Hell. Aaron is going to hell for his sinful thoughts. For growing hard in his suit pants over what he shouldn't even think about. But then… with Spencer dressed like that… is it his fault that his treacherous cock has a will of its own?

No! He calls upon his stubborn willpower to stand behind the others of his unit. To not react in any other visible, physical sense. Aaron tells his hands off on his growing need to brush them over those long, sock covered legs until he can reach past their top hems and feel his way underneath the short skirt. Check for himself how far Spencer has taken the loss of his bet with Morgan in his stride… because that he has, is something which Aaron can't unsee or ignore. Fuck, but he sure is wearing these feminine layers as if he's made for them! Maybe Aaron doesn't care much about the details of the bet… but he more than approves of the result…

The blouse of pink with red flowers, its pattern so damned expressive. With its sleeves rolled up to just below the elbows. How it hugs his biceps, his flat chest and the curve of his shoulders. How its somewhat round bottom shows off narrow, angled hips that Aaron wants to embrace. He curses at the sight of the short, black skirt that leaves little about Spencer's oh-so-perfectly shaped ass to the imagination. Not that Aaron is looking at it… he can't be caught doing so, but he finds it too hard to deny himself another glance. Everything about Spencer dressed in this cheeky outfit enhances on what it shouldn't. What beauty he rarely shows to the world due to all of his layers of warm and old-fashioned male clothing. This? The image before Aaron? It's a contradiction in itself, one begging of him to explore by touch.

Yet, Aaron knows that he shouldn't admit to his wants. He has no right to after keeping them to himself for so long. What kind of unit chief does it make him if he slips up now? If he breaks the fraternization rules? No, he can't be more than friends with the younger man he has come to admire and respect. Long standing crushes aside? He stands no chance anyway. Why would Spencer even want to be with someone as old and as scarred as him? So no, he's keeping every sinful desire locked within, tucked away behind his mask of the indifferent Supervisory Special Agent Hotchner.

How though? How come Spencer seems beyond confident in his appearance for once? The profiler in Aaron is puzzled. Can it be that this is a part of his friend which he has hidden from them for all these years? Why else is there no hesitance in Spencer and his purposeful stride over to where they all are gathering in the hotel lobby? How can he even walk on these black platform heeled shoes like that? Dammit… does it mean that he's worn them before? Aaron has too many questions he dare not ask. Worse, he has too many tantalizing answers to consider.

Said source of his growing predicament doesn't pause in his approach. Ignores Morgan's challenging cat whistle, because he has learned not to add fuel on the fire with him. As such, there is an almost flirting smile on his handsome face, but it too comes with the cutest touch of a blush, when Spencer at last acknowledges that his arrival hasn't gone unnoticed with the rest of the team either… to say the least…

Oh hell! His resolve aside, Aaron can't help the shiver of arousal that's running south fast. Spencer is looking even more beautiful to him from up close. The slight hint of pale pink lip gloss adds onto his desire to want to taste those fine lips… to get kissed back by them.

"Huh, so far so good. As for part two of the bet…" Morgan grins, maybe half expecting for Spencer to falter at the first hurdle of the evening. "You ready to go to the club, Pretty Boy? Celebrate that the case is over?"

Spencer but shrugs it off, before he mocks Morgan in answer. "I told you, us girls have nothing against free drinks." He holds out one arm for Garcia and his other for JJ to take. "Try and keep up with us."

It doesn't surprise Aaron for one second that they, both sharing their amusement at his invitation meant to tease Morgan in equal amounts, take his changed appearance in their stride. "Damned girl, you look so cute. Come on, you've got to tell us", Garcia starts as they walk off as one united front of friendship, "… where did you buy these gorgeous shoes? Oh, am I glad that I had to tag along for this case. I wouldn't want to miss this. Hey, maybe I could do your nails some time. What do you think… maybe a dusky pink or… " Her voice drifts off as they disappear around the corner and into the hallway of the hotel, ready to show Spencer how to go about clubbing as a woman.

"Hey… now wait, that's not fair!" Morgan shakes his head. His half-shouted protest falls on deaf ears, and so he lets it falter in absence of an audience. "Did he just challenge me?"

Laughing at his expense, Rossi adds onto his suffering. "The kid has made his point. You should know better by now than to mess with those smarter than you are. It'll cost you."

"Oh, one round at least", Emily agrees.

"In that case…", Aaron joins them in leaving the hotel lobby. No, he can't stay behind. Has to know more about this version of Spencer, because not watching him outsmart others ain't an option anymore… and less so when said object of his desire too is dressed to kill. Or at least he has the power to unravel Aaron… not that he'll ever admit it to anyone, not even himself. Maybe he will have to navigate dangerous waters tonight, but he'd rather suffer in silence from up close than afar. Truth is, he vows to himself to not drink more than one glass, maybe two, and watch out for Spencer, as well as the women of his team. They are his responsibility, so he is determined to get them home safe. "Count me in."

