Hi All. Welcome to chapter two of More Than A Team: Clash of the Geniuses. This is the second story my of More Than A Team series, I hope to write new stories for this series frequently. This story is complete and four chapters long. Updates should be weekly unless something drastic happens.

If you have not read the first story in this series More Than A Team: The Final Member, you may be confused about a few things, so I do recommend you read that one first.

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: Pepper has joined the team, but things are not going smoothly between her and Spencer, they can't seem to stop getting under each other's skin. What happens when they cannot keep it professional on a case. AU, OC, AaronXHaley, set during season 2 episodes 13, 14 and 15. Contains spanking. Full 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, torture, murder, and rape, if this is triggering, please be careful. This story also involves the spanking of 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~

A couple hours later Aaron woke up still tired but feeling vaguely functional now, at least awake enough to get through a conversation with Pepper and spend a little time with his family before turning in early. He got himself dressed in a pair of sweats and a t-shirt and headed downstairs, smiling at the happily screech of a greeting he got from his young son, "hey there little man," he greeted, scooping his young son up and tossing him in the air catching him easily.

Haley smiled watching her husband interact with their son, it was harder than she had thought it would be, having a kid and being an FBI wife, but she'd had practice with Sean and Pepper and knew what to expect. Hotch was a good man, a loving husband, a devoted father, and a brilliant FBI agent. Did she wish he was around more, definitely but she loved him and the BAU was part of him, and she couldn't ask him to give that up. "As much as I love having Pepper here, something tells me this is not just a social visit, so I'm guessing you want Jack and I to give you guys some privacy?" She asked once Hotch set Jack back down in front of his toys.

"You sure you don't mind? We can go to her place, but something was really upsetting her on the plane and I'm hoping the comfort of being here will get her to open up," Aaron explained softly.

"I don't mind. My sister has been complaining that I don't visit her enough. I'll take Jack over there for a couple hours. I might even be feeling generous enough to bring back some Chinese for dinner," Haley smiled.

Aaron headed over to his wife and drew her into his arms, looking down at her adoringly, "has anyone ever told you that you are amazing?"

"I might have heard a rumor or two about that fact," Haley grinned. "Right, I should get Jack ready to go, don't let her sleep for too much longer or she'll struggle to sleep tonight," she reminded. "Come on Jack, let's go see Aunty Jess and your cousins," she beamed.

Aaron helped Haley get Jack ready to go, giving his son a big hug and a kiss and reminding him to behave, though at sixteen months old he wasn't old enough to get into any trouble. He walked out with Haley, setting Jack in his car seat and making sure he was strapped in securely. "Text me when you get there and let me know when you're on your way home. Give my love to Jess and the kids," he urged.

Haley nodded, "I will, go take care of whatever you and Pepper need to take care of, we'll see you in a few."

Aaron shut the door and watched Haley drive off. He paused to gather himself, during Jason's sabbatical he'd taken on responsibility for Spencer, correcting the young genius when he needed it, and when Pepper had been his ward, he'd taken her over his knee plenty, as well as whenever she came to stay; she and Sean had a knack for finding trouble. In light of what happened, the urge to just let it go was strong, but that would do Pepper no good and Aaron knew even with what Spencer had gone through Jason was not going to let it go. He sighed and headed into the house going into his office and grabbing the wooden ruler, arguing like a child in public was not such a severe offence as to be worthy of the hairbrush, but it needed more than just an attention getter. He placed the ruler on the arm of the couch, so Pepper would see it when they came in. First though he needed to talk to Pepper about whatever had her sobbing so heart brokenly on the plane, and this time he was not taking no or later for an answer.

Aaron crossed the hall to Pepper's room and knocked lightly before he entered, he expected to find her asleep, so was surprised to see that she was awake and clearly had been for a while. She looked almost more tired than she had when they'd gotten home. He knew they definitely needed to talk about whatever it was that was tormenting her so, "did you get any sleep at all?"

Pepper sighed when someone knocked on her door, she considered for a moment pretending to still be asleep, but she was too tired to put up a convincing show and wasn't that just the definition of irony. She didn't bother calling for the person to come in, the knocker could only be Hotch and he was only knocking to be polite and to give her a chance to shout for him to wait if she was undressed or something. It took more effort than she thought it would to pull herself up into a sitting position, cursing the fact that her own brain just wouldn't let her sleep. Well maybe once the hammer fell and she knew her fate one way or another, if Hotch was going to allow her to transfer or insist on firing her in which case she would tender her resignation, then she would be able to sleep. "Some," she admitted, there was no point in lying.

