Page 255 of Chaos has a Name
“Want me to help you get dressed?”
She shook her head.
“I’m going to stay in here for a while. It’s steamy, and feels nice. I just need to regroup.”
Honestly, Chris really wished he could stay. Only, they had all of her clothes in an evidence bag, and her blood that needed to get driven to the FBI building for later when the techs got back.
She knew what he was thinking.
“Go. I’m good here. I’ll wander out in a few. I’m sure Ethan or Callen will be waiting for me.”
Why did she want to stay in there?
That was easy.
Elizabeth didn’t want to go back out. In fact, she wasn’t sure she could. Her brain and body were taxed, and she was buried.
In emotional trauma.
Because he needed it more than she likely did, Chris kissed her on the top of the head, and then got into dry clothes.
“I’ll come check on you,” he said. “Okay?”
Elizabeth nodded.
“I love you, Orion.”
He smiled at her.
“I love you, Sweetness. We’ll be okay. We always are. In the end, all that will be left are the Blackhawks and cockroaches.”
God.
She hoped so.
As he took the evidence and blood, she sat on the closed toilet and took that time to deal with what was going on in her head.
And it finally happened.
She.
Broke.
Down.
The sobs came, and in the privacy of the room while she was alone, Elizabeth began mourning.
For Wyler.
For her sanity.
For her strength.
She’d just come off of a horrible case where she had to take a life, and while Elizabeth could decompartmentalize, at some point, there was only so much she could take.
What she needed was a break.
As she sat there, trying to be quiet, but struggling since the emotions had won over, there was the soft tap on the bathroom door.
