Wild Nights, Wild Nights || s.reid

8. Ashes Denote That Fire Was

When you walked into the bullpen the following morning, sunglasses on and a quad-shot cappuccino in hand, you weren't surprised at the raised brows you received from Morgan. To be fair, you did look hungover. But it wasn't the remnants of a night drinking that plagued your morning, but the singular hour of sleep that you were able to get.

As soon as you got back to your apartment, you were in your office, running through every single electronic file from Elena's case in a desperate scramble to find something. You hadn't yet, but that didn't mean you wouldn't. Even if it meant hacking into the fucking Witness Protection database, you were going to find something.

"Wild night?" Morgan asked with a grin as he took in your disheveled appearance.

"No," you responded, "just a very long one."

Before you could even settle into your desk, Hotch rounded the corner. While walking by, he said, "Y/N, my office, please," and headed to his office himself.

You sighed, hanging your head.

"Damn, Y/N. It's not even nine o'clock. What'd you do?" Morgan's eyes were wide with amusement.

"Guess I'll find out," you mumbled in response. You shed your coat and tossed it onto your chair. Then you picked up your cappuccino from your desk, took a long sip, and headed to Hotch's office after him. You barely gave Reid, who had just arrived, a nod of acknowledgement as you walked past.

You stepped over the threshold of Hotch's office door. He was standing behind his desk, and he gestured for you to shut the door behind him. After doing so, you sat down at a chair across from him.

You blew out a breath. "Not going to lie, Hotch. I kind of feel like I just got pulled into the principal's office."

Hotch settled into his own office chair, shuffled a few files and papers out of his way, and then clasped his hands together on the desk. "I just have a question for you."

You raised a brow at him, an indication to ask away.

"Why did I receive a call this morning that you and an agent in ViCAP went to the home of an individual in Witness Protection last night?"

Fuck.

It was grounds for disciplinary action at best. At worst, you could lose your job. In all fairness, the regulations in place for Witness Protection and breaching confidentiality were for the safety of the individual, but it made your life that much more difficult.

You didn't know what to say. After several beats of silence, you quietly answered, "Because I did?" You weren't going to lie to Hotch. You couldn't. Any lie you'd conjure up would get debunked before your very eyes and likely land you in hotter waters than you were already in.

Marshal Thompson had guaranteed Preston discretion, but you didn't account for Elena calling witsec to report the two of you. You hadn't exactly hidden your intentions when you arrived.

Hotch sighed through his nose. "You understand why that's an issue, correct?"

"Yes."

Another beat of silence. You stared at one another, neither breaking eye contact or backing down.

Then, lowering his voice as if someone could hear from outside the door, he said, "This is very unlike you, Y/N. Why would you dig into confidential witsec cases?"

You didn't have an answer for that, at least one that was both truthful and respectful of Director Boucher's wishes. That was how deep this operation ran; not even Hotch was allowed intel on it.