Chapter 9: Breaking the ice

"I think it's time to get to work." Agent Moore finally said, tired of the apparent standoff. "You can call me Debbie, I'm going to start talking with the children. "Larry will begin briefing you both in the meantime." She said, her tone and look at her fellow agent trying to seem encouraging. As she sat on the floor to begin playing with the children JJ and Hotch could hear the boys including her in their play as Agent Williams moved towards a sofa farther away near the opposite wall.

As the two BAU agents sat down on the sofa it was JJ and Hotch's turn to feel slightly uncomfortable as the older agent fixed them with an obviously appraising look.

"You two have no idea what you're in for," he finally said, a slight gruffness apparent in his voice. "The roles you are being asked to take are going to be challenging, there's more to pretending to be married than just living in the same house." He began, watching their posture and intent expressions as they listened carefully to his words.

"I read in the file I was given that you've been married before Agent Hotchner," he said, making the agents aware that he probably knew a good deal about them. "You are being asked to play a role where you jump from courtship and engagement and early marriage directly to the married with children stage." Hotch nodded slowly having anticipated this already has he had already started thinking about the challenges that were ahead.

"Agent Jareau," he added, turning towards the younger woman, "having not been married, you will have to imagine yourself having been through all these steps, there will be a few hurdles that living with your fiancé will not have prepared you for." His grave voice sent a slight shudder of apprehension through JJ. She was curious as to how this was so different aside from the man being her boss, she had lived with Will for quite some time before their breakup and they had managed to work through the domestic and parenting challenges faced.

"You make it sound as if it has to be real." Hotch finally responded, not sure the gravity was really necessary or if it was just the agent's own personality causing the intonations.

"It does in almost every sense of the word." Agent Williams responded quickly and with an almost fierce tone in his voice. "This is not a game, when you're undercover you have to play the role for everything you're worth. One slip can mean at best that your cover is called into question, at worst lives can be lost." He paused allowing his statement to sink in. "The difficulty is in carrying on what is supposed to look like a legitimate marriage while missing the core components that really make a marriage." He said bluntly, studying their faces and accurately gauging that they had not been engaged in any sort of intimate relationship with each other. He had wondered for a brief moment when they both walked in, mentally noting that they did make a striking couple in terms of appearance. "You are being asked to go from acting like coworkers to people who have shared their lives down to the most intimate details for at least eight years going by the age of your oldest son."

"I understand that this is not a game," Hotch finally responded, having the distinct feeling that the agent before them had little faith in their ability to do this assignment. There was an obvious feeling in the air that the agent was holding something against them, but to Hotch's knowledge this was the first time they had met so he wasn't sure what it could be.

"I have the feeling you're unhappy about this arrangement, maybe it would help if talked about that before we went any further." JJ's words surprised Hotch as he realized their newest profiler's perception had been the same as his own.

Hotch watched as the blonde held the man's gaze forcefully, with no signs of backing down despite the glare she received at her bluntness and the warring emotions in the agents eyes as he obviously struggled with if he should answer her and if so how to do it diplomatically. Hotch wasn't surprised that JJ seemed quite capable at waiting the older, and obviously now angrily defensive agent out. He had learned long ago that JJ could be a force to be reckoned with and she had generally learned to deal with his own stubbornness which the hapless Agent Williams didn't seem to have any chance of matching, so Hotch simply fixed the man with his own questioning look and waited for him to fold as he inevitably would.

"Ok, fine," Agent Williams relented, almost in a hiss. "I've spent years of my life learning all the aspects of this type of work and don't like the idea of two profilers waltzing in here thinking they can just learn it all in a couple weeks with a crash course. It should be our people out there, not you." He spoke his mind clearly, ignoring the sharp look he received from his partner who had heard his raised voice. "I respect what you do, but this job isn't just about what others are thinking and feeling, how their backgrounds are affecting them, it's also about constant monitoring of your own body language and words, using those techniques to get information as opposed to dragging people in FBI style and questioning them. No disrespect to either of you but that's why I feel that this isn't a good idea." He admitted honestly.

"Would it help to know we aren't thrilled about this either?" Hotch quickly replied, knowing their life could very well depend on what they were able to learn from this apparently seasoned agent. As a profiler he knew that working on something you resented could have disastrous results, and he didn't want the man to let his personal feelings get in the way of his teaching abilities. He didn't want to show weakness or sound like they were complaining but he felt it imperative that the other man knew they were on the same side.

Agent Williams listened as they quickly relayed their feelings of their strength being in profiling not subterfuge, but not having much choice as the decisions had been made by people in much more senior positions than their own. They were both relieved to see his facial muscles visibly relax as they spoke, indicating he had gained a different perspective on the issue at hand and had shifted his view to realize they were not being egotistical about the role and were recognizing the experience he had to share.

"I guess I owe you two an apology," he finally said almost reluctantly. "So many people think they can just waltz in here and do this, not understanding that it's really an art, something that takes years of practice to really hone the skill. We'll do our best in the limited time we have, and see how your profiling skills contribute to what you learn here." He said, his tone now obviously much warmer and more accepting.

"We would appreciate any help you can give us." Hotch said sincerely willing to let the older man lead despite the fact that he clearly outranked him.

