Author's Note: This is a lighter chapter. It picks up the next evening after Hotch's conversation with Sean. They're off to the Women in Law Enforcement party with JJ and Will. This will be in two parts.

The title here comes originally from a chapter of Girl, 'Clark & Lois,' but we now have a whole offshoot story also incorporating those nicknames for them :)

Late December: Tuesday Evening

The Continuing Adventures of Clark & Lois

Hotch quickly zipped up his pants before he yanked on his new green dress shirt. Then he began hurriedly working his buttons as he stepped out of the walk-in closet.

As his eyes shot across the room to the alarm clock, he saw that it was already seven twenty-two pm.

Crap . . . his front teeth sunk into his bottom lip as he worked the last two buttons on his shirt . . . they were running SO late for the party! And he'd had such a good plan for tonight too.

He'd sent Emily home at five so she could get in a solid nap to rest up before they went out. And then he was supposed to leave the office at five-thirty so he'd be home a little after six. He was supposed to wake her up and she would take her shower while he fixed them a light dinner. Then he would shower while she did her hair and makeup. They'd be out of the house by seven-fifteen at the latest.

It was a solid plan!

Unfortunately his solid plan had gone straight to hell when he'd gotten stuck on a conference call with the Chicago PD. They had of course called just as he was walking out the door. And though he would have loved to have just rescheduled their discussion for the next morning, given the nature of their call . . . a subway rapist who had struck six times since Thanksgiving, twice just in the last two weeks . . . that just wasn't an option.

Their last two victims were STILL in intensive care, so it was obvious that things were escalating at an alarming rate. And in a situation like that, it wasn't as though he could have said to the three detectives on the conference call, "sorry guys, that's really unfortunate but I've got a Christmas party tonight."

Yeah . . . he huffed to himself as he went over to the dresser to dig out his cuff links and put on his gun . . . that clearly wasn't happening.

So he was on the phone with those detectives for almost a full hour. He knew it was that long because he had stared at the clock the entire time they were talking, and he'd slammed down the phone at precisely six twenty-seven pm. Then he'd run like hell through the bullpen, and raced down the fire stairs and into the parking garage. It wasn't until after he'd peeled out of the Academy gates that he'd started frantically calling Emily's cell phone.

Except she hadn't answered.

He was supposed to have woken her up when he got home at six . . . except he hadn't gotten home at six. And she had turned off the ringers on both the house phone and her cell, because she'd figured that he'd be along right behind her, and had wanted a good half hour of uninterrupted sleep before he woke her up.

Again, a nice solid plan that had gone completely to hell.

Because he'd broken every speed limit in the Commonwealth, only to run into their apartment at six fifty-seven to find Emily still sound asleep on the couch.

After he'd woken her up with a kiss and a fervent apology, he'd sent her up to get a shower while he'd heated up a couple of Peanut Chicken Lean Cuisines in the microwave.

Not exactly what he'd been planning on making her for dinner, but at least they were nutritious.

And most importantly, they were fast.

He'd made Emily come into the bedroom to sit down and eat with him before she'd run back in to finish drying her hair while he'd jumped into the shower.

Now she was doing her makeup and he . . . Hotch fixed his second link . . . just needed to put on his socks and shoes and he'd be ready to go.

All things considered, even though they were running RIDICULOUSLY late, they were making good time.

And after he'd grabbed a pair of black socks out of the dresser, Hotch stepped back into the closet to dig out his good shoes. Shoes which he should have grabbed three minutes earlier when he'd been in there pulling on his pants.

Once his hands were full of the necessary footwear items though, he moved over to the end chair, and dropped the shoes onto the floor, before dropping himself down onto the cushion to pull on his socks.

Technically the party began in six minutes.

But clearly it would have just been gauche to show up exactly when the doors opened. So they'd be a little late . . . he took a breath to calm down as he pulled on the first sock . . . not a big deal.

Really, as far as he was concerned they were just going for a couple of hours so Emily could have a bit of fun. So if their time was reduced from three hours, to two, well . . . he slipped on the first shoe . . . that was probably for the best anyway.

It was cold and flu season and he really didn't want Emily around all those people and their germy handshakes and phlegmy coughs. With her starting radiation next week, it was imperative that she not get sick right now, so the less exposure in a large crowd, the better.

So yes, two hours was plenty of time to steal her some cheese puffs, down a half dozen jumbo shrimp, and take a few turns around the dance floor.

A soft smile touched Hotch's lips as he paused to look over at Emily's emerald green gown lying on the bed . . . yeah, two hours was plenty of time to have some fun. Especially given that JJ was going to be there tonight too.

Emily was thrilled that she was going!

