Amalya had been in Jack's room for some time, Ray and Jessica were talking softly while Hotch was helping Haley with making some breakfast since none of them had eaten yet.

"Haley," Hotch called softly, and she turned around from the eggs to look questioningly at him.

"I was thinking that since Jack calmed down, that maybe I should take him for the day and give you a chance to get some proper rest?" He suggested.

"You haven't had any rest yourself, Aaron. I was going to see if he's up to spend the day with Jessica so you and I can rest," she countered, but he shook his head. "I don't think he'll be up for that, and that's fine. I can take him for the day, and bring him by tomorrow."

"If you're sure you're up for it, I think some time with Dad would do him a world of good as well." She stated and Hotch nodded.

Just then, they heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Haley turned off the stove, and they walked out of the kitchen just as Amalya reached the last step.

"Hey, how is he? What did he say?" Hotch fired off the questions, and Amalya smiled.

"Aaron, breathe!" Haley said softly, "give her a chance to get a word in."

"That's okay, it doesn't sound like any of you had a decent sleep in a couple of days," Amalya observed as she resisted the urge to point out that Hotch probably hadn't slept properly in longer than that.

"So, did he tell you that I was the big, bad wolf?" Ray Brooks pipped up from his place on the couch.

Amalya sighed, debating what to say and how to say it.

"No, he said that what you were saying upset him. But that wasn't really why he was having a hard time the past couple of days." She stated.

"Foyet?" Hotch wondered, and she cocked her head to the side. "Yes, and no," she replied, and they all frowned.

"What do you mean?" Haley wondered.

"He has a classmate, Jason Bright?" She asked, and Haley and Hotch nodded. "His dad died recently," she started and once again they both nodded, "he was a cop," she added, and Hotch started to catch on, "he was killed on the job." She finished.

"I had no idea," Haley stated.

"It's what I was able to gather from Jack. He said bad guys killed his daddy," she recounted.

"And he remembers Foyet, so he was scared someone would kill me too." Hotch finished for her.

"Not quite. He doesn't remember much about the day with Foyet, except that George was a bad guy and I made him go away. He does remember the hospital though, that's why he freaked out." She explained.

"Hospital?" Jessica repeated.

"Before we went into witness protection, we went to see Aaron at the hospital after Foyet stabbed him. He was 3." Haley responded.

"He remembers that Hotch was hurt, that you guys didn't see him for a long time after, and he wasn't able to call you," Amalya told them, "he knows you deal with bad guys all the time, and with what happened to Jason's dad, he freaked out," she added.

"And since you made the bad guys go away, he wanted you," Hotch concluded.

Amalya studied him, he was heartbroken that his son confided in her rather than him. That he trusted her more than him. He called her because he would do anything for his son. But it was breaking his heart. She wanted to explain to him the real reason why Jack called her, but she didn't think it was the right time. She couldn't agree with his statement either.

"Not quite, but let's go with that for now," she said.

He nodded, he knew there was more to that statement, but for whatever reason she wasn't elaborating now, and he respected that.

"Amaya?" Jack's voice came from the top of the stairs.

"You can come down, sweetie," she called back.

They heard his footsteps coming down the stairs before he appeared. He eyed his grandfather warily, before he beelined for Amalya, and hid partially behind her leg.

Haley knew that Jack wasn't trying to hurt his dad, but she also knew that Hotch was misreading the situation and Jack's actions. She looked up from the 5-year-old still hiding behind Amalya's leg, to the brunette herself, and could see the gears turning in her head. She suspected that the keen profiler had already read the situation through and through, and knew how Hotch saw it.

But like Haley, she was focusing on comforting Jack…. then she can comfort the older Hotchner.

One Hotchner at a time.

Hotch crouched down next to his son to meet him at eye level. "Hey, buddy. What do you say you and me spend the day together? We can do anything you want?" Hotch suggested.

