A/N: Hey guys! Been awhile since I last updated. Sorry about that. The last time I did update I was talking about the 2014 Profiler's Choice Awards. They're all done now, and the winners have been picked. If you'd like to see who won what, there's a direct link to the forum in my profile.

All right, now, on with the show. Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.

Chapter 26:

Head bent over his notebook, immersed in his case notes, Reid didn't hear his name being called right away. It took another call of "Reid!" plus a tap on his shoulder for him to finally look up.

JJ, sitting at her own desk, was smirking at him. "What?" he asked, letting the frustration he felt towards their newest case seep into his tone. It wasn't the case, per se, that had him frustrated, more the fact that it had been made aware to them only the day before Christmas.

His best girl-friend pointed past him. Holding in his sigh, Reid followed the point of her finger to see Maizy walking through the bullpen, almost upon them.

"Maizy!" he exclaimed with more than a little surprise and a whole lot of uncertainty.

The exclamation was a mistake; he now had both JJ and Alex's eyes intent upon him. Their expressions both said the same thing: why was Maizy's visit such a shock to him?

He also knew the questions wouldn't stop there; the visit would be talked about around the office, he was sure. Just about everyone JJ and Alex knew would know about Reid's girlfriend visiting him at work. The people who knew and cared about him would boast about it, happy for him; everyone else would see it as an anomaly.

Reid allowed himself a little mental shrug; he couldn't help that now. He would have to deal with the aftermath later.

For now, he allowed himself to focus on the beautiful sight before him. Maizy had been a vision to him in the sky blue dress the other night, she wasn't anything less now in a pair of dark denim and a tweed coat. His eyes travelled the length of her appreciatively and in wonder that a woman as beautiful on the outside as she was on the inside was with him.

His eyes made their way back up just as she stopped before him. Reid met her dark-eyed gaze; she was smiling, but he could see everything from their last encounter—the warmth, desire, and anxiety too—behind that smile. Despite her happiness at seeing him, Maizy was nervous and unsure.

Reid wanted to believe that her anxiousness had something to do with her unease in the intimidating setting that was the Bureau. But he had a strong feeling it was more because they hadn't spoken since he'd dropped her off at home the morning after the party the day before yesterday.

"Hi," she said simply, taking him in. Her eyes took a similar journey as his had. After the once over, she settled them back on his face, a brighter smile on her own, with a tinge of pink to her cheeks.

Silence settled between them for the moment; they had a lot to say to each other, but neither seemed to know how or where to begin. Reid hadn't spoken to her since that morning either. They'd texted, but that wasn't the same. Her family was occupying a good chunk of her time. And the team had been called to a local case soon after they'd all stole into his apartment for 'family' breakfast time.

"Hello, Maizy," another voice broke into their quiet contemplation.

Startled, Reid looked behind him to see Alex smiling warmly from her desk at his girlfriend. For a moment, Reid had forgotten they had an audience. And by the intensified blush on Maizy's cheeks, he didn't think she'd noticed they were being watched until just then.

She recovered quickly. "Hi, Alex, JJ," she greeted amiably. "I'd ask you how you are, but you're at work on Christmas Eve; kind of speaks for itself, doesn't it?"

JJ nodded, grimacing. "It does. Henry and Will so aren't happy with me right now, but what can I do…"

Reid gave his friend a sympathetic look. He couldn't pretend he knew what it was like to juggle both family and work life; with the exception of checking in on his mom, he mainly lived for himself. He had yet to experience the struggle fully. They'd been lucky of late; the team hadn't been called away to case since thanksgiving. But now that he had Maizy in his life he knew it was only a matter of time when he'd feel the torn feeling that both JJ and Hotch experienced daily.

Alex came over to JJ's side, giving her shoulder a compassionate pat. "Hopefully we can crack this before tomorrow at least…"

His friend's tone of voice said what he already knew: it wasn't likely. It would take a miracle or the un-sub slipping up for them to have Christmas Day free. Something they hadn't profiled for this early in the game.

"I baked you all some cookies," Maizy offered. Reid had failed to notice before that she'd been cradling a medium-size, candy-cane decorated box to her side. Maizy held it before her now, pulling off the lid. Inside lay, what looked like, at least four dozen festively decorated tree-shaped sugar cookies.

