Gossip at 3,000 Feet
Disclaimer: Nope, neither the characters nor the song belong to me.
A/N: Well, here's the next installment in my series. This one is placed not long after the last scene in the episode. The last scene was so nice and light, I just had to go with it. And, for the first time, I include the team! I hope it makes you at least smile; enjoy the fluffiness while it lasts cause we all know that the next three will be anything but light or fluffy! Thank you to all who have reviewed; I'm sorry I haven't gotten back to you but this week has been a little hard; I actually wasn't sure whether I was going to get this done in time. I have to give a huge thanks to pup, my beta, who found the time to get this betaed in less than a day so that I could get this posted tonight.
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"The 'White Album', huh?" Emily asked as she placed the files she carried on the table and sat down across from Hotch. Hotch had moved to the other end of the plane from where the team was sitting so that he could work on his report. Emily had waited twenty minutes before she followed him. Ostensibly, it had been because she too wanted to work on her report, wanted to take advantage of the six hour flight home and then enjoy the free time once they arrived. And while all that was true, it was also true that she just wanted to be close to Hotch. The case hadn't been long but, apparently she'd been spoiled living with him because not being able to spend any alone, uninterrupted time with him had left her feeling a little . . . down, and just a little irritated.
"Really?" he asked, shifting his eyes to look up at her without lifting his face. "You want to go there? Need I remind you that I have seen all of your music collection? I believe there's a saying about throwing rocks and living in glass houses that would be appropriate here."
"Umm," she said as she remembered that he not only had gone through her CD collection back at home, not just the one that she kept for display but all of her CD collection, but he had also borrowed her I pod a few weeks ago. He knew all of her guilty secrets; all the songs she listened to that she wouldn't like anyone else to know about, that knowledge gave him a lot of ammunition. Retreat suddenly seemed the best option. "You think JJ will be fine?" She asked instead, the real concern for her friend coming through her tone.
"Yes," he nodded. "I'll suggest she visits the doctor once we land, anyway."
"Good," she nodded. She opened the file in front of her and they worked in silence for a few moments before she commented, without looking up, "So, second case in a row where you get to tackle the Unsub, huh?"
"I did not tackle anyone," he denied, glancing up to glare at her briefly before looking back down at his papers. "Either this Unsub or the last."
"I beg to differ," she argued. "It looked pretty much like you tackled both."
"I detained both," he insisted. "There is a difference."
"Tomato, tomahto," she shrugged. "You seemed to have enjoyed it either way."
"I think 'enjoyed' might be too strong a word," he disagreed.
"I don't," she argued back. "You seem to be as relaxed as I've seen you lately. You were actually teasing and grinning with the guys a little while ago. You know how long it's been since you've done either?"
"No," he shook his head. He put down his pen and sat back in his seat, looking at her. "But I guess it's been a while?"
"Yes, to say the least," she nodded. "It's nice to see you relaxing and having a good time with the team. Maybe stepping down from team leader wasn't the worst thing you've ever done." She made it a point to sound as grudgingly as possible when she admitted it.
"Thank you so much for that vote of confidence," he told her sarcastically. When she grinned cheekily at him, he could barely suppress his own grin and settled instead for rolling his eyes. He paused for a minute before he said slowly and thoughtfully, "I guess that . . . tackling that guy," he gave her a look as he chose that word, "subduing him and cuffing him did feel good. And I, once again, managed to forget all about Foyet and Jack being gone for a few moments. It even reminded me of how I felt back when I was first an agent. For those few moments I felt . . . free; it was sort of liberating."
Despite the sudden somber turn of the conversation, he couldn't help but smile a little as he remembered. It had felt good – surprisingly good. With the exception of the last case, it had been a long time since he'd been able to just be in the moment or had been able to save an innocent. Because in their jobs they rarely got to save anyone, the most they could do was find them justice afterwards. Nor, despite the physical demands of the job, did he get to just enjoy the physicality and simplicity of chasing down a person he knew was guilty and he'd forgotten what a high that was.