Aaron raised a disbelieving eyebrow at that, she really didn't appear to have gotten any sleep at all.

"I got about an hour, maybe a little less," Pepper insisted.

Aaron sighed and crossed the room, sitting down on the bed and looking at Pepper, she looked like hell, there was no other way to describe it. "What's going on Pepper?" He asked, or rather demanded.

Pepper winced at Hotch's tone, not sure how she could answer that without actually answering it, blubbing all over him and begging him not to fire her was just not something she wanted to do. "It's nothing," she tried.

"Pepper," Aaron growled warningly.

Pepper felt a flare of annoyance and she was too tired to remain in complete control of her emotions. "What does it even matter? Huh? You'll have my resignation on your desk tomorrow, so you don't have to fire me," she blurted out.

It was rare for anything anyone said to shock Aaron, he was too good at reading people, but this truly did shock him, "fire you? Pepper what?"

"I guess you're just going to transfer me then, I can accept that, if you're sure J-Jason won't insist on me being fired," Pepper agreed. Being transferred wasn't as bad as being fired, David would still be disappointed she couldn't make it in the BAU, but she'd still be in the FBI, still be a profiler, maybe there would be another team she could join. She couldn't fight back the tears again and they started spilling down her cheeks, she tried to reassure herself that at least she wasn't being fired, but she didn't think there was any other team or department that would accept her.

Aaron felt a spike of fury at the mere idea of Pepper being transferred to another department, being part of a different team, that was not happening. The mention of Jason had him even more confused though. "You are certainly not being transferred anywhere, you are part of the BAU, a member of my team and you are staying that way. Jason definitely doesn't want you fired Pepper, why on earth do you think that? What is going on in that head of yours?" He saw the tears and moved so he could tug her to his side, holding her close, "talk to me Pepper, because you are not making any sense here."

Pepper resisted Hotch tugging her to him for a moment before she gave in and let him tug her to his side and tuck her under his arm. She couldn't help but cling to him again, seeking the comfort she knew she didn't really deserve but wanted so badly anyway. "I… I got Spencer killed, it's my fault what happened to him," she sobbed out.

"Pepper no, no, honey no. Listen to me. You were not responsible for what happened in any way," Aaron murmured softly.

"You were going to send me there too, but you didn't because you didn't trust that Spencer and I wouldn't get in another argument. I should have been there to watch Spencer and JJ's back," Pepper pointed out through her sobs.

"Pepper Rosanne, you stop this right now. Yes, I was going to send you there too, in which case you would have been with JJ and Spencer still would have been alone and still would have gotten kidnapped. Spencer insisted on them splitting up and would have still insisted upon it if you had been there. He took a needless and dangerous risk and had he not been kidnapped then Jason would be impressing the consequences of that onto his bottom just as I would if it was you taking such a stupid risk," Aaron corrected firmly.

Pepper sucked in a sharp breath and looked up at Hotch, confused but hopeful.

Aaron saw the look and nodded, "you were not responsible for Spencer's choices Pepper, and you going most likely would not have changed anything. Obviously, we cannot know for sure because I did not send you with them, but even if I had, you would have either had to leave JJ alone to back up Spencer – in which case you would have both been in serious hot water – or leave Spencer alone to back up JJ, which means you'd have no better chance of preventing what happened than JJ did."

Pepper tried to come up with a response to that, trying to think of how her presence at the Hankel home could have changed things… but Hotch was right she'd probably have been JJ's back up, Spencer wouldn't have wanted her as back up, and so the same thing would have happened to him. She felt a wave of relief so strong it was fortunate she was sitting, or she'd probably have fallen over. She let out a sob of pure relief and buried her face in Hotch's side clinging to him as she let go of the crushing guilt she'd been suffocating under.

"Oh, you silly girl, why didn't you just talk to me about this on the plane? I could have reassured you hours ago. There is very little you could do to get yourself fired, you might not ever be able to sit again, but you won't be fired," Aaron chided softly. He rubbed Pepper's back and held her while she purged her emotions. Once her sobs slowed, he peered down at her, gently tilting her chin up to gain eye contact, "you know we deal with things unconventionally here, so why did you think Jason especially would have wanted you fired?" It had been bothering him from the moment she'd said it, it set his alarm bells ringing and he wasn't going to let Pepper get away with not explaining that one.

