A/N: Hello everyone! I've had this story playing in my head for a while now and I finally got it written. I hope you all enjoy this. I should probably say that I began writing this before Hotch handed his position to Morgan, so for this story Hotch is still the Unit Chief. Please let me know what you think. Like it, great! Hate it, please tell me why! Happy reading! As always, sadly, I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters.



He stood, oblivious to everyone else around him, staring down at the lifeless body of George Foyet. He could hear the mumblings of his fellow FBI agents, local police, and medical personnel, but the only words that broke through clearly were, "he's dead. It's over." The comforting hand of his mentor on his back brought him back to the here and now.

"Aaron," Rossi uttered, looking with concerned eyes at his friend. "Are you alright?"

"Is this really over?" Hotch breathed, never taking his eyes off his tormentor.

"It's really over," Rossi smiled.

Finally, Hotch drew his eyes away from Foyet and looked at Rossi, who gave him a reassuring nod. That was all Hotch needed to snap himself back to reality and remember what the death of George Foyet actually meant. He quickly scanned the room and found US Marshal Sam Kassmeyer standing in the doorway with two other US Marshals. Their eyes met and they wasted no time meeting each other half way.

"Sam, take me to my son."

"I just got off the phone with my team. They are about three hours away. They're bringing him to you at the BAU."

Hotch took a deep breath, the first real, true, relaxing deep breath he'd taken in eight months.

"I don't know how to thank you," he said.

"I told you we would protect him as if he was our own. Seeing that little boy back in his father's arms is all the thanks I need. Go back to the BAU, Aaron. Finish the paperwork. Put this case to rest for good. Your son will be here before you know it. I'll bring him to you myself."

The two men shook hands.

"Thank you."


Back at the BAU, the team wasted no time in getting to work on all the paperwork and reports that had to be finished to finally put Foyet to rest forever. Hotch wrote so fast his left hand started to cramp. Rossi was writing just as fast in his office. The others raced to be the first to get their finished reports to their boss. When everything was finished, signed off on, turned in, and filed away, Aaron Hotchner still had about an hour to wait before Marshal Kassmeyer would arrive with Haley and Jack. He stared through his office window at his team in the bullpen and realized none of them were leaving. The soft knock on his door surprised him.

"I didn't mean to startle you."

"It's okay, Prentiss," he replied. "Did you need something?"

"Thought you could use some coffee," she said, handing him a navy blue FBI mug.

"Thanks," he smiled as he walked to his door and accepted the gesture.

They walked onto the platform between the two offices overlooking the bullpen, where they were joined by Rossi.

"You guys don't have to stick around, you know," Hotch said.

"Yeah, we know," replied Morgan from his desk directly below them. Hotch looked down at him. Morgan, Reid, JJ, and Garcia were gathered around his desk. Hotch started to speak but Morgan cut him off.

"Let me explain something to you," he began. "We're a family, Hotch. An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us." Hotch glanced over at Rossi, who had said those same exact words to him just a few months before while they were waiting in a stakeout van in Commack, New York. Morgan noticed Rossi smirk and kept speaking. "You're not the only one who needs to see this to its end. None of us are going anywhere until we see our favorite four-year-old back in his daddy's arms, you understand?"

Hotch chuckled, looked down, and gave a nod to Morgan. He finished his coffee and sat the mug on the railing. Six sets of eyes were on him. He could feel them. He took a deep breath.

"I know I've been a hard ass lately. Well, more so than usual anyway." He heard some chuckles from the four sitting below him. "I'm…" He struggled finding the right words. "I'm not very good at letting people in or handling things that I can't fix." He rubbed the back of his neck. Admitting all of this out loud was a lot harder than he could have imagined. "But I hope you guys know how much I've appreciated what you've all done over the last eight months. I mean that."

"I bet that was hard," joked Morgan.

"You have no idea," rebuffed Hotch.

For the first time in a long time, the entire team was laughing. Things were finally starting to feel like they were getting back to normal. They were laughing so hard they didn't hear the elevator doors open. But they heard that little voice.

"Daddy!"

One look was all it took, and Aaron Hotchner flew down the stairs and dropped to his knees as 35 pounds of Jack Hotchner flew into his arms. "Oh, God," Aaron shakily whispered as Jack's tiny arms latched around his father's neck so tightly that Aaron almost couldn't breathe. And that was okay. It was perfect. At that moment, nothing else existed except father and son. After several moments Jack loosened his grip and looked up at his dad.

"Are you crying?" he asked innocently.

"Yeah, buddy," he sniffled.

"Why?"

"Because I really, really missed you a lot. And I'm really happy that you and your mom are home and I get to see you again."

"I missed you, too."

Hotch ruffled his son's hair. "I love you so much, buddy."

"I love you too, daddy," Jack said as he tightened his grip once more.

Hotch finally stood up, bringing the boy up with him. He wiped the tears off his face and looked around the room. Every person had tears streaming down their faces, including Derek Morgan and David Rossi. Aaron put his arm around Haley and hugged her tightly. "Welcome home," he whispered in her ear. She smiled back at him and hugged him tighter.

"What do you say, buddy? You ready to go home?"

"Yeah!"

As they headed for the elevators, Rossi called out to Hotch.

"I know you're the boss, but I'm playing my seniority card on you right now," he said with as much authority as he could muster. "I don't want to see your face in this office for at least the next two weeks, you understand me?"

Hotch chuckled, nodded and smiled. "Yes, sir."

"And Hotch."

"Yeah?"

Rossi gave him a big smile. "Now, it's over."

Hotch gave a long, appreciative look at his team, turned to shake the hand of Marshal Kassmeyer, and the Hotchners headed home.