Despite her best intentions, there hadn't been an opportunity to catch Erin alone and call her out on lying to Alex before they had left on another case, and she didn't know if that was a good thing or not. Alex badly wanted to confront her former friend, to find out what she was playing at, since there didn't seem to be a reason for Erin to play games like this. Nor did it seem right for her to ignore what she knew in order to have a voice to vent to in the night, since she couldn't talk to her husband.

This case in Texas had definitely impeded that confrontation, and it was then that Alex knew Penelope was right about Texas cases being almost as bad as Florida cases. There was something so horrifying about an unsub trying to play at being Victor Frankenstein, and this was definitely a time where she would want to speak to James, since he would understand more about why it was so awful. It went beyond the obvious fact that someone was destroying two people's lives at once and into true body horror. "Alex?"

She turned her head to look at Hotch, giving him a small smile as she pushed away from the table and got to her feet, cracking her back as she shook her head. "Sorry, I was just thinking about how horrifyingly interesting James would find this case. I wish that I could send him the information, but I know that is an impossibility. He would understand, better than the others, about why I'm so unsettled by this."

Her supervisor nodded as they looked at the white board where all their information was collated. "I forget that you're married to a doctor at times, and so know a little more about cases like this. Do you think that there's anything that he might be able to offer us, in terms of finding us an in that we don't currently have?"

"I don't think so, Hotch. He would have to be here to examine the bodies, and I know that he can't get away from his duties in Gabon. I wish that we had the technology available to instantly teleport him here and back again, but until that happens, I'm the best that you have."

"And what a good best that is." He gave her one of those rare smiles he doled out at just the right moment. She returned the expression, feeling her cheeks pinken a little with a blush as she ducked her head and took a deep breath. There was still a sense of happiness that came with someone recognizing her worth as a person, not just how pretty she looked. "All right, I don't think that we're going to get much more accomplished this evening. Let's head back to the hotel and get settled in for the night. I'll send a quick text to the others, letting them know the plan."

"All right, Hotch." Alex slipped on her jacket before grabbing her bag and following Hotch from their temporary office, turning off the lights before closing the door. "Do you want me to drive?"

"No, I will."

She chuckled a little as she shook her head, somehow knowing that that would be his answer. Still, it was nice to have him driving, since that meant she could focus on thinking about what this case was all about. It still creeped her out to see bodies mutilated in that fashion, and she shuddered a little as she took a seat in the passenger side of the SUV. "I hope that I've been a little more focused these past few days."

"You have, yes. I take it that you and Louise have made up?"

Alex gave him a little nod as she pulled out her phone and checked her notifications. There wasn't anything important to see, and she put the device back in her pocket so that she could have a decent conversation with Hotch. "We have, yes, but I am still trying to figure out why she feels so familiar to me. I keep trying to ask personal questions, but Louise is very good at turning the conversation back around on me."

"That almost sounds like she's a profiler herself," he replied, arching an eyebrow at her as he pulled out into traffic. "Do you think that it could be someone you once worked with?"

She shrugged as she rubbed her upper chest absently. "The only other woman I worked with was Erin, and I would think that she would know enough not to circumvent my wishes by calling me under an assumed name?" Alex hated lying to Hotch, knowing that he did not like liars, but since she wasn't certain that it really was Erin calling her all the time, she supposed that it wasn't truly a lie, just a small admission of the truth. "Unless you think that it could be her?"

"I think that Dave would tell me if that were so. He knows Erin much more intimately than any of us do."

Alex let out a sigh as she nodded, happy that there wasn't really any hint that Erin was her midnight caller. "If it did turn out to be her, and you were me, would you be angry with the deception? I know that you don't like liars, but what about if it's for what could be considered the greater good?"

"I would still be upset with her, Alex. I haven't told the others what happened between you and Erin, since I want to keep some semblance of harmony between us and her, but what happened to you was horrific."

"She's tried to make amends, I just haven't been in the right headspace to think about taking hold of that olive branch." Alex broke off before she revealed something a little more personal about the relationship between her and Erin, even though she was certain he had heard the rumors of what happened between them. It had been the best office gossip fodder for months until the Amerithrax debacle.

When they arrived at the hotel, she smiled to see JJ in a deep conversation with Reid. Their friendship was one of the best things about the team, in Alex's opinion, since they were the youngest and needed to find comradery somewhere. "Well, whatever choice you make, we'll support you, Alex. That's what a team does."

Alex smiled as she got out of the vehicle and hurried inside the hotel, shivering a little, even though it was Texas and should have been warmer even in the fall. "That didn't take you guys too long," she said as she joined JJ and Reid at the elevator bank.

"We were headed back to the precinct anyway, so it was easy enough to just head here. I don't know where Rossi and Morgan are, though."