There really was nothing like being in a situation where right was right and wrong was wrong, there was no grey area, you knew you were right and you were able to bring down the bad person after an actual confrontation. It was probably some instinct left over from our primitive past coming to the forefront for some reason; but whatever the cause, it had felt really good and Hotch had gotten an insight into why Morgan liked being the one that took down the bad guys and burst the doors open.
Of course, now that their roles had been reversed, it was Morgan that had to worry about the protocols, rules and the like. Morgan was the one that had to keep in mind all the logistics, all the possible consequences and repercussions; he was the one that had to worry about the team and the legal ramifications while Hotch could focus on chasing and tackling the suspects and nothing else. It had made the whole thing an interesting and almost novel experience. He didn't know how long the new order would last but in those moments when he'd been lost in the moment, Hotch had realized that there might be a few side benefits to stepping down he hadn't considered before.
"Sort of liberating, huh?" she grinned even as she nodded. "It's not surprising really; it's all that adrenaline the physical activity releases into your system. It's almost like a high and makes one feel very good. What?" she asked when he just looked at her with half a smile.
"Oh, nothing," he shrugged, the half smile growing into a smirk. "You do know that you sounded remarkably like Reed just then, don't you?" She grimaced a little before she sighed in resignation.
"Oh, well, it's my nerdy side coming out," she told him. "And you already knew it was there anyway."
"Yes, I did," he nodded. When he noticed that she seemed a little worried, he reached out and squeezed her hand for a moment before he leaned back again. "I don't know if you've noticed but, with the possible exception of JJ, everyone on this team has more than a little nerd in them. Some just hide it better than others."
"Even Garcia?" she asked, grinning once again. He gave her an 'are you kidding?' look as an answer. "Yeah, you're right. She's just better at hiding it, I suppose."
"Exactly," he nodded. "I don't think anyone that knows as much about computers as she does or spends as much time on them can claim not to have a little nerd in them – no matter how well she hides it."
"Yeah, I guess you're right," she nodded. She then smirked as she asked him, "Does your new appreciation for tackling Unsubs mean that's no longer Morgan's job?" It was almost as if she'd read his mind earlier.
"I wouldn't go that far," he replied, shaking his head.
"So, you won't have any trouble taking your old job back," she asked him. "No doubts about maybe remaining a team member and not going back to being team leader?"
"No, no doubts," he answered firmly. "No trouble either. Not having the responsibility for the team and tackling Unsubs might be . . . refreshing for a while but I don't think it would be quite . . . enough long term. Don't get me wrong, Morgan is doing a great job but I'm just . . ."
"You're not used to taking orders anymore?" she finished for him when he trailed off.
"No," he shrugged. "I guess I've been the boss too long now and it's just . . ."
"A little uncomfortable?" she supplied.
"That's as good a word as any, I suppose," he answered.
"You miss it, don't you?" she asked after she studied him for a moment. "I don't mean being the boss – well, I guess I do mean that in a way but it's just not giving the orders you miss. You miss the whole thing – even the paperwork."
"I've been doing it for a long time," he said again. "I don't know if I miss it but not having to do it now feels a little strange, like I'm not doing everything I'm supposed to be doing."
"I'm not surprised," she nodded. "You're a workaholic, Hotch," she added when he looked at her quizzically. "Getting your work load reduced is bound to feel strange."
"You might be right," he said thoughtfully.
"Of course I am," she insisted and grinned at him smugly. "I'm right 99 percent of the time, didn't you know that?"
"I must have forgotten," he said sarcastically.
"I guess it's lucky for you that I'm around to remind you," she grinned at him and he admired the way her eyes seemed to dance with mischief before he replied.
"I guess it is," he said softly and looked deep into her eyes for a few moments before she blushed and looked down at her paperwork. She cleared her throat and shifted in her seat and his eyes widened at the realization that he was flustering her. He couldn't help but feel very good about that; call him a chauvinist or politically incorrect, but he defied any man, or woman for that matter, to deny that making the person they were interested in blush made them feel good. Especially when the person was as unflappable as Emily Prentiss usually was.
