She Can't Do It Alone

I watched carefully as Ashley told me all about her cousin, and how she ended up in this gang. Of course, this was the one that had died that night. I had been there. But I didn't dare tell her this in case it changed her mind of me.

"And I'm not exactly sure why she agreed to be his little sex kitten, because this wasn't like her at all." She said with a sigh. "She told me all these horrid stories of what they did to her, and others. They've killed before. I wasn't allowed to say anything and I wasn't going to either. I was too scared.." She played with her hair and bit her lip.

I smiled a little. She kind of reminded myself of me. But maybe a little older. And so far, we were kind of almost sisters. I noticed the way she acted, the way she talked. "It'll be okay. No charges will be pressed. As long as you had nothing what-so-ever to so with the murders."

Shaking her head, she said, "No. I only knew a short time about them. She wanted me to come fourth if she ever went missing for more than a few days, so they didn't dare hurt her more than they did. They knew I would because we were very close."

I nodded my head. I wrote everything down. Hotch walked in and set down a cup of coffee. "How's everything going?" He asked, watching her closely.

I handed him the notebook. "How do you think?" I asked. "She's talking. That's a start."

He flipped through the pages. I watched Ashley out of the corner of my eye. She was watching him, a kind of dazed look on her face. "Alright. I think she can take a rest." Hotch threw the paper down on the desk.

I heard Reid talk about him. He wasn't normally this polite to many people. At least, that's what I gathered. "Okay. But she can't go?" I asked.

"She should stay close to us." He suggested. "I need to talk to her."

I nodded again and walked out of the room. Spencer was standing right outside, reading a book with no name on the cover. I watched him for a few seconds before he realized I was standing there. Causing him to jump and drop the book. "Geez, give a guy a warning?" He covered his heart.

I smirked. "Scared I'm going to take it?"

A small smile appeared on his face as he pulled me to him. I leaned back just enough so he couldn't kiss me. "Sweetie, you already have."

I giggled as Hotch walked out of the room with Ashley on his heels. "She's going to be hanging around us for now. She and Ms. Vega need to stay safe."

"Hotch, she doesn't have to stay, you know. She has family that will keep her safe." Spencer pointed out.

I agreed with him but Hotch just shook it off. "She should be around somebody that isn't afraid to kill."

"Aw," I cooed. "Somebody has a crush." I made kissy faces at him. He and Ashley blushed.

"Vega, I am an--"

"Loooove!" I sang and skipped out of the hallway, grabbing Spencer by his black and white stripped tie as I went.

I walked outside and leaned against his car. I pulled him close to me and placed my hands on his hip. "You guys are supposed to be leaving." I pointed out. "She can't stay with us."

He thought about it for a minute or two. I could see wheels spinning in his head. The question was, could be come up with something? Ashley couldn't go back with them. I couldn't go back with them, so what did we do?

Finally, the light bulb went off. "We can tell them that we found more leads. I mean, we did. We'll say we can't leave until we get this figured out. Hotch should be able to decide and I'm pretty sure he already has."

"Who?" I asked.

"I should tell Hotch," Said Spencer before we went racing inside. I stood there, still wondering who he had to tell.

As I walked back inside, I heard a crash coming from inside one of the rooms. Since I seemed to be the only one that heard it, I walked into the hallway and peaked inside a door, my heart skipping a beat like I'd just been caught by my parents as I'd just seen something I shouldn't.

I saw Hotch holding Ashley to the wall. Facing him, and he was smiling. Smiling. I continued to watch as Ashley tried to wrap her skinny jeaned leg around him. This still didn't explain the crash, but I figured it didn't matter anymore.

I ducked my head from the crack in the door as Hotch leaned down. My back pressed against the door. It closed and I jumped, bumping into Morgan as he walked by. "Whoa," He chuckled. "What's gotten into you, Jumpy?" He asked as he handed me a steaming cup.

I took it and nodded a thanks. "Nothing. I just.. scared myself."

"Reid seems abnormally happy. What did you do?" He smirked a little down at me. I felt so small, of course I was small to a lot of people. But with him, I really felt small. He was so built and looked so.. I don't even know. He was cute, but not the type of man I'd flirt with. He seemed too into his job.

I gave a shrug and looked behind me. Making sure the crack was gone, and that it was safe to speak. "Well, Mr. Morgan. That is something between Dr. Sexy and I." I gave a wink and held my head up as I walked off, smirking.