It had been nearly a month since she and Erin had been intimate, and while she might want to love on her again, Alex found that the guilt that gnawed at her heart was a little too great to allow for that to happen again. Erin understood her reticence, and they had kept up their familiar pattern of midnight calls, even if they were a little more sexually charged as a result of their abstinence. And all seemed to be right with their world for the first time in a while, since Curtis had gone underground, not copying any of their cases or making any taunts. So when Hotch and Rossi had called an emergency meeting in the briefing room following the case in Colorado, Alex knew that something was wrong.

"Do you have any clue what's going on?" JJ whispered as they filed into the room, and Alex shook her head as she stared at Garcia and Erin. There was a guilty flush on Erin's cheeks when their eyes met, and Alex had to fight the urge to turn around and head home, knowing that she wouldn't like what she was about to hear.

"All right, we're all here, Erin. What do you have to say?" Hotch asked, sounding as frustrated as Alex felt in that moment. As they took seats around the table, Erin cleared her throat as she stared at the board where all their information on the Replicator was laid out. And since Alex had positioned herself in front of said boards, their eyes met every so often before Erin spoke.

"I have news that you're not going to be happy with," she started, and Alex heard the tremor of fear and anger in her voice that she wasn't certain the others could pick up on, since they didn't have their history. "The Replicator case has been on the back of our minds for months now, and the Director feels that he has given us enough time to find out who this is, and where he is. Since there has been no action on his end in the last month, Director Shepperd feels like he has gone dormant for some reason, and will no longer allow us the latitude to conduct this case in our own time. He feels as if our attention is too far divided, and that we need to focus on those cases that we actually can solve."

"That's fucking bullshit." Alex turned her head to look at Morgan, giving him a nod of agreement. "Hasn't he seen the pictures this sick bastard has taken of us? Of our families?"

"He has, yes, but since there's been no harmful actions taken against them, he believes that the threat isn't as dire."

"And does he remember what happened to Hotch the last time we didn't go after a psychopath stalking our team? Or what happened to Emily? Both of them nearly died, and they did lose parts of their families."

Reid's voice, though steady, was also filled with anguish, and Alex pursed her lips together in an effort to keep from crying. "I know, Agent Reid. I used that tack with him, too. He is adamant, though, that we stop all official and unofficial work on this case. Which isn't even a case in his eyes, and therefore an egregious abuse of federal resources."

Erin met her eye, and Alex could see that she was close to breaking down. Giving her a small nod, she then looked to Hotch, to see what his reaction would be. "Unofficially, the Director cannot dictate how we use our free time."

"In this case, he can. I've been informed that if he gets even a whiff of anything that would suggest any one of us is still looking for the Replicator, suspensions will happen. Believe me, I tried every trick in my political maneuvering arsenal to get him to relent, and nothing worked." Erin let out a long breath as she shook her head. "I know this isn't what you all wanted to hear. I know that you all want to leave here and work on this at one of your homes, I do. But I have to ask that you leave this alone. Eventually, he'll make his move, and we can go after him again."

"All of us?" Rossi asked, fixing his gaze on Erin, and she nodded. "All right, I swear, we'll leave it alone. Now, let's head home and lick our wounds over this. You know I hate this decision, bella."

"Not as much as I hate it. I'll see you all tomorrow, ready for a new case."

The others nodded as they rose to their feet, filing slowly from the briefing room. JJ squeezed her shoulder before she left, and Alex gave her a quick smile as the door closed, leaving just her and Erin there. "What the hell, Erin?"

"Not here. There are ears everywhere. It's close enough to midnight, wouldn't you say?"

"Yes. I'll meet you at your home?" Erin nodded before stepping closer to her, her hand wavering in the air before she drew it back, as if she was afraid of touching her. "In a little bit."

"Yes." Erin gave her a pained smile before she left the room, and Alex had to take a long breath before she pushed away from the table. JJ was still lingering by her desk when Alex went to hers, and she waved the younger woman over to her side.

"You're angry."

Alex gave her a hard look before nodding. "Yes. Who does Ron think he is, ordering us off this case? We could end up dead here!"

JJ nodded as she rested her hand on Alex's elbow. "Do you have everything you need to head home?" Alex nodded. "Good. Let me tell you a story on our way to our cars."

There was iron in her voice, and Alex knew that she couldn't refuse the command, even though she was old enough to be JJ's mother. "What sort of story?" she asked as she slung her purse over her shoulder and walked with her out into the hall.

