The Agent and The School Teacher

Chapter Twenty-Four: Extend the Invitation

"And how many of those relationships were successful?"

"For your information, Hotch, all six of them." He raised his eyebrows.

"Seriously?" I nodded.

"Yup. Four of the six are happily married, and the other two are of the belief that Marriage is just a piece of paper, and isn't necessary in defining their relationship. I also have a teacher that I have been meaning to introduce to Dr. Reid, but I prefer to only focus on one couple at a time."

"This is insane," He said, "And don't you think that they might find it weird, Ben's ex-wife setting them up on a date?"

"Ben is the only one who knows I'm doing that. I'm just going to introduce them and let them take care of the rest. Trust me, I have a gift for spotting potential romantic connections."

"I'm not entirely sure I believe you." I nodded.

"Ok. Twenty bucks says, assuming you still participate, by the end of the race Ben is going to ask Emily to hang out again, and she is going to say yes."

"Isn't it slightly immoral to place bets on other people's love lives?"

"I won't tell if you won't." He smirked at me.

"You're on."

"Great."

"But um...speaking of the women of the BAU..." I furrowed my eyebrows. "I guess Friday night, JJ, Emily, and Garcia are having a ladies night, and have asked me to extend the invitation to you."

"Seriously?" I asked. He nodded.

"Unfortunately for me, the topic of my love life is a popular topic among my team, and they want to hang out with you in a setting that doesn't involved child kidnappings or serial murders." I nodded.

"Yeah, that sounds great. Just give them my number and we'll talk about it." He smiled. "I think it could be really fun to get to know your co-workers a little better."

"So, wait, if you don't know Emily that well, how are you so confident that she and Ben will hit it off?"

"I have my ways." He rolled his eyes at me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and leading me to the car.

~~~

The kids filed out of the room at the end of the school day on Friday when my phone rang.

"Elizabeth Bartlett, how can I help you?" I answered.

"Is this Elizabeth as in Hotch's girlfriend?" It wasn't Emily or JJ's voice, which told me that this was the infamous Garcia.

"Depends, is this the oracle of the FBI, formally known as Penelope Garcia?" I asked as Charlotte came into the room with Sadie.

"Someone has been doing her research."  I laughed.

"What can I do for you?"

"Hotch gave me your number, said you were interested in joining Emily, JJ, and I for Ladies night tonight."

"Yes! Yes, I definetly am. I was so excited that you guys througt to invite me."

"Well, we're intruiged. Any woman that can capture the boss man's attention is a woman to get to know." I smiled. "We were all going to meet at that bar on fifth street, the one next to the dry cleaners?"

"Yeah, I know the one."

"Great. Meet us at say...six o'clock?"

"Yeah, that sounds great. I'm so excited, seriously, thank you guys for inviting me."

"Of course! We're excited too. See you then, Doll. Garcia out." She hung up and I smiled. She is definitely a character.

"Mommy!" I looked up to see that Sadie and Charlotte had been joined by Jack. "Jack asked if we could go over to his house and help make signs for Mr. Hotchner's race tomorrow!"

"Can we, can we, can we?!" Sadie asked.

"Did you talk to your dad about this?" I questioned.

"I told him to come ask you." I looked up to see Aaron standing in the doorway, dressed in his suit. And from the tired look in his eyes, it wasn't difficult to tell that he'd just gotten off a plane.

"Are you sure?" I asked. "I mean, you clearly just got off of a case, and you have the race tomorrow."

"If you can handle three kids at once, I can do it to." He said. "Plus, David already agreed to come get Jack before I leave in the morning, so you can just meet them at the race."

"I mean...I'm ok with it if you are." He nodded.

"I'm ok with it. Plus, if I'm not mistaken, you have plans tonight." I smiled.

"I do, yeah. That Garcia is...quite the character." He laughed.

"That she is. Well, if she said yes, we'd better get going kids." The girls hugged me, grabbing their backpacks and running out the door. I stood up, walking over to Aaron and pecking him on the lips breifly.

"Have fun with that. Good luck tomorrow. I'll be the one in the crowd screaming like a wild person."

"If you're not hungover, that is." I shook my head.

"I'm not really the drinking type. I'll probably just hang out and be the designated driver."

"Ok. Well, have a good time."

"You too." I kissed him again and he followed the kids out of the classroom. I smiled.

I could get used to this.