They all stood there and stared at Aaron while he walked back to his car, got in and sped off, none of them uttering a word. Even Morgan, who had promised retribution if Hotch ever pulled something like what was happening now was stunned.
"Reid," Prentiss started. "I'm sure its not-"
"Not what I think? Is that what you were about to say? How do you know what I'm thinking?" Spencer demanded. Then he realized he was snapping at the wrong person. "I'm sorry, Prentiss. Let's just get our lunch and go."
Hotch hightailed it over to the hotel where Foyet was staying, flashing his badge at the front desk and demanding to be let into Foyet's room. He banged on the door and as soon as it was opened Foyet flew back and landed on the floor, thanks to Hotch's legendary left hook.
"Aaron? Wha-what's going on?" He squeaked.
Hotch snatched him off of the floor and jacked him up against the wall. "You tell me," he growled between clenched teeth.
"Look...if this..if this is about Haley I apologized…"
"Not good enough!" Hotch roared. Hotch slammed him up against the wall again. "If you ever put your hands on my wife again I'll break them. Both of them. Understood?"
Foyet got the strangest grin on his face. "I thought for sure you two were divorced. What would your little friend think about that statement? I'm sure he wouldn't like it."
Hotch winced inwardly at the slip of the tongue. "You heard what I said. Stay away from her," he ground out as he threw Foyet on the bed and stormed out of the room, slamming the door.
Back at quantico, he could feel the eyes of Prentiss, Morgan, and Spencer on him as stepped off the elevator and climbed up the stairs up to his office.
Around five, he got a text from Spencer.
We need to talk.
Not today, not a good time right now.
Yes today. Tonight, 7:30 your place.
Aaron narrowed his eyes at Spencer's audacity. I said not today.
Aaron it is important, and cannot wait. I will be at your house this evening.
That Evening
"What is so important Spencer?" Aaron asked, exasperated. Spencer now knew that the decision he was making was correct.
Spencer wasted no time. "Aaron, what were you doing with Haley at that diner today?"
Aaron's mouth dropped open, but he quickly recovered from his surprise and it was replaced with indignation. "You were spying on me?" He demanded.
"No I wasn't."
"Then how do you know-"
"Aaron, you are evading. But for the record, Morgan, Prentiss and I were going to grab some lunch and we saw you. And yes, we saw you two kissing."
Aaron flushed. "Spencer, it's not what you think," he started.
"Not what I think?" Spencer jumped off the couch, his voice rising an octave. "Not what I think? Tell me Aaron, what am I thinking right now?" He snarled.
"Spencer," Aaron said quietly, his voice carrying a warning. "Don't take that tone with me."
"Tone? So now I have a tone? Tell me Aaron, what is my tone?" Spencer felt the anger, white and hot, pouring off him in droves.
"Spencer, calm down. You're over exaggerating and behaving childishly," Aaron blurted, trying to diffuse the situation, but he could tell by Spencer's expression that he was making things far worse.
"Look Spencer, I didn't mean that. I just meant that you are making something out of nothing."
"Am I? I stop by here the other night and find you in cozy conversation with your ex wife's sister, and you send me away like a nosy neighbor. Then, I see you and your ex wife coming out of a diner together and kissing. What am I supposed to do Aaron?"
"Look Spencer, Haley is having problems with Foyet-"
"So she came to her ex husband to help her deal with her boyfriend. Are you forgetting that she cheated on you with him?" Spencer would never have gone there if he wasn't so upset, but hell, he was mad. Nothing was off limits.
Aaron clenched his fists. "Watch your mouth," he warned.
"Why? Did I say something that was untrue? I don't think I did. So tell me Aaron, what were you doing there with her?"
Aaron became defensive. "I don't owe you an explanation," once again regretting his words. "Look Spencer, it isn't what you think."
"Stop saying that!" Spencer shouted. "You can't know that because you have NO idea what I am thinking!"
"Do not shout in my home!" Aaron yelled back.
"You know what? I'm sick of this Aaron," Spencer stated, more quietly.
"Sick of what?"
Spencer didn't answer. He simply opened his messenger bag and started throwing various knick knacks, small items of his that he left at Aaron's house into the bag. Books, pens, his spare eyeglass and contact lens cases…
"Spencer, what are you doing?" Aaron demanded, as a flutter of panic started in his gut.
