Criminal Minds Fic: Previously on Aaron and Kat 1/?
Title: Previously on Aaron and Kat
By: étienneofthewestwind
Rating: PG-13/FRT
Word Count: 5854
Summary: In six weeks, he deceived his team, his in-laws took potshots at his lack-of-sex life, and his five year-old’s drawing skills surpassed his. At least his sister-in-law finally admitted she’s dating Spencer Reid. … Wait. Not a plus. SR/JB, future AH/OC
Previously on Aaron and Kat
by étienneofthewestwind
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my characters and the storyline.
Ever wonder what you get when you´re home sick and doze through the Dharma & Greg prequel ep with Criminal Minds on the brain? Well, the literal answer is not worth posting anywhere. But marry the seed to an older idea that´s been floating around your brain since Devil´s Night and infuse some coherent plot in… you might get something like this. This was planned before season seven started. Some adjustments have been made for the new eps, but no promises past episode four. This starts late season six.
*************
The smell of roasting garlic and the sound of Loreena McKennitt playing softly greeted Aaron the moment he cracked open the door to his apartment. He opened the door the rest of the way and spotted Jessica chopping lettuce while Jack stood on a stool washing apples in the sink. Both turned his way as he entered the apartment. "Daddy!" Jack hopped off his stool and rushed over to him. Aaron grinned as he set his briefcase down on the nearby bookshelf and shut the door behind him.
"Hey, Buddy," Aaron said as he picked up the damp five year-old for a hug. "Did you have a good day at school?"
Jack shrugged. "We had counting games and made flags, but Miss Ellens was mean."
Aaron raised an eyebrow at that. Jack did not care for that particular teacher´s aide-neither did Aaron, honestly-but ´mean´ could mean anything. "How was she mean?"
"We were supposed to draw a circle of stars. Thirteen ´cause we were talking about the thirteen colonies. Mrs. Wright said we could draw circles ´cause stars are hard. I draw good stars, and didn´t want circles. Matt and Cindy had another fight. Miss Ellens told me to draw circles instead of watching. She wouldn´t let me say I could do stars. I wanted stars, so I drew them in the circles. Like Aunt Jess´ necklace. Miss Ellens didn´t like that."
Given the popular association of the upside down pentacle with Satanism and his observations of Marjorie Ellens, Aaron was not surprised that even right-side-up pentacles went over poorly.
“She took my flag and said I had to do another. Said circles and stars weren’t proper. I told her that she said to draw the stupid circles. Mrs. Wright said we could have stars." Jack looked down at the floor. “I must have gotten loud, ´cause Mrs. Wright came over. She listened and said I didn´t have to redo the flag. Then she sent me to time out."
Jack scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. "I never got my flag back."
"Time out?" Aaron asked.
Jack shrugged. “I must have gotten real loud."
"Jack, did you yell at Miss Ellens?"
"Maybe…"
Aaron glanced over at Jessica. She glanced up from chopping the apples, but gave no indication of her take on Jack´s tale.
Well that´s helpful, Aaron thought dryly.
"It was a good flag! It´s not fair!"
Aaron sighed. "No, but the world isn´t always fair. There are better ways to handle such things than yelling at teachers."
"But-"
"No. Jack, you don´t like it when people yell at you, do you?" Jack scowled and shook his head. "Neither do teachers, and people are less likely to listen to your words when you yell at them. You’re better off stating your position calmly.”
“I did Daddy. I only got loud when she wouldn’t listen.”
“Then you should have gone to Mrs. Wright or waited to have Aunt Jess or I take up the matter. Buddy, it is important to stand up for what’s right, but something like a class assignment can wait.” Aaron placed his hand on top of Jack’s head as he set him back on the floor. “Well, you’ve all ready had time-out, but I want you to think about how you could have handled things better. Now if you’re done helping Aunt Jess, why don’t you go get your folder?”
As Jack nodded and scampered back to his room, Aaron walked over to Jess. “Should I be worried about that?”
His blonde sister-in-law shrugged. "Mrs. Wright didn´t say anything when I picked him up, so I don´t think she thinks much of it." Jess tossed the apples and lettuce together along with some raisins, chopped walnuts, and a small amount of dressing. "As for that other woman… I don´t like her any more than you or Jack, but she probably just sees this as a misunderstanding of instructions and Jack being bratty." Aaron frowned and nodded. "Why? Do you think there´s something more?"
"I don´t know," Aaron said as he turned to the sink and washed his hands. "There´s something about the last few times I´ve picked Jack up that didn´t sit right with me, but that could just be our personalities clashing." Certainly the woman had cooled toward Aaron when she realized his lack of interest in her. "So if Jack´s not in trouble, what´s with dinner?" Aaron grabbed a glass from the cabinet and filled it with water.
"I just wanted to do something nice for you."
"For me? Not Jack?" Jess did consider him family, but everything she did to help with Jack consumed time and energy. Extra things usually meant she needed something extra in return. She was usually upfront about it, which suggested that she felt her request was huge or would not be well received. Aaron swiped a couple apple chunks off the top of the completed salad and popped them into his mouth. "You have a fight with Reid and worry I´ll be hard on him?" he joked. Jess rapped Aaron´s hand with a wooden spoon when he went after a walnut. "You want me to be hard on him?" Aaron asked before he washed the apple down with some water.
"This isn´t about my love life."
"So you admit you´re dating Reid?"
"Why are you so obsessed with the possibility?"
Because a subordinate getting that close to someone who remembered Aaron´s kindergarten follies better than he did, made things awkward. "I´m not obsessed. I just doubt that even you two can spend five months debating the finer points of Halloween traditions, and whether Samhaim´s-"
"Sow-in!"
"Pronounced as spelled or as your mother´s books say. You´re easier to ask what´s really going on."
Jess stepped back from her meal and crossed her arms over her chest. The expression she fixed on him reminded Aaron of Haley when she was about to scold Jack.
Or when Aaron had done something stupid, especially toward the end of their marriage.
Perhaps I pressed the Jess/Reid issue a little too hard…
"Maybe if you paid a little less attention to my sex life, you´d have one of your own."
Aaron winced at Jess´ words. He forced himself to speak calmly as he shoved everything that statement evoked-including a visual of Reid and Jess that he could do without-aside. "My priority is Jack."
"Of course he is, but you need a life outside of work and Jack." Jess´ posture relaxed and she took a step toward him. "I know he needed your intense focus after Haley died, but it´s been over a year. He´s as ready as he´ll ever be for you to start dating."
"I´m not," Aaron said bluntly and used his tone to say "end of discussion".
"Damn it, Aaron! Get over the divorce all ready!"
Aaron´s hand tightened around the glass in his hand. He bit back a scathing retort when he glimpsed Jack as he emerged from the hallway.
Jess gave a loud sigh. "Look, Aaron, I… That didn´t come out right, but it´s been three years. You deserve to move on."
"I know. But I don´t need a girlfriend right now."
"Yes you do!" Jack piped up as he handed Aaron his school folder.
"Really?" Aaron asked, amused at Jack´s solemn tone. He opened the folder. On top were Jack´s daily writing exercises. "Why´s that, Buddy?" Aaron asked. He drank some more water and flipped through the schoolwork as he waited to hear Jack´s answer. His son came up with some of the most amusing reasons.
"To get laid."
Aaron´s eyes widened and he involuntarily drew the water to the wrong passage. He coughed uncontrollably and struggled to regain his ability to breathe.
"Aaron! Are you-?"
