Pairings: Aaron Hotchner x fem!Reader
Characters: Aaron Hotchner, Emily Prentiss, David Rossi, Jennifer "JJ" Jareau, Derek Morgan, Penelope Garcia, Spencer Reid, Kate Joyner, Will La Montange
Words: 5K
Summary: Following a concerning call from Chief Strauss the BAU is instructed to go to New York City and your first case goes off to a rocky start
Warnings: swearing? some arguing, let's just say it plain they're idiots who can't communicate
--
"To (Y/N)! The newest addition of the BAU team, may you help us cut through more red tape than ever before," Rossi lifted his glass and clinked it with yours then moving on to the rest of the guests he had invited, essentially the rest of their team at the BAU.
"Don't tell Stauss that, she thinks I'm here to keep you in line," you laughed before sipping deeply from your glass.
"What's going to happen when she finds out you're worse than him?" Emily asked, pointing to Aaron with her elbow.
"Eh, she can't fire me without good reason and I won't give her one... that she can see,"
"That's our girl," Morgan patted your back and you gave them all a big smile.
It had been a while since you had been surrounded by a good group of people, it felt nice to finally be able to let loose a bit, know that you had people who had your back and were there to support you. And no doubt you would get to know them all better than you had in the past little while because you were now colleagues.
"You know, I feel like I should thank you guys," you said, looking at the group in front of you.
"For saving your ass?" Rossi asked.
"No for dinner," you said sarcastically. "Yes, for saving my ass! God, I thought you guys were profilers,"
"I see the sass is still there," JJ grinned and you gave her a cheeky smile with a shrug.
"Just happy I'm not at the tail end of it for once," Aaron mumbled into his glass earning him a nice elbow to the gut.
"You're gonna be at the tail end of it for a while if I have anything to do with it," you teased and they all laughed.
"Yeah, so when is the wedding?" Rossi asked.
"Wedding? Come on guys," Aaron tried to divert the topic to relieve you of any discomfort.
"You saying you don't wanna marry me Hotchner?" you joked and he sent you a look as if to say,
Really? You know I'm gonna marry you the second I get the chance
"I've already planned the guest list and the menu, don't worry I didn't invite anyone from Manassas except your mom," he looked at Aaron. "And your family,"
"How do you survive this every single day?" you asked your boyfriend leaning back into his arm and he gave you a squeeze.
"I think the question you should be asking yourself is how are you going to survive this every single day?" he poked and you groaned.
"So if there's no wedding to look forward to in the foreseeable future what are you givin' us?" Derek asked and you and Aaron shared a look before both shrugging and simply keeping your mouths shut.
"You two are in cahoots, I know it," JJ pointed at the both of you.
"Well I mean," you gave her a look before turning your glance to Aaron who still had his arm around you. "Depends on what type of cahoots you mean,"
"Shh," Aaron hushed and nudged you, while you laughed.
"Why? Come on if they couldn't tell that you literally can't keep your hands off me, that's on them,"
Aaron looked at anyone for an escape from the current topic of conversation and it seemed to be given to him by Spencer.
"I was told there was going to be games?" he said and Rossi grinned at that.
"And I got one with no statistics and probability... I think," he added quickly after and everyone chuckled as he pulled out the board game in front of you.
"Life? I used to play that as a kid," you chuckled. "Caroline and I made our own board and everything. Customized it too,"
"Well this is brand new but I can assure you by the end of the night we'll be missing pieces,"
Rossi wasn't wrong, it turned out the BAU bunch, as you liked to call them, were all extremely competitive, the young doctor especially so to the point where shouting had ensued and things had been thrown around the living room.
"What do you mean you get the mansion! That makes no sense you totally rigged it!" Emily exclaimed at Derek.
"I saw! You were about to pick the shack. How did you know it was a bad card? How Derek Morgan? Tell me that?" Penelope's eyes flared into his so deeply you thought she could cut him.
"Guys, guys calm down," you laughed.
"Why?" JJ asked.
"Cause I won the lottery, ha ha," you showed off your card and the rest of them either burst into groans or shouts of protest.
Through it all somehow Aaron could hear his phone ring and he checked it quickly apologizing with a small smile on his face before excusing himself to take the call.
The rest of the team continued on but your eyes locked into Aaron and you saw how his light-hearted demeanour seemingly vanished almost instantaneously. That could have only meant one thing, there was a case.
The team noticed your silence, it was a room of profilers after all and when they turned to look at you Aaron was already making his way back to the group.
He sighed and placed his hands on the back of the couch at either side of your shoulders and the team just gave him a knowing look.
