Aye Aye Captain

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the ideas

Written for the CCOAC September Challenge. My pair is Hotch/Garcia and the prompt 'Talk like a pirate day'.

I had hoped to get this up on Thursday - which was 'talk like a pirate day' but RL was against me.

. . .

Aaron had to admit he had barely glanced up from the files as she had entered his room. They were meeting to go over the case files so that they could get ready for the team's briefing. He definitely hadn't notice that the normally Technicolor tech analyst was wearing much more muted shades today.

That was until she opened her moth.

"Shipmate Garcia reporting for duty, Cap' tin sir. Arrr!"

Slowly Aaron's eye rose to meet with the owner of a voice that could only be described as Captain Jack Sparrow on helium - though not even that prepared him for the sight before him.

It was at this point that he realised that Penelope Garcia didn't just sound like a rejected extra from Pirates of the Caribbean, she looked like one too.

From the skull and crossbones bandana that attempted to contain her unruly blonde curls, as it sat haphazardly on her head, through to the shiny buckles applied to the knee high black boots. Everything screamed pirate. But why?

"Dare I ask?" He said dryly as he watched the large hoop ear-rings bounce alongside the random braids in her hair as she nodded her reply. There was an eagerness to her action that let him know she wanted a chance to explain her unusual attire. He indicated she should sit and a small nod gave her the go ahead to fill him in on why, among other things, she had a plastic sword strapped to her side.

"Well shiver me timbers do you not realise it is 'Tall like a pirate day'. A-ha."

Aaron sat wide eyed. His lips slightly parted as he tried to come up with something vaguely sensible to say in return. Though how he was supposed to give a sensible reply to such a ridicules idea was beyond him. "How could I be so remiss as to not have the day clearly marked on my calendar? It was obviously an over sight on my behalf and one I will rectify for the future. 'Talk like a pirate day' you say."

Pen nodded eagerly as he finally responded to her silliness. "Aye aye captain."

"And I suppose this means we can expect your best pirate impressions all day," Aaron clarified, his eyebrows slightly raised.

"Aye aye captain," Pen replied with a smile.

Aaron really didn't know if he should laugh or cry as he opened the file they had to prep. There was something so special about Penelope. In the dark shadows they inhabited her fun and naivety was refreshing. He hated to make any attempt to quash her spirit, yet equally there were times that what she came out with beyond any of the team's imagination. This was one of those times.

As he opened the paper file, Pen tapped her tablet screen. "All ship shaped and awaiting you orders, Captain, Sir."

Aaron groaned quietly this could be a long meeting.

. . .

Finally Aaron closed the file before he begun looking over the presentation Pen had prepared for the briefing. It didn't take him long to see that even with all the added silliness Penelope had done an amazingly professional job, as always.

It had been a long couple of hours filled with 'shivered timbers' 'Yo ho ho's and even reference to the odd 'bottle of rum' and a 'dead man's chest'. Aaron was just considering if he should have Pen tested for drugs and alcohol when there was a knock at his door.

"That is fine," he said passing the tablet back, "Can I ask you to set up the briefing room and round the team up please?"

Pen snapped her shiny black heels together as she stood to attention, "Aye aye Captain." Then with a crisp salute and an added flourish she spun and walked away.

Aaron sat and watched her go, a wry smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Shaking his head gently he gathered up his things and looked to see who had wanted to come in. With a quick nod he welcomed a gobsmacked Agent Anderson in. Guess no-one had really got use to Pen and her eccentric ways.

. . .

Moment later Aaron made his way out onto the walkway, ready to head off to the briefing.

As he did so, Aaron noticed Dave stood watching the scene below. Standing alongside his colleague Aaron was quick to notice what was going on.

Penelope was in a playful battle with Morgan, the sound of his plastic ruler slapping against her sword as they duelled. Aaron rolled his eyes at the playful nature of the pair.

"Don't think there are words to describe our kitten. Unique doesn't seem to be enough," Dave said as they watched.

Aaron smiled and nodded, he had known from the minute a resume that had been printed on pink handmade paper had arrived on his desk that he was picking an individual. Someone that had something no-one else did. He hadn't once been disappointed. There wasn't a thing that he would change about her. Penelope was known as Derek's solace, but the truth was she was everyone's solace. When they needed a special someone – she was it.

"She's our ray of sunshine," Aaron added.

"That she is. You know when I joined I had to put my trust in her as I needed some information. I really wasn't sure I was doing the right thing, but I'm glad I did. She is one hell of a lady and to be honest, the way she does her thing . . . that scares me more than most of the UnSubs we track down."

Aaron let out a small snort of laughter, patting his friend on the back he said, "Guess we best getting going, I'm sure she'll round up the children and bring them along in a moment."

Dave laughed and joined Aaron on the way to the room. With what they were about to face it was nice to have chance to remember to smile every once in a while.