- 0 - 0 - 0 -

The club, which Morgan leads them to, is colourful and noisy. Filled with people, laughter and music. Drinks are flowing freely around the BAU team. Aaron figures that maybe the good thing about Los Angeles is that it doesn't judge the non-famous for what they are. They can be whoever they are… or pretend to be. There's a level of anonymity that's both comforting and lonely. He sees men meeting women and leaving together, suspects a few of cheating, but he doesn't judge them in any way. No, he's off the clock, or is he? Dare he be?

By the time most of his friends are three rounds into the night his source of awed fascination and raw want alike is out on the dance floor with Morgan, Garcia, Emily and JJ. His cheeks are etched with a blush of life, heat and frustration. There's a light in his eyes, but his concentration shatters over clumsy feet. As he gets led astray by Garcia, who catches him and laughs with rather than at him for how he's not a dancer. No, the elegance of his brain and hands aside, Spencer is not built to move to the music by himself. He's never learned how to express himself like this. Tries though, bless him, and he flusters over how much he wants to fit in with the crowd, but he can't… not alone… it's slowly becoming too much…

Oh, that's it! Aaron is out of his seat before he's decided to heed the warning voice he usually tends to listen to. His body wants what it does; to protect Spencer from falling too hard that he won't recover. "Hey", he calls out over the music to him and reaches out on instinct alone to catch him from another stumble. Aaron let's go then before his body can decide to hold onto Spencer as tightly so as he wants to… as he's deep down been itching to. "Would you mind if I lead?" What he wants to do more so than anything else is show the youngest agent on his team that he's beautiful. Well, he is to Aaron anyway.

"You want to dance with me? Hotch… I'd step on your toes."

"I'll live." Aaron knows better than to deny it. No, trust in oneself has to grow, and he's here to plant another seed.

"Oh… okay…"

The stammer is too fucking cute. It too is enough to unravel more hidden arousal within Aaron. Fuck, but his sinful want isn't going to play nice, is it? He bites back a groan, and sees through what he came to do, for he has no other choice. SSA Hotchner may have needed him to stay in his seat, but the private man in Aaron is glad for how he's now allowed to touch… to know what it feels like to gently pull Spencer closer…

He places his hand on Spencer's lower back. Waits for him to return the hold… to feel his way into it, awkwardly so at first and then settling in with one deep breath. Their closeness is so tempting. Spencer smells of spicy aftershave, coffee, and mild detergent. His chestnut curls are falling softly against Aaron's face to tickle his left cheek, because they are now the same height due to those elaborate, laced up shoes that Spencer is wearing. "Good", Aaron mumbles his appreciation. And boy does it feel perfect! He can stay here forever, but he's not meant to. Not in these surroundings. "Now, follow me. Small steps… that's it…"

Maybe fate is on his side for once. The music seems to slow down along with them. His world narrows in onto Spencer further. There's no way that his own dancing deserves a price or that it befits any ascertained label. He's working with what, or rather who, he has in his arms. Moves to the music, but maybe more so he follows the wild, reckless beating of his heart. Unable to resist everything Spencer. The loopy smile on his partner's handsome face, born from how he feels less awkward now, means everything to Aaron. It seems as if Spencer knows that he won't fall… and he grows bolder for his trust in Aaron. No longer stepping on any toes…

Another song wraps around them as they twirl and move, navigating the dance floor together as if they've done so before. It feels both new and not though. Aaron knows fact from feeling. How come they haven't? When it feels perfectly natural to him?

Since Aaron has ditched his suit jacket, he feels freed in ways he rarely allows himself to be. Maybe for one night he can put duty aside, can't he? He should… for his team is doing the same over on the other side of the vast, crowded dance floor. As such, not for the first time tonight, does he admire the sharp jawline and angled face of the man in his arms. The hint of stubble… so sharp in contrast with what Spencer is wearing. Fuck, he is so beautiful, but Aaron dare not look too closely. Can only go with the flow. Live for the moment itself.

His heart jumps when he can feel the hands that had so far held onto him ease up on their grip of death. Long fingers uncurling and settling more loosely around his clothed skin. To his joy Spencer slowly even dares to lean back a little with his eyes closed, enjoying himself for a moment. A flutter… and they open to look right back at him, filled with joy. Aaron spins them around then. Maybe to hide, maybe not. It matters not. Once they are back face to face the soft brown eyes catch onto his all the same. Trapped! He can't look away from how Spencer is seeing into his soul… way past his stoic front.