"I'm really sorry," he apologized. "But it's big. Strauss wants us in New York as soon as possible. The jet's already prepped. Garcia, I think it's best we have you with us on this,"
"Of course sir, whatever you need," she nodded.
"Alright, everyone, take fifteen to go grab your stuff from home and head to the airstrip. Wheels up in thirty,"
The team nodded and didn't even take a second to clear up the game before they went their separate directions to gather their things.
You picked up your purse and followed Aaron out of Rossi's home, a curious look on your features.
"Does Strauss want me there?" you asked.
"She said if you're ready for it your help would be much appreciated. The director's got his eyes on this and I think he wants you to be his ears on the ground for this,"
"M-Me?" you seemed genuinely surprised at the notion of the director of the FBI wanting you to be his eyes and ears in the BAU, but you didn't have much of a choice.
Aaron nodded, opening the car door for you.
"Why so surprised?" he gave you one last smile before you knew it would disappear for the length of the case. "They hired you for a reason,"
"And what would that be?" you asked, climbing into your seat.
"Cause you're the best," he leaned in for a quick peck and you grinned.
"Damn straight,"
He shut the door behind him before going into the driver's side and heading to your shared apartment.
"I've already got a bag packed in the back, but I'll come inside to change, you probably want to get into something a little more work-appropriate and pack clothes that'll last you the week,"
"Anything else I should bring?" you asked.
"Spare energy if you have it. Cases are long and hard I wouldn't be surprised if we don't get much sleep,"
"And you're absolutely sure it's alright that I'm working with you now?" you asked for what was probably the billionth time.
Aaron kept his gaze on the road but nodded his head assuredly.
"(N/N) we talked about this,"
"I know, but I-I guess I just feel like I kind of came in and uprooted your whole life," you admitted. "I don't want you to resent me for it,"
"I do not and will not resent you for anything," he said firmly. "We're a team now, in more ways than one and that just means I get to spend more time with you so I don't think it would be fair of me to complain,"
"Okay, as long as you promise it's fine-,"
"It's fine," he said before you could even finish your sentence. He turned his head to look at you now, his eyes carrying a glint of maybe endearment or happiness, you couldn't quite place it, but he wasn't lying, he really truly was happy to have you working alongside the team.
—
"Five shootings in two weeks it's about time we got a call," Dave noted, looking through the case files on the jet.
"The murderer uses a .22 calibre pistol and a single shot to the head in all cases. So far there's no connection between the victims," Aaron notes.
"Son of Sam all over again,"
You observed quietly as they continued to go over what they called victimology. Essentially profiling the victims to get a better sense of who their unsub was.
"When we get to New York we'll be working with their field office and local P.D." he explained. "Kate Joyner is heading the investigation, she also runs the field office,"
"I've heard of her," Derek said curiously. "She's a bit of a hardass, no? A Brit too?"
"She's a hard worker just like the rest of us," Aaron said, quickly coming to her defence. Now you didn't need to be a profiler to catch on to whatever that was.
"You know her?" you asked, finally speaking up for the first time since the plane had taken off.
"She and I liaised when she was still working with Scotland Yard," he said, not meeting your gaze and glancing through the files.
The rest of the flight, which was short, was spent going over case details once more so by the time you landed everyone would know the details like the back of their hand.
—
Entering the FBI field office, the environment was pretty much what you had expected, tense and worried; and that was even more amplified when the elevator opened, allowing you to walk into the main floor only to see who you could only assume to be SSA Kate Joyner barking orders at her staff.
She was under a lot of stress in the department in general from what you had heard so you didn't blame her, instead, sympathizing a bit with both ends.
Although when she saw the team walking up towards her, her eyes locked with Aaron's and she seemed a little relieved.
"Aaron, it's good to see you," she greeted, offering her hand to shake her British accent coming through quite clearly and distinctly.
"You too, Kate. This is my team, Agents Morgan, Rossi, Prentiss, Jareau, Dr. Reid, our technical analyst Penelope Garcia and our legal liaison (Y/N) (L/N),"
"Is it just me or does she look exactly like Haley," JJ whispered quietly so only you and Emily could hear, and you did have to admit there was quite the resemblance.
"Oh yeah they definitely liaised," Emily nodded and you rolled your eyes, nudging her in the arm, hoping it seemed playful rather than what it really was, jealous.
"These are Detectives Brustin and Cooper," Kate introduced. "With the NYPD,"
"I guess this is the part where we play nice and ask you what you need," Brustin said rather coolly. Something told you nothing about the next few days was going to be easy.
