Author's Note: I have absolutely no idea where this idea came from, but it popped in my head yesterday. I think my brain is simply trying to put a JJ/Hotch spin on everything. This is a slightly different spin on S08E05, "The Good Earth" as it pertains to the Henry/Halloween storyline. Some dialogue has been taken directly from the episode and is not mine. Enjoy!

HOTCH COSTUME

It amazed her how easily the lie rolled off her tongue: Henry didn't want to go trick-or-treating because his friend told him that Halloween was when the real monsters came out. She followed it up with a neat story about how she and Will had been drinking wine and she let it slip that it "felt like there was no end to all the monsters walking around". Garcia had lapped the story of her godson up and Rossi appeared to not question a thing, only offered up some advice on childhood fears.

Yet, it had all been a lie. Well, everything after "Henry's not going trick-or-treating this year" was anyway, except for the fact that she was to blame for Henry's reluctance to go out. The idea of her and Will getting along well enough to drink wine together was laughable these days. They did little more than argue over anything and everything. JJ sighed to herself as she let Garcia's voice wash over her, explaining their newest case. She even made a show of flipping through the case file, but her mind was on the incident two days ago that caused Henry's trick-or-treat aspirations to disappear.

"Well, my sweet boy," JJ said, scooping Henry up into her arms, "what would you like to be for Halloween?"

"Hotch," he said, firmly with a single nod of his head.

JJ frowned. "Wouldn't you rather be Batman? Or a pirate? Ooh, how about a ghost?"

Henry shook his head. "No, Mama. I wanna be Hotch."

"Why?"

"Becauses, I loves Hotch. He's a superhero! Jacky told me so," Henry told her.

JJ closed her eyes as she took a deep breath. She put him back on the ground and knelt beside him, taking his hands inside hers. She paused, trying to figure out how to explain to her almost four-year-old that he could be his superhero, Hotch, because the arguments that she and Daddy were having lately nearly all centered around the amount of time that they were spending with Hotch lately because Daddy was convinced that Mommy held long-standing feelings for her boss and nothing she said would sway him otherwise.

JJ chuckled when she realized that Henry was staring at her with a confused look on his face because she had been quiet for so long. "Wouldn't you rather dress up like Daddy instead? Daddy's kind of like a superhero."

Henry's eyes narrowed. "I wanna be Hotch! I don't wanna be Daddy. I wants Hotch!"

"Henry..." her voice trailed off as she realized she couldn't reason with him, not in a way he would understand. She sat up a little firmer. "Henry, you cannot be Hotch. You need to pick something else to be."

"No!" Henry shouted, pulling away from her. He stomped his feet. "I wanna be Hotch! I wanna be Hotch!"

Standing, JJ put her hands on her hips. "Henry James, that's enough! If you want to go trick-or-treating with Aunt Penny then you need to pick something to dress up as."

Henry folded his arms. "I don't wanna go anymore!"

Her own voice asking about forensic evidence brought JJ back to the case in front of her. She was mildly amused to see that part of her brain remained focused on her job, even when she was disengaged. She supposed that she learned that during her year away from the BAU. As the team continued to discuss the case, she returned to her own thoughts. The argument with Henry had been nearly two weeks ago and, even this morning, he adamantly refused to go trick-or-treating unless he was allowed to dress up as Hotch. JJ had been forced to come up with the monster story as a way to explain Henry's refusal to partake in the Halloween festivities.

"Wheels up in thirty," Hotch ordered, bringing the meeting to a close. JJ followed the rest of the team out of the conference room, determined to put all thoughts of Halloween out of her mind until they returned home.

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"Is everything okay?" Hotch whispered to JJ. He sat down next to her on the plane ride home, a bit apart from the others under the guise of reviewing some notes. He had noticed a slight faraway look in her eyes when she thought no one was looking.

"Yeah, it's just," she rolled her eyes before settling them on his, apologetically, "Henry wants to dress up like you for Halloween, but..."

Hotch dipped his head. "But that's probably not a good idea considering..."

JJ gave him a brief smile as he let his thoughts fade. Hotch had been her sounding board for the problems in her marriage over the last few months as she had become a sounding board for his problems with Beth. She knew their interaction border-lined on inappropriate at times, but she seemed unable or unwilling to stop.

"Henry's decided," she continued, "that if he can't be you then he doesn't want to go trick-or-treating at all. I've told everyone, including Will, that it's because he had a friend tell him that monsters are real on Halloween, but it's just because I can't get him to change his mind."

"How about this? When we get back to the office, let me give Henry a call," Hotch offered. "Maybe I can convince him to change his mind from favorite profiler to his second favorite profiler."

JJ laughed. "Well, if anyone can, it'll be you these days."

Hotch covered her hand with his own, giving it a brief squeeze before returning it to his own lap. "Don't worry, Jayje, it'll all work out."

True to his word, Hotch called Henry as soon they got back to the office. After a long conversation, and a promise to take Henry and Jack to the movies soon, Hotch persuaded Henry to dress up as his godfather. Hotch waited for JJ and Henry at the elevators on Halloween to get a glimpse of Henry's costume before dashing home to take Jack out.

"Hotch!" Henry exclaimed as the doors opened. He leapt into the older man's waiting arms.

"Hey, buddy! You look amazing!" Hotch told him.

Henry blushed. "Thanks. Are you leaving?"

Hotch nodded. "I need to get home to take Jack out trick-or-treating, but don't forget, you, me, Jack, and Mommy are going to meet up on Saturday so that you and Jack can exchange candy."

"Yay!" Henry hugged Hotch closed.

"Thank you, Hotch," JJ told him, grabbing his hand. She intertwined their fingers briefly before releasing him. She forced herself away from his gaze. "Okay, Henry, are you ready to go show Aunt Penny your costume?"

"Is that my Henry-bear?" Garcia called out from down the hallway.

Henry wiggled down from Hotch to run to his godmother. JJ gave Hotch one last wistful glance before following her son down the hall. She felt strangely bereft when the doors closed behind Hotch. Putting on an excited face, she walked into the bullpen. She would deal with her confused feelings another day.

"Uh, excuse me, everybody, I have an announcement to make." JJ marveled at her own cheerfulness only to discover that she was really happy to be taking her son trick-or-treating and most of it didn't need to be faked. Just as a few days ago, she began the story that she rehearsed in her own head. "As I'm sure some of you were aware, Henry was a little nervous about going trick-or-treating this year. But... he's decided to go anyway."

THE END