Amy arrived at her brother's place around 5:00. When she knocked on the door she heard Jack's voice the other side. "Who is it?"
"It's the greatest auntie in the entire world," Amy said.
"You don't sound like Aunt Jessica," Jack replied, referring to his mother's sister.
"Jack Hotchner, how dare you imply there is any greater aunt then me," Amy said, pretending to be angry. She actually loved competing for Jack's affection. Though in her opinion there was no contest.
The door door sundenly swung open and Jack flew out to Amy. She dropped her bag bent down when she saw him coming and picked him up into a bear hug. "Hey little man, I missed you."
"Me too! Where's my present?" Jack asked excitedly.
"Whoa, you're not even going to let me into the house first?" Amy asked, setting him back down and picking her bag up.
Jack grabbed her arm and pulled her into the house. "Okay, you're in," he said looking at her expectently.
"What makes you think you get a present?" Amy asked.
"Cause you always bring me a present when you visit form Cambridge."
"Jack, what did I tell you about letting strange people inot the house?" Aaron asked, walking in from the kitchen. He was wearing blue jeans and a grey t-shirt, quite a different look from the suits he wore to work everyday.
"She's not strange," Jack said. "She's my Aunt Amy."
"Exactly," Aaron said smiling. "She's the strangest one out there."
"I'm not strange," Amy said giving her brother a hug. "I'm exceptionally gifted in the art of awesomeness. Right Jack?"
"Right," he said, trying to peek into her bag which she had set on the floor.
"Jack what are you doing?" Aaron asked.
"I'm trying to find my present. Amy always brings me a present when she visits." Jack was determined to find out what it was.
"Actually Little man, I'm not just visiting." He looked up confused. "I moved here. Well, not here with you, I have my own place."
"Really?" He jumped up, forgetting all about his mission.
"Really. Your daddy didn't tell you?"
"Nuh uh," he said, shaking his head. He looked accusingly at his dad. "Daddy you knew!"
Aaron threw his hands up in defense, "I wanted to let her tell you."
Amy laughed. "You want to know the best part?" Jack nodded. "I get to work with my big brother."
Jack looked estatic about the news. "That's so cool. You get to fight the bad guys with Daddy?"
"Yup."
"You're like superheros." Jack thought about something for a minute. "If you work with Daddy, how come you didn't come over until now?"
Sometimes Jack was to smart for Amy's own good. "Well Little man, I had to unpack all my stuff at my new place," Amy said, hoping that would be enough to satisfy him.
He seemed to accept her answer. Then his eyes widened with an idea. "So when do I get to come over?"
"You want to stay at my house? Well, we will just have to figure out when we can do that," Amy said. Then she remembered what she had in her bag. "Hey, you know what you forgot all about? Your present."
"Oh yea! What is it?" He asked, his interest renewed.
Amy grabbed her bag and dug around before fidning what she was looking for. She handed him a neatly wrapped present which he then turned into shreds.
"Code Lyoko! Awesome!" He screamed, then hugged Amy. "Thank you Amy!"
"You're welcome Little man."
"Well I think it's time for me to finish dinner," Aaron said, walking into the kitchen.
Amy glanced down at Jack. "Uh oh, Daddy is cooking. Should I be worried?" Amy asked, mocking his cooking skills and getting a laugh from Jack.
"I heard that!" Aaron called out.
"You were meant to!" Amy replied. Aaron was actually a pretty decent cook, but that didn't stop Amy from making fun of him.
Jack started tugging at Amy's arm, "Come on, I gotta show you my room!"
"Alright, I'm coming. But can we please leave my arm attached to the rest of my body?" Amy pleaded as he dragged her off.
"Only if you keep up!" Jack said.
Amy couldn't help but laugh, "You are too funny for words Little man."
Jack spent the time up until dinner showing Amy everything in his room. It started with his Captain America bed and moved on to his DVD shelf, to which he added his new DVD Amy had gotten him. He then proceeded to show his aunt every toy he had gotten since the last time she had visited. When they reached his LEGOs Jack decided it was time to play, so he and Amy started building a LEGO town.
They had lost track of time when Aaron came in and asked, "Which house is ours?"
