A/N: Hey, I promised 26 soon, so here it is.

I liked this one so much, but be aware that Hotchniss is starting.

Thank you so much for all the reviews. Come talk to me on twitter and tumblr so I can know more of what you think.

I hope you like this.

Season 3 Episode 09 = Penelope.

I got into my car after making sure all the pots and containers were secure in the back seat. For the pass two days I had being crashing at my mother's so that I could enjoy Nana.

I had never eaten that much in two days, my addiction to her food was so seriously that I knew I had to go back home, ASAP. Mother had being mothering me, so was Nana, our team was off rotation this week because of Garcia's shooting, and thus I was waking up later then usual because I was so closer to work and didn't have to cook or do anything previously to going to the office.

I was even getting breakfast in bed. I wasn't really sure why I was getting the you are sick treatment, that was the only occasion my mother allowed those things. My guess was that both women had realized I was a bit sensitive and decided to spoil me a little.

Mother had almost never done it, and Nana hadn't for years, thus it was safe to say we were all loving it, even if I was enjoying this way too much. Mother had actually tried to tuck me in one night, after I relentlessly mocked her for it she had laughed with me and said it was good to have me home.

I drove to Penelope's place right after lunch we were all taking care of her. Morgan was her with her almost 24/7 but the whole team pitching in. We alternated between visiting, doing grocery, picking medicine and just doing everyday errands. The whole thing had scared us and we were a lot closer since it.

I got off the car but decided to call Morgan, I wasn't going to be able to take all this food inside alone. Nana and mother had being so worried that they decided to cook together, and for something to put my mother in the kitchen, it had to be big.

"Hey princess."

"Hey, I'm just outside. Can you help me bring some stuff in."

"Sure, but what did you bring?"

"Essentials."

"I'm on my way." Not even five minutes for my surprise, Hotch opened the door and walked to the car.

"Hey."

"Hey, I didn't know you were here." I awkwardly stated.

"I knew you were coming." And things just got more uncomfortable. "I tried going to your house a few times, and calling, but you are never there anymore."

We hadn't being talking as we were before, things had definitely taken a turn for the awkward between the both of us. He had sent me so many signals over the past few weeks that were making me dizzy.

He had being touching me more, snapping at me for no reason. Partnering me with only him, and ignoring me at the same time. It had become so intensely disconcerting and noticeable that even Reid had asked what was going on. And for those reasons I had started ignoring him a bit, just outside work of course, but I had to distance myself, before we both did something stupid.

"I'm staying at my mother's." We started getting all the things from the car and inside the house. Good Lord, had both woman gone insane with this amount of food? There was no way Garcia and Morgan could finish this by themselves before it went bad.

"Did something happen?" He looked worried, and it made me cringe, I shouldn't be shutting him out so completely, he was bound to get worried if I dropped out the face of earth. Damn it Emily.

"No, just enjoying time with her." I stated, and as he looked at me I knew that didn't make much sense. "We are getting along better." I explained, he knew how she could be.

"Good. I was worried." His statement only made me feel more guilty about this. We got into the apartment and went straight for the kitchen. "Morgan is helping her with the bandages." Hotch told me as he saw my eyes looking for either one of out team mates.

"Ohhh…"

"Did you cook?" He looked suspiciously at all the pots and pans.

"What's up with you and your distrust in my cooking abilities?" I inquired with a mix of amusement and resentment. I could cook, it wasn't going to be fancy, and there wasn't a big repertory of things I knew by heart, but I could do it.

"Sorry."

"I didn't cook." I admitted quietly, putting a smile on his face." An old cook that we had when I was little is working for my mother again. Let's just say she is the best cook in the universe and when I told her about Pen, she cooked up a storm." I smiled at him. "I've also being enjoying that at my mother's." I elaborated.

"All Ulterior motives I see." We started organizing the food in the fridge and the pantry, Morgan would figure where everything was later. And I felt like we were back in our friends bubble again, where things weren't weird and I could be myself.

"Please try one of her cookies before condemning me." I opened the bag and gave it to him. He bit into it and his eyes opened wide.

"This is Nana's cookies." I turned around and looked at him.

"You know her?" I was surprised.

"Yes, she tried to fatten me up when I worked for your mother, let's just say she was successful, I don't think I have ever eaten as much as when I was working at your mother's."

"I know what you mean, you can never get enough of her food." I got another plastic bag and put half of the cookies inside. "Here take those home. But share with Jack." He happily took the bag from me.

