Don't Own.
Please R&R
Seems like my muse has stuck around for a little longer.
Enjoy!
…
"Daddy! I want the blue one!" Jack called excitedly.
Aaron smiled tiredly down at his son. He hadn't been lying the night before when he said he had plans to take Jack and his friend bowling.
He looked over at the rack of bowling balls and picked up a blue one, he gently handed it to his son.
Jack's arms went around it, clutching it to his front.
"Be careful" Aaron reminded him, even though they were only playing five pin bowling with the smaller balls they were still quite heavy and Aaron didn't want Jack accidentally dropping it on his foot.
"I know Daddy!" Jack giggled.
Aaron shook his head in amusement; he reached down and ruffled his son's hair.
"Which one do you want Rebel?" Aaron asked looking to Jack's friend.
The little boy was fidgeting, his eyes looking down and his hands behind his back.
"Umm..." he said quietly "the green one please."
"Here you go," Aaron said gently handing it to him.
The boy was very shy, his parents were young hipsters that had named their son Rebel Ryder Hale in hopes that one day he would be famous.
Jack had told Aaron the Rebel got picked on a lot, and so Jack being himself, had befriended him like he always did when he saw someone who looked like they needed a friend.
Aaron of course was proud of his son and had suggested that Jack invite his new friend bowling.
After meeting Rebel, Aaron could say that although shy, Rebel was also a well-mannered, sweet, friendly little boy who was just looking for a chance to fit in.
"Thank you," Rebel said as he brushed his auburn bangs out of his eyes.
"You're very welcome Rebel," Aaron replied.
Rebel gave him a shy smile before turning and following Jack to their bowling lane.
Aaron grabbed and orange ball and headed after the two kids.
He entered their names into the score board and said "Why don't you go first Jack?"
"Yay!" Jack said he practically ran over to the lane until Aaron gave him a stern look, his son knew better than to run indoors. Jack slowed to a walk before stopping. He looked at the five pins ahead of him like he was sizing them up. Then he enthusiastically threw his ball. It hit the floor with a thud and rolled down the lane, it curved to the right but instead of going in the gutter like it normally would have it hit the bumper that Aaron had asked for which turned its direction. It rolled slowly towards the middle and then knocked over the middle pin and the next one to the right.
Jack threw his hands up beaming; it was a triumph in his eyes.
He began to walk away but Aaron shook his head "You still have two more throws Buddy."
Jack grinned and went back. He stood waiting for his ball to return, there were others that could have been used but Jack obviously wanted his own.
His next shot knocked down one of the pins on the end and his last one made the one on the other side wobble.
Even though he had only knocked down three of the pins he turned to Rebel happily and just about yelled "You're turn."
Rebel took his ball nervously; he stood idle for a moment before doing the two-handed bend-and-throw. His ball left his hands and flew down the lane; it stayed mostly in the middle and ended up knocking down four pins, all except the one on the far left.
"Wow..." Jack said.
Rebel did his best trying to knock down the last pin but he just couldn't get it.
That didn't matter though, Rebel turned to find Jack grinning at him brightly.
"That was so cool," Jack stated reaching his hand out to high five Rebel.
Rebel seemed surprised by the reaction at first but then smiled back and returned the high five.
"Daddy's turn!" Jack called.
Aaron got up from where he had been sitting, bringing his ball with him. He stood still for a second and then let the ball fly. It hit the middle pin on an angle and he ended up getting a strike.
Both boys cheered for him.
He returned to his seat and watched as Jack picked up his ball again.
Aaron sighed as the kids played; he ran a hand over his face, rubbing his eyes.
He was tired. Even though he had gotten home early the night before he had found himself unable to sleep.
He laid awake thinking about Penelope...and her new man. Every time he closed his eyes all he could see were their bodies grinding on the dance floor.
He had known for a long while that he was attracted to Penelope. She was beautiful in his eyes but he was her boss and he knew he couldn't be more.
But it got increasingly hard as time went on. He wasn't just physically attracted to her anymore; no it was more than that. He had always known she was a unique individual and that made her special but she had also wormed her way into his heart. She understood him like no one else did and even though he was surrounded by profilers all day long, she was the only one that seemed to be able to see through his mask.
In the last few years it had hurt him to see her with Lynch but he had to come to terms with that fact that he couldn't have her. It had been hard and rather unsettling when he realized that he had unintentionally fallen in love. It seemed impossible since their relationship didn't go past friends but somehow it had happened. He had ended up loving her from afar. He learned there didn't have to be a physical aspect to a relationship to be in love with someone.
