Disclaimed!
Hopefully this chapter clears some stuff up. I'm writing this up in between writer's block with Uni essays and exams, so if it's not top scratch, you have my apologies but I'm pretty stressed at the moment trying to come up with a career path for the rest of my life so please be nice (and remember it is slightly AU!)
Hope everyone is well. Let me know what you think!
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JJ knocked quietly on the wooden door.
It was late and a part of her wished she wasn't there. Part of her wished that she just booked them into a hotel in the city. But as the blonde rocked her sleeping son in her arms in the middle of the brightly lit corridor, she realised she probably shouldn't be alone when she was this angry and right now, she couldn't think of anyone else she wanted to see.
Especially tonight.
The nearest Jareau was in Philadelphia and a drive that long was out of the question with having little sleep over the last ten nights.
Garcia would have welcomed her with open arms but the liaison couldn't deal with the aftermath of that conversation yet.
Reid would have been in a fluster with the reasons for the unexpected company at such a late hour, especially after such a long case.
Rossi's place was too far out of the way and he had always had a close relationship with the person she wanted to forget about.
As had Morgan, but she wouldn't have got a word in edge ways before he was out the door dealing with her other little problem.
No this was the only place there would be calm, and that's what she craved right now. Calm, so she could crawl under the covers and not resurface for a week.
The door slowly opened revealing a dimly lit apartment and a half asleep Aaron Hotchner. Frowning, her former supervisor stared at her in concern. "JJ, is everything okay?"
"Not really. Can Henry and I crash?" JJ replied with a defeated sigh.
Hotch opened the door widely, taking the sleeping infant off the apparently stressed woman and left JJ to get herself situated on his couch, while he lay Henry down in Jack's room.
When he returned to the living room, JJ was sitting on the arm of the couch, staring at her buzzing cell phone that was vibrating against his coffee table.
"Are you going to get that?" Hotch asked in curiosity, having never seen JJ avoid a phone call in the eight years he had known her.
Looking up at the profiler's sleepy stance, she shook her head. "No, I don't think I am."
"JJ, did something happen?" Hotch prompted carefully. He didn't want to pry but she had shown up at his apartment in the middle of the night with her son.
JJ breathed in and out a few times, listening to the soft buzz of the fridge and ticking off the clock that hung on the wall before responding. "I'm an idiot."
"You're not an idiot," Hotch replied genuinely and took a few steps forward, not sure why he was so unsettled by JJ's detached behaviour.
"Yeah I am. I thought I could have it all. A family, friends and a job. I thought I was actually doing something right with my life. And I didn't even notice Will was pulling away. I didn't even notice that he was screwing another woman." JJ scoffed while Hotch took another step forward so he was only an arm's reach away. "Well, until I found them in my bedroom tonight."
Hotch placed his hand onto JJ's shoulder in comfort, while his mind raced through ways to dispose of the Louisianan native. "I'm so sorry JJ."
"Don't be, it's not the first time I've been cheated on." The blonde replied bitterly.
Hotch closed his eyes as JJ chuckled quietly, the pain she was trying her best to hide was etched clearly on her pale face. "But Will's not anyone. He's the father of your child."
"Yeah, well he didn't mind leaving our son in his room while he had fun in my bedroom. The worst part about it was, he knew I was on the way home from work." JJ rolled her eyes and groaned in frustration as she remembered Will's shocked expression as she opened and stepped through the door.
Taking her hand in his, Hotch waited for their eyes to meet again before he spoke. "JJ, it is okay to be upset."
"Hotch I really don't want to cry over him. He's not worth it." JJ shook her head determinedly.
Nodding, Hotch removed his hand off of JJ's and switched on the side lamp to brighten the dim room. "Okay, do you want a cup of tea?"
"Are you not going to offer me anything stronger?" JJ smirked as she realised he wasn't going to force her to go into details.
Hotch turned towards his kitchen as he responded. "Alcohol's the last thing you need tonight, trust me."
JJ silently followed him into the open planned kitchen that followed on from the dining room and living room. She took a seat on the stool and placed her head in her hands as her elbows rested against the cool countertop. "I'm sorry I woke you up."