Pepper let out a tearful chuckle at Hotch's light chiding but then froze when he asked why she thought Jason wanted her fired. She chewed her lip, squirming uncomfortably, "nothing," she murmured.

Aaron tilted Pepper's chin up to get her to look at him, "that is not an acceptable answer little girl," he warned her in a low gravelly voice.

Pepper swallowed, wishing she could duck her head away, she sighed. "Jason cares about Spencer, I'd say he treats him like his son, but actually he treats him better than he even did Steven. Spencer is… special to Jason," she pointed out.

Aaron was more than capable of reading between the lines, Pepper was jealous. "Yes Pepper, Spencer is special to Jason, he has taken on a parental type of role model for him. That doesn't mean he cares for you any less or that he wants to fire you or is going to blame you for things that aren't your fault," he assured her.

Pepper averted her eyes, hating that Hotch was calling her out, without actually calling her out. Profilers had an annoying habit of knowing everything, though she was now a profiler herself so she probably shouldn't think about that so bitterly, but it came from having a profiler as a second guardian throughout her teen-hood. Getting away with anything under David Rossi's nose was impossible, despite the fact she'd been in college and David wasn't even her official legal guardian, he'd been very involved. She sighed and sagged against Hotch, now she wasn't going to be fired she felt like she could sleep for a week.

Aaron wished he could let Pepper sleep, especially as it seemed she might stand a chance of actually getting some now, but Jack couldn't be kept out too late he would need his sleep. He'd let her sleep for an hour or so afterwards, wake her for dinner, then she could go right back to bed. "Come on now, I think we better continue this discussion in my office," he suggested.

Pepper groaned, she had spent far too much time in Hotch's office, she was intimately familiar with the carpet fibers in that room. Though she hadn't been his ward for all that long, she'd still come for visits and spent time in his care. Whenever she and Sean got together trouble inevitably ensued, and Hotch dealt with trouble in the same way he had when she had been his ward.

Aaron stood up, "go use the washroom if you need it and then come meet me in my office," he directed. He left her room then, shutting the door behind him before he headed to his office taking a seat behind his desk. Pepper had been lectured enough, she knew what she'd done, there was no point scolding her any further, but she still deserved a chance to say her piece.

Pepper sighed and climbed out of bed, grabbing some sleep pants from her go bag, not wanting to walk around in just a t-shirt and panties. She ran a brush through her hair and shoved it up into a ponytail to keep it out of the way. She did take a quick stop in the washroom, then headed to Hotch's office, knocking lightly on the door.

"Come in," Aaron called when he heard Pepper's knock. He had to fight back a small smile seeing her stood in an oversized t-shirt and pajama pants, she looked so young and innocent, nothing like the twenty-year-old, professional, BAU profiler that she was. "Come sit," he instructed, he nodded at the chair in front of his desk,

Pepper walked in when she was called and paused slightly seeing the ruler on the arm of the couch, the ruler stung something fierce, but at least it wasn't anything worse. She walked over to the chair, trying not to feel like she was twelve years old again and Hotch had just caught her and Sean sneaking in at midnight after having been hanging out at the old construction site. She sat down and took a deep breath before she looked up at Hotch, making eye contact with him, knowing the lecture wouldn't begin until she did, and that refusing to make eye contact would only tick him off.

"I don't think I need to lecture you about how deplorably you were behaving much more, so this is your chance to say anything you feel you need to say and to explain yourself," Aaron stated. He didn't think there was anything Pepper could say that would change his mind, but he wasn't going to punish her without letting her explain herself.

Pepper squirmed guiltily, "I'm really sorry Sir, I… I know I shouldn't have been arguing with Spencer like that, and I accept that I've earned a… earned a punishment. I just… I want you to know, I didn't start this one," she murmured softly. She didn't want Hotch to think she was trying to talk herself out of a punishment, not after what had happened, but she still wanted to explain that she at least hadn't started this one. She explained what had happened, how the phone call was niggling at her until she figured it out, Spencer's digs getting to her until she'd snapped. She didn't want to blame Spencer for it, not with what had happened to him, but he had been the one to start this one.