"I know the polite thing is to refuse, but I can't say that I want to at the moment."

"I'll try and bring more, to Pen and to you."

"They are worth begging for."

"Hey." Penelope and Morgan said coming to the kitchen. "And what the hell is all this food?"

"It's safe, a friend made it." Penelope came to me and hugged me.

"You didn't have to trouble anyone my dark princess, but thank you."

"After you try this, you will thank the trouble." Morgan and Garcia looked at each other after such a strong declaration from Hotch.

"How are you Pen?" I asked as we all sat down on the leaving room with the bag of cookies and cups of coffee.

"I'm fine! I keep telling you guys that but I truly believe I'm being ignored." She ranted. "Morgan won't let me do anything, and I have never had so many visitors, no offence sir, but I never thought I would see you in my house, on a Sunday."

"We were all really worried." I explained and her face fell.

"I know, I was worried too. But I knew I could trust you guys to save me." She smiled. "You all are my superheroes."

"So what do you think of Nana's cookies?" I tried to break the gloomy mood that had fallen on us.

"Princess, I love my mothers cooking, and I swear by it. But damn, where the hell did this woman came from? Wonka's factory?" We laughed at Morgan.

"She is this tiny woman with the most amazing fingers ever, her cooking is heavenly, and I have to get the hell out of my mothers before I gain weight from so much food."

"You are staying with her?" Pen asked.

"Yes, and I have being eating like eight times a day, they even pack me snack's for the office."

"And your dad?" I had told Penelope about not being on speaking terms with him.

"Traveling Good knows where." Hotch and Morgan frowned at that, but I wasn't in the mood to talk about that, thank Garcia for interrupting.

"I saw how much food you brought and all of you will stay for dinner so we can at least make a start on it. We may have to donate to every person who comes to visit just so it doesn't go bad.

We decided to heat up the lasagna to have dinner together, it was a very relaxing evening, and I made two more addicted to Nana's cooking. She would be happy to know they enjoyed it, her cooking was her proudest ability.

After eating and washing things up for Pen and Morgan Hotch and I decided to go home, and then I found out he had taken a ride with JJ in the Morning, therefore I decided to offer him a ride.

"Come on, I'll take you home." We walked to my car and got in "Where do you live?" I asked him as we settled inside the vehicle.

"Three blocks from you." He answer quietly

"What?" Was he joking?

"I moved out of my house, I was looking for a apartment and found one. Three blocks from you."

"Okay, let's go." We drove in mortal silence.

"I'm sorry I didn't say anything."

"Hotch you didn't have to ask permission, it's fine." After more driving in silence I decided I didn't want it to get weirder, it's was just a simple thing. He moved close to me, no big deal. "You do know it's fine right?"

"It's weird."

"Well, not that s different then the fact that your kid has slept in my house." I shrugged my shoulders. "We have a singular…. thing." Way to name this, now we had a thing. And my will to hit my head in the steering wheel just got bigger.

"A thing?"

"Well naming it a relationship is weird." What did he want me to say.

" "A thing" sounds sexual." My mouth dropped open, if one thing I had never thought Hotch would say, that was right on top of the list. "Yes, I just said that."

"Okay, not a thing, definitely not a thing." He looked at me but didn't say anything, I decided to let it go.

"So, when did you move in?" I not so subtly changed the subject.

"Today."

"Today as in the same day you spent most part of in Garcia's place?"

"Yes Prentiss, that today."

"Hotch, do you have anything in the place? Did you actually moved something besides clothes?"

"Yes, I brought toiletries." I raised my eyebrow, was he serious? "And I bought a coffee machine, one that I have no idea how to work it thou." We both laughed at that. "Its that one over there." He pointed his building.

I saw a parking space and made a decision right there. I parked the car and Hotch looked at me the question clear in his face. I ignored it and got out of the car.

"Como on slow poke." He reluctantly got out and we started walking to the building.

"So, why did you decide to move out?" We were already in the deep and personal conversation, so what difference did it make another one in an empty elevator?

"We are finalizing the divorce, and I just thought it would be best if Jack grew up there, after all that was the plan when we got the house. She will be Jack's primary care taker, and she is being nice about me having time with him."

"How do you really feel about that?" I asked after a minute of pondering his statement.

"I feel weird. That was my house, and now I live in a two bedroom shoebox like a bachelor. I was married since I could remember, Haley and I were high school sweethearts, I never imagined that I would be here." I turned to look at him and saw he had a defeated look, kind of like a puppy.

