AN: Thanks to those of you who have reviewed.
The team had been called away on a case on Sunday afternoon. They spent a grueling five days in Wisconsin, finally catching the Unsub in a well-executed raid of his suburban home. Reid, Seaver, and Morgan were at the hotel packing for the trip home. Hotch, JJ, and Rossi were at the local police station cleaning up and organizing their case files. Rossi and JJ were sitting at the conference table, sorting through which papers they needed to keep, and which to recycle. Hotch was clearing off the board the team had used when his phone beeped. There was nothing unusual about that, but what did catch Rossi and JJ's attention was the little chuckle that escaped from their Unit Chief when he read the text message. He quickly composed himself, typed out a reply, and stuffed the phone back into his pocket before removing the last few photographs from the board.
Without exactly lifting her head, JJ snuck a glance over at Rossi. He noticed her action and met her eyes. He had been a profiler long enough to read her look – she wanted to know if he noticed what had just happened and had any reaction to it.
"We're just about finished here, Aaron. Why don't you go pull the car around?" Rossi said.
"Sure," Hotch replied. If he noticed anything peculiar about the request, he didn't show it.
As soon as Hotch was a safe distance away, Rossi turned his attention to JJ. "What's with the look?"
"What look?"
Rossi studied her for a moment. "Aaron Hotchner just giggled at a message on his phone, and then you got a look. Do you know who the message was from?"
Something about the way he asked the question caused JJ to pause and take her turn to study him for a moment. "Do you know who it was?"
"No." He replied evenly.
"Me either."
After a beat, JJ turned her attention back to the stacks of papers in front of her, tossing one into the recycle bin next to the table.
"But," Rossi continued, causing JJ's head to snap back up and face him, "I might have a theory."
Her eyes narrowed, and she had to bite the inside of her mouth to keep from smiling.
"And I'm guessing by that look, you might have a theory too," Rossi concluded.
"Ok, spill it, Rossi."
Rossi leaned back in his chair. "If I was a betting man, I'd put my money on Emily."
"What do you know?" JJ almost lunged forward in her chair at the prospect of getting more intel on the pair.
"Only what I've seen. He stares at her when she's not looking. I don't even know if he knows he's doing it... That dopey grin he gets when she's around. He sees her as woman now, not a subordinate agent. And I think he likes what he sees." He paused, with a smile. "Since you're not disagreeing with me, I take it you had the same idea?"
"Yep. I've hinted around it, and I think she's into him too."
"What makes you say that?"
"Every time I've ever talked to her about liking a guy, she would either admit it, or tell me straight up that that I was crazy or she wasn't feeling it. She's never been evasive."
"And she's being evasive now?"
"Pretty sure she actually blushed."
"Well wait, you said she'd tell you if she liked a guy. Why wouldn't she just say she liked Hotch?"
"Because it's Hotch! He's our boss, her old boss, we've all known him for years. It would be awkward as it is, without the ordeal everyone's gone through over the last year. Plus… It's Hotch."
"So you've said," Rossi deadpanned.
JJ rolled her eyes at him. "He's loosened up a little, but he's not exactly easy to read. I don't think Emily would ever make the first move for fear of humiliating herself. Do you think Hotch would?"
"I don't know. He's...," Rossi paused, "Hotch."
"Exactly," JJ sighed.
"So they spin themselves in circles around each other and we're reduced to gossiping junior high kids," Rossi summarized.
"We need a note that says 'Do you like me? Circle Yes or No.'"
Rossi laughed, and then noticed that a serious expression had taken over JJ's face.
"Do you think it would be a bad idea? Like, it's too soon?" she asked.
"It's not too soon for him. And honestly, I think Emily is doing great after everything she's gone through. I think she'd be waiting for the sake of waiting, not because she wasn't ready to move on with her life. Do you think it would be a bad idea?"
"No," JJ replied, simply. "I think it would be great for them. Do you have any ideas?"
"I wish. Neither one of them responds too well to people poking into their personal lives."
"And they're also both incredibly stubborn."
"So no overt pushing."
"Right," JJ agreed. "But if we happened to start planning more happy hours, get-togethers, – for the team – that wouldn't be pushing."
"Team bonding has proven to be beneficial to morale – as has having Emily around."
"I like the way you think, Mr. Rossi."
They shared a conspiratorial grin as Hotch walked back into the room to announce that the car was out front.
Emily and JJ met for lunch the day after the team got back, and the day before Rossi's dinner party. JJ's intent was to get a feel for Emily's state of mind and to confirm Rossi's assessment.
"So how are you doing, really?" JJ asked, not having to fake concern for her friend.
"Honesly, JJ, I'm good."
"It's ok if you're not, you know."
"I know. But I really do feel... free. And settled, at the same time, if that makes sense."
"That's good, Em."
"I know I need to figure out what I want to do in terms of a job, but I like my new place. It's nice to have a home base again. And I can't even begin to tell you how amazing you and the rest of the team have been."
"We're happy to have you back," JJ smiled.