But seconds are enough. Suspicion turns into awed understanding. "Hotch…" Spencer licks his glossy lips of pink.

Hell! Now, in his far too belated response, Aaron is the one to trip up and stammer while lost in that look of raw adoration. Is that what it is? No… there is more, but he doesn't dare to dream. What if he's wrong? He needs to run… but he can't… won't. Not from Spencer, who's put himself in such a vulnerable position by being no more than himself, but in public, at a place where he is rarely seen. Because yeah, from so up-close Aaron can see it in full colour. Out of the two of them the one hiding here has worn a suit his entire professional life. The one in the skirt? He's not the one who's been dishonest tonight… far from it.

Aaron has concealed so much to own up to, but out here, on the dance floor, all that he manages to stammer out over the music is, "I need some fresh air… will you… come with me?"

- 0 - 0 - 0 -

Blessed privacy at last… but in the moonlit night he feels no less overwhelmed by Spencer. Fuck, he's looking absolutely edible to Aaron. The most primal part of him wants to push Spencer up against the brick wall of the building they've just left. To ravish him there, never taking off that blasted skirt, but seek his way in underneath it. To work him into a frenzied want too. Maybe to kneel before Spencer to worship every inch of his arousal with his mouth and hands. So many options… all far too sinful… but he's struggling to shove them aside and stay the professional agent he is. No, he knows better than this. Should not even be out here alone with his subordinate, should he?

Spencer however doesn't let go of his hand. Has allowed him to lead them both outside… isn't offended by any of Aaron's wrong behaviour. At least, his wry smile of fondness isn't one of disgust. What though is he trying to say? Why is he waiting for Aaron to speak? Why is Spencer encouraging him by rubbing his thumb over the side of his hand? Though the feeling is more than comforting it doesn't tell him much. No, Aaron feels way out of his depth. How can he speak his mind? He has faced so many powerful people out there and he has talked them down, but now… out here… he is speechless. Left in awe of the beautiful soul before him. Flustered in ways he has no right to be.

But the silence isn't awkward in itself. No, what might make it so is he himself. Aaron opens his mouth, but when he finds that he's still lost for words he manages no more than to blurt out, "Spencer… can I kiss you?"

"Thought you'd never ask…", Spencer admits. Whatever the hell his thoughts are he pulls Aaron nearer. Leans in further to answer said kiss… to steal it from him as if he's done waiting. Done teasing.

Aaron can't not answer him. He falls into the kiss like he is meant to. Steals a taste of Spencer from his mouth in turn, licking his way inside to make sure that this sensation of perfect, warm, need more, is his for the taking… at least in this moment. And while he still has enough air, he does indeed back Spencer up against the wall to keep kissing him breathless. Passionate with all the pent-up frustration of tonight… of more sleepless nights by himself than he cares to remember. The feeling of 'at last' has gotten too powerful to not listen to… until slowly, but without pause, the need for air is becoming too impossible to ignore. "Spencer…"

Kiss swollen lips, smeared with gloss, part to take in air. Spencer shakes his head then, his wilder gone curls moving along with the quiet gesture of awe. "Hell, if I had known sooner…", he manages, sounding breathless and rough from arousal. With one hand he straightens down his skirt from where it bundled up against Aaron's jeans. "I would have worn these in public long before today… for you… no, for us. There is an us now… isn't there? Please, tell me that I have not been seeing more than there is… reading too much between the lines… Hotch, I need to know. Hear you say it out loud. Or I can leave. Pretend that the last few seconds have never happened and…"

Fuck it, but Aaron knows to not let Spencer get lost in his insecurities. As much as he adores him rattling of facts, or him rambling about what's on his mind, he hates seeing the man he more than cares for get lost in his self doubts. Unable to listen and do nothing, he presses his lips on those oh-so-delightful ones for firm seconds to cut him off. Then, finding his courage in the body pinned between his clothed flesh and the wall he presses his groin up against Spencer's right hip. "Feel and hear me, Spencer. It's not you alone. I want, God knows, how much I want you. Maybe regulations say that we shouldn't be together, but it's by far too late to walk away from this… from us."

Spencer sags against him in his relief. "Good", he breathes out, smiling shyly.

Their silence stretches. Fills up with his growing curiosity about everything unsaid. Hell, Aaron knows Spencer well enough to see into him as well, but should he ask? Dare he? Rather than press on he opts the profiler's way out, to present the case to the agent who won't deny him the facts. Brushing his fingers over the left one of the far too tempting knee-high socks, he smiles at Spencer. "You lost the bet at around lunch time… over chocolate sprinkled doughnuts, or so Garcia told me. Also, I know for a fact, that you haven't left the precinct until we sped off to arrest the unsub. We went straight to the hotel after. That leaves you with what, about thirty minutes since the pizza delivery to put your outfit together? If I didn't know better…" He lets his thought trail off with deadly precision.

