New York or Bust Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Not Mine

Monday morning…

JJ walked in to the office without her normal enthusiasm. She considered calling out but that would have been cowardly. She had managed to survive being in love with a man who didn't even know she existed outside of work and caring for his son this long. She would continue like normal until he was gone, then she could have a mini breakdown and get over it.

"Wow. Who died?" Morgan asked as she sank into the seat across from him.

JJ's eyes flew up to his having only heard the last word out of his mouth. "Who died?"

"Just an expression, Jay." He said, puzzled. "You look like you lost your best friend."

"Oh." She dropped her purse into her drawer. "No. I'm fine." The heavy sigh that left her when she settled into her chair belied her words.

Morgan shared a look with Reid. "How was your weekend? Oh, that reminds me," He continued, before she could respond, "The firehouse by me is having an Open House this weekend. They are giving rides on the fire engine and are having games and food, I thought if you had the boys this weekend we could take them. They'd get a kick out of it, you know…." He broke off when he noticed that his coworker had a big lone tear rolling down her cheek. "Jay?" He stood up as she jumped up. "What's wrong? Is Henry?"

"Henry's fine." She choked out. "I'm sorry, I'll be…" She turned and sprinted from the bullpen.

"What the hell was that?" Morgan worried, looking at Reid and Prentiss who had just walked in as JJ raced off.

"Maybe if you answered your phone," Prentiss told him pointedly, "You'd know what was going on."

Morgan pulled his phone from the holster on his hip and sighed. "Shit. The damn thing is dead again." He flung it on his desk and turned to Prentiss. "What's going on?"

Emily looked up and noticed that Hotch was already ensconced in his office with the door closed. Her voice dropped low. "Hotch told her that he's moving to New York."

Both men were visibly shaken by the news. "What?" Reid looked up at the office. "What about the BAU?"

Emily shrugged she didn't have any insight into the whys of Hotch's decision, other than speculation. "Apparently there is an opening for a Director's position at the MPU that he's either applied for or is going to apply for." That knowledge left them all speechless.

"You're shitting me." Morgan stood staring up at his bosses' office. Hotch moving on could essentially mean a good thing for him but the actual reality was that he didn't want the man to leave. It took a full second for him to realize JJ's reaction. "Aw, shit."

"She's extremely fond of Jack." Reid pointed out needlessly.

"Yeah." Morgan agreed. "Jack." He shared a look with Emily. Everyone in the office, with the exception of Hotch maybe, knew that Jack wasn't the only Hotchner JJ was hung up on.

"No kidding." With another glance up to their leaders office to make sure the man hadn't moved Emily stated lowly. "Why wouldn't she be? She's the one that spends the most time with him outside of Jessica."

At first Derek didn't respond, it was true, JJ did spend a lot of time with the young boy, but so did their leader. "That's not fair, Em. You know that Hotch loves Jack." He argued.

Emily was focused on the hallway where JJ had disappeared so she didn't realize that Hotch had ventured out of his office and was on the open hallway directly above her. "Really? How can you tell? He practically dumps him with JJ every weekend or chance he gets to race up to New York."

Hotch overheard the comment and blanched. Is that what his coworkers thought? Christ is that what Jack thought?

"That's a little harsh, it's hardly every weekend. And JJ was the one that initiated the practice he's not exactly taking advantage of her."

"Really?" Emily growled. "Because the last time I checked JJ wasn't Jack Hotchner's mother. Yet Hotch still gives her temporary custody every chance he can so he can fly up to New York and get laid." If they were going to pick sides it was very clear whose side Emily was on.

"It's not nice to eavesdrop." Rossi said, coming to stand alongside Hotch. "You often overhear things you rather wished you didn't."

"Obviously." Hotch said, with a touch of rancor. "For instance, I didn't realize that my team thought I was such a dick."

"No." Rossi scoffed. "They just think you're thinking with it." He joked, slapping his back.

"Thanks, that's so much better."

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The morning meeting went fabulously. JJ refused to meet his eyes and sat as far away from him as possible while sitting as close to the door as she could. Emily was borderline hostile and glared at him the entire morning. Garcia looked at him like he just kicked her puppy and managed to weep through the duration of the meeting. Reid, who didn't like to take sides, sat nervously giving alternating pleading glances between both JJ and Hotch, much like the child of divorcing parents. Derek was Hotch's only visible ally and Rossi was taking far too much glee in the entire situation to be of any help.

At the end of the meeting Hotch cleared his throat. "Um, as I know that you are all aware," He paused and glanced at JJ, "I have decided to interview for a position with the MPU. They are still in the interview process and I probably won't know anything for a while yet." The only sound in the room was Garcia's sniffling. "It's a really good opportunity. Advancement." He paused. "Who knows, I may decide it's not the job for me after I interview." At this point rather than making eye contact with the team he was looking directly at JJ. She still wouldn't give him the satisfaction of looking back. "Well, I guess that's it." The words were barely out of his mouth when she gathered up her notebook and fled the room.

"Let me know if you need help packing." Emily growled, and Hotch was fairly certain she showed him her teeth.