And although Hotch had been outwardly a bit more reserved in his reaction to that news, in actuality he was probably as excited as Emily was to see their friend.

God had he missed her.

He shook his head . . . but she'd be back soon. Well . . . he pulled on his second shoe . . . soon enough.

One more month.

This really was an unexpected treat seeing her over the holidays though. It was just this past weekend that Emily had finally talked her into attending the WLE party with them. Apparently this was actually the first night out for her and Will since Henry was born, so Emily had to really pull out all the stops to get her to agree to come with them.

Emily had told him that initially JJ had actually flat out refused to go.

It seems that she's been uncomfortable with how slowly she's losing the baby weight, and Emily had warned him that it was a "sensitive topic," so it would be best for him to not to bring it up. At the time she'd said that, he had rolled his eyes openly at her, and thinking back on it now, he rolled his eyes again as he began to lace up his second shoe.

As though he would EVER in a million years bring up JJ's WEIGHT! He'd be about as likely to ask her about her sex life!

Which was NEVER!

Besides that base point of fact though, she had come into the office a few weeks after the baby was born and he'd thought she'd looked just fine. So he was quite sure that tonight she was going to look like her usual lovely self regardless of her personal perceptions on this matter.

Though as Hotch thought about how sensitive Haley had been about her weight after Jack was born, he made a mental note to remember to actually TELL JJ that she looked nice. Then as he tied off his second lace, he made a second mental note to remember to not do it when he first saw her or she'd think that it was just a perfunctory compliment. Or worse, that Emily had said something to him and that was the only reason he was remarking on her appearance. Granted that was the reason he was planning on commenting on her appearance, but it wasn't going to detract from the sincerity behind it.

JJ was a very attractive woman, period, end of story.

Jesus . . . Hotch shook his head in exasperation as he stood up . . . he'd forgotten how much of a minefield it was dealing with women's personal insecurities about their weight! And JJ wasn't even his girlfriend!

Speaking of his girlfriend . . . Hotch brushed out the wrinkles in his dress pants as he walked over to the bathroom . . . she should hopefully be just about done now with her hair and makeup.

Still looking down at his brand new, only twice worn tuxedo pants looking to spot any miniscule defects, Hotch called through the half open bathroom door.

"Sweetheart, are you about ready to go? I told Will we'd meet them there no later than seven forty-five and it's already seven," he lifted his head as he stepped onto the bathroom tile, "thirty. And there's no way that we're getting to the Mayflower in the next fifteen minutes, so I really need to let them know what time to expect us."

Pausing just as she was about to spray her hair, Emily turned to give Hotch a little smile over her shoulder.

"Two minutes," she turned back to the mirror, squinting before she started to spritz, "everything else is done. I just need to put on my fabulous new dress."

The fabulous new dress had been an early Christmas present from Hotch. It wasn't until this weekend, when she'd been staring at the new black cocktail dress that she'd bought for the case in Atlanta that she realized with all of her recent bumps and bruises, that her planned outfit for the party revealed ENTIRELY too much skin.

At best it would have looked like she'd just been in a car accident. At worst, it would have looked like she'd just taken a severe beating.

Either way, clearly those were not the looks she was going for! And God knew she couldn't justify the expense of yet another new dress this season . . . that would have been her FOURTH since September . . . so she'd resigned herself to wearing an older blue sequined one that she had in the back of the closet.

It was ankle length, and it came with a matching shawl, so all together that would have mostly covered the still fading marks on her arms and legs.

But Hotch had known that she'd been disappointed, and he'd been with her when she'd commented in the beautiful green silk gown hanging in the window at Nordstrom's. It was long and slinky, with a loose bodice, sleeves to the elbow and just one high slit up the side for a little bit of oomph.

It was absolutely perfect.

It was also four hundred and seventy-five dollars . . . and last night Hotch had surprised her with it when they'd gone up to bed. He said it was an early Christmas present.

And she'd wiped away the tears running down her face as she kissed him and told him that he was definitely the best boyfriend ever.

She shot him a little smile as she put the hairspray back on the counter . . . she was thinking about having a plaque made up for him.

Hotch gave Emily's spray a moment to dissipate before he walked across the bathroom.

"As fond am I am of the new dress," he said with a smirk as he walked up behind her, "I'm also very okay with seeing you dressed just the way you are right now."

At present she was wearing a black lace teddy with a matching set of lace garter belts and silk stockings.

She looked UNBELIEVABLE!

And really, if this night hadn't been so important to her, he would definitely be taking the opportunity to christen their relationship in yet another new location.

They hadn't yet tried out the bathroom vanity.

Emily chuckled at Hotch in the mirror as his arm slipped around her waist from behind.

