"Did any of you ever have a panic code?" Kate asked casually the next day.
The team was in the round table room, with pizza in front of them along with the case assessments for the Congressional Oversight Meeting.
Which was due on Monday, instead of three weeks from yesterday. Kate didn't mind of all the extra work, though, since it distracted her from looking at Hotch.
"What do you mean?" Morgan asked. "You havin' a panic attack, Kate?"
She shook her head, dimpling. "No, not at all. I was just thinking again about all of the abductions each year and how to prevent them. And then I was thinking about the last Harry Potter book where everyone is making up security codes and Mr. Weasley's is 'how do airplanes stay up'."
"That's the second last Harry Potter book," Reid corrected.
Kate tipped an imaginary hat to him. "I stand corrected. At least we've both read the Harry Potter series. Anyone else here?"
"Ooh, me!" Garcia said immediately. "Loved it. Loved the movies and the computer games."
"I didn't watch the movies," Reid said. "Books like that never go well in movie form. I also never watched The Lord of the Rings. It would just be a disappointment."
"I entirely disagree," Kate said. "I adore LOTR, in book form and told by Peter Jackson. It was amazing enough for him to take it on as he did since he knew that there would always be someone unhappy."
"Is this relevant?" Rossi snarked. "I believe Kate was speaking about panic codes. When she said that, all I could think about was my safe word which is—"
"Is that relevant?" JJ asked, shutting him down with her raised eyebrow. "My panic code with the team is blackbird; for Will and Henry it's elephant. I can't remember why. I think it had to do with a trip to the zoo."
"I don't really have one," Morgan admitted. "Who'd I send it to?"
"Us, silly," Garcia scolded him. "My panic word is tambourine. I'll send it to y'all someday and you'll scramble to rescue me."
"Mine is Einstein," Reid said. "Because it's what I hear when I panic. Kids mocking me with that name. It entirely backfired though. It just made me love Albert more."
Rossi chuckled. "Hotch, you and Henry do, right?"
"We've had a lot over the years," Hotch said. "As you well know. We change it up every so often. Now it's Snow White."
"That's a name that needs explaining," Garcia said.
Hotch shrugged. "A classmate was having a Snow White themed birthday party, Jack didn't want to go and made me call the mother up to decline the invitation politely."
"Kate?" JJ asked. "Since you brought it up."
"Pepper," Kate said. "It's always been pepper. I've texted that word to Andi so many times now. Thank god that period of my life is over now. The word will now forever mean to me that I'm scared shitless and desperately need someone to get me out of whatever situation I'm currently in. It means the end for me," she ended, her voice quieter. "God, that got morbid fast."
"Everything in this line of work gets morbid fast," Morgan cracked.
"So text us pepper and we'll get to you faster than lightning," Garcia giggled. "No more morbidness for you, Kate!"
Kate took another piece of pizza, savoring the pepperoni but JJ, next to her, edged away.
"Just the smell is making me nauseous," she told Kate in confidence when Kate raised an eyebrow at her actions.
"Oh, god, sorry," Kate said immediately. "Let me move away."
"That's fine," JJ chuckled. "I'm skipping the cheese pizza too."
They worked in quiet, busy silence for the next while, comparing notes and getting everything finished.
Before they left the office that night, Kate popped into Garcia's office.
"I just want to say thanks for getting the pizza again," she said. "It was a nice touch to staying late."
"I'm just glad you liked it," Garcia said happily. "And that I had a mini party with my favorite team." She gave a quick hug to Kate. "And I'm serious, Kate. Text me pepper anytime, for any reason, and I will have this team on your tail like a gluestick." She frowned. "Bad analogy."
"It's a great analogy," Kate said and squeezed her friend's shoulder. "Thank you."
She left Garcia's office and almost collided with Hotch, and when she saw him, she raised an eyebrow in question.
"I have Jack," Hotch said quietly. "Go ahead and I'll see you tomorrow." He patted her shoulder and disappeared behind her into Garcia's lair.
Kate nodded to herself, going to her desk to gather her things and went to the elevators in silence.
It had been a good day. She hadn't spent any alone time with Hotch since the morning but that was for the best. The office was for working, after all, and not canoodling. That one time last night had been more than enough.
Yet, she still turned around to see if Hotch was out of Garcia's office before getting into the elevator and pressing the down button. She had an odd urge to say goodbye to him again, properly this time, and it was hard to shake it off but shake it off she did on her short car ride home.
But she was still quiet, somber, as she got out of her car and gathered her things together, surprised to see how much stuff had piled up in her car since she'd last cleared it out. She'd better watch out. She didn't want to become a packrat.
Her arms full of sweaters, notebooks and empty drink cups, Kate turned away from the car, locking it, and gasped when a man appeared in front of her. "God, you scared me," she laughed. "Are you new to this apartment building?"
"Yeah, just yesterday," the man answered. "Bobby."
"Kate," she smiled, shaking his hand.
"Can I give you a hand with all of that?" Bobby asked.
"No, I'm good," Kate answered. "It looks like you were leaving so go on ahead, I'll be fine."
"Okay," Bobby answered and waved before going to get into a car.
She walked to the elevator and pressed the button, a little surprised that there was a new renter here already. The landlord had mentioned something about having troubles with that, but...whatever.
She shook the odd feeling off, pressed the button for the fifth floor and watched the elevator doors close.
Summary for Liar's sequel:
When Kate is taken by Kyle Zorgen, the team must work quickly to find her. A retelling of 10x23: The Hunt, where Hotch and Kate are in a relationship and Meg and Chris do not exist.
A/N: Thanks for coming on this ride with me! Liar is over but I hope to have its sequel up reasonably soon. Please review! If you didn't review chapter 9 yet, I'd love some reviews there, too!