"So, you're coming to supper tonight, right?"
"Of course, Aaron. Do you need me to bring anything?"
"No, Jessica's going to fix everything for us, so the meal will be ready as soon as we step in the door." Aaron smiled at his beloved. "I think she's making lobster for us."
"That sounds delicious. I'm afraid I won't be staying over. It's Georgia's last night here and I want to spend a few hours with her, too." He began to protest, and Erin shook her head. "She's fine with my going to supper with you. She has some work to catch up on that she put off until the last minute." Aaron saw her check the door and then she stepped forward to kiss him sweetly.
Erin left his office with a smile on her face and went across to Penelope. As he looked out over the bullpen, he could see Morgan and Reid grinning up at him. Shaking his head, he climbed down the stairs and went over to Reid's desk. "What?"
"I've never seen Strauss smile so much. Are you that good in bed?"
"I wouldn't know, Derek."
"Wait, you guys have been going steady for close to a month and you haven't taken the next step? That's statistically impossible in this day and age." Something on the television screen caught Reid's attention. "Look, that's one of Doyle's henchmen. They caught him in Paris, trying to kidnap an American citizen. I wonder if this will finally lead to his capture."
"Maybe. If you'll excuse me, I need to go talk with JJ about our last case." Aaron tried to walk as normally as he could out of the bullpen and down the hall to JJ's office. He knocked twice before entering. "Did you see the news?"
"Yes. And Rachel's okay. They've moved her to a new safe house, but this time, only her partner knows where that is. If we're this close to catching him, though, Rachel might come home sooner than we thought."
"How'd her cover get blown?"
"I don't know, Sir It wasn't on my end, let me assure you."
He nodded and turned on his heel. "I can't keep this from her."
"And she might hate you because of it. Emily was a good friend's daughter, after all." He went to open the door. "Hotch? Put it all on me. When the time comes, tell her you just found out, since she's coming home soon."
"We've never been dishonest with each other. I'm not going to start now." Aaron left her office, his mind preoccupied. "Sorry," he lowly said as he ran into someone.
"Hotch, man, what's on your brain? That last case was a breeze compared to our other ones. Is there something you're not telling us?"
Aaron looked at Morgan. "Everything's fine, Agent Morgan."
"Oh, no, see, when you say things like that, I know something's going on. Is there something you know about the Doyle case that we don't? 'Cause that is the only weird thing that happened today."
"Just leave it alone, Derek. Please."
He saw the quick spark of anger in the other man's eyes and knew he was putting it together. "You son of a bitch, She's alive, isn't she? You've known all these months that she was out there and you didn't tell us."
'"I never said she was alive, Derek. She's not. She's dead, Doyle made certain of that." He brushed past Morgan, only to have him latch onto his arm.
"I will bring him down, and then I will bring you down for lying to us," he hissed.
"Agent Morgan! Unhand Agent Hotchner at once!" Both men turned to look at Erin. She was frowning at them. "Both of you, my office, now." She herded them over there and Carri looked up at them in surprise. "Hold my calls, please, Carri."
"Of course, Chief Strauss."
Erin closed and locked her door, gesturing to the chairs in front of her desk. Wearily, she sat down behind her desk, staring at them. "Derek, why would you be so foolish as to threaten Aaron in the hallway? I could suspend you for that, you know."
"Ma'am, Agent Prentiss is alive and he knows! He's known for the last seven months that she's out there and he said nothing to us!"
Aaron saw a flicker of hurt run over her face before she looked at Morgan. "If Emily is alive, that would be a miracle. Doyle was intent on seeing her dead for what she did to him. If he were to even think that she was alive and that we know about it, he'd come after us to get information in any way that he could." She picked up a picture off her desk and showed them Jack's smiling face. "Any way, Agent Morgan. Are you still certain she's alive?"
His shoulders slumped as he ran his hands along his head. "No, ma'am, I must have been mistaken. I'm sorry I reacted badly, Hotch. It's just…"
"You love her," Erin said, finishing his thought. Derek nodded. "Miracles happen, Derek, they just take a lot of prep work sometimes." She smiled at him and stood. They followed suit and Derek went to the door.
"Chief Strauss, you are absolutely amazing." She blushed at the compliment, a smile spreading across her face. "I can see why he fell for you." Morgan left, and then they were alone.
"I wish I could have been in the loop on this."
"We needed people to react naturally. Only JJ and I know the truth. I don't know what I'm going to tell them." He sat heavily on the couch and she sat next to him, clasping his hand.
"It's Penelope you need to worry about. Her pregnancy is not an easy one. There have been bumps along the way."
"More than what she's told us?"
Erin nodded. "And if you were to tell her before the baby's here, I fear that she would go into preterm labor. We can't have that, Aaron." She sighed and leaned against him.
"Aren't you angry with me? Haley would have been furious I kept a secret like that from her."
"You're keeping a dear friend safe. I would expect nothing less of you," she whispered as he wrapped an arm around her. "It stings a little, though I understand the reasoning completely."
"You'll be the first to know when she's home so you can prepare Ambassador Prentiss."
"Elizabeth will be quite shocked to hear this. I wish there was a safe way to prepare her for it." She curled up close to him, her hand splayed out on his chest. "Doyle didn't hurt her again?"
"No, JJ's fairly certain they got her to the new safe house in one piece. No one knows where that is though, since it's just her and her partner at this point. It might be better that way, now on one can accidentally say something to blow her cover." Erin nodded against his arm and he tightened his grip on her. "I should get back to my office. I'll see you tonight."
"Tonight." They stood and he tipped her chin up gently as he bent to kiss her. "You know, each time you do that, Penny has to go through and erase the footage?"
"It'll keep her on her toes." He kissed her once more. "I suppose this means we only have a few more months to steal kisses like this, then. I wouldn't trust the temp tech to be discreet like Penelope."
She fought to keep the smile off her face. "That is too true, Agent Hotchner." And then she buried her hands in his hair, pulling him close for a blistering kiss. "Think of that until tonight," she breathlessly said as she pushed him out the door.
Aaron chuckled lowly as he ran his hand through his hair. "She does have the uncanny ability to leave one speechless, Agent Hotchner. It's one of the things she prides herself in."
"Don't I know that. See you later, Carri." He walked back to the bullpen, a jaunty spring in his step as he thought about the night to come.