Aaron placed the glass on the counter next to the now-wet worksheets. "Fine," he managed to wheeze out around coughs. "Just tickled my windpipe." He leaned forward and faced the floor as he continued his struggle to stop coughing.
Jess nodded and turned away from him. "Jack Andrew Hotchner!" she scolded as she grabbed paper towels to clean up the water. "We don´t talk like that. Where did you even hear that?"
Probably the Spinners, Aaron thought. One of Jess and Haley´s cousins had twins four years older than Jack. Eager to show off how much they knew, the girls were not yet aware of what was appropriate for their younger cousin-or truly understood as much as they thought.
"At the hospital. When you hit your head." Two weeks ago, in the middle of an away case, Jess had gotten a mild concussion heading a soccer ball. She got a CT to rule out anything serious. "Grandma told the doctor."
The coughing stopped, and Aaron asked, "Grandma told the doctor to get laid?" Jack´s grandmother did not suffer fools, but typically watched her language in front of young ears. Of course, she may have thought he was asleep…
"No. You need to. You´re…" Jack tilted his head to the side as he frown in concentration. "´Too tense since Mommy had her midwife crisis. Grandma thought you were getting over it, but then Mommy died and you… Went back one square?´"
"And Grandma told the doctors this?" Jess asked.
"Just the pretty one."
Dear God, please let the pretty one be a lady that I´ll never meet, Aaron pleaded silently. Ever. "Well if she told a doctor… It´s a personal thing that´s generally not spoken of."
"And not by little boys about their Daddy´s, even to their own doctors," Jess cut in.
"Yes," Aaron agreed firmly. "Especially as Grandma was mistaken." He glared at Jess, hoping against hope that she would get the message. "Say, dinner´s about ready. Why don´t you go to the bathroom and wash your hands?"
"They were washed. You sent me after the folder," Jack grumbled, but turned and left the room.
Aaron sighed and turned to his too amused-looking sister-in-law. "Why the fuck can´t your mother take her kid´s side in a divorce like a normal person?" he hissed.
A snort of laughter was his only response. "She clearly thought Steve was an idiot when we split up."
"Steve was an idiot. Long before that.”
Jess tossed the wet paper towels at his face. "None of your business. And you’re an idiot, too, sometimes." Aaron blinked. "Do you really want Dolores Brooks blaming you for the split with Haley? She could make your life miserable." Aaron stared at Jess. "Well, far more than she has accidentally."
Aaron blinked at Jess´ logic. It… was a damn good point, actually.
*************
"Midlife crisis? Is that really what you guys think?"
Jessica blinked up at Aaron. He had entered the room while she had finished the dishes. She turned the water off. "Jack asleep all ready?"
Aaron just leaned against the fridge.
Jessica bit back the temptation to snark about Jack´s confusion of midwife for midlife. Aside from the fact that it would antagonize Aaron more than she wanted-she still had to bring up the subject of the Muchmore reunion, though Jessica was tabling the possible blind date with Michelle for a week or two-Aaron would not let the subject go. She could see the resolve in his stance. But Jessica would prefer almost any other topic. She dried her hands on the dish towel over the kitchen sink. "Haley didn´t leave because she was looking for a younger model," she dodged and hoped that Aaron would not press about the other issues Haley had shown. And if he dares bring up Spencer, I’ll…
"No, you think she left because the job she lived with for twelve years was too much for her." Jessica recognized the bite to Aaron´s tone. It doubtlessly did him wonders as an interrogator, but it did little for his social life. Aaron abruptly sighed and rubbed his forehead. "It wasn´t a midlife crisis," he said wearily. "And it wasn´t the job, though it didn´t help when things started going wrong." Aaron walked over to the breakfast bar and gathered Jack´s drying papers. "We both made mistakes, Jess. I wish that I had seen things that I´d missed. That we could have fixed-"
"We can´t change the past," Jessica told him firmly. "Only learn from it. Haley would want you to move forward."
"Not everything´s about Haley." Aaron´s eyes drifted from the folder to the living room floor. "I´m not saying I´ll never date," he said, flipping through Jack´s work, "just not until the time´s right, and when I´ve met the right person."
"You´re not going to meet anyone if you don´t look."
"I´m not a hermit. I´ll meet someone sooner or later. Whether or not I don´t blow it…" Aaron chuckled, a rare occurrence for him these days. Jessica frowned and realized that Haley had had a point about the job changing him. "Well, I guess we´ll see how that goes," Aaron finished.
"As you´ve pointed out, the divorce wasn´t just your fault."
"I was thinking about how Haley and I almost ended before we began," Aaron said sourly. Then he sighed and sat on a stool. He stared at the kitchen cabinet with a soft smile. "I was so sure I´d blown it with her. That I´d lost the one for me."
"Whoa. She´s The One. I´m gonna marry her. You know who she is?"
Jessica grabbed the other stool as she thought back to the end of her junior year of high school: Yearbook Committee had finished distributing yearbooks well before the end of the day. She and Haley had to share their mom´s old Tempo, so she had nothing better to do than sit in the back of the school auditorium and watch the theater club exercises. Well, draw rough sketches on some unused notebook paper while the club ran their exercises. Halfway through the meeting, this guy in her year had stumbled in and plopped into the seat next to her. Startled, Jessica had asked if he were waiting for someone in the club too. Aaron had absently confined that while he enjoyed breathing normally, he thought that his new allergy medicine had declared war on his brain, and he had needed to sit down. Then Jessica´s words had registered and he looked up at the stage-straight at Haley.
"You really believed you were meant to marry her? Even after your head cleared up?" Jessica slid into the stool next to him. "Please tell me you´re not waiting for destiny to send you someone?"
Aaron chuckled. "No, I don´t expect the universe to set me up. It´s just that when I first noticed Haley, I could see so much of her personality, her strength and liveliness. I just knew that I wanted her in my life."
“Liveliness?” Jessica stared at him. "Just how high does Benadryl make you?"
"Drowsy," Aaron said, giving her a strange look.
"You sure about that? Haley was pretending to be a damn light bulb."
"Lamppost."
"Whatever. She was standing quietly."
"Her eyes weren´t,” Aaron said. “They practically screamed ´This is bullshit, but damn, it´s a riot watching everyone else´."
Well, that was an accurate description of Haley´s attitude to the ´concept exercises´ Gravina thought up. And something Aaron had had plenty of time to learn over the years.
"It made for a colorful, vibrant stillness that warmed the stage."
"God, you´re still a dork sometimes." Jessica knew Spencer and the team found Aaron´s stern frowns intimidating. While it did an excellent job of conveying disapproval, she found it too similar to his childhood pouts to be threatening. She smiled fondly. "Did you ever tell Haley that? She would have eaten it up."
"That I´m a dork?"
"That you fell in love with her lamppost performance. Dorky or not, it´s sweet." Aaron did not look completely appeased. “Though, I´m surprised you still believe in love-at-first-sight.”
“I’m not sure that I do,” Aaron said. He set Jack’s work down on the counter. “I believe that sometimes when you see somebody, something clicks. And with Haley, it was so intense, I honestly called it love at the time. But as deeply as I fell for her when we got to know each other… I suppose it was just infatuation, but far beyond any other time I ever experienced it. Even if Haley had wanted nothing to do with me, I would never have forgotten her, would have sometimes wondered ‘what if’.”
“It’s still a nice memory to have. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so strongly for someone at first.”
“Once you and Reid got to talking, you seemed to hit things off pretty quickly.”
I can’t believe he’s bringing that up again.
