A/N: Hey all! I'm back, at least with this short thing. I'm not sure I will have anything else finished anytime soon. I know I haven't posted anything lately and that's simply because I haven't been writing much lately, except some original stuff. But I'm sort of getting back into writing, so hopefully you'll see some more of me. :)

This is for supergirl, who asked for something with Hotch calling Alex "uncle". I hope you enjoy it!

"Are you sure you're well enough to go back to work?" Leroy asked, throwing Hotch a concerned look over his shoulder without stopping in his quick, expert chopping of an onion, "Strained muscles – especially in the arms – are trickier than you'd think."

"Even Jo cleared me," Hotch pointed out patiently.

"She cleared you for light duty. That means light duty, Aaron. I know you and you'll want to jump out into the field and start climbing fences right away –"

"Climbing fences?"

"- but you aren't well enough for that. Ask Jo if you don't believe me. You should avoid doing any shooting, as well. It puts a strain on your arms. And for the love of God don't get in any hand-to-hand."

"Yes, Uncle Alex," Hotch drawled sarcastically, trying to make clear his exasperation with the by now somewhat repetitive litany of instructions and admonishments. And earn the ten dollars Rossi had promised him if he called Leroy 'uncle". Not to mention just wanting to see how he would react.

The older man was obviously startled; the knife he was using to chop onions slipped, almost making Leroy cut himself, and he spun around to look at Hotch with narrowed eyes. "What did you say?" he demanded.

"Nothing," Hotch replied, giving Leroy his best wide-eyed 'how could you ever suspect me of anything'-look. Leroy's eyes narrowed further.

"You said 'Uncle Alex'," he stated. Hotch tried to maintain his innocent expression but the smile wanting to break out on his face won and he gave Leroy the wide grin that Rossi claimed made him look like a kid who'd just gotten away with a prank.

"Maybe," he admitted, still grinning. Leroy kept glaring at him for a moment, the small smile playing on his lips making it obvious that he was more amused than annoyed, before he shook his head.

"Dave put you up to this, didn't he?" he asked rhetorically, shaking his head, "Just remember that uncles get to spank their misbehaving little nephews, Aaron."

Before Hotch had to answer that, they were interrupted by Jo entering the kitchen, giving them both a questioning look. "Whose misbehaving little nephew?"

Leroy grinned and left the cutting board to wrap his arms around his wife's waist. "Ours, apparently. Aaron just pointed out that logically, I'm his uncle."

"That's not really…" Hotch began to protest, but was interrupted.

"And you know, that makes you an aunt," Leroy continued, "That means you'll have to start baking cookies and take up sewing and knitting."

Jo scoffed. "First of all, darling, that's grandmothers, and second, I do sew. People."

Leroy's grin widened and he pulled Jo closer to him, bending down to kiss her. Deeply. Uncomfortably, Hotch cleared his throat. He had no wish to see his newly dubbed aunt and uncle making out. Especially since Leroy's hands were beginning to move dangerously low on his wife's back.

Jo broke away from the kiss, putting a hand on her husband's chest. "You're embarrassing the poor boy, darling."

Ignoring the hand on his chest and smiling widely, Leroy bent down to resume the kiss. "Nothing he can't handle."

With a scoff, Jo pushed him away a bit harder, disengaging his arms from around her and taking a step back. "Get back to work, captain."

Still grinning, Leroy made a hand movement that with some goodwill could be called a salute. "Yes, doctor."

With another – slightly amused – scoff Jo turned around and left the room, not commenting on the fact that Hotch was now blushing. Because hearing the two use titles for each other in that tone of voice was a bit more information than he was comfortable with. Leroy followed Jo's exit with his eyes, smiling, and only when she was entirely out of sight he turned back to Hotch.

"Does it really bother you?" he asked with his head tilted in a show of genuine curiosity. Hotch shrugged, still a little embarrassed.

"Well… I just don't like to think about you two doing… things."

"We are married, petit," Leroy pointed out, still seeming legitimately interested rather than teasing. Hotch shrugged again.

