The Doctor, a criminal minds fanfic

Author's Note: Just a short story to promote the Profiler Choice Awards. Check out the info at the end!

The Doctor

"Dave?" Hotch called out, entering their house after a long day of meetings. He was slightly disturbed to find no reply. Usually, the house was filled with noise as the inhabitants rushed to greet him at the door. Hotch stepped further inside. "Dave? Jack? Hello? Anyone home?"

Hotch felt his heartbeat a little faster as he checked the kitchen and found no note indicating that Rossi and Jack had gone out. With Rossi's car in the driveway, Hotch was at a loss as to explain why they couldn't be found. Ever since Haley, he had a pit in his stomach the moment that he was unsure where Jack was.

Fighting the rising panic, Hotch made his way towards the back of the house. He had just whipped out his phone to call Rossi when he heard a noise from the den. Cautiously, he opened the door to find Rossi sitting in the middle of the floor with Jack cowering behind him.

"Why didn't you answer me?" Hotch demanded.

"Sorry, Aaron," Rossi apologized. "We were preoccupied and never heard you."

Hotch frowned. Jack had yet to come greet him as he usually did. "What exactly are you preoccupied with?"

Rossi and Jack exchanged glances. Jack took a deep breath before stepping forward, attempting to be the man that his father was. "Papa and I have something very important to ask you."

"Which is?" Hotch bit back a sigh, but was unable to stop himself from folding his arms. It never ended well when Rossi and Jack teamed up.

"Well," Jack dragged out, his cheeks growing red under his father's scrutiny.

Rossi stood, pulling Jack behind him as the boy faltered. "Jack and I have a proposition for you, sweetheart."

Closing his eyes briefly to control his anger, he asked his husband, "What is this proposition? And please keep in mind that I've had a long day fill with bullsh- uh, crap already."

"Our darling boy and I were taking a walk through town and we came across a man giving away free puppies."

"Oh, you didn't," Hotch moaned. "Please tell me you didn't."

Rossi shot him his most spectacular smile. "It'll be a good learning experience for Jack."

Hotch nodded. "True, but it's a lot of responsibility. Not just for him, but for us, too. There's walks and food and finding someone to watch him when we're out of town."

"I still have all of my old contacts from Mudgie," Rossi assured him. "And now that I'm strictly a consultant, I rarely go out on the road anymore so I'll be here to help with the dog." Rossi took a step closer to Hotch, lowering his voice. "You should have seen Jack with the dog, Aaron. His whole face lit up. Come on, sweetheart. Do you really want to deny him this? He's been wanting this for awhile."

"I-" Hotch closed his mouth when Rossi stroked his cheek, a move that always made Hotch weak in the knees. "Fine. When can we pick him up?"

Jack cheered, throwing his arms around his father. "Thank you, Dad! Mr. Swimmer said we can pick up The Doctor tomorrow!"

Hotch looked at Rossi with his eyebrows raised. "'The Doctor'?"

"You were the one that let him stay with Reid when we went away to that bed and breakfast," Rossi replied with a shrug.

Hotch let out a long breath. "I guess will pick up The Doctor in the morning."

END

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