"Well, no offense to Morgan," she said, trying to regain her composure. "Who is doing a great job, but it will be nice to have you back as team leader. Like I told you a few weeks ago, it's weird not having you for a boss - and even weirder having it be Morgan."
"Let me see if I have this right," he replied, leaning forward, "you're saying that you want me back at my old post because you're not happy taking orders from Morgan. Should I feel used here, Prentiss?" It didn't matter that he used her last name, his tone of voice and the look in his eyes made it more than obvious he was flirting. In fact, the combination of his tone and his use of her last name made the whole sentence sound more provocative that it probably would have sounded otherwise. And her reaction was everything he could have hoped for.
She froze, her face took on a 'deer in headlights' look and the pen she'd been intermittently tapping against the table seemed to take a life of its own. Moments later, it flew from her hand, flipped over in the air and landed on the carpeted hallway before it rolled under the seat on the other side of the aisle. Hotch kept his eyes on her face as her eyes went from looking at her now pen-less hand to his face to the spot on the floor where the pen had landed and back again. He couldn't help the smirk that crossed his face as he leaned back in his seat.
"You want me to get that?" he asked when she just kept looking at the floor but made no move to go get the pen. For someone that hadn't really flirted in over twenty years, he wasn't doing too bad.
"No, I'll get it," she tried to snap and glare at him but given the fact that she was still blushing, she wasn't really successful. What was the matter with her anyway? She thought as she knelt down and tried to reach for the pen. Why was she so nervous and anxious all of a sudden? It was just Hotch; she'd known the man for over four years and he'd been living in her spare room for the past few weeks. By now, she was sure she knew all of his moods but she hadn't known he could be such a flirt. And maybe that was why she was flustered; all the flirting they'd done up to that point had been light and subtle and always initiated by her. She just wasn't used to him sounding so flirty and wasn't sure how to react.
She finally felt the pen and picked it up. When she went to sit back up, she happened to glance towards the other end of the plane and noticed that both JJ and Morgan were looking at her and Hotch. As soon as they saw her looking their way, they averted their eyes and raised her suspicions. She frowned a little as she tried to remember when she'd seen that particular look on JJ's face before. It didn't take her long to remember it was the same look the blond agent had been wearing a few weeks before when the two of them had been speculating about Morgan's relationship with the sister of a victim and the same one she'd been wearing a few months before that when Emily had told her about Reid and Austin.
Her eyes widened as she realized that JJ and Morgan were more than likely speculating about her and Hotch's relationship. And, she would bet anything, that the person on the other end of the phone call they were each making was Garcia. Great, all they needed was for Reid and Rossi to add to the gossip session. And given what Rossi knew about them that would really add fuel to the fire.
"What's wrong?" Hotch asked. Wondering what had happened to make her go from blushing to frowning.
"Nothing," she shook her head, shifting her eyes from the other end of the plane to Hotch. "Nothing at all," she added. Her eyes shifted towards her gossiping co-workers when she suddenly got an impish idea.
"What?" he asked; the sudden gleam in her eyes worrying him more than anything. He'd known her long enough to know that that particular gleam almost always meant that he wasn't going to like what happened next.
"What?" she asked back, smiling innocently back at him. Oh, yeah, she was planning something.
-----
"I'm fine, Garcia," JJ tried to reassure the tech analyst. "The doctor gave me a clean bill of health. I just have a headache, that's all." Garcia's call had come just as Emily left to sit across from Hotch to work on the report for the last case.
"Are you sure you should be flying, JJ?" Garcia pressed. "Maybe you should have stayed another day to make sure you're alright."
"The doctor said I was fine to fly," JJ protested. "There's no way I would stay another day when I didn't have to. I'm not leaving Will and Henry alone for longer than I have to."
"I get that," Garcia conceded. "But then maybe you should get checked out once you land."
