Disclaimer: Not Mine
A/N – My beta absolutely hates this (she's a Will fan) but I'm already eight chapters in so I figure what the heck. Anyway, I got this idea from Flames101's awesome fic One Night and it wouldn't leave me alone. It's obviously AU and you have to suspend reality a little but sometimes people really do do dumb things.
Valentine's Day 2013
JJ shivered as she made her way in from the parking lot to the office. Quantico, Virginia left a lot to be desired in February. She thought of the plans that she and Will had made months ago to take a few days off and fly down to Florida for a quick winter break. That could officially be shelved, she thought bitterly. She let out a heavy sigh and entered the building. Today was going to be a long day. Her only hope was they wouldn't catch a case.
She bit back another sigh as she stepped off the elevator; Pen had obviously been at work with the decorations which meant Hotch would undoubtedly have to remind her, yet again, they were a law enforcement agency, not an elementary school. It didn't matter how nicely he delivered the message, she'd be upset and JJ would have to listen to her blow off steam. As she looked at the nauseating hearts and cupids everywhere she couldn't help but agree with Hotch on this one.
She smiled as he was the first person that caught her eye this morning. "I'm not telling her this time. Last time she called me Agent Scrooge for a week. It's someone else's turn."
"Hey, you're the boss." She pointed out.
"Not happening." He reiterated. "Let HR take a whack at her."
"You're not afraid of her are you?"
"Do I look stupid?" He asked her. "Of course I am."
Just then their very own BAU cupid came barreling down the hall. "We have a case, briefing in fifteen." She breezed by them in pursuit of Rossi, Reid, Morgan and Blake.
"Sometimes I wonder if Pen knows you're the boss." She remarked as she watched the blonde disappear. "I can shoot her an org chart if it helps." She meant to be funny but when she turned she noticed Hotch scrutinizing her.
"Is everything okay, JJ?"
His intuition startled her. The damn man didn't miss a thing. "I, ah, need to get coffee before the briefing." She told him, ignoring his question.
He regarded her for a long minute then decided to allow her the space she needed. "Alright, I'll see you in there." He didn't immediately walk away. "You know you can talk to me about anything?"
JJ swallowed the lump that formed in her throat; unable to speak she nodded her head.
He reached out and placed a hand on her arm. "I'm serious, you know."
"I know." She said in a small voice. "I, I'm going to need to take you up on that soon."
"My door is always open." Leaving it at that, he turned and walked back to his office leaving JJ shaken by the encounter.
She knew within minutes that the case would require travel. Travel meant she'd be required to call Will. Considering that the majority of their conversations lately were either shouting matches or accusations she wasn't looking forward to the call.
"Okay, that's everything, wheels up in thirty." Hotch announced, standing.
"Um, actually, I have an announcement if that's okay?" She looked to Hotch for approval.
Penelope assumed it was good news. "Oh my gawd! You're having another baby!"
Her eyes flew to Garcia's. "Wh…at?" JJ barely managed to strangle out.
"I knew it! Oh, I hope this one is a little girl. I know you said you wanted to wait but I just knew that you'd be…"
"GARCIA!" Hotch's voice broke into her rambling. "How about you let JJ finish speaking?"
The reprimand chastised her slightly. "Yes, sir. Sorry, JJ." She smiled widely, "Pray continue."
JJ took a deep breath. "Will and I…" She closed her eyes as Garcia started to clap prematurely. "We're getting a divorce, Pen." She bit out.
Garcia froze mid-clap and looked around the room in confusion. "I don't understand."
"I'm sorry to hear that, JJ." Hotch spoke, effectively silencing Garcia.
Not wanting to expound further, JJ shrugged. "It's for the best." She gave a tight smile. "I need to go call Will and let him know we caught a case and I'll be traveling. Excuse me." She turned and fled the room, knowing they would be dissecting her news the minute the door closed.
"I don't understand." Garcia gaped, still unable to comprehend the news that was just delivered. She thought JJ and Will were all sunshine and rainbows.
"It's not our place to question or understand." Hotch responded, firmly. "If JJ wants to discuss it that is her decision but you are not to probe or harass her in any way."
"I would never." The raised brow, smirk, smile and snort that came from Morgan, Rossi, Blake and Reid had her gasping out. "I wouldn't. Oh my poor, Buttercup."
"I mean it, Penelope. We are going to support JJ anyway she needs, we're not going to interfere or prod into her privacy." He glanced at his watch. "We're wasting time, folks."