Aaron sighed. “Look, you’re right; it’s not my place to tell you who to see."
Damn right, it isn´t.
"But if it´s serious, I’d like to know, so I can get used to it before Jack gets a new uncle.”
“Damn it, Aaron! Men date younger women all the time, and no one thinks anything of it or makes cougar cracks. I don´t ne-”
“I’m not old! I mean you´re not a-We’re not that much older than Reid.”
Yeesh. God forbid I only have to deal with one Hotchner’s “midwife” issues… “If it’s not the age thing, what is it? You’ve worked with Spencer for years. You know he’s a good man.”
“He is," Aaron said. "But the type of cases we do… Sometimes at the end of the day, we need to get as far as we can from anything that reminds us of it. Even coworkers, friends or not. And…" Aaron sighed and stared at his left hand. The fingers were tracing an abstract pattern on the counter. "The thing about working at the Bureau, the way it´s illegal for us to talk about some aspects of our job… sometimes that extends to coworkers, especially subordinates. Fortunately, we don’t have that much to do with national security, but it can add up, can ruin friendships. As that weighed harder, I quit discussing work outside the office, even things I could and used to confide in Haley. Among everything else that went wrong, she read that as a loss of trust and interest in her, and I didn’t see it.” Aaron looked back up at Jessica. “Don’t let Reid make the same mistake.”
“Spencer’s never wanted to talk about work.”
Aaron snorted. “Smart man." He reached up to massage his forehead. "Look, maybe I am worrying for nothing, but I don´t want you to feel you have to choose or take sides between us."
"I don´t," Jessica said. "I feel that you should get over yourself."
"I meant ever," Aaron said sourly. "I… Thanks for dinner." Aaron´s tone abruptly changed. "And the cleanup. It was nice, and I won´t say anything else about Spencer."
"Aaron, that´s not what this is about."
Well, not totally.
*************
"Was there something going on between Aaron and Emily Prentiss before her death?" Jessica asked.
Spencer Reid blinked up from his pancakes. That was not the response he had expected from his girlfriend when he asked how her discussion with Hotch had gone. "What? Romantically? Trust me, I know that smart people can make mistakes when emotions are involved, but Hotch has always struck me as too controlled to get involved with a subordinate."
"Unresolved attraction, then. Or completely platonic antagonism, or…" Jessica stabbed at her cheese omelet. "I don´t know. He´s been weird about her death, and…"
"Weird? How?" Spencer had not noticed anything, but he had been wrestling with his own grief over the past few weeks.
"I´m not sure." Jessica shook her head and sighed in frustration. "He really isn´t anything like he was after Haley´s death, but I´ve seen him when he´s lost fellow agents before. He’s… off. Anyway, last night he said something about how it´s illegal for you guys to talk about certain aspects of your job and how that can affect friendships, especially with subordinates."
"Oh," Spencer said. After a quick glance around the slow café, he leaned further over the table and dropped his voice a bit. "I can´t give details, but Emily died because something from her CIA days came back to bite her in the ass. She could not have told us before we found out, but she had had previous warning about this individual’s escape. She knew that as the key figure to his takedown, she was the focus of his rage. Even knowing the logic behind her actions, it was still natural for us to feel betrayed. We all worked through it to different degrees, but I think Hotch believes she should have told him a threat existed, but that the team wasn´t cleared for details. Can’t say I disagree, but, um, he’s probably conflicted about being angry with her when she died.”
"Or still angry," Jessica frowned in thought. "He certainly went out of his way to suggest the ´lost agent´ wasn´t one he knew well, much less worked with…"
Spencer dropped his fork onto his plate as he stared at Jessica. "He didn´t tell you who had died?" he asked.
"You all ready had," Jessica reminded him. "But I called Aaron that night to see if there was anything I could do, and he didn´t want me to say anything to Jack. He told him that several groups in the Bureau had had rough cases and he would be going to a funeral, possibly two."
"But not for whom?" Spencer asked, a ball of hope settling uncomfortably in his chest.
"No. He said that after Jack´s issues around the anniversary of Haley´s death, he didn´t want to upset him further. That there was no point to telling Jack that someone he had met died when the last time he saw all of you was Haley´s funeral."
Spencer nodded, as the ball of hope transformed into a lead weight. "He probably doesn´t want Jack to worry about him, either," he said. "Prentiss´ death could bring the dangers of the job home." It´s impressive the way he kept the truth from Jack without outright lying to him, though, Spencer thought.
I just hope that if Jack does find out, the sense of betrayal doesn´t cause more problems than Hotch wants to avoid.
Jessica snorted. "Jack may not be a genius, but he is a bright kid. He figured out that chasing bad guys can be dangerous long ago. Though I don´t exactly want to remind him of the risks to his father, either." She frowned at him. "Are you okay? I didn´t mean to bring things up."
"It´s not that. For a moment, I hoped Hotch´s vagueness meant something else. But-"
"Hope?" Jessica asked, a confused frown on her face. "That Aaron wasn´t dealing?"
"The guy got away. With some of his terrorist and criminal connections still out there, Prentiss was only completely safe from further torture once dead. But aside from Hotch´s understandable reasons, such a thing would have been run through higher ups. JJ was our contact to the other agencies involved, and she doesn´t have Hotch´s poker face."
Jessica started to chuckle, but hastily coughed in an attempt to cover it up.
"What?"
"I’m sorry, it´s just that poker face isn´t a way I´d describe Aaron. I can´t always tell what´s going on, but I can tell when something is."
"Well, you have known him longer," Spencer said. "And not just as a boss. I´m sure he´s more open to you."
"He has his moments," Jessica said. "But even in kindergarten, he would want to keep what was going through his head locked in there. Though, I guess he was not as good at it."
"Kindergarten? I thought Hotch didn´t meet Haley until high school?"
"Our home town put all the kindergarteners in one building before spreading us out among six elementary schools. Aaron and I were both morning session, and adjacent classrooms. So recess and teamed activities or lessons would be together."
"Morning session? Is kindergarten half-days?" Spencer had missed kindergarten-and the first several grades-as his school district, daunted at the prospect of balancing his intellectual needs with socialization, advised his parents against enrollment. He had had a mix of special tutors, homeschooling from his mother and sports activities until their last move and he tested into middle school.
"For us, it was. The district went to full-day kindergarten in the separate elementaries some time ago. Sean Hotchner´s class, actually," Jessica added, chuckling. "From what Haley said, the tantrum when he realized he got stuck with more school than the slightly older kid next door was impressive."
Spencer smiled. "Not a fan of school?"
"Not a fan of sitting still, as I recall. The only thing that motivated him was wanting to grow up just like Aaron. His mother used it shamelessly." Jessica pushed a couple pieces of her omelet around her plate. "Do you really think that Aaron would do something like that? Deceive people about their friend´s death?"
Spencer frowned at her tone, and thought over his answer carefully. "If he were under orders, if he thought that it was the best way to keep her-and others-alive. He´d hate every minute of it, probably even find ways to punish himself for it, but he´d do it. Sometimes…" Spencer paused as he scooped another spoonful of sugar into his coffee. "Rarely, fortunately, but there are cases that require the agents involved to be ruthless, to accept things they´d usually never consider as the right course. We all know it, and most of us hate it."
Jessica frowned thoughtfully as she took another bite of her omelet.
"Hotch would never do it lightly," Spencer told her softly. "He values honesty as much as I do. And the odds of another like case Prentiss´ reaching our group… I can say with reasonable certainty that it shouldn´t happen."
