Aaron still felt weird about occupying his wife's office whenever they were home from a case, since it felt like he was intruding on her space. But he knew that in order to grow more comfortable with his new role on the team, he had to be in there and making it his own. Letting out a long breath, he adjusted the picture frames on the large desk, making certain that the newest one of their family was front and center as he waited for the Director to arrive. After five weeks of preparation, the handover was finally going to start occurring, and he wasn't entirely certain that it was a good thing. Especially since the team would now be two people down, as Dave was still in rehab for his leg, though Penelope had told them that he was coming home in a few days.

Blowing out his lips, he looked over the paperwork that he still had to finish, along with going over the reports from his team on the last case they had just completed. It was quickly becoming apparent just why Erin had felt overwhelmed at the thought of retuning back to work on top of having a baby to deal with. Just as he was about to start working on his inbox, a soft rapping caught his attention, and he looked up to see Carri standing there. "Yes, Carri?"

"Director Shepperd has arrived, and he is not alone. Should I show them in?"

"Yes, please. I can just finish these reports later."

She nodded a little before leaving his office. Vaguely, he could hear the voices in the inner office, and he tried to place the more feminine sounding one before they came in. "Ah, Aaron, how are you handling the transition to being the Section Chief in full?"

"I feel a little underprepared, but Erin has promised to help me if I do have any issues, which I am forever grateful for. But who is this?" he asked as he rose to his feet, holding out his hand expectantly as they approached his desk. The woman gave him a small smile as she took firm hold of his hand and shook it strongly.

"Doctor Alex Blake. Our paths crossed a few years ago when you were visiting from Seattle, and I was nearing the disastrous end of the Amerithrax case. It was not a good time for me, but I'm certain that the Director will explain my presence here momentarily."

He nodded as they all took their seats. Harold gave him a slightly guilty look, which made him question everything, since Aaron didn't particularly relish being left out of the loop, especially as he was starting this new position. "All right, Harold, care to fill me in?"

The man cleared his throat as he nodded. "With you now ready to completely take the reins as Section Chief of both Erin's teams, I knew that I would need to add another member to Alpha, so that they weren't running on quite such a deficit of members. Doctor Blake has proven herself to be quite competent in rebuilding her reputation following what happened during that case. I'm certain that Doctor Blake will go over everything that happened after we've finished here, and then I'll have you introduce her to Alpha. All right?"

"I suppose. Thank you, Harold." The man nodded as he hurriedly got to his feet and fairly fled from the room, closing the door with a resounding thud as Aaron and Alex exchanged glances. "I was completely not expecting this today. I suppose that now is when I welcome you to Alpha?"

"I suppose, Aaron."

He chuckled, shaking his head a little. "While we didn't stand on formalities with Alpha, I was called Hotch. Now, I have to grow accustomed to being addressed as Chief Hotchner in formal settings, so please, feel free to call me Hotch. It will make this all seem more normal."

A wide smile spread across Alex's lips as she nodded. "And I prefer not to be addressed as Doctor Blake at every turn. I get that enough with my students, and want to be on a more even footing with them. Plus, James is Doctor Blake, no matter what."

"Your husband?"

She nodded. "Yes. He's currently somewhere in the Middle East, working with MSF, and it's safer if I don't know where he is. So, you're probably curious about why Director Shepperd was so cryptic about why I left the BAU the first time, and why I had to rebuild my reputation."

"A little, yes. I'm not going to have to worry about you disrupting the team, am I?"

"Nothing like that, especially since it appears that Erin no longer works here."

He cocked his head to one side as he regarded her carefully. "Why would my wife still being here be a detrimental thing?"

He watched the blood drain from Alex's face at that declaration and knew in a moment that Shepperd hadn't informed her of that particular relationship and he let out a deep sigh as he rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb. "I…hadn't realized that things had changed so much in the time that I was gone. You were married to Haley, last I knew."

A pained expression twisted his features as he took a deep breath. "There was an unsub who stalked and tortured my family because I refused to stop hunting him. Haley was his last victim. Erin went through some very painful experiences of her own, and we bonded over our mutual losses."

"And did she change departments because of the conflict of interests?"