The team first got Penelope set up with the security system that was linked throughout the city to see if she could get any more information that way while some of the agents went with Cooper and Brustin and the rest of you stayed at the field office.
"Aaron can I speak to you in private," Kate asked and you shot a look over at JJ who only shrugged her shoulders, not knowing what it was about.
Aaron of course agreed and you watched him through the blinds looking into her office, while desperately trying to focus on your work.
"So, what do you have to do now?" JJ asked. "Not much red tape to cut through,"
"Hmm?" you turned your head back to her having been distracted once again by whatever conversation Aaron was having with Agent Joyner.
"I was just asking what you have to do now that we don't really need someone who knows how to work the law to their advantage,"
"Yeah, I guess I'm more useful in the interrogation room and when we're stumped, but I'm preparing a case for the DA to look over," you said. "Or trying to at least,"
"You know Em and I were just teasing right?" she asked and you nodded your head.
"Yeah, I know, I know," you assured her, sifting through the papers to find one you were looking for. "It's just, after things with Matt and Nathan I guess my mind automatically goes to extremes," you explained. "But I'll be fine, don't worry about it,"
There was a sudden movement in the office and both Kate and Aaron came out, sending you and JJ a look.
"There was just another shooting," Aaron explains, "We're all going down to the crime scene now, Morgan and Rossi will brief us on what they got from visiting the latest scene there. (Y/N) are you good to come with us?" he asked.
"Y-Yeah," you nodded, standing up and grabbing your phone. "I can come, why do you need me?"
"Another set of eyes is always helpful," he said. "Come on, we should hurry up,"
You all rushed out of the building and piled into one SUV, you and JJ in the back while Aaron and Kate took the front. The air in the car was stressed and tense, for many different reasons from what you could sense.
A part of you wondered if everyone's first case with the BAU was this intense, it probably wasn't, things had the tendency to show up and be blown out of proportion just as you entered the picture. Another one of your specialties.
When you arrived at the scene it had been marked with police tape and the other team members were already gathered around the body.
Kate seemed to zero in on Derek for one reason or another and you witnessed the exchange between both hotheaded individuals while Rossi tried to pull focus back to the task at hand.
After Kate walked off to go speak with some of the local police officers Derek threw his hands up in the air and looked over at Aaron.
"Hotch, what is with her?" he asked.
"Look, Morgan, it's not you," he assured. "Kate's just under a lot of pressure to solve the case. If she doesn't," he sighed "You're the one in line to replace her,"
Derek seemed to raise a brow at that, finding it very hard to believe.
"Politics here are different," he added. "And you can see she doesn't pull punches,"
You looked back over at Rossi who had just picked up a card from the ground that had been left on top of the body.
"It's a death tarot card," he said. "I guess he's finally communicating,"
"The D.C. sniper left similar cards, right?" JJ asked and the team nodded.
"He must be studying other cases. He knows we're here,"
"You know," you spoke up finally. "Tarot death cards don't normally mean death in a literal sense,"
That seemed to grab the attention of some of the profilers.
"A lot of the time it's used to show an ending of one thing and the beginning of another. Like a new chapter in life. So if the unsub is using it in that way maybe there's a point to all of these attacks and we just can't see it yet,"
Aaron sent a nod your way and you could see a glint of curiosity in his mind, maybe wondering how you knew what you did prompting you to say.
"Maria got really into that kind of stuff when she was fifteen, sixteen," you explained. "I was the outlet,"
That seemed to make a little more sense and Aaron's phone rang with a quick beep of a text and he looked down to see what it was.
"Garcia's looking through a lead, we should head back and see what she comes up with,"
The group headed over to the SUVs but Aaron hung back for a moment, waiting for you, seeing as your eyes were stuck on the body that was being taken to the ME's office.
"You okay?" he asked quietly and you snapped out of your daze and nodded your head.
"Yeah, fine," you tried to assure him, but he eyed you like he didn't believe what you were saying. You walked towards the car, urging him to follow you.
"Sweetheart," he said softly and now it was your turn to look at him.
"Aaron, I said I'm fine," you pressed. "It's just hectic. Lawyers don't normally do fieldwork as you can imagine and I've been hauled up in an office my entire career. I'm just getting my bearings,"
He nodded his head, letting you be for the time being and you both got into the car and drove back to the field office.
You connected with Penelope while you were in the car and she explained to you the avenue she had been exploring in trying to find the identity of the unsub.
