Hotch called us in around six, causing both Reid and I to groan. Unsurprisingly, despite being told otherwise, we didn't get a lot of sleep. After making minimal effort to seduce him we spent the majority of the night enjoying each other's company; something we hadn't done a lot of since finding out about the baby.

"We really need to think more about the consequences before sleeping together," Reid mumbled. He rolled onto his side, placing a quick kiss on my forehead before throwing the covers off of his body and sliding out of bed.

"Ain't that the truth," I responded with a laugh. I threw the covers over my head when he turned on the light, letting out an angry moan as the brightness stung my eyes.

Reid chuckled at my sudden distress and moved into the bathroom. After he closed the door I moved the covers away, letting out a heavy sigh as I blinked to adjust my eyes.

While Reid did his usual morning routine in the bathroom I got up and got dressed. Lazily, I sifted through the few outfits that I'd packed, eventually choosing a dark button down and some tight fitted jeans. Along with those I grabbed a fresh pair of underwear and a sports bra, slipping both on before putting on the rest.

"Bathroom's yours if you need it." Reid ran his hands through his hair as he opened the door.

I swallowed hard when I realized he was still naked, looking away nervously as I pressed my lips together to mask the gasp bubbling at the back of my throat. To distract myself, I reached into my bag to grab a fresh pair of socks, pulling them over my feet as I avoided eye contact.

Almost immediately he noticed my discomfort, causing him to let out a snort and bump his hip against mine. "It's not so great when you're on the other side of things, huh?" He raised his brow, holding back a smirk.

I shoved his shoulder and rolled my eyes, trying not to make it anymore obvious. While I often teased him about his attraction towards me, as time went on he started returning the favour. Often times using it to his advantage, especially in situations like this.

He chuckled quietly and got dressed, deliberately choosing an outfit similar to mine. When he was fully dressed he opened his arms and did a twirl, raising his brows questionably for my approval. Instead of giving it to him though, I shook my head, crossing my arms over my chest as I scanned him. "People are going to start making fun of us once they notice," I stated. I wasn't sure when it started, but at some point Reid started planning his outfits around mine as a joke. At first it was just little things, like matching his tie to the colour of my shirt or wearing the same tone of pants. Eventually though, it became increasingly obvious, tipping to the point where our outfits were basically twins of each other.

"They already make fun of us." He shrugged.

"You mean you," I poked his chest.

"Well, if you still worked with us they'd make fun of you too," he retorted.

I gave him a confused look, my mouth dropping open slightly as I narrowed my eyes. That was the second time in twenty-four hours that he'd mentioned work and while normally I wouldn't question in, something about the tone in his voice made it obvious he was hiding something. "What's up with that anyway?" As I spoke I slipped on a pair of Converse, watching Reid's face light up as he reached for his own.

"With what?"

"You mentioning me working all of a sudden."

He pressed his lips together and shrugged his shoulders as he kneeled down to tie his shoes. I stared down at him curiously, watching his eyes dart between me and his laces. At this point my suspicions only grew the longer I watched him.

As much as I wanted to pressure him for answers I knew we were kind of on a time crunch. When Hotch called he mention there'd been developments in Sam's whereabouts, claiming the sooner we got to the station the better.

When Reid stood up I averted my gaze, moving my eyes to the doorway as I yawned. I was still pretty tired and even though I'd kill to go back to bed to get some more sleep I knew it'd be a while until the opportunity arose again.

"We should probably work on sleeping more," Reid suggested, basically reading my mind. He reached out and gave my stomach a light touch, running his hand across the fabric of my shirt with a sigh. "According to statistics new parents only get about four hours and forty-four minutes of sleep a night."

"Somehow I feel like that's more than you usually get."

He snorted. "It's about the same sometimes."

I held back a smile and wrapped my arms around his neck, giving him a quick hug before pulling away and heading towards the door. "How am I supposed to work on sleep when I want to bone my boyfriend all the time?" I raised my brow as I moved into the hallway, leaving Reid to stand there awkwardly with his face all red.

I laughed and continued walking, spotting Morgan and Alex a few feet ahead. I raised my hand in there direction, giving them a warm smile, which they immediately returned.

Reid scurried up not long after, pushing his hair behind his ears once he caught up to the rest of us.

"Took you long enough," Morgan raised his brow, glancing between the two of us.

