A.N.- I wrote a one-shot, for once. A while back, Luvreading67 asked if Hotch would ever punish Seaver when Rossi was away for whatever reason, and I always envisioned Hotch keeping his 'lil sis' company while she waited for Dave to return, rather than punishing her himself. This story is the result of that question, which I have been thinking about ever since, so thank you!
Warnings: There is a lot of discussion of spanking but no actual 'on screen' action; there is, however, some corner time.
Disclaimer: I don't own CM or anything other than a giant pile of lectures to watch.
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"That's what people do who love you. They put their arms around you and love you when you're not so lovable."
- Deb Caletti
-o-o-o-o-o-
Aaron Hotchner hung up the phone with a frown and immediately poured a drink from the bottle he kept in his desk; technically, the workday ended, but as the BAU unit chief he frequently stayed long after the rest of the team to make sure all the paperwork would pass the Erin Strauss's shrewd inspection. His plans for the evening to complete a budget form completely derailed, he downed the scotch he poured easily as he reached for his phone to call his mentor and surrogate father. Dave was in Arizona, working on a consultation with the local law enforcement; the BAU's assistance had been requested on the odd case, murder victims clothed in the ceremonial robes of an obscure European religion. Though he'd likely interrupt Rossi's workday, given the time difference, Hotch thought that now might be one of those times where the older man would prefer to be interrupted rather than being blindsided by it after work.
"SSA Dave Rossi," a voice on the line said, picking up after a single ring, clearly not having looked at the caller ID before answering.
"Hey Dave," Aaron replied, trying to keep the reluctance from his voice- the advantage of a phone conversation, at least, was that any vocal discrepancy could be written off as a byproduct of a subpar network connection.
"Aaron?" Dave sounded surprised, and Hotch could envision the climb of the veteran's profiler's eyebrows, "is everything okay?" Worry leached into Rossi's tone, and Aaron regretted the fact that he couldn't reassure the man with a simple answer.
"Everyone's safe," Aaron reassured quickly, trying to think of a way to phrase the situation.
"But?" Dave prompted.
"I just got off the phone with Ashley," Aaron hazarded slowly. If Dave was his surrogate father, then Ashley Seaver was his surrogate sister. The young agent had been pulled from the Academy by the BAU, needing her unique perspective of growing up with a serial killer father. Dave had a soft spot for the rookie, whose father he and Hotch had arrested, so when she made a massive mistake on the case, nearly becoming a victim herself, his mentor had asked to address Ashley's misbehavior off the books. Aaron had been receiving the same discipline for over a decade; while he had to admit that it wasn't particularly dignified to be spanked by one's mentor, it was far better than any official consequences within the FBI, and it conveyed a sense of family in a way that field-suspension couldn't. Hotch had agreed nervously, though his anxiety lessened significantly after a weekend that he and Ashley had spent at Dave's house, both sick. Getting in trouble together had cemented their fledgling sibling-like bond.
While she initially stayed with the BAU, Ashley had chosen to transfer to Andi Swann's Domestic Trafficking Task Force. Though she never took the formal classes, working with a team of profilers had given Seaver some profiling skills that she used to considerable success. Hotch was proud of the agent his 'little sister' was becoming, and he wished desperately that the news he had to give Dave was more along that vein.
"And?" Dave's voice shook Aaron from his thoughts, though he wasn't successful in finding a way to word his following statement that would minimize how bad it sounded. To be fair, he didn't think it was possible.
"I need to go pick her up from the holding cell at the 8th precinct," Hotch said, suppressing a sigh.
"What happened?" his mentor's voice still sounded curious, though there was an undercurrent of worry.
"She got in a bar fight."
"At seven o'clock in the evening?" Dave sounded incredulous, though Aaron couldn't blame him- it wasn't like Ashley to get drunk so early in the evening (it was, however, entirely like her to run towards a fight; she was a little scrappy.)
"I guess," he said, shrugging despite the fact that no one would see the action. He heard his mentor sigh, and could imagine the older man pinching the bridge of his nose.
"She in any legal trouble?"
"You remember Hanover and Stewart, the local LEOs?" an undercurrent of amusement was present in his voice- Hanover and Stewart were the Metro PD beat cops that picked Aaron up from, incidentally, a bar fight. They weren't swayed by his credentials, but when Dave had come to pick him up, he was able to convince them that he would handle it personally.
"No kidding," his mentor snorted, "they're still on the force?"
"Stewart is," Hotch said, "he's who picked Seaver up, saw your business card in her wallet and remembered your name," at least that's what the young woman had relayed to him over the phone, "from back in the 90s, not from your books," he added. "I'm about to drive to the station and convince him that it will be handled personally," Aaron told Dave his plan, "I just wanted to know what I should do with Ashley after I pick her up." His mentor hummed over the line as he considered the question.
"You have any plans tonight?" Dave asked, surprising him slightly. He really hoped that didn't mean Dave wanted Aaron to handle Ashley's misbehavior- truth be told, he didn't think he'd be able to see it the whole way through. Not to mention that the idea alone made him slightly queasy.
"No," Aaron said, "but Dave, really, I can't do that to her." He had been subjected to it for over a decade, but Aaron still had trouble saying the word 'spanking.' His mentor chuckled over the line in response to either his objection or his inability to talk about spanking in the plainest terms. He was a lawyer, he was good at figuring out ways to word something evasively.
"I wasn't gonna ask you to, Aaron," his mentor said, still sounding slightly amused, though any levity to his tone left rapidly as he asked, "but would you be willing to wait up with her at my place? I'll probably be back too late at night to talk to her, but I don't want her having to wait alone," the was fair, waiting for discipline felt terrible, he knew from personal experience. "Besides," Dave added, "getting drunk this early isn't like her, either, and I don't think she should be alone anyways," that was also fair, and a concern of his as well.
"Got it. So take her home and distract her until you can talk to her?" he sounded vaguely amused.
"Basically," Dave said, and then Aaron heard clamoring in the background. "Hey Aaron," Dave returned to the phone, "I gotta go, I'll see you later," and hung up abruptly- Hotch hoped everything was okay, he didn't think he could take more family distress that day.
He allowed himself to sigh, finally, as he packed some of his paperwork into his briefcase and locked his office for the night. He wasn't particularly looking forward to trying to convince a LEO to release Ashley with no charges; there was a rivalry between cops and feds, mostly on the side of the cops, who thought feds were too pretentious, and a lot of cops would relish the opportunity to take a fed down a peg or two. He hoped that Stewart had the same temperament Aaron remembered- if he let Aaron go, maybe he could get Ashley released without a hassle.
"I'm looking for a cop by the name of Stewart," Aaron said to the receptionist, who then turned to the bullpen behind him.
"Hey, Sarge," the receptionist called out, and waved over a man who Aaron recognized as Stewart.