"It doesn't make up for working today, but, I hope, it's something at least…"

Reid smiled affectionately at the young teacher after noting the happy smiles on both women's faces as they reached for a cookie.

Biting into them eagerly, they thanked Maizy in between bites.

Maizy held the box out to him next. He held up a hand. "I'll have one later," he assured.

"All right… I'll just leave the box with you," she said, handing the box over to Alex.

"I can't one-hundred percent promise these cookies will make the rounds," the older woman joked.

"Spence, we've been sitting here for hours, why don't you take a break?" JJ suggested through bites of cookie. "My old office is still empty…"

She punctuated the latter half of her statement with a conspiratorial wink that thankfully Maizy didn't seem to notice. He held back the shake of head that wanted out; exasperated as he was, he knew she was only offering him and Maizy some privacy. But, really, what the heck did JJ think they were going to get up to at work, during an active case?

"Sure…" he said tentatively. "Uh… this way…"

Maizy smiled and waved goodbye to the two profilers. "Merry Christmas," she said to them.

Reid held his hand out to the side, waiting on Maizy to take it. After the traumatic night of the party, he was a little uncertain about whether she would take it. Sure, Maizy had let him comfort her, but it was still hard to know where they stood, especially when he had no idea what her reaction to his advances had stemmed from.

One thing was clear, though, Reid couldn't and wouldn't push her for anything more than she was ready to say or do.

Luckily, she placed her small hand in his with no hesitation. As if she could read his mind, she squeezed his hand, throwing him a reassuring look too. Whatever had happened she was still with him.

That bit of knowledge put him more at ease. Without words to each other or their watchful audience, he led the way up the stairs past most of the upper offices, down the hall to JJ's old, still abandoned office.

Reid reluctantly dropped Maizy's hand to open the door and switch on the light. Before letting Maizy through, he cautiously stuck his head inside. Yep, it was just as JJ had left it: a potential bio-hazardous zone.

He pushed the door all the way. Dust flew up into the air as they walked inside. It had been a while since the room had seen the light of day.

Reid shut the door behind them, grateful to JJ for her suggestion. Anywhere else they ran the risk of unannounced interruption, in here they could speak freely for a few minutes without prying eyes.

"JJ used to have an office?"

Turning away from the mess that was the clutter of old stacked files, un-dusted, un-vacuumed surfaces and various pieces of furniture surreptitiously abandoned over the years from other office owners, Reid found Maizy's eyes taking in every square inch of the untidy place.

"Yeah. Before she was a profiler she was our media liaison. She used to field cases for us in here," he explained.

"Looks like it's being used as a storage room now," she said wryly.

He grinned. "Believe it or not, this is exactly how it looked when she was using it… JJ and neat don't exactly go together. Though, she still claims she had a system for finding things."

Maizy smiled briefly before it fell away as she looked squarely at him, replaced purely by her nervousness now.

"Maizy—" he began just as she opened her mouth to say, "I'm—"

They both sopped abruptly at that, looking uncertainly at the floor between them. This was ridiculous, he thought. They'd come so far in their relationship, but now they were acting like this was their first encounter.

Tentatively, he lifted his eyes off the floor, only to see that she was doing the same. When their eyes met again he knew they were on the same page. They were acting silly.

It was Maizy who took the first step towards him, but he was the one to wrap his arms around her first. Reid kissed her gently without hesitation; he was more than a little pleased when her arms went around his neck, drawing him nearer.

It was a tame kiss, tender, but instilled with all the love he felt for her. He was so glad she'd come to see him. Reid wasn't sure what had happened to her in the past. He wasn't sure how the Hotch stuff would eventually play out. But the one thing he was sure of was that she cared about him. And, for now, that was enough.

They pulled apart slightly, arms still lingering on each other as if they couldn't bear to part. Maizy seemed to be on the breathless side, and he wasn't far off either.

"I probably shouldn't have come," she said.

He inferred she meant because of the case. Nonetheless, they'd hit a dead end and they were going around in circles. A break was just what he needed to recharge and, hopefully, he'd go back and be able to look at it all with fresh eyes.

"I missed you," she added.

Before Maizy, Reid used to scoff at the idea of missing someone you'd just seen not too long ago. But now he knew what it meant to be apart from someone you cared for. And how you longed for them every second you were apart.