"I'm sick of this Aaron. Sick of being ignored, pushed to the side, and disrespected. I see you kissing your ex-wife in public and have a perfectly reasonable reaction, asking for an explanation instead of flying into a jealous rage and you can't even respect me enough to have a conversation. Instead…" Spencer opened 'his' drawer and started throwing socks, ties, and underwear into his bag. "...you throw accusations, evade, and try to reverse and blame me. Well I'm tired of this. I'm tired of your obsession."
"Obsession? What obsession?"
"Your obsession with Foyet, and Haley. I'm tired of you taking your feelings of resentment and jealousy out on me, Aaron."
"Spencer, you can't believe that I-"
"Oh, I most certainly can and do believe that you are. You still have feelings for her don't you?"
"Spencer we were married for almost twenty years, she is the mother of my son-"
"Don't play dumb Aaron, you know perfectly well what I'm talking about don't you? Are you still in love with her?"
Silence. Spencer's heart sank. All he wanted was a forceful denial, although he knew it would be a lie.
"Aaron-"
"I don't know!" Aaron blurted, stunning them both with his response. They both stood there facing each other for what seemed like an eternity, absorbing what happened. Spencer spoke first.
"Well," he said, his voice small and quiet. "I see you are finally ready to be honest."
"Specner-"
"Let me say this now. Aaron, we need to take a break to consider the future of this relationship. You are obviously conflicted and distracted, and I refuse to be treated like I have been any longer."
"Spencer," Aaron asked, his voice a whisper. "Are you breaking up with me?"
"Yes, Aaron, I am." Spencer headed towards the door, Aaron was there before him.
"Spencer you can't do this after all we've been through, after everything that's happened. You can't just walk out!"
"Aaron, I can, and I will. I promise, however, that I will remain professional at work." Spencer stepped around Aaron, opened the door and walked out.
Aaron went into panic mode. The adrenaline rushed through his veins, causing his entire body to tingle, but not with excitement, but trepidation and regret.
His neighbors were in for a treat that night. They heard their normally quiet neighbor, alway polite and professional, arguing with his boyfriend (yes, they had figured that out by now, but why a tall, dark, and handsome man like him was with such a skinny geek was beyond them) and now they saw his boyfriend, who had been coming around less and less lately storming out the house and down the stairs with socks and underwear spilling out of his bag. Then they witnessed their neighbor running after him wearing old grey sweats and an FBI t-shirt , and socks, instead of one of his tailored Armani suits; almost begging him to come back.
"Spencer, please come back in so we can talk about this."
"There's nothing else to talk about Aaron. I hope you find what you are looking for," Spencer added without turning around.
"What is that supposed to-never mind. Just please come back in so we can talk."
Spencer ignored him. Aaron was about to chase after him but he remembered he didn't have any shoes on. As he took the stairs two at a time to grab his shoes and keys to go to Spencer's and talk some sense into him. His cell phone rang. JJ's ring. A case.
"Dammit!" he snarled before answering the phone. "Hotchner."
"Hotch, Detroit PD and the field office have requested our assistance on a case. Drug addicts, homeless, and prostitutes keep disappearing."
"Gather the in the round table room."
After the briefing as the team headed to the plane, Hotch tried to catch Reid alone but he couldn't. Reid was intentionally avoiding him and Prentiss and Morgan were helping him. He knew that they had seen what had happened as well and judging by their glares they weren't too happy about it.
On the plane, Reid took a seat next to the window beside Morgan to avoid Hotch. He felt his anger and frustration simmering. All he wanted was to talk to Reid, to explain what was going on but Spencer hadn't given him the chance. But then again, Aaron hadn't exactly been fair to him either. He had treated Spencer more like an annoyance than a boyfriend these past few months, and been entirely unfair. But if he could just talk to him, apologize and explain…
He saw Spencer coming out of the lavatory and took his chance. He had him cornered before he could scurry back to his seat.
"Spencer, we need to talk."
"Unless it is about the case it will have to wait."
"No, it's not about the case and it cannot wait. We need to talk now."
"No."
"Spencer-"
"Aaron we have a case. Any personal issues will have to be put aside. Those are your words, are they not?"
Aaron was about to speak again but he was interrupted by Morgan. "Hey pretty boy, can you help me with this geographic profile?"