Aaron shook his head. "She's actually on maternity leave at the moment, and when that time runs out, she's going into early retirement."

He watched Alex's eyes widen in shock before a hard expression settled on her features. "That does not surprise me in the least. Erin always was one to land on her feet after getting everything that she wanted in life." The tone Alex used was so bitter that Aaron knew there was bad blood between his wife and their new team member, something that he would have to get to the bottom of sooner, rather than later. "I didn't think that you could even get pregnant at our age."

"When you have a son who prays miracles to life, it happens. While he's slowly becoming the little brother to Erin's other four children, it will be nice for him to have a sibling around his own age to grow up with."

Alex frowned a little at the mention of the other children, and Aaron realized that he had just made a major slip in what he had revealed to her. Giving a small shake of his head, he tried to let her know that he wouldn't answer any question about the amount of children Erin had, and he hoped that they would move on to safer topics. "I suppose that if you're happy with the situation, there's not much I can say, seeing as how you're going to be our supervisor. Who's going to be the Unit Chief? Director Shepperd wasn't too forthcoming on that point."

"David Rossi will be filling my role with Alpha. For the first month or two that you're with us, you won't see him in the field with you, as he is still recovering from a rather traumatic car accident that he and his wife were in."

"When did he get married? And this is wife number four, yes?"

"Yes, it is. And they were married about a year before Erin and I married. You'll be working closely with her, since she's our technical analyst. I'll warn you that she is exuberant and kind, but will likely put her foot in her mouth more than once around you, until she's used to you being a part of our team. Erin's first time in the field in years resulted in Penelope asking her to talk dirty to her, not realizing that it was her on the other end of the line."

Alex swallowed her laugh as she shook her head. "That is a sight I would have loved to have seen," she softly said as they stood, and Aaron nodded before resting his hand in the middle of her back, leading her over to the door. "I will level with you, Chief Hotchner, and let you know that I will try not to talk poorly about Erin in your presence. However, there is still a lot of bad blood between the two of us, and I do not feel that I am in the position to accept any amends that she might offer in regards to her actions during the Amerithrax case."

"I understand completely, Doctor Blake," he replied as he led her across the hall to the bullpen.
"I am going to ask Erin about what happened between the two of you, though. I hope that she'll give me a fair appraisal of the things that led up to your breakdown in communication. And while I know that you think you might know everything that's happened over the years, I think that there might be more to the story that you don't know, and would be told if you took the time to sit down with Erin and listen to her. When you're ready."

"That might never happen."

"I also believe in miracles, Alex, after everything that we've been through. So, I'll be praying that there is a détente between you and my wife."

Alex gave him a withering glance, and he just shrugged in return. "If that ever happens, maybe I'll start believing in God once more."

"Don't make promises you can't keep," was his quiet reply as he led her up to the briefing room. "I'll be right back with the rest of the team, except for Rossi. All right?" Alex nodded, and he let out a long breath as he went into Penelope's office, unsurprised to find Morgan and Emily there. "Where are JJ and Reid?"

"I think they're in her office. Why?" Penelope asked, giving him a gentle smile as she turned her attention on him.

"I have a new team member to introduce to you all. The Director thought that, since I will no longer be working directly with our team, we needed someone to fill that hole. And her addition will mean that the team is a little more balanced. At least, from what I know of her. If you three want to head to the briefing room, I'll find Reid and JJ and bring them there."

"Ooh, is she nice, Hotch?" Penelope asked as she got to her feet and came over to him.

"I think that it depends on your definition of nice, Penelope. I think that she'll like you, but I know that she has issues with Erin. So, please, try not to antagonize her, as I would really like a smooth transition between my leadership of the team and Dave's. There's going to be some rough patches that I'll have to deal with, but if we keep our focus on the cases and making certain that Alex fits into the team, I have faith that everything will be fine."

Penelope nodded, though she did give him a small pout as she passed by, and somehow, he knew that he would have to keep an eye on her and Alex, to make certain that they didn't get into any arguments regarding Erin and how close she was with everyone on the team now. But still, it would be nice to have a full complement of agents to work with, especially when Dave returned to them and they began to move forward once more.