Chapter 8

It was no surprise to either Hotch or JJ when they walked into Rossi's office to see Prentiss sitting there also, wearing the same smug grin that was plastered on her boyfriend's face. "I'm sorry my friend," Rossi immediately chuckled as he could tell from Hotch's look that all the pieces had been put together. "But at the rate you and JJ were going I had to help before something else happened." He confessed though was obviously pleased with himself as he continued to gloat.

"Dave, while I appreciate your motivation, playing with people's lives is more than a game," Hotch ground out trying to sound stern as he admonished his friend.

"Oh please Mr. High and Mighty profiler, you're just sore because I played you and you didn't have a clue. I had you twisted in more knots than a pretzel through this one, you should have seen your face," he continued to crow victoriously.

"You lied to me Dave," Hotch said, voicing the one thing out of the game that he realized bothered him the most.

"Moi," Rossi countered with an easy grin. "Not really, I said I thought JJ was ready for some romance in her life again, that I was trying to help her move on, and that I was going to help out by pursuing her. See, in the end I did exactly what I said I would do," He clarified, letting Hotch see how the statements he had made were mostly true, just said in a way that would play into the younger man's assumptions.

"Don't try to use technicalities to wiggle out of this Dave," Hotch gave his friend a reproving look. "You knew exactly what impression you were giving me."

"Also I really don't appreciate being treated like a prize here," JJ jumped in wanting to get her feelings out as well as she treated Rossi with the same glare she had directed at Hotch earlier. Though Dave managed to look fairly nonplussed as Emily leaned against him reassuringly and spoke up herself.

"Oh please JJ, you've been wanting Hotch forever, don't even try to pretend you're upset that we helped you two finally cross the divide. You guys have been worse than two kids on opposite sides of the gym at a junior prom." She said smirking as she shared her friend's secret openly seeing Hotch's eyes light up happily when JJ didn't protest.

"Fine," JJ relented with a remaining note of hostility. "Just cut out the games and know you're only getting off the hook because I would rather direct my energies towards other things. You can tell the rest of the gang that I will not be making it to our next cooking class Saturday night because it seems I have other plans," she said holding her chin high even as the couple she had just warned began laughing again.

"Not a problem, there wasn't one scheduled anyway," Rossi admitted, "we knew you would have it figured out by now, if not we would have told you." He said suddenly sounding genuine again as he shifted his attention back to the unit chief. "Seriously Aaron, I figured all you needed was a little prodding in the right direction, if it hadn't worked we would have quit." He said hoping his friend could see that they really hadn't planned to torture him indefinitely.

"You two are a piece of work," Hotch finally said with what sounded like begrudging appreciation. "We're going to have to talk about how you didn't tell me about you and Prentiss though," he said shifting back into unit chief mode for a minute as he realized how Dave had been breaking the fraternization rules right under his nose without even having the decency to tell him.

"You going to report us?" Rossi asked, trying to sound smooth despite a trace of worry in his voice at the thought of having to deal with the higher ups.

"No, but I may need some suggestions on how you kept it so secret," Hotch admitted with a rare smile as he rose to leave. "But that's for later, I think JJ and I have an important conversation to finish in my office." He opened the door as he said this, both he and JJ trying to hold their heads up high and look appropriately business like as they tried to walk back to his office while the team looked up from below.

"I don't know why we're trying to act natural, they all know anyway," JJ whispered as they finally neared his office.

"Doesn't mean we have to broadcast it," he quickly retorted as the door shut behind him in sync with him stepping into her personal space, "so you've been in love with me for a long time?" He teased gently with Emily's words, as he took the liberty to reach out and gently grasp her hand, considering it a sign of encouragement that she didn't jerk away as her cheeks reddened even though she didn't deny it. "We'll have to compare notes to see which one of us fell first." He suggested, allowing a rare soft grin to cross his own features as he subtly reassured her that he had felt the same.

"I'm glad our feelings are finally out in the open, but we'll still have to go slow, especially because of the boys," JJ said slowly as she allowed herself to be drawn closer to the man she had for so long thought was unattainable. "Though after what you said earlier, you've got a lot of making up to do, but at least Lavendou will be a nice start." She said with a gentle teasing grin, letting him know she hadn't totally forgotten what he had said but was going to turn it into an opportunity as opposed to an obstacle."

"I agree, I'll do my best," he returned her grin as he thought this was a debt he would certainly not mind repaying. "Would you be offended if I didn't wait until our first official date to kiss you?" He finally asked, his voice a deep rumble in her ear as she savored the feel of his warm embrace that was so much better in reality than it had been in her dreams.

"I think I can make an exception in this case," she responded slowly as she pulled back slightly, her eyes shining before her eyelids fluttered shut as his head descended to bring his lips to hers.

The End

AN: Again, thanks to all that have been reading – fluff alerts fully in place as if everyone can't tell. But again that was my challenge to self, of writing a fluff fic without the many chapters of angst and drama… I'm still trying to figure out how to write less than five chapters, and how to at least on occasion avoid all the deep analysis of who's thinking and feeling what that usually drag my fics out forever. LOL. Must master this before I can dare partake of any of the challenges/prompts or I will forever be stuck in an endless array of long seemingly neverending fics. Thanks to chiroho, jekkah, velizara95 and 14hpgirl19 for the reviews.