Disclaimer: I own nothing, but the DVDs. I don't own "Cinderella," "Sleeping Beauty," or "Peter Pan" either.

Author's Note: Special thanks to Jotchprossi18, Flames101, Andi, and misalason for the reviews!

Eighth, Conviction, Sector

The first time he asked her, he was near delirious and no idea what he was talking about. They had been up for nearly thirty-six hours, finishing up a case and then having to pull together paperwork for court on another case. They were tearing apart his office looking for the last crucial piece before they could go home and crash for two days.

JJ stood from the cabinet suddenly, clutching the paper in her hand. "Found it!"

"I love you. Marry me," Hotch told her, talking to the paper. He paused when he realized she was staring at him. "What?"

"Hotch, do me a favor? Take a cab home," JJ ordered with a smirk.

"Okay," he agreed, bewildered. It wasn't until he was laying in bed that it occurred to him what he had said. He smiled as his dreams overtook him as he drifted off to sleep: she had said no to his proposal.

The second time he asked her, they were working undercover. The team had followed an unsub into a crowded promenade. The unsub was trying desperately to sneak through the crowd, undetected. Hotch and JJ were following him subtly under the guise of being a couple on a leisurely stroll. Hotch slipped his hand into JJ's, somewhat surprised by how natural he it felt to intertwine his fingers with hers. He could see from the corner of his eye that the unsub was getting antsy with all of the people around. Hotch knew he had to stop the people milling about and allow a distraction to get Morgan into place.

Hotch dropped to his knee suddenly, pulling a startled JJ in front of him. He forced his voice to be loud and full of conviction, causing the entire area to pause to look at them. "Jennifer Ann Jareau, I have loved you since the moment I laid eyes on you. I want to spend the rest of my days standing by your side. Please tell me you'll make me the happiest man on earth. Will you marry me?"

JJ bit her bottom lip. She searched his face as she tried to remain in character. Finally, she nodded. Hotch stood and pulled her into his arms, whispering in her ear, "Sorry, it was the only thing I could think of at the time."

"No problem," JJ replied, watching Morgan quietly cuff the unsub without fuss. She held him just a bit longer before letting him go. "I think we got him."

The third time her proposed, he didn't realize he was proposing to JJ at all. He had been pulled into meeting after meeting from the moment he had gotten in that morning to justify their use of resources on their last case. He finally emerged around 8:30PM to find that his whole team was waiting for him in the conference room. There was a meal of homemade pasta, bread, and salad on the table. Having not eaten for the previous twenty-four hours, Hotch attacked the food with vigor, drawing amused glances from the team. He moaned in delight when he took his first bite.

"I am going to marry whomever made this food," Hotch said, causing the team to titter. "It's delicious."

"Well, JJ," Prentiss told her as JJ's face took on the color of the spaghetti sauce, "looks like catching the bouquet at your cousin's wedding was fate after all."

"Shut up," JJ retorted, but Hotch caught a look of happiness in her eyes and wondered about that. He pushed it to the back of his mind, however, when Rossi began to pester him about the day's meetings.

Hotch barely remembered the fourth time he asked her. He remembered everyone meeting at the bar to celebrate Reid's birthday. He remembered the first three rounds of drinks: whiskey for Rossi, appletinis for Garcia and Kevin, and beer for the rest of them. He didn't remember who instigated the challenge, he suspected it was either Rossi or Garcia, but he did remember the sweet burn of the first shot of tequila down his throat. He remembered how the next two went down much smoother. After that, his memories came in flashes: Morgan falling off his seat after laughing at one of Prentiss' jokes; Reid explaining a sector in geometry to some pretty young thing; Rossi spilling a drink. His most vivid memory, though, centered on JJ. He pulled her close on the dance floor, not sure how he got there. He felt her body curve into his; inhaled her sweet vanilla scent. He remembered leaning down to whisper into her, his lips just brushing the tip of her ear.

"JJ, will you dance with me at our wedding?"

The next thing he remembered was waking up with an intense headache in the middle of Rossi's living room.