Jessica smiled wanly. "That´s good."
They ate in silence for a few minutes before Jessica spoke again. "You know Agent Jareau well?"
"She joined the team shortly after I did, and she has always treated me like a younger brother. Gideon never quite got that, but-Yes, we´re close. I´m her son´s godfather, actually."
"Do you see much of her since her transfer? You haven´t mentioned her that much."
"She has lunch with Garcia, Henry´s other godparent every other Friday. I join them if there´s not a case. But aside from that, she´s been calling me since Emily´s death. She wants to make sure I´m all right with it."
Spencer frowned down at his pancakes. While he appreciated the concern, he was a little annoyed at the presumption that the stress could cause him to go on a drug bender. True, Emily´s abduction and torture brought up unpleasant memories, but Spencer would appreciate some faith in his strength.
That would go further than JJ´s hovering.
"How did you guys get on the topic of the job?" Spencer asked. "I thought you wanted to discuss Hotch visiting your family more."
"That was before Jack blurted out something my mother said during those hours my concussion wiped out. Dinner was mostly awkward silence. Then after Jack went to bed, we got onto Haley, and… Well, we never talked about anything I wanted to."
"Your mother has issues with Hotch?"
"It depends on what you call issues," Jessica muttered. "I know it´ll be funny someday, but for now, I just want to forget it."
Spencer nodded and after a few minutes, they drifted into a discussion of Doctor Who.
*************
After Spencer left the diner, a fresh dose of coffee in hand, Jessica remained at the booth, watching the traffic through the window. As her eyes focused on the bustle of cars and people, her mind drifted back to her conversation with Spencer-and the unspoken implication that he might have to lie to her someday. The chemistry that ignited when they discovered they shared more than a favorite holiday had been a pleasant surprise. While Aaron´s uncle quip had been premature, Jessica could see herself marrying Spencer in a couple years if things continued on. But what would happen to them if he had to lie to her?
Aaron had suggested that trust issues played a role in his split with Haley. If there were something he had had to lie about, could that explain his reluctance to date-or make any serious effort back then to convince Haley he still cared, for that matter-did he feel his job made him unworthy?
And if it did, could Jessica convince Aaron he deserved happiness, that he could still have a strong relationship, when she now wondered how she would handle deceit from Spencer?
"True, most guys take their girls to dinner, not breakfast. Well, when they´re clearly coming from separate locations, anyway. But that guy adores you. It´s all over his face whenever you´re in here. If you want something more normal, you should tell him. He´d be more than willing to give it to you." Jessica blinked away from the window to scowl at the waitress, a plump woman graying hair. "Though really, the odd ones deserve appreciation for who they are."
"Not that it´s your business," Jessica said in her best imitation of her mother at her iciest, "but breakfast was originally my idea." Only because it was the first time they were both available to continue the lively discussion they had started when she had to drive Aaron to Quantico the morning his minivan declared a strike. Not that either had realized that it was a first date until they got to talking. And while they had claimed the place as "their" breakfast spot, Jessica and Spencer had all sorts of dates, some of which this woman would define as "normal".
Not that that was any of her business, either.
"I´m sorry, honey. You just looked so upset, and there´s no point in moping here. Whatever he did, just talk to him. I´m sure-"
"Do yourself a favor, Dr. Phil," Jessica slid out of the booth, slinging her purse over her shoulder. "Stick to your day job."
She strode out of the diner and quickly made her way to the public lot where she had left her car. Once inside, Jessica turned the ignition and slumped back against the headrest. There was no use wrestling with lies that might never come until she calmed down. She hated unsolicited opinions, especially from virtual strangers too nosy for their own good. Anyway, she and Spencer could afford for her to take some time on the issue, and Aaron…
Well, as much as she thought it would do him good to become more social, it was ultimately his decision. So it could wait, too.
It´s not as if it´ll stop him from finding the next great love of his life…
*************
“…It’s not that simple, Seaver,” Hotchner said as they walked through the Dulles terminal.
Ashley clenched her fists as she hurried to keep up with the tall man’s long stride. It would do her no good to backtalk a superior, but she was sick of being babied. She had hoped that the time they had spent interviewing the two TSA agents would have made him forget about the lecture he decided she needed.
“I’ve seen your academy scores,” Hotchner said sharply. Ashley blinked in surprise. Surely he had not seen her reaction? “I’ve no doubt about your intelligence or physical skills. But no one can do everything, and even the best of us can get caught off guard. It’s a matter of-”
The stern agent turned into the walkway toward the daily parking garage and almost collided with a woman. Ashley instantly studied her: short, mid-thirties, chin-length auburn hair, blue blouse with black slacks and flats, black soft briefcase slung over her head and right shoulder so it fell in front of her. “Sorry,” Hotchner told the petite redhead at the same time she muttered an apology. Then they both stared at each other for a few moments. Just as Ashley was going to speak up, Hotchner stepped to his left to walk around the woman.
At the same time, the redhead had stepped to her right.
A couple more attempts to maneuver around each other and Hotchner stepped back-almost stomped Ashley´s toe in the process-and gestured for her to go on. "Thank you," the woman smiled at him before continuing on her way.
Hotchner nodded back and started down the walkway. After a couple steps, he abruptly turned and called “Excuse me” at the same time the woman said “Mister, do-”
The woman grinned sheepishly as she cut herself off.
"Have we met?" Hotchner asked bluntly as the redhead opened her mouth again. “Sorry, but, well…”
"Your face is familiar, too. Though I can’t quite… Did you ever live in San Francisco growing up?"
Hotchner shook his head. "Virginia. Summers with family in Missouri.” To Ashley’s surprise, he pronounced the end of Missouri with a soft i that sounded close to an ‘ah’ rather than the hard e it should be. “Perhaps you took a trip?”
“Not to those places. Not then anyway. Did you go to college in LA?”
Hotchner shook his head. “Missouri-Columbia and St. Louis. You ever live in Seattle?”
“No,” the redhead replied. “But I visited in ’98.” Hotchner shook his head. “Oh. New York City?”
“Yes!” Hotch smiled. “I worked there from ’95 to ’98.”
The woman frowned. “Did you ever go back to visit?”
“2000, 2006, 2008…”
“No. And I don´t think it’s anything that recent,” the redhead said. She bit her lip and tilted her head to the side as she studied him. “You ever in England?”
“A couple months in 2002.”
The woman shook her head and let out a frustrated huff. “Might as well have been a past life,” she grumbled.
“Of course,” Hotchner replied dryly. “You were a Tahitian princess a couple centuries ago.”
“Nope. Scandinavian field mouse.” Hotchner blinked in surprise and the woman smirked. “My straight face beat yours.”
An honest-to-God smile cracked Hotchner’s face as he chuckled. The sparkle in his brown eyes made him look years younger. “So it did.” He extended his hand to her. “Aaron-”
The intercom announced a landing as Hotchner´s phone rang.
The auburn-haired woman quickly checked her watch, and Hotchner pulled out his phone and checked the caller ID. “Sorry, I’ve got to take this,” he said as the woman blurted “I’ve got to go. Sorry.” She raced on her way as Hotchner tried to call after her, but she quickly disappeared in the crowd. Hotchner shook his head and answered his phone.
After a minute, he said, “Yes, I understand. We’ll be right there.” He ended the call and placed the phone in his pocket. “That was Morgan. We´ve got to get back to the office.” He looked in the direction the redhead had gone, before he turned and walked briskly toward the Bureau sedan.