Jack craned his neck to look up at Amalya. "Can you come with us?" He inquired softly, and Amalya could've sworn she heard Hotch's heartbreak.

She sighed, as she looked at Hotch in silent request. Steeling her features to avoid letting on the agony she was feeling at the pain she saw in his eyes. He nodded subtly at her.

Truth be told, he was glad Jack asked her to come. He wanted her to join them as well. He wanted to know more about what Jack told her when they spoke. He wanted - needed - her calming presence at the moment. He wasn't sure what it was about her that disarmed him; that quieted down the condescending, berating voice - that sounded a lot like his father's - in his head; that released the tension in his body and forced him to let go of some of the weight he carried around.

But whatever it was, he needed it at the moment.

But since he was never going to be the one to impose on her a question like that; he was happy his son did

"Come on, sweetheart, let's get you ready," Haley chimed in, and Jack looked up at Amalya once more.

"Promise you won't go anywhere?" He said softly.

Amalya crouched down, "I won't go anywhere until you're okay with that, alright?" She assured him, and he nodded.

He took Haley's hand and they both went up the stairs.

"Coffee?" Jessica offered.

Amalya shook her head, and was about to answer when Hotch beat her to it. "She thinks American coffee is an abomination."

"Would you have taken the deal?" Ray Brooks asked suddenly.

Hotch had always wondered. Would she have assessed the situation differently? Would she have tricked him? Lured him into a false sense of security with a fake deal while she ran her own secret investigation?

But he never had the courage to ask.

He already blamed himself for what happened, and spent the last year and a half trying to find a different way he could've gone about it. He didn't want his worse fear to come true.

That there was a different way, but he was too proud and arrogant to see it.

He studied her closely. He would be able to tell if she fibbed or told Ray what he wanted to hear without it being the real answer.

"I'm not the person you call when you want to make a deal," she stated matter-of-factly.

Just then, Jack and Haley's footsteps could be heard coming down the stairs.

"All ready?" Amalya asked, and Jack nodded solemnly as he walked over to her side.

"I'll grab my bag and keys, then we can go," Hotch told her and she nodded.

Hotch had barely cleared the first few steps when Ray Brook's voice halted him. "Jack, can you come over here for a minute?" He asked.

Jack looked over at his grandfather warily, before craning his neck to look at Amalya, who smiled at him encouragingly, and nodded with her head towards Ray.

Jack walked over to Ray, and Hotch climbed the remaining steps and headed towards Jack's room where he'd spent the night.

Ray waited until Jack was standing in front of him, before reaching over and talking his small hands into his larger ones gently. "I know I've been a bit mean for a while, and I wanted to say that I didn't mean to scare you or be mean to you. I'm sorry I scared you." The older man said lovingly.

Jack smiled at him, moved closer, gave him a peck on the cheek and wrapped - tried to wrap - his small arm around the man's shoulders. "It's okay, grandpa." Jack said softly, just as Hotch appeared.

He smiled lovingly at the sight, and quietly walked over to stand next to Amalya.

The movement caught Jack's eye, and he lifted his head from Ray's shoulder. "Are you ready, Daddy?" He wondered.

"Yeah, buddy." Hotch replied.

Jack pulled back from the embrace, "I'll see you later, Grandpa."

"See you later, kid."

Jack walked over to Haley, who crouched down to hug him. "Be good to your daddy and Amalya, okay?" She instructed gently.

"I will," he said, as he pulled back from her embrace. "Bye, Aunt Jessica." He waved at her.

"Bye, honey. Have a good day." She said, before turning to Amalya, "it was very nice to meet you," she stressed the very, with a mischievous glint in her eye that made Hotch roll his eyes behind Amalya's back.

Was Jessica in on it too now?

"Same here." Amalya replied, taking her offered hand, before looking at Haley, "try to get some sleep."

"Hey, Hades," Ray called, and Amalya couldn't help the hearty laugh she released, as she looked over at him, "thanks for coming."

