Hi All. Welcome to chapter seven of More Than A Team: The Final Member. This is the first in a series of stories that will all be under the umbrella of More Than A Team, I hope to write new stories for this series frequently. This story is complete and was going to be written as a one shot, but it immediately became too long for a one shot, so I wrote it as eight separate chapters. Updates should be weekly unless something drastic happens. This is an introduction to my OC and not a full representation of what future stories will be like.

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal minds, if I did then Aaron Hotchner certainly wouldn't have left, and neither would Derek Morgan! Pepper Rosanne Lee is my own original character, but all other recognisable characters belong to Jeff Davis, I just like to use them to do my bidding.

Series Summary: The Criminal Minds team is more than just a team, they spend so much time with each other, relying on each other, and wrapped up in each other's lives they are practically family. This is how the family makes sure they stay a family even when rules are broken.

Story Summary: This is the story of Pepper Rosanne Lee, how she went from a victim of an Unsub Jason and David were hunting, to the eighth member of their team. AU, OC, AaronXHaley, starts Season two. Warnings inside please read, rated M for good reason.

Warning: This story involves Criminal Mind cases, if you've watched Criminal Minds, you know what I mean, I've tried not to be too graphic, but there is abuse, kidnapping, murder, and rape, if this is triggering, please be careful. This story also involves the spanking of minors and adults, don't like, don't read.

A huge, huge thank you to my wonderful and amazing beta, Jules Ann, she is quite literally my Magical Muse Mender and when I get stuck just talking to her can help me figure my way past a block. She has helped me so much with all my stories and my writing, I would be utterly lost without her.

~o~

As Pepper walked out of the car park, she spotted a car she recognized and couldn't help but smile, she knew Hotch's car when she saw it. She had a lot of respect for Hotch, he was a good man, and had been a wonderful guardian for her. He hadn't had any obligation to open his home to the angry little nearly nine-year-old she had been, but he'd saved her from the foster care system and then saved her from herself.

Pepper knew now that she had been going down a dark path, she hadn't trusted anybody. She wasn't quite at the point of lashing out at people who didn't deserve it, but who knows what could have happened if Hotch hadn't opened his home to her, what a few more months in the oh so wonderful foster care system would have done to her. Along with not being trusting, she had no forgiveness, and that was definitely not a good thing. Whilst she was polite and obedient with Haley and Hotch, and got on very well with Sean, whenever David came around and tried to speak to her, or they went round to David's, she became extremely hostile.

Knowing Hotch as she did now, Pepper was honestly a little surprised at just how lenient he'd been with her and how much he'd let her get away with before calling her out on her behavior. She had been a horror to David, and he certainly hadn't deserved any of it, no matter how hurt she had been, it had never been his fault.

Flashback

Pepper could hardly believe it, but she was starting to feel actually happy again with Aaron, who she'd taken to calling Hotch as everyone else did, and Haley. She even really liked Sean; he was how she'd imagined a big brother should have been and she had a small amount of hero worship for the older boy building. Despite her own promises to herself not to get attached, she was forming attachments and starting to feel like things might just be okay. She had tested Hotch, tested his assurances that she was perfectly safe here and wouldn't be hurt, she'd challenged him and found where his line was. He had kept his word and she'd not been hurt, well beyond a sore bottom but she'd earned that, and she knew the difference between spanking and abuse. Things were actually going really well and as her nineth birthday approached there was only one dark cloud in her life and that was David.

Pepper just couldn't understand why David wouldn't leave her alone, he was constantly trying to build back the relationship they'd had, but she had no interest in that. Jason at least understood and didn't even try, which was definitely a good thing. She would really let Jason have it if he tried to get back into her life, she would never ever trust him again.

Sean was indulging Pepper by playing Mastermind, taking the role of the code maker whilst they waited for Hotch to come home. He had called not too long ago to say he was back and on his way home. It had been a long case, not as long as when Pepper had run away, but long enough.

