Independence 14: Drawing Boundaries

The morning came early for the two tired profilers, neither having slept much the night beforeas thoughts of the kiss had kept swirling in their heads, despite their efforts to put them to rest and get some much needed sleep. The morning had finally dawned and flew in a whirlwind of getting children ready for school and daycare and delivered to where they needed to be.

"You made good time," Hotch observed as he exited his car in the parking garage just in time to see JJ emerging from her own a few spaces down.

"Yes, traffic was light for a change thank goodness," she replied as she walked up and accompanied him to the elevator to ascend to the office for another day of balancing their daily work with further development of their cover story.

As they exited the elevator together and entered the bullpen the unit chief was more aware of the looks of mischief on the faces of the rest of the team now that JJ had called his attention to it the evening before.

"How is everyone this morning?" He asked matter of factly, determined to keep a business like attitude to discourage any discussion of their arriving together.

"We're good," Derek said innocently, "are you two having a good morning?" he added with his particular talent of adding a tone of innuendo to a seemingly innocent question.

"Fine," Hotch answered concisely, fixing the younger man with a look that said he was fully aware of the double meaning behind his statement and didn't encourage it going any further.

The team briefly reviewed their progress on their covers before Hotch had to excuse himself to prepare for the meeting he was scheduled for that morning, JJ watched him go before she turned back around with a sigh knowing the ribbing was about to begin.

"Arriving at work at the same time, would that mean another sleepover?" Prentiss teased her blonde friend good-naturedly.

"You aren't still making the poor man sleep on the sofa are you?" Derek chimed in with a grin, his white teeth flashing as he obviously enjoyed his own joke.

"Very funny everyone," JJ deadpanned, grateful that Reid didn't seem to be interested enough to withdraw his nose from book.

"Come on boy genius, don't you have anything to add?" Morgan prodded, wanting to get everyone in on the game.

"Well statistically they say 37% of office workers end up sleeping with a boss, but I'm not sure how that number applies to the FBI." Reid said absentmindedly before going back to find his place in the book.

"You're no fun man," Morgan complained before turning back to JJ, a smile on his face as he saw another accomplice appear as Garcia entered the picture and immediately sidled up to JJ.

"So how's the little missus doing?" She chuckled as JJ rolled her eyes. "Practicing for all those wifely duties?" Garcia inquired causing the team to erupt into a fresh peal of laughter. JJ could feel the heat rising in her cheeks.

"Ok guys, that's enough, it's not funny anymore." The former media liaison finally retorted in her no nonsense tone that she had perfected with reporters, thinking that she had been more than lenient in letting them have their fun with the situation over the past several days but she was finally getting tired of it and ready to put her foot down

She was rewarded by most of them managing to look at least partially contrite, though then groaned as she realized they had quickly moved in the opposite direction as she saw sympathy on Garcia's face. "I'm sorry Jayje, here we've been having fun and you're probably having a really hard time."

"We have been insensitive haven't we?" Prentiss acknowledged closing in, having switched to friend support mode at the perceived distress.

"I guess that's it for us guys, time for the female bonding." Derek said rising to remove himself from the discussion. "Just hang in there JJ, Hotch isn't so bad." He said in an apparent attempt to reassure her before leaving with a practiced swagger to match his upcoming role.

Her disbelief was only compounded when she turned back to find the two women watching her compassionately and realized that Reid had also managed to find a way to quietly exit the bullpen. "Hotch isn't trying to take advantage of the situation is he? I didn't think he'd be the type to do that." Emily asked with a caring look, "you could handle him if he did anyway right?"

"What, no, he's been a perfect gentleman," JJ responded incredulously at the mere thought of Hotch attempting to force her into anything, glad to see the look of relief on her friends faces at her assertion.

"I guess he would be hard to cozy up to." Garcia finally suggested, taking a different track. "Even though he's good looking and all, he's not the teddy bear sort like Kevin, or even Derek."

JJ gaped again, wondering how her asking them to back off had led to the maligning of their unit chief. "Ladies, nothing is wrong with Hotch, it's just a lot to adjust too without added stress from my friends." She tried to put things back into perspective.

"So you don't feel like you're hugging a cactus?" Prentiss asked, her eyes sparkling again at the hope of getting some gossip, though as the words passed through her lips she felt a surge of panic as she saw JJ's amused expression and a guilty expression on Garcia's face. "He's standing right behind me isn't he?" She finally asked, seeing Garcia slowly nod yes before she turned to see their unit chief standing behind her, having undoubtedly heard her last words.

"Hey Hotch," she said with a forced cheerfulness, trying to pretend that she hadn't said anything, hoping he would let it pass, but by the calculating look on his face it didn't appear that was going to happen.

Hotch considered his words carefully before he spoke, knowing that JJ wanted to hold her own and not have him come to the rescue, also aware that Morgan was one of the chief perpetrators and absent at the moment. Keeping these things in mind he tried to be as tactful as possible while ignoring the cactus comment and addressing what he saw as the problem. "I know that these assignments are difficult for us all, I know that none of you would intentionally undermine the rigorous training we are all going through and I trust that this team will continue to be supportive of each other. " He finished, his words sounding like a traditional pep talk but the tone and body language made the hidden meaning clear that he expected the behavior to stop. Judging by the subdued expressions his meaning had been accurately interpreted though he could tell that JJ appeared a little miffed at his announcement, probably still feeling like he had stepped into her space he thought, but he turned and headed towards his office knowing the female agents would want to regroup as soon as his back was turned.

"Well I guess that fun is over." Garcia groused slightly as they watched his retreating back.

"I can't imagine having to do your job JJ, I'm so glad they decided to put you with him instead of me." Prentiss said delicately, not wanting her comment to sound offensive.

"It's really not that bad, we're doing fine." JJ said diplomatically as she began to move away from her two friends, ready to go tell Hotch she had things perfectly under control before his arrival, even though she had to admit she was glad he had at least tried to go for the subtle route. Her friends watched her with sympathy as she withdrew, looking at her as if she were getting ready to walk into the lion's den. If not for the fine line she was trying to walk to keep a balance between her undercover role and professional one she almost would have laughed at the sympathetic looks she was obviously now receiving from her friends.

"I was fine," she immediately announced as she walked into Hotch's office without even bothering to knock, a move not unnoticed by the agents still watching from the bullpen. "I told you I didn't need you to defend me." She continued seeing his jaw tighten slightly and stopping knowing she had probably pushed the envelope a little far with her angry tone.

"I know you can handle yourself JJ, but it wasn't just about you, it was about me, the children, and ultimately the success of the entire assignment. I understand there's some room for playing around, but as the time draws closer we need to get our focus even sharper." He said crisply, not angry but letting her see how serious he was about what he was saying. "You and I are both already working to not overanalyze our positions. It's not going to help if we have to keep answering to our coworkers and their innuendos and suppositions." He elaborated, trying to keep his make his tone firm yet gentle so she wouldn't feel as if he were reprimanding her for objecting to his interference.

"I hadn't considered that Aaron," she finally replied, seeing it in the different light of the larger picture than just her interactions with her friends. She looked at him curiously when she saw the flicker of a smile cross his face. "What?"

"You called me Aaron, we're making progress." He said, congratulating her progress of calling him by his first name automatically as opposed to prior times where she had stumbled or needed to be reminded.

AN: Thanks for the reviews deeda, gully88, 1701bg, jekkah, timundvin and whiteswan. Glad is back up, going to post a double-header today to celebrate