"Really, Aaron," she asked with her own smirk as he pulled her back against his chest, "you'd be totally fine with me leaving the house like this?"

Like hell. Last night when she'd modeled her dress for him, he'd smiled and told her she looked beautiful. But she hadn't missed the worried eyebrow he'd tried to hide when he saw just how high the slit up her side was.

He hadn't said anything though.

And that was why she was rewarding him for not being one of those men . . . the Neanderthal 'no woman of mine' kind . . . by wearing the lace teddy and garters under the dress, rather than regular underwear and panty hose. It was a treat for him. She sighed as he lifted her hair and pressed his lips to her skin.

His own early Christmas present that he could open when they got home.

"Not at all," Hotch murmured back as he began kissing his way along the curve of her neck, "I said I was very okay with seeing you dressed that way, I did NOT say I was fine," he began nibbling a little mark of ownership as he finished with a mumble, "with anyone ELSE seeing you that way."

Seeing that slit up her thigh last night had nearly killed him. The only thing that kept his tongue holstered from even a passing acknowledgment of it, was the knowledge that everything above the slit and beneath the silk was now for his eyes exclusively.

The rest of the world was welcome to be envious from afar.

And provided that none of those envious men tonight did anything stupid like try to touch his beautiful girl in her fabulously slit dress . . . he gently sucked on her neck . . . then he wouldn't have to kill anyone.

Emily felt a little shiver go through her body as Hotch's lips moved slowly up to her earlobe and back down to her neck again. And knowing that JJ would definitely notice . . . and comment on . . . a fresh hickey, Emily knew she had to put a stop to the little "this one's taken" marks, Hotch was attempting to put on her neck.

Just because he'd been good about not saying anything, didn't mean that he wasn't still going to be doing everything that he could to ward attention away from her.

Not that she wanted attention from anyone but him, she just wanted to feel sexy tonight. It was probably the last time for months that she was going to feel well enough . . . or look good enough . . . to get dressed up and go out. And she just wanted to make the best of it.

But she really did want to avoid any hickey conversations too.

So with a weary huff she reluctantly swatted him away from her neck before shifting around in his arms. Though she'd hated to stop the kissing . . . it didn't matter where his lips were, Hotch was a great kisser . . . when he pulled her into a tight hug and kissed her temple, she again released another sigh of contentment.

With Hotch if you have to close a door, he always opens a window.

Then she heard him whisper in her ear.

"If you can find a turtleneck to wear under your dress, I can go back to what I was doing."

Emily snorted before lifting her head to look up at him.

His eyes were twinkling.

She leaned up on her tiptoes to kiss him before pulling away with an amused shake of her head.

"It's unlikely that we'll be playing strip poker at the party tonight Aaron, so I don't think the turtleneck is going to work as part of my ensemble. Besides," she patted his cheek, "you're the one who just told me we had to get a move on," her eyebrow went up, "and we both know that if you go back to what you were doing, there's no way that we're getting out of this house before eight."

Making love to Hotch was of course her new . . . and had immediately become her ALL TIME favorite . . . pastime, but she really did want to go to this party too. Fortunately though, she really didn't have to choose between the two activities.

One was just going to be delayed for a few hours.

Hotch's eyebrow shot up incredulously as he looked down at the teddy/garter belt combo.

"EIGHT? You think we'd be done by EIGHT?" He huffed as his hands slid along the lacy material, "we'd still be working on round one at eight. Oh no," he kissed her nose before sighing as he pulled her back against his chest.

"We'd be here until at least ten," he murmured against her hair, "and I do think JJ and Will would notice if she showed up that late."

"Yes," Emily chuckled against his chest, "I concur. Given that we're probably the only people they'll know tonight, they would most likely notice if we showed up three hours late for the party." Then she tipped her head back with a little grin. "I like the way you think though. So how about we reconvene here when we get home, and you can show me all the fun activities you'd have planned for us if we stayed in tonight?"

Hotch gave her a soft smile.

"If you're not too tired when we get back," he leaned down to give her a quick kiss, "then absolutely."

Seeing the look she was giving him as he pulled away, Hotch shook his head.

"Uh, uh, don't make me the bad guy. We agreed the other night, if you're already over tired then no additional exertion if you're not getting extra sleep to compensate."

Granted, so far they hadn't yet needed to implement this rule, but Hotch was trying to remain cognizant of its existence.

Suddenly flashing on that exact conversation, Emily's faint scowl morphed to a look of resignation as she sighed, "you're right," her eyes crinkled slightly as she leaned up to kiss his cheek, "I'm sorry, we did agree."

Then her smile brightened.

