Cruel - Criminal minds enemies to lovers

But you

Silence.

A thing Athena Adams hated for a reason she couldn't quite let herself being to understand.

All she knew was that she couldn't stand it; she couldn't not have noise, not have something drowning out the noise in her head.

It was even rumoured around the BAU during her tormenting that she played 'kids in a America' on repeat during her kills to make it more 'ambient' and 'fun'- a rumour of course started by Athena herself.

But as she got into Hotch's SVU to drive to the nearest gas station so she could be re-routed, everything fell to a silence.

Nothing.

Not even as the SAT nav started up, navigating her onto the same highway Morgan had followed.

Just silence.

Her eyes glossed over with nothingness, her face blank, even her head felt empty for once- all bar one thing that seemed to suffocate from the inside out with noise.

Morgan.

More so, the argument they would have if he was there.

His smug face telling her this was stupid, that she should just go back to the station and work it out properly like an agent. 

She imagined herself arguing with him that she wasn't an agent and how her tactics always worked better than 'the stupid FBI's.' 

She imagined his stupid belly laugh he did where he threw his whole body into it, a laugh that felt like it was only made for her to see, like an award she had worked so hard to achieve every time.

She saw the whole debate in her head on the hour drive to the gas station, eventually giving into hypothetical Morgan's argument and dialling up the station number.

"Hello?" The brooding voice of stan answered the reception phone, the first noise she had heard in the last half an hour and one that made her eyes roll.

"Ugh- it's you."

"Athena? Is that you?"

"Yeah, I'm calling to give you the location I'm heading to; it's 16 avenue, Pete's garage- has someone checked it out already?" 

"No, I don't think so, I don't think that was on the list."

"What? Why not?" 

"It looks like it's out of the perimeter, if he was there then his phone would be trackable- plus it's closed down" he explained, hearing a mumbled series of curse words before Athena sighed followed by the blinker sending her off at the nearest exit.

"Fine- I'm on my way back."

"Okay" Stan spoke into the silence neither took as a sign to end the call before Athena sighed, finally feeling the silence creep up on her and running once more.

"Hey- I'm sorry about threatening to slit your throat earlier" she added reluctantly, "that wasn't cool of me."

"That was pretty scary" he laughed "but I understand, I didn't know you and Derek were together- I'm sorry, this must be... hard for you. I'm sorry I've been giving you a hard time, you're doing a surprisingly good job for a murderer."

"You know you have a special talent of giving back handed compliments" she chuckled before pausing when she saw a bright light down a dirt road just off the exit, following it further than she should have well past her turning.

"I have to go- agent Hotchner is calling us for a briefing."

"Are we sure we put all the gas stations in the area down- Stan?" Athena called out as she drove into the small gas station hidden down the long trail, a small thought clicking as he pulled up.