"I'm here for Ashley Seaver," he said, wondering why a sergeant had been called in to pick her up, "I was told you were the arresting officer?" The graying man looked at Aaron silently for a moment, though Hotch didn't know what the cop was searching for.
"Oh, I remember you," Stewart said with a laugh, "you were the kid who sang 'Girls Just Want to Have Fun,' offkey, in the back of my cruiser." Aaron felt his face heat- he had, admittedly, drank way too much that night, and the parts he remembered were nothing short of embarrassing. "You grew up good kid, let's go talk in my office," he led the way to his office, off to the side of the bullpen where it was a little less hectic, and waved Aaron in, gesturing at him to sit opposite the desk.
"Seems your generation passed the baton for stupid drunken decisions," the sergeant said wryly.
"It certainly seems that way," he agreed, a small smile creeping onto his face. He couldn't help it, the cop's cheerful demeanor left little room for negativity. "Hanover still on the job too?" he asked, making polite conversation, which is why he was taken aback by Stewarts enthusiastic response.
Grinning widely, the sergeant pulled a photo off his desk and handed it to Aaron. He instantly recognized both Stewart and an older Hanover, and assumed that the people around them were family.
"That's him right there, with his wife and kids," he pointed out the various people, then added proudly, "I'm their godfather. Hanover retired a few years ago after he tore something in his knee, figured the universe was colluding with his wife and sending him signals. I see him every Sunday for dinner."
"Say 'hi' from me next time you see him," Aaron said politely, "though I doubt he remembers me."
"I wouldn't be so sure, kid," the grin stayed on the cop's face, "I've never heard anyone mangle Cyndi Lauper the way you did."
"I don't suppose I can convince you to let her go without anything formal being fired?" he said after a beat, neatly sidestepping any further foray into mortifying memories.
"When we picked you up, you kept accidentally referring to Dave Rossi as your dad," Aaron felt his face heat again, and wondered where the older law enforcement officer was going with that. "Couldn't for the life of us figure out why until he came to pick you up. Looked pissed as all get-out," Hotch winced, remembering the scolding Dave had given him at the station that left his ears ringing. "Told me he'd handle it personally, and I was inclined to believe him. What'd he do, ground you?" Stewart said, a hint of amusement in his voice as he clearly didn't know how close to the correct answer he was.
"Partially," Aaron said, figuring that full-disclosure was more likely to get Ashley out of a possible arrest. Maybe if Stewart knew how it had been handled, he'd be willing to leave Seaver facing the same consequences. The sergeant seemed like an old-fashioned guy, too, and Hotch would bet that the other man would respect Rossi's discipline tactics.
"Seriously?" Stewart asked, "I was kidding, kid."
"I wasn't," Aaron said, an embarrassed smile finding its way to his face, "Dave did seriously ground me." After seeing the confusion on the cop's face, Hotch continued, "Work and home, no other excursions, and I stayed with him for that week."
"What's the other part?"
"Huh?" Aaron said, momentarily confused.
"When I asked you if he punished you by grounding you, you said 'partially.' So what's the other part?" Stewart asked, dashing all hopes Aaron had of the cop not noticing that detail and therefore sparing him a very uncomfortable conversation.
"Oh," he said, "uh," he rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. Though he had told himself that he would be completely honest with the cop, for Ashley's sake, it was still hard to admit that he got punished like a toddler.
"It can't be that bad, kid," Stewart said, and Hotch snorted in amusement as he mentally readied himself to rip the band-aid off.
"Honestly," he started, trying to use his 'Unit Chief' voice, "let's just say that I wasn't sitting comfortably the next day." Stewart looked puzzled, then realization slowly dawned on his face.
"Well I'll be," he said, laughing. After biting down his temper, Aaron realized that the cop wasn't laughing at him, but rather from incredulity, and joined in on the laughter.
"It was Dave's name I saw on a business card in the kid's wallet," Stewart said, "kinda surprised he didn't show up himself, after last time."
"He's in Arizona working on a consultation," Aaron explained, "otherwise, Ashley would have called him, not me."
"Who are you to her?" Stewart asked, though the question was curious, not confrontational.
"Her former boss, among other things."
"Former?" the cop inquired.
"She transferred units a while ago," Hotch explained.
"She have the same sort of relationship with Rossi?"
"I call her my 'sister,'" Aaron admitted to the sergeant, whose smile broadened in response. "I can tell you're a man who cares about family," he started easily, as if he were relaying a profile, but Stewart cut him off before he could continue.
"You can save the suck up talk, kid," Aaron winced, but the cop seemed more amused than angry, "I'm more than happy to release her to you. She gotta wait on Rossi coming home, or are you gonna take care of it?" Aaron bristled under the invasive question, but then realized that was Stewart's version of 'small talk.'
"Oh, I don't, uh…" Aaron said, flustered, but he knew Stewart was able to see the answer.
"Poor kid," the cop said as he led Aaron back to the holding cells, "waiting's the worst." Aaron merely nodded his agreement as the cell containing Ashley came into view.
"Good luck, kid," Stewart said to Seaver as she exited the cell. "You're free to take her home," the sergeant continued, pivoting his attention to Aaron.
"Thank you," Aaron said, holding out his hand for Stewart, who briefly paused on the way back to his office, turning towards Aaron and Ashley again.
"Say hi to Cyndi for me," the graying man said with a chuckle before resuming his walk.
"I'll explain later," Hotch said at Ashley's confused look.
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Truth be told, Ashley wasn't exactly sure what possessed her to go to a bar in the afternoon, get plastered, punch a guy, then nearly get arrested. After three weeks of nonstop travel with the Task Force, they had finally been given a much-needed break from the director. She had gone straight from the plane to the bar, her go bag still in her car trunk. She'd have to figure out how to retrieve that, she realized, though she thought she remembered the bartender taking her keys at some point…
"Ashley?" Hotch's voice interrupted her ruminations, and she realized he must have asked her a question.
"Huh?" she asked, and Hotch briefly ran a hand over her hair as they stopped at a light. She was surprised- Hotch wasn't known for affectionate touch, but he must have figured out that she was craving it. It was hard not to, after the cold isolation of the holding cell, which left her a little more rattled than she'd care to admit. There was a case a few months back where they found a bunch of women being held in small cells that didn't look dissimilar from the ones at the police precinct.
"I asked if there was anything you needed from your apartment before we head to Dave's?" Aaron repeated for her. She shook her head; at this point, both of them essentially had their own 'rooms' at Dave's house, and they stayed over frequently enough that almost anything they needed, they had there. Then, remembering she was in trouble, and Dave's 'verbal answers' policy, she repeated her response to Aaron, who looked distinctly amused.
"Unlike Dave, I 'speak shrug,'" he said wryly, referencing one of Dave's common responses to a nonverbal answer, and Ashley grinned.