"It's fine JJ. I'm always going to be here for you and Henry." JJ smiled at his kind words as the tall man swiftly moved around his kitchen making the both a hot beverage each.
As they waited for the kettle to boil, JJ straightened herself and began the comfortable small talk, they'd grown accustom to over the years. "That last case didn't seem like it was going to ever end."
Hotch shrugged as poured the boiled water into the mugs. "We've definitely had worse cases."
"Yeah, but you didn't have to deal with that ass of a mayor." JJ's snarky voice trailed off as she watched Hotch strain the tea bag.
Watching JJ's distant gaze, the unit chief waved a hand in the direction JJ was staring. "JJ, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Listen, Hotch, what I said about Will, can you just forget about it?" JJ bit her lower lip in anticipation of his response.
"JJ I would never criticise your judgement but, what Will did, isn't what you do to someone you love." Hotch's voice was filled with concern as he placed the green mug down in front of his long time friend.
JJ smirked warmly at his obvious distain at the idea she would run back to her cheating partner. "I know and I'm not forgiving him right now, but it's complicated and I don't want you to feel as though I'm putting you in a difficult position."
"JJ, you're my friend, not Will." Hotch stressed, hoping the blonde woman would feel comfortable enough to confide in him.
JJ closed her eyes briefly as she took a sip of her hot tea before responding. "That's not what I meant."
"JJ, do you want to talk about it?" JJ's Blackberry began to buzz again interrupting the conversation flow. Reluctantly the liaison stood, walking back to the coffee table with the mug of tea in her hand. Sighing at the name on the caller ID, JJ looked apologetically over to Hotch, before she answered it.
"Hey Garcia... I'm fine... Well he shouldn't have... Nothing's wrong Pen... We're at Hotch's... No don't do that, please, I'll explain tomorrow... Just tell him you've talked to me and that he needs to stop calling me... I know Pen, I will do, I promise... Thanks Garcia, see you then." JJ hung up the call, practically throwing the object onto the table before pinching the bridge of her nose.
"Everything okay?" Hotch's voice dragged the blonde's attention back to the present.
Sighing, she waited for him to return to the living room before answering. "Will just can't take the hint and leave me alone."
Leading her to the couch, they both sat down and spent a few minutes in comfortable silence. Out of the corner of his eye, Hotch watched as JJ sipped her tea and kept her focus on anything besides him. "Okay, I don't want to push you but there's definitely something more going on. You're not telling Garcia anything and you're far too calm. JJ, if he did something else that you're not..?"
"Will is only a cheater, Hotch, he never laid a finger on me," JJ stated firmly, understanding his train of thought.
Nodding, the trained profiler accepted JJ's declaration. "Alright, but you know you can talk to me, right?"
"I wouldn't have come here if I don't feel comfortable with you." JJ smiled thinly as she placed her hand on his free arm.
JJ's phone buzzed again and judging by his friend's soft moan, she had enough of the interrupted buzzes. Reaching for the phone before she did, JJ glared at Hotch silently warning him not to get involved.
Hotch gazed down at caller ID, ready to frighten the hell out of the southern detective but his internal monologue stalled at the familiar name. "It's not Will. Garcia must have called Prentiss to check in on you."
Hotch held out the Blackberry in the liaison's direction but her sudden tension brought a frown to his face.
"I don't want to talk to her." JJ broke the eye contact as she put her mug of tea onto the coaster on the table.
Watching the blonde shrink into herself, Hotch sat forward so he was shoulder to shoulder with the petite woman. "JJ, did you know the woman Will was with?"
"You're one of the best profilers in the world, Hotch. I'm pretty sure you don't need me to answer that." JJ retorted dryly, her eyes misting at the name flashing on her cell screen.
Hotch pressed 'ignore' on small object and switched the cell off. Not taking a moment, the usually stern agent removed the mug out of JJ's hand and stood slowly. "I'll get the scotch."
...
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Let me know your thoughts and favourite pairings, because there's a few more still to come!
The response to the first chapter was great and I thank everyone who is reading, alerting and reviewing, especially; crazyobsession101, mummacass, jekkah, angry penguin, Myspaceisdaocean, JJandHotch4ever96, ReadingRed and deeda... thanks for reviewing guys!