I told Emily I wanted to be there extra early on Monday morning, so we were out the door by 6:40. I stopped at Java Script, which was a coffee shop where aspiring authors hung out all day, and ordered something for everyone. I got an iced coffee for Emily, JJ, and myself, a black coffee with two sugars for Aaron, a chai tea latte with nonfat milk and no foam for Garcia and Callahan, a cinnamon roll cold brew with almond milk and extra sugar for Reid, and some expensive hot dark roast coffee for Rossi and Morgan. I also got a bunch of doughnuts, muffins, and pastries and got back on the road.
I was nervous the whole way to the building, in the parking garage, and in the bullpen until I saw Aaron. He was on the phone in his office, but just seeing him made me feel better. I got his attention and motioned for him to join us.
"What's all this?" He asked.
"A little welcome back. I'm sure you didn't have breakfast this morning either, so take something to eat." I said, opening the box for him to grab a pastry. "What time is the meeting?"
"Actually, I was just on the phone with Bartley and now he wants it to take place in his office. He has a meeting until about 8:30, then we're good to go up whenever. Wait, why are you here so early? I don't think you two have ever been the first ones here."
"We're turning a new leaf."
"Speak for yourself, I'm only here for the coffee. If I get woken up again tomorrow as early as I did today, I swear I'm shooting you." Emily threatened as she took a seat at her desk.
"How's Jack?"
His face lit up. "Good, he was really excited. We got a pizza and he was full of energy, so he stayed up pretty late with me. He had a soccer game yesterday and I caught up with Dave and JJ afterwards. How was your weekend?"
"I think I have a stalker. Some guy sent food to my apartment on Saturday— my favorite meal from my favorite restaurant." I grinned.
"I sent you my favorite meal from my favorite restaurant. You like Carmine's?"
"I love it. We'll have to go there some time."
He took a step away from me. "Incoming."
"Valerie! Hotch!" Garcia yelled excitedly as she ran over to us, forcing us into a group hug. Even Reid, who must've given her a ride, joined in. "When did you get back?"
"Saturday night." I answered, handing them their drinks. "It's so great to see you both! I've missed you so much."
"Not as much as we've missed you. You cannot do that to me ever again or I will seriously be mad at the Director."
"One step ahead of you there." Reid said. "I'm glad you're both okay."
"We should all go out to dinner this weekend or something."
"I hope I'm invited." Morgan said, sliding between us to give me a hug. I wasn't surprised when my feet left the ground. He always gave the most comforting hugs.
"Definitely not." I laughed. "I hear you moved in with Savannah, so I hope she can come too. How's she doing?"
"Beautiful as always, just like you. Woah, who's this hunk of meat next to you? I don't remember you being so buff, Hotch."
"Right back at you." He chuckled. "And you must be Agent Callahan."
A brunette woman— the woman from the pictures on my desk— nodded. "That I am. I feel starstruck right now, actually. You two are icons in my book."
"That's what I like to hear. Everyone step aside so I can give this good woman a hug." I directed. They all complied immediately and revealed a pregnant Kate Callahan. I embraced her, but didn't take my eyes off of Aaron. She could definitely be Sharon's next victim because she'd be so easy to control. She would do whatever it took to protect the baby inside of her. He subtly shook his head at me.
Right, we weren't in Oak Hills anymore. I didn't have to worry about who would get kidnapped next— and it definitely wouldn't be Callahan.
"It's Reid's baby." She said with a straight face.
"What?" He asked. "No it isn't!"
"You should tell Rossi it's his so he'll pay child support." I suggested.
"Don't scare me like that." He said, appearing out of nowhere next to JJ. "It's good to see you again, bella."
"You too, handsome. Now that everyone's here, Hotch and I should get going soon."
"Don't tell me the Director's dragging you away again." Morgan pouted.
"No, we just have a meeting with him. What time is it?"
"8:32." Aaron answered immediately, like he knew he was the one I was asking. He led the way to his office and grabbed a few things before we got on the elevator.
"Nervous?"
"More than I'd like to admit."
"Me too, but I won't let anything come between us." I bit my lip. "We're in this together."
"Until the very end. As long as we're together, everything will be okay. One of us said that in Oak Hills and it became sort of a mantra for me. I love you, Valerie."
"I love you too." I kissed his cheek and straightened his tie before the elevator doors opened. We stepped off and walked over to his assistant's desk to scan our badges.
"He's ready for you." She smiled encouragingly, almost like she knew what we were about to do. I took a deep breath and followed Hotch's lead inside.
"My two favorite agents!" Bartley said excitedly as we all shook hands. Strauss was not nearly as excited. In fact, she looked hungover. "I hate paperwork as much as anyone else, so I thought a verbal record would work better and save everyone time. When you're ready, please start from the beginning and spare no details."
I cleared my throat and told them the general plot and timeline. Aaron filled him in with the important details before I moved on from each occurrence, obviously waiting on telling them about our relationship.
We took hours explaining everything to the two of them. I hated having to fill out paperwork, so I appreciated the fact that he was letting us do this. I couldn't imagine how long it would've taken for us to write everything down.
His secretary silently walked in to set a salad down in front of him with a glass of water. He took a few pills before eating his lunch. I guessed it was around 2:00 as we finished up retelling the case.
Both of them stared at us in awe. I could see a mix of pride, astonishment, and confusion on their faces.
"I allotted twelve to eighteen months to give you enough time to assimilate, yet you finished everything in just six months. I know that you two are the best of the best, but that shouldn't have been possible." He narrowed his eyes. "How did you do it?"