"Where is he, anyways?" Seaver asked, "I tried calling him before you, and I couldn't reach him." She felt a little guilty at admitting to Aaron that he was her second call, not first, but he didn't seem to care about that.
"Arizona," Aaron said, "on a consult." Well, that certainly explained why he never picked up when she tried his number.
"Am I…?" She asked, unable to verbalize her true question, but she needed to know.
"In trouble?" Hotch asked, and she nodded her confirmation, "what do you think?" Well, that answered that, but it was also what she was afraid of. She didn't like being in trouble anyways, but she wasn't sure how it would work with Dave being in a different state. Following that train of thought, a horrifying idea popped up in her mind.
"Please tell me," she stammered, "that you aren't going to…" she trailed off, once again unable to verbalize the details of how Dave addressed misbehavior.
"Definitely not," Aaron said, snorting quietly. She looked at him curiously, unable to find why he sounded amused. Ashley guessed that the profiler was able to read her unspoken question, given that the next thing he said was, "I had the same fear." Well, that made her feel a little better, maybe. Except…
"But Agent Rossi isn't here," she pointed out, defaulting to the name that he was introduced to her as, when she was a kid and the BAU was trying to find the Redmond Ripper. Once she had spent time with the profiler, she was able to call him 'Dave,' but when she got anxious, she typically fell back on the old title. At Aaron's slightly sad look, she realized he knew exactly that, and cursed being in a family of profilers- it was impossible to lie or omit parts of a story, among other things. She realized that Hotch's sad look might not have been because he was a mind-reader, based on what he said next.
"I know," he said, "I called him." She felt a spark of anger flare- Aaron was good enough to answer the phone for, but she clearly wasn't- but forced it away, at least for the moment, because she needed to know what Aaron was going to say next. "He'll be in tonight, though he thinks he'll be pretty late. He asked me to take you to his place and keep you company, so you don't have to wait alone." She didn't think she liked the idea of 'waiting' altogether, but if she could admit that if she had to, it was preferable to not be alone.
She didn't realize they had arrived at Dave's house until Aaron gently put a hand on her shoulder, directing her attention towards him. "Go get a shower," he instructed in a tone softer than she thought he was capable of, "trust me, you'll feel better once you get the precinct off you." She nodded, following him into the house and headed straight for her bedroom, which had an attached bath. She hadn't realized it until he said something, but Aaron was right- she could feel invisible particles of the holding cell clinging to her skin, and the idea of a shower was very appealing.
The hot water felt better than she expected, easing aches she didn't realize were present. The problem with the shower, though, is that it's an excellent place to get lost in thought. Which meant that she soon found herself thinking about her pending discipline, and what had led her there in the first place.
-o-o-o-
"And be a dear and call your grandmother," her mom's voice was grating on her nerves, and she was glad that the unpleasant lunch was over soon. The last case the Task Force was assigned had been in North Dakota, close enough to where her mother still lived that she felt wrong not visiting. Though, after that lunch, she was regretting her decision to reach out.
She had a difficult relationship with her mother, who hadn't done well with the revelation that her husband was actually the town's feared serial killer, the Richmond Ripper. She had grown withdrawn during the trial, and as a teen, Ashley frequently felt that her mother wasn't there despite the presence of her body. It was Ashley's own motivation that pushed her to study and join the FBI; her mother barely reacted when Seaver shared that she had been accepted to the Academy.
Then, when she was at the Academy, her mother met a new man- Earl Hindley. Initially, she thought that he was good for her mother; for the first time in a long time, the woman actually left the house voluntarily. That was when she was working off what her mother shared. However, upon meeting him, she decided he was bad- not evil, like her father (though that was a low bar,) but cunning and manipulative, reminding her of some asshat from a Disney film. She was just thankful that she had already moved out; Earl was nice to her mother, and terrible to her. He used Ashley as a scapegoat, further damaging her relationship with her mother. Then, when Ashley tried to explain the way he treated her, her mother got mad, and the resulting argument was something she never wanted to experience again. Though the wedge between the two women had been preexisting, Earl deepened it, further fracturing the strained relationship.
Her inability to tolerate Earl was why they had met for lunch at a restaurant, instead of Ashley returning to her childhood home. The lunch was fraught, and the conversation was stiff and stilted. It was a miserable occasion, but her mother seemed convinced that they could pretend it was a lovely time.
She had felt guilty, being miserable over her mother, when she thought about the victims she worked with every day.
Should she be thankful for Earl?
It was that thought that had made her steer her car into the parking lot of a pub she was passing.
-o-o-o-
Recalling the thoughts that led her to the bar made her a little queasy- or maybe that was a hangover setting in, she had sobered up pretty rapidly in the holding cell. Rinsing the strawberry-scented shampoo from her hair, she put in conditioner and stepped out of the shower.
The first time she had stayed at Dave's, he had given her clothing to sleep in: a t-shirt, sweats, and a sweatshirt. The worn navy sweatshirt had quickly become something she gravitated towards when she needed comfort- it was soft, and it was from Dave; Aaron had a nearly matching one. She immediately grabbed the sweatshirt as she gathered pajama pants as well- she didn't think they'd be going anywhere that night. The soft garments she chose helped to soothe her slightly, and once her hair wasn't dripping wet (Dave was not there and, therefore, could not admonish her for not using a hairdryer,) she padded down the stairs and to the living room, where she thought she could find Hotch.
As it turns out, he was in the kitchen, but the two rooms were adjacent and so it didn't take long for her to locate her 'big brother.' He had changed when she was in the shower, and now sported nearly the same sweatshirt as Ashley, just with the colors inverted. She didn't know what he was stirring, but at the very least, she thought it smelled excellent.
Sitting at one of the barstools, she waited for Aaron to finish his culinary task. Waiting, her least favorite thing in the world, at least in that very moment. She didn't think Dave would love the news that she got into a drunken fight, and Hotch's earlier response suggested that she was in a world of trouble. Now, she just had to wait for Dave to get back. Aaron had said that Dave would be in late that night, which she supposed meant that she'd really have to wait until the next morning to talk to her surrogate father. She wanted the physical affection that Dave freely gave, especially after she was punished. She loved Hotch, but he wasn't big on affectionate touch, and she was craving it.
Hotch, who had no doubt been in the middle of something at work (because he was always at work,) and who had to disrupt any plans for his evening to wait with her because she got in trouble. Guilt that she had previously been able to push away came back, and threatened to knock her over as she continued to think. She thought about Dave, who would probably be tired after his consulting work, and hearing about her misadventure probably caused more stress and exhaustion. Then, he couldn't even relax once he got home, because he had to deal with her drunken screw-up. Those feelings of guilt, she knew, would be chased away by a spanking, however painful it was. But she had to wait.
