Reckless

Chapter 11

Hotch glanced in the rearview mirror as he straightened his tie. Jack had his face buried in his phone, too engaged with whatever game he was playing to even look up when the car stopped. Since he started middle school, it was becoming a more and more common practice for him. One that Hotch didn't particularly care for. He cleared his throat, more loudly than necessary in his attempt to get his son's attention.

"Hey!," Jack protested. "I thought we were going to the comic book store. It's pokemon card trading day!"

"We are," Hotch promised. "I just have to make a quick stop first."

"Fine," Jack huffed, burying his nose back into his phone before he added, "...I'll be in the car."

"Not a chance," Hotch countered. Allowing a preteen boy to sit in the car and wait while he stepped away wasn't exactly a high risk activity. It was late morning and they were in a mostly decent part of town. But given who he was and what they'd already been through, it wasn't happening. Not today. Probably not ever. "Besides, it's a karate dojo, maybe you'll see something cool inside."

"Cool?," Jack repeated, rolling his eyes for effect. "Karate is for dorks. And no one talks like that dad." Hotch took a deep breath as he stepped from the vehicle. To his credit, Jack climbed out and shuffled along begrudgingly behind him without any further complaint.

Hotch had never been inside this particular dojo. But he was familiar with it. If agents within the bureau wanted combat training above and beyond what was required by the agency, this is where they came. It was the only dojo in the greater DC area that taught kyokushin style karate, which Hotch was extremely familiar with thanks to his team's resident genius. Reid explained the significance of it to him in great detail when Hotch got stuck in the same vehicle as him during a stakeout. Kyokushin style karate was known for rigorous endurance training and full contact sparring. It was taught in combination with kickboxing techniques. It was one of the few styles that had a focus on offensive techniques rather than defensive maneuvers.

Hotch entered the building, showing his badge at the reception desk. The man offered Jack a friendly smile and let Hotch know where he could find the agent he was looking for. Hotch paused to watch a children's class that was taking place in one of the large open training rooms. They ranged in age from what looked like preschool to what looked like probably a little older than Jack. Hotch glanced back, curious to see if Jack was taking any interest in the class. There were a few girls that looked to be about his age off to one side. He sighed and shook his head when he saw his son still had his face buried in his phone. The entire building could be on fire and he doubted Jack would notice.

They passed a large workout area on the left that was filled with treadmills and weight machines. And somewhere inside the building, Hotch guessed there must be a pool or a hot tub. He could smell the chlorine. In the next workout room on the right, Hotch spotted the woman he was looking for. Toni's feet and hands were wrapped in red tape. She was punching and kicking a large hanging bag. Hotch guessed the bag had to be heavy, because it was barely swinging despite the force of her attack. She looked like she's been at it for some time. Little tendrils of her hair had pulled loose from her ponytail. They were hanging limp around her face, damp from the sweat. She was wearing a snug pair of leggings and a matching sports bra. All the areas of exposed skin were covered in a light sheen of perspiration.

Hotch was sure Toni saw him coming. But she chose to ignore his presence at first, continuing her assault on the hanging bag. When he moved far enough into her space that she was forced to acknowledge him, she only spared him a moment's glance. "I guess you got my email," she stated. Her voice was flat and she was doing her best to keep it free of emotion. But her body language revealed her obvious frustration. What Hotch needed to determine was what she was so frustrated about. Being offered the job of your dreams didn't often send people packing it to the gym to beat a punching bag senseless.

"I did," Hotch agreed. He arranged Toni's transfer paperwork on the plane ride back from Arizona. It was quite the surprise to have it rejected. And even more surprised to discover that it wasn't her superior, but Toni herself that declined the position. Her email gave no explanation whatsoever as to why she would deny herself a place in the bureau's most coveted unit. All she did was thank him for the opportunity. Hotch would never admit it, but having someone turn down a spot on his team was a hard blow to his ego. And not only that, but he needed her. The BAU was short two team members. Three, if he counted the space he'd yet to fill from when Kate Calahan left. And none of the other applicants had Toni's mixture of profiling abilities and tactical expertise.

"Well…," Toni asked. "What do you want from me then?"

"I want an explanation," Hotch replied. Toni was doing her best to ignore him as she brushed her damp hair out of her face and took another swing at the bag. When she pulled her fist back, Hotch moved between her and the recipient of her obvious frustration. Toni had to pull her punch to a full stop. The rough movement caught her off balance and she nearly fell into him.

"Goddamn it," she cursed. Hotch fought back a smile, noticing that he now had her full attention. "Look," she huffed. "I just can't sit in an office all day talking about these psychos. I need the chase."