"So I put it through this recognition software we've been developing that's supposed to be able to give us the approximate height and weight of the unsub. The thing is I ran the scan at least four or five times on the video surveillance of the first and second shootings, in one our unsub is 5"10 and in the other, he's at least 6"1,"
This did not seem to be stellar news for the team.
"We've got more than one unsub," Hotch sighed. "Keep scanning the surveillance Garcia, see if you can find out where he went or at least what direction he was moving towards,"
"Of course sir, your wish is my command,"
The line beeped and there was relative silence in the car aside from Kate quietly speaking to someone on the phone until you reached the field office where you attempted to start making an action plan.
At least they did, you decided it would be better to add things to your report for the DA and notes for the director which you were due to send at the end of the hour.
But despite the fact that you were working in the conference room while the others were talking out in the bullpen by the evidence board, you could still clearly hear the argument brewing between Kate and Derek. It just seemed like they were going to keep pushing each other's buttons and you weren't surprised when Aaron had to get in the middle of it.
What did surprise you, however, was when he told Derek that it wasn't his call. Technically, it was true. Kate was the agent heading point on the investigation, but even you knew the decision she was making wasn't a good one for the situation the Bureau was in. You could have cited at least ten cases where an agent or supervising officer had made the same mistake and you had a big feeling Aaron knew them too. So the real question was, why was he defending her?
—
A part of you was happy when the day came to an end. You were all thoroughly exhausted and needed to lay down for a minute and just recharge.
However, when you entered the hotel there seemed to be someone that most of the team members recognized, Emily even greeted him with a smile.
"Will, what are you doing here?" she asked and he came up to the group, standing next to JJ.
The not-so-secret boyfriend you were assuming.
"Y-You haven't told them?" Will asked her and JJ shook her head, looking at the ground for a moment.
"Will's here because I'm uh pregnant," she admitted and the team burst into smiles after the hard day, passing around hugs and congratulations, all except for Aaron who you saw carried his frown even deeper than usual.
After everything had settled and people were walking away, JJ jogged up to the both of you, but looking for Aaron specifically so you gave them a little space.
"Hotch wait," she placed a hand on his arm and he turned around with a hurt look on his face.
"JJ you could have told me," he whispered and she nodded, understanding that he was upset, but it was still something she felt she needed to do.
"I know, a-and I'm sorry. But I don't want this to stop me from working the case," she insisted. "It's my job and I can still do it,"
He agreed with her and they agreed that they would see each other at the field office the next day.
Aaron caught up with you again and you could sense once you entered the elevator that he was tense. This was not a good case and you really hoped that wasn't going to be the trend while you worked here.
A small weight was lifted, both literally and figuratively, when you entered the hotel room, dropping your bags to the ground and starting the process of getting ready for bed.
Not much was exchanged between you, aside from a few glances and maybe a quiet excuse me, until you searched through your bag, cursing quietly when you realized what you had forgotten.
"Aaron I forgot to pack something to sleep in,"
"I have an extra t-shirt in my bag," he pointed from the washroom and you nodded, sifting through his neatly folded clothes until you came across the grey t-shirt, taking off your own clothes before sliding it over your head and getting into bed without so much as saying goodnight.
That didn't go unnoticed by Aaron who instead of staying up to pour over files like he normally would, climbed into bed next to you, slipping a hand up your shirt just slightly to rest against your waist.
"Everything alright?" he asked.
The truth was no, your insecurities were getting the best of you, and you didn't have the courage to bring it up. To voice it.
"I'm okay," you lied. "Just a little tired,"
Aaron could sense something was off, but he didn't want to push you, he hoped you might open up to him yourself, eventually.
"Of course," he said, voice quiet.
He didn't want to come closer, make you feel uncomfortable, so he stayed where he was, allowing you to make any sort of move you wanted, but it never came. You stayed with your back facing him and your arms tucked close together.
It was safe to say neither of you rested well that night.
—
The next morning did not get off to a great start.
You had barely stepped into the office when Penelope had called you and informed you she had just seen a man in a dark hooded sweatshirt prowling the subway stop and before she could get another word out there was a small squeak and Aaron got the message.
"There was another shooting," he announced and that was the last straw for Derek.
"We could have been there!" he exclaimed angrily and you wisely took a step back, but still observed the argument.
Kate only scowled as Aaron was still on the phone with Penelope.
"He shot again," he shook his head and hung up his phone in frustration, tossing it onto the table.
"We should have been there! Patrolling the stations instead of walking the goddamn streets!"
"Morgan you need to stop," Aaron stepped in between him and Kate. "It was not your call, you need to focus,"
"Focus?" Derek scoffed, coming close to Aaron and tapping him roughly on the chest. "From where I'm standing, all your focus is on her,"
He needed a minute and left the field office. Aaron's eyes locked with yours and you looked away immediately.