He couldn't help it; he pressed his lips to her forehead in another lingering kiss. Reid never wanted to let her go. "I missed you, too. I'm glad you came."

Sadly, she pulled away from him then, turning her back to him. She said, "I just… we haven't talked since… the morning you drove me home. I wanted to…"

Her words trailed off. Either she didn't know what she wanted or was afraid it wasn't what he wanted at all. Either way, he could hear the uncertainty in her voice. All Reid wanted to do was reassure her. To let her know that that night hadn't changed anything between them. The fact that someone had hurt her only made him want to be there for her all the more. They had a few issues in their relationship—ok, only one: Hotch—this wouldn't be another. He wouldn't let it.

Reid encircled her in his arms from behind. "Maizy, honey," he murmured into her hair. He felt her relax back into his embrace; her arms hugged his ever closer to her. "We're ok."

She turned in his arms, a concerned look in her eyes. "I want to tell you," she began. "I will… Just not…"

"Not until you're ready." He nodded. "I get it, I do. It doesn't change how I feel about you. Maizy, I l—"

She pulled out of his embrace abruptly, cutting him off effectively, but not before he caught a glimpse of panic in her dark eyes.

"I know, thank you!" she exclaimed cheerily to the door.

He stared at her back confusedly. Had she not realized what he was about to declare or… did she know and she wasn't ready to hear it? Was he pushing her too fast? He had no clue what just happened.

Just as hurriedly as she'd turned away, Maizy re-faced him, this time with a bright, forced smile on her face. Oh, she knew, he concluded; the unmasked apology in her eyes told the truth. Now the question was why didn't she want to hear it?

"I should go," she said quickly. "But, you'll still try to make it for dinner tomorrow, I hope?" He nodded dumbly. "Good. I'll need the back-up. So…"

Still bewildered, Maizy approached him. This time she kissed him with hunger and desire. He kissed her back dazedly.

And just like most of this visit, she ended it abruptly and without ceremony, leaving him wanting.

"I'll call you later, all right?"

She fled, then. And he couldn't help feeling that she was indeed running. That that kiss was a cover to something more.

One step forward, two steps back, he couldn't help thinking.

Maizy bolted out of the office quickly, one thought on her mind. Stupid, stupid…

She knew what Spencer had been about to say. For a while now, actually. She saw it growing, brightening his eyes each time he saw her. It wasn't a shock that he felt it—even though she wouldn't even let herself think the word for the feeling—it was a shock that he'd been ready to say it.

And Maizy, just like she'd always done, had gone and messed things up. The worst part was Spencer knew she knew what he was about to say. And her stupid, jerky reaction implied she didn't want to hear it. Which wasn't necessarily the case…

Maizy didn't want to hear the words, yet. Not when she wasn't sure she could confidently respond in kind. There was no question she cared about him, dearly. But there was still the matter of Aaron and how she cared for him just as much. Not to mention the secret of her assault she was still keeping to herself. There were so many things she needed to resolve before she could even contemplate the "L" word.

It wasn't fair to Spencer. Not by a longshot. But it wouldn't be fair to him either if she said the words and didn't mean them or just didn't say them back at all.

God, why are things so complicated? she thought to herself as she pushed open the BAU doors, heading for the elevators. Or is it me? Do I complicate things? She let out an unfeminine-like snort. Probably, she answered her own question, dryly.

She smacked the down button a few times, eager to get out of there before she ran into anyone else she knew.

When the elevator dinged its arrival she breathed a sigh of relief. That is, until it opened and revealed who was inside.

"Aaron!" she exclaimed stupidly—theme of the day for her it seemed.

He'd been reading something on his phone and hadn't noticed her right away. At the exclamation of his name, he looked up with wide eyes, clearly just as surprised to see her. "Maizy? What are you doing here?" he asked, not unkindly.

When the door started to shut, he shot out an arm to hold it open, gesturing for her to come inside. She just contained her groan at her dumb luck. Of all the people she knew that she didn't want to run into, Aaron was at the top of her list.

Of course, it wasn't like when she'd decided to visit Spencer to see where the two of them stood that she didn't know it would be a distinct possibility that she could run into Aaron. It was just that, at the time of her decision, she'd only been concerned with making sure her and her boyfriend were good. It had also helped that Maizy had pushed Aaron's declaration to the back of her mind for now, as she was only able to deal with one issue at a time.