As soon as Hotch came in the door Haley ran to him, jumping into his arms and Pepper couldn't help but smile seeing the love shared between the couple. Hotch made a real effort not to allow his job to cause a rift in his marriage, and Haley was a very supportive, understanding wife. It wasn't the perfect marriage, there was no such thing, but it really seemed like one that could stand the strain of one of them being an FBI Agent.

Sean looked at Pepper watching his brother and sister-in-law snogging, waiting until her eyes flicked to him and he sent her a wink before clearing his throat. "Hey, hey, keep it PG rated please, there are innocent little eyes here," he teased.

Pepper covered her mouth with her hands to hide her giggles.

"And I'd rather not puke, if it's all the same to you," Sean added.

Hotch looked over at Sean and raised an eyebrow, a small smirk playing on his face, "if you're thinking of quitting your day job and becoming a comedian, here's some advice for free… don't."

Pepper giggled again from behind her hands.

Aaron smiled down at the young girl he'd come to really care for. Her living with them was only supposed to be a temporary arrangement, but he couldn't deny he wouldn't be against it becoming permanent. He knew she wasn't going to like the news he was about to deliver, but he also knew she needed to be able to forgive, "we're going over to Rossi's for dinner, he's invited us over for homemade pasta."

Pepper's good mood immediately vanished, and she glared down at the floor. She knew there was no point arguing, Hotch didn't tolerate arguing and once he'd decided something there was no changing his mind.

Haley looked at Aaron with a questioning expression, though she knew why he was pushing for Pepper to forgive his mentor, part of her felt they just needed to give her more time. Seeing that her husband was decided she just nodded, "I'll go get changed. Pepper, Sean, you two, go get changed too, something nice," she urged.

Hoping to cheer Pepper back up Sean let out a theatrical moan, "ugh, come on Pepper let's go put on the monkey suits."

As Sean had been hoping it would, his comment made Pepper smile a little, despite the fact she really didn't want to.

"Only you think that putting on a clean shirt, and smart trousers, is the same as putting on a monkey suit Sean," Aaron teased. He was pretty impressed with how easily his brother had taken Pepper under his wing, impressed and grateful. Sean was good at smoothing over Pepper's ruffled feathers, cheering her up when she wanted to be mad, and Pepper was a good influence on Sean, giving him the incentive to lead by example in good behavior.

It didn't take long for everyone to get dressed in nicer clothes; Haley of course took the longest but a look from her and a raised eyebrow from Hotch meant there was no teasing coming from Sean or Pepper. They went out to the car and drove to David's, the conversation was light and easy, catching Hotch up on what he'd missed whilst he'd been away. It didn't take long to get to David's house and Hotch parked up then turned to look at both of his wards, "best behavior, both of you. Sean, keep the language clean and watch the attitude. Pepper, mind your tongue and if you can't say anything nice don't say anything," he warned.

Sean rolled his eyes, "you'd think we were both five," he murmured to Pepper. He focused on his brother then, "yes Aaron I'll be a good boy, don't worry."

"Watch the cheek Sean," Aaron corrected firmly.

"Yes Hotch," Pepper murmured only a little grudgingly.

"And Pepper, think about what we talked about, David does not deserve your anger," Aaron reminded.

Pepper scowled; she didn't want to think about the lecture Hotch had given her the last time she'd been less than amicable towards David. He had betrayed her, he had let her down, it didn't matter that he physically couldn't take her in, he could have done something. She was not fond of the little voice in her head, that sounded a lot like Hotch, pointing out that she hadn't allowed him to help her, reminding her that she was the one who refused to take any of his phone calls.

Aaron could see that Pepper was thinking, so he didn't press for a verbal response, he just got out of the car and then went around to open Haley's door for her.

"Are you sure Pepper needs pressing like this?" Haley whispered softly.

Aaron nodded, "she's holding on too tightly to her anger, that's not a good path to go down, we've tried the gentle approach, it's time for a little tough love," he murmured back just as softly.

Haley sighed but she trusted her husband to know about situations like this better than she did.

Aaron made sure Pepper and Sean were out of the car before locking it and walking up to his Italian mentor's house, knocking on the door.