"Oh, come on, Garcia," JJ wasn't sure whether to laugh or groan at her friend's insistence. It was nice to have someone so worried about her health but the last thing she wanted was to go to the doctor again. "I'm fine. There's no need to go to the doctor again."
"You don't know that," Garcia insisted. "And I bet Hotch would agree with me."
"Garcia," JJ drawled in warning. "There's no need to bring Hotch into this."
"Oh, I don't think I would be bringing him into anything," Garcia disagreed. "I wouldn't be surprised if he hadn't already thought of it."
"You know, he's no longer the boss," JJ pointed out and then felt guilty for doing so. "Not technically," she added with a slight grimace of guilt.
"Oh, I dare you to argue with him about it," Garcia chuckled. "Technically the boss or not, I dare you to tell him no."
"Ah," JJ said, shifting in her seat. She knew very well neither she nor anyone else on the team would dare defy Hotch when he 'requested' they do something; they all knew his stepping down was only temporary. Even if it wasn't, the man had been their boss for too many years and had more than earned their loyalty and respect for them to not listen to him. "Can we please change the subject?"
"Okay," Garcia relented; knowing that Hotch would make sure the media liaison was taken care of. "So, anything new going on that's gossip worthy?"
"Not really," JJ shrugged. "The case was pretty straight forward – well, as straight forward as these things can get, anyway. And we've all been busy with it, so there's really been no time for anything good to happen."
"Really?" Garcia pressed. "Nothing new on the Hotch/Emily front? Nothing at all."
"Well," JJ answered, looking towards the back of the plane where the two profilers seemed to be lost in conversation. "They're sitting together at the back of the plane right now – supposedly working on the case report."
"Supposedly?" Garcia repeated anticipation heavy in her voice.
"They look kind of cozy for just working on the case," JJ told her.
"They've been looking cozy for weeks now," Garcia commented. "Are they sitting next to each other on the plane too?" she asked. "Like they do here in the conference room?"
"Yup," JJ answered. "Most of the time; if they can't sit next to each other, then they sit across from each other. It's like they don't like being too far apart."
"I know what you mean," Garcia agreed. "They gravitate towards each other, don't they? Whenever they're in the same room, it's a good bet they'll end up next to each other before too long."
"Exactly," JJ nodded though Garcia really couldn't see her. "And even though Hotch is no longer the one making the assignments, somehow, they're still getting partnered together at least half the time."
"Really?" Garcia asked again and JJ made an assenting noise. "I didn't know that. Do you think Morgan knows something we don't?"
"I doubt it," JJ replied. "I'm pretty sure that if Morgan knew something more than us, he'd have told us – he'd have at least told you about it, wouldn't he?"
"Yeah, he would have," Garcia conceded at the same moment Morgan spoke from behind JJ.
"I'd have said something to whom if I'd known what?" he asked and made JJ jump a little on her seat. She'd been so focused on her conversation and on not being overheard by either Emily or Hotch that she had completely ignored the others on the plane.
"Is that Morgan?" Garcia wanted to know.
"Yeah," JJ answered her before turning to answer Morgan. "I'm talking to Garcia," she told him, "and I'm saying how you probably tell her everything you know."
"Well, not everything," Morgan demurred, thinking of the possibilities he wasn't sharing with the blond tech analyst. "That would take way too long," he added and grinned at JJ before he flopped down next to her and offered her the second bottle of water he was carrying. "But what are you guys talking about specifically?"
"Oh, this and that," JJ shrugged.
"Tell him JJ," Garcia urged at almost the same moment. "He's a hot shot profiler; let's see if he sees the same thing we do."
"I don't know, Garcia," JJ hesitated. "I don't think that's such a good idea."
"Why not?" Garcia asked.
"Because we probably shouldn't be talking about it," JJ murmured, turning her face to the side in order to muffle the sound.
"But we are talking about it," Garcia pointed out.
"Yes, but he's the new chief, remember?" JJ hissed into the phone.
"Are you guys talking about Hotch and Emily," Morgan interrupted the whispered discussion, "and whatever they got going on between them?"
