Erin let out a frustrated sigh. Boston had always been a nightmare city to work in, and this had proven par for the course. At least with Florida, you expected the cases to just be insane, but Boston always meant unsolvable cases and tragic losses. This case today had proven to be no exception, and she genuinely felt anguished over the loss of six good agents at the hands of Adrian Bale. There was no doubt that Jason would be out on a leave of undetermined length. She groaned as she dug her hands into her hair as the implication of that washed over her. "I can't have Aaron as the SAC. He's so dismissive of me," she muttered as she leaned back in her chair to stare at the latest picture of her children. They were so happy, but that joy did nothing to help alleviate her bad mood.

"Ma'am, the Director is on line one for you."

She looked up at her assistant and gave her a small smile. "Thank you, Helen." Erin had known that this call was coming, but she still wasn't prepared to hear what he was going to tell her. "Hello, Director Sheppard," she said smoothly as she connected to the line, trying to fake her way through a polite conversation with the man.

"Erin, I'm certain by now that you know about Boston and what happened there. I'm sorry that your team lost an excellent member today, and will be without Agent Gideon for at least three months, if not longer. He was with the others when Bale set off that bomb, watched them die before paramedics could do anything. That sort of trauma sticks with a person."

"I know that far too well," she muttered, thinking about the Amerithrax case and how that trauma still clung to her, despite no deaths occurring on her team at that time. "But was there something that you wished to discuss with me, Sir?"

"Always direct, Erin. Yes. Since it appears that Agent Gideon, even when he returns to the BAU, will be in no position to lead Alpha, I am informing Agent Hotchner that he will be taking over as SAC for the team. And you're going to want to start looking for Benjamin's replacement. We all feel that it would be prudent if you chose a woman to add to the team, since outside of Ms. Jareau, there really isn't a strong female presence on the scenes."

"I will take that into consideration, Sir. When will you be informing Agent Hotchner about the change in command?"

"Tomorrow. He needs some time to decompress over what happened, after all."

She nodded, knowing that there were no words that would be appropriate in that moment, that she would seem bitter or cold if she protested the change. "All right, thank you, Sir. I'll start making up that short list tomorrow as well. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to control the situation a little better."

"This had nothing to do with you, Erin. It was entirely on Agent Gideon's head. He made a rash decision, and it resulted in a lot of unnecessary deaths. Try not to dwell on it too much."

"I'll try," she managed to get out, feeling strangely choked up by those words. "I'll be in touch soon." They ended the call, and once more Erin leaned back in her chair to stare at nothing. "I need a drink."

Glancing at her watch, she saw that it was nearly time to end her day, and she cleared her throat as she hurriedly finished looking over the files from the other teams, finding nothing out of order with them, and she signed off on the files before putting them in her outbox for Helen to file in the morning. With that finished, she pushed away from her desk and went over to her coatrack, slipping into her jacket and slinging her purse over her shoulder before striding from her inner sanctum. "Headed out on time today, Ma'am?"

"Yes. I need to unwind from the events that took place in Boston before heading home to my children. I might be late to work tomorrow."

"I don't see why you just don't take the day off. Today was awful for all of us, and since you're the leader, it hits you harder."

"If only the Director thought like you, Helen. I'll see you tomorrow." She gave her assistant a small smile before striding from the office and over to the elevators. She couldn't help but glance into the bullpen as she waited, seeing that Alpha team was already back and huddled together around Benjamin's desk. A pang of regret stabbed at her heart, and she shook her head a little as she slipped into the elevator, not failing to miss the glare that Aaron sent her direction as the doors closed.

Knowing that it wouldn't be prudent for her to take her car to the closest bar, she called for a taxi and directed the driver to where she wanted to go. Thankfully, it was still relatively quiet when she arrived, and she took a seat on one of the far stools and ordered a Moscow mule as soon as the bartender turned his attention to her. That drink was quickly followed by two more, and she was soon feeling a nice buzz. As she started to drink her fourth, the door opened and she felt the bottom drop out of her stomach as the one person she didn't want to see in that moment walk in, making a beeline for the bar. "Whiskey, neat," he said, his voice controlled and measured, and she groaned a little, wishing that the earth would open and swallow her whole in that moment.

Their eyes locked across the bar as he received his drink, and in one smooth move, he had knocked it back in one swallow. Tapping the glass, Aaron sidled over to her, sinking down on the stool next to her and holding out the glass for the bartender to refill. "I didn't expect to see you here, Aaron."

"Neither did I. Come to drink away your guilt?"

"Funny, I could ask the same of you." She knew that the situation would get no better from that moment on, and she hurriedly finished her drink before making to leave. His hand shot out and gripped her wrist tightly. "Let go."

"No, stay, drink with me. We need to mourn for Benjamin."

Shuddering a little, she pulled her wrist out of his grip, bringing it to her chest to rub absently as she glared at him. "I've already been drinking for him," she hissed, not failing to miss how he signaled for the bartender to bring them two more drinks. "I don't need any more."

"I beg to differ. Drink up, Erin. Drink to Benjamin." There was something in his tone that said he would brook no further arguments from her, and she shuddered as she clinked glasses with him, the alcohol tasting like bitter bile as it slid down her throat. "I suppose that you're glad Agent Gideon is out of commission."

"No. No one deserves to have what happened in Boston happen to them. No one should watch a colleague die when they can do nothing about it. I never took you as one to be cruel, Aaron. Hard, yes, but not like this."

He raised his eyebrow for a moment before shrugging. "I find that I have no niceness in my today, Erin." Before she could say anything more, he had called for another drink, and soon they were going drink for drink, the time for words seemingly over, even as they exchanged increasingly heated looks. She knew that she shouldn't feel this way, not for a subordinate, but her inhibitions always tanked when she was drunk, and she was far past that point now.

"I should get home," she slurred out, going to settle the tab she had racked up, only for Aaron to pay for the whole thing. "You didn't have to do that."

"You can pay for the cab ride back to our places. There is no way that we should be driving in our conditions." She nodded, which caused her head to swim, and then stumbled off the barstool. In the background, she could hear Aaron talking to the bartender, frowning a little at the fact that he sounded much less drunk than she felt. "Come along, Erin."

He took hold of her arm and guided her outside and over to the waiting cab. "That was fast."

"The bartender has one waiting anytime a patron gets too inebriated," he grunted out in reply, and she nodded, only for her head to swim once more, causing her to miss a step and trip over air into his warm body. His arm instantly closed around her waist, his hand palming her breast in a most pleasant manner. Before she could say anything about him removing that hand, his lips were crashing down on hers in a fierce kiss, and she shuddered a little as she instinctively pressed her body against his. "Do you really want to head home in this state?" he growled out, and she shook her head, knowing exactly what would happen from that moment forward.