Lynch had been hard to deal with but he never expected how much of a violent reaction he would have to what he saw the scene the night before.
Seeing Penelope with her sexuality on display like that but not being able to do anything had been like a punch in the gut.
He guessed he hadn't really perceived Lynch as a threat, he had of course been jealous at times, but he had never thought they would last.
But the night before when he had seen her face, when he had seen how happy she was, he just knew that he was going to end up losing her...which was a strange thought considering he actually never had her in the first place.
...
Aaron and the boys were just starting their second game when he turned around after his own turn was over and his stomach clenched.
Walking through the doors into the bowling alley were Penelope and Eric.
Aaron was frozen in place, his eyes unbelieving.
"Daddy?" Jack said snapping him out if it "It's my turn."
"Oh…" Aaron said "Sorry Bud."
He walked over to his seat and sat down; he did not want Penelope to see him.
Out of all the bowling allies in Quantico, what were the chances?
Aaron kept his back turned towards them. He just wanted to grab Jack and Rebel and walk out of there but he couldn't make himself do it. When he saw how happy they looked. They were chatting easily with each other with identical looks of glee on their faces. When Rebel had gotten into the car earlier that morning he had barely spoken unless he was asked a question directly and he had kept his eyes glued to the floor.
Now he seemed like a whole other kid, Aaron couldn't take that away from him.
So instead he just sat low in his seat and did his best to stay hidden. His next turn was sloppy, if it hadn't been for the bumpers they all would have ended up in the gutter. He just wanted to bowl as quickly as he could so that he could get back to sitting.
Then out if the corner of his eyes he saw Eric lead Penelope to their own lane, it was about six lanes away from the one Aaron and the kids were at.
Aaron wished they weren't there but yet he watched them, he was drawn to them like your eyes were drawn to a bad car accident in morbid fascination.
They were laughing as Eric pulled Penelope towards him and kissed her before moving away and grabbing the first ball of the rack. It was bright pink, almost the same color as the dress Penelope was wearing that day. Penelope laughed at something he said as Eric flexed his muscles jokingly then moved away from her and threw his ball down the lane.
It didn't hit a single pin but rolled straight into the gutter.
Aaron knew it was petty but he was secretly pleased with that. At least the man wasn't good at everything.
Neither of his next two bowls were any better and he turned to Penelope with a sheepish look after not knocking over a single pin.
Penelope laughed, said something to him before blowing him a kiss as she picked up her own ball and walked onto the lane, her hips swaying purposefully.
"Daddy," Jack called him again "it's your turn."
Aaron nodded, peeling his eyes away from Penelope's backside; he stood up and picked up his ball.
His trouble concentrating cost him another throw which hit the gutter almost instantly. He shook his head and glared at the pins. Taking his anger out on them he threw the ball as hard as he could; it flew down the middle but only knocked over the middle pin.
Aaron sighed and threw his last ball, it knocked over two pins.
He turned back to Jack and Rebel; they were both smiling at him.
"It's okay Mr. Hotch," Rebel said "you'll get them all next time."
"Thanks Rebel," Aaron said moving away from them.
What was wrong with him? He was allowing this thing to get to him and even the boys were noticing, he needed to stop acting foolish and get on with it. He should be happy for Penelope for finding someone.
He needed to let it go and that's what he was going to do.
But still he couldn't shake the annoyed feeling he had.
It seemed as they continued to play that Aaron really didn't need to try and hide, Penelope and Eric were so consumed with each other that they barely noticed anything around them.
That was until Aaron dropped his bowling ball that crashed to the floor with a bang, missing his feet by inches.
He hadn't meant to do it but as he had picked it up he had looked up at Penelope and Eric just in time to see Eric pull Penelope into his arms, kiss her passionately and then give her a slap on her bottom as she turned to walk away.
The ball had just slipped from his fingers after that causing everyone to turn and stare at him, including the two very people he had done his best to avoid.
"Crap…" he muttered under his breath as Penelope's eyes widened in recognition.
"Daddy," Jack said running over to him "you're supposed to be careful."
"I know Jack," Aaron said "Daddy wasn't paying attention to what he was doing, sorry Buddy."
Jack looked down at his father's feet to make sure he was okay "It's okay Daddy, but next time you have to be more careful."
Aaron nodded at his son and bent to pick up his ball.
"Hotch?" he heard Penelope's familiar voice behind him and had to steady himself before straightening and turning around.
"Garcia," he said "hey, funny seeing you here."