"How did you . . ." JJ started to ask only to have both Morgan and Garcia answer before she finished.
"I told you he was a hot shot profiler," Garcia reminded her.
"I am a profiler," Morgan shrugged. "And a darn good one at that," he added grinning. "Noticing the little things is kinda what I do."
"Ask him what little things he's noticed," Garcia urged. "Ask him if . . . no, wait. I've got a better idea." A few moments later, Morgan's cell phone rang. "I love technology, don't you?" she asked and both Morgan and JJ could hear her grin over their phones. "Three way calling is a lovely thing – and so useful." Morgan and JJ shared a look while Garcia went back to the subject at hand. "So, Morgan, you've noticed that there's something going on between Emily and Hotch too, huh?"
"Yeah," Morgan nodded, settling onto the couch. "They've had chemistry from pretty much the beginning, though it wasn't obvious until New York," he said, referring to the time Hotch was almost blown up. "But I don't think anything happened – if anything has happened, until these last few weeks."
"Yeah," Garcia agreed. "That's our take too. What's your evidence?" she asked and Morgan had to grin at the question. Garcia was taking the whole thing as if it were an investigation.
"You know that if they knew we were talking about this," Morgan told her, "they'd killed us, don't you?"
"Yeah, yeah," Garcia said and JJ shook her head at her almost dismissive tone, "but they won't know and what they don't know, won't hurt us. So, give; what have you noticed?"
"I guess, more than anything," Morgan answered. "Is all those looks they give each other when they think no one's looking."
"You mean when they check each other out?" Garcia asked. "Yeah, I've noticed that too. Emily can't seem to take her eyes off his behind whenever he leaves a room . . ."
"Garcia," Morgan protested, choking on the sip of water he'd mistakenly taken.
"What?" she asked innocently. "It's true! Not that I can blame her; the man does look good either coming or going. Doesn't he, JJ?"
"Ummm, I plead the fifth," the media liaison said, effectively agreeing with Garcia without actually doing it.
"And it's not like Hotch doesn't do his own share of checking Emily out, after all," Garcia continued and Morgan protested yet again.
"Garcia," he groaned.
"Oh, you gonna tell me you've never checked out any of the women on the team?" she challenged him.
"What I was talking about," he said instead, completely ignoring her question, "wasn't any checking out looks, though I have to grant you there's been a few, but the knowing looks they've been sending each other. You know, the ones when one of them comes back from the field and the first thing they do is check on each other to make sure they're alright; or when we're going to call it a day, before either one leaves the room they always make eye contact as if to confirm their plans for later."
"I've noticed that," JJ nodded. "I remember I noticed it because it reminded me of Will and me and how we can communicate with just a look now."
"Exactly," Morgan agreed. "All of us on the team can do that to an extent, we spend so much together, it's kind of hard not to, but Emily and Hotch have taken it to a whole new level."
"Yeah," JJ nodded again. "They're not quite finishing each other's sentences but it's obvious they're almost always on the same wavelength."
"I'm actually expecting them to start finishing each other's sentences any time now," Morgan told them.
"I noticed they're on the same wavelength too," Garcia added, "but, like Morgan said, most of you are more or less always on the same wavelength so I didn't think of much of it. What I did notice was that for a few weeks now, they've been coming into the office at almost the same time and, with a few exceptions, leaving at just about the same time too."
"They've always beaten me to the office," Morgan admitted, "so I haven't really noticed that."
"I have," JJ said. "I've arrived at the same time as them a few times but they're both driving their own cars – well, except for those few days when Hotch came back to work when Emily was driving him."
"Yeah, I know," Garcia said, "but given that the ex-boss man had made it a point of always being at the office before everyone else and leaving after everyone else, this has been a change in his behavior."
"But that's not the biggest one," Morgan pointed out. "What really got my attention was how . . . calm and centered Hotch has been. I mean, given everything that's happened I was sure the man would . . . well, not fall apart, 'cause I can't see Hotch falling apart but I thought for sure he'd be, I don't know . . . colder, more reserved, maybe even all over the place. Not that I would blame him but he's been on pretty steady footing since almost his first two cases back. Now, I know the man is a rock but I don't think anyone could have kept it together – not by himself."
