Present Day

Hotch suddenly realized that the second skater's scores had been announced, putting her in third place and leaving plenty of room at the top. As the third skater was announced, he smiled as he remembered Paige's first Regionals competition. None of the team had had any idea of what to expect, but he had arranged for everyone to get several days off and Garcia had booked their flight into Chicago O'Hare airport. She had also (after multiple consultations with Paige's coach) burned Paige's program music onto a CD, and designed and sewed her competition dress.

11 Years Ago

The rental cars had been ready and waiting when they arrived at O'Hare and while the rest of the team headed north towards the Illinois/Wisconsin boarder, Hotch drove over to pick up Laurel and Paige.

"Are you sure you have everything?" he asked as he packed their suitcase, garment bag, and skate bag into the car's trunk.

"We had better," Laurel sighed. She looked over at Paige. "Where is your homework?" she asked. "You are going to need to get that done over the weekend."

"Right here," Paige held up a backpack. "And, I finished almost all of it last night."

"Great!" Laurel told her. "I'll go over it when you have finished everything."

"Oh Mom!" Paige griped. "Can't you skip that just once?"

"I need to make sure you understand the concepts," Laurel explained. "Because, if you don't, we need to work on them until you do."

"Maybe someone else can go over it?" Paige asked hopefully, looking over at Hotch.

"We'll see," Laurel replied. "But, right now, we need to get on the road. You have practice ice later this afternoon and Coach Betty should be there waiting to work with you."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

"This is chaos – Where did all of these kids come from?" Rossi exclaimed in dismay as they stood in the lobby of ice rink complex later that afternoon.

"Gee, Rossi, I would have thought that you, of all people, would know all about that," JJ smirked. "You see, when a mommy and a daddy love each other very much – "

"With two rinks, both with practice times scheduled, there are going to a lot of people in the building," Reid interrupted JJ to point out.

"And the majority of them are going to be children," Blake added with a smile.

"The top level skaters haven't even begun to arrive," Laurel told him. "They aren't skating until later in the competition so they won't be here for another day or so."

"We need to get you signed in," Garcia took charge of Paige. "I think I see the table right over there. Morgan, if you please - "

With Morgan leading the way through the crowd, Garcia and Paige were soon at the registration table signing her in and picking up her 'Goodie bag'.

"Where and when does Paige have practice ice?" Blake asked. "Maybe I should go in and get a couple of seats in the bleachers."

"She is in the Blue rink," Laurel was reading off the schedule she had written out. "And her practice session starts in forty-five minutes."

"I'm on my way. Spencer, would you like to come with me?" Blake asked as she began zipping up her jacket.

"I think I'll do that," Reid replied. "Between the two of us we should be able to get several seats together. Plus, I want to study how some of the other skaters rotate their jumps. I have some ideas on how to improve Paige's rotation."

The two agents were quickly swallowed up in the crowd.

"I assume Paige's coach will be here for her practice," Hotch said.

"I hope so," Laurel worried. "The last time I spoke with her she wasn't sure when her other skaters have ice time and she was still working on updating her schedule."

"Her other skaters?" JJ asked. "How many does she have?"

"I'm not quite sure," Laurel replied. "But I do know she is bringing some Junior and Senior level skaters, as well as Paige and Jade and some other Juvenile and Intermediate level skaters. She is going to be here for the entire competition."

"Well, our favorite skater here had better get into her practice outfit," Garcia suggested. "I don't think she can skate in those skinny jeans she is currently wearing."

"I think the girl's dressing room is over there," JJ pointed.

"I believe I will let you ladies handle that," Rossi commented. "Hotch, Morgan, and I will go join Blake and Reid in the bleachers."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

By the time Paige had finished changing her clothes, Coach Betty had arrived. She quickly gathered up Paige, Jade, and two other skaters, and began herding them towards the Blue rink.

"They just released some more practice ice," she confided to the mothers. "Apparently it is late this evening and early tomorrow morning. I don't think I will be able to make it, but you might want to book it anyway. It will give your skaters a chance to adjust to the rink and to the ice conditions."

Laurel and Joan looked at each other. "Let's go," Laurel said. "Paige's FBI contingent is in the bleachers in case anything happens."

Joan laughed. "I guess the girls will be safe enough with them on the job," she smiled. "Let's go see if we can beat Dotty to the punch on booking that ice time."