Here you guys another feeble attempt- I think I kind of got distracted in the middle so maybe things don't string together so well! Please let me know what you guys think!
Dedicated to the great Jekkah, cannybairn and Flames101 who have been keeping the JJ/Hotch flame alive in recent weeks.
In the words of the great Manuel (Fawlty Towers): I own NOTHING!
Changing Moods
It doesn't matter whether the office is that of the FBI or a small company the rules of office gossip are still the same. The boss is always the centre of everyone's attention with various theories running at any given time for his/ her current mood. It was pretty much the same situation in the office of the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI where the daily morning coffee discussion topic was the mood of the Unit Chief Aaron Hotchner. Other units of the FBI who had the fortunate or in most cases unfortunate experience of working with Agent Hotchner knew that this topic could never get old and was most certainly of great relevance every morning. If the BAU got a case then the team knew what kind of experience they were going to have based on the mood of the infamous Mr. Hotchner. And if by some miracle the team was on stand down then the other units knew whether the stay clear of the 12th Floor or perhaps it was a good day to go and ask (more like beg) for some invaluable time of the great Penelope Garcia. Things had proceeded pretty much smoothly for the last 6 years with the possible exception of that period almost 2 years ago when the ex Mrs. Hotchner met her unfortunate demise and it resulted in Mr. Hotchner biting the heads of all non- BAU staff for the following 2 months. Thankfully, the darkest days were spent at home so there was some respite. Another snag was hit when the BAU lost 2 of its members- one to the Pentagon and the other presumably to death. There was a collective sigh of relief at Quantico when both these members were safely returned to the BAU at the end of the year and so the daily practice had commenced. There was a strong rumour that one time Aaron Hotchner had walked into this morning conference and had expressed his displeasure at the topic under discussion but the fact that all those involved were alive and well and still employed by the FBI this incident was swiftly rejected as wishful thinking.
Unfortunately, like all things this incognito system also had to come to an end one day and that day had happened 2 weeks ago when Agent Hotchner had walked into the break room on a Monday morning and proceeded to spend the next 40 minutes chatting with his fellow team members. He had laughed (an act which TA Garcia had declared impossible) and smirked his way through the conversation. Within 10 minutes of his departure from the break room the entire FBI building was buzzing with the different theories about the reason for this change. The most popular theory was that after almost 4 years of celibacy Aaron Hotchner had finally gotten laid. There were many opinions on the lady (although some members of the FBI were convinced that after meeting the late Mrs. Hotchner, the good looking Unit Chief had given up on the fairer sex and was now batting for the home team!). From looks and possible meeting places to numbers of times and locations everything was considered fair game as a large portion of the time of the FBI teams at Quantico was spent trying to discover this person's identity. Many had even approached Penelope Garcia in the hopes of getting her to tap into her boss' phone records and see who he was speaking to after work hours but Garcia knew one thing- you did not mess with Aaron Hotchner and live to tell about it! And so the theories and innuendos continued for 2 weeks and the pressure was building for someone (ANYONE) to ask the man about who it was who was making him so happy.
It was only logical that the job of belling the cat would fall on one of his oldest friends and so after much convincing and deliberating David Rossi found himself standing outside Aaron Hotchner's apartment one Friday evening after work. Although he would never admit it Rossi was really hoping that the lady in question would be present at Hotch's place and thereby save Rossi the trouble of actually asking Hotch the relevant question. Not that Rossi was afraid of asking Hotch (or really caring about Hotch's privacy) it was just that Hotch would just get upset and it would ruin the good mood that he had been in for the last couple of weeks. Shrugging off all these concerns Rossi rang the bell and waited
"Dave? Is everything ok?" Hotch was alarmed to see Dave standing outside his place especially since they had parted not more than 2 hours ago.
"Hi Aaron! Can I come in?"
"Yeah Sure! Is everything ok?" Aaron repeated as he stepped aside allowing his friend to enter the warm home.
"Yeah everything is fine Aaron. I just had to ask you something and no it couldn't wait till Monday." Dave cut off his friend's next question before he could ask it and quickly continued "And before I ask you this you must know that I am not here on my own behalf but more on behalf of the team and yes possibly all of the FBI."
"You want to know who I am dating." It was said as a statement and not a question. Seeing his friend's eyebrows shoot up Aaron continued, "You guys aren't as quiet as you like to think you are! So let's hear the theories then? Who does the rumour mill think that I am dating?"
"You know this is not how I imagined this conversation going Aaron and before you get upset let me just clarify that everyone is very happy about this change in your life. You deserve to be happy and we are all very excited about meeting this lady" (Dave raised his eyebrows here in question and knew from the way Aaron's job dropped that it was indeed a lady and continued) "and offering her our congratulation on landing one of the best men that we have ever met!"
Aaron actually blushed at the last compliment and Dave was once again reminded about how much Aaron had changed since this new development.
"Dave I would tell you if it was only my secret to tell but she isn't ready! You can tell the team that I am grateful for their concern but in time they will not only know who she is but meet her too! It was all too complicated at the moment."
Hearing his friend speak Dave knew that (a) Aaron had found his next wife and (b) who the lucky lady was! "Ok Aaron good luck with it and give JJ our love! Tell her that despite all the morning gossip I am very happy for both of you and I am sure that the rest of the team would be too. In fact I am sure that Penelope will have your children projected in no time." Dave just rolled his eyes when he saw Aaron's jaw drop. "Oh come on Aaron I have written the book (literally) on profiling so you honestly expect me to ignore the implications of your response. I knew that your lady friend had to be someone you worked with because of your "complicated" comment and I know that it wasn't Emily or Garcia which only leaves our lovely blonde newest profiler. And don't worry Aaron your secret is safe with me!"
The following Monday morning Morgan, Prentiss, Garcia, Reid and Jareau waited anxiously for Rossi's arrival although JJ was nervous for reasons completely different from those of the rest. Rossi walked into the break room and smiled at the eager faces "Morning all! How was your weekend?"
"Oh forget the hellos just tell us who she is! Did you meet her? Was she nice? Has he told her about us? Is Jack happy with her?"
"Breathe Penelope and no I didn't meet her because she wasn't there but I can tell you one thing" Dave watched as everyone held on to every word that he said "Aaron is deliriously happy and she is one lucky lady! He truly loves her and I think that it won't be long before we do get to meet her! He is too excited and committed to this relationship to let it fall through and I am sure that whoever this lucky lady is she will also realize that soon enough! So I think that we should be happy that our poor bastard of a boss is madly in love and make good use of his current good mood! The mystery lady will appear when she is good and ready!" Dave was looking straight at JJ when he spoke the last few words just to let her know that he knew and he was rooting for both of them.
JJ looked away and quietly snuck away while the others were busy talking amongst each other. She quietly walked upstairs to the office of the Unit Chief and took a couple of minutes to just watch the man inside go about his business. She knew that she was one lucky lady to have earned his love and she also knew that she wasn't going to do anything to mess it up but she wasn't ready to announce it to the world yet. And it was not because she was having second thoughts- no on the contrary she was beyond happy and she knew that she was in this relationship for the long haul. She didn't want the others to know because she wanted to enjoy the privacy that would be destroyed as soon as her relationship came out! As boss Hotch would be somewhat spared but she would be subjected to daily interrogations by both Prentiss and Garcia and she wanted to enjoy her boyfriend without the threat of the Spanish Inquisition. Thinking these thoughts she opened the door and couldn't help grinning on watching a big and true smile light up his face. Oh forget it! Garcia can't be THAT bad was her final thought as she walked around the table to plant a big kiss on her lover's mouth.