"Yeah, coming." Spencer went around Aaron. Aaron turned to glare at Morgan, he knew exactly what he was doing. Morgan held his gaze with a look of cool defiance. As Hotch was pondering his next move, he heard Rossi call his name. He joined his friend at the back of the jet, away from everyone.
"You want to tell me what's going on?" Dave asked.
"Not really," Aaron responded.
Dave just waited and raised his eyebrows.
"Spencer saw me having lunch with Haley." Rossi gave him a 'that can't be it' look.
"I walked her back to her car and she kissed me."
"I see. And he saw it."
"Yes, along with Morgan and Prentiss."
"Ah."
"He asked me about it."
"And let me guess. You acted like an ass."
Aaron's head snapped up. "I'll rephrase. You became defensive and refused to answer his question, accusing him of spying on you. Then you evaded, and eventually he touched on the subject of Haley and Foyet and you said something that you shouldn't have."
Aaron couldn't answer. He simply nodded. "Spencer broke up with me."
Rossi raised his thick eyebrows again. "Hmmm. Unexpected but not surprising."
"What do you mean?" Aaron demanded.
"Aaron, how long did you think Spencer was going to put up with the way you've been acting? Not only the isolation and general moodiness from the Reaper case but now you've started reconnecting with your ex? What did you think was going to happen?"
Aaron shut his eyes tight and leaned his head against the seat. "I screwed up."
"Royally," Rossi agreed. "It's not a judgement Aaron. I'm hardly in that position. Just take it as an observation from a man who has been in your position many times before."
"How do I get him back?"
"That, Aaron, I cannot answer. Repairing broken relationships isn't my area of expertise, as you may have guessed."
Aaron smiled, not quite managing a chuckle. Then his mood dampened again when he thought about the extent of the damage. "He asked me if I was still in love with Haley."
"And you said?"
"I told him I didn't know."
Rossi sighed. "Aaron, we both know the answer to that question."
"I don't know why I said that."
"I think you do Aaron."
"Are you profiling me Dave?"
"Yes. You have an inherent need to feel needed Aaron."
"What?"
"It's what attracted you to Haley in the first place. And Spencer. You see yourself as the protector. For most of your marriage, Haley was identified as Mrs. Hotchner, your wife. And she relished that role; until she didn't. The first cracks started appearing when she started searching for her own identity."
"Dave," Aaron growled defensively. "I don't need you to-"
"Profile your failed marriage? I promise you there's a point to all of this and it's not to make you feel like a first rate jerk."
"Well that's the effect you're having right now."
"Just let me finish. While Haley was using you to define her, you were doing the same thing. Half of you was SSA Aaron Hotchner, bad ass SAC of the FBI's most elite unit and the other half was Aaron, husband, father, and provider. The perfect upper middle class white picket fence family. When that failed, you started looking for that again, you found Spencer, partially because you thought he was fragile and needed protecting. Perhaps at some point he did, but that's no longer the case. So you felt rejected, and in turn you started rejecting him. Then you found something new to obsess over, Haley and Foyet. She needed you again to play protector and you fell for it."
"He was abusing her Dave," Aaron defended himself.
"Then you call the police. Better yet, you tell HER to call them. You don't go work him over at his hotel."
"How did you know-"
"Not important. The bottom line is you're going to have to choose. Haley or Spencer. You can't have both. You will have to let Haley go to make her own decisions. And no, that doesn't mean allow him to abuse her. But they are using each other, Aaron. For the same purpose, to get under your skin; to get your attention and you're letting them."
Aaron had come to that conclusion as well, but hadn't want to admit that he could be manipulated by his ex or her boyfriend. "I know."
"Aaron, I hope you take my advice and walk away. Tell Haley that you cannot get involved. Tell her to leave him and take out a restraining order. Only call her as it pertains to Jack. Don't let her sister's or her mother's scheming tempt you to play Captain America."
Aaron nodded. He knew Dave made perfect sense. It was the only way to save his relationship with Spencer. But could he do it? Was it that simple? "I'll try."
"Try? There is no try. Only DO. Or DO NOT."
"Didn't know you were a Star Wars geek Dave."
"Yoda gave wise counsel."
Note: This story is becoming a bit rambly. Time to wrap it up. Let's see if we can get it done in 4 chapters.