"Sorry," Reid flattened out his tie, looking down at his chest as he let out a heavy breath.

"You should be," Alex sighed, "thanks to you guys I barely slept last night." She gave Reid an unimpressed look and rubbed her eyes.

Both Reid and I shot her apologetic glances, earning a loud laugh from Morgan who threw back his head in amusement. In response, I rolled my eyes, punching him in the chest as I brushed past without another word. "C'mon Rafferty, I was just kidding!" Morgan called out.

I continued walking, crossing my arms over my chest as I made my way down the stairs in embarrassment.

When we all made it outside we piled into the vehicles. This time, I hopped in the backseat, still feeling uncomfortable at the thought of poor Alex having to hear about Reid and I's bedroom habits. As Morgan drove, I made a mental note to get her a cup of coffee or something to apologize.

Once at the station we basically ran inside, meeting up with Hotch and Rossi who stood at the front of the office talking to Garrelson. I swallowed hard the second she and I made eye contact. Instead of cowering under her intense gaze though, I forced myself to walk in confidently. While she basically scared the ever loving shit out of me I knew the second I showed any signs of fear she'd rip me to shreds. Now that I wasn't technically on the team I'm sure she wasn't afraid to return the favour of our last visit, which was definitely less than professional on my part.

I took a seat next to Reid, leaning back in my chair as I moved my attention to Hotch who cleared his throat to get the attention of the room. "We found Sam's vehicle abandoned off the I-75, which leads us to believe he's headed for the Georgia state line," he said with a sigh. He turned his attention to Garrelson who nodded her head.

"Along with multiple roadblocks along the border, we have officers touring potential areas we think he might be familiar with," she added.

"Blake, I want you and Rossi back with Regan. Update her on our findings and see how she reacts. JJ, you and Morgan take one of the SUVs and join the rest of the precinct with the search." Hotch watched as everyone left, leaving Reid and I to patiently wait. As we did, Hotch turned back to Garrelson to whisper in her ear. Instead of responding afterwards, she merely nodded and left.

I looked over at Reid, feeling my heartbeat quicken. At this point I wondered if this was the moment Luke was talking about. Maybe I was getting taken off the case. Given the circumstances I couldn't blame Hotch. I did fuck up pretty bad.

"Reid, can you step outside for a second?" Hotch asked.

He wearily nodded his head, flashing me a look of curiosity as he left the room and closed the door.

"Am I getting fired, because if I am I totally get it. You don't have to explain." I held my hands up in defence, flashing him a sad look as he took a couple of steps towards me and shook his head.

"Isla, I'm not firing you," he replied. "I just figured we should take a couple of moments to talk about what happened yesterday and what it means going forward."

"Oh, uh, okay." I dropped my hands and nodded my head. While I was still feeling pretty unsure I wasn't nearly as nervous as I was a second ago.

He took the seat on my left, moving the chair so that it was angled towards me. "First off, I'd like to apologize for the comment I made yesterday. It was out of line and as your superior I take full responsibility for my actions."

"Eh, no harm done." I shrugged my shoulders.

At first he seemed sort of taken aback my my nonchalantness, taking some time to process my reaction as he leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms over his chest. Unlike me, Hotch took things pretty seriously, so it was probably weird for him to hear how little his words had honestly affected me.

I reached over and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Seriously, it's fine. I know you're probably not used to taking your anger out on others, but believe me, I am. Your comment was weak." I held back a smirk, which caused him to shake his head and let out a small laugh.

"Well, regardless, I'm still sorry. It wasn't very appropriate."

"No, it wasn't, but I also have a very inappropriate older brother so I'm kinda used to hearing horrible things." I released my grip from his shoulder and leaned back in my seat, watching as he adjusted himself uncomfortably and furrowed his brow. I could tell, even after trying to reassure him that I was fine that he still felt guilty.

"I'd also like to thank-you for all the help you've been providing. I know that coming back without a proper reinstatement probably isn't the most exciting thing, but I'm glad you accepted the offer."

I gave him a small head nod, agreeing with his statement. While I was definitely enjoying my time back even I had to admit the whole thing was bittersweet. "I'm just glad I'm still in tune with my profiler skills," I joked.

"So am I," Hotch responded.