Rossi, Reid and Blake were quick to follow him out the door but Morgan hung back. "Pen, I know that you love JJ and you mean well, but you need to watch your step here."
Penelope gave him a full pout. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means you got a direct order from Hotch to give JJ a wide berth."
"But…"
"But nothing, Baby Girl, he gives you a lot of latitude on a lot of things…"
"Like?" She scoffed.
"One example, you've got decorations up all over the room again."
"It's festive, it's a holiday."
"It's a distraction. Your personal space, fine," He looked over at her. "Don't be giving me the lip." He sighed. "I'm not trying to hurt your feelings, Pen. I'm trying to give you a warning. Hotch is very lenient with you on a lot of stuff," He shook his head at the look she was giving him; "I am not going to give you a list. Just, JJ's his girl, that's all I'm saying. You know that. They have a special connection. I don't know if it's the kid angle or what, but they click…"
"I click with JJ, too." She grumbled.
"No one is denying that you are a good friend to JJ but you tend to leap before you look."
"I do…"
He interrupted before she could get the 'not' out. "The entire room knew that JJ's announcement was not going to be a happy one and you broke in and started yammering about another baby."
"You knew it wasn't happy news?" Morgan just nodded. "Jinkies."
Derek went and draped his arm across her shoulders. "It'll be alright. Just try to stay off Hotch's radar."
"Should I take the decorations down?"
"Couldn't hurt."
"Need a lift?" Hotch paused by JJ's desk, ready bag slung over his shoulder.
"What?" JJ blinked and ordered herself to focus. The call with Will had gone about as well as she expected. She was currently indulging in a fantasy where he never existed and she never made such a horrible mistake.
"Do you need to take some time? We can work this one without you." Hotch told her.
She shook her head. "No. My mom is coming down to pick up Henry from the sitter. She'll take him home with her. I'll have to figure something out going forward." She stood and bent to grab her back but Hotch had already picked it up for her.
"May I ask why Will cannot take care of Henry?" He wouldn't impose so much to ask her why her marriage was ending but he would inquire as to why her husband couldn't look after their son.
"Will has decided to accept a Sheriff's position in his home parish."
Hotch froze. "He's moving to Louisiana?" Hotch asked in shock as his head quickly processed what that might mean.
She blew out a breath as they stepped on the elevator. "Yes. Henry is going to stay with me." She jerked as Hotch hit the emergency stop.
She'd just told him that Will was leaving Henry too. It didn't seem possible. There was only one way that Will would sever ties with them. "JJ, three years ago you told me there was no chance that Henry was my son." He believed her, he never challenged her assertion, even when he held the infant and was stunned to see a resemblance to his brother Sean. JJ would never be so duplicitous as to lie to him about something so huge.
"Three years ago you were desperate to make things work with your wife. We'd had a brief fling." Her eyes pleaded with his for understanding.
"Of which Henry is the result?" The question hung on the air. He'd asked it before but she steadfastly denied the possibility and he didn't question it. "That is the conversation you wanted to have with me later."
Her face crumbled. "Yes. Oh God, Aaron, I'm so sorry, I truly believed he was Will's son." She answered hoarsely, tears coursing down her cheeks.
The sight of her in pain tore at him but it didn't manage to override the all-consuming anger he felt knowing that he missed three years with a son he scarcely knew. "How long have you known?" He choked out.
"I found out right after Thanksgiving." It had been a routine test that raised a flag and started a war.
"And Will knows?"
"Do you honestly think he would willingly leave Henry if he didn't?" Will had been devastated by the findings. Not only was the son he so dearly loved not truly his but he belonged to a man that he knew that his wife was secretly in love with.
"Why the hell didn't you let me know?" When she only shrugged he reached out for her arm causing her to wince. "What the hell?" He held on to her hand as he pushed the sweater she was wearing back, exposing an ugly bruise. "I'll kill him."
"It was an accident!" Her hand grasped his. "Hotch!" She yelled to get his attention as he continued to stare at the bruise. "It was an accident."
"You have a visible hand print on your arm." He bit out.
"It pales in comparison to all the pain that I've caused." She pushed the sweater back down.
"I know that you didn't knowingly cause this." As much as it pained him, he knew she wouldn't deliberately do this.
"I didn't, I promise you, Aaron, I didn't. The doctor gave me a conception date that was two weeks later than the last date we were together. I honestly thought that you and Haley would reconcile and I didn't want to be the one that stood in your way." And any glimpses of the man before her that she saw in her son she'd written off as her wishful thinking.