Jack pointed to a medium size building first. "This one is Amy's, and the big mansion is mine, and the small on is you house Daddy," He said with a smile.
"Why do I get the small house?"
"Because you don't have enough toys to fill the big house," Jack replied.
"Well then maybe I'll have to take some of yours," Aaron said, pouncing down on the floor and tickling his son. "Do I still get the smallest house?"
"Ye...Yeess!" Jack said through his laughter. Aaron continued to tickle him. "A...Amy! He...Hel...Help me!" Jack screamed.
Amy crawled over and pulled her brother off, pinning his arms down. "Get him Little man!"
Aaron struggled against Amy's grip as Jack attacked his sides. He managed to get one arm free at a time, but as soon as he did Amy would get it pinned back down again. "Alright, I surrender!" He said, gasping for breath.
"Yes!" Jack and Amy said, giving each other high fives.
"It's time to clean up, dinner is ready," Aaron said, getting up off the floor."
"Aww, Daddy," Jack whined. "Can't we leave LEGO town?"
"Yea, come on Dad," Amy said. "We worked really hard on it." Amy and Jack gave Aaron puppy dog eyes.
"LEGO town can stay. Everything else needs to be picked up." Aaron said, giving in. "And Amy, don't encourage him."
Amy grinned up at her brother before he left the room. She helped Jack clean up his toys, leaving LEGO town intact bu moving it to the table. Then they went downtairs for dinner. Afterwards Jack picked a movie, his new Code Lyoko, and they all settled down on the couch. Jack made it through 4 episodes before falling asleep with his head in Amy's lap.
"I'll be right back, I'm gonna put Jack in bed," Aaron whispered as he picked Jack up off of Amy's lap.
While he was gone Amy took the DVD out of the player and put it in the case. Then she went over to the side table and grabbed a deck of cards out of the drawer and started shuffling.
"What are we playing?" Aaron asked sitting down on the opposite end of the couch.
"Crazy Eights," she replied, dealing out the cards.
Aaron took the cards, then eyed Amy, "You didn't stack the deck did you?"
"Of course not. When I beat you, it will be fair and square." Amy flipped the top card of the deck and they began playing. After a few minutes she sai, "So you haven't said anything yet."
"What am I supposed to be saying?" He asked, laying down a 3 of clubs.
"My meeting with Strauss was yesterday," Amy said. "I'm surprised you haven't brought it up."
"Why would I need to," Aaron asked with a smile. "You just brought it up for me."
Amy couldn't believe he had tricked her into bringing up the meeting with Strauss. Now she couldn't accuse him of being a nosey over protective big brother. "So are you expecting me to spill the beans?" She asked, putting down a 3 of diamonds.
"Pretty much," He said, playing an 8 and chaning it back to clubs.
"You jerk, I don't have any more clubs!" she said, drawing from the pile.
"And here I thought you were going to beat me," He smirked.
"I will. I'm just luring you into a false sense of security," She replied. "Then I'll make my move."
"If you say so," He said, playing another club. "So, the meeting with Strauss?"
"She wasd just asking how things were going. Apparently after 5 days of working with you, I'm supposed to know how well we will work together," Amy said. "She also asked how I got the job."
"And what did you say?" Aaron asked, curios.
Amy shrugged. "I told her I'm still getting to know everyone and it looks like it will go fine. And other then the fact that the director asked me to take the position, I have no clue how I got the job."
"That's it?" Aaron asked, not believing for a second that that was all Strauss had to say.
"She did mention that your team has had some problems in the past. Something about you not being a capable leader." Amy said, laying down another card. "So what is her problem with the team anyway?"
"She thinks we're reckless and out of control. Don't laugh." Amy tried to stiffle a giggle and less then successful. "I'm serious. She has even tried to pit us against each other. She wanted Prentiss to report on me."
Amy was shocked. "She actually tried that? Did Emily go for it?" Amy thought that the offer she had recieved was a one time thing. Apparently she was wrong and Strauss was more dead set against the team then she originally thought.
"No. Prentiss was actually willing to resign rather then turn on me. That didn't change the fact that Strauss tried to get me to move to another unit." Aaron said, playing is last card smiling despite the topic of conversation. "Some false sense of security."
"You do know we're playing again right?"