Was Dave really mad at her? How would he decide to punish her? She wasn't sure if she had ever messed up on the same magnitude of that night, aside from her first case (and her first spanking, which meant that it was far more lenient than the circumstances probably called for.) She'd still get his forgiveness after, right? Maybe he'd decide, in the interim, that she was actually too much trouble and she'd never learn.
She only realized her breathing had accelerated once she found Aaron in front of her; he grabbed her hand and pressed it to his chest, breathing deeply. She found that the technique was really effective, and it didn't take long for her breathing to return to a normal rhythm.
"Are you okay?" Aaron asked, clearly a loaded question.
"I really hate waiting," was all she could think to say as means of explanation, but Aaron's face changed from concerned to understanding.
"Welcome to the club, kid," he said wryly.
-o-o-o-o-o-
Once he had assisted Seaver in regaining a normal breathing pattern, Hotch drifted back towards the stove to continue his dinner preparation. While the kitchen at Rossi's typically saw wonderful, complex Italian recipes, Aaron lacked the same culinary talent as Dave, and defaulted to more simple dishes. He found that mac and cheese was a dish that was nearly impossible for him to somehow mess up and, as a bonus, it was one of the most comforting foods he could think of. He didn't really have family recipes, and Dave's mother's recipe box did not account for the dish. Fortunately, he had learned a Southern friend's recipe, which produced an amazingly comforting mac and cheese- well, comforting so long as he forgot how many sticks of butter he had to use while making it, at least.
He added the drained pasta to the cheese sauce he had made, stirring it all together before putting the mixture in a casserole dish and covering it in breadcrumbs. He slid it into the oven and set a timer before making his way back to where Ashley was seated at the counter.
"Dinner has a while to go," he said, "would you prefer the living room?" He figured she must have delved back deep into the spiral of negative thoughts that accompanied waiting for a punishment, based on her startle response to his question. She didn't look like she had even heard the question, so he wasn't holding his breath waiting on her answer. A born leader, Hotch was used to taking charge, and unconsciously did so in that moment too.
"Okay," he tried again, "let's go to the living room." This time, he knew Ashley had heard him; wrapping an arm around her shoulders, he guided her to the couch and sat next to her, keeping his half-embrace.
It wasn't that he had an issue with physical contact, per se. He was just very emotionally reserved, and physical gestures of affection were beyond his normal scope of emotional responses. He liked hugs from Dave when he was feeling overwhelmed (so long as no one could see,) and he was embarrassingly clingy after he had been punished. But those were both extenuating circumstances.
He had seen how Ashley was different from him; Dave wasn't shy in physical affection, and Seaver leaned into it, rather than trying to flee. He had, at one point, felt insecure about that- his 'sister' wasn't as broken as he was, Dave didn't have to hold back gestures of affection- and he acted out as a result. At the time, the logic made sense, though he couldn't seem to recall if he was operating under any logic at all. Dave had swiftly dealt with the misbehavior and Hotch's subsequent 'tantrum' (as much as he hated to admit it, it was admittedly an apt description.) Aaron had purged himself of some of his worst insecurities, Dave trying to reassure him of his love.
Ashley was different from him, and he could tell that the lack of contact was starting to get to her. So he wrapped her in a half-embrace, and knew that he was correct as she leaned into the contact. It wasn't uncomfortable, necessarily, and he shoved any awkwardness that he was feeling aside. She was tense, wound up, and he couldn't say he blamed her. He had previously, on a few occasions, had to wait for a punishment- by the time Dave was ready to deliver the consequences, he was a mess. It felt awful to have that hanging over your head.
He had found that she elicited a protectiveness from him as they grew closer, and he wanted to help her lose that awful feeling.
"If it's any consolation," he started, "I think everyone universally agrees that waiting is the worst." Then, he mentally kicked himself, because how was that doing anything to distract her from the awful feeling of waiting. She perked up though, likely curious as to who the 'everyone' was- because everyone's bosses spanked them, clearly- and he realized she had yet to meet Mads. And, he realized, the everyone he was referring to was really solely himself and Maddy, and now Ashley.
"Okay," he amended his previous statement, "I can think of one person who isn't you or me that agrees, but to be fair, this is a little bit of an unusual arrangement. Have you ever met Mads?" he asked. He was pretty sure she hadn't, but he thought he should double check anyways. Ashley shook her head no, and the idea for his first distraction was solidified.
He quickly sent off a message to Mads, confirming she was free. Once she responded in the affirmative, he shot back a quick text, 'Skype.' He then got his laptop and set it on the coffee table, clicking on the application and then Maddy's name. Mindful of the fact that he had moved, Aaron wrapped his arm around Ashley once more- and she appreciated it, if the way she seemed to relax minutely was any indication- and they waited as the machine produced a ringing sound. Evidently, he had gotten his laptop set up far quicker than his 'cousin' had, and as they waited, he decided to give her a quick primer.
"You know Ness?" he asked, and she nodded. Though they never met in person, Aaron wasn't surprised- he was sure that, at some point, she needled Dave until he passed Ashley the phone when Ness was on. "Maddy is… basically the equivalent to me, if Dave was Ness," he tried to explain, then realized how cryptic he sounded. "Ness and Mads met a year before Dave and I met, and they have a similar relationship to the one Dave has-" he was saved from having to finish his awful description as a voice interrupted his sentence.
"You talking about me?" a teasing voice came through the speakers of the computer, and he grinned as he turned towards the screen. He and Maddy, over the years, had grown extremely close. It didn't start off that way- he was really nervous around Maddy initially, and worried she was a 'bad influence.' That was actually probably not untrue, but he was the same amount of a 'bad influence' on her; they had found themselves on some wild misadventures before, ranging from that time with the gnome, to getting lost in the woods together, to that time he and Maddy got held hostage while Dave and Ness went prematurely gray.
"Obviously," he said, deadpan, "You've never met Ashley before. Ashley, this is Mads, for all intents and purposes, our 'cousin.'" He was happy to see a small smile appear on the face of his 'little sister,' who waved but was otherwise acting shy.
"So what's the occasion?" Maddy asked.
"Do I need an occasion to talk to my favorite cousin?" Aaron shot back, feigning hurt, and Mads rolled her eyes. Ashley looked a little surprised, and he realized that she didn't know him during his sassier younger years, and had only ever known him as the BAU unit chief. When he met Mads, they were both rookies in their units, and that afforded him more leeway to lose his typical seriousness sometimes.
"No, but what's the occasion?" Mads asked again, and Hotch was aware that his answer was likely going to make Ashley scared and angry for a moment. He didn't think that Ashley knew that there was at least one other FBI agent who got spanked by their mentor, so his revealing of the true motives of the call would initially appear like a betrayal of privacy and trust.
