Author's Note: So it's been a while since I've written a shippy story. This one's dedicated to FloatingAmoeba who sent me the prompt. I'm not entirely satisfied with it, but like I said, it's been a while since I've allowed the JJ/Hotch relationship cogs to turn in my mind. I hope they aren't too rusty.
Sorry Brynn ;)
"JJ, you've got to come." Penelope was nearly beside herself. She wasn't about to let her carefully laid plans go to waste simply because JJ was feeling insecure.
JJ groaned, "I don't work with you all anymore." She hedged, "I've been really busy—"
"I don't care that you don't work with us ant more!" Garcia exclaimed, "None of us do! Sugar Pie, we miss you!"
JJ hesitated, biting her lip, "Everybody's going to have a date." She reluctantly hedged, really not looking forward to spending the night with her former teammates. Though she had recently spent a disproportionate amount of time with one member of the team in particular, she hesitated at thrusting herself into a situation where she could only feel awkward and out of place. Like a weird high school reunion, where everybody else still lived in the same town and had a million things to talk about—something that she had indeed experienced just a few years ago.
Though all of her friends would welcome her with open arms, she also was painfully aware that she was no longer a part of the team. She wasn't looking for another reminder of that fact.
"Hotch isn't going to have a date." Garcia smirked hopefully. Though Will and JJ had split amicably months ago, the only saving grace for JJ's departure was the fact that there was now not a single road-block to her best friend falling in love with the best man in the world.
JJ blushed, grateful that Garcia wasn't in the room with her to push her further. "I don't know why you think I'd care about that." She hedged.
"Sure you don't." Penelope rolled her eyes, not entirely sure whether her friend was just in denial, or absolutely oblivious. "But you'll come?"
JJ bit her lip, considering, before nodding. "Yeah, I'll come. It's at your apartment?"
"Yep! And don't forget, you have to come as the Greek goddess Aphrodite—it goes with the theme."
JJ rolled her eyes, not at all surprised that her best friend would have a themed Halloween party. "Sure." She relented, fully aware that any argument would be futile. "Whatever you say."
"That's what I like to hear! Make sure you've got a babysitter, because this party is going to be AMAZING." Penelope grinned wildly. If she had anything to do with it, JJ would leave her Halloween party with more than candy and a hangover—she'd have the start of a real relationship too.
After all, Penelope was Henry's godmother—so she definitely qualified as JJ's fairy godmother full of divine intervention.
Hotch smirked as he looked JJ over appreciatively before entering the elevator she was holding for him. "Let me guess, Athena?"
"Ha!" JJ snorted, knowing full well he knew what she was supposed to be since he had helped her make her costume the night before, "You think you're so funny. I'm Aphrodite." She narrowed her eyes, "Garcia would have a fit if I showed up as something else."
"True. Aphrodite—goddess of beauty. That fits perfectly." Hotch mused, smiling as he saw her blush.
"You can't say things like that." JJ cautioned seriously, mentally cataloguing the way Hotch's muscles were accentuated by the white sheet draped around him. "Not here—people could hear you."
"So?" Hotch asked innocently. "JJ, you don't work here anymore. I think they'd be happy for us."
"I'm sure they'd be happy for us." JJ agreed. She sighed, hoping not to mess up possibly the best relationship of her life. "I just—I want to keep this between us for now."
"Whatever makes you comfortable." He smiled, masking the hurt he felt that JJ didn't want to yet air their budding relationship.
"It's just—special." JJ added seeing straight through his attempt, "I'm just—I want to keep this close because it's special."
Hotch smiled genuinely as the elevator dinged. "It's special to me too."
She smirked softly fighting a blush. "Now come on, Garcia might kill us if we're late."
"How funny is it that JJ and Hotch showed up in matching costumes?" Reid whispered to Garcia conspiratorially. "You don't think—"
At Garcia's triumphant smile, he stopped. "No, I don't think they are, yet mon ami," She gleamed happily, "But if I have anything to do with it, by the end of tonight they'll be—" She trailed off as JJ left Emily's side and strode over with a smirk that let the tech know the blonde was not happy.