Seeing him standing there, clad in a great fitting, dark business suit, looking oh-so-handsome, brought their last meeting to the forefront of her mind. Now their last meeting was all she could think about. How he'd been so close, how they'd been so close to…

She had to avert her eyes. He was gazing at her in that warm way of his, that made the butterflies in her stomach restless and sent every nerve ending in her body firing. When Aaron's gaze locked with her own, it was hard to see much of else—or do or say anything for that matter.

Say something, Maizy, she chided herself. She cleared her throat to make an attempt. "Uh… I heard you all had to work today," she said, voice apologetic. Finally she was able to tear her gaze away from his intense one; she stared at the unmoving numbers above the doors. Wasn't she supposed to be going somewhere? "I baked some cookies for you all. I left them with JJ and Alex."

She reached out a hand to the meaningless-to-her buttons before her. That's right… she remembered. "I was just leaving…"

Aaron's hand shot past hers, pressing the "G" button. "I'll walk you out."

"Oh no, it's—" she started, but the elevator began moving before she could protest further.

His hand grazed hers as he dropped it back to his side and she jumped involuntarily.

It was clear he noticed her jerky reaction and he took a few steps backwards, putting distance between them. Aaron watched her carefully then.

Oh God… what is wrong with me? It seemed today was the day for her to take a giant step backwards in all her relationships.

Surreptitiously—she hoped—she took a deep, calming breath. She looked up at him and forced a smile to her face. Only, when she took in the sight of him—the softness in his eyes for her, despite the unease of the moment—the smile wasn't forced any longer. His face, too, relaxed into a soft smile and she found her nerves had left her.

"I know you guys are busy. I only wanted to drop off a Christmas treat," she explained further. Her eyes darted to the slow moving numbers. About half way down.

"You're definitely a welcome treat," he replied, friendly enough. But, looking at him then, there was more than friendship in his eyes.

"Oh…" she breathed out, blushing; she was on the verge of becoming a stuttering mess. Forcing herself through the flirtation, she added, "Thank you… So, do you think you'll be working tomorrow, too?"

He frowned then, the prospect of working on Christmas Day too, an unwelcome thought. "I don't know… The case is pretty straight forward; relatively speaking, it isn't one of our most difficult ones. I've just come back from the victim's family. They've given us some information that might prove fruitful in finding our killer. Morgan and Rossi are checking it out now. So, we'll see…"

She nodded. "That's good to hear. I hope you find them. I hate to think of you here on Christmas Day—I mean—" she stuttered, realizing it sounded like she was only worried about him. "All of you, you know. It's a shame—And Jack! Christmas without his father… it's uh sad. You know…"

Maizy shut her mouth quickly to stem further idiotic chatter from spilling out.

He grinned at her, seeing right through her. He knew as well as she did how she cared about him. "I appreciate your concern… for Jack. And the others."

She sighed. "I am concerned about Jack. He's spoken a lot about the plans you made to visit his grandparents. He said they live on a farm? He was looking forward to it."

The elevator dinged open before he could respond. She stepped out quickly ready to say her goodbyes, despite being in the midst of conversation; Aaron was a busy man after all. Too her surprise, he followed her out.

They walked a few feet in silence and then stopped in the spacious first-floor foyer of the Quantico building.

"He was disappointed, even though he tried to hide it," he said, shaking his head wondrously. "Jack's a great kid; ever since the death of his mother… well, he's been more supportive of having one barely there parent than I thought he would be…"

Maizy gave him a sympathetic look. "Aaron, you can't beat yourself up over providing for your son. For what it's worth, I truly believe Jack is a very happy child. You're doing great raising him. Jack admires you, he's proud of his dad."

"You think so?" Aaron asked her wonderingly.

"Trust me, I can tell. I've got some experience with children, you know?"

He chuckled at that. "Well, regardless, I decided to surprise Jack by having his grandparents flown here. They'll be staying with Jessica for a few days."

She clapped her hands together, happy to hear the news for Jack's sake. "That's great!" she exclaimed. Jack was going to be ecstatic.

"It is," he agreed. "It's not quite the same as spending Christmas on their family farm, but it's something, at least…"

His face had fallen slightly since speaking of their change of plans. It hadn't been her intention to bring him down, only to distract him from thoughts of him and her and the promise he'd made to her during the party.