"You've submitted your file to the team before," Hotch countered. He almost accepted her transfer the last time. And now he was kicking himself for not snatching her up while he had the opportunity.

"Yeah, well I changed my mind," Toni snipped. She was lying through her teeth. And not very well. She wanted a spot on the BAU since she joined the FBI eight years ago, right out of college. It was her dream job. But after careful consideration, she decided that sleeping around with the man that didn't know he fathered a child with her six years ago was stupid enough. Doing it in front of an entire team of profilers and thinking no one was going to find out was a whole other level of deluded. What she was going to do now was stay on the task force. She'd figure out what to do about Spencer Reid later.

"Is this about what happened with Daniel Cullen?," Hotch asked. Toni shifted her body, trying to step around him. But he shadowed her movements, continuing to block her from the punching bag.
"No," Toni barked. "It's not!" She stepped back, raking the wild tendrils of her hair back away from her face. Toni was a straightforward person by nature. Keeping a secret so big was weighing heavily on her. She wanted to scream. And curse. Most of all, she wanted to say something horrible enough to Aaron Hotchner that he would get the hell out of her dojo and stop pressing her for answers she couldn't give him. It was only her absolute respect for the man that stayed her tongue. That and the fact that before she could say anything else, her son came running at her like a speeding bullet.

"Mommy!," he squealed. Toni swung him up into her arms, hugging him against her chest. "Sensei Nakamora said my fighting stance was perfect."

"That's wonderful, mi amor," Toni praised. She set her son down, ruffling her hand through his dark curls as he wrapped his arms around her legs. When he released her, he turned and regarded Hotch with a curious stare. In his suit and tie, it was obvious that he wasn't at the dojo to work out.

"Mommy, do you have to go to work?" Romeo asked, his voice already full of disappointment. Toni shook her head, promising him she was not going anywhere before she sent him over to the large wall mirror to practice his stances while she finished her workout.

When Toni turned her attention back to Hotch, she could see his normally stone faced expression had softened slightly. There was even a hint of a smile on his face as he watched her son kicking his little bare feet in the air. Toni smiled back. But under the surface, she couldn't help but feel a tiny surge of anxiety. Her son had her dark hair and eyes. But there was no denying that Romeo inherited his tall lanky frame and most of his prominent facial features from his father. She couldn't help but wonder if it was obvious enough for someone that knew Spencer to make the connection just by looking at her son.

"You're not going to leave until you get an explanation, are you?," Toni asked. She had one hand resting on her hip, regarding Hotch with an expression that he was relieved to see looked less angry than it was before her son showed up.

"I'm not going to leave until you agree to accept that transfer," he countered.

Toni snorted out a laugh and shook her head at him. Hotch got to know all his agents well, focusing on the best way to get what he needed out of them. Rossi liked to feel important. JJ's motivation was being made to feel like she was helping others. Reid liked a puzzle or a challenge. And Garcia just wanted to feel appreciated. Hotch was slowly coming to realize that none of those tactics worked on Antonio Ramirez. She responded best to blunt honesty.

"Well, if you're going to interrupt my workout…," Toni said. Her eyes traveled up and down his body. It didn't feel sexual, but more like she was sizing him up. Still, Hotch fought the urge to squirm a little under her intense gaze. "...you might as well make yourself useful and lose the tie." Toni pointed to a shelving unit off to one side of the thick floor mats. "There's spare gloves and tape over there."

"You want to spar?," Hotch confirmed. He wasn't exactly prepared for a fight. Or dressed for one. The extra slices of bacon he had when he took Jack out to breakfast were still churning in his gut. But if a few punches were going to get Toni on his team, then he was willing to take them.

"Don't worry, I'll take it easy on you," Toni teased.

Hotch was fairly sure that what he was doing was a bad idea. But it wasn't until Toni squared up on the other side of the large blue mat that he realized his mistake. She jumped in the air and spun, kicking her leg out with so much force and speed that Hotch heard the rush of wind. She landed softly on the mat, finishing the move with another kick. Toni didn't get anywhere close to him with her swing. Her fancy kick was simply meant to intimidate him, which if he was being perfectly honest, it did. Hotch was field trained. But most of his training involved a gun. And if he got into a hand to hand situation, his goal was to take down his suspect with the least amount of force. He was not familiar with match fighting, especially not against a curvy latina with a chip on her shoulder and a black belt in karate.

If it wasn't bad enough that Hotch was about to fight a girl and lose, it appeared that he was also going to have to do it in front of an audience. The moment they saw there was about to be a match, the other kids that were in class with Toni's son quickly gathered around the mat. Hotch could tell they were ready to cheer for Sensei Toni. A squeal of excitement rippled through them when she did her jump spin. The only positive thing about the situation for Hotch was that Jack was finally off his phone. He joined the other kids, sitting close to Toni's son as he stared at his father with a look of grave concern on his face.

