Tainted (Criminal Minds / One Chicago FanFic)

Chapter 21 (Edited) (Longer Chapter)

Alexa Hotchner's Apartment Bucktown Chicago Illinois

Alexa fell asleep not long after her dad managed to calm her down, he sat at the kitchen table with David. Derek and Spencer went to grab lunch for everyone while Penelope, JJ, and Emily went to get a new dish set for Alexa so she could have dishes again. 

Hotch let out a sigh as he looked at Alexa, wishing he'd noticed sooner. "Maybe I should have taken more time off and brought Jack down for a visit a few weeks ago," he said. "Don't beat yourself up, Aaron... Why don't you take some vacation days and stick around here? I'm sure we can hold down the fort for a couple of days while you're away," David replied. "Who's going away?" Penelope asked walking through the front door with JJ, Emily, Spencer, and Derek. 

David sent Aaron a look as the unit chief looked over at the couch where his daughter was still sleeping under a blanket. "Hotch, what's going on?" Emily asked him. "I might take some time off work, bring Jack down here, and spend some time with Alexa," the unit chief replied to the agents who silently nodded glancing over at Alexa's sleeping frame. 

Alexa woke up to the smell of food and coffee, with a groan her eyes slowly opened and she pushed herself up only to groan in pain moving her arm and shoulder the wrong way. "Here, let me give you a hand," JJ said as she took Alexa's left hand and helped her sit up. "How are you feeling?" JJ asked her, "Achy and exhausted," Alexa replied. "We brought you some coffee on the way back," Penelope said handing her a to go cup of coffee. 

Alexa took a sip of the warm coffee, "Thank you, where did you guys go?" she asked confused. "We got you some new dishes," JJ replied, "And we grabbed some Chinese food, if you're hungry I can make you a plate," Spencer offered. "Thank you, but I'm not really hungry right now. Maybe in a few minutes when I wake up more. Also, you didn't have to get me new dishes, but thank you," Alexa replied shifting her gaze to the girls. "You need dishes, and we found this really cute matching set you are gonna love them," Penelope said causing Alexa to smile. 

JJ's phone rang and the blonde looked at the caller ID before stepping into the hall to take the call. Alexa took another sip of her coffee already knowing what the call meant, they had another case. "Who's Will?" Penelope suddenly asked Alexa who looked at the blonde confused. "Before Detective Halstead left he said Will says Hey," Penelope added. "Oh... Will is his older brother and the doctor I had at the hospital," Alexa replied. "You're on a first name basis with your doctor?" Derek asked her. "Hey guys, sorry to interrupt but, we caught a case," JJ said before Alexa had a chance to reply to Derek. 

What's with the tone especially after he broke up with her, Why did he seem almost... jealous? salty? "Aww, already?" Penelope asked sadly looking at JJ. "Sorry," JJ said looking at Penelope and Alexa. "It's okay, we'll plan a girl's night soon," the ginger said standing up from her seat on the couch and giving everyone a hug including an awkward hug to Derek before she walked over to her dad. "I'll see you after the case?" Alexa said more than asked trying to hide the sadness from her voice. "I was thinking of staying here for a few more days, takes some vacation time," Her dad said surprising her. "What about the case? and Jack?" Alexa asked him confused. "I was going to ask your aunt Jessica if she could fly Jack out here for the week," her dad replied. 

"Let us know if you need anything," "See you when you get back," The team said to Hotch as they said their goodbyes before they made their way out of the apartment leaving Alexa and her dad. "What made you wanna take a few days off?" Alexa asked him genuinely curious, her dad rarely took time off work. Her dad sent her a look, "I'm worried about you, and how you've been dealing with everything," he replied. "Is this because I saw Mom?" Alexa asked him wondering if he thought she was crazy for what she saw. Hell, she saw her and still thought she was crazy. 

Her dad shook his head no, "This is because you're bottling up your emotions to the point of aggressive outbursts that lead to you hurting yourself," he explained. "So this is about me smashing the dishes," she said more than asked not meeting his gaze this time. "I'm worried about you," her dad repeated again. "Well... You shouldn't be, I'm fine," Alexa replied. 

Her dad sent her a look, "You smashed all the dishes in your apartment," her dad stated for a 3rd time. "Because my date got ruined by a case, I got dumped and the weekend with you and Jack got screwed because of that same case. I was mad, plus topping that off with missing mom and dealing with that," Alexa replied feeling bad the moment the words left her mouth.

Sadness washed over his face after what Alexa said. "The weekend Jack and I were supposed to visit was the weekend you and Derek broke up?" her dad asked piecing together why she lost it. "I'm really sorry Alexa," her dad said causing her to shake her head. "Your job is to help people, I can't get mad at you for that. You're saving lives," Alexa replied as she stood up and walked into the kitchen noticing the new dishes sitting on the counter along with the Chinese food Spencer and Derek picked up. 

"Are you hungry?" Alexa asked her dad changing the subject, "Here, let me wash these and I'll make you a plate," her dad offered. Alexa nodded silently and took a seat at the table near the kitchen, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that," Alexa said after a moment when her dad started washing a few dishes but paused at her words. "You don't have to be sorry for telling me how you're feeling. I'm glad you told me," he replied. "You're not upset?" she asked as he shook his head no. "Like I said, I'm more worried about how you've been dealing with things. I don't want you to think you're alone while dealing with everything that's happened," her dad replied. 

"Have you thought about maybe sitting down and talking to someone? a professional?" her dad suggested after a moment. "As in a therapist?" Alexa asked earning a nod from her dad. "No," she replied instantly shutting down the idea. "Just take some time and think it over, it might be really helpful," her dad replied. "Have you been talking to someone about everything since mom died?" Alexa asked turning the conversation to him. "I have, I've talked to Dave and a therapist I see once every couple of weeks, but we're not talking about me right now," her dad replied giving her the answer she wasn't expecting from him. 

They both went quiet as her dad made both of them a plate of food and set them at the table. "Just think it over, maybe give it a try. If it's not for you at least you can say you tried. Even if you don't want to talk to a therapist, you can always talk to me. Case or not, I'm always here for you Angel. If you don't wanna tell me what's going on that's okay... My point is you gotta open up to someone okay? The feelings and emotions you're going through won't just go away on their own, and talking about it really does make a difference sometimes," Her dad replied as they started eating. "okay," she agreed softly as they both started eating. 

It took Alexa longer to eat since she was eating with her left hand and she was right handed. After they finished eating they both sat on the couch for the afternoon watching movies. "So I talked to your Aunt Jessica. She and Jack's flight lands at O'hare tomorrow at 11 am," her dad said as he walked back from the kitchen and took a seat on the couch next to Alexa.

"That's awesome, what do you wanna do tomorrow? we could grab lunch and go to Navy Pier or take a walk through Millennium Park," Alexa suggested with a smile excited to see and spend time with her dad and brother. Her dad smiled at her excitement, "I'm sure he'll love all of it as long as he gets to see you. He's so excited to see you tomorrow, he's missed you like crazy," her dad replied. "I've missed him too and you," she said to her dad as she rested her head on his shoulder and he pulled her into a light hug trying not to touch her bad shoulder.

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Hey, everyone I hope you enjoyed chapter 21, I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments. Chapter 22 should be posted by tomorrow (Sunday, April 21st, 2024). Thank you for all the love and support on this story <3 

-Muskokagirl204