Don't Own.
Please R&R
Enjoy!
…
Penelope pushed open the doors to the BAU and strode in. She was there early; most of her team wouldn't be arriving for another hour.
That is all except for one member, she hoped.
Her gaze landed on the office she was headed for and smiled when she saw the light on.
She knew he would be there early, he almost always was.
She determinedly hurried up the stairs and walked over to the office door.
She knocked to announce her presence but didn't wait for an invite. She opened the door and stepped inside.
He had been looking over a case file but put it down as he looked up at her.
"Kitten?" he questioned her, he frowned worriedly when he saw the look on her face "What can I do for you?"
"I need to talk to you." she answered.
He gestured to the chair in front of his desk "By all means."
"Thank you," she said taking a seat, she ran her hands down over her skirt to flatten the wrinkles before looking Dave in the eye.
"Okay," she said "I've been mulling this over all weekend and couldn't come to a conclusion so I came to the one person I thought might have one."
Penelope fidgeted in her seat, she didn't like going behind her boss's back and asking about personal information but she was worried about the man.
"What is wrong with Hotch?" she asked steadily.
Dave shook his head "Why would you think there was something wrong with him? As far as I know he's fine."
Penelope glared "Don't give me that David Rossi."
Dave stared blankly at her and she huffed.
"At the bar the other night I thought it was weird that Hotch didn't stick around..."
"He was tired and needed to go home for Jack..." Dave trailed off when he saw the look on Penelope's face.
"Don't interrupt," Penelope scolded "and then thought it was even stranger that he didn't wait to say goodbye. But I considered that if he was really tired and didn't want to interrupt Eric and me, then I could understand him leaving. But that changed when Eric and I saw him at the bowling alley on Saturday."
Inside Dave swore, on the outside his posture didn't change.
"I went over to say hi when I saw him with Jack and one of Jack's friends and he was downright rude. I know Hotch can be brooding and formal, and even unemotional at times depending on what he's doing but he's never been rude. That's just not like him, you can correct me if I'm wrong but I think it's against a unit chief's nature."
Penelope stared at him expectantly.
Dave sighed "Listen Kitten, I know Aaron has been under a bit of stress lately..."
Penelope was instantly concerned.
"What kind of stress has he been under? You mean at work because our cases haven't been anything out of the ordinary lately...has he been getting pressure from above, are they trying to split our team up again? Or is it his home life...there's nothing wrong with Jack is there, I mean he seemed fine at the bowling alley..." Penelope rattled off, scenarios rushing through her head, until Dave held up a hand to quiet her.
"Penelope," he said calmly "we just need to be patient, give him some space, and I'm sure he'll be good in no time."
"Give him some space..." Penelope repeated.
She didn't like that idea; she had never been one to just sit on the sidelines when one of her friend's was in trouble.
Dave nodded and Penelope sighed.
"Fine," she said "I'll give him some space but if that doesn't work, we're doing it my way."
"And what way would that be?" Dave asked, not sure if he really wanted to know the answer or not.
"Lots of attention, baked goods and offers to chat," Penelope said matter-of-factly "until he gives in and gives it up."
Dave shook his head, he knew Aaron would hate that "You're like a dog with a bone."
"Don't you know it Super-Agent" Penelope replied with an evil smile.
"Let's hope my way works then, for all of our sakes" Dave muttered.
Penelope nodded "Just give him some space." She repeated one last time before she got up to leave.
…
And give him some space she did, but it didn't help. With time he only seemed to get worse. It had been three months since that day at the bowling alley and Aaron Hotchner, as much as everyone hated to admit it, had become a grouchy bastard.
He always seemed to be in a bad mood but especially when he was around or had to interact with Penelope.
And the team…well it was tearing them apart.
Their sweet, fun, loving Penelope had picked up on the anger being directed at her and with each passing day the other members of the team watched as she slowly fell apart.
She had no idea what she had done wrong and the team tried to convince her that she wasn't responsible for Aaron's permanent bad mood but with his actions there could be no denying it.
The other members of the team had tried to talk to Aaron about it but there was no talking to him. Not even Dave could get through to him.
Aaron spent as little time in the office as his job allowed, most nights taking his work home with him.
Which was his plan for that night too but he was interrupted.
The case had been brutal. It had been in Minnesota. An internet predator had been tricking teen boys into meeting him in the park, always two teens at a time and then would have them fight each other to the death. The winner he would kill afterwards, leaving both boys' bodies in public places.
Penelope had come with them, to dig through the victims computers.
The case had been going like they usually did, it was stressful but every case they had was stressful.
It was on the last day that things blew up.
Penelope had been talking to the lead detective as she did background checks on two possible suspects. She had been flirting with Morgan and the detective like she always did. It was nothing out of the ordinary for her but something about her attitude had pushed Aaron the wrong way.
He had come over to them and yelled at her for being unprofessional and wasting time. The whole police station had looked on shocked and left Penelope very embarrassed.