He walked over to you, grabbing your arm, not roughly, but firmly, forcing you to look up at him. It caused you to pull away and move somewhere more private.
"What is going on with you?" he asked, following closely behind.
"Look me in the eye and tell me he's wrong," you pointed to the door where Derek had left.
"What?"
"You knew she made a bad call? Why did you defend her? Why didn't you say anything?"
"(Y/N) it's not my call-,"
"That doesn't usually stop you," you frowned, clearly referring to the situation you were in only a few months prior. "Look, maybe it's just a bad case, but I don't think I can work here right now. I'm going down to the DA's office, they're going to want to take a look at this before I throw it onto their desk,"
"(Y/N)-,"
"Aaron, please," you begged. "If I stay here any longer I don't think I'm going to like what I see and I'd rather get away while I still can,"
Aaron was stunned by your words, but he didn't respond, only letting you walk away and pick up your things, leaving the building.
You took one of the government vehicles and drove to the office without much fuss, probably squeezing the steering wheel a little too hard; and as much as you hated to admit it, working away from the field office was a good choice.
Penelope was texting you updates on the case, including when detective Cooper got shot, which led you to call Emily to make sure she was okay too.
The minute before she picked up the phone was a little nerve-wracking, but when you heard her voice on the other line your heart relaxed.
"I'm glad you're alright," you told her. "If you got hurt I think that could top this off as worst first case ever,"
"Yeah, tell me about it. I promise we're not normally like this," she expressed. "What about you guys, is everything okay at the office?"
"I'm actually not at the office anymore," you sucked some air through your teeth and you could practically see Emily's eyebrows raise with intrigue and confusion. "I just needed a breather. I'm still working just not there,"
"And you're updating the director how?"
"Through JJ and Penelope, they send me updates and I write them up," you explained.
"Not Hotch?"
"No..."
"Did something happen?" she asked. "That's not a very forthcoming no,"
"It's nothing," you assured. "I just needed space from him,"
"And?"
"And nothing," you shook your head. "We just had a disagreement, I figured instead of both of us being distracted by it we should get something done,"
"Did that disagreement have anything to do with a particular agent leading a field office,"
"Emily, seriously," you shook your head. "I don't wanna talk about it. It's fine. I-I just got caught up in the moment and was a little jealous, we'll be fine,"
"If you insist," she shrugged. "I'll leave you to it, call if you need anything, okay?"
"Will do,"
You both hung up the phone and you continued to work well into the evening until you received a phone call from Aaron, the small picture of the both of you standing outside the flower shop flashing over your screen.
You debated ignoring it but decided against it. If he was calling it was most likely important.
"Hello?"
"Hi," he started slowly, possibly inching into the conversation. "A-Are you alright?" he asked first.
"I'm fine," you assured him. "Just needed a minute,"
There was silence for a moment before he continued.
"There were a few developments in the case and I thought it was better to call you,"
"What happened?" you asked, moving to sit on the edge of your seat.
"We think that these murders are leading up to an act of terrorism," he explained. "We're working out a plan right now, but I told Kate to wait on telling the director so you could do that yourself,"
"Terrorism," you scratched the back of your neck. "That's like five steps up from serial murderer,"
"I know, I know, and I wish I would have known this case was going to be this taxing so I could have told you to sit it out and you might have ended up with a better first experience with us-,"
"Aaron, you couldn't control it," you exhaled. "It's not your fault and I'll survive,"
"That doesn't mean I'm still not allowed to feel bad,"
"I never said you couldn't,"
There was silence again before he continued. You thought maybe he might say I love you. Just something to assure you that the rest of this was going to be okay and you'd get through it.
"Can you come back to the office?"
Maybe you couldn't read him as well as you thought.
"Yeah, I'll pack up and be on my way there,"
You were about to hang up the phone and Aaron could sense it, so he stopped you.
"Sweetheart, wait,"
You squeezed your eyes shut and pressed the phone back to your ear.
There was a long explanation on the tip of his tongue, a winded apology, but he just needed to say something. He couldn't leave you in whatever situation you were about to walk into having you mad at him. Or frustrated. Or whatever it was you were feeling.
"If anything happens, I love you,"
It was so simple, but enough to make you understand the gravity of the situation.
"I know," you whispered. "I'll be there as soon as I can,"
You hung up and squeezed your phone in your hand, praying to anyone who would listen and begging that if anything did happen it wasn't to either one of you.