Maizy reached a hand out and squeezed his muscular forearm. "It's more than something, Aaron. It's his family. Jack will appreciate it."

He smiled then—I made him smile, she thought, stupidly proud—"You're right. He will… What about you? What are your plans for tomorrow?" he asked, changing the subject.

Reluctantly, she dropped her hand. "You know, the usual Christmas Day stuff… present opening in the morning, chaos in my kitchen while Aunt Amanda and my cousin's wife fight for control in the kitchen, followed by a slightly burned dinner because they're too busy squabbling to keep a close eye on things."

Aaron laughed. "You don't cook?"

"Oh, I do," she assured. "But I also know how and when to pick my battles."

"Fair enough…" He nodded once.

Things went quiet between them again. With the silence came a change of atmosphere. The nerves were back.

Aaron stepped closer to her. Not inappropriately close, but it would be clear to anyone watching how there was a magnetic force between them, always drawing them ever closer.

"Listen…" he began, his hand tentatively touched her upper arm. Even through the fabric of sweater and coat the sparks between them were unmistakable. "If by some miracle we do solve this… would it be all right to stop by your place sometime…"

"My place?" she practically squeaked out.

"Uh… yeah," he replied. "I have your present sitting at home. I didn't know when I'd see you next…"

Eyes wide, she responded, "You… bought me… a present?"

He grinned sheepishly at her, shrugging his shoulders, trying to affect nonchalance. But his next words trumped his actions. "Well, yeah… You're my friend, Maizy. But, more than that… you're special to me." She gasped at that. "I meant what I said at the party. I'd like to be more to you, too…"

"Aaron," she breathed out. "You… you are."

He smiled the biggest smile she'd ever seen from him. He was going to say more, but they were interrupted.

"Everything all right here, Ms. Tibbs?"

She jumped back from Aaron's reach and spun around to see Lou, the security guard, staring suspiciously at them, or more precisely at Aaron.

"Uh…" she stammered. She'd greeted Lou on her way up. He'd told her his twin grandsons had loved the model airplanes she'd picked out with Spencer as Christmas gifts for them. How could she have forgotten that he could be a possible witness to this scene? "Yeah, everything's great, Lou."

He raised one eyebrow at her. "I'm sorry Martha and I couldn't take you and Dr. Reid up on your offer of Christmas dinner."

"Oh, Reid's invited for dinner tomorrow?" Aaron asked before she could say anything.

She considered him carefully and could see the hurt in his dark eyes. "Yes," she said simply, not sure what else to say really.

"Come along, Maizy, we need to sign you out," Lou was saying.

Aaron turned halfway, seemingly ready to end this. "I'll see you—"

Things were moving fast, one minute she was floating on cloud nine with Aaron, the next he looked like she'd slapped him in the face. She needed to fix this and fast. "One minute please, Lou," she said abruptly. "Aaron, wait!"

Lou moved off to the side. She didn't care right then if he was watching, Maizy had to take Aaron's hand to stop his quick retreat.

"Maizy," he said warningly as he spun around to face her. Something like anger, but not quite, burned in his eyes.

"It's not fair," she said harshly. "You can't be mad at me for this."

"I'm… I'm not," he said surprised.

"Then what? Aaron, I… I didn't get a chance to say anything to… to what you told me last time we talked." This was it. This was where she needed to say "back off." But… "I… I don't know… I don't know what I want anymore, all right? That's the truth."

She looked down between them, not able to stand the look in his eyes just then; it was too much like the one she'd seen in Spencer's earlier. She didn't deserve it or them.

He took hold of her other hand bringing her closer, not much space between them anymore. "Maizy," he murmured her name. "It's… it's all right. I know what I want; it's you. And… and if you don't feel the same, that's all right. Just… tell me right now that you don't care about me too. And I'll back off."

She shook her head, looking down again. "I can't," she whispered. "I'd be lying."

Maizy felt the press of his lips on her cheek, so close to the corner of her mouth. He lingered there for a second and Maizy held her breath, not daring to move.

"I'm glad," he murmured against her skin.

She pulled back to look at him. Oh God, he watched her with the exact same warmth in his eyes as Spencer.

She was so in trouble.

"Then I'll do what I said I'll do. Fight for you, Maizy," Aaron was saying. "Because I—"

Oh no, not again! This time, though, she didn't have to be the one to rudely cut someone off. Lou jumped in to save the day for her.

