Disclaimer – Not Mine.
A/N – So I was watching Friends the other day and this idea wouldn't leave me alone.
Derek slipped into Penelope Garcia's office and shut the door. "Baby Girl." His voice vibrated with urgency.
Garcia swiveled on her chair, surprised and happy to be getting a visit from her favorite profiler. "Hello Delicious, what can I do for you?"
"Have you talked to JJ today?" He questioned with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
Garcia tilted her head. "Why?"
"Because something definitely happened between JJ and Hotch." He stated with supreme confidence.
Garcia rolled her eyes at him. "When are you going to get off that? There is nothing going on with my Buttercup and Boss Man. I would know."
"Would you?" Derek challenged. "Because I just ran into Hotch at the coffee bar…"
"He's back?" Garcia interrupted. "How is he? Why does no one tell me these things, if I would have known he was coming back to the office today I would have baked a cake, or maybe cookies, ooh, maybe cupcakes." She glared at Derek for the perceived oversight. "Point is I would have baked something!"
Morgan shook his head at her. "Are you done?"
"Well it would have been nice to know." Garcia grumbled.
"So, as I was saying," Derek continued, "I ran into Hotch, who looks good, but the arm is still in a sling." He answered before she could ask. "And I said, 'so did JJ wear one of those cute nurse outfits when she was helping you out?'"
Penelope's eyes grew wide and she giggled. "I'm surprised your head is still attached."
"Right? Thank you!" Derek agreed. "I was expecting him to be all Hotch and get a lecture on the appropriateness of my statement."
"Ah, you missed your daily reprimands."
"A little bit I did." He nodded. "But that's not what happened, he blushes…"
Penelope's mouth dropped. "No. Way."
"Way. He blushes and stammers that JJ was a great help to him while he was recuperating. Then turns and walks away." He stated with a smirk.
"Stammers?" Penelope questions disbelievingly. "Aaron Hotchner, I eat bad guys for breakfast, stammered?"
"Stammers." Derek confirms.
They were busily staring at one another pondering the significance of this new development that they didn't notice that the door behind Derek was opening. "What are you two hens clucking about?" Emily asked as she flung open the door to find Derek and Pen in deep contemplation.
Before Derek could advise otherwise Garcia burst out. "Something happened between Hotch and JJ."
"What?" Emily looked at the pair with skepticism. Derek looked a touch smugger than usual, if that were even possible. "What do you know?"
He relayed to Prentiss his interaction with their stoic leader.
"He blushed and stammered?" Her voice was still tinged with doubt. This was JJ and Hotch they were talking about after all. And Derek had been beating this particular bush for a while now.
"Emily, the fact that he didn't bite my head off should speak for itself." Derek pointed out.
She thought about that for a moment before nodding. "True."
"Hey Pen." The door opened once more as JJ Jareau stepped into the TA's office. Her brow furrowed as the three individuals standing there all stopped and looked at her guiltily. "Hey, what's going on in here?"
Not knowing what to say Pen looked at JJ and with a touch of annoyance asked, "Why didn't you tell me Hotch was coming back today? You know I would have baked something."
JJ grinned. "That is exactly why I didn't tell you. Hotch didn't want anyone to make a big deal." She shrugged, "Please don't give him grief, and don't make a big fuss over him."
"But how will he know that we love him if I don't show him with baked goods?"
"Believe me, Pen; Aaron knows that we love him." She moved over to the desk and rifled through a set of files. "Ah, this is what I was looking for." She turned to the team. "Are you coming? Briefing in ten."
They were all staring at her wide eyed when she glanced up. "We'll be right there, you run along." Morgan grinned charmingly and JJ gave them another puzzled glance wondering what it was they were up to.
"O-kay." She gave them a half smile and left the small office.
She was barely out the door when Derek turned to the two women and cocked a brow. "Did I tell you?"
"OMG, OMG, OMG. She said Aaron." Penelope hissed. "She called him Aaron." She repeated.
Emily shrugged. "It is his name."
CMCMCMCM
After hesitating half a second to make sure that her teammates were not following her JJ made a beeline for Hotch's office. "They know." She hissed, moving quickly into the office and swinging the door closed behind her.
Hotch, studiously studying the file in front of him slowly raised his head. "Pardon?"
"They know." JJ repeated, urgently.
Confusion marred his face. "You're going to need to be a little more specific. Who knows what JJ?"
"Derek, Pen and Emily are all congregating in Penelope's office and they all looked guilty when I walked in."
A small smile lit his face. "It's not uncommon for the team to converge in Penelope's office. Nine out of ten times you're in there with them."
