Cruel - Criminal minds enemies to lovers

Monster

It had been 3 weeks since Athena had left her dinner party, 3 weeks since she got into the CIA car, 3 weeks since the team had seen her, 3 weeks since Morgan had seen her.

The team had spent the last 3 weeks trying to find out any information on what her mission was or where she was at all but they couldn't get anything. Hotch called every contact he knew; he begged every higher up he could think of but no one would tell him anything. Even Rhiannon Richards, the head of the FBI, couldn't get any information for them.

The CIA were always secretive with their missions but would share the information with the FBI upon request, the only exceptions were top secret missions. The kind of missions that were deadly, the kind of missions where none of the agents came back alive, the kind of missions that the team feared Athena was put on given how they had only heard from her once.

At the end of the first week of her being gone they received a brief text message, a message that seemed cold but not in the way Athena was cold when she was trying to distance herself from them. It seemed like someone had read Athena's characteristics and personality on paper and attempted to write a message as her, it was missing all the things that made Athena 'Athena.'

All of the teams message was the same with the exception of Morgan who had an extra line at the end, the team's shared message read;

It's Athena. I'm fine here, not sure when I'll be back but I'm just on desk duty. Stop trying to call me every 5 minutes and tell Garcia to stop trying to track my phone, the CIA don't seem like people I should add to the list of people I've pissed off. I'll see ya when I see ya.

Even though Morgan got an extra line of text, he somehow felt less comforted by it.

I know I left things weird but we're fine, I'm fine, don't worry about it, water under the bridge.

It wasn't like Athena to forgive and forget so easily. She was someone who held grudges in a petty way for a while, she certainly wouldn't tell him that it was 'water under the bridge' especially given how hurt she looked when she left, how much he had accidentally hurt her by telling the team the private things she told him as a way to vent.

He thought about her eyes a lot the last few weeks. The utter hurt that engulfed them when she looked up at him that night, the pure distrust that took over and placed mountains in-between them- the pain he had caused, the mountains he had made appear.

He hadn't slept properly the last 3 weeks, he couldn't stop thinking about her. Every thing, every single thing reminded him of her and how empty he felt without her. He couldn't even go back to the house without feeling his chest burn with pain, he had been staying in the hotel opposite the office which still brought him pain since that's where Athena used to stay in the beginning cases. He could see her absence everywhere, in the office, in his friends faces, in his arms- it felt like someone had taken the air away from the earth and everyone was slowly dying from it.

"I don't get why they can't tell us anything, surely they can tell us something" Rossi shook his head in frustration as Rhiannon Richards gave them their weekly update of information she had gathered on where Athena or what the mission was which usually was nothing, today was no exception.

"I've only managed to get a few things, they're very secretive and I don't want to burn any bridges between the FBI and CIA by sticking my nose where it doesn't belong" Rhiannon defended.

"Athena saved your life, she risked killing herself and her baby for you and you're worried about 'burning bridges?!" Rossi couldn't help his anger as he stood up.