"We need to learn as much as we can, not just for the assignment, but we don't want to do anything that would compromise the safety of the children." JJ added, wanting him to see that they had more at stake than just an assignment here.

"Debbie will work with them a little bit, by the way you can call me Larry." Agent Williams added with a clearly warmer expression on his face now making him appear much more human as he felt on better terms with the agents who had responded to his honesty in kind. "Children generally do very well in this, especially younger ones. They're generally much more accepting of a world of make believe, also their roles won't change quite as much beyond being able to remember new names and facts, but of course I probably don't need to tell you both that much about human behavior." He surmised.

"Right, but it's still helpful to hear how these behaviors apply to undercover situations." Hotch said, not wanting the agent to assume they already knew everything they needed to.

"Ok, well Debbie is talking to the boys, after today they'll probably only need one more practice session before you all go in. We on the other hand will be doing a good bit more work." Agent Williams said gruffly.

"So where do we start Agent Williams, I mean Larry?" JJ corrected herself at his look.

"First let me tell you that I knew the minute you sat down you were not a couple in any sense of the word." The older man said smugly, acknowledging the matching grimaces on their face. "You sat down with about a foot of space between you, on a loveseat, practically clinging to the armrests." His candid description caused them both to look guilty, neither having realized what their body language had said or that they were even being observed. "That's what I mean, in a real marriage you do these things automatically, in undercover work getting to that point is ideal, but it often involves careful attention at all times to what your body language is saying about your relationship."

The next two hours passed in a blur as Agent Williams discussed with the two agents the intricacies of monitoring their own body languages as opposed to their tendency to focus on the language of others.

"One more thing, I have two homework assignments for you." He said with a twinkle almost in his eye as he expanded indicating the session was coming to a close. "This has some worksheets for both of you to work on together," he picked up a folder and handed it to them. "Some of the information we have filled in for you, other areas are blank. But by the time you finish working on this together you will have a complete backstory to memorize. It goes from childhood experiences, to how you met, how long you've been together, various facts about your perceived relationship that may surface. You can put in facts or make it up, that's up to you. But be it where you went to elementary school or what you fought about as newlyweds there will be a lot of ground to cover. The main goal is that you will both know the story by heart and avoid any conflicting statements on how long you've known each other for example." Agent Williams paused, looking tired as he thought before adding more to further illustrate the importance of the work he was giving them.

"We almost blew a case several months ago when two of our agents going in as siblings gave something as minor as conflicting reports on how long their parents had been married. So it's important to know your backstory as clearly as possible. There will also be a lot of Hatcher family information to pull together, imagine now if I asked you where your son Henry was born, and then later asked his mother and got two different responses." Agent Williams continued, knowing he was probably overdoing it, the look in their eyes telling him they had got the point the minute he handed them the folders and was belaboring the point. But he wasn't going to tell them that Agent Bryce had been one of his friends as well as one of his best agents. He knew that would have deflected their focus from their task at hand which was training the profilers before him. He knew the assignment they were going on was fairly low risk, but had learned to always be prepared for the unknowns.

"You said two assignments." Hotch spoke up in the silence that had ensued as he could see the man thinking for a moment.

"Right, we've talked about theory, awareness, body languages, and so on. But you need to keep practicing on the application. I want you both to start practicing your awareness of your body languages as a couple on a more regular basis. I know this is something you're familiar with and use often in profiling when you want your suspects to see you as sympathetic, or not, so it's not foreign to you. The difference being you're pretty much "on" all the time, not just when you walk into an interrogation room. By practicing this I want you to be able to sit down on that sofa looking as if it's the most natural thing in the world next time." He added, seeing their quizzical looks. "Here I'll show you," he demonstrated with a quick glance at Agent Moore who had walked over to join them as the time was drawing to a close. Right in front of their eyes it seemed the two agents transformed as they easily moved and sat together on the sofa, looking for all the world like a happily married couple as she immediately slid in next to the older agent who casually draped his arm over her shoulder. It was more than just proximity, but gestures and even facial expression that sold the image. "And no we're not romantically involved," Debbie almost laughed as she stood back up.

"We'll see you again in 3 days for the pictures and to review your worksheets to see how well you've memorized them." Agent Williams said as he gave his final instructions for the day.

"Also when you come in for your next session, you need to bring the boys back with you, I also need some pictures of each of you, the boys as babies, even if they're with other adults that would be helpful. Plus I will be helping review the facts they'll need to know from the worksheet, but obviously not much of the information will apply to them, such as where was Jack when Henry was born." Agent Williams said as with another glance at the clock he began moving towards the door indicating the session had come to a close.

"Thank you," JJ said appreciatively as Hotch gave a nod of agreement as they moved towards the door, brains feeling numb from all they had tried to absorb.

The ride was silent as they left the FBI building to take the boys to grab a quick bite and drop them off at Jessica's before returning to the BAU to work. Though quiet, both were thinking deeply as they thought about all the work that continued to awaited them.

AN: Two for one chapter posting special this weekend. Thanks everyone for reading. We'll start having a break from the setup and some "fun" starting in the next chapter. Thanks reviewers, your comments that help keep me motivated to stay on schedule. So thanks to Jekkah (I agree, I thought of that scene also), whiteswan, (yep I remembered those times also and envisioned other times when the call had come at an unwelcome family time), and Julieta (thanks, glad you're enjoying it thus far).