And If I Fall, Let Me Part II: After The Rain - A. Hotchner x OC & Jemily

Took our broken hearts, put them in a drawer...welcome to New York

"Welcome to the wonderful world of jealousy, he thought. For the price of admission, you get a splitting headache, a nearly irresistible urge to commit murder, and an inferiority complex. Yippee."  J.R. Ward, Dark Lover

Alex sat beside JJ in the car, waiting for Hotch. Apparently, their documents were not up to date, and from the looks of it, he was arguing about getting into the private hangar.

"Did something happen today? Hotch is so...I don't know," Alex said, looking at JJ. The twitch of lips and raise of eyebrow clearly told her she was missing something.

"Have you ever heard of...jealousy?" the other woman gave back. Confusion taking over, Alex stared at her.

"What do you mean, jealousy?"

Leaning back into her seat, JJ chuckled.

"Before that CIA guy even asked you out, Hotch saw the way he looked at you. At least I'm guessing he did from the fact that he turned on his interrogation stare outside that meeting room. It's usually reserved for people he strongly suspects of murder or people he dislikes a lot. And when you said he asked you out, it turned even worse."

Alex blinked a few times, her gaze returned to the man outside the car. "Weird," she muttered to herself. Ever since the end of the Foreman case, they had tiptoed around even talking about what was going on between them. "Alex, I don't know if I can."

Despite his words, Hotch had shown up almost every Saturday, had called in-between cases, had even listened to Katie's trumpet solo one night. Every 'accidental' touch, every lunch after self-defense, made Alex more and more aware her feelings weren't disappearing. Even worse, she was more sure than ever that she wanted more. And still, she was too afraid to even bring it up again, too scared of the rejection, or committing herself. God this is a mess.

"I'm just saying, if he's acting off, it's probably because he is thinking about shooting the CIA guy," JJ teased, nudging her shoulder. Bursting out laughing, Alex shook her head.
"JJ!"

The blonde grinned at her, not even stopping when Hotch opened the door again.

"We're good to go," he said, slipping behind the wheel. Seeing the two in the rearview mirror, he raised his eyebrows. "What?"

Shaking her head vehemently, Alex avoided his eyes. "Absolutely nothing."

Hotch, knowing better than to ask, started the car. Throwing JJ another look, Alex decided it was neither the time nor the place to think about that. And still, she couldn't help but wonder if JJ was right. A not so little part of her hoped the other woman was right. At least after that woman had hit on him on Henry's birthday, that had reminded her what jealousy felt like. It simply didn't feel fair to be the only one suffering, right?

***

Grabbing her bag from the trunk, walking over the tarmac, Alex was reminded how much she hated flying. Listening to JJ talk proved to be a little distraction, but it wasn't enough. When she stopped at the stairs, a hand on her arm held her back.

"I know you don't like flying," Hotch mumbled, pulling something from his jacket. He handed her some chocolate and some pills.

"I didn't know you remembered," Alex said softly, looking up to him, "Thank you."

Short silence settled between them before Hotch looked away, still not making a move to get on the plane.

"So you got a date?" he asked, baffling her. So JJ was right?

"Why do you think I have a date?" Alex gave back, raising her brows. His dark eyes slowly traveled back to her.
"Are you not going out with the CIA agent?"