David opened the door and beamed, "Haley, looking lovely as always my dear, come on come in," he greeted, kissing her on her cheek in greeting. He welcomed all four of his guests in, trying to ignore the stab of pain he felt when Pepper wouldn't even look at him.

"Hey David, whatever you have cooking smells awesome," Sean greeted casually.

David smiled at Sean, "good to see you too Sean, I hope you're all hungry?"

Haley kissed David's cheek in return, "famished, though are you sure you've cooked enough, Sean seems determined to eat us out of house and home at the moment."

"Hey, I'm a growing lad!" Sean protested.

David laughed, "that you are, and don't you worry, no one has ever left my table still hungry, my mother would have my hide. Now come relax, can I get you a glass of wine Haley? I'd offer you a beer Hotch, but you're driving. Sean, I've got some Dr Pepper in the fridge, Pepper I bought some pink lemonade soda for you."

"A glass of white would be lovely thank you David," Haley smiled.

"Hey, I'm happy to drink the beer you're offering," Sean grinned.

"Sean! Water will be fine, thanks David," Aaron insisted.

Pepper said nothing, just remaining staring at the ground.

"Pepper," Aaron warned.

"What?!" Pepper protested.

"David went out of his way to get you your favorite drink," Aaron pointed out firmly.

"So?" Pepper snapped.

Aaron raised his eyebrow at Pepper and fixed her with a hard look holding his silence until she squirmed under his gaze. "So, young lady, you owe him a thank you," he stated with a slow deliberate calmness.

"I'm not thanking him for trying to buy my affections," Pepper hissed.

Aaron took hold of Pepper's arm and turned her around, landing a hard swat to her skirt covered bottom, "Pepper that is enough. Apologize to David right now," he scolded.

Pepper yelped at the swat and looked down at the ground, "sorry," she forced out.

Aaron knew an insincere apology when he heard one, but he also knew it was the best he was going to get out of Pepper right now. "Enough of the attitude little girl, I've told you David has done nothing wrong and doesn't deserve your anger," he warned.

Pepper squirmed again she didn't want to hear that, she wanted to hold onto her anger.

Aaron let Pepper go and shot David an apologetic look.

David waved off Aaron's look, placing a glass of ice water down in front of him and a glass of the pink lemonade soda down in front of Pepper.

Aaron raised his eyebrow questioningly at David at the pink lemonade, not entirely certain that Pepper deserved the treat.

David just gave an innocent look, like he didn't know what Aaron was getting at.

Aaron shook his head with an amused smirk.

Pepper glared at the soda, then grabbed the glass and tossed it in David's face.

"Pepper!" Haley gasped.

Aaron didn't say a word, he strode over to his stubborn ward and took hold of her arm, marching her out of the room and up the stairs of David's house, taking her straight to the guest room. He walked her into the corner and parked her in it, resisting the urge to swat her only because he had promised himself to never raise his hand to anyone in his care in anger.

"Hotch…" Pepper started.

"Silence little girl," Aaron barked sharply.

Pepper sucked in a breath but fell silent. Guilt started to curl in her stomach at Hotch's tone, she hadn't been with him all that long, but it was long enough for her to know what that tone meant. It meant Hotch was rather furious with her and he didn't get angry at anyone for no good reason, actually he hadn't gotten angry at her like this before, he'd only gotten this angry at Sean.

Aaron watched Pepper squirming, for once the corner time was not really for Pepper's benefit but for his. He could barely believe her audacity; he had just told her to drop the attitude and then she directly defies him the next second. There was also the fact that had it been up to him she wouldn't have even gotten the soda after her little display, but David had been kind enough to still give it to her and she had physically thrown it in his face. He had to take several calming breaths and remind himself that Pepper was young and was just acting out, that didn't make it okay, and he was going to punish her, but it allowed him to settle into the right mindset. "Don't move," he ordered. He turned sharply on his heel and walked back downstairs.

Haley was in the kitchen, wiping up the mess on the table, she heard Aaron come back in, "David said you'd be back, he's gone to clean up and get changed," she told her husband without turning around. She paused her efforts and picked up the spoon David had told her Aaron would want, biting her lip before turning and offering it out to Aaron. "David said you'd want this," she gave by way of explanation.