"We were just talking about how waiting is the worst," he tried to be vague, rubbing Ashley's arm as she looked at him like she wasn't sure if she was angry or curious. He succeeded in being vague enough that Mads even took a second to look confused before realization dawned on her and she started laughing.
"Ain't that the truth," she said, "So, whaddya do?" she needled him, and he rolled his eyes.
"Can't we ever talk about things in theory?"
"No," Maddy snorted, looking amused, "So again, whaddya do?" Aaron was figuring out how to answer that as delicately as he could when Ashley surprised him by speaking.
"It was me," she said, sounding a little shy and a lot sheepish.
"Baby cousin!" Maddy exclaimed, sounding a little delighted- he would have to remind himself, later, to tell her that she wasn't allowed to draw Seaver into any capers. He was sure that capers would ensue, regardless. "Whaddya do?" she asked, and Aaron watched Seaver's face turn pink as she recounted the evening.
"I got back from a case, drove straight to a bar, got drunk, punched this narcissistic dude, and nearly got arrested," Seaver recalled. Maddy gave a long, low whistle in response, and Ashley's face progressed from pink to red.
"Dave's not around?"
"He's out on a consult," Aaron explained.
"So then you," she addressed Ashley, then paused for a moment before saying, curiously, "aren't part of the BAU?"
"I was for a little bit," Seaver said, "then I transferred. Domestic Trafficking Task Force."
"Oh, cool," Mads sounded slightly surprised, but genuine.
"We were out for three weeks on back-to-back cases," Ashley admitted, "and then I saw my mom."
"Not a good time?" Mads winced.
"Definitely not," Ashley said, then added, "I couldn't even meet her at home, we had to go out for lunch so that I could avoid her asshat new husband."
Truthfully, Aaron wasn't all that surprised that Ashley was sharing her story freely. It helped that Seaver, despite having a serial killer father and a string of really bad exes, was naturally less guarded. However, people talking to Mads tended to find themselves less reserved- he wasn't sure how she did it, and he was one of the few able to resist, but it was a valuable skill in her profession.
"And then I had to call Hotch to pick me up from the police station while the guy decided if he wanted to book me or not," Ashley concluded her story.
"Believe it or not, it was the same cop who picked me up after a bar fight," Hotch interjected, and saw Ashley's look of surprise- she had never heard that story, so he summarized, "I decided I didn't want to deal with my feelings, got drunk, and antagonized another man at the bar until he threw the first punch. Then, I embarrassingly sang an apparently extraordinarily bad rendition of 'Girls Just Want to Have Fun,' which is why he told me to say hi to Cyndi, by the way," he explained to Ashley.
"So you got her out with no charges?"
"Technically, with the promise Dave would, er, address it." Ashley slapped his arm and glared at him, "It got him to let you go," he pointed out, "and you better hope you never see him again, anyways."
"And Dave is in Arizona," Maddy stated, more than asked.
"And now I'm waiting," Seaver concluded.
"Waiting's the worst," Mads agreed, "Not to brag," and Aaron braced himself, because typically Maddy followed that statement with something utterly ridiculous, "but I once had to wait two weeks." Aaron stared- that was ridiculous, just not in the way he was expecting. That sounded horrible, and he guessed his face reflected it based on Maddy's smirk.
"Wait what?" Ashley said, "Why?" He realized then that Seaver didn't know that Ness and Mads were, effectively, FBI spies.
"I was on assignment," Maddy shrugged.
"And you never took a break?" Ashley said in disbelief.
"That's… technically not inaccurate?"
"You're not being serious," Seaver sounded slightly annoyed, likely thinking she was being lied to.
"Undercover work," Maddy explained, and Ashley looked slightly apologetic, though he knew Mads wouldn't care. She knew how stressful it was to have to wait.
"Didn't you check in with your handler?"
"Sure," Mads said casually, "but I had to have the ability to sit the next day." After a moment, she added, "I really screwed up. You should've seen Ness try to figure out how to get it over with, after she realized that I was so snippy from the nerves. One of her proposed solutions involved multiple nights of getting spanked, and honestly that probably would have been better than having to wait the two weeks."
-o-o-o-
Madison Owens cautiously pushed open the door to the safehouse; the young spy doubted anyone was there- after all, her check-in was supposed to be hours ago, she'd just gotten held up- but decided she should check anyways. She had come down enough, anyways, that she hoped it wasn't immediately recognizable that she was high as a kite. To her surprise, the light inside the apartment was on; she realized why as soon as she saw that she wasn't alone in her apartment- her boss, handler, and surrogate mother, Vanessa Bradley, was sitting at the table, looking distinctly unhappy. Maddy's brain short circuited; she wasn't anticipating having to justify herself to Ness while she was still inebriated. She knew the older woman would scold her until her ears were ringing. Sure enough, when Ness spoke, there was a hardness to her voice that let Mads know just how much she had screwed up.
"You, young lady," Ness started upon seeing Maddy, "are in so much trouble." Then, before she had time to blink, Mads found herself wrapped in a strong embrace. "You scared me," the older woman admitted, causing her protege to fiercely return the embrace as guilt caught up to her.
After a moment, Ness stepped back and looked at her charge critically, gently rubbing her knuckles across the new bruise on her cheekbone before manipulating each of Maddy's fingers to ensure that the fight hadn't caused any serious damage. Then, she made Maddy stand still as she ran her hands down the young spy's side, feeling for any cracked ribs. Apparently satisfied her miscreant was relatively unharmed, she stepped back and looked at Maddy with enough disapproval that she felt her heart plummet, and her scuffed shoes suddenly became fascinating.
"You're high," Ness stated, more than asked, but Maddy felt like she had to respond anyways.
"Yes, ma'am," she whispered, falling back on formality- this was a work issue. Despite the hardness in her tone, Ness's hand was gentle as she lifted Maddy's chin to look more closely at her face, likely trying to deduce the extent of how high she was.
"You've mostly come down?"
"Yes," Maddy whispered again, feeling more and more guilty. She didn't need to get high to keep her cover- while she would still get in trouble for that, it was more excusable than the truth. The truth was that she was finding it hard to adjust to living alone when she was accustomed to living with Ness and her wife, Cass. So, when a minor player in the operation suggested they each take a bump, Mads threw caution to the wind.
"Was your life in danger?"
"No."
"Was your cover in danger of being broken?"
"No," Maddy said once again, starting to feel more and more ashamed.
"Then why?"
"Would you believe me if I told you that I thought Anne, she's the sister of the accountant and a minor player herself, would tell me more if I befriended her? And that the best way to build camaraderie was through a shared drug taking experience?"
Ness sounded vaguely amused, though still angry, when she answered. "Darling," she said, and Maddy felt a rush of relief at the term of endearment (even in the middle of a work conversation,) "you just told me yourself that that wasn't the reason. So try again," Mads felt her face heat, though she knew it was true- once the guilt had set in, she had never truly considered trying to deceive her mentor.