Spencer however but shrugs at his attempt to lure him out. "Three hundred and sixty seconds make for a huge gap in my alibi. How do you account for that, Agent Hotchner?"

"Perhaps I won't have to, because I have seen that you didn't carry your usual overnight bag onto the plane."

"So what? Maybe I wanted a change." Spencer crosses his arms, defiant somehow, and perhaps feeling a little too self aware and vulnerable still.

With a wry smile, Aaron shakes his head at the bait offered to him in kind. Back is the more confident Spencer. The one who's trying to be prideful and comfortable in how he's dressed tonight. Why?

Aaron wants to understand this side of his friend gone maybe lover and so he continues his prying gently so, "Yet you walked into the same outfit for twenty-four hours longer. Bided your time, but there never came any opening to buy replacements for what you didn't bring… until Morgan presented you with an alternative. Is that why you'd you let him win, Spencer? Why you never even protested? Because you preferred wearing a skirt?"

"What if I did?"

Insecure eyes try to look away from him, but Aaron doesn't let him. Placing his finger under the chin before his, he quietly begs of the younger agent to face him. Only when Spencer dares to does Aaron kiss the tip of the nose before his. "I'm not judging you. How can I? You've felt my desire to be with you. That's not entirely because of what you are wearing, but more so because of how it made me look at you properly. Seeing you with a different confidence? Fuck, this is what is so enchanting about you to me tonight. I'd… if you would allow me… I would enjoy it to see more… of you… like this."

"Only see?" Spencer leans into him for confidence, smiling, kissing his cheek with a chaste brush of warm, wet lips.

Aaron can feel the last of his stoic front breaking apart. His brain has left him… and he's past caring about SSA Hotchner. He can go back to Quantico and leave Aaron out of his stupid regulations. "Touch as well. I want to feel up every inch of you to know for sure what the skirt won't be able to hide forever. To be assured of that you're here with me. Wanting my touch."

"Hell yeah… do it…" What little distance there's left between them falls away in a flash. Aaron can feel how Spencer presses his arousal up against his. Moans for the pleasure that it gives them both… until the wicked pause of a man still clinging to some of his wits cuts it short. "But maybe not out here?"

Catching on fast, Aaron agrees. "No, back at the hotel. We are meant to share after all. That said, I am keeping you to myself."

"Thank you, because to be honest, I am not ready to be out on all accounts."

Spencer slips his hand into his, and Aaron knows to squeeze it in his reassurance of where they stand. No, they are not ready yet to share. Not after they have each waited for so long to figure out that their love was returned. Everything about tonight however feels so new, to them both. How far can their love go? Nothing between them has settled yet, far from it. They have so much to explore in each other, and themselves as well, but they need to do this in private… without intervention. Aaron gets better than most why Spencer is so self-aware and anxious about his standing with others. Truth is, he is scared as well as thrilled himself. There are so many what ifs in life. Insecurities that he keeps hidden, but knows to share in now, because if he doesn't… well, he may not have Spencer yet, but he's painfully aware of how much he doesn't want to lose him…

Squashing down his fears once more, Aaron looks at Spencer, because of what he knows he needs to ask of him. "Tell me when you are? Or when you want me to adapt your pronouns, if at all?"

"I will. If you'll do the same?"

"That's a promise."

Aaron grabs his phone from the pocket of his pants to type a message to David, saying that he's taking Spencer back to the hotel so that their 'junior agent can sleep off the results of a bet lost'. The thumbs up answer combined with a beer glass and a sick person smiley is enough to say that he's succeeded in keeping the truth hidden between the lines, for tonight at least, since amongst a team of profilers no secrets can last long. He shows Spencer the messages and grins at the shy smirk that's send his way. Oh yeah, there's so much more to be said by them, but they won't. Not yet.

Smiling still over what he's gained from said stupid bet, Aaron leads Spencer away… out further into the night… to the extra-large hotel bed for two which stands in wait for them. It's been a long time ago since he has felt like this. In awe. In love. Butterflies doing somersaults in his stomach. All nervous tension and sweet anticipation. He cherishes every second of walking side by side by the source of so many emotions, under the moonlit sky of stars and cool darkness. Three blocks to both collect himself, but he too has no doubt that all of his calm gained will be forgotten when at last he's claiming what he's wanted for longer even than he's been aware off as his.

THE END