"You think Emily's what's keeping him together?" Garcia asked.
"Not the only thing," Morgan disagreed. "No one can keep things together for another person not unless said person wants to keep it together but I do think she's helping him - I think she's his biggest lifeline."
"Oh, that's so sweet," Garcia started to say when JJ's eyes got really big.
"Oh, my God," she breathed as she stared towards the other end of the plane. The incredulous tone of her voice made Morgan turn around and Garcia piped up in both their ears 'what, what?'
At the other end of the plane, Hotch was staring at Emily, who was suddenly completely absorbed in her paperwork.
"Just what are you doing?" he finally asked.
"What do you mean?" she replied, widening her own eyes and looking ever so innocent.
"Footsie?" he asked, eyebrows rising in disbelief. "You're actually playing footsie? And what is it that you keep humming under your breath?"
"It's Bonnie Raitt's 'Something to Talk About'" she told him. "Do you remember it? It was a big hit back in the '90's." When he just looked at her blankly, she started to sing the lyrics, "People are talkin, talking 'bout people/ I hear them whisper, you won't believe it/ They think we're lovers kept under covers/ I just ignore it, but they keep saying/ We laugh just a little too loud/ We stand just a little too close/ We stare just a little too long."
His eyes widened and then narrowed as he heard and remembered the song even as her foot continued its slow up and down motion on his leg.
"I thought we agreed we'd be discreet," he reminded her but she noted that he didn't move his leg out of her way.
"I am being discreet," she argued. "I'm just swinging my foot back and forth – it's not really my fault if your leg happens to be in my way, is it?" She grinned at him when he just rolled his eyes.
"Prentiss," he drawled in warning.
"Yes, sir?" she asked, wide grin and mischievous gleam in her eyes in place. When he just looked at her, she shrugged and said, "It's just the team; they won't say a word about it to anyone. Besides, they've asked for it with all their whispering about us."
"Just how do you know they're whispering about us?" he wanted to know.
"I know them," she shrugged.
"So do I," he said. "And I've known them longer than you and I still can't see why you think they're talking about us."
"You might have known them longer," she admitted. "But I bet you've never been in a gossip session with JJ and Garcia so you don't know that look in their eyes."
"You got a point there," he conceded.
"Of course I do," she nodded. "Didn't we establish a little while ago that I'm always right?"
"I thought that was 'almost always right'?"
"Same difference," she answered and the mischievous gleam in her eye went up to wicked just before the toe of her foot nudged beneath his pant leg.
"Emily," he hissed but she just looked at him with big, wide, guiltless eyes before she winked at him and went back to her paperwork.
"Oh, my God," JJ repeated. "Did you see that?" she asked Morgan, who could only nod in answer.
"What? What!" Garcia asked again, her voice rising as her curiosity increased. "You guys are killing me here." Morgan told her what they had just seen and for once, she was actually speechless for all of ten seconds. "You are kidding me," she finally breathed.
"Nope," JJ shook her head and they could both hear the grin in her voice. "And that's not all; just before she started . . ."
"Playing footsie," Garcia supplied.
"Yeah, just before that," JJ went on, "she dropped her pen cause for some reason she got all flustered and nervous. She actually blushed," she told them, proving just how closely she'd been observing her co-workers.
"Emily got flustered?" Garcia asked.
"Yep," JJ answered.
"Emily is not the kind to get flustered," Morgan pointed out. "Not when she's in work mode. The only time she gets like that is when she's talking about her personal life – and even then it only happens if she's really embarrassed."
"So Hotch did something to embarrass her?" Garcia didn't sound too convinced about that possibility.
"I don't think so," JJ disagreed. "She didn't look embarrassed so much as . . . well, shy."
"Shy? Emily?" Morgan repeated.
"I know," JJ shrugged.