"Well I don't like it." Garcia announced. "I don't like it at all, what does New York have that we don't have down here?" She slammed out of the room.

Reid offered Hotch a slight smile. "I'm sure you've considered all the possibilities and concluded that this is the best thing for you." He held out his hand. "I'm going to miss you Hotch."

He stared at Reid's hand for a second before shaking it. "Well, like I said, I won't know for a while yet."

"They would be foolish not to snap you up." The young man told him before leaving the conference room as well.

His biggest surprise came from his only supporter. "Hotch, I love and respect you, I do, but I think you're making a mistake." Derek shook his head. "This team, this job, we define you. And while I'm sure Beth is a nice woman, well, she's no JJ." Having said his peace he slapped the dumbfounded man on his shoulder and left the room.

Rossi chuckled at Hotch's expression. "I have to admit. I'm a little shocked myself. Apparently you really are the only one of the team that was clueless about JJ's feelings."

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The rest of Hotch's day continued in that same vein. Erin Strauss paid him a visit to tell him that she fully supported his decision to move to MPU. She also told him that she'd placed a phone call personally to offer her recommendations.

"I have to admit that I am surprised though." The woman told him. "You love this job, and your team. What made you decide to look elsewhere?"

Both the statement and the question threw him. What the hell was he doing? What had he been thinking? He looked at his supervisor. "Maybe it was time for a change." It came out sounding more like a question than a statement.

Strauss pursed her lips. "There was a time when I would have been thrilled at the thought of your leaving." She told him honestly.

"I'm aware." Hotch responded dryly.

"I have to be honest and admit that I felt threatened by you." She gave a self-deprecating grin. "Perhaps I still am a bit, I demand loyalty and respect and you are given it openly and easily. It took me a while to come to terms with that. Your team will be devastated by your leaving." She told him sincerely.

Her words took him by surprise. "They'll be fine."

Strauss nodded. "They will continue to perform and I'm sure they will manage to produce stellar results, as usual, but they will miss you and your leadership."

About as much as he would miss them he thought. "Thank you."

The morning had done nothing but make him question the decision he'd been so eager to act on the previous day. He needed to hear a friendly voice. With that in mind he placed a call to Beth. "Hey." He said when she answered the phone.

"Aaron. How are you?" He heard her shuffling around. "This is a nice surprise, I usually don't hear from you during the day. How excited was Jack?"

"He wasn't." Hotch said with frustration.

"Well did you tell him about all the fun he's going to have in New York?" She asked.

He could still picture his son's angry face. The little boy was still not speaking to him any more than absolutely necessary. "He's not interested in what's in New York he's only concerned with what's here in Virginia."

She gave a little laugh. "Well what is that supposed to mean?"

"He doesn't want to leave his Aunt Jess, or Henry and JJ, not to mention…"

"I understand he will miss his Aunt Jess but I'm not sure why he's worried about missing JJ or Henry, it's not like they're his family." She felt necessary to point out.

"He spends a lot of time with them." He kept picturing JJ calming Jack the previous evening. How loving and sweet she'd been to him, and how Jack responded to her.

Beth let out an irritated sigh. "Aaron, you're Jack's father, you're the one that makes the decisions. He'll get over it in time."

He was surprised by her attitude and her lack of sympathy. "I don't want my son to get over it in time Beth. I want him to be happy about it."

"Kids are far more resilient than you think, Aaron, he'll be fine."

"Normally I would agree with you, but Jack has already had to deal with far more than normal kids." Hotch replied stiffly.

"So what are you saying? That you've already changed your mind?"

"No, I didn't say that." He scrubbed a hand over his face. "But I do think I need to slow down the timeline."

"What does that mean exactly?" She snapped. "I thought we decided that having just a weekend relationship was becoming too hard. Which is why we decided you should move."

"I haven't said that I'm not going to move Beth, but I need to get some stuff in order and that means that I won't be traveling to New York for a while." He couldn't believe he was going to go along with Rossi's plan. He hadn't intended to but her attitude pissed him off. "Maybe you could come this weekend and get reacquainted with Jack?" It was a simple request. And it took her approximately two seconds to reject it.

"Aaron you know that my job isn't flexible." She responded hesitantly.

The comment made him angry and he recalled JJ's frustration over the fact that Beth was seemingly unwilling to travel to DC and allowed Hotch to do all the traveling. "And mine is?"

Her sigh was audible. "No, no, of course not. I didn't say that." Her tone was wrought with frustration they were both feeling.

"You know, since you've moved to New York you haven't managed to make a trip to DC once."

"That can't be right." She disputed before quickly changing the subject. "I don't like that we're fighting. I don't want to fight with you." Her voice became lower, intimate. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be dismissive of Jack's feelings but I miss you; I want to be with you."

Hotch blew out a breath. "I'm sorry too, I'm just frustrated. I don't mean to take it out on you."

"We'll figure it out." She promised.

They ended the call without any plans to see one another in the near future and with Hotch's eyes a little bit wider than they had been.

Thanks for reading! Thank you for the reviews – I appreciate them so much, it's nice to know what folks are thinking and what I'm writing! And thank you to all the folks that are following the story.