Very briskly as Ashley almost had to jog to keep up.
By: étienneofthewestwind
Rating: PG-13/FRT
Word Count: 5854
Summary: In six weeks, he deceived his team, his in-laws took potshots at his lack-of-sex life, and his five year-old’s drawing skills surpassed his. At least his sister-in-law finally admitted she’s dating Spencer Reid. … Wait. Not a plus. SR/JB, future AH/OC
Previously on Aaron and Kat
by étienneofthewestwind
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my characters and the storyline.
Ever wonder what you get when you´re home sick and doze through the Dharma & Greg prequel ep with Criminal Minds on the brain? Well, the literal answer is not worth posting anywhere. But marry the seed to an older idea that´s been floating around your brain since Devil´s Night and infuse some coherent plot in… you might get something like this. This was planned before season seven started. Some adjustments have been made for the new eps, but no promises past episode four. This starts late season six.
*************
The smell of roasting garlic and the sound of Loreena McKennitt playing softly greeted Aaron the moment he cracked open the door to his apartment. He opened the door the rest of the way and spotted Jessica chopping lettuce while Jack stood on a stool washing apples in the sink. Both turned his way as he entered the apartment. "Daddy!" Jack hopped off his stool and rushed over to him. Aaron grinned as he set his briefcase down on the nearby bookshelf and shut the door behind him.
"Hey, Buddy," Aaron said as he picked up the damp five year-old for a hug. "Did you have a good day at school?"
Jack shrugged. "We had counting games and made flags, but Miss Ellens was mean."
Aaron raised an eyebrow at that. Jack did not care for that particular teacher´s aide-neither did Aaron, honestly-but ´mean´ could mean anything. "How was she mean?"
"We were supposed to draw a circle of stars. Thirteen ´cause we were talking about the thirteen colonies. Mrs. Wright said we could draw circles ´cause stars are hard. I draw good stars, and didn´t want circles. Matt and Cindy had another fight. Miss Ellens told me to draw circles instead of watching. She wouldn´t let me say I could do stars. I wanted stars, so I drew them in the circles. Like Aunt Jess´ necklace. Miss Ellens didn´t like that."
Given the popular association of the upside down pentacle with Satanism and his observations of Marjorie Ellens, Aaron was not surprised that even right-side-up pentacles went over poorly.
“She took my flag and said I had to do another. Said circles and stars weren’t proper. I told her that she said to draw the stupid circles. Mrs. Wright said we could have stars." Jack looked down at the floor. “I must have gotten loud, ´cause Mrs. Wright came over. She listened and said I didn´t have to redo the flag. Then she sent me to time out."
Jack scowled and crossed his arms over his chest. "I never got my flag back."
"Time out?" Aaron asked.
Jack shrugged. “I must have gotten real loud."
"Jack, did you yell at Miss Ellens?"
"Maybe…"
Aaron glanced over at Jessica. She glanced up from chopping the apples, but gave no indication of her take on Jack´s tale.
Well that´s helpful, Aaron thought dryly.
"It was a good flag! It´s not fair!"
Aaron sighed. "No, but the world isn´t always fair. There are better ways to handle such things than yelling at teachers."
"But-"
"No. Jack, you don´t like it when people yell at you, do you?" Jack scowled and shook his head. "Neither do teachers, and people are less likely to listen to your words when you yell at them. You’re better off stating your position calmly.”
“I did Daddy. I only got loud when she wouldn’t listen.”
“Then you should have gone to Mrs. Wright or waited to have Aunt Jess or I take up the matter. Buddy, it is important to stand up for what’s right, but something like a class assignment can wait.” Aaron placed his hand on top of Jack’s head as he set him back on the floor. “Well, you’ve all ready had time-out, but I want you to think about how you could have handled things better. Now if you’re done helping Aunt Jess, why don’t you go get your folder?”
As Jack nodded and scampered back to his room, Aaron walked over to Jess. “Should I be worried about that?”
His blonde sister-in-law shrugged. "Mrs. Wright didn´t say anything when I picked him up, so I don´t think she thinks much of it." Jess tossed the apples and lettuce together along with some raisins, chopped walnuts, and a small amount of dressing. "As for that other woman… I don´t like her any more than you or Jack, but she probably just sees this as a misunderstanding of instructions and Jack being bratty." Aaron frowned and nodded. "Why? Do you think there´s something more?"
"I don´t know," Aaron said as he turned to the sink and washed his hands. "There´s something about the last few times I´ve picked Jack up that didn´t sit right with me, but that could just be our personalities clashing." Certainly the woman had cooled toward Aaron when she realized his lack of interest in her. "So if Jack´s not in trouble, what´s with dinner?" Aaron grabbed a glass from the cabinet and filled it with water.
"I just wanted to do something nice for you."
"For me? Not Jack?" Jess did consider him family, but everything she did to help with Jack consumed time and energy. Extra things usually meant she needed something extra in return. She was usually upfront about it, which suggested that she felt her request was huge or would not be well received. Aaron swiped a couple apple chunks off the top of the completed salad and popped them into his mouth. "You have a fight with Reid and worry I´ll be hard on him?" he joked. Jess rapped Aaron´s hand with a wooden spoon when he went after a walnut. "You want me to be hard on him?" Aaron asked before he washed the apple down with some water.
"This isn´t about my love life."
"So you admit you´re dating Reid?"
"Why are you so obsessed with the possibility?"
Because a subordinate getting that close to someone who remembered Aaron´s kindergarten follies better than he did, made things awkward. "I´m not obsessed. I just doubt that even you two can spend five months debating the finer points of Halloween traditions, and whether Samhaim´s-"
"Sow-in!"
"Pronounced as spelled or as your mother´s books say. You´re easier to ask what´s really going on."
Jess stepped back from her meal and crossed her arms over her chest. The expression she fixed on him reminded Aaron of Haley when she was about to scold Jack.
Or when Aaron had done something stupid, especially toward the end of their marriage.
Perhaps I pressed the Jess/Reid issue a little too hard…
"Maybe if you paid a little less attention to my sex life, you´d have one of your own."
Aaron winced at Jess´ words. He forced himself to speak calmly as he shoved everything that statement evoked-including a visual of Reid and Jess that he could do without-aside. "My priority is Jack."
"Of course he is, but you need a life outside of work and Jack." Jess´ posture relaxed and she took a step toward him. "I know he needed your intense focus after Haley died, but it´s been over a year. He´s as ready as he´ll ever be for you to start dating."
"I´m not," Aaron said bluntly and used his tone to say "end of discussion".
"Damn it, Aaron! Get over the divorce all ready!"
Aaron´s hand tightened around the glass in his hand. He bit back a scathing retort when he glimpsed Jack as he emerged from the hallway.
Jess gave a loud sigh. "Look, Aaron, I… That didn´t come out right, but it´s been three years. You deserve to move on."
"I know. But I don´t need a girlfriend right now."
"Yes you do!" Jack piped up as he handed Aaron his school folder.
"Really?" Aaron asked, amused at Jack´s solemn tone. He opened the folder. On top were Jack´s daily writing exercises. "Why´s that, Buddy?" Aaron asked. He drank some more water and flipped through the schoolwork as he waited to hear Jack´s answer. His son came up with some of the most amusing reasons.
"To get laid."
Aaron´s eyes widened and he involuntarily drew the water to the wrong passage. He coughed uncontrollably and struggled to regain his ability to breathe.
"Aaron! Are you-?"