"I know." He smiled wryly. "Maybe I'm just prudish."

"Maybe," Leroy agreed with a small smile. The curious expression on his face remained, though, and he kept studying Hotch with his head slightly tilted. After a few moments of enduring the somewhat uncomfortable scrutiny – Hotch didn't like being looked at, even if it was with obvious approval – Hotch raised his eyebrows demandingly.

"What?"

"It's not just a joke, you know," Leroy said, "Being your uncle. I love you as if you were my own blood, and Jo does too."

Uncomfortable, Hotch looked down at his hand as he cleared his throat. How was he supposed to respond to that?

"You don't have to say anything," Leroy told him before he needed to decide, offering a gentle smile of understanding, "Just know it's true."

"I…" Hotch paused, "That's nice. Really."

"It means, of course," Leroy continued in the mock serious voice that Hotch had learnt meant he was about to either tell blatant lies or just be ridiculous, "that I will need to do cool uncle things. I'm not an expert, so I'll have to consult with Dave, but I am familiar with some basics. You should ask me about girls."

"Alex…" Hotch groaned, very much certain that he did not want the conversation to go down this route.

"And I'm pretty sure I'm obligated to tease you about girls as well."

"Please don't."

From the looks of it, Leroy was trying very hard not to burst into laughter and he did do an impressively good job of staying serious as he continued. "And I should give you gifts your dad wouldn't approve of. How do you feel about hand grenades?"

"Do you have hand grenades?" Hotch asked, not sure whether he should be worried or amused.

"I know a guy," Leroy replied with a dismissive shrug, "but you have a point. An ankle gun might be more reasonable."

"I'm not sure Dave would actually disapprove of that," Hotch pointed out, "He rather likes me alive."

"As do I, cher." Leroy studied Hotch in silence, lips pursed, before he gave a decisive nod. "You know what? I'll get you one. In the interest of being an uncle who keeps his little nephew alive."

"You know, I'm hardly 'little'," Hotch protested, feeling that he should point that out before the older man made a habit of using the word. Leroy shrugged.

"Whatever you say," he answered, which was really a very unfair response, because it both dismissed Hotch's protest and made it impossible to argue without sounding like a petulant child. So he settled for glaring at the older man, getting an annoyingly bright smile in return.

He should never have taken Rossi up on his bet.

Knowing how Leroy was, he should have known it would only lead to merciless teasing. Probably seeing Hotch's disgruntlement, Leroy's smile softened and he walked over to Hotch, putting a hand on his cheek

"I know you aren't really little, Aaron. You're a man, and a very good one at that. But you don't have to be a perfect self-reliant adult all the time, you know. It's all right to just… let someone else take care of you."

Hotch wasn't sure what to say to that – he wasn't even sure what he felt about it – so he just lowered his eyes and gave a small smile that he had a feeling looked a bit too shy. But since Leroy had just more or less told him he didn't mind if Hotch acted like a kid, he supposed that was okay. It was still uncomfortable though – this type of… kindness – so to get away from it, Hotch cleared his throat and nodded toward the kitchen counter.

"Do you want any help?"

Leroy looked thoughtful for a moment, head slightly tilted, before he nodded, apparently deciding not to push the issue of Hotch's permission to be vulnerable. "Sure. You can peel the carrots. They're in the pantry."

Nodding his understanding, Hotch got to his feet to carry out the instructions. He preferred helping to just sitting and watching, really. But before he got to the pantry he was intercepted by Leroy taking him by the shoulders and for a while just looking at Hotch with that intent expression again. Then the older man firmly pulled Hotch into a hug, wrapping his arms around Hotch entirely; one hand placed on his neck and the other low on his back.

For a brief moment, Hotch tensed in instinctive preparation for fleeing the contact. But then he remembered that this was Leroy and he slowly felt himself relaxing. He could handle a hug.

After a few seconds, Leroy gave Hotch's neck a gentle squeeze and ended the hug. "Get to work."