Nicotine // Aaron Hotchner

Sept

Aaron knew they were being watched by the unsub. He knew that Victoria had popped into character in case anyone overheard. She had skillfully dodged any suspicion by showering him with faux praise despite the fact that she had deduced what it meant. They had suceeded in their mission of attracting the unsub. He should be relieved that they had results, yet he couldn't help but ponder the dangers this entailed. If everything went wrong in the end and they found themselves alone abd vulnerable at the mercy of the unsub, Victoria would face the worst of it. That thought alone made his blood run cold.

He had never been someone who liked the idea of going undercover. It put the agent, or agents, in an unpredictable situation. Aaron planned from that moment on to keep a careful eye on his partner. Rossi would never forgive him if any harm came her way, and he would never be able to forgive himself either. In the short time they had known each other he had learned so much about her. How she had this fire in her eyes every time a topic that interested her came up. Or how she knew exactly what to do whenever things didn't go according to plan. She was a strong independent woman with a personality to match.

"Aaron, yoohoo, earth to Aaron. You in there?"

He snapped out of his thoughts and diverted his attention to her. "Yes dear?"

"I was just hoping we could look at some shops after breakfast. Maybe even invite our close friends for lunch."

The code was just in case the unsub had bugged the car. While unlikely they couldn't be too careless. "I think that's a wonderfully idea. We could invite Derek and his wife Penelope."

While Aaron had wanted to speak personally with Morgan and Rossi it would be too suspicious. If it were Morgan and Garcia their natural chemistry could disguise the meeting as a double date of sorts. Although JJ would have been his second choice, but chances were the unsub had already seen her in the press.

"I like your thinking husband," she smiled. "Now step on the gas because I'm starving."

"Of course sweetums."

Over the course of the case the two had devised their own challenge. Who could come up with the most absurd terms of endearment. It was mainly so they could laugh about it in the privacy of their hotel room for entertainment and slightly for fun. Aaron would be lying if he said he wasn't having at least some fun. He knew that as long as they were as far away from their hotel room as possible the unsub would never know that the flowers had been taken in as evidence. The unsub worked alone.

The two sat at a hipster looking breakfast place by the beach and looked at the menus. They held hands over the table as Aaron unconsciously rubbed his thumb in circles on her hand. They needed to appear like a young married couple hopelessly in love. Surprisingly people bought into that image fairly quickly.

"Honey, I think you should call our friends to invite them later for lunch. I'm sure they'll need time to prepare," Victoria told him in a soft delicate voice.