"Let's go, Maizy, dear," he was saying, an edge to his voice.

Not so reluctantly, she parted with Aaron. Glad for the distance. Maybe she could start thinking clearly again. Maybe she'd stop behaving like the moth to Aaron's flame. She spared a glance over her shoulder; he had a pleased grin on his face that tugged her heart back towards him.

She broke his gaze and continued to follow a muttering Lou. "In my day," he was saying, "Men were gentlemen…"

Hotch stood, arms crossed over his chest, in front of the bulletin board they used to compile all the pieces of the case they'd gathered so far. He stared at it hard, the pieces they had were like a puzzle they had to put back together. Except he had the distinct impression they were missing one key piece. If they only had it they could fit it all together.

It was mostly all there, he believed. They could solve this in time for Christmas dinner, tomorrow. Or that's what he hoped.

He had to admit, his unexpected meeting with Maizy had reenergized him. He had more incentive than before to put this one to bed.

All he needed was for Morgan and Rossi to return. With their info he was sure they could solve this.

"Cookie?"

Speak of the devil… Hotch turned around to see Rossi standing in the doorway to the conference room, chewing on one of Maizy's Christmas tree cookies. The cookie meant that the older man definitely knew that Maizy had visited. And with that bit of knowledge Hotch knew that his old friend was probably about to get difficult.

Rossi stepped into the room and held out the box to him. "No, thanks," he declined. "I've already had one." JJ and Alex had insisted he take one for himself and one to give to Jack later as he'd come through the bullpen after seeing Maizy off.

The veteran profiler shrugged his shoulders, dropping the box onto the table. He took another bite of the sweet treat and seemed to wait for Hotch to say something.

Hotch wasn't about to play the game his friend wanted; instead, he turned back to stare at the board. "So, you're back. What did you and Morgan find?"

Rossi approached the board, all business at the moment. He pointed to a picture of a pizza delivery man that they knew for a fact had delivered to the last victim's home. "This guy. He delivered to all three victims. Morgan and I checked out his apartment… Local PD is canvassing for him now. There's no doubt that he's the un-sub."

Hotch nodded. "Good." He wasn't able to hold back his relieved sounding sigh.

"Trust me, as much as I love you guys I didn't much relish spending Christmas here with all of you," Rossi commented wryly.

"Me either," he agreed, relaxing. "So can you still salvage your plans?"

He nodded. "I think so. I'm finally going to meet Bree's parents…"

"Right. Vineyard. I remember," Hotch said, grinning, referring to the fact that Rossi wouldn't be so eager to meet the ed. assistant's parents if it weren't for the fact that they lived on their own vineyard.

Rossi smiled. "Yeah. But it's more than that… Bree's a great woman."

Hotch got his drift. "I'm happy for you, Dave."

"Thanks!" He took another bite of cookie and spoke with his mouth full. "What about you and Jack?"

"I adjusted our plans the minute we got the case. Hailey's parents are coming here now."

Rossi wrinkled his nose. "That's good for Jack. Not so much for you…"

He sighed. "I can endure Roy's hostility towards me." Hailey's father had never forgiven Hotch for his daughter's death. He couldn't blame the man. But, they'd agreed long ago to just deal with it and remain civil for Jack's sake. They made it their mission to not let Jack be a witness to any obvious tension between them. "Jack's grandparents love him. And Jack loves seeing them. I can deal with it for my son."

Rossi patted him on the shoulder. "You're a good dad, Aaron."

"Thanks."

Hotch, believing the conversation was over, turned towards the door; he needed to check in with the rest of the team. Only, Dave seemed to have other ideas.

"So, you had a heart-to-heart with Maizy, didn't you?"

"What?" Hotch exclaimed, turning back to stare at his smirking friend. "How did you know?"

Rossi eyed him wryly. "I didn't for sure, not until this moment. Your reaction just now, plus Lou said something before I came up. He knows we're friends. He asked me to remind you that Maizy has boyfriend." Hotch frowned acutely. "Only he didn't say it so nicely, if you get my drift…"

He sighed. Making the guards who manned the security desk mad at you wasn't smart. They could either be super helpful or not. He had a feeling he'd be having some unexpected security pass troubles in the near future.