Aaron was proud of Pepper for how she was accepting that she'd been in the wrong, he knew how hard that was to do, even as an adult. When it seemed that she had said her piece he knew now they had to get down to business. "You are correct, you did not start this one, however you still let yourself be drawn in and once you were, you tried to get under Spencer's skin just as much as he was yours. You were all but screaming at a fellow team member in the middle of a police station whilst we were on a case. That is not ever acceptable for any reason. You are twenty years old, supposedly a BAU Special Agent, yet twice now you have acted in a childish immature manner and that is simply unacceptable. You've really let me down and disappointed me with this behavior, and worst of all you've let yourself down. I know you are capable of much better than this, I expect you to act above and beyond expectations, not to prove those who doubted you correct. I do not want to have to have this conversation with you again, so we're going to make sure you think twice next time you want to get into a shouting match with another team member," he scolded.

Pepper shrank down in her chair under Hotch's lecture, this was not the first time he'd read her the riot act, but every time he seemed to know exactly what to say to cut her down to size. She felt about two inches tall by the time he was done and part of her wanted to throw herself at his feet and beg for his forgiveness, to promise anything she could that would prove to him she'd never disappoint him like this again. Instead, she sat still and forced herself to keep eye contact, fighting the very powerful urge to drop her head and hide from the severe tongue lashing.

Aaron steeled himself against the look of utter misery and despondence Pepper was sporting, his one-time ward looked very much like a kicked puppy. He wanted nothing more to draw her into his arms and promise her it would all be okay, but he knew that would do her no good. He had been particularly harsh in his lecture because he knew she was still harboring some guilt over what had happened to Spencer, and he hoped this way he would not have to spank her so severely to allow her to let go of her guilt. He stood and crossed over to the couch where he'd left the ruler. "Come here," he ordered sharply.

Pepper couldn't quite decide if she'd rather Hotch continued lecturing her as he got up and crossed the room, knowing what was coming next. The guilt squirming inside her stomach forced her to her feet and propelled her across the room, it wasn't enough to stop her dragging her feet though.

Aaron forced himself to keep the unyielding expression on his face, it was hard not to be moved by the miserable look on Pepper's face. The urge to take her into his arms and assure her everything was okay and that they didn't need to do this was perhaps even stronger, but that would be doing his one-time ward a disservice. He waited patiently for her to come to his side and raised an eyebrow at her, knowing she knew what to do. Before she could even think about feigning ignorance he cleared his throat, "pants and underwear down then over you go," he ordered patting his lap for emphasis.

Had she been feeling any less guilty and torn up inside Pepper might have tried to plead with Hotch to let her keep her panties up, but not even she felt that she deserved that mercy. Taking a deep breath, she shoved her hands in the waistband of her sleep pants and panties and forced herself to sweep them down together in one swift movement. As soon as her panties were down, she threw herself over Hotch's lap, her face burning slightly with embarrassment.

Aaron allowed himself a small smirk at Pepper's desperate attempts to preserve her modesty, knowing that very soon modesty would be the least of her concerns. He shifted her forwards, pulling her feet off the floor, raising his right leg so her bottom was the highest point, and her sit spots were well exposed. He rested his hand on her bottom, "when we are out in the field, we are a team and need to behave as such. Arguing with other members of the team like children is not only extremely unprofessional but also damages the BAU's reputation. If you cannot behave appropriately out in the field you will be confined to desk duty and assist on the case from the office only," he warned firmly. He was not going to fire Pepper, or see her reassigned, but desk duty was something he and Jason had discussed as an option if Pepper and/or Spencer could not put their rivalry aside and act professionally. He let his words sink in for a second before he brought down the first hard swat. Although Pepper was not responsible for Spencer's actions, their argument had led to severe consequences and he knew she was expecting a hard punishment, and he couldn't disagree that she deserved a thorough spanking.

Pepper did not want to be stuck on desk duty, that would be so humiliating. She would have promised Hotch she was going to do better, but she knew the first swat would come before she could speak, so she just promised herself that this would not happen again. She was expecting it, but still the first swat took her by surprise, and she yelped. After the first swat she pressed her lips together and tried her best to take her spanking stoically. She knew she deserved it, she'd more than earned it, and wanted to show Hotch that she accepted her dues. The spanking hurt though, and she despite her efforts she soon found herself hissing and gasping, as her hips shifted and squirmed to try and dodge the swats that landed unerringly on her rapidly heating bottom.

