Present Day
Hotch was pulled back to the present by the thunderous applause and loud cheers which greeted the conclusion of the third skater's program. He and Laurel politely joined in and then settled back to wait for the scores to be announced. As he held his wife's hand, he couldn't help but remember what it had taken for him to finally manage to marry her.
10 Years Ago
After attending Paige's first Regionals competition, he had made a concerted effort to stay in touch with Laurel. During their frequent phone calls, he heard about how Paige had passed her Intermediate Level skating test and had competed in a small local competition, as well as participating in the rink's yearly holiday show. He, in turn, kept Laurel updated on the various places the team traveled to and about what he, Jack, and the members of the team were all doing.
The holidays arrived. He and Jack were tied up with numerous family events in Virginia while Laurel and Paige spent Christmas Day in Chicago with Fran Morgan and the Morgan family. On New Year's Eve, Garcia set up a three-way phone call between him (in a small town in Nevada), Jack and Jessica (in Quantico), and Laurel and Paige (in Chicago). They all had their televisions turned in to the ball drop in Times Square and, as the New Year dawned, they all cheered together and began making plans for the future.
It was President's Day weekend and the team was in the field when Hotch got a phone call from Garcia.
"Where exactly are you?" she asked without preamble.
"You know where we are, Garcia," he replied. "At the sheriff's offices in St. Louis County, Minnesota."
"So, you aren't too far from Duluth?" she verified.
"Garcia, what is going on?" he questioned suspiciously.
"W e - e – l – l - l, it's just that you have a flight out of the Duluth airport in about 90 minutes headed to Chicago," she hurriedly told him. "And, when you land at Midway Airport there will be a car waiting to pick you up. And, don't argue with me!" She abruptly hung up the phone.
"What?" Hotch stared at his phone as if it had just bit him.
"If that was what I think it was, you had better get moving," Rossi advised him with a smirk.
"JJ and Penelope have been working on that for weeks," Morgan told him with a smile. "And, if you value your credit score, I would suggest you follow Garcia's directions – To the letter."
"Actually, Morgan," Reid spoke up. "I think the threat also included having his utilities turned off." The smile he gave Hotch bordered on a Rossi-style smirk.
"Sounds pretty serious to me," Blake grinned.
"Don't worry, we can get along without you for a day or so," Rossi assured him. "Now get going!" He gave him a push towards the door.
As Hotch left for the airport, he noticed that JJ had somehow managed to absent herself from the sheriff's office, and he made a mental note to deal with her when he returned.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
It was early afternoon when the town car driver delivered Hotch to an ice rink on the east side of Chicago. From the numerous cars in the parking lot and the signs on the windows, he surmised that a competition was going on and suddenly realized why he was there.
"Intermediate Ladies?" he asked the first volunteer he encountered.
"The first group is on the ice warming up now," was the reply. "Name?"
"Paige – Paige Mercer," he told her.
The volunteer checked the program she was holding. "You are just in time. She is in this warm-up group," the woman told him. "Through that door right over there." She pointed.
"Thanks," Hotch shouted as he hurried across the lobby.
The warm-up group was coming off the ice as he burst through the door. He stopped, looked over at the group of girls, and immediately spotting Paige, wearing the dress Garcia had made for Regionals.
"She needs a new dress," was his first thought.
"Where is Laurel?" he wondered as he began scanning the crowded bleachers trying to spot her ski jacket.
Before he could locate Laurel, the first competitor was coming off the ice and the second one was being announced. Looking over at the entrance to the ice, he realized that Paige was lined up to skate next. He made sure he wasn't standing in anyone's way as he stepped back to stand against the wall, anxiously waiting.
The second skater hit her final pose to polite applause and left the ice. Paige's name was announced and, as she skated out onto the ice, Hotch loudly called out "Go Paige!"
Immediately Paige's head turned and she saw him standing there. A huge smile filled her face as she took her opening pose. As her music started, there was no doubt in anyone's mind that she owned the program. She hit every jump and rotated every spin to the max. Her footwork was clear and precise and, when she hit her final pose, even her coach was jumping up and down and clapping.
"Mr. Hotchner, I didn't know you were coming!" Paige exclaimed. She hadn't stopped to put on her blade guards before rushing over to tackle him, and he entertained a momentary concern about what damage was being done to her skate blades.