Sean was keeping an eye on dinner, stirring the sauce so it wouldn't burn, he frowned in disagreement. It was one thing for his big brother to spank him when he'd earned it, but he'd quickly come to hate it when Pepper earned a spanking.

Aaron accepted the spoon and nodded, giving Haley a peck on the cheek, "we'll be back soon," he promised. He went back up to the guest room where he'd left Pepper, relieved to see her stood in the corner still.

Pepper bit her lip when Hotch left the room, that could only mean one thing, he was looking for something to spank her with. She had to fight the urge to peek over her shoulder when Hotch came back in, fidgeting anxiously as she waited for the proverbial hammer to fall.

Aaron made his way over to the bed and sat down on it before clearing his throat, "come here Pepper Rosanne," he summoned.

Pepper hated being in the corner, it was boring and made her think about her actions, but right then she would rather stay in the corner than leave and face her angry guardian. Delaying was not going to earn her any favors though, so she took a deep breath and turned out of the corner walking over to the spot in front of Hotch. She stared down at the carpet, deciding that the carpet fibers were just utterly fascinating.

"Eyes on me," Aaron demanded.

Pepper immediately looked up and made eye contact with Hotch, eyeing the spoon warily for a moment before focusing on her unhappy foster father.

"How dare you behave so appallingly little girl. I don't care how angry you are at someone you do not throw a drink at them. I have no idea what you were thinking or why you thought that was at all an acceptable way to behave but let me assure you it was not. David has bent over backwards to try and earn your forgiveness, a forgiveness he shouldn't even have to earn. He did not make Elaine end your foster placement with her, even Jason did not make that happened. They are both single men who legally could not become your foster parent. Despite having no obligation to, they made every effort to keep in contact with you, to support you, but you were the one who decided not to talk to them, not to take their calls," Aaron lectured. It was past time for Pepper to face a few home truths, she could not be allowed to keep holding onto her anger as she was.

Pepper opened her mouth to say something, to defend herself, but Hotch's look had her snapping her jaw shut and she just barely refrained from looking away.

"What you went through was a horrible trauma. You did not deserve to be abandoned like that, no one does, and that is why David and Jason have been allowing you to get away with your abysmal behavior. Enough is enough however, what you went through does not justify the disgusting way you have been treating them. You are a smart, brilliant, kind, and loving young girl, but around David and Jason you act like a disrespectful, ungrateful, little brat, and I will not stand for it any longer," Aaron scolded.

Finally, the guilt hit Pepper full force and she could no longer use her excuses to hold onto her anger. "I… I'm sorry Sir," she murmured truthfully.

Aaron was relieved to have gotten through to Pepper and knew he needed to move this process along now. Pepper had been using anger as a shield from the hurt for so long that letting it go could reopen those unclosed festering wounds and it was his job now not to let her dwell on that. Fortunately for Pepper he had something that would be very distracting for her, though he doubted she would think it fortunate. "I'm not really the one you should be apologizing to, am I now?" He pointed out. Before she could think much further, he cocked his finger in a 'come hither' motion, "pull your panties down and lay yourself over my lap."

Without the anger bolstering her, Pepper felt so much guilt she didn't even try to give Hotch her puppy dog eyes as she reached under her skirt and pulled down her panties. She took the few necessary steps to Hotch's side and lay herself over his lap.

Aaron shifted Pepper forward, so her feet were off the floor, and she was completely upended over his knee before he flipped up her skirt and rested his hand on her bottom. "Your continued rude and disrespectful attitude crossed the line, throwing your drink in David's face utterly obliterated it," he rebuked. With that he raised his hand and started bringing it down on her bottom in crisp, firm swats.

Pepper opened her mouth to say, 'yes Sir,' but before she could speak the first swat landed and she yelped, more in surprise than physical pain, though the swat did sting. It did not take too long for the accumulative effect of the spanking to start building and for her hips to start squirming over her guardian's lap.

After a brief 'warm up' Aaron increased the force behind his swats, wanting to make sure this lesson was learnt well. Using anger as a shield might have served to protect her some whilst she was bouncing around the foster system, but it was not a healthy long term coping mechanism and he needed to dissuade her from using it again.