Aaron made sure to thoroughly warm up Pepper's bottom, quickly turning the pale white cheeks a blushing pink before he moved onto the much more tender sit spots and the tops of her thighs. The slight squirming became a little more energetic when the swats started on her sit spots and Pepper's legs started kicking just a little, however it did nothing to stop his hand from landing exactly where he intended it to. Once he had covered his whole target and the previously cool white skin was now a warm pink, he finished the warmup and upped the speed and force of the swats.

Pepper couldn't help but squeal when the swats started coming harder and faster, drumming her legs against the increased pain, shaking her head, and grasping onto fistfuls of Hotch's jeans to prevent herself from reaching back to block. Tears welled up in her eyes and her hissing and gasping turned to whimpers and small cries of pain.

Aaron steeled his heart against Pepper's increased response to the building pain. He truly loathed having to do this, but he firmly believed it was better than the alternative and writing up his team members each time they needed correcting. He continued bringing his hand down, ignoring the fierce sting that built up in his palm, knowing it was only a fraction of how much Pepper's bottom was burning. He kept spanking and darkening the pink of her cheeks, sit spots, and the tops of the backs of her thighs until they were red, and Pepper was crying freely.

Pepper fought the tears, it stung her pride somewhat to cry at a hand spanking, it was a child's punishment after all, but as the relentless spanking continued the tears that welled up in her eyes started spilling down her cheeks. She still tried to keep her cries silent, but the growing inferno in her bottom and the very real guilt she felt for how she'd behaved became so intense she had to cry it out.

As soon as Pepper was crying freely Aaron stopped the spanking and shook his hand out briefly before picking up the ruler and resting it against her heated red cheeks. "If we have to repeat this conversation, it will be with my belt, understood?" He demanded a little harshly. This was already the second time Pepper had gotten into a childish argument with Spencer, though he'd not spanked her for the first one, if she was gunning for a third, he would make sure she would deeply regret it.

Pepper knew Hotch wanted a response this time, so she nodded her head, "y-yes Sir, I u-understand, it-it won't hap-happen again," she choked out between her cries.

"It had better not," Hotch warned. He brought the ruler down with a hard smack on the already sore cheeks, spanking hard and fast to really drive the message home.

All attempts at stoicism flew out of the window when the ruler started beating a harsh tattoo of pure blistering pain on her bare backside. Pepper squirmed all over Hotch's lap, kicking and scissoring her legs in a fruitless attempt to avoid the swats, as she wailed and yowled at the swats that were intensifying the inferno that had already been raging in her bottom. Hotch's hand had seemed to be made of steel, but the cool wooden ruler seemed to be made of liquid fire for all the heat it was bringing.

Hotch continued bringing the ruler down in a random pattern, covering Pepper's bottom, sit spots, and the tops of the back of her thighs. Each swat turning the bright red skin white before it flooded back with a brighter and darker red. Pepper's cries tore at him just as they had when she was not quite nine years old, but he forced himself to continue until the wails and howls gave way to deep heartfelt sobbing and her frantic kicking and squirming slowed as she gave in to the spanking. He finally drew the spanking to a close with ten of the hardest swats yet right on the meatiest part of her bottom then tossed the ruler aside and gently rubbed Pepper's back.

It took Pepper a minute or two to realize the spanking was over, as she lay sobbing her heart out over Hotch's knee. She went completely limp over his lap as the rubbing registered in her head and she just let herself cry.

Hotch let Pepper cry it out for a couple minutes then he gently tugged her panties back into place before he guided her gently up.

As soon as Hotch started helping her up Pepper threw her arms around him and hugged into him like he was her last lifeline.

Hotch allowed himself a small smile as he gently tugged Pepper onto his lap, holding the slight young woman like she was a small child and rocking her gently. "Sssh, shh, it's all over now, it's okay, I've got you," he soothed gently. He continued holding and rocking her, whispering comforting nothings in her ear until her sobs tapered off and she was just sniffling and hiccupping in his arms.

"I'm sorry," Pepper murmured sincerely. She looked up at Hotch through her thick wet lashes, trying to convey just how deeply sorry she was through her eyes alone.

Hotch was not a profiler for nothing however and he understood the message perfectly. "I know you are. It is okay to disagree, in fact we encourage alternate theories and a healthy discussion. Getting into a heated argument that dissolves into insults and cutting remarks is never acceptable, doubly so when we are out in the field," he reinforced gently but firmly.

