and tantalize, just so

1.7K 62 39
                                    

Juliette returns to work two weeks before Aaron, much to his dismay. He hates to not be there for them, putting his fragile team in the hands of Morgan. He knows the team will do fine, they've worked well without him before, but that doesn't stop him from texting Juliette for intel every hour she's gone.

Juliette thought she would have trouble following orders from the younger agent, but their minds worked in synch for those weeks, soon finishing each other's sentences during profiles.

Jack's having more fun than either of them thought he would designing his new room, which has switched between Star Wars and Firefighter themed four times in those two weeks. Juliette's spent more time playing piano than she had in the past five years, learning songs from his favorite shows or playing Chopin until both boys fall asleep on the couch.

The day that Aaron returns to the office, he drives the couple in at the crack of dawn to catch up on the paperwork she wouldn't let him even set his eyes on while he was healing. She sits at his couch with an eye out for any signs of pain from him through the morning, smiling when the team trickles in to welcome him back.

Garcia enters just after lunch with a tin of cookies, bragging about hand making them and swatting away Juliette's hand until Rossi and Spencer enter. They'd left for a long lunch together, but the older agent looks defeated when he sits on Hotch's couch with an exaggerated sigh.

Penelope's the first one to pry, "What's up with you?"

"His favorite bar is closing." Spencer explains.

Juliette laughs. "That piece of shit is finally closing?"

"Don't act so happy, it has history." Rossi scoffs. "The Eagles played there, Chicago, Ringo."

"Awww." Garcia sighs sympathetically, before perking up again. "We should have a going away party for it!"

Juliette groans dramatically, but the rest nod in agreement. Hotch soon receives a phone call, the team pretending to ignore his conversation until he hangs up. "We have a case."

"This one's in our own backyard, literally." Garcia starts, having gathered the team at the round table. "A water and power company was digging in the backyard of this family's home when they found the remains of two bodies."

"We will be assisted by a team of forensic anthropologists from the DC office, they should help to identify the remains as well as interview the family." Hotch adds.

"We're working with another team?" Morgan asks, annoyance already in his tone. "Does Cruz want someone to babysit us again?"

"A friend from the team asked invited us on the case because he expects questioning the family will take more extensive profiling." He answers. "Leroux, Morgan, and Reid, I'd like you to oversee the forensic team at the Smithsonian for today. The rest of us will stay here, they're transferring the family to Quantico as we speak."

Juliette and Morgan grumble as they get ready to go up to DC, while Spencer entertains the ride with facts about the museum.

While Spencer's ecstatic to meet her, Juliette and Morgan had only heard of Dr. Temperance Brennan in passing. The best-selling author had a reputation for being cool and focused, but with their own resident genius on board, they aren't worried.

The Jeffersonian strikes Juliette as much more modern than any other ME's office she's been in, the open floor plan allowing them to walk straight up to organized sets of bones. Two women and a man stand around the skeletons, inspecting each piece with an intricacy and focus that assures confidence in the agents.

"Welcome to the Smithsonian, I'm Dr. Camille Saroyan." The shorter woman introduces, shaking hands with the agents and exchanging the awkward wave with Spencer.

VIOLENT DELIGHTS, aaron hotchnerWhere stories live. Discover now