"Okay, let's drop this." He looked at me with a frown. "Hotch, you are kind of starting to sound pitiful, but what I really think you should look at is: was it worth it? Staying together? And don't said anything about Jack, we both know that families like that end up in worse shape." I decided on a stronger approach of the situation.

"It wasn't really a marriage anymore, I know you are right. But it's just a big part of my life just ended."

"I get it, but picking up and just thinking about the downsides will make you depressed and right now there is a lot to do. You have to make this place livable for Jack." I smiled at the instant smile that formed on his face at the sound of his son's name. "Imagine how much fun he is going to have putting his room together, how much fun both of you will have." We both left the elevator and he shoed me to his door.

"I guess it can be fun."

"Fun? It will be a blast. You guys will have your man cave, and you will do all this man stuff together and bond and I don't know what else." I smiled and looked at him. "This can be a good thing Hotch."

"You are right." He looked at my face and I felt right then, that something had changed.

"What?" I asked.

"Come here, I want to show you something." He took hold of my wrist and led me to the hallway and then his bedroom.

The rest of the place was pretty much bare of things, al least from what I saw, in his room there was a mattress on the floor and a medium size box. He took me nest to the bad and sat down, he patted the place next to him and opened the box.

I sat down next to him and he took some of the stuff out of the box and I could see they were pictures, after he passed some to me I realized they were pictures of Jack.

"Ohh.. He was such a cute baby."

"Yes he was." He smiled down at one of the pictures of Jack still in the hospital. "One of the first things I thought when they brought him to me was that I had to be careful, someone could try to take him."

"You were right. Was he a quiet baby?" I asked looking at a bunch of photos that were in my hand.

"Yes, slept all nigh most nights, we actually had to wake him up to feed him." He laughed at that. "Have you ever thought about having one? Actually getting pregnant or adopting a baby?" And I sobered up pretty quickly about how much this was getting personal.

"I don't know, I guess" I stoop up and looked down at him. "It's getting late, I better be going." Right after the words left my mouth he stood up, and in doing that he ended up too close, so I took a step back.

"Emily" He took a step forward, which didn't make any sense, it couldn't make any sense my mind was telling me.

"It's late, I have to get home." I said taking another step and realizing I was getting way too close to the wall.

"It's not that late." He took another step forward, which made me take another step back and feel the wall behind me.

"Hotch." I said warningly, he had to snap out of it, because for some reason, I wasn't about to. I had to get away from him and from this, but my legs seemed to be happy to stay, and as he took another step I could feel the cold from the wall and the heat of his body.

"Emily, say stop and I will." His eyes kept looking at mine, as if searching, and I felt as if he was looking for a deeper meaning of what he was doing, of what was happening.

My mouth felt sowed shut, in my head I knew this was a terrible idea, but my body was ready to just let go. One of his hand gripped my hip, forcefully, to make me feel him there, to make me aware that it was there.

His other hand went to my waist, but instead of stopping there like the other he moved it upwards, gently making goosebumps and lifting my shirt as it went, if on purpose or not I couldn't be sure.

His hand reached my neck and his thumb caressed my décolletage, my neckline, my chin, and as his hand drove the path I knew they were going I tried to make my brain function and say stop, think of a reason why I can't do this, because I damn well knew I shouldn't.

But as his thumb stroked my lips all my will to say no, all logic and coherent thoughts were out the window, and the hunger was all that was left.

"Last time. Say stop" His eyes were darker then I had ever seen before, and his voice was rough and strained, like he was fighting something, like he was fighting himself on this. I could only shake my head, and that was all it took for his mouth to descend on mine.

His lips were hard, seeking, hot and demanding. His grip on me tightened and it only made my breath speed and my want to build. He took my mouth completely, without asking or testing waters, and it was great.

My hands went up and gripped the hairs on the back of his head and he groaned at me, his mouth went to my neck and he sucked there until we both knew there was going to be a mark, only thing was, right then and there, I couldn't care less.

I never thought the stoic agent Hotchner would be this demanding and roughly passionate. This wasn't the organized and polite man I knew, this was a hungry possessive and eager lover. I couldn't complain, he knew what to do to me.

His mouth went back to mine before he backed away to look at me, both of us panting. This man that I had tried so hard to keep at arms length was definitely getting me hot and bothered. . I licked my lips and after growling at me his mouth went down and he bit my lower lip.

He looked at my face again and smiled.

"The things you do to me agent." He had such a bright smile on his face, that I couldn't help but return it.