"So, I notice that only Hotch and I got the memo that this party was supposed to be a 'Greek Gods' theme?" She asked, the innocence in her tone undercut by the knowing look in her eyes.
Penelope squirmed guiltily, "Well, I might have decided to abandon the theme at the last minute." She smiled, "But Jayje, you look smokin'!"
JJ blushed almost imperceptibly as she glanced down at the thick sheet that was draped artistically around her body.
"Did you know that under Greek mythology, Aphrodite—the Greek goddess of love and beauty whom I suspect you are attempting to represent—and Ares—the Greek god of war and bloodthirst that Hotch seems to be personifying—were, according to legend, in a secret relationship?"
"You don't say." JJ mused, fighting a smirk as she glanced back at her old colleague and new-found boyfriend.
Garcia shot Reid a warning look before smiling innocently. "What a coincidence!"
JJ snapped nervously toward her friend. "What do you mean coincidence?" She asked instantly, worried that somehow her secret budding relationship was not as secret as she thought.
Garcia's eyes widened in realization. "Why do you care if it's a coincidence? Is it a coincidence?" Seeing JJ's face blanche slightly, Garcia squealed happily. "I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!"
Reid stared at the two women in utter confusion.
JJ glared at her friend and clamped her hand over her friend's mouth, yanking her away from the perplexed genius. "Pen, if you say something so help me—"
Garcia pried JJ's hand from off her mouth. "I can't believe you didn't tell me about this." Garcia whispered loudly. "This—this—this is—"
"A secret." JJ intoned, desperately looking around the room in a hope that the others hadn't noticed. Luckily, Hotch seemed entranced in a conversation with Dave, and Emily and Morgan were discussing some random book JJ had never heard of. "Please, I just—I need time."
"Time for what?" Garcia whispered incredulously. "JJ, this is AWESOME!" She shouted the last word in excitement.
At Penelope's exuberance, the other FBI Agents looked over to the two women quizzically. "What is awesome?" Emily asked for the others.
Seeing JJ's blushing face and Garcia's excitement, Hotch quickly deduced what had happened and stepped in chivalrously, "Isn't everything awesome to Penelope?" He asked rhetorically.
JJ's jaw dropped as the others chuckled and seemingly dropped the subject.
It was such a simple thing. She didn't want people to know, and he bailed her out at the last minute.
He could have very well stormed into this party and demand that she expose their new relationship.
But he didn't.
He waited.
And in that moment, Jennifer Jareau wasn't sure she could love a man more. Her eyes widened at the sincerity that Hotch was willing to do everything at her pace, and though he desperately wanted everyone to know, if it made her comfortable, he would do anything for her.
And suddenly, the need to keep her attraction to Aaron Hotchner a secret evaporated.
"Hotch and I are dating." JJ blurted out, smirking as all heads in the room snapped in her direction. Hotch's face exploded in a wide grin, and JJ suddenly felt like shouting her new relationship from the rooftops. "We're dating, and it's getting pretty serious."
She smiled as she stepped over to the man that right now she was certain she wanted to spend the rest of her life with. 'Serious' did not begin to describe how she felt about her and Aaron's future.
"Finally." Emily groaned, rolling her eyes as she turned back to Derek.
"You two have been dancing around this forever." Rossi agreed with Emily's statement, "It's about time."
Hotch pulled JJ into a tight hug. "Thank you." He murmured into her hair, breathing in her luscious scent.
JJ pulled away only slightly. "Consider this your Halloween miracle." She winked, pulling him in for a passionate kiss.
After a moment, Hotch pulled back, painfully aware that the others were watching their interaction with amusement. "I won't ever forget it."
"You'd better not." JJ warned, her own cheeks blushing at being the center of her friends' attention, "Because Halloween miracles are pretty special."
Hotch ran his finger along JJ's bare arm, whispering softly so only she could hear. "So are you."