Amalya smiled at him, her eyes shining with the wit, cunningness and intelligence that made her the coveted agent she was today.

"Anytime."

Hotch pulled the door open, and Jack immediately took her hand as they walked out. With one final smile at Haley, Hotch closed the door behind them, and headed down the footpath with Amalya and Jack a few steps ahead.

"So, where do you want to go?" Amalya asked Jack.

"The place we went to last time, with the music and the round things we sit on," he told her, just as they reached Hotch's car.

"Sounds like a plan," she told him, before looking at Hotch, "do you know the way? Or do you want to follow my car?" She asked him, as he was helping Jack into his booster seat.

The question seemed to agitate Jack. "No, Amaya, come with us." He whined.

"Sweetheart, I will meet you guys there. I'm just going to drive my car." She explained gently, but he shook his head adamantly, and climbed back out of the car. "I want you to come in the car with us." He told her, as he walked back over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"How about we drive to my place so Amalya can leave her car there, and she can come in the car with us after that? Does that sound good, buddy?" Hotch suggested.

Jack hesitated, as he looked back at his dad. Amalya crouched down again to meet his eyes. "Jack, I already promised you that I won't leave until you tell me it's okay. But I will need my car to go home at night, so how about we do what your dad said, ok? I promise it'll only be until your dad's place." She assured him softly and he nodded, before climbing back into the car.

"I don't know what to say anymore," he confessed to her, and she smiled reassuringly at him.

"Hotch, do I strike you as someone who would do this if she didn't want to?" She asked genuinely, and he chuckled as he shook his head. "Exactly," she reaffirmed, "you do what you gotta do for the people you love."

It was a slip of the tongue, and she realized it as soon as it happened. But she meant Jack, of course she meant Jack. Who else?

Unbeknownst to both sharp profilers, the Brooks sisters were watching them from the window, enthralled by their exchange, despite not hearing a word of it.

"My God, will they get a room already?" Jessica quipped, and Haley laughed.

"This is the first time that it's been this obvious that Amalya may feel the same way about him, or at least starting to." Haley commented.

"Yeah, but Aaron is falling for her, and falling hard." Jessica shot back.

"And he'll deny it to his dying breath!" Haley grunted in frustration.

Over the past year, she had come to terms with the fact that despite still loving him, and knowing that he loved her too; they weren't in-love with each other anymore. They'd grown apart as people, and they no longer fit together. So, while she will always love and care for him, and will forever have a connection to him through Jack. She was also aware that they both deserved to find people to share their lives with.

And despite his defenses; it seemed that he found the perfect one. He was simply too scared to do anything about it.

An hour later….

The small Turkish cafe and restaurant had a few patrons scattered about enjoying their breakfast and morning tea and coffee. Soft music playing, to compliment the dimly lit lanterns placed squarely in the middle of the tables, while the large windows were open to allow the sunlight to fill the place.

The owner, Ayşe Koran, was a woman in her 60s who came to the US with her husband when they were both in their early 20s and started this restaurant. She and her husband didn't have any children, so they took special care of their regular customers, especially young people living away from their families.

Amalya had stumbled upon the place about a week after she started at the BAU. She was still jet-lagging, going through annoying bureaucratic nonsense to get an apartment and car squared away, and barely had enough time to cook.

That specific day, she was particularly agitated by the leasing office and Ayşe took it upon herself to cheer her up.

Of course, in true motherly fashion, the second she saw Hotch with her, she was smitten and had been hounding Amalya about him.

And so, while Amalya loved the place and the food. She really didn't want to add fuel to the fire by going there with him and Jack. But she did promise Jack that he'd get whatever his heart desired today.

And so, she found herself walking into the place, with Jack between her and Hotch, each of his hands holding an adult's hands. The face-splitting grin on the older woman's face did nothing to soothe the growing pit in Amalya's stomach.

"Ay, ne güzel ailesı," the older lady cooed, and Amalya nearly had a stroke.