"Of course. You're not done talking." This time Aaron shuffled and dealt the cards.
"I thought you said Strauss tried to remove you more the once?" Amy asked trying to get more information about the supossed wicked bitch to the BAU.
"She has," he said dealingout the cards. "Besides the first time with my suspension, she had a review board assess the teams actions after Foyet." Aaron struggled with the last part, each detail still fresh in his mind.
Amy couldn't stand seeing her brother in any sort of pain, no matter how much she needed to know about the team. "Aaron, you don't have to say anything else."
"No," He said, clearing his throat. "You need to know exactly what shen is like. She has no sense of decency. First with the review boards right after the case, then trying to force me out in the guise of early retirement."
Amy couldn't help but notice how he refered to it as 'the case' tyring to distance himself from what happened. She didn't want him to think about it anymore then necesary, but she knew if she tried to drop the issue nw it would only upset him more.
"Why do you think she is so bent on breaking up the team?" Amy asked, laying down a card to continue the game.
Aaron sighed. "I wont deny that we have our problems. Some members have struggle more then others in the past," he gave a vague answer, leaving Amy to wonder who had the problem and what it was. "But whatever out problems are or were, that doesn't change the fact that we continue to be an effective team both in and out of the field."
Amy couldn't help but smile,"And she says you're not an effective leader. You're going for broke defending the team to your own sister."
"Did you expect anything less?"
"No." Amy admitted. "You're like me, extremely loyal to the point of pissing others off."
They each took a few turns with out saying anything else. Then Aaron asked, "So how's the new place?"
"Great. Although right now the spare room is serving as a catch all for things I haven't unpacked yet." Amy laid down her last card. "Ha ha! I win!" She jumped up and did a victory dance.
"Are you sure we're related?" Aaron asked. Amy replied by sticking her tongue out. "So what haven't you unpacked yet?"
"My DVD collection, well the rest of it anyway," she said sitting down. "Kitchen supplies, some books, spare bed set because as of right now there it no spare bed. Some pictures and other nic-nac thingies." Amy continued thinking about what was still left in the boxes. Then another thought popped into her head. "Hey, did you know Spencer is like a 10 minute walk form my place?"
"I didn't think about it before," Aaron replied. "How did you figure that out?"
"I bumped into him at a bookstore. We both walked there."
"Figures you would go to a bookstore less then a week after moving here," Aaron said, picking up the cards.
"Hey, I need more book," Amy defended. "Speaking of which, I found a copy of The Legend of Good Women by Chaucer."
"You and Reid should get along great. You both have the same taste in books," Aaron commented.
"Yea, we had fun talking about the books we like and...oh crap!" Amy said remembering something.
"What?" He asked, wondering what she was thinking about with Reid that was so bad.
"I forgot my books in his car," Amy replied.
Aaron was confused. "I thought you said you walked to the store?"
"We did," Amy said. "But afterwards we walked to his place and he took me to lunch."
"You went to lunch together?" Aaron wasn't sure he liked where this was going.
"Yea. he realized I hadn't had breakfast so he took me to IHOP." Amy said, with a little to much enthusiasm for Aaron's liking. "He was so sweet. And we had fun talking with each other. Apparently no one lets him finish his ramblings either," Amy said with a pointed look at her brother. Then she noticed his expression and added, "Wait a minute, you aren't going all big brother on me are you?"
Aaron wasn't sure how to respond at first. He knew Amy didn't appreciate his over protective tendencies. Still, he couldn't deny his concern. "I'm just a little surprised you spent the whole day together."
"Okay, first of all it wasn't the whole day. I didn't wake up until 9:30 and then I had to get ready before I went to the store. Then I bumped into him and we had lunch together. After lunch I went home, then I came here. That hardly qualifies as a whole day," Amy explained. Aaron noted the detail and how defensive she was. "Second, we are just friends. I am allowed to be friends with my coworkers aren't I?" Amy asked.
"Of course you are," Aaron said, still not believing that was all there was to it. at least on her part. He could tell when Amy was attracted to someone. He just hoped she was smart enough yo not start anything that would wind up hurting her.
**Authors note: I'm so evil! There was no Spencer in this chapter! I promise to make it up to you in the next chapter though. Please don't hate me!