The problem was that admitting her true motive was terribly embarrassing, and made her seem like a child. And she wasn't a child, not by a long shot- yes, she occasionally made not the best choices, but at the end of the day, she was still an adult FBI agent. Her true motive was too needy, too pathetic. So, not wanting to answer the question, but equally not wanting to lie to Ness, she stayed silent.
"This discussion is non-optional," Ness said with a disapproving tone after waiting a moment to see if Maddy would respond. The drugs combined with the guilt was making her feel more emotionally unstable than normal, and even the gentle scold cut her to her soul. "Oh darling," Ness said quietly after Maddy flung herself at the older woman in a hug, clinging. Mads felt herself being directed to the couch, where she sat curled up with her mentor. It felt safe, though it didn't relieve her of her reluctance to share.
"There's nothing that's as bad as you think it is," Ness said gently, addressing a common reason why Mads tried to evade conversation about her wrongdoings.
"It's not that," she mumbled, "it's just… it's embarrassing."
"I won't judge," Ness drawled softly. Maddy stared at her hand, playing with a thread loose from the sleeve of her shirt as she tried to force herself to speak the truth.
"I missed you," she mumbled finally, feeling her face heat, "and Cass. I don't like.. I'm not used to living alone." She didn't add that part of what made cocaine appealing was its stimulant properties after multiple nights of insomnia. She could feel Ness's eyes on her, no doubt looking for signs of exhaustion- Mads was prone to bouts of insomnia.
"You're not sleeping," Ness once again stated rather than asked.
"No," Maddy admitted, but didn't elaborate. The two women sat in silence for a few minutes, though the lack of conversation wasn't awkward. Ness looked like she was deep in thought, and Mads was torn between guilt and anxiety. She didn't know how Ness would choose to handle this particular misbehavior; undercover as a business executive, she had to be able to sit through long meetings the entire day, and squirming in her seat would draw unwanted attention towards her. She supposed Ness could make her stand in the corner, but the offense of taking drugs seemed severe enough to warrant a punishment of the same magnitude.
"I'll keep it off the report, so as far as anyone is concerned, you never got high on assignment."
"Thanks," Maddy smiled weakly, waiting for Ness to declare her formal sentence.
"I don't know if we'll be able to address this spot of trouble until after the op ends," Ness admitted, causing Maddy's stomach to sink- she didn't know when the assignment would end, but based on her deep cover, she suspected the Bureau thought that it would be a long enough operation. Faced with the possibility of having to wait weeks, Maddy found her breathing become slightly more labored. She would have to wait for forgiveness that long? She would have to wait to make things right for that long? She still had to work with Ness on this op, would her mentor be consistently miffed?
"Breathe, darling," Ness's voice broke Maddy from her ruminations, "it's okay, you're okay," she soothed. Then, in an instance of Maddy appreciating just how well her mentor knew her, Ness added, "you're already forgiven, kiddo. We'll handle it later, but that'll just be a reminder for next time," Maddy only half-registered the words, but she found Ness's tone to be soothing and soon found her breathing evening out.
"There we go," Ness said, once Maddy's breathing was under control, "it'll all be okay, darling." Mads wasn't so sure about that, but she also knew she didn't have much of a say in the matter. "I have to leave soon," Maddy's heart sunk at that news as well, though she was expecting it (and, to be honest, she was surprised Ness let herself stay as long as she did, especially considering how long she must have been waiting for Mads to return,) "but come on and I'll tuck you in." Childlike? Perhaps, but she wasn't going to refuse the soothing gesture.
The operation lasted two weeks, and despite Ness's best attempts at reassuring Maddy of her forgiveness, the unfinished business made her progressively jumpier as the assignment dragged on. By the time Ness actually took Mads over her knee to 'talk' about the drug use, she was a mess. But, just like always, Ness helped her get sorted out.
-o-o-o-
"Maddy!" Aaron protested, "you're supposed to be making Ashley feel better, not scaring her further!"
"I'm providing a sense of camaraderie," she protested in response, then softened her tone as she addressed Ashley, "Dave'll be home in no time."
The topic of conversation drifted, and for a half hour longer they chatted over Skype before saying their goodbyes and promising to talk soon.
Calling Mads was a good distraction, but only a few minutes after they ended the call, Aaron noticed Ashley fall back into anxiously worrying for Dave's return. "Come on," he said, ushering Seaver up from the sofa and directing her to the kitchen. "We can make hot cocoa?" he offered as a response to her questioning look.
"Can I have coffee instead?" she asked, sounding a little petulant.
"You're not waiting up for Dave," he hazarded a guess as to her motivations, and knew from the red creeping up her neck that he had hit the nail on the head, "he'll be back too late, and you do need sleep." He gestured to the barstools at the counter as he went into the heart of the kitchen to check on dinner and gather the necessary ingredients for hot cocoa. He preferred to make the beverage on the stove- it just tasted better that way, and let him heat up the milk evenly.
"Aaron?" Ashley's voice distracted him.
"Yeah?" he asked, giving the mixture on the stove one more stir before making his way back to the counter opposite Seaver.
"You said you've had to wait before too?" She sounded timid, and he gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile (though the question evoked a grimace internally as he realized he'd have to recall one of those terrible memories.)
"A few times," he admitted, smiling sheepishly. He drifted back to the stove to pour the cocoa into two mugs, and then brought the mugs back to where Ashley was sitting at the counter. He claimed a barstool next to hers and took a sip of his cocoa before continuing, "though never for two weeks." He still couldn't believe that Mads had once waited that long.
"How long did you have to wait?"
"It happened more than once, but the longest time I had to wait was two days," he said, remembering that terrible stretch of time.
"Two days?!"
"Yeah," he started, but was saved from answering the question when he heard the timer beep, "hold that thought." He dished out the mac and cheese into two bowls, then returned to the counter and took his seat next to Seaver once again.
It had been a long night, and they were both hungrier than they thought; for a few moments, all either could think about was the food in front of them. Then Aaron could feel Ashley's brooding start up again as she poked at her food, and sighed internally.
It was about time, he figured, for him to share the story of one of the times he'd had to wait for Dave to discipline him.
-o-o-o-
Aaron fidgeted nervously as the plane landed. The BAU hadn't sent him on many individual consults, yet, and it had rubbed him the wrong way- after his spectacular screw-up, however, he was starting to understand why he was still given a 'babysitter' as a rookie. He also wasn't looking forward to facing Dave, who by now must have read his report; Aaron was sure that his mentor would like to 'talk' with him as soon as he got back to the office. Putting himself in danger was one of the major rules that Rossi never relented on, after all.