Pepper nodded, "I-I understand s-sir," she hiccupped.

Hotch pressed a gentle kiss to Pepper's forehead. "Your punishment is over now, you're not in any more trouble, it's Hotch again little one," he assured her softly, using the pet-name he'd given her when she was a child.

Pepper blushed a little at the reminder and the old pet-name, but it warmed something in her and there was a familiar comfortability with it that had her snuggling in just a bit tighter to her one-time father figure. She tried to fight the yawn she could feel coming, but it won out, she was completely exhausted again and wanted nothing more than to curl back into bed and go sleep for about a week.

Hotch chuckled at the jaw cracking yawn and kissed the top of Pepper's head, "go back to bed Pepper and get some actual sleep. Haley will be home in about an hour with Chinese food, I'll wake you for dinner then you can go straight back to sleep."

Pepper felt a stab of guilt at not getting any time with Jack, "but…" she started.

Hotch had a pretty good idea what was causing the guilty look on Pepper's face, "you can spend all day tomorrow with Jack and Haley. We've earned some downtime and baring another emergency we should be off until Jason and Spencer come back," he assured her.

Pepper gave a slight sheepish smile, "okay, okay if you insist, I guess I'll go to bed," she agreed, letting out another yawn.

Hotch shook his head amused as he helped Pepper stand, turning away briefly to let her pull her sleep pants back up before standing himself. "I'll wake you when Haley is back with dinner," he reminded.

Pepper nodded in agreement, "thanks Hotch," she murmured. She went back to her bedroom and wondered briefly if the pulsing throbbing pain in her rear end would even allow her to sleep, but as soon as she kicked off the sleep pants and climbed into bed, she found her eyelids drooping.

Hotch returned the ruler to its proper place before he headed downstairs to the kitchen to start putting the washed dishes away, settling back into his domestic role of father and husband. Once the dishes were away, he checked his phone and decided to give Jason a call to check on Spencer and appraise him of the situation. He didn't hold high hopes of Jason and Pepper gaining back the parental relationship they'd had before he'd even met Pepper; Jason held too much guilt over that even if Pepper would be open to it, but he hoped that maybe Jason would try to assure Pepper that her place was with their team. Hearing that Spencer was okay and sleeping through the withdrawal from the drugs Hankel had been giving him eased the bead of worry he'd been holding for the boy genius. Jason was disappointed to hear Spencer had started this argument and agreed to give him the same warning, if he couldn't be a team player with every team member, he could ride the desk. After getting a rough estimate for when they should be back in Virginia, Hotch said his goodbyes and hung up.

When Haley came home with Chinese and Hotch went to collect Pepper, he was relieved to find her actually asleep this time.

Had Hotch not told her that Pepper hadn't really slept before Haley would have been alarmed when her one-time ward stumbled sleepily into the kitchen. The younger woman was clearly exhausted and in need of much more sleep, and she completely agreed with her husband that as soon as she'd eaten her dinner she'd be going straight back to bed.

Jack was thrilled to see his Aunty Pepper and immediately demanded her attention.

Pepper couldn't help but smile adoringly at her godson as she swept him up into her arms and peppered his little laughing face with kisses. "Oh, you are getting to be such a big boy!" She praised brightly pushing the exhaustion aside easily to keep the little sixteen-month-old happy. She did blush a little, but still shot Haley a grateful look when she saw the pillow placed on the chair for her.

Dinner conversation was warm and pleasant, just general catching up, nothing to heavy or lively and Pepper was thankful her input wasn't requested too often as it was an actual effort not just to fall asleep in her plate.

"Go to bed Pepper," Hotch directed when it appeared the youngest member of his team was done eating and about to fall asleep sitting where she was.

"Huh? No, I can help tidy up," Pepper tried to insist.

"Pepper sweetie, you're already half asleep, just go to bed before you pass out where you're sitting," Haley urged.

Pepper felt a small stirring of guilt, "a-are you sure?" She asked around a dizzying yawn.

"Yes, we're sure, if you continue delaying, I'm not sure you'll even make it back up those stairs and I'll have to carry you to bed," Hotch warned amused.

Pepper didn't really take in what Hotch was saying, just nodding and getting up. She stumbled her way back up to what was unofficially her room and collapsed back into her bed, asleep before her head even hit the pillow.

~o~

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