Alex frowned and groaned as she pulled the quilt up higher around her shoulders, trying to ignore the person shaking her shoulder. "Just five more minutes, James. Please."

"I'm not James, there's been a break in the case, and Hotch wants us down in the breakfast nook in ten minutes. I let you sleep for as long as I could."

JJ's voice immediately caught her attention, and she sat up with a start. "Dammit, what time is it?"

"Just after seven, but like I said, there's been a break, so Hotch wants to head out as soon as possible. I'll make coffee for you down in the breakfast nook while you dress?"

Alex nodded as she pushed away the covers and slipped out of bed. "Thank you so much, JJ. I'll take it black this morning, since there's not time to really make anything fancy." JJ nodded and left the room, and Alex shook her head a little as she tore off her pyjamas and hurriedly dressed before dragging a brush through her hair and tying it back with the first hair tie her fingers touched. "There's no time for makeup this morning, Lex," she told herself as she pocketed a lipstick and mascara, knowing that she could at least apply that in the car while one of the others was driving.

By the time she arrived in the breakfast nook, it was only JJ and Rossi left there, and she frowned as she accepted the cup from the woman's hands, sipping at the coffee as she waited for an explanation. "Hotch took Reid already, since Rossi here offered me up to drive. Never forget that, Alex. He will weasel out of driving as often as he can, since he's become accustomed to the cushy life."

"Hey, I have to drive everywhere when I'm home. Can I help it if I like being chauffeured out here? Besides, as an accomplished author, I have grown accustomed to the good life."

Alex could tell by the way he spoke that he was teasing just as much as JJ was, and she gave them both a small smile as they went out into the parking lot and over to the other SUV. Alex automatically went for the back, only for JJ to shake her head and point to the passenger seat. Taking a deep breath, she nodded and slipped in next to the woman as Rossi got into the back. "I take it there's something that you want to ask me?" she said as she buckled her seatbelt, listening to JJ turn the vehicle on before she backed out of the parking spot.

"You would be correct. I have this vague impression that you received a call at midnight last night? Who would call so late?"

Alex blushed as she looked out the window. She didn't want to reveal something so personal about herself to JJ or Rossi, since she wasn't certain that she understood the strange phone call friendship. Still, she knew that they were waiting for an answer, so she took a deep breath and answered. "It was James, he forgets about time changes sometimes. It's a six hour difference between us and Gabon, but this case makes it seven, and while it's a good time for him, it was not a good time for us. Still, it was nice to talk to him, since we don't get that much time together."

"You didn't talk long."

Alex sighed a little as she looked at Rossi in the rearview mirror, seeing that he was watching them with interest. Frowning a little, Alex slid her eyes away from the mirror to glance at JJ. "I actually went out onto the balcony so I wouldn't keep you up. It's not fair that I would keep you up with my conversation. Even if it was a little cool outside."

Rossi chuckled in the back seat. "You'll need to bring warmer clothes with you next time, then. If you think that he'll call again."

"He might, and I'll keep that in mind, especially as we get further into autumn." That seemed to be the catalyst for the discussion to turn to the case, and Alex listened as Rossi filled them in on the break in the case, and Alex knew that they would definitely be home by the evening. It was so easy to go into work mode, the words of James's friend ringing in her head that she was more than capable of doing this job, and that she deserved her position here.

By the time they arrived at the police department, Hotch and Reid were outside waiting for them, and they jumped in the vehicle as soon as JJ threw it into park. "All right, we're heading to this address, as the unsub has holed up inside his former partner's house and is holding him hostage. When we get there, Alex, I want you and Reid to work on getting him to stand down."

"Why us two, Hotch?" she asked once JJ had plugged the address into the GPS.

"Your dynamic is much like the one that he has with his former partner. He's older, has a PhD, and the unsub is Reid's age, also with a PhD, and so I'm hoping that we can exploit that dynamic here."

She nodded as she settled back in the seat, listening to the others discuss the case, taking mental notes of how she wanted to react to the unsub once they were at the residence. JJ came in a little hot next to a group of police cruisers, and Alex tried not to react how she felt before clambering out of the vehicle and heading to the back, grabbing the vest that Hotch handed to her. There was something about the heavy weight that felt a little too real, and she had to take a few calming breaths in order to not freak out. Still, Rossi clapped his hand on her shoulder, offering her a little bit of comfort before she and Reid went up to the door, her hand on the butt of her gun, ready to pull it out at a moment's notice.