"I didn't know I was coming either." He hesitated for a moment and then began hugging her back.
"And, maybe, you had better call me Aaron," he added softly with his face buried in her hair.
"Aaron?" he heard Laurel's voice. "Aaron – What are you doing here?"
"It was a nice afternoon so I thought I would attend an ice skating competition," he smiled at her. "And, it appears I got here just in time to see the main event."
As Laurel stood on her toes to give him a hug and a kiss on his cheek, her entire body pressed against his and, suddenly, he knew what he needed to do. However, he had to have a serious conversation with Jack first.
"Paige, where did you learn to skate like that?" Coach Betty rushed over to join them. "I have never seen you skate like that – You rocked it, Girl - Good Job!" She beamed as she high-fived her student.
To nobody's surprise, Paige won her event. However, it was the next event that provided the surprise.
"Jade is in this group," Joan explained. Laurel, Hotch, and Paige had joined her and Michael in the bleachers and were watching the next warm-up.
"She moved up a level too?" Hotch asked.
"It seems Paige is a good influence," Joan smiled at the girl. "When Jade saw that Paige had moved up, she decided that she needed to work harder and move up too. However, Clarisse is also in this group."
"Oh," Hotch immediately understood the situation. "And, Dotty is where?"
"Over there, hovering," Joan pointed to the area next to the entrance to the ice. "And, I don't envy that ice monitor."
When it was Jade's turn to skate, she completed her program with only one slight bobble on her footwork pattern and ended with a confident smile. Clarisse, who skated two competitors later, bobbled a spin and had to pull out of it early. She ended up finishing her program before her music had concluded and it was obvious that she had no contingency plan to deal with the situation.
When the final results were posted, Jade had placed second while Clarisse had come in fourth.
"You did great!" Joan congratulated her daughter. "Particularly since this is the first time you have competed at this level."
"We need to get pictures," one of the volunteers reminded the skaters. "If you can wait right over there, please." She pointed to an area in the corner of the lobby.
"I am not going to wait around for someone to take a picture when my daughter didn't win!" Dotty fumed irritably. "We're leaving!"
As the other parents and skaters watched, she stomped out the door dragging Clarisse after her.
"So much for good sportsmanship," Hotch commented dryly.
"It's a good thing she has her blade guards on," Jade giggled.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Paige was still giggling as Laurel drove over to a local diner one of the volunteers had recommended. During the drive, Hotch had an opportunity to take a look at her 'new' car and decided that she had made a wise choice.
"This car does appear to be built for the long run," he commented as he got out of the vehicle in the parking lot. "You should get a lot of miles out of it."
"That's what I thought," Laurel told him as she walked over to take his hand. "I didn't want a car that would be in the shop constantly, and this one seemed to meet that basic criteria."
They were sitting in the diner, eating a late lunch/early dinner and discussing the competition, when Hotch's cell phone buzzed with a text message. He stared at the screen for a moment and then reluctantly closed the phone.
"I need to get back to Minnesota," he told Laurel and Paige. "My team is getting close to catching the unsub, but they need my help."
"You can't stay?" Paige asked sadly.
"Not this time," Hotch told her.
"However," he looked at Laurel, "I believe you have a spring break coming up. How would you two like to come to Quantico for a visit? I know Jack would love to see both of you – As would I."
"Let me check the dates," Laurel promised.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Hotch waited until the team was back in Quantico before calling both JJ and Garcia into his office.
"I'm not saying that I don't appreciate your efforts on my behalf," he began. "However, I would appreciate it if you would allow me to make my own arrangements to visit my - friends."
"Yes, Sir," JJ replied demurely. "But, it just seemed as if you weren't making the time to move the relationship forward. I know what I would have liked Will to do when we were dating, and I just applied it to you and Laurel."
"Understood. However, I would appreciate being allowed to make my own 'moves'," Hotch fixed her with his patented 'Hotch glare'. He then turned to Garcia.
"Would you really have turned off my utilities?" he demanded. "Really?"
"No Sir. That would have affected Jack and I couldn't do that to him," Garcia quickly replied.
"However," she added thoughtfully. "When was the last time you were audited by the IRS?"
Hotch could hear the two women giggling together as they escaped together down the stairs and across the bullpen. Then he walked over to the office next door and knocked on the door.
"Dave," he said as he opened the door. "I wonder if you could recommend a jeweler."