"And I'm sure everything will be fine tonight. I know it's a long day, but I did get that extra long nap, and right now I don't have a headache," then she quickly leaned over to tap the baseboard as she added superstitiously, "knock wood."

The headaches were still coming and going. And she'd had a fairly bad one that morning so she was hoping that they were gone for the day. She knew that it didn't actually work like that, but keeping a good thought never hurt anyone.

Hotch rewarded Emily's confidence with a little smile back.

"I'm sure everything will be fine tonight too. Though," he looked down at his watch, wincing slightly when he saw it was now almost seven forty, "we really have to get out of the house." He let go of Emily, stepping away with a squeeze of her fingers as he backed out of the bathroom.

"I'll call Will and tell him we'll be there no later than eight fifteen," his eyebrow rose expectantly, "we can make that, right?"

Emily smiled back, "absolutely," she shooed him towards the door, "I'm just going to the bathroom then dress and shoes. Really honey, I promise I'll be downstairs in less than five minutes."

As Emily shut the door in his face, Hotch spun around the bedroom to see if they were forgetting anything.

Her dress, evening bag, gun and thigh holster were on the bedspread, heels on the floor.

Okay, so she was good. He did a quick mental check of his own appearance and nodded . . . good to go. So he hurried over to the closet to grab his jacket off the hangar, slipping it on as he headed out into the hall.

Two minutes later he was taking their good wool coats out of the downstairs closet, when he heard Emily call down to him.

"AARON, WHY IS YOUR TIE HANGING ON THE DOORKNOB?!"

Hotch blinked and then looked down to see he was wearing his plain green dress shirt . . . and no tie.

He rolled his eyes.

Idiot.

His jaw twitched at his own stupidity as he started jogging up the stairs, again calling back to her.

"I DID THAT ON PURPOSE!"

The volume of his voice dropped when he saw her standing in the bedroom doorway in her new dress, dangling his necktie from her fingertips.

"I didn't want to get it dirty," he finished smoothly, hoping she wouldn't call him on the bullshit response. But seeing the smirk on her face as she handed him the tie, he knew that his balls were about to be busted.

"Uh huh," Emily's lips twitched as she pulled her hand back, "I know how often I have to wear a plastic poncho just walking down those stairs. There's debris flying everywhere. It's a wonder you didn't have to take another shower."

God forbid he simply admit that he forgot to do something!

Hotch stared at Emily straight faced for a moment before his eyebrow went up.

"Fine, I admit it. I forgot to put on my tie. I made a mistake." Seeing the look of triumph on her face he couldn't resist adding with a smirk. "That's one."

Emily barked a laugh as she took his tie back and turned around so he could zip her up.

"It must be wonderful to be so perfect," she responded sarcastically as she felt the little teeth of the zipper pulling together.

"Actually I find it to be a bit of a burden," Hotch shot back as he set the hook on the top of her dress. Then his lips started to twitch as he felt the vibration of her laughter where his hand was resting on her back. She turned around in his arms.

"Poor baby," Emily pouted in mock sympathy as she looped the green silk over his neck, "what hell that must be for you stuck on this planet with us mere mortals."

Though she hated to admit it . . . and never would aloud . . . she couldn't really recall another recent instance where Aaron had actually made a mistake. This one she was tucking away though . . . she started working the knot on his tie . . . just in case she needed some ammunition in the future.

"Eh," Hotch's eyes crinkled slightly as his hands fell to Emily's hips, "there are some perks on this planet, so I've learned to get by." His lip quirked up as he saw the good natured eye roll she shot him. Then he stood there patiently while she straightened out his knot and smoothed down his new tie and shirt he'd bought specifically to match Emily's dress. When she started to brush off his shoulders too he raised his eyebrow.

"Are we ready to go now?"

"Yes, Aaron, we are now both wearing ALL required elements of our evening wear, so WE are ready to go now." Seeing the look she got for reminding him why they were standing there, Emily gently patted his cheek before turning to go grab her purse off the bed. When she stepped back over the threshold she smiled at him as she squeezed his fingers.

"Come on, Superman," she started leading him towards the stairs, "it's time to go experience an earth custom we call a Christmas party."

Hotch rolled his eyes.

It was going to be a long night.

A/N 2: The whole little end with Hotch forgetting his tie, that's actually because I forgot to have him put it on. Before I post I always do a last read through for continuity and then I picture their actions to make sure I followed the thread through the scene. As he was standing in the living I suddenly realized he was missing his tie, thank God Emily found it :)

Odd how whenever I send them to a party there's always a whole chapter involving them getting ready. It's not intentional, it's just always how it goes. So there is a part two here and we'll see JJ and Will again.

If you've left me a review and I haven't responded yet, as always thank you for the feedback!