"Jericho Baker, you need to come out!" she said in a strong voice, only for Reid to start grousing next to her about being so forceful. It was all part of the act, and she gave him a small nod as they started to bicker a little, setting up the drama that they wanted to play out. It worked soon enough, and the front door creaked open, the officers at their sides drawing their weapons in case anything hinky started going down. "Jericho?"

He nodded, giving them a wary look. "What do you want?"

"Can we come inside and talk?" Again, Alex tried to sound authoritative, which seemed to get Jericho's attention, and he nodded once more before opening the door a little wider, allowing them to enter. Alex took the lead, letting Reid follow her, the sound of the door closing sounding all too loud in her ears. "Where's Leland?"

"In the living room. He's fine, I wouldn't hurt him, I just needed a place to think about what my next move would be."

"Things got too quickly out of hand, didn't they?" Reid asked as they went into the living room, and Jericho nodded as they saw Leland sitting on the sofa, his hands tied behind his back. "I feel that way, too, being the youngest on my team and the smartest in the room. I just want people to recognize me for how much better I am than they are. Thankfully, I have people like Alex who pull me back from that ledge and we don't end up here. I think that you need to let Leland go. You don't really want to hurt him, do you?"

Jericho shook his head, and Reid reached out to help Leland to his feet before taking him from the room, leaving Alex along with the unsub. It was an uncomfortable feeling, but she didn't see a weapon in his hands, so she tried to play things cool. "And I think that you know where we go from here, Jericho. You have to face up to the bad decisions that you made."

"I know. I just didn't realise that one small wrong choice would lead to the FBI coming after me." He held out his wrists, and Alex quickly cuffed them before tucking her hand into the crook of his elbow and marching him over to the front door. From there, the police department took over, and Alex let out a long breath of relief as she slumped her shoulders and followed Reid back to the SUV.

"All right, let's head back to the hotel, and I'll call our pilot to let him know that we'd like to leave within the hour. Thank God for unsubs who realise their mistakes," Hotch said as he took the keys from JJ and got behind the wheel. Alex nodded as she climbed into the back with Reid and JJ, knowing that Rossi would be most comfortable sitting next to Hotch. She closed her eyes and listened to the two conversations that were going on around her, their voices soon lulling her into a light sleep.

"I took the liberty of packing your bag for you, Alex," she heard sometime later, and she blinked her eyes open to see JJ smiling at her. "You were up too late last night talking!"

"And I'm not used to these hours yet. Give me a few more cases, and I won't do this again. Even if I do continue to get midnight calls." JJ nodded as she buckled her belt, and Alex gave her a small smile as Hotch drove to the airfield.

During the flight home, Alex allowed herself to listen to the rest of the team once more, still learning the dynamics between them. It seemed like there was some underlying attraction between JJ and Hotch, though she treated Reid like a little brother, which made sense, since he was the youngest of the team. Rossi was still a bit of an enigma, as he had changed since the last time she had worked with him. And Hotch was definitely more stoic than he had been the last time they had been together, though she attributed that to the fact he had lost his wife to an unsub. Letting out a little sigh, she pulled out her phone to scroll through her mail, not finding anything that needed her immediate attention, though she did notice that the technical analyst had sent over her credentials for a new work email, and had said that that would act as her login for the computer system as well.

By the time they were back in the bullpen, Alex had her new email set up, and had changed the password to something that was easier for her to remember. She was so preoccupied in her phone that she almost ran into Erin, and she gave the woman a withering glance as she hurried past her and made her way over to her desk. That look seemed to cause her to back off, which was exactly what Alex was going for, and she took a seat behind her desk and booted her computer up, quickly signing into the mainframe with her user name and password, letting out a small sigh of relief when it worked.

"How did you find your first case back?"

Alex looked up into Hotch's face and gave him a small smile, gesturing for him to take a seat on the edge of her desk. "It was tiring, but I expected that, since I have to grow accustomed to the pace once more. It felt so good to bring in the unsub today with such little fuss, and I know that that's not the usual course of events."

He nodded, his face never relaxing for a moment. "That is very much the case, yes. I'm glad that we had a relatively easy case to welcome you back to the team, but that usually means the next case we go out on will be the complete opposite. So, rest up tonight, as we could very well hit the ground running tomorrow morning. You don't need to be here until nine, but I'd appreciate it if you finish up your report this afternoon before you leave for the day."

"Hotch, you're talking to a researcher who has to pull together articles with a week's notice sometimes, I think that I can finish a simple report in a few hours." That did cause him to break into a small grin, and she chuckled in return as she began to work on that report, knowing that she could get it completely finished before the end of the day.