Aaron placed the glass on the counter next to the now-wet worksheets. "Fine," he managed to wheeze out around coughs. "Just tickled my windpipe." He leaned forward and faced the floor as he continued his struggle to stop coughing.
Jess nodded and turned away from him. "Jack Andrew Hotchner!" she scolded as she grabbed paper towels to clean up the water. "We don´t talk like that. Where did you even hear that?"
Probably the Spinners, Aaron thought. One of Jess and Haley´s cousins had twins four years older than Jack. Eager to show off how much they knew, the girls were not yet aware of what was appropriate for their younger cousin-or truly understood as much as they thought.
"At the hospital. When you hit your head." Two weeks ago, in the middle of an away case, Jess had gotten a mild concussion heading a soccer ball. She got a CT to rule out anything serious. "Grandma told the doctor."
The coughing stopped, and Aaron asked, "Grandma told the doctor to get laid?" Jack´s grandmother did not suffer fools, but typically watched her language in front of young ears. Of course, she may have thought he was asleep…
"No. You need to. You´re…" Jack tilted his head to the side as he frown in concentration. "´Too tense since Mommy had her midwife crisis. Grandma thought you were getting over it, but then Mommy died and you… Went back one square?´"
"And Grandma told the doctors this?" Jess asked.
"Just the pretty one."
Dear God, please let the pretty one be a lady that I´ll never meet, Aaron pleaded silently. Ever. "Well if she told a doctor… It´s a personal thing that´s generally not spoken of."
"And not by little boys about their Daddy´s, even to their own doctors," Jess cut in.
"Yes," Aaron agreed firmly. "Especially as Grandma was mistaken." He glared at Jess, hoping against hope that she would get the message. "Say, dinner´s about ready. Why don´t you go to the bathroom and wash your hands?"
"They were washed. You sent me after the folder," Jack grumbled, but turned and left the room.
Aaron sighed and turned to his too amused-looking sister-in-law. "Why the fuck can´t your mother take her kid´s side in a divorce like a normal person?" he hissed.
A snort of laughter was his only response. "She clearly thought Steve was an idiot when we split up."
"Steve was an idiot. Long before that.”
Jess tossed the wet paper towels at his face. "None of your business. And you’re an idiot, too, sometimes." Aaron blinked. "Do you really want Dolores Brooks blaming you for the split with Haley? She could make your life miserable." Aaron stared at Jess. "Well, far more than she has accidentally."
Aaron blinked at Jess´ logic. It… was a damn good point, actually.
*************
"Midlife crisis? Is that really what you guys think?"
Jessica blinked up at Aaron. He had entered the room while she had finished the dishes. She turned the water off. "Jack asleep all ready?"
Aaron just leaned against the fridge.
Jessica bit back the temptation to snark about Jack´s confusion of midwife for midlife. Aside from the fact that it would antagonize Aaron more than she wanted-she still had to bring up the subject of the Muchmore reunion, though Jessica was tabling the possible blind date with Michelle for a week or two-Aaron would not let the subject go. She could see the resolve in his stance. But Jessica would prefer almost any other topic. She dried her hands on the dish towel over the kitchen sink. "Haley didn´t leave because she was looking for a younger model," she dodged and hoped that Aaron would not press about the other issues Haley had shown. And if he dares bring up Spencer, I’ll…
"No, you think she left because the job she lived with for twelve years was too much for her." Jessica recognized the bite to Aaron´s tone. It doubtlessly did him wonders as an interrogator, but it did little for his social life. Aaron abruptly sighed and rubbed his forehead. "It wasn´t a midlife crisis," he said wearily. "And it wasn´t the job, though it didn´t help when things started going wrong." Aaron walked over to the breakfast bar and gathered Jack´s drying papers. "We both made mistakes, Jess. I wish that I had seen things that I´d missed. That we could have fixed-"
"We can´t change the past," Jessica told him firmly. "Only learn from it. Haley would want you to move forward."
"Not everything´s about Haley." Aaron´s eyes drifted from the folder to the living room floor. "I´m not saying I´ll never date," he said, flipping through Jack´s work, "just not until the time´s right, and when I´ve met the right person."
"You´re not going to meet anyone if you don´t look."
"I´m not a hermit. I´ll meet someone sooner or later. Whether or not I don´t blow it…" Aaron chuckled, a rare occurrence for him these days. Jessica frowned and realized that Haley had had a point about the job changing him. "Well, I guess we´ll see how that goes," Aaron finished.
"As you´ve pointed out, the divorce wasn´t just your fault."
"I was thinking about how Haley and I almost ended before we began," Aaron said sourly. Then he sighed and sat on a stool. He stared at the kitchen cabinet with a soft smile. "I was so sure I´d blown it with her. That I´d lost the one for me."
"Whoa. She´s The One. I´m gonna marry her. You know who she is?"
Jessica grabbed the other stool as she thought back to the end of her junior year of high school: Yearbook Committee had finished distributing yearbooks well before the end of the day. She and Haley had to share their mom´s old Tempo, so she had nothing better to do than sit in the back of the school auditorium and watch the theater club exercises. Well, draw rough sketches on some unused notebook paper while the club ran their exercises. Halfway through the meeting, this guy in her year had stumbled in and plopped into the seat next to her. Startled, Jessica had asked if he were waiting for someone in the club too. Aaron had absently confined that while he enjoyed breathing normally, he thought that his new allergy medicine had declared war on his brain, and he had needed to sit down. Then Jessica´s words had registered and he looked up at the stage-straight at Haley.
"You really believed you were meant to marry her? Even after your head cleared up?" Jessica slid into the stool next to him. "Please tell me you´re not waiting for destiny to send you someone?"
Aaron chuckled. "No, I don´t expect the universe to set me up. It´s just that when I first noticed Haley, I could see so much of her personality, her strength and liveliness. I just knew that I wanted her in my life."
“Liveliness?” Jessica stared at him. "Just how high does Benadryl make you?"
"Drowsy," Aaron said, giving her a strange look.
"You sure about that? Haley was pretending to be a damn light bulb."
"Lamppost."
"Whatever. She was standing quietly."
"Her eyes weren´t,” Aaron said. “They practically screamed ´This is bullshit, but damn, it´s a riot watching everyone else´."
Well, that was an accurate description of Haley´s attitude to the ´concept exercises´ Gravina thought up. And something Aaron had had plenty of time to learn over the years.
"It made for a colorful, vibrant stillness that warmed the stage."
"God, you´re still a dork sometimes." Jessica knew Spencer and the team found Aaron´s stern frowns intimidating. While it did an excellent job of conveying disapproval, she found it too similar to his childhood pouts to be threatening. She smiled fondly. "Did you ever tell Haley that? She would have eaten it up."
"That I´m a dork?"
"That you fell in love with her lamppost performance. Dorky or not, it´s sweet." Aaron did not look completely appeased. “Though, I´m surprised you still believe in love-at-first-sight.”
“I’m not sure that I do,” Aaron said. He set Jack’s work down on the counter. “I believe that sometimes when you see somebody, something clicks. And with Haley, it was so intense, I honestly called it love at the time. But as deeply as I fell for her when we got to know each other… I suppose it was just infatuation, but far beyond any other time I ever experienced it. Even if Haley had wanted nothing to do with me, I would never have forgotten her, would have sometimes wondered ‘what if’.”
“It’s still a nice memory to have. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so strongly for someone at first.”
“Once you and Reid got to talking, you seemed to hit things off pretty quickly.”
I can’t believe he’s bringing that up again.
