DEFENDING MONKEY'S HONOUR

--

Jack Hotchner sighed for the hundredth time as his phone lit up and danced across his study carol. If it was Shannon again, he was going to get his father to file a restraining order. Or his step-mother. But the screen of his cell phone flashed with a completely different name.

"Hey Monkey." When there was no response, Jack began to get worried. "Gabi?"

"Jack."

The tears were obvious in her voice and, if the broken quality of said voice was any indication, they were probably still streaming down her face too. Jack felt his heart jump into his throat. "Gabi? Are you okay? Where are you? What's wrong?"

"He broke up with me."

Jack's heard slowed, but only slightly. The people his father called family were almost entirely made up of FBI agents. Jack knew it was ingrained in him to think the worst first as an automatic reflex. "Okay. Where are you Monkey?"

"Um... The parking lot?"

"Which parking lot, Gabs?" Her obvious emotional instability was the only thing holding his patience in check.

"The school."

Her school. He was already packing up his things, haphazardly throwing notes into his backpack. "Don't move, okay? I'm leaving now. Promise me, Monkey."

"Don't move. Got it," she sniffled.

Jack felt his heart clench as he hung up the phone before dialling a different number. Because Gabriella Garcia-Morgan was a proud fifteen-year-old girl. Her parents, Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia-Morgan and Supervisory Special Agent Derek Morgan, were terrifying people. And Derek Morgan was intensely protective of his little baby girl.

"What can I do for you, Junior Hotchner?"

It was still disconcerting to hear her automatically greet him with something different every time. "Hey, Aunt Penny."

"It's early, sweet cheeks. Shouldn't you still be at school?"

"I was studying in the library. Class was quick today. Um... but this isn't about me. Gabi called me. We're going for ice cream."

"Is everything okay with my baby?"

"I don't know," he replied honestly. "I promise I'll have her home by curfew."

"Of course you will," Aunt Penelope agreed. "With, at the very least, the full name and address of whoever hurt my baby."

She was terrifying when he knew she was angry but still managed to sound as cheery as ever. "Bye, Aunt Pen. And don't tell Uncle Derek, okay?"

"I won't tell Derek yet," she promised.

Jack sighed heavily, worry clouding his face as he pulled the keys out of his pocket. The car had been a gift from his grandparents when they'd heard he was staying with his father, going to George Washington University and saving up for his own car. It was to ease the stress of traveling between his mother in New York, his father in Virginia and his school in DC. It had come in handy for rescue mission too, rescue missions such as this one. Gabi didn't get herself into trouble often enough for him to be irritated with her. He couldn't be mad at Gabi anyway. She held a soft spot in his heart and had since he could remember. Despite being six years old and her best friend's older brother, Jack and Gabi had always been extremely close. There were days it creeped AJ out. Sometimes he deliberately teased her about it, just for fun. So he'd always save Gabi, no matter what.

She looked small and lonely sitting on the edge of the curb, brown hair falling in waves and hiding her face. But she looked up as he swing the car into a parking spot. He climbed out of the car, moving to drop down beside her. They didn't say anything. Jack simply wrapped his arm around her shoulder, adjusting when she curled into him instead. It was enough to start the tears again and her hand fisted in his t-shirt as he rubbed her back soothingly.

"I called your mom," he said quietly as the sobs subsided. "I told her we were going out for ice cream. She won't tell your dad."

"Banana split?" she asked, the tears still audible in her voice.

"Extra whipped cream, three cherries and no nuts," he promised.

"Because I'm allergic to nuts," she said, cracking a very small smile.

Jack nodded. "I haven't forgotten."

"You did once."

Jack rolled his eyes but indulged her. "It was once! I was ten and your parents were right there."

"And thank goodness they were."

"I have never forgotten since then. Scariest moment in my life. The last time I'd seen Dad and Emily that scared was the time AJ tripped down the stairs and broke her arm. I thought your father was going to kill me."

"Daddy loves you. He'd never kill you," Gabi replied. The only evidence that she wasn't the usually peppy Gabi was the way she still clung to his shirt.

"Gabi, there you are. I- Who the hell are you?"

Jack's eyes narrowed at the cruel tone of voice, allowing Gabi to scramble out of his arms. "Jack Hotchner. Who are you?"

"Richard Miller. Her boyfriend."

"Ex," Gabi spoke up as Jack stood. "Ex-boyfriend."

Richard glared and Jack carefully situated his body between Gabi's and Richard's, a habit he'd gotten into since the kids in the park had made fun of her for not being able to do the monkey bars by herself. She climbed over everything but had never been able to do the bars.

"Come on, Gabi. I didn't cheat!"

"Hope saw you! Rebecca saw you! AJ saw you!" Gabi yelled back.

"Gabs?" Jack asked, confused by the exchange.

"A Russian exchange student," Gabi answered the question she knew he was trying to ask.

Jack made a mental note to talk to AJ. The eldest of his siblings was as gifted as her mother with languages.