"The sort of story that thankfully had a good outcome. When Emily was dead to the team, we were ordered not to search out Doyle, that he was too much of a threat to risk drawing eyes on us for. Emily was his last victim, as far as Director Shepperd was concerned. But Derek and Penelope didn't listen to that advice, and even though we were down to five members over the course of those sixteen weeks she was gone from us, they still managed to find him, and track his movements. And it did draw eyes on us, and we were in danger as a result. Since this was just a little while ago, I know that Director Shepperd has that in mind when he thinks about our team going off on a rogue mission. Try not to be too rough on her when you get home. I can tell she's struggling with this decision, too."

"I'll try. Thanks for the story, Jen." She let out a long breath as she unlocked her car. "I just want to be done with the political bullshit."

"Her job is ninety five percent political bullshit, so you'll have to get used to it, if you want to make things work. I know, you know."

"Know what?" she said sharply as she tossed her bag into her passenger seat.

"You know. I can tell by the way you talk to each other over the phone that things have shifted between you two. You sound like Will and me at times."

Alex flushed as she looked at the ground. "Please keep that to yourself?"

"Of course. But if I were you, I'd end the night in her arms. Nothing heals disappointment and anger more than curling up with one you love." JJ smiled as she patted her arm and then walked over to her car and got in. Alex watched her for a moment before slipping behind the wheel of her car and pulling out of her spot.

The drive to Erin's home didn't take long, and she pulled into the garage next to her lover only fifteen minutes later. Erin was closing the door before she even got out of the car, and Alex grabbed her purse before heading inside. She was met at the door with a steaming mug of coffee, and she closed her hand around it as she followed Erin deeper into the house, dropping her purse on the counter as she went. As soon as they were in the living room, she sank down into her corner of the sofa, while Erin primly sat next to her, not meeting her eyes.

"I know that you're mad at me."

Alex nodded. "How can you kowtow to him? I know that he asked me back to the BAU, that I need to be grateful to him for this opportunity, but Erin! He's hamstringing us!"

"You. He's hamstringing you. Since I know, or think I know, who's hunting us, I can safely work behind the scenes to track him down. Once I have the evidence, I can bring it to him and then he won't be able to ignore this any longer."

"And what happens if Ron finds out what you're doing, and you're suspended. Or fired. How am I supposed to protect you when there wouldn't be eyes on you for the majority of the day? And how would I tell your children that you were killed in the line of duty by someone we knew about but weren't allowed to take action against? Dammit, Erin!"

"I've told you before, I'm competent, I'm excellent with a firearm, and I know what John is up to. Those three things make it so that I will be prepared for anything that he could possibly do to me!"

"And why won't you see that he is a wily bastard who knows that we're on to him, which is why he hasn't made a move in a month! He wants to throw us off our game and then he can swoop in for the kill."

"I know that!" Erin's nostrils flared as she slammed her mug onto the coffee table, sloshing a bit of the liquid onto the wood. "Dammit, Lexie, I am doing everything in my power to protect my team. Is it so hard to ask for a little support from you? The woman I love?"

Angry tears sparkled in Erin's eyes, and Alex shook her head a little as she also set her coffee mug aside, worried she might throw it in the next few minutes. "I am trying to support you! You're the foolish one who's racing straight into Death's arms without a care for the people you'll leave behind! Fuck, I just started loving you again. Loving you has never been easy, you know. You've always made it incredibly difficult to love and be content with you."

Erin bit her lip and took a deep breath before she responded. "And loving you has always been way too easy. I never lost my love for you, even when you were so angry with me. And I am doing everything in my power to protect you. If the others are saved along the way, so be it, but you are my priority. Lexie, don't let this divide us, not when I am going to need you so desperately until we've caught him."

That was when Erin turned from her, staring at the floor as she began to weep quietly into her hands. Alex closed her eyes, feeling the anger drain from her body as she scooted closer to Erin and closed an arm around her waist, pulling her back against her body as she pressed her lips to her hair. She wasn't surprised when Erin turned in her embrace, throwing her arms around her as she sobbed into the crook of her neck. "I can't pretend that I understand, but I love you enough to trust that you'll be smart. And if you need me, I will be by your side in a heartbeat to help you take him down. Just because the love I have for you is complicated doesn't mean that it isn't worth fighting for. Now, JJ had some good advice for us."

"Oh?" Erin murmured, the feel of her lips tickling Alex's skin.

"Yes. She suggested that we curl up together in bed, and I am inclined to agree with her. Not to make love, but to rest in each other's arms, and regroup from this setback. Okay?"

"Okay," Erin said and Alex gently pushed her away so that she could get to her feet. Erin stood with her, and hand in hand, they made their way up to the bedroom. Alex knew that this conversation wasn't over quite yet, but she didn't want to push her any further that evening, not when they were both hurting and needed to soothe those wounds before they could move forward together.