VIOLENT DELIGHTS, aaron hotchner

incessantly willed

Finding the copycat UnSub, cleverly named the Replicator, was harder than anything the team had ever experienced. They had absolutely no leads after weeks of constant research between cases, along with no time for Aaron and Juliette to talk about more than work.

It's a Sunday evening, and with Jack at a sleepover for the long weekend, the couple jump at the opportunity for a date. In an effort to show off his cooking skills, Aaron invited Juliette over for dinner and a movie.

She arrives with nerves buried deep in her stomach, having never been to his apartment, but it dissipates with a more-than-friendly hug when he opens the door. The table's already set up, so Aaron leads her to a seat before opening a bottle of merlot.

"This looks amazing." Juliette compliments, gazing over the steaming dishes.

"It's oven-baked pork chops with acorn squash and roasted potatoes." He presents, waving his hands over the food as though he's a professional chef.

Although Juliette has almost no idea of what half of those foods are, she's more than happy to try when she sees the proud smile on Aaron's face. Taking a sip of the wine that even tastes expensive, she flashes an impressed grin before digging in.

"It's delicious." She nods, giggling at the cocky shrug Aaron does before starting on his own meal.

After being consumed by work for so long, they wordlessly agree to keep the conversation on anything but, naturally being Jack and music. After dinner, they migrate to Aaron's couch with two more full glasses of wine, conversation becoming more personal.

"I got a call from my mom while we were in Salisbury, she's staying in Germany through the winter." Aaron smiles softly. "She seems happy."

"That's good." Juliette nods, but continues when he doesn't say anything else. "The last time I spoke to mine was when I was considering taking this job."

"You didn't want it?"

"I wasn't sure about working under Erin again." She shrugs. "I liked my old team, we had a nice dynamic."

"Well, I'm glad you decided to join us."

"Me too."

Maybe she had been distracted, but Juliette's suddenly aware of how close their faces are. Staring into Aaron's overwhelmingly steady eyes locked on hers, she's frozen in the thought of where this is going.

Then she welcomes it.

Aaron leans in closer, mere atoms between their lips, inviting Juliette to make the final move. Compelled by the magnetism of his touch, she leans into the kiss with a softness that could only be the result of five years of longing.

Melting into Aaron's hand as he cradles her jaw, Juliette's lips move in effortlessly calculated motion to express her admiration, yet not appear overly aggressive.

Breathless, they separate only to stare serenely at the other through the dim evening light. Juliette tilts her head to lay on Aaron's shoulder, interlacing their hands before loosing herself in her head, the movie still playing softly from his tv in the background.

Times passes with his fingers tracing her knuckles and the sound of their glasses emptying, until Aaron speaks up. "We're going to have to tell Strauss about this."

"I can do it, she honestly won't care."

He turns to look down at her. "Really? I was thinking she's going to rip into us."

Juliette shakes her head. "I doubt it. The first time she offered me this job, she tried to set me up with Morgan."

She laughs at his eyebrows raising, sitting up to pour the last of the wine. Without uttering a toast out loud, they clink their glasses together before taking a generous sip and melting back into the couch.