"Maybe they stopped for food?" Reid asked as they stepped onto the elevator. "I mean, we took time for a quick meal, but maybe they didn't have time to do that."

"Maybe," JJ replied, pressing the button for their floor. "What about you, Alex? Did you and Hotch get something to eat?"

She nodded as she leaned against the back of the elevator. "We did. And I wouldn't eat this late, anyway. It's nearly eleven!"

"Morgan will eat any time and anywhere," Reid quickly replied as he cracked his back. "He always says that he has to stay in fighting shape, and so eating all the time is what he needs to do."

"Again, that does not surprise me in the least," Alex said as the door opened on their floor. "We'll see you in the morning, Reid?"

"If there's not a break in the case."

She nodded and followed JJ down the hall to their room, stepping inside after her and locking the door once inside. "Do you want to shower first, Alex? I know that it's closer to midnight than not."

"That would be wonderful, thank you." She gave the younger woman a small smile before rummaging through her bag for pyjamas and her toiletries kit and heading into the bathroom. It didn't take long to strip down, and after everything was piled on the sink, she stepped into the shower and turned the water on, shivering beneath the cold stream as she waited for it to warm up. Once the temperature was a little more comfortable, Alex washed her hair and body, ruminating over what she and Aaron had talked about. He was correct, she was upset with the fact that Erin had circumvented her boundaries to get close to her once more, but there was still something wonderful about this contact with her. It had been so nice to unload on someone who was a cipher, but knowing that it was Erin behind everything also felt right. Though she wasn't about to let Erin know that right away.

Letting out a deep sigh, Alex rinsed her body before turning off the water and stepping onto the floor, wrapping a large towel around her body. It didn't take long for her to dry off, and then she was pulling on her pyjamas before tying back her hair and padding back into the outer room. "Finished already?"

"I feel like I was in there for an hour," she replied as she went to her bed and slumped down on it. "This case is just so creepy, that I feel like I just want to sleep away the memories of it."

"I feel the same way. Hopefully, we can figure out what is going on before more people are hurt. I'm going to go try and wash away the memories of today."

Alex nodded absently as the woman went into the bathroom, and once the door was closed, she picked up her phone and began to go through her emails, answering what she could in that moment, starring the ones she'd have to answer later, when they were home. She was just hitting send on the last one when her phone began to vibrate in her hand, and she knew that it was Erin calling. "Good evening," she answered, hoping that Erin wouldn't hear the slight touch of frost in her voice. "Please give me a moment to grab a blanket before heading out onto the balcony. It's rather cold tonight, and my hair is still wet."

"Take your time, Alex."

She cleared her throat as she slipped off the bed, bundling up the comforter in her arms before trundling over to the balcony door and letting herself outside. After curling up in the chair, she brought the phone to her ear. "All right, I'm back. This case is going to be one of those ones that stick with me, I can just feel it."

"Do you want to talk about it or listen to me prattle on tonight? You always ask that I say more about myself, after all."

"It might be nice to hear more about yourself, Louise. Maybe you could tell me a little more about your favorite vacation?"

Alex had deliberately chosen that topic, since she wondered if Erin would tell her about the time that they went to Niagara Falls, since she knew that had been one of her favorite experiences. "When I was young, my best friend and I went north to Niagara Falls during spring break. She knew that I needed the time away from the pressures of school, and remembered that I had mentioned always wanting to see them. It was cold for April, but that just allowed me to stick close to her side. I worshipped the ground she walked on, because she was always so cool and calm. I tried to learn that from her, but I think I went a little too far in the cool department and ended up in icy cold territory. But for that week, we explored the town and had those deep conversations that you can only have when you're young and idealistic."

She was surprised to find a giant lump growing in her throat at the wistful tone in Erin's voice. Alex struggled to find the anger in her heart at what Erin had done to her so long ago, as she wasn't ready to let that go. The tug on her heartstrings, though, told her that her heart was starting to thaw towards Erin. "Those can be the best conversations, as they stay in your memory for years to come. What else about that trip was good for you?"

Erin launched into her story and Alex found herself relaxing as she listened to Erin's version of their vacation, and why she had loved it so much, though she was surprised to hear that the woman conveniently skirted around the fact that they had shared a bed that entire week, and had finally become physical the night before they had gone back to Quantico. "And now you're yawning so deeply, you must be exhausted. I'll let you go so that you can sleep, Alex. Have a good evening, and sleep well."

Before she could stop her words, Alex responded, "You as well, Erin." They both gasped in unison, and Alex hung up before the woman could say anything else to her, not wanting to acknowledge the fact that she had just burst the bubble on their little ruse and knowing that it would be that much more difficult to concentrate on an already brutal case with the fact that the truth was now in the ether, and she didn't know how Erin and she would move on from here.