths before stepping away from him and heading out the door. Thankfully, no one seemed to take notice of her as she slipped down the hall to her husband's office, and she let out a sigh of relief when she saw him at his desk, looking over something on his computer.
"How did things do with Hotch?"
"Better than I thought, and he knows now why I've been taking this so seriously since the first letter was left on our doorstep. I just hope that we can discover who has an issue with Alex and me before we receive another little package on our doorsteps. I mean, you have to admit that the fact both packages were left for us on our doorstep, and not on hers, is more than a little creepy."
He nodded as he rose to his feet. "It is, and I'm sorry that I discounted your unease at the beginning. But now that we are presenting a united front, I'm certain that we'll quickly track down whoever this person is." Erin nodded as he approached her, relaxing her shoulders as he reached her side and leaned in to kiss her forehead. "I don't want you to worry about this. Everything is in Anderson's hands now, and he and Gina will start to gather the relevant data between what you've already received and these new packages. And everything will be all right."
"You can't promise me that, David, but I do thank you for the sentiment. Now, you need to get to the briefing before you're too late and the others start talking." Patting his chest, Erin breathed in the comforting scent of his familiar aftershave before opening the door and stepping out in to the hall, knowing in her heart of hearts that this was merely the beginning of something horrid, as the last time she had felt this way, Foyet had nearly destroyed them all. And she was not looking forward to the storm she could feel brewing in the air, knowing that nothing good would come of it.