"Hey, maybe Hotch was flirting with her," Garcia proposed.
"Hotch flirting?" Morgan asked again.
"I'm sure the Hotch-man knows how to flirt," Garcia defended her theory.
"I'm sure he did – at some point," Morgan agreed. "I just don't think he remembers it now."
"You know," JJ mused out loud, her eyes fixed on Emily's foot as it continued to rub Hotch's leg, "this is really out of character for them."
"Yes, it is," Morgan nodded. "Even if they do have something going on, they've been very discreet up until now; why change that?"
"What?" Garcia asked. "You think they could be putting us on?"
"They wouldn't do that," JJ denied but then stopped to think about it. "Would they?"
"Well," Morgan said, "I don't think Hotch would but Emily? Oh, yes, I think she would. That girl has a wicked streak in her."
"I know," Garcia agreed. "But this? And what would that mean for our little theory?"
"Nothing much," Morgan answered. "She might be putting us on but everything we've observed before this is still valid. I still think something's going on between those two."
"I just wish there was a way to know for sure," Garcia lamented.
"Short of asking them," JJ told her, "I think you're out of luck, Pen. And please let me know how it goes, if you ever do get around to asking them."
"Yeah, like I'd ever ask either of them," Garcia snorted. "But, there is someone else we could ask."
"Who?" JJ asked.
"Rossi," Garcia and Morgan answered at the same time.
"Oh, no, I'm not asking him," JJ immediately shook her head.
"Ask me what?" Rossi, who had just come back from the rest room, asked from behind JJ making her jump once again.
"Geez," JJ said as she settled back down. "Why don't you guys make some noise? You're going to give me a heart attack at this rate."
"Sorry, JJ," Rossi smiled at her. "Didn't mean to startle you. So, ask me what?" he asked again as he sat across from the couch in one of the chairs around the table.
"If you know what's going on with Emily and Hotch," Morgan finally said after he and JJ shared a look, and with Garcia's encouragement in his ear.
"What makes you think I'd know anything about that?" he asked them. "If there was anything to know in the first place."
"Come on, Rossi," Morgan said, shifting forward on the couch. "We know there's something there; we just don't know what."
"What makes you think . . ." he started to ask again but a sudden laugh, a real belly laugh from the other end of the plane stopped his question mid-way. They all turned around and saw Hotch with his head thrown back, having a real laugh at whatever Emily had said. Emily, for her part, looked extremely satisfied with herself.
"That," Morgan said as he turned back to look at Rossi. "That makes us think something's going on. I mean, when was the last time we saw Hotch really laugh?"
"After we had that case in Vegas," JJ remembered.
"That was last year," Morgan added. "And how long was it before that? You gotta admit, Rossi, there's something there."
"Maybe," Rossi allowed. "But let's say there is, do we really have the right to discuss it and analyze it like we do an investigation?" he asked them as he looked both Morgan and then JJ in the eye. "Isn't whatever might be going on between them," and he wouldn't tell them what he did know about it because that had been told to him in confidence, "their business and no one else's? I will say one thing, though," he added, "whatever it is that may or may not be happening I'm glad for it because it's obviously a good thing – for both of them." Given that both Hotch and Emily had seemed remarkably centered lately, everyone could agree with that. "And I, for one, don't intend to do or say anything that could in any way jeopardize that." With that, he sat back in the chair and went back to his writing.
"He's right," JJ said into the phone to Garcia and to Morgan. "We really have no business speculating like this. It's their business; if and when they want us to know, if something is going on, they'll tell us."
"You're right," Morgan agreed. "We'll know when and if we ever need to know."
"Okay, okay," Garcia huffed. "You're all right; no more speculating for me. I'm glad for them, though," she couldn't resist adding.
"Me too," JJ said softly.
"Me three," Morgan agreed. After that, Garcia said bye and they hung up, JJ went back to resting and Morgan took out his I-pod and started to work on his case report. The rest of the flight back home to Quantico was spent in relative quiet. With only Reid, who had been lost in a new book, none the wiser.