"And," Emily paused, seemingly hesitant to reveal what she was about to confide in JJ, "I've been sleeping better since I started seeing someone."
"Seeing someone?" JJ blurted out. She managed to collect herself before her jaw hit the table.
"'Someone' as in a psychologist, JJ." Emily shifted uncomfortably in her seat.
JJ tried to hide her relief at this clarification. "Oh. I'm glad. I mean, I think that's a very good thing. Even better if you've really noticed that it's helping."
"Not that you guys haven't been great, but it's helped to kind of sort out everything that's happened with a disinterested party."
"I get that. And it really is good that you're doing it, Em."
"So are you going to tell me why you almost fell out of your chair when I said I was seeing someone? I assume you thought I meant I was seeing a guy?"
"What? No, I was just... I hadn't heard you mention anyone." JJ let a few seconds go by. "Have you talked to your mother lately?"
She may not be a behavioral expert, but she knew that Emily was starting to get suspicious, and she knew exactly how to divert her attention.
Though Hotch, understandably, didn't want to be apart from Jack the week they returned from Wisconsin, he did agree to go when Rossi announced he was having everyone – including Emily – over to his place for dinner that Saturday. Rossi made it a point to clarify that Jack was invited, and that Will and Henry were coming as well.
Shortly after everyone arrived, Rossi announced that dinner was ready. Hotch got Jack settled into his chair.
"Sit by me, Emily," Jack instructed from his seat at the table as she walked into Rossi's dining room.
"Jack, that wasn't very polite," Hotch scolded.
"Can you please sit by me, Emily?" the young Hotchner called out to her.
"I would love to, Jack," she responded.
Emily spent the first part of the meal conversing with Jack about his favorite and least favorite foods, and his father's culinary skills. Hotch joined in the conversation to add anecdotes about those 'least favorite foods' and defend his cooking.
None of these interactions - none of the smiles, the little looks when they thought the other wasn't watching - went unnoticed by JJ, Rossi, or Garcia.
The grown-ups stayed at the dinner table for over an hour after they had finished eating and Henry and Jack went back to their toys.
That hour was long enough for several bottles of wine to be emptied. At some point, Rossi threw out the idea of sitting on the patio and enjoying the unusually warm evening.
JJ got Henry and Jack settled on two of the couches in Rossi's living room and found a Disney movie for them to watch. Everyone but the kids, Hotch, and Rossi moved outside.
Hotch stayed inside to help Rossi clear the table and clean up the kitchen. Rossi had had just enough wine to bring out the feisty Italian side of him. The side of him that had little patience for Hotch's cautiousness and stoicism. He had had just enough wine to want to have more wine in order to amp up the fiesty Italian side of him and give Hotch a shove rather than a push. He hadn't forgotten his conversation with JJ only a few days ago, but he would be damned if he didn't make Hotch acknowledge what was going on in light of the way they were practically glowing around each other at dinner.
He took another swig of Chianti as Hotch brought the last dishes in from the dining room.
"Aaron, I'm going to level with you."
Hotch's forehead wrinkled in confusion. "Something wrong, Dave?"
"You have to make the first move. You have to reach out to her. She can't. She still feels like she let us all down. You, in particular. She won't be able to do it."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Hotch shifted uncomfortably.
"Emily," Rossi said, with emphasis.
"Dave, I don't -"
"Yes you do," Rossi interrupted. "It's obvious. And it's mutual, if that's what you're worried about." He paused to let that sink in. "And there's no reason in the world not to go for it."
"She's been through a lot. I don't want to make her feel pressured. She needs the support of friends."
"And she has that. But she doesn't need you to treat her like a victim either."
"That's not what I'm doing."
"You didn't deny that you have feelings for her. I thought I'd have to fight with you to get you to admit that much. I think that you think you'd somehow be taking advantage of her if you tried to start up a relationship. That's not the case, Aaron."
"It just seems..." Hotch trailed off.
"Inappropriate? You're not her supervisor anymore."
Rossi studied the man standing across from him in his kitchen. He had been close to understanding the reason for Hotch's fears, but was just off the mark. He could read those fears now in Hotch's body language.
"Aaron - she knows you. Probably as well as anyone else. If she wants to be with you, and I think she does, you need to trust her to make her own decisions."
"I'm not good at this, Dave. I'm screwed up. I don't want to inflict that on her."
"That's garbage, Aaron. She would kick your ass out the door before she let you screw anything up for her." He paused again. "She's seen the worst with her own eyes. She knows you."
Hotch still wasn't making eye contact with Rossi, choosing instead to stare at one particular tile on the floor. "And there's Jack."
"Jack is crazy about Emily. She'd be good for him. She'd be another adult who loves and cares for him. That could only be a good thing."
Hotch finally looked up at Rossi. Dave took this as a good sign and concluded, "I think you're looking for excuses. And I think you know that everything I've said is right. Don't pass up something that could be great for all three of you because you're afraid, or out of some of some wrong-headed notion that you're protecting her."
With that, Rossi grabbed a bottle of wine and walked outside to join his other guests.