"I need a scorekeeper," Toni requested as she bounced back and forth on the balls of her feet.

A taller blonde girl shot up with her hand raised. She moved, taking up a position at the edge of the mat. The girl held her hands up and shouted, "Shobu Hajime." Hotch didn't understand the language, but he was fairly certain it was Japanese for you're about to get your ass kicked. Because as soon as the girl said it, Toni started moving closer to him.

Toni juked to his left, giving him a slight tap on the right side of his body. Hotch guessed that she could have hit him much harder, maybe even knocked the wind out of him. But she didn't. There was a little grin on her face, indicating that she was only testing him at the moment.

"One point!," the girl announced.

Toni danced back a step. Hotch was watching her fists, expecting another blow to his torso. He didn't see her leg coming until the top of her foot was already connecting with the outside of his thigh. Again, Toni didn't kick him hard enough to really hurt him. But that one stung a little.

"Two points!"

Hotch was able to block her next swing. He quickly assessed his opponent in his mind, pretending for a moment that she was a suspect he was trying to take down. Toni was skilled. But she was also smaller than him. She might be faster, but he was heavier and had a longer reach. If he could get a hold of her, he might be able to gain an advantage. Actually wrestling probably wasn't allowed in a sparring match. But since no one bothered to explain the rules to him, Hotch supposed he'd do whatever he wanted.

Toni got a few more light hits in. But the next time she charged him, Hotch dodged to his left and grabbed her. He spun her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pinning her arm against her body in a rear body lock. The approach was one he'd used many times to get a suspect down. He stepped his foot forward, and pulled back to throw her center of gravity off. It sent them both onto the floor. But he was ready to hit the ground and she wasn't. The kids were on their feet squealing and screaming as Toni landed on her hip. She was already trying to roll away and get back onto her feet. But Hotch nabbed her before she could escape. He forced her onto her stomach and pulled one arm behind her back, being careful not to jerk hard enough to actually injure her.

"You're under arrest," he joked. Toni's body was shaking with laughter under his hold. Hotch climbed back onto his feet with more of his dignity intact than he expected with the fight started. He helped Toni onto her feet, stepping back while she set a few of the kids up and gave them permission to spar if they kept the contact light. She led him over to a nearby bench, handing him a bottle of water as they sat down. It wasn't cold, but he still chugged about half of it down before he came up for a breath.

Toni tapped her water bottle against the side of his before she spoke. "My reasons for declining the transfer had nothing to do with Daniel Cullen," she admitted. "They were personal." She paused. Hotch was tempted to encourage her to continue. But he forced himself to wait. It was clear that she was struggling to find the words she needed to express herself. "Part of the reason I want off the task force is… I got too close with my partner." Toni took a deep breath and another sip of water. "Leaving there and coming to the BAU feels a bit like jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire."

Hotch furrowed his brows in confusion. It was unusual for him to be at a complete loss. But he really had no idea what Toni was talking about. The only agent she'd worked with for more than a day or two was him. And he was quite sure that he'd been nothing but professional with her. He was always cognizant of his behavior around female agents, especially if they were attractive. Most of them had already endured more than their fair share of sexual harassment within the bureau. And he strived to make his team a place where they were treated with respect.

"If I've done anything that made you uncomfortable," Hotch replied, "...I apologize."

"Oh!," Toni squeaked. She covered her mouth to hide the nervous laughter that was bubbling out of her. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean you. You've been nothing but professional. Look… just forget I said anything about that."

Hotch watched as Toni took a hard gulp of water. He didn't think it was possible, but he was now even more confused than a moment before. The only men on his team were Rossi and Reid. He couldn't even fathom either of them being the source of Toni's hesitation. Rossi was a bit of a skirt chaser. But he preferred women his own age. He always treated the female agents on their team with respect. And Reid was Reid. He was more concerned with books than he was with women. He barely seemed to notice them. He could be a little overzealous when it came to getting to know anyone new that joined the team. He would talk your ear off. But Hotch couldn't picture any scenario where he would cross the line and become inappropriate.

"You wanted to take down the Crimson King," Hotch finally said, once he decided to put Toni's strange explanation aside and focus on what he knew was motivating to her. She liked to catch bad guys. From what he'd seen, she lived for the hunt. And in the BAU, they had one especially slippery suspect that had been alluding them for some time now. "Peter Lewis took that from you. Do you want to help us catch him, or not?"

"You're goddamn right I do," Toni exclaimed.

Hotch was grinning as he extended his hand towards her. "SS Agent Ramirez, welcome to the BAU."