The ringing of the phone in the elevator took them by surprise. JJ listened in stunned silence as Hotch let loose of some of his anger on the unfortunate maintenance team. He surprised her further when he called Section Chief Strauss on the elevator phone and requested emergency vacation time for a family matter.
"Ma'am, I wouldn't be requesting personal leave if it weren't absolutely necessary. Agent Morgan is more than capable of handling the team in this instance. Yes ma'am, he's more than capable of the Unit Chief position all around. If you feel that is in the best interest of the BAU then I will support that decision." Fucking battleax, he growled as he ended the call and released the button to start the elevator.
"You're going to need to call your mother and tell her not to worry about traveling down to Virginia." He ordered her.
JJ winced at his tone. "Why?"
"Because she won't be needed." The doors opened and they were subjected to quite a few stares. No one was brave enough to make a comment though when they encountered the angry countenance of the man exiting. "Let's go. Where is your car parked?"
"Why are we taking my car?"
"Because I don't have a car seat in mine." He called the team when they got to the car. Although he officially put Morgan in charge he placed his phone call to Dave.
"Where the hell are you? We're ready to take off." The man asked as soon as he answered his phone.
"JJ and I will not be joining the team on this case." Hotch responded in a clipped voice.
In typical Rossi fashion he demanded to know why not.
"It's complicated, Dave."
There was a moment of silence then, "JJ's alright though?"
"JJ is fine." He shot a look at the woman who was driving woodenly back to her home. "It's just," he scrubbed a hand over his face. "I can't get into it now."
"Are you available for a consult if needed?" He questioned, trying to drag anything out of their stoic leader.
"I don't know." Hotch barked, feeling guilty when JJ jumped. "Sorry." The apology had been directed at JJ. "Listen Dave, I'm going to need to be out of pocket for a few days, I've got some things to put in order."
Having known the man for so many years Dave knew that Aaron Hotchner would not arbitrarily bail on his duty if it not for the upmost importance. "Call me if you need anything."
"Thank you." He disconnected the call and stared over at JJ. He'd known that something hadn't been right when he saw her this morning. He'd always been able to read her emotions. "JJ?" He said softly, "I need to call my lawyer."
She glanced over at him in confusion.
"I need to have him start petitioning the court to change the name of the birth father on Henry's birth certificate and I need to file for joint custody." He continued to speak in a soft voice. "I want to know my son, JJ, and I want him to know me." The sob that was ripped out of her broke his heart. "I'm not doing this to hurt you. Right now Will is listed as his parent, he could fight for custody…"
She shook her head. "He's not going to. He's leaving…"
"JJ, he's hurt, his first reaction is to just leave. He loves Henry, he's going to decide that it doesn't matter that Henry is not his biological son and he's going to fight for him." Because that is exactly what he would do if the situation were reversed.
"He said he couldn't stand the mere sight of him." And he said worse, much worse to JJ.
"Pull over."
Not questioning him she did as directed.
"What did he say to you?"
Damn the man and his perception. She shook her head. "It doesn't matter." They had hurt but she understood that Will only lashed out at her due to his own grief.
He let out a stream of expletives that she had never heard from him and stepped out of the car. She sat uncertain of what to do as he paced angrily. She sat in angry recrimination as she wished for the thousandth time that she'd have handled the situation differently. That she would have questioned the possibility that Henry could have been Hotch's but she'd been so hurt by what she thought was his dismissal that she'd eagerly accepted the doctor's assessment. She was startled as he knocked on the window. She quickly unlocked the door.
"Why don't I drive?"
"Where?" She asked, exasperated as she slid over the console.
"My lawyer's." He bit out. "Call your mother."
"Aaron."
"Jennifer." He adjusted the seat and the mirrors but still didn't start the car. Finally he turned to her. "I'm not sure why you were so convinced that I wanted to reconcile with Haley, I can't undo that misconception but I can tell you it damn near killed me when I found out that you were pregnant and it wasn't my child. I hope you're right and Will is just going to slink off with his tail tucked between his legs, but if he says anything about Henry or you within my hearing I will end him."
"He's hurting, Aaron."
"He's hurting? I missed three years of my child's life because you believed what the doctor told you. More likely you wanted to believe it because it made life easier." He braced for her fury when she narrowed her eyes. "I'm not trying to fight with you. But I'll be damned if he decides, whether because he does really love Henry, which he damn well should, or because he wants to be a prick, that he's going to fight for him. I want a court order, today, for a blood test to prove that I'm his father. I want my name on the birth certificate. No one is going to keep me from my son any longer. Not even you."
Thanks for reading….