Aaron sighed. “Look, you’re right; it’s not my place to tell you who to see."
Damn right, it isn´t.
"But if it´s serious, I’d like to know, so I can get used to it before Jack gets a new uncle.”
“Damn it, Aaron! Men date younger women all the time, and no one thinks anything of it or makes cougar cracks. I don´t ne-”
“I’m not old! I mean you´re not a-We’re not that much older than Reid.”
Yeesh. God forbid I only have to deal with one Hotchner’s “midwife” issues… “If it’s not the age thing, what is it? You’ve worked with Spencer for years. You know he’s a good man.”
“He is," Aaron said. "But the type of cases we do… Sometimes at the end of the day, we need to get as far as we can from anything that reminds us of it. Even coworkers, friends or not. And…" Aaron sighed and stared at his left hand. The fingers were tracing an abstract pattern on the counter. "The thing about working at the Bureau, the way it´s illegal for us to talk about some aspects of our job… sometimes that extends to coworkers, especially subordinates. Fortunately, we don’t have that much to do with national security, but it can add up, can ruin friendships. As that weighed harder, I quit discussing work outside the office, even things I could and used to confide in Haley. Among everything else that went wrong, she read that as a loss of trust and interest in her, and I didn’t see it.” Aaron looked back up at Jessica. “Don’t let Reid make the same mistake.”
“Spencer’s never wanted to talk about work.”
Aaron snorted. “Smart man." He reached up to massage his forehead. "Look, maybe I am worrying for nothing, but I don´t want you to feel you have to choose or take sides between us."
"I don´t," Jessica said. "I feel that you should get over yourself."
"I meant ever," Aaron said sourly. "I… Thanks for dinner." Aaron´s tone abruptly changed. "And the cleanup. It was nice, and I won´t say anything else about Spencer."
"Aaron, that´s not what this is about."
Well, not totally.
*************
"Was there something going on between Aaron and Emily Prentiss before her death?" Jessica asked.
Spencer Reid blinked up from his pancakes. That was not the response he had expected from his girlfriend when he asked how her discussion with Hotch had gone. "What? Romantically? Trust me, I know that smart people can make mistakes when emotions are involved, but Hotch has always struck me as too controlled to get involved with a subordinate."
"Unresolved attraction, then. Or completely platonic antagonism, or…" Jessica stabbed at her cheese omelet. "I don´t know. He´s been weird about her death, and…"
"Weird? How?" Spencer had not noticed anything, but he had been wrestling with his own grief over the past few weeks.
"I´m not sure." Jessica shook her head and sighed in frustration. "He really isn´t anything like he was after Haley´s death, but I´ve seen him when he´s lost fellow agents before. He’s… off. Anyway, last night he said something about how it´s illegal for you guys to talk about certain aspects of your job and how that can affect friendships, especially with subordinates."
"Oh," Spencer said. After a quick glance around the slow café, he leaned further over the table and dropped his voice a bit. "I can´t give details, but Emily died because something from her CIA days came back to bite her in the ass. She could not have told us before we found out, but she had had previous warning about this individual’s escape. She knew that as the key figure to his takedown, she was the focus of his rage. Even knowing the logic behind her actions, it was still natural for us to feel betrayed. We all worked through it to different degrees, but I think Hotch believes she should have told him a threat existed, but that the team wasn´t cleared for details. Can’t say I disagree, but, um, he’s probably conflicted about being angry with her when she died.”
"Or still angry," Jessica frowned in thought. "He certainly went out of his way to suggest the ´lost agent´ wasn´t one he knew well, much less worked with…"
Spencer dropped his fork onto his plate as he stared at Jessica. "He didn´t tell you who had died?" he asked.
"You all ready had," Jessica reminded him. "But I called Aaron that night to see if there was anything I could do, and he didn´t want me to say anything to Jack. He told him that several groups in the Bureau had had rough cases and he would be going to a funeral, possibly two."
"But not for whom?" Spencer asked, a ball of hope settling uncomfortably in his chest.
"No. He said that after Jack´s issues around the anniversary of Haley´s death, he didn´t want to upset him further. That there was no point to telling Jack that someone he had met died when the last time he saw all of you was Haley´s funeral."
Spencer nodded, as the ball of hope transformed into a lead weight. "He probably doesn´t want Jack to worry about him, either," he said. "Prentiss´ death could bring the dangers of the job home." It´s impressive the way he kept the truth from Jack without outright lying to him, though, Spencer thought.
I just hope that if Jack does find out, the sense of betrayal doesn´t cause more problems than Hotch wants to avoid.
Jessica snorted. "Jack may not be a genius, but he is a bright kid. He figured out that chasing bad guys can be dangerous long ago. Though I don´t exactly want to remind him of the risks to his father, either." She frowned at him. "Are you okay? I didn´t mean to bring things up."
"It´s not that. For a moment, I hoped Hotch´s vagueness meant something else. But-"
"Hope?" Jessica asked, a confused frown on her face. "That Aaron wasn´t dealing?"
"The guy got away. With some of his terrorist and criminal connections still out there, Prentiss was only completely safe from further torture once dead. But aside from Hotch´s understandable reasons, such a thing would have been run through higher ups. JJ was our contact to the other agencies involved, and she doesn´t have Hotch´s poker face."
Jessica started to chuckle, but hastily coughed in an attempt to cover it up.
"What?"
"I’m sorry, it´s just that poker face isn´t a way I´d describe Aaron. I can´t always tell what´s going on, but I can tell when something is."
"Well, you have known him longer," Spencer said. "And not just as a boss. I´m sure he´s more open to you."
"He has his moments," Jessica said. "But even in kindergarten, he would want to keep what was going through his head locked in there. Though, I guess he was not as good at it."
"Kindergarten? I thought Hotch didn´t meet Haley until high school?"
"Our home town put all the kindergarteners in one building before spreading us out among six elementary schools. Aaron and I were both morning session, and adjacent classrooms. So recess and teamed activities or lessons would be together."
"Morning session? Is kindergarten half-days?" Spencer had missed kindergarten-and the first several grades-as his school district, daunted at the prospect of balancing his intellectual needs with socialization, advised his parents against enrollment. He had had a mix of special tutors, homeschooling from his mother and sports activities until their last move and he tested into middle school.
"For us, it was. The district went to full-day kindergarten in the separate elementaries some time ago. Sean Hotchner´s class, actually," Jessica added, chuckling. "From what Haley said, the tantrum when he realized he got stuck with more school than the slightly older kid next door was impressive."
Spencer smiled. "Not a fan of school?"
"Not a fan of sitting still, as I recall. The only thing that motivated him was wanting to grow up just like Aaron. His mother used it shamelessly." Jessica pushed a couple pieces of her omelet around her plate. "Do you really think that Aaron would do something like that? Deceive people about their friend´s death?"
Spencer frowned at her tone, and thought over his answer carefully. "If he were under orders, if he thought that it was the best way to keep her-and others-alive. He´d hate every minute of it, probably even find ways to punish himself for it, but he´d do it. Sometimes…" Spencer paused as he scooped another spoonful of sugar into his coffee. "Rarely, fortunately, but there are cases that require the agents involved to be ruthless, to accept things they´d usually never consider as the right course. We all know it, and most of us hate it."
Jessica frowned thoughtfully as she took another bite of her omelet.
"Hotch would never do it lightly," Spencer told her softly. "He values honesty as much as I do. And the odds of another like case Prentiss´ reaching our group… I can say with reasonable certainty that it shouldn´t happen."
Jessica smiled wanly. "That´s good."