The fifth time she was asked, Hotch technically didn't do the asking. He had invited JJ and Henry over for an afternoon and evening of pizza and movies. The four of them sat on the couch: Hotch on one, JJ on the other, with Jack sandwiched in between. Henry moved from JJ to Jack to Hotch and back again. Hotch felt warmth spread throughout his body each time he heard JJ's giggle. When her hand grazed his while passing him a slice of pizza, he thought his entire insides would burn up.

"Daddy?" Jack asked at the end of "Cinderella," his sweet, brown eyes looking up at Hotch. JJ was on a classic cartoon movie kick for the boys. "Can we marry JJ and Henry and have movie night every weekend?"

"Marry Mama! Marry Mama!" Henry chanted.

Hotch stared at Jack, his tongue feeling heavy, unsure of how to respond.

"Okay, guys," JJ interjected. "'Sleeping Beauty' or 'Peter Pan?'"

"'Peter Pan!'" they both shouted. Hotch shot her a grateful look as she changed the DVD.

The sixth proposal was done on a dare. JJ had come storming into the BAU early one morning. She barked at everyone who dared to cross her path. She even had one new agent nearly in tears. The rest of the team spent the day trying to ferret out what caused her bad mood. Hotch advised them to simply stay of her way.

When she came in a second day still in a bad mood and mumbling something about her ex, the team resolved to turn her attitude around. Garcia brought her favorite coffee directly to her desk. Prentiss followed with her favorite danish. Reid spent the day showing her magic tricks. Rossi and Morgan teamed up and took her to lunch. She was, however, still not back to her normally bubbling self, though she was no longer outwardly angry to those around her, until near the end of the day when she had enough of the hovering and snapped at Prentiss, Garcia, and Reid.

"I told you guys to leave her alone," Hotch told Morgan and Rossi as the three stood on the walkway, watching JJ pack up for the day. "None of this is going to help."

"And you think you know what's going to help?" Rossi challenged.

Morgan huffed at the affirmation in Hotch's eyes. "Why don't you go show us then?"

Hotch shrugged, leaning against the railing. "Hey, JJ? Wanna run away and get married?"

The entire office went silent, their eyes on JJ's back. She pivoted around to look at Hotch, a scowl on her face. They stared at each for a few moments; all breathing in the room ceased. At last, JJ broke out into a huge shriek of laughter.

She shook her head when she pulled herself together. "Have a good night, everyone."

His seventh proposal was supposed to be for his ears only. He stood in front of the mirror, visibly nervous to even himself. He stuttered trying to get the words, growing frustrated when he was unable. He heaved a huge sigh. He rubbed his hands over his face and again faced the mirror.

"Come on, Hotchner," he told himself. "The only thing you need to know is that you love her. You love her son. Your son adores her. Nothing else matters. Just look her in the eye and say, 'JJ, will you marry me?'"

He exhaled a breath in relief, which caused him to miss the small gasp that escaped JJ's mouth as she overheard Hotch's proposal. She had come to his room in search of him as he was taking forever to get downstairs where Jack and Henry were waiting to go to the park. JJ felt tingles starting from her toes and work her way through her entire body. She had resisted marriage in the past, but she knew this time, when he asked, she would most definitely say yes.

The eighth and final time that Hotch asked JJ to marry him, they were in front of the entire BAU team, a dozen LEOs, half a dozen paramedics, and several firefighter crews, and ten or so reporters. They surrounded an unsub in an old building. The team and the LEOs charged into the building only to discover the unsub had started a fire. The unsub perished when paint cans left in the building exploded, harming several LEOs. Morgan received a cut on his back and Prentiss hurt her shoulder. In the chaos of the fire, Hotch lost sight of JJ. She emerged from the building leading a young police officer out.

"JJ!" Hotch screamed as soon as he saw her. He enveloped her in his arms, kissing her until she couldn't breath.

"Hotch, what are you doing?" she asked when he broke the kiss. "We're in front of everyone."

"I don't care," he told her. Hotch fell to one knee. "JJ, I love you. I can't imagine spending another day without you as my wife. I want to be the one who wakes up next to you every morning and the one who goes to sleep with you every night. I want to build a family with you and Jack and Henry. I love you. Will you marry me?"

JJ bit her bottom lip to stop her tears. "Did you know that this is the eighth time you've proposed to me? Of course, I'll marry you. I love you, too."

END