"She does, you know," Rossi went on. "I hear things between her and the kid are getting pretty serious. I even heard from Morgan that she stayed the night at Reid's place after the party."

"She did?" he exclaimed; the pain of a knife piercing his chest was all too real feeling at just then.

"Whoa." Rossi held his hands out before him, palms up, in a 'hold on a moment' gesture. The look on his face must have matched the pain he was suddenly in, because Rossi hastened to clarify, "Relax, Aaron. I managed to twist it out of Derek. They only watched TV. That's all."

He hadn't known that he was holding his breath until he suddenly inhaled a lungful of cleansing air. He breathed it all out in a whoosh.

Hotch shook his head at himself. It wasn't any of his business. He had no right to feel anything about Maizy and Reid's level of intimacy. Still, that didn't change the fact that he was more than a little relieved to hear that nothing really happened.

Which made Hotch wonder, what if it had happened? Would that change the way he felt about Maizy?

No way! he answered his own question adamantly. It wouldn't change how he felt about her. Only the way he perceived her feelings towards him.

As such, nothing had happened and he was worrying for nothing at the moment. He could continue to safely assume that she was as torn between himself and Reid as ever, just as the conversation he'd had with her earlier had implied.

Finally, he glanced back at Dave who'd allowed him his silent contemplation. "Why are you telling me this, Dave?" he asked, wary of the way his friend was watching him.

"You love her!" Rossi stated, eyes wide with surprise.

He'd already admitted it to himself and Jessica, what was one more person who wasn't Maizy? "I do."

Rossi shook his head. "Be careful, Aaron."

He didn't understand his friend's reaction. He thought the man would be jumping for joy at the confirmation, like Jessica had been, but, no, he only looked worried.

"I thought you'd be happy for me."

"I am, but…" Rossi hesitated. "You love Maizy. So, does Reid. But in the end she's the one who needs to choose. And there is a possibility she won't choose you."

"I know that," he said solemnly.

"Do you?" he shot back, looking at him hard. Hotch almost shrunk back from his piercing gaze.

He'd always known there was a possibility that Maizy would choose Reid over him. After all, he'd pushed her towards the younger man. These past couple of months Reid was the one by her side, not him. "I do. Trust me, I know."

Rossi sighed. "Look, I just don't want to see you or Reid get hurt."

Well, it was too late for that. One of them would. He knew. He wasn't naïve enough to think they would all get out of this unscathed.

"I'm a little sorry I pushed you so hard into going after her," Dave said sheepishly.

"This wasn't your doing, Dave. You've been right all along. I've had feelings for her from the start. It's my fault alone for trying to ignore them."

Rossi shook his head. "When will you ever learn, I'm always right…"

He returned the man's slow grin. "Hopefully, never…"

"There you go again," Rossi quipped. "Let's go put this case to bed so we can all have a real Christmas."

Hotch nodded, trailing after his friend. Worry creased his forehead as his eyes landed on Reid down below at his desk. One of them would be hurt in the end; he didn't know which of them it would be. But, if it was going to be him, at least he'd lose out to a great person and an even greater friend. Either way, Maizy would be with someone who would take care of her and love her in the way she deserved.

That's it for this one. I've already begun work on the next chapter—got some major drama in store for you in that one—and I hope to have it complete and up a lot sooner than I got this update out.

I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. And I hope you'll let me know what you think. Thanks for reading!

And thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter: SoleFaith (I'm so glad you're enjoying! I hope the rest of the chapters were just as enjoyable. I am definitely curious as to who's team Hotch and who's Team Reid; I have a poll up in my profile, if you'd like to vote.); nebula2 (uh oh, I have a feeling Hotch is going back to the doghouse for you after this chapter. Lol.); TheMysteriousGeek2345 (oh definitely, they'll stay friends. I have a plan, don't worry. In the end, end, they'll all be happy); Ezeiel (lol. With the way the next chapter has been going, we might find out a bit sooner than I had initially planned for on finding out who 'wins.' Then again, chapter 27 isn't done yet, so we might not… lol); and Annber03 (Thanks for your review; as always they're much appreciated. I'm glad you enjoyed all the 'family' scenes. Surprisingly, writing all the secondary characters, the OC's included, has been one of my favorite parts of this story. So glad they're coming off well).

Thanks again! Hope to update soon!