Pepper was already feeling guilty and vulnerable, so it did not take long for her to start crying under the relentless assault of Hotch's hand. She drummed her legs and had to grip onto her foster father's pant leg to prevent herself from reaching back.

Knowing he'd already breached her defenses as soon as Pepper started crying Aaron picked up the spoon. He rested the spoon on the already dark pink tending to red cheeks over his knee. "We won't be repeating this conversation again will we Pepper?" He pressed.

Pepper shook her head, "n-no Sir," she choked out.

"Good," Aaron acknowledged. He then started bringing the spoon down all over Pepper's bottom, sit spots, and the tops of the backs of her thighs. Letting the spoon do the talking and forcing himself not to give into the cries and pleading coming from the almost nine-year-old over his knee.

Pepper yowled as the spoon started coming down on her already sore bottom. Despite having a much higher than average intelligence she could not understand how something so innocent seeming as a wooden cooking spoon could hurt so much when it landed on her defenseless bottom. She kicked wildly, all but dancing over Hotch's lap as her knuckles went white with her efforts to resist reaching back and blocking the spanking, begging, pleading, apologizing, and promising all kinds of perfect behavior. Finally, she could kick and squirm no more, all her air was being used for crying, and she went limp over her guardian's lap just sobbing her heart out.

When Pepper finally went limp Aaron tossed the spoon down onto the bed and scooped the little girl up, letting her skirt fall down to cover her modesty as he crushed her to his chest. He rocked the tiny little girl and rubbed her back as she sobbed it out in his arms, "sshh, it's okay, I've got you," he soothed gently. He continued murmuring words of comfort, care, and forgiveness as Pepper slowly calmed down.

Pepper clung to Hotch as soon as she was picked up, letting herself finally cry for all she had lost, letting herself feel the pain of the abandonment rather than holding onto the anger. She clung to him just a little tighter in gratitude for him rescuing her from the hell she'd been in.

When Pepper was finally calmed to just sniffles and hiccups Aaron gently peeled her back to look at her, tilting her head up to make eye contact, "it is okay to feel angry, but holding onto that anger is not healthy little one. I will not allow you to fall down that path, even if it means thoroughly warming your bottom, I care too much for you to let you do that to yourself, understood?"

Pepper locked eyes with Hotch seeing the sincerity shining in his eyes she nodded, throwing her arms back around his neck and hugging in tightly.

Flashback Over

Pepper had apologized to David, and he had instantly forgiven her; from there they had rebuilt their relationship, so it was stronger than ever. She had even made up with Jason, though their relationship was more hesitant. Jason blamed himself for his failed relationship which had led to her ending up back in the foster system, so he held back out of guilt. She however had felt a lot better being able to let go of the anger, and Hotch had been right, it was not healthy holding onto her anger as she had.

Pepper might have stayed with Hotch and Haley permanently and been perfectly happy with that. They were both incredibly supportive, she was attending high school and acing all her classes, despite being only nine she was the top of her classes. That was actually what triggered a needed change, her intelligence. She'd needed more of a challenge than her high school was giving, there was one school, out of state, that ran a special gifted program that allowed kids like her to complete high school in two years, rather than four. She'd been accepted into the program, but Hotch and Haley could not physically support her going there, Hotch was away enough, them moving out of state would mean they'd never see him. Fortunately, David had a solution, he'd been working on finding her a guaranteed permanent guardian and he'd come up tops with his first ex-wife Carolyn.

Flashback

It was the hardest decision Pepper had ever faced. Hotch and Haley had assured her she was welcome to stay with them, though she wouldn't be able to do the gifted program, she had a home with them if that was her choice. Pepper was not just academically smart though; she knew even if she took four years to complete high school, she'd still only be thirteen when she was ready for college and that was still far too young to be on her own and that would limit her choices for where to go. It was with a heavy heart and more than just a little apprehension she decided to give Uncle David's solution a chance. After several meetings she agreed to spending a week with Carolyn, getting to know her, attending the gifted program at the new high school and so far, she was loving it.