"Teyze!" She hissed at the older woman.

"What did she say?" Jack asked innocently.

"She said she missed you," Amalya lied smoothly and saw the older woman open her mouth. "Sakın!" She warned.

"Adabsız!" The woman chastised and Amalya groaned.

Hotch bit the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling. Despite not knowing a word of Turkish, he could guess the context. Especially by the way Amalya was hissing and glaring at the older woman, and how exacerbated she was.

Ayşe led them to their table, and Jack plopped down on the first ottoman before wiggling towards the one next to it. Amalya was about to move around the table to grab one of her own when Jack stopped her.

"No, wait. You sit here," he pointed at the one he just vacated, "and daddy, sit here," he patted the one he was half on.

"Buddy, that's where you're sitting," Hotch pointed out. He knew where his son was going with the seating arrangement, and despite it being innocent enough for the 5-year-old, it was too intimate. And he didn't need any more fuel for his imagination and dreams.

"I'll squish between you both," Jack informed him, as Amalya sat down, and he moved closer to her to give his father more room on the ottoman.

Hotch sighed, as he made his way around the table to sit where his son told him, knowing that any more protesting would seem suspicious to the sharp profiler. Once he sat down the ottoman dipped on his side, and Jack almost slipped off of it, and he realized that it wouldn't be possible for Jack to sit without him holding him constantly.

"Buddy, I don't think it'll work like this," Hotch told him, only for Jack to simply climb onto Amalya's lap.

Hotch looked at her, silently asking if she wanted him to tell Jack to get up, but she smiled at him, and wrapped one arm around Jack's torso, lightly tickling his stomach, causing him to squeal her name.

Just then, Ayşe came by to drop off the menu, and a few coloring sheets and crayons for Jack.

"Kıyamam," she crooned, and Amalya rolled her eyes.

"Allahım bana sabır versin," she groaned.

"Amalya," the older woman's tone, made Amalya look warily at her, but thankfully whatever she said she said it in Turkish, which if Hotch were to guess by the relief on Amalya's face, it wasn't something Amalya wanted him to know so he didn't pry.

"What do you guys wanna eat?" Amalya finally asked, and Jack shrugged his shoulder.

"You're the expert," Hotch reminded her.

"Ok," she agreed, before turning to the woman and listing off the items she wanted.

She looked back at Hotch, "coffee?" She wondered, and he nodded.

Once she left, Jack started coloring in one of the pages which left the adults to talk.

"Sorry for ruining your plans on your day off," Hotch apologized.

"You didn't ruin anything, you saved me from having to deal with some bureaucratic tape that I really didn't feel like dealing with," she told him and he laughed.

"You're welcome?" He wondered, and she chuckled.

"Amaya?" Jack called.

"Yes?"

"You're always with Daddy when he goes after bad guys, right?" He asked as he turned around in her lap so he could face them both.

Amalya had always prided herself on the fact that she didn't make it a habit to lie to children, even the 'white lies' people usually find harmless. She believes it affects the child's trust in the adults. She can get creative with the answer, so it's more a lie by omission or a play on words, but never promised or lied directly.

But this situation was one that wasn't as cut and dry. Jack was smart, she was worried that any evasive answer might not ease his worries. And a lie that she can get caught in later would destroy the boy's faith in her, which he and his parents seemed to need at the moment. And she loved him, she didn't want to disappoint him. And the truth might increase his worry.

Hotch was having an internal struggle of his own. He wasn't sure where his son was going with that question. The pause that Amalya did before responding had him spiraling with fears that she was planning on leaving soon.

"Why are you asking, buddy?" Hotch decided to ask instead.

"Because I don't want a bad guy to hurt you like they hurt Jason's daddy," he answered.

"But you know that I don't go after bad guys on my own, I have my team with me," Hotch soothed, but Jack shook his head.

"But George still took you away, and Amaya got you back!" He stated, and Amalya sighed.

