And All the Kings' Men

"Come on Derek, I'm fine," I argued as Derek gently pushed me into my seat.

"No, you are staying here with Penelope until Hotch clears you for duty," he reminded. I sighed and stuck my tongue out at him. He just laughed and ruffled my hair.

"We'll should be back in a few days. You can help Penelope," JJ assured dropping a kiss to my cheek. I nodded and said my goodbyes, grating at the fact that I was assigned desk duty. Finally Hotch came by. I blushed and quickly looked down at my feet. Since I had realized my feelings for Hotch, it had become increasingly difficult to act normally in his presence.

"Get some rest. We'll call you from the road," he said. I nodded still staring at my feet. His fingers wrapped around my wrist and I suddenly felt lips brush my cheek. It was gone so fast I thought I might have imagined it. My head jerked up but he was already walking away. I touched the spot on my cheek and stood there gaping after him.

"Hey, Trys? You ok?" Pen asked. I quickly nodded and followed her to her office.

The case nearly gave me a heart attack. After five days the team cornered the guy, Ken Harrison, and a shooting match took place. Penelope and I were freaking out.

When the team finally returned we were waiting for them in the main office. I surged forward nearly bowling Hotch over. I hugged him as tight as I could burying my face in his neck. He squeezed me back.

"Easy, I'm alright," he said softly.

"Don't ever do that again," I mumbled into his shirt before pulling away. The others were busy getting yelled at by Penelope except for Rossi. He was the only one who noticed the two of us. He smirked and I blushed quickly moving away from Hotch.

That night there was a knock on my apartment door. I signed and unearthed myself from my mountain of blankets. I went to the door and pulled it open. Hotch was on the other side dressed in a nice dark blue shirt, black dress pants and shiny shoes. He looked amazing.

"Ack, don't look at me," I squealed ducking behind the door. I was wearing my old high school hoodie and my purple pajamas pants that had little cats all over them. My hair was in a messy bun. Hotch laughed.

"It's alright," he told me, "I just wanted to ask if you wanted to come to dinner tonight?" I blinked.

"Um, yeah, sure but uh," I glanced down at my clothes, "I'll have to get ready." He smiled.

"Of course, the reservations are in an hour," he replied. I arched an eyebrow at him.

"You were pretty sure of yourself, huh?" His grin grew. I rolled my eyes and beckoned him inside.

"Let me go get ready," I told him, "You can watch TV or whatever. Make yourself at home." I hurried upstairs and shut my door. I took a deep breath.

"Ok girl, you can do this. Easy," I told myself. I pulled open my closet doors and bit my lip trying to find a dress. Hotch wasn't all decked out so none of my formal gowns but I needed something nice.

I grabbed my favorite dress. It was white lace with a pale green ribbon around the waist. I had matching cream colored wedges.

I yanked my hair from its bun and brushed it quickly. I pinned it half up with silver hairpins. I cleaned up my face and brushed some foundation on before sweeping some mascara over my lashes. I slipped into the dress and shoes. I grabbed my clutch from the desk and hurried back downstairs.

"Alright, how do I look?" I asked. Hotch looked up from the island stool he'd sat at. He smiled softly.

"You look beautiful," he murmured standing up. I smiled back. He held out his hand and I hesitantly took it.

We were quiet as he drove and the restaurant he took me to was a nice steakhouse. He opened the doors for me and helped me into the booth.

"So how are you feeling?" he asked once we were settled and we'd ordered our drinks. My hand went to my stomach. I didn't need to wear the bandages anymore.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I told him.

"Good, I'm glad you're getting better," he said. The waitress came back with my lemonade and his coke. I took a sip.

"Ready to order?" the waitress asked. Hotch gestured for me to go first.

"Yeah, I'll get the 8 oz. sirloin, medium, with fries and fresh vegetables," I said.

"And I'll take the 11 oz. sirloin, medium rare, with mashed potatoes and corn," Hotch finished. The waitress smiled and jotted down our order. After she left I fell quiet wondering what to say.

"So any interesting books I need to check out?" Hotch asked.

From there the conversation flowed easily. We laughed and talked and ate, enjoying each other's company. We ordered beers after we ate and sipped them while we talked about movies, books, animals, Jack, anything that crossed our minds.

When we finished our beers Hotch led me out. The conversation continued in the car.

We were talking about the definition of narcissism when he pulled up to my house.

"Do you want to come inside?" I offered, "We could have another beer or something." Hotch hesitated then turned off the car.

"I'd love to," he replied. We walked inside and I grabbed two beers from the fridge. I handed one to him and toed off my wedges. I popped down on the couch and gestured for him to join me. He sat beside me and I tucked my legs up under me.

"So why did you ask me out tonight?" I asked. Hotch toyed with lid to his bottle.

"Well, I guess I was tired of doing this dance of ours," he said.

"What dance?" I asked. Hotch looked up at me his chocolate eyes warm and filled with affection.

"The one where I love you and we both pretend not to notice." I stared at him my jaw loose. He loved me. Hotch loved me. I didn't know what to say.

A crash jerked me back from my thoughts. My bottle had slipped from my grasp and shattered on the hardwood floor.

"Oh I'm sorry," I blurted jumping to my feet.

"Wait," Hotch cried pushing me back so I didn't stand on the glass. We ended up in this strange position where we stood across from each other over the broken bottle. Hotch was holding my arms and was bent over and I was standing on one leg my foot hovering over the glass. I stepped back carefully and Hotch let me go. I was silent for a moment then burst into laughter. Hotch laughed as well. Once I had calmed down I stepped over the glass and hugged Hotch tightly.

"I love you too," I whispered.