"A-ha! See? That just supports my theory." She proclaimed. "They didn't even look for me this morning. They know about us."
He closed the folder and decided to humor her. "Okay, let's say you're right. Say they do know." He sat back in his chair. "I'm fine with that. Don't you think it's time that we told the team?"
"I thought we were going to wait until you moved into the Section Chief role?" JJ stated.
It was widely known that Erin Strauss was moving in on to another fraction of the FBI and it was highly speculated that Aaron was the heir apparent to replace her however, it wasn't a definite. Hotch shrugged and reminded her of that little fact. "Jay, what happens if I don't get that position? Do we hide from our colleagues for another nine months that we're a couple?"
"Aaron." JJ froze, looking at him with wild eyes. "Oh my god, I called you Aaron."
"That is my name."
"No! In Pen's office, she was mad because she didn't know that you were coming back today and she didn't get to plan anything." JJ whined.
"Thank you for that."
"And then she said, 'How will he know that we love him if I don't bake' and I said 'don't worry Aaron knows we love him'." She groaned. "I called you Aaron."
"You're making too big of a deal over it, they probably didn't even notice." Hotch scoffed. When JJ stared at him in angry silence he stood from his desk and walked over to her. "Would it really be so bad if they knew?" His hand caressed her hip.
"No." She conceded, knowing that she was being silly. "I guess not." The distress on her face belied her words.
Hotch, reading both her posture and facial responses, dropped his hand. "Listen, if it makes you uncomfortable then we'll just continue on as we have been." When she didn't respond he created even more distance. "Maybe you don't even want that?" He questioned as he headed towards the door glancing at his watch. "We have a briefing we're going to be late to."
"Aaron." Snapping out of her funk JJ called after him. "Hey," She growled racing and beating him to the door. "You know that's not the case."
"Yet here we are still sneaking around and the mere idea of telling our friends we're in a relationship is sending you into a frenzy." He calmly pointed out before walking out of his office.
CMCMCMCM
The briefing was awkward to say the least. Hotch was obviously angry but no one, with the exception of JJ, knew why.
Fortunately travel was not in their immediate future but they did have a surplus of consults to keep them busy.
"Okay, I think that about does it." Hotch stated, closing the manila folder and standing. "I'll be in my office."
JJ stood as well and followed him out of the briefing. "Hey Hotch; can I have a few minutes of your time?"
"I have a meeting to prepare for, can you make it quick?" There was nothing lover like in his response, his tone clearly indicating that he did not want to be bothered.
"You know," Reid stated with a frown, "I'm not so sure he was ready to come back so soon. He seems awfully tense." His comment highlighted the concern the rest of the team was sharing.
Even Rossi was frowning. "I spoke to him earlier and he was fine." He turned and watched as Hotch strode towards his office as JJ trailed after him. "Did he and JJ have a quarrel?"
Morgan who had also been following the progress of the pair that vacated through the glass windows swung back and looked at Rossi. "Why do you ask that?"
"Because Hotch didn't make eye contact with JJ the entire time he was in the room. JJ, however, kept giving him the big doe eyes." Emily announced, finally allowing that Morgan might actually be on to something.
The term was foreign to Reid. "Doe eyes?" He asked, looking at Emily for an explanation.
"You know, big, sad, vulnerable, and pleading. Think of a hunter looking into a pair of eyes like that. It would make me think twice before pulling the trigger." Emily offered, before adding. "I think Dave's on to something but I'm not so sure it was a fight. I think JJ hurt Hotch's feelings."
Reid frowned. "JJ was the one to volunteer to watch Hotch when he was concussed. Why would she hurt his feelings?"
Rossi narrowed his eyes and looked at the body language between Morgan, Prentiss and Garcia, they knew something. "What are we thinking here?"
"We're thinking that JJ and Hotch are involved." Morgan was on to something and he knew it. They all scoffed and told him he was imagining things but he knew that there was something going on between JJ and Hotch, and it had been going on for a while.
"You've been barking up that tree for some time now. What have you got to support that theory?" Rossi sat back in the chair and let Derek run through the story he told Pen and Emily earlier. "I'm not buying it." He announced boldly after Derek finished.
"I swear to you man..."
"Oh, I think you're right and there is definitely something between the pair of them, but I can't believe that Aaron Hotchner would get so flustered as to actually betray that." He let his comment sink in.
Emily was the first to catch on, her eyes widened. "It was deliberate!"
"What?" Reid, genius that he was, was out of his element when it came to matters of the heart.
"Maybe he wants to be found out." Rossi reasoned.
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