Carolyn had not remarried after David, it was not out of a lack of love for him that she'd asked for a divorce, and she couldn't give her heart to another when it still belonged to him. When he had approached her about becoming a foster parent and maybe even adoptive parent to a little girl she'd been shocked, but Pepper had melted her heart from the moment they'd met. As an educator she absolutely supported Pepper going into this gifted program and was even willing to try some kind of shared custody agreement with Hotch and Haley if it came to that. David had sourced them this house and she was loving having the little girl living with her. She was parked in the car outside the high school, waiting for her house guest and hopefully soon to be ward.

It had been during her advanced science class today that Pepper realized she really didn't want to give this up. Her heart was torn though, she really liked living with Hotch, Haley, and Sean, but living with Carolyn was really nice too and she finally felt challenged in school. It was with a heavy heart and a frown on her face rather than her usual bright attitude and smile that she walked down to Carolyn's car after school let out.

Carolyn's worry instantly spiked seeing Pepper's distressed expression and as soon as she was in the car, she turned to look at her, "Pepper? What's wrong sweetheart?"

The very real care and concern in Carolyn's voice broke Pepper and she burst into tears, covering her face with her hands. She wanted to stay with her but didn't want to just leave Hotch and Haley, how was she supposed to choose between them?

"Pepper! What happened? Please, speak to me sweetheart, let me help," Carolyn begged. She reached across and tugged the small child onto her lap, cradling her face with her hands.

Pepper whimpered and wrapped her arms around Carolyn's neck, clinging to her a little. "I… I love it here and-and I wanna stay with you," she confessed like she was admitting to a terrible crime.

Carolyn's heart soared, this was the choice she was hoping Pepper would pick, but the fact it was causing her to cry like this was extremely worrying. She didn't know what to say, how to make Pepper feel better about this, she didn't realize Pepper wasn't done talking yet though.

"But-but I feel like I'm betraying H-Hotch a-and Haley, by picking y-you," Pepper continued. "Hotch-Hotch saved m-me a-and I-I don't want… I don't w-want to a-abandon h-him."

"Oh, Pepper sweetheart, no, no you can't think like that. Look, we're going to go home and phone Hotch straight away and talk to him. I'm certain that he only wants the best for you and whatever choice you make he will support one hundred percent," Carolyn assured her.

Pepper felt something in her ease at that and she nodded, she wanted to talk to Hotch, needed him to tell her he was okay with this choice, that he wasn't hurt by it. If she thought for one second that Hotch would be upset by her making this choice, then she wouldn't be able to do it.

Flashback over

Hotch had assured Pepper, in no uncertain terms, that he was not in any way hurt by her picking Carolyn, and although he'd miss her living under his roof, she wasn't getting rid of him that easily. He fully intended to remain part of her life and he had. When she graduated high school shortly before she turned eleven, he'd been at her graduation, along with David, Jason, Sean, and Haley, as well as Carolyn of course.

David retired after her graduation and had financially supported her going to college, Carolyn moving with her and providing parental support to her newly adopted daughter. Pepper only hadn't changed her name to Rossi out of respect for the mother that had died giving birth to her.

Pepper achieved her first BA in Psychology after just two years, and a PhD in Psychology a mere year later. She remained in college and took on a second BA in Criminology, getting her PhD in that three years later. At that point she was almost seventeen, and applied to the FBI, despite her qualifications and support for her joining from Jason, Hotch, and David, they could not accept her until after she turned eighteen and was an adult.

Pepper worked her butt off to complete a BA in Forensics in just one year before she applied again to the FBI and finally got accepted into the academy at eighteen years old. Two years later she graduated with flying colors and on Jason, David, and Hotch's recommendation special exemptions were made to allow her to start profiler training, despite being completely green as an agent. She had flown through that training, and now here she was, able to flash her badge at the security and be allowed into the FBI building, a fully qualified BAU Special Agent.

~o~

There you go, that was chapter seven. Things finally worked out for Pepper. I'll see you next week for the next and final chapter. Drop a review and let me know your thoughts, reviews really make my day and motivate me to write more.