Stay With Me A•H

5 - Hold On

You stood there with nothing more to give, you had given everything and you still found yourself here alone. And you longed to be comforted and be in somebody's grasp. But nobody was there. Except him...

Two Days Prior

A light breeze filled the night air causing a shiver to travel down your spine. The night was silent around you. The usual busy road was empty, cars crossing the pavement only a handful of times.

You had gotten a call from Penelope 20 minutes ago saying you had a case. Rolling down the window you let the wind hit your face in hopes to wake up your body. Hotch had only dropped you off an hour earlier.

You were getting ready to go to sleep when you got the call. Making yourself some coffee you threw on some clothes rushing out the door. Starting your car you pulled down the mirror groaning in exhaustion and dissatisfaction.

Your hair was thrown up in a bun with multiple strands of hair sticking up. Not having time or energy to do makeup you looked like something you would see in your nightmares. Your eye bags were more prominent than before, your eyes sunken in. And redness and acne covered your forehead and cheeks, being stressed always caused you to break out.

And right now you were beyond stressed. The pit in your stomach never left. It was a constant reminder of what you had to lose, it was a reminder of what was expected of you. The only way to escape the worries that constantly ran through your head was to sleep. And right now you can't remember the last time you had a good night's sleep.

Pulling the mirror back to its original spot, you rubbed the sleep out of your eyes before driving to what you could now call your second home.

........

The team sat at the round table looking just as tired as you. No chirpy greeting from Penelope was used as she stumbled in minutes after you, wearing her usual attire except instead of the bright pink and yellow they were exchanged for a light worn-out yellow and a beige skirt. And her high pink heels were exchanged for bright yellow flats.

Everyone too tired to make small talk Penelope got right into the case. "This morning in Amarillo Texas Jenny Hanks was found shot execution-style. Her body was found in an alley, the only significance beside the killing was a note found next to her."

"What did the note say?" Reid croaked his groggy tone still evident in his words.

Flipping to the next slide the note appeared. "All sluts deserve to die. They deserve to rot in hell. You'll hear their screams of death at ten past two."

Penelope shuttered as the last word left her lips. Whispers of ideas were shared before Hotch got up muttering a quick "wheels up in 30."

You all slowly made your way to your desks. No small talk was made as the team went their separate ways. Morgan went to Penelope's office, JJ went to her office and Emily followed her minutes later. Reid poured himself some coffee while he held a book open in his other hand.

Deciding to do the same you went to your desk making sure your go-bag had everything that was needed. After you knew you had everything and more you set it to the side opening your textbooks.

But the longer you looked at the words the stronger the urge to sleep weighed on you. The room got dimmer as your eyes slowly fluttered shut. Only to be sprang open by the sound of Spencer's voice.

"Do you ever not study?" He joked a smirk curling on his lips. He hunched over you reading the page you had been "reading" for the past ten minutes.

"You know me." You huffed sending him a short smile leaning back in your seat you scanned the quiet and dark office.

Part of you liked how calm the bau felt in this moment. No phones were constantly ringing, no chatter filled the air. It was calm, something you had grown to love in these past few weeks.