"Yeah," Penelope said "who would have guessed right? But I'm glad we ran into each other, I didn't get a chance to say goodbye last night, and I wanted to introduce you to someone."
Penelope was smiling brightly as she moved towards Eric who was standing just behind her. Aaron's eyes moved to him, his jaw clenching as Penelope reached for his hand.
"Hotch, this is my boyfriend Eric Turner," Penelope said.
Aaron gave a stiff nod "Eric," he said.
"It's nice to meet you," Eric said holding out his hand "Penelope has told me so much about you."
Aaron didn't offer his own hand; he continued to just stare at him, like he was staring him down.
Eric awkwardly lowered his hand "So um…is that your son?"
Penelope who had been stumped by Aaron's behavior turned to see Jack coming towards them.
"Jackers," Penelope grinned walking forward and kneeling down to give him a hug "how've you been?"
"Hi Miss Penelope," Jack said when he pulled away "I'm great, we're having so much fun."
"Oh yeah?" Penelope asked "you like bowling?"
"Yeah!" Jack grinned "Daddy's really good at it…though not so good his last few turns."
Penelope looked over her shoulder at Aaron who felt like blushing.
"Well sometimes that happens," she said turning back to Jack "you get going on a really good streak and then suddenly you're getting gutter balls."
Jack nodded.
"Who's your friend?" Penelope asked.
Rebel had been walking slowly over to her.
"This is Rebel," Jack said and Rebel seemed to shrink.
"Rebel huh?" Penelope said "That's a really cool name."
Rebel looked up surprised.
"I wish my name was as cool as that," she said and Aaron saw Rebel slowly coming out of his shell again.
"Really?" Rebel asked.
"Oh yeah," Penelope said "mine certainly isn't as awesome as yours. Do you have a last name Rebel?"
"Hale," Rebel answered quietly.
"Rebel Hale," Penelope said seeming to try the name out "extra cool."
Rebel blushed.
"Rebel's really good at bowling too!" Jack piped up.
"You are?" Penelope asked "Will you show me? Maybe I can learn a thing or two, what do you say Hotch, do you mind if we hang for a bit so these boys can teach us a few tricks?"
Aaron had been captivated by how well Penelope got along with Rebel which wasn't a surprise really, he turned his attention to Eric who was beaming at Penelope, Aaron had a feeling they had been thinking the same thing which made him scowl.
He wanted to say no. He didn't want to have to spend any more time with the other man but yet again he couldn't deny his son and his friend their happiness so he just nodded stiffly.
Penelope tried to ignore Hotch's strange behavior as she smiled at the two boys.
"Awesome, let's see it then" Penelope said.
Jack and Rebel hurried to get their balls but then Jack stopped "Oh Daddy, it's still your turn."
"It's okay Jack, you can take my turn. I'm actually just going to run to the bathroom if that's okay with you Garcia?" Aaron asked.
"Of course Sir," Penelope said.
Her use of the word Sir made his heart ache painfully as he turned and headed to the bathroom.
As he walked away he heard Penelope say "Ooh the underarm bowl, that's how all the professionals start out Rebel."
…
When Aaron returned both his son and Rebel had gotten the chance to have three turns each.
He cleared his throat and the group turned to stare at him. "I'm glad you're all having fun but I'm afraid we have to go."
Jack pouted and opened his mouth to protest.
Aaron shook his head "I promised Rebel's parents to have him back by two and I know you both wanted to get some lunch before we dropped him off."
"But I…I'm not hungry," Jack lied; he obviously wanted to stay and have fun with Penelope more than he wanted food.
"That's not what you said twenty minutes ago," Aaron said raising a brow at his son.
Penelope intervened, she could see the argument coming on "Actually Jack, Eric and I should be going too but maybe we can go bowling together some other time."
"Okay…" Jack mumbled.
Aaron sent Penelope a thankful look.
Then all five of them packed up their stuff, gave their shoes back and headed out together.
"Thank you Garcia," Aaron said "the boys were really happy to spend some time with you."
"No problem Hotch," she said "you know I love spending time with my Jackers and Rebel is really sweet too."
Aaron nodded looking over his shoulder at the two boys who were talking to Eric.
"Well it was nice seeing you," Aaron said "come on boys." He headed towards the parking lot.
"You too." Penelope said to him.
"It was nice meeting you," Eric said as he wrapped his arm around Penelope's waist.
Aaron's eyes narrowed on that arm and he grunted something unintelligible to the man. He took Jack's hand who in turn took Rebel's hand, and left.