"I was honestly pretty scared to come back, you know? Like, I thought for sure that that side of my brain had just stopped working completely." After I arrived in London I felt like my IQ had dropped somehow, even though Prentiss constantly assured me otherwise.

"Well, it definitely hasn't. In fact, your outside perspective on things might be the very thing that's helping."

"I mean, it makes sense. Often times getting the perspective of those outside the field is beneficial because they're able to look at things without bias," I noted. Almost immediately I realized how Reid-like I sounded. Apparently Hotch did too, because without saying a word both of us looked towards the door and laughed.

"I see you and Reid are rubbing off of each other."

I bit my lip, flashing him a sheepish smile. "Yeah, his brain is like taking over. I keep reading all these books about babies and telling everyone about everything." I rolled my eyes at the thought. "Like, did you know that one in three babies are born with a birthmark?"

Hotch raised his brow.

"Crazy right? The most common one is known as a stork mark and... uh, never mind. Not important." I pressed my lips together tightly, realizing this probably wasn't the best time to talk about menial things like the markings of a newborn. "You said you wanted to talk about what happens moving forward?"

"Yes, I do."

"Okay." I let out a heavy sigh as I mentally prepared myself for the worst.

"Reid and I have been talking."

I raised my brow. At this point the thoughts in my brain were basically incoherent as I watched Hotch give me a look of concern and lace his fingers together. He leaned his wrists against his knees, ushering me to move in closer with his chin. Almost immediately I did, resting my elbows on my legs as I narrowed my eyes in confusion.

"I know it's not perfect, but if we can make it happen I'd like to offer you part time."

I widened my eyes, feeling slightly dizzy. When I woke up this morning the last thing I expected was to get a job offer, so to say I was surprised was an understatement. "Part time?" I repeated excitedly.

He nodded. "With JJ and I trying to be parents and Rossi in the midst of writing his next book I can tell the team is pressed for time outside the office."

"Of course, yeah." At this point I was pretty much speechless.

"Now, nothing is set in stone. I still have to discuss the details with Strauss and a couple members of the board, but given the massive hit we took after losing both you and Emily I'm sure they'd be willing to make an exception."

"You sure?" I raised my brow. While I was appreciative of Hotch's confidence in the situation I couldn't help, but slightly doubt him. Strauss definitely hated me, as well as Reid, so having the two of us back in the same unit again was most likely something she'd never approve of. Especially after she found out I was pregnant.

"Not entirely," Hotch admitted, "but if you're willing I'd like to give it a shot anyway."

For a while I just sat there completely dumbfounded. Life over the past few months had been so up and down that what Hotch was saying somehow didn't feel real. Sneakily, I gave my arm a quick pinch, wincing at the pain when I realized I wasn't dreaming.

"I know you're probably stressed about the baby b-"

"No, no, no!" I raised my hands, shaking them wildly before realizing how ridiculous I probably looked. I swallowed hard and dropped my arms, feeling my face grow hot as I looked at Hotch's uncomfortable expression. "I mean, uh, sorry. I'm just flustered right now. Are you seriously offering me a job?"

"If I can, yes."

"What about Cooper?"

"He and I have also been talking," Hotch added with a sigh. "While he isn't willing to give you up entirely, he's agreed to lend you over to us when absolutely necessary." I almost laughed at the thought of that conversation taking place. Cooper definitely wasn't the biggest fan of Hotch so I could only imagine his reaction when he asked to take me away.

As I opened my mouth to respond, out of the corner of my eye I saw Reid open the door. When his tall frame came into view I looked over, raising my brow as he took a step into the room and cleared his throat. "They found Sam," he stated.

Hotch looked over at Reid, giving him a subtle nod before glancing back at me. "We'll talk more once this is all over."

"Sounds good," I responded.

Both of us stood up without a second thought, rushing towards Reid who side stepped out of the way to let us pass. Hotch went first, pulling his phone out of his pocket as he made his way down the hall, while I stopped at Reid's side, giving him a sly grin as I leaned against the doorframe.

"What's that look for?" He chuckled nervously, staring at my lips.

I bit my lip and reached out to grab his tie. "What look?"

He poked my cheek. "That one."

I pressed my lips together, holding back the grin I previously held. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

He rolled his eyes and ruffled my hair as he brushed past to meet up with Hotch. As much as I wanted to stop him and say thank-you for everything, I also wanted to get back to work now that I knew a job offer was potentially on the table.