Cruel - Criminal minds enemies to lovers

Tried and trued

Hotch had to do what no upper-management ever wanted to do; ask his boss for a favour.

A 'favour' that included putting all of the BAU's important cases on hold for the foreseeable future- a 'favour' that would not, and did not, come easy.

It was after Hotch had failed to convince the council and his own management that Athena put down her juicebox and strolled into the secure government building, returning not 10 minutes later with the news that they 'changed their minds.'

"What did you say to them?" Hotch raised a skeptical eyebrow as the two walked out of the same council building that she had shot up and escaped from many months ago, the bullet holes purposely pointed at the walls still being re-plastered.

"I have my ways" she wiggled her shoulder towards him.

Something usual for Athena.

A simple answer. 

An unassuming, un-telling one.

One of which that was usually followed by uncontrolled gloating and revealing- but she didn't, not anymore.

It felt like when she had first joined the team, fresh out of prison. 

She was cold and distant unlike the Athena they had grown to know over the year and a half of working together, the kind soul that had revealed herself, their friend.

She was hidden away again, claiming to never have been there in the first place, and instead a hardened, terrifying woman took her place- only sometimes mixed with her usual humour which Hotch clung on to as a sign of hope that she was somehow coming back to them, that she was somehow okay.

"How did it go Hotch?" Morgan leant on the wall as the two made their way back to the briefing room, Athena following behind with her mind elsewhere.

"She managed to convince them" Hotch explained simply as he came to a stop, although Athena had not yet realised his lack of walking, crashing mindlessly into the back of him. 

The sliver of silence had dragged her back to a not-so-far-off memory, the touch of his hard back against her face threatening to drag her further with it.

"Are you okay?" He was quick to turn and asked, spotting her come out of her daze.

"Yep, yeppers- yeah" Athena answered trying to sound convincing but failing to hide her impact not only from his body hitting her face, but the daydream had on her.

Morgan walked over with a worrisome look as he recognised a familiar red sight underneath her nose.

Blood.

He dismissed the fact she was seconds away from saying something snarky, instead pulling a white tissue from his pocket and placing it in her hand before simply walking away with nothing but an ache in his chest for the hand he could not hold.

"This better be clean" Athena mumbled, holding the tissue to her bleeding nose and too expecting some kind of snarky remark from Morgan back- instead watching as he just took his seat in his office chair.

"Your nose bleeds very easily" Rossi tried to tease, attempting to bring back any sense of 'Athena' he missed so desperately.

"I broke it again a few days ago when Kyle was helping me move my fridge from the floor of my apartment- kidnappers really have no regard for my appliances."

"You broke it again?" 

"Yeah but it wasn't fully healed properly from the last week's beatings so this actually put it back in place" she shrugged, taking her phone out with confusion at the buzz in her back pocket.