"And how dare you accuse me of cheating when you're out here getting cozy with the first guy you find!"

Jack immediately held up his hand. "Hold on, man. I don't like what you're implying."

"You don't? Don't like the idea that half of the school knows your girlfriend is a dirty easy whore?"

Jack's fist made contact with Richard's mouth before he had the chance to get a handle on his temper.

"Jack!" Gabi exclaimed in surprise and astonishment.

But Richard had already wound up and taken a swing at Jack. Jack was ready for it and caught the boy's fist before it made contact. Jack had taken up hand-to-hand combat as he'd grown up, something his father believed everyone should know. Pinning the younger man down wasn't all that difficult.

"I'm only going to say this once. You so much as come near Gabi again, if I hear you calling her names no woman should ever be called, I'm going to be the least of your worries, understood?" He tightened his hold when Richard tried to squirm away. "Understood?"

Richard nodded and Jack let go. "Get out of here."

It was only after he watched Richard rush out of sight that he realized his hands was stinging. He hissed as he looked at it. "Does Richard have braces?"

"Yeah," Gabi answered. "Oh my gosh, Jack!"

"It's nothing," Jack said.

"Nothing? Do you know how many different types of bacteria are in the human mouth?" she asked, grabbing his hand. Richard's braces had done good work of cutting up the skin.

Jack sighed. "You've been spending too much time with Uncle Spencer. And it's nothing that some soap and water won't fix."

"No way. I will not be responsible for your hand getting infected. We're going to have a talk about that too."

"Before or after the banana split?" Jack teased. "Let's go back to my dad's place. Emily keeps a first aid kit under the bathroom sink. You know how accident prone Adam is. And I know we have everything to make banana splits at home."

"And Hoodwinked."

Which told him exactly how bad this had affected her. Hoodwinked was only for the worst of days, for both Gabi and AJ. Jack had seen the movie too many times to count. "Yeah, Monkey. And Hoodwinked."

Emily Hotchner stepped through her front door, happy to drop her bag on her floor. She adored her job, loved that she could still work in the BAU. She hated that she was no longer working with her husband, but he seemed to find teaching almost as rewarding as his work with the BAU had been. And it wasn't like he'd completely removed himself from their work anyway. Still, she admitted to surprise at seeing the two occupants of the kitchen.

"Sit still! You're such a baby!"

Emily chuckled as Gabi held Jack's hand and applied Polysporin. When it came to fixing injuries, Jack had always been quite uncomfortable. "Hey guys."

Both looked up and greeted her in response.

"Is that a banana split?" Emily asked, raising her eyebrow.

Gabi blushed. "It is."

"Aunt Penny knows," Jack offered. "I called her."

"Everything okay?" Emily asked in concern. They were a family and families worried about each other. Gabi might as well have been blood with the amount of time she spent at the Hotchner home.

Gabi offered a small smile. "Nothing ice cream and Hoodwinked can't fix."

Emily wasn't one to pry for details. She'd learned long ago that getting anything out of Gabi or AJ was like pulling teeth unless they wanted to talk about it. "Are you two going to eat dinner?"

"I will," Jack agreed immediately. "When's AJ due home?"

"Soon."

"We're going downstairs," Jack said standing.

She nodded. "Try and think of a good story to tell your father about that hand while you're down there."

Jack grinned, coming over to kiss her cheek in greeting. "I was defending Monkey's honour."

It was a pretty good story and one Emily knew Aaron could easily understand. "I'll send AJ down when she gets here."

Hours later, Gabi emerged from the basement, surprised to find her father in the family room of the Hotchner home. "Daddy?"

"Hey Ellie."

Sometimes it was the little things that mattered. Her father's nickname for her still hit her hard. He was the only one who had ever called her 'Ellie'. She scooted around the couch to wrap her arms around him. "Hi Daddy."

"Is everything okay, Princess?"

She felt the tears come again as she buried her head in his chest. "It will be." She bit her lip as his hand rubbed her back.

"Let's get you home. Your mama wants to make sure you're okay," he said.

"Gabi? Oh, hey Uncle Derek."

"Hey Jack. Thanks for picking Ellie up."

She let her father go and turned to face Jack. He leaned against the doorway to the basement, his cut hand standing out against the black of his t-shirt. She hoped her father didn't see it.

"It's no problem," Jack promised with a wide grin.

Gabi closed her eyes briefly, hoping Jack wasn't about to tell her father anything about their afternoon. But Jack didn't seem to offer any extra information.

"I'm going to take her home," her father said, the tone of his voice resigned to the fact that anything Gabi may have said to Jack, any of the events of their afternoon, were safe with Jack.

"Sure thing," Jack replied with a curt nod.

Both men waited while Gabi gathered her things. Then, Gabi turned back to him, closing the distance between them to pop up on her toes and kiss his cheek. "Thanks Jack."

He grinned and pressed a kiss to her forehead that lingered. "Always, Monkey."