That's why, back at the office, he was surprised to see Dave's office empty- the man had evidently not shown up to work that day. Slightly concerned, Hotch tried calling the older man's landline, but he only got the answering machine. Frowning, he started to worry that his mentor had already read his report… and then decided subsequently that was the last straw- Hotch wasn't deserving of the veteran profiler's efforts to teach him. Stuck on that thought, he returned to the bullpen and counted down the hours until he was allowed to leave work.
Against his better judgment, he had to know- to know if Dave hated him, to know if he was on his own again. So instead of heading from work back to his own apartment, he drove to Dave's address. It took him longer than he'd care to admit to work up the nerve to knock, though as soon as Dave opened the door, Hotch realized that his fears probably weren't realized. Dave had, more likely, missed work because he looked entirely awful, pale and feverish.
"Oh, hey kid," Dave tried to smile, "you're back! How was Wisconsin?" Aaron knew he should tell the truth, but Dave clearly hadn't read his report… and the older man was sick, so really, wouldn't it be better to omit some parts of the story and tell him later? He resolved that he would tell him later, he just didn't want to stress his mentor and slow down his recovery.
"Cold," he said wryly, "you look like hell, Dave."
"Feel like hell too," the veteran profiler admitted.
"I should've brought soup," he commented, idly.
"You brought yourself," Dave said, "it's good to see you, kiddo," Aaron's guilt multiplied exponentially at that, drowning out the normal pleasure he'd feel at those words. He tried to shove his guilt down and instead bolted, claiming he was running out to get soup. Really, he just needed a few minutes to pull himself together, the guilt eating at him nearly proving to be too much. Soup did seem like something that could benefit Dave, however, so he drove to a local deli and picked up chicken noodle soup and some black and white cookies. The entire way back to Dave's, Aaron found he was trying to convince himself that what Dave didn't know couldn't hurt him.
It took Dave a couple of days to recover, and by that point, Hotch had mostly numbed himself to the feelings of guilt over lying to his mentor. Instead, he found himself consumed by guilt over wanting Dave to get better not for his own sake (well, that too,) but for the sake of Aaron who was waiting miserably for everything to be settled.
It wasn't Dave's fault he got sick, and really, Aaron should have been able to control his own guilt anyways- he was a grown man for crying out loud. So, he felt guilty for being annoyed about that, though he was more annoyed at the universe than he was at Dave. Then, he second guessed himself every time he did something helpful for Rossi- was he trying to help the veteran profiler to recover because he cared, or was he just trying to expedite the relief of his guilt he knew discipline would bring him.
The third day Aaron showed up to Rossi's, the older man looked much better- nearly like normal. He gave Hotch a long look, and he found himself dropping his eyes and fidgeting. He wasn't sure what the older man was angry about- he couldn't think of anything he had done while Rossi was sick.
"You lied to me, Aaron," Dave said, the disapproval in his tone evident. His voice was normal, no longer raspy like it had been, another sign of recovery.
"I- what?" Hotch stammered, unable to say anything else- he truly didn't know what he had even done, this time.
"I read your report," Dave said, and Aaron suddenly remembered the reason he was feeling guilty in the first place.
"Oh," he said, quietly.
"Yeah, oh," the veteran profiler said wryly, and Hotch's original guilt started to creep back. That's why, for once, he was relieved to hear Dave say, "c'mon, I think we need to talk about this." He knew that in a matter of minutes he'd be losing his ability to sit comfortably, but at least his heart would be free of the suffocating guilt.
-o-o-o-
"I feel wimpy," Ashley admitted to him, surprising the Unit Chief.
"Wimpy?" he repeated, "why?"
"I'm so… pouty about having to wait, and I'm being too anxious about it, and I don't even have to wait that long!"
In retrospect, he should have realized that Ashley would likely compare her experience to the experiences Hotch and Maddy had shared. "The story Mads told you and the one I told you," he started, slowly, "those were more dramatic incidences. There were plenty of times where both of us had to wait for much shorter periods of time, including a few times together, and it felt like torture then too regardless of having to wait hours or days."
Seaver nodded, but looked unconvinced.
-o-o-o-o-o-
She wanted any excuse to escape, but unfortunately for her, she was unable to find a reason to flee the room. She just wanted to be alone to worry and lick her wounds privately, but Hotch wasn't giving her that chance. She appreciated that he was trying to distract her, but there was only so much it could do to quelch her anxiety.
She was telling him the truth earlier, when she said that she felt wimpy. She didn't even have to wait a full day, and it felt a little bit like she was falling apart. So, to hear that Aaron had made it through multiple days, and Mads more than a week, her few hours felt paltry in comparison, not worth the magnitude of her reaction.
She couldn't help it, though- waiting was truly the worst. Her mood grew more and more volatile as the evening wore on; she wanted to be thankful for Aaron's attempts at distracting her, but her increasing jumpiness made her increasingly snappy.
"I think I'll go to my room now," she said, wanting to be alone before she managed to say anything hurtful. Or say anything that would land her in worse trouble.
"I don't think that's a good idea," Aaron responded, his voice somewhere between 'official BAU Unit Chief' and 'concerned big brother.' He continued, "You probably don't actually want to be alone right now."
"You don't know what I want!" she snapped.
"I just… I've been where you are," he held his hands up, trying to placate her, "it feels horrible to wait, and being alone forces you to focus on feeling horrible." Maybe I deserve to feel horrible, suggested a little voice in her head. She could tell that Hotch was really trying his hardest to care for her, but her mood had taken on a life of its own.
"Do you like Rummy?" he asked, and she felt her temper boil over.
"Fuck off, Aaron," she said, "just let me go to my room!" She could feel his stare and, a moment later, what she said caught up with her.
"I'm sorry, Hotch," she said, sounding as though she were nearly begging, "I know you were just trying to help and I'm sorry I snapped at you." She was surprised when she found herself wrapped in a strong embrace- it was different from Rossi's, she didn't have the same bone-deep sense of safety, but the hug helped soothe her nerves substantially. "I'm sorry," she repeated pitifully, wondering if this would be another sin she'd have to recount to Dave later.
"It's alright," Aaron said, running a hand over her hair, "I know how hard waiting can be."
"I'm sorry," she said again, finding suddenly that she needed his reassurance that he didn't hate her for her outburst. He was quiet for a moment, and her anxiety rose- maybe he'd decided he couldn't accept her apology. When Hotch spoke again, Seaver realized that she was right to feel anxious, though not for the same reasons.
"I, uh," Hotch started, looking pained, "this is one of those things that I probably shouldn't let go?" He sounded unsure- he wasn't used to being a disciplinarian, Ashley knew. Sure, Spencer had shared with her that he had, at times, found himself turned over the Unit Chief's knee, but it wasn't a common occurrence, and only happened when he flagrantly stepped over the line.