They ate in silence for a few minutes before Jessica spoke again. "You know Agent Jareau well?"
"She joined the team shortly after I did, and she has always treated me like a younger brother. Gideon never quite got that, but-Yes, we´re close. I´m her son´s godfather, actually."
"Do you see much of her since her transfer? You haven´t mentioned her that much."
"She has lunch with Garcia, Henry´s other godparent every other Friday. I join them if there´s not a case. But aside from that, she´s been calling me since Emily´s death. She wants to make sure I´m all right with it."
Spencer frowned down at his pancakes. While he appreciated the concern, he was a little annoyed at the presumption that the stress could cause him to go on a drug bender. True, Emily´s abduction and torture brought up unpleasant memories, but Spencer would appreciate some faith in his strength.
That would go further than JJ´s hovering.
"How did you guys get on the topic of the job?" Spencer asked. "I thought you wanted to discuss Hotch visiting your family more."
"That was before Jack blurted out something my mother said during those hours my concussion wiped out. Dinner was mostly awkward silence. Then after Jack went to bed, we got onto Haley, and… Well, we never talked about anything I wanted to."
"Your mother has issues with Hotch?"
"It depends on what you call issues," Jessica muttered. "I know it´ll be funny someday, but for now, I just want to forget it."
Spencer nodded and after a few minutes, they drifted into a discussion of Doctor Who.
*************
After Spencer left the diner, a fresh dose of coffee in hand, Jessica remained at the booth, watching the traffic through the window. As her eyes focused on the bustle of cars and people, her mind drifted back to her conversation with Spencer-and the unspoken implication that he might have to lie to her someday. The chemistry that ignited when they discovered they shared more than a favorite holiday had been a pleasant surprise. While Aaron´s uncle quip had been premature, Jessica could see herself marrying Spencer in a couple years if things continued on. But what would happen to them if he had to lie to her?
Aaron had suggested that trust issues played a role in his split with Haley. If there were something he had had to lie about, could that explain his reluctance to date-or make any serious effort back then to convince Haley he still cared, for that matter-did he feel his job made him unworthy?
And if it did, could Jessica convince Aaron he deserved happiness, that he could still have a strong relationship, when she now wondered how she would handle deceit from Spencer?
"True, most guys take their girls to dinner, not breakfast. Well, when they´re clearly coming from separate locations, anyway. But that guy adores you. It´s all over his face whenever you´re in here. If you want something more normal, you should tell him. He´d be more than willing to give it to you." Jessica blinked away from the window to scowl at the waitress, a plump woman graying hair. "Though really, the odd ones deserve appreciation for who they are."
"Not that it´s your business," Jessica said in her best imitation of her mother at her iciest, "but breakfast was originally my idea." Only because it was the first time they were both available to continue the lively discussion they had started when she had to drive Aaron to Quantico the morning his minivan declared a strike. Not that either had realized that it was a first date until they got to talking. And while they had claimed the place as "their" breakfast spot, Jessica and Spencer had all sorts of dates, some of which this woman would define as "normal".
Not that that was any of her business, either.
"I´m sorry, honey. You just looked so upset, and there´s no point in moping here. Whatever he did, just talk to him. I´m sure-"
"Do yourself a favor, Dr. Phil," Jessica slid out of the booth, slinging her purse over her shoulder. "Stick to your day job."
She strode out of the diner and quickly made her way to the public lot where she had left her car. Once inside, Jessica turned the ignition and slumped back against the headrest. There was no use wrestling with lies that might never come until she calmed down. She hated unsolicited opinions, especially from virtual strangers too nosy for their own good. Anyway, she and Spencer could afford for her to take some time on the issue, and Aaron…
Well, as much as she thought it would do him good to become more social, it was ultimately his decision. So it could wait, too.
It´s not as if it´ll stop him from finding the next great love of his life…
*************
“…It’s not that simple, Seaver,” Hotchner said as they walked through the Dulles terminal.
Ashley clenched her fists as she hurried to keep up with the tall man’s long stride. It would do her no good to backtalk a superior, but she was sick of being babied. She had hoped that the time they had spent interviewing the two TSA agents would have made him forget about the lecture he decided she needed.
“I’ve seen your academy scores,” Hotchner said sharply. Ashley blinked in surprise. Surely he had not seen her reaction? “I’ve no doubt about your intelligence or physical skills. But no one can do everything, and even the best of us can get caught off guard. It’s a matter of-”
The stern agent turned into the walkway toward the daily parking garage and almost collided with a woman. Ashley instantly studied her: short, mid-thirties, chin-length auburn hair, blue blouse with black slacks and flats, black soft briefcase slung over her head and right shoulder so it fell in front of her. “Sorry,” Hotchner told the petite redhead at the same time she muttered an apology. Then they both stared at each other for a few moments. Just as Ashley was going to speak up, Hotchner stepped to his left to walk around the woman.
At the same time, the redhead had stepped to her right.
A couple more attempts to maneuver around each other and Hotchner stepped back-almost stomped Ashley´s toe in the process-and gestured for her to go on. "Thank you," the woman smiled at him before continuing on her way.
Hotchner nodded back and started down the walkway. After a couple steps, he abruptly turned and called “Excuse me” at the same time the woman said “Mister, do-”
The woman grinned sheepishly as she cut herself off.
"Have we met?" Hotchner asked bluntly as the redhead opened her mouth again. “Sorry, but, well…”
"Your face is familiar, too. Though I can’t quite… Did you ever live in San Francisco growing up?"
Hotchner shook his head. "Virginia. Summers with family in Missouri.” To Ashley’s surprise, he pronounced the end of Missouri with a soft i that sounded close to an ‘ah’ rather than the hard e it should be. “Perhaps you took a trip?”
“Not to those places. Not then anyway. Did you go to college in LA?”
Hotchner shook his head. “Missouri-Columbia and St. Louis. You ever live in Seattle?”
“No,” the redhead replied. “But I visited in ’98.” Hotchner shook his head. “Oh. New York City?”
“Yes!” Hotch smiled. “I worked there from ’95 to ’98.”
The woman frowned. “Did you ever go back to visit?”
“2000, 2006, 2008…”
“No. And I don´t think it’s anything that recent,” the redhead said. She bit her lip and tilted her head to the side as she studied him. “You ever in England?”
“A couple months in 2002.”
The woman shook her head and let out a frustrated huff. “Might as well have been a past life,” she grumbled.
“Of course,” Hotchner replied dryly. “You were a Tahitian princess a couple centuries ago.”
“Nope. Scandinavian field mouse.” Hotchner blinked in surprise and the woman smirked. “My straight face beat yours.”
An honest-to-God smile cracked Hotchner’s face as he chuckled. The sparkle in his brown eyes made him look years younger. “So it did.” He extended his hand to her. “Aaron-”
The intercom announced a landing as Hotchner´s phone rang.
The auburn-haired woman quickly checked her watch, and Hotchner pulled out his phone and checked the caller ID. “Sorry, I’ve got to take this,” he said as the woman blurted “I’ve got to go. Sorry.” She raced on her way as Hotchner tried to call after her, but she quickly disappeared in the crowd. Hotchner shook his head and answered his phone.
After a minute, he said, “Yes, I understand. We’ll be right there.” He ended the call and placed the phone in his pocket. “That was Morgan. We´ve got to get back to the office.” He looked in the direction the redhead had gone, before he turned and walked briskly toward the Bureau sedan.
Very briskly as Ashley almost had to jog to keep up.