Derek had been about ready to punch Hotch for hurting his Baby Girl when Penelope had piped up "The unsub is Greg Parks," she said seriously adding "Sir" as though it was an afterthought. "You'll find his address on your tablets."
Then she stood stiffly and walked away.
Derek glared at Aaron before following her.
They caught Greg Parks an hour later, and were able to save his two latest victims.
The plane ride home that night had been tense; no one had said a word. They all hurried to get off the plane as soon as it landed.
Derek offered to drive Penelope home but she brushed him off, jumped in Ester and was on the road before Derek could even get into his SUV.
As Aaron walked to his own car he could feel the anger rolling off his teammates, all directed at him and he knew he deserved it.
He had been out of line when he had yelled at her.
He had felt bad the moment he had said what he had, but his anger had been building for a long time.
At first it had just been annoyance. Whenever he had seen Penelope so happy, her eyes basically glowing with love. When she had been talking on her cell he would wonder just who was on the other line and his mind always brought up a smug-faced Eric.
He had tried to ignore it but given their jobs and how often they were around each other, it seemed impossible to get away from.
His resentment at himself for not doing anything sooner and at Eric for seemingly being Mr. Goody-Two-Shoes grew every day. He hated that Penelope seemed to be spending all her free time with the other man, and he frequently wished it was he she was going home to.
He knew he was jealous and it was unbecoming but he couldn't help it.
He ended up not being able to stand being around Penelope and grew angrier and angrier when he was around her. He seemed to always be in a bad mood and began to snap at the others.
He hated himself for it but he just didn't know how to get over it.
So that night, wanting to get in and out of the office as quick as possible, he starting grabbing all the files he was planning to bring home.
He piled them on his desk and was about to start putting them in his briefcase when there was a knock behind him.
He tensed; he didn't want to talk to anybody that night.
Guessing it was probably Dave or Derek coming to confront him he stood up a little straighter and tried to look his most formidable as he turned. However the wind was taken out of his sails when he saw who it actually was.
Penelope stood there. She glared at him as she took a step inside his office. It was obvious that she had been crying and his heart ached knowing that he had been the cause.
"Garcia," he said, thankful that his voice didn't crack.
"Sir," she returned forcefully.
He could tell that she was doing her best to keep it together.
The coward in Aaron took that moment to rear its ugly head. He just couldn't do this now. He knew Penelope deserved an apology and an explanation but he just didn't have one he was willing to admit to at the moment.
"I was just leaving," he said gesturing at the files on his desk.
Penelope snorted bitterly "Running away is more like it."
Aaron's eye twitched. It was the truth of course but he hated to be reminded of it.
He shook his head "You can believe whatever you want."
He moved to grab the last of the files but ended up dropping them when he heard Penelope whimper "What did I do wrong?"
He turned back to her, new tears had begun to form in her eyes and she was shaking. He couldn't tell whether it was out of sadness or anger.
Penelope wiped a tear away with the back of her hand. "What did I do?" she asked again, her voice trembling "Where did I go wrong? Please…please just tell me."
Aaron ignored the files that he had dropped on the floor. He walked towards Penelope but went right past her.
His pace quickened once he was out the door, he made a beeline towards the elevators.
He almost groaned as he could hear Penelope's heels clicking hurriedly along behind him.
"Hotch stop," she called, she was out of breath, a combination of her tears and the pace they were moving at "slow down!"
Aaron got to the elevators and hit the down button.
She grabbed the crook of his arm and he swung around.
Penelope gasped at the emotion pouring off him, he almost looked deranged.
"I'm not doing this now," he said tightly, trying not to raise his voice.
That pissed Penelope off "When then? It's not like you're ever around. What happened to you? You act like a child!"
Aaron glared at her "Don't."
"Whatever," Penelope was yelling now "you think you're so great do you Hotch? I used to respect you but now…god I can barely stand to be in your presence. I mean where do you get off yelling at me like you did today?"
"You were being unprofessional," Aaron stated keeping his voice low and wishing Penelope would do the same as people were starting to stare.
Penelope glared, her face practically burning "Like that's ever bothered you before Sir. I always, always get the job done no matter what. You had no right to embarrass me like that…"
Penelope trailed off as he grabbed her arm. The elevator had arrived and he quickly pulled her on to it. The doors shut before anyone could follow them.
They were standing really close and he was breathing heavily.
He looked towards Penelope just as she was about to open her mouth to continue, but she never got a chance.
His lips came down on hers, making her gasp. He kissed her greedily, enjoying the softness of her lips. His hands came up to cup her face and he pushed her hard against the wall of the elevator. She moaned, her hands going around his neck, pulling him closer.
Then the elevator came to a stop and Aaron pulled away hastily. He looked at Penelope's kiss swollen lips and cloudy eyes, and shook his head.
He couldn't believe what he had just done.
"I'm so sorry," he whispered, turning to stare at the floor.
"Hotch," she tried but he wasn't listening, as soon as the doors opened he was gone, leaving a breathless and confused Penelope staring after him.