Seeing the normally self-assured Unit Chief look so unsure over a trivial matter (well, trivial compared to serial killers, which he stared down without batting an eye) brought a small smile to her face and she clinged to him a little as she agreed with his statement, knowing that she'd basically be signing her own order of execution. She just hoped that Hotch wouldn't try to spank her- he was practically her brother, she'd rather him be her partner-in-crime than a parent figure.
"I'm not going to spank you," he said quietly, a bit amused as he correctly decoded her thoughts. "I'm just… yeah, no," he finally settled on, "so I'll give you two options. Option one is that I tell Dave once he gets back, and he can talk to you about tantrums at the same time he discusses your drunken adventure with you," though she didn't want to see Hotch as a parent figure, his ability to scold left her squirming. "Option two," he presented, "I still tell Dave, because I can't not tell him," Ashley certainly understood that, "but I tell him that we handled it with some time in the corner."
She contemplated her choices for a moment, but really it wasn't that difficult a decision- she had been awful to Hotch, who was only trying to help her, and she wanted to make things right with him, directly.
"Corner," she whispered, and felt his arms squeeze her tighter for a moment. She leaned into the comforting contact, knowing she more than deserved the time she'd be spending in the corner but dreading it nonetheless.
"Alright," Aaron said easily, keeping an arm around her shoulders as he directed her towards a corner of the living room. He hugged her again, looking shaky himself, before declaring that she'd be occupying the corner for half an hour. She appreciated that he was willing to stay in the room; the sound of pages turning indicated that he was most likely sitting on the couch, reading.
She always found the corner to be particularly boring, not that anyone ever looked at the plain walls of a room and thought that staring at nothing would be a good source of entertainment. She was lucky that Dave didn't care about minor fidgeting in the corner, and she knew that Aaron would be similar. Indeed, as she shifted slightly back and forth to test her hypothesis, there was no rebuke in response to her movement. With that thought tested, she settled down the half hour she would be spending in the corner.
It was boring. So, so boring. Better than a spanking, of course (besides, the idea of Aaron spanking her seemed almost absurd,) but still boring. She behaved, though, waiting for Aaron to release her from the corner. Leaning forward, she placed her forehead against the cool walls and let them help support her body.
The next thing she knew, she was being carried to the couch by Aaron, though she couldn't remember what had happened in between. Stirring slightly, she asked her 'big brother' what had just occurred. Apparently, she had fallen asleep in the corner; upon hearing that, she suddenly became aware of a bone-deep tiredness.
"Did I finish corner time?" she mumbled, not knowing when she had fallen asleep.
"Come on," Hotch said, "let's get you into bed so you don't pass out on the couch," he seemed vaguely amused, "and yes, you finished." Well, that was a relief at least, not having to go back to the corner or to make up the time later. She also thought that her bed sounded like an excellent idea.
"Bed is good," she mumbled, and saw Aaron's fond smile as he nudged her towards the stairs with the promise of checking on her in a few minutes. Already in pajamas, she beelined towards her bed and flopped on top.
The next thing she knew, she must have fallen asleep again, because Hotch was helping tuck her in under the covers, instead of on top of them. "Sleep well," he said, placing a kiss at the top of her head- a soothing gesture that she would guess he picked up from Dave. She didn't need any more encouragement than that to drift off to sleep.
-o-o-o-o-o-
Dave Rossi would be lying if he said that he wasn't dreading his plane landing- he was ready to be done with Arizona, and ready to see his kids again, but he wasn't relishing the thought of having to talk to Ashley about her drunken adventures. Despite his dread, the plane landed regardless; after a quick stop at the baggage carousel, he was on the way back to his mansion, where he had told Aaron to stay with Ashley.
The house was dark and silent as he pulled up; he wasn't surprised, given the late hour, but he wouldn't have been surprised by Ashley's anxiety over an upcoming punishment keeping her awake. The first 'kid' he went to check on was Aaron, who despite the hour was still awake- he looked up from the book magnified by a clip-on reading light and gave Dave a small smile.
"Hey kid," Rossi said, drifting over to the bed and taking a seat on the edge, "still awake?" Aaron just shrugged and smiled sheepishly, and Dave wondered if the kid had been subject to another bout of insomnia.
"Was everything okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, the LEO says hi by the way, and Ashley is sleeping."
"You didn't have any trouble?" he asked, though truth be told he didn't want to know the answer. He always felt bad whenever Aaron ended up having to wait for a spanking, and that feeling was recapitulated with Seaver; he really didn't want to add any more punishment on top of what she had coming.
"A little," Aaron admitted, his face turning slightly pink; as he elaborated, Dave sensed his nervousness, "there was a little bit of an argument , well, you'd call it a 'tantrum,' probably." At Dave's raised eyebrow, he continued, though the veteran profiler could spot all of Hotch's nervous cues, and was curious as to what had rattled the normally self-assured BAU Unit Chief.
"I, uh, had her stand in the corner for a half hour?" he said, sounding more like he was asking Dave 'am I in trouble?' than he was actually recounting the evening's events.
"You did good," he reassured Aaron, "I'm sure that she appreciated getting the consequences over with right away," he decidedly didn't mention that he was glad Aaron had saved him from spanking Ashley more- the kid didn't need to know just how much Rossi despised the task. "After that there were no problems?" he said, confirming.
"She fell asleep in the corner," Aaron smiled sheepishly, "so she went to bed immediately after. I haven't heard her wake up," he offered.
"Thanks, Aaron," Dave said, "you helped me out a lot today, and I'm proud of you." He watched as a small grin took residence on his protege's face, slightly abashed as always when Dave told him that he was proud of him. Standing up from the side of the bed, he tapped Aaron's book, instructing him, "only a half hour longer, then I want you to at least try to sleep." At Aaron's small nod, he kissed the top of the younger profiler's head with a, "sleep well, kid," before departing Hotch's room to go check on the troublemaker of the evening.
Rossi would be lying if he said he wasn't at least a little surprised that Seaver was able to fall asleep, knowing there was a punishment in her future. Pushing open her door, he lost his surprise as he realized that the still form under the covers was definitely merely pretending to be asleep. Smiling to himself, he sat on the edge of her bed just as he had Aaron's, smoothing a hand over her hair.
"Alright kid, quit the act," he said fondly, suppressing a laugh as Ashley's eyes flew right open- he really knew his kids. "Long day?" he opened the conversation.
"Yeah," she agreed quietly, "don't you want to sleep?"
"Not really that tired," he said, shrugging, "so why don't you tell me what happened today…"
-o-o-o-o-o-
A.N.- Hey look, I know how to write a one-shot. Yes, I know this entire story was basically one giant tease. If I ever expand on any of the punishments, I'll make a sequel, because I'm determined to keep this a one-shot.
Still working on the other stories- this was supposed to be much shorter, but took on a life of its own. As always, I love reviews and PMs, and would really like to know what people want to see or if anyone has any ideas? Until next time…
- lms