"Listen, sweetheart, your dad and I go after bad guys, yes. But we do it differently than Jason's dad, so it's not as dangerous," she explained, "and people like George are not a lot. But when we have to deal with them, yes, I am always with your dad. And if I am not, I'm always just a phone call away," she continued, "and that also goes for you. If you ever need me, I'm just a phone call away." She finished.

"Promise?" He asked.

"Promise." She vowed, holding up her pinky, which Jack happily linked with his own to seal the promise.

Jack turned around and returned to his coloring.

"Thank you." She heard Hotch whisper softly next to her.

"I meant it." She stressed.

"I know." He said simply, and she turned her head to lock eyes with him. Their faces so close, she could feel his shaky breaths on her face. The pain in them broke her heart, and she knew that she still needed to talk more to him about the whole deal but she couldn't do it with Jack in her lap.

But for the first time, she saw something else in his eyes. Something that scared her.

Luckily for her, the food came, and they were all hungry enough that they momentarily forgot about their thoughts and dug in.

Of course, Ayşe's commentary every time she passed by the table earned either a groan, a Turkish cheeky response, or mumbling under her breath.

Jack had started to lean against Amalya mid-meal, and by the time the adults were done with their food, he was fast asleep against the brunette's chest, with her left arm wrapped around his body to secure him to her.

"Hotch, are you done with your food?" She checked, and he nodded, "can you take him for a minute? I need the bathroom." She asked, and he immediately moved to take Jack off her lap.

They worked in tandem to make sure Jack got the least bit of disturbance and didn't wake up. She quickly sprang to her feet, and headed for the bathroom.

Hotch was left to his own thoughts.

He had been having nightmares for weeks; reliving his attack, reliving the attack but Jack was also there, reliving the attack but Amalya was there, Foyet attacking Amalya and stabbing her in front of him while he watched without being able to do much, walking into his old house after hearing those shots to find Haley, Jack and Amalya all shot. He'd been waking up in a sweat for weeks because of them. And the stronger his feelings for Amalya grew, the more vivid her involvement in the nightmares became. They terrified him.

He knew that, logically, she wasn't even around when Foyet attacked, that Foyet never really even knew of her existence, let alone her involvement. But his subconscious was running wild with his worst fear.

He was momentarily pulled out of his thoughts by a waitress who wordlessly dropped 2 bags of take-out boxes on their table. He wanted to ask, but she left before he got the chance, and he didn't want to call out so he didn't wake Jack up.

He was still lost in his thoughts when he saw Amalya walking back towards the table, holding a folded photo card in her hand. She softly knelt down on the Ottoman, and he realized she had two of them, as she put one inside her purse and opened the other.

"So, on most nights, she has a photographer who comes in to take various photos of the crowd and people dancing and such. She picks a few to hang on the wall with the patrons' permission and she makes copies for you if you want them. She already made a copy of that one," she explained as she turned the photo card towards him, and he saw a picture of the team mid-dance. They were all smiling - including him - and as luck would have it, she was the one right next to him. They were both looking at each other in the picture, smiling radiantly at something he can't remember now. "We can hang this one in Penelope's office since we can't exactly have it next to our murder board," she quipped and he smiled.

She put the card into her purse, before she gently took Jack from him, and got to her feet. He held out his hands for Jack once he got to his feet, but she shook her head. "He's fine, just get the food, and let's go."

"No one brought a check," he told her.

"I took care of it." She informed him and saw him about to protest. "You can get it next time," she added.

He smiled at the idea, the prospect that they might do this another time. At least, he can use the excuse of paying her back for this entire day to do it again.

He followed her out the door, ignoring the knowing smirk on the older woman's face. The one identical to the ones he ignored earlier on Haley and Jessica's faces. The one that Rossi gives him every day.

Hello all.

Long time no see.
Sorry for the wait. Life happened.
This part was originally a single chapter, that somehow became three, with the third soon to follow.
Hope you enjoy it and let me know what you think.