I felt Aaron tense up ever so slightly next to me. It was go time. We had to make our case.
I sucked in a breath. "You said to convince everyone of our relationship and that it was vital to do so. We didn't want any more bodies, so we did our best to act like a couple in front of everyone. We did this for a few months, but it became real after a while. We didn't have to act anymore because we were— and are— completely in love and everyone could see that."
"The two of you..." He raised his eyebrows. "Tell me more about your relationship. When did it begin? How far did it go?"
"That's kind of complicated because we first kissed in February, I realized I loved him in March, we started sleeping together in April, and I accidentally told him my feelings in May." I said, immediately regretting not letting Aaron say it more eloquently. He nudged me under the table with his foot.
"Do you plan on continuing this relationship?"
"Yes." Aaron nodded.
"As their section chief, Strauss, you need to make a decision. Will you let this happen?"
"No." She said simply. I bit down on my lip to stop myself from cursing her out and dug my nails into my palms so I wouldn't use them on her.
"Excuse me?" I asked through gritted teeth.
"No. At one point or another, your relationship will interfere with your jobs and we can't have that."
"We finished our assignment in Oak Hills so quickly because of our relationship. Valerie and I know how important our jobs are. We won't let our relationship affect our professional lives and vise versa." He said matter of factly. He was much calmer than I was, but I knew it was a ploy. I could see the anxiety in his eyes.
"This relationship is inappropriate and it will not continue."
"I've looked through the handbook, ma'am, and nothing about our relationship is explicitly defined as inappropriate. In fact, in paragraph 7 on page 104-"
"You're her superior, Agent Hotchner. Dating your subordinate is unethical."
I laughed without humor. "That's really funny coming from you, Strauss."
"I don't know what you mean."
"Really? Would Rossi say the same thing?"
Her face turned white. All eyes were on her. A pin dropping in the room would've been deafening.
"I don't know what you mean." She repeated.
"Here, let me refresh your memory." I dug through my purse, found the magazine I was looking for, and slid it across the table at her. "I believe you'll see what I mean on page 71."
She opened the magazine to the right page and looked like she was going to faint. Bartley audibly gasped when he took it from her.
"As you know, this kind of thing needs to be reported to a superior. The two of you did the right thing by coming forward, and I'm very disappointed in you, Strauss, for keeping this from me. I'll have to review both of your employee records and revisit this with HR." Bartley sighed and turned his attention back to us. "Since Strauss is so heavily impacted by the possible weight of her decisions, I'll be the one in charge of your relationship. I'll have HR type up a contract and they'll get it to you before the end of the day. If you choose to sign it, your relationship becomes legal and official. Does that sound okay?"
"It sounds perfect, sir, thank you!" I grinned, taking Aaron's hand. I was so relieved.
"If that's all, you're both dismissed."
"Thank you." He said diplomatically as he tried to fight the smile on his lips. We left the office and didn't even make it to the elevator before he lifted me up and spun me around in a circle like we were in a movie.
"We did it!" I giggled.
"You did it. If you didn't bring out the magazine, we'd still be fighting with them in there. By the way, I can't believe you kept that. I can't believe I'm dating a creep who likes to look at Strauss in a bathing suit."
"Shut up, you're the one who noticed her tattoo."
"I guess we're both creeps." He laughed, stepping onto the elevator. "Valerie Pierce, will you please go on a date with me tonight?"
"I don't know, my boss will probably keep me late at work. He can be a bit of a hard-ass, so I probably won't get out until super late."
"I'll pick you up at 6:30." He kissed the top of my head and stepped a safe distance away from me before the elevator doors opened. Garcia was waiting in the bullpen for us, so she followed us into his office. She stood there just smiling at us.
"Can I help you?" Aaron asked after a minute.
"Sorry, yes, uh, you need to review our cases since you've been gone and sign off on them." She said, handing him a stack of papers. "I don't have anything for you, Valerie."
"Perfect. Do you, Hotch?" I asked.
He shook his head. "You didn't have lunch, so you should go down to the cafeteria and get something."
Garcia glanced at us sideways before we both left. She offered to join me in the cafeteria, but I knew she had a lot of work to do. I grabbed two peanut butter and jellies, two apples, two chocolate chip cookies, and two bottles of water to take back upstairs. I set Aaron's share down in front of him.
I would never get used to the look on his face when I did something for him— even the smallest thing like bringing him lunch. He wasn't used to getting taken care of, let alone treated like a normal human being at work or in a real life relationship. All I could hope for was his feeling of unworthiness to go away. He deserved every ounce of love and affection in the world, and I planned on giving that to him.
Aaron read the case files aloud so I could know what we missed and to keep himself focused. I knew I was intruding on his personal work space, but I didn't have another option. Callahan was at my desk and would be for at least another month.
I stayed quiet and listened to the gruesome details of each case. Some sounded so bad that I was glad we missed them. One was about a 10 year old boy who'd gone missing and it turned out that his dad tortured him in their barn for six days before anyone found him. Hotch kept his composure and read through it like any other case.
Someone knocked on the open door around 4:30. I didn't recognize him, but he was obviously from HR.
"Aaron Hotchner and Valerie Pierce?" He asked.
"Yes, come on in." Aaron said, standing up to shake his hand. The man took the empty seat next to me.
"I'm Shaheed Ayad, head of human resources. The Director spoke to me about drafting a love contract for you two. Are you still interested in being together and hearing the conditions of your relationship?"
"Yes." We said at the same time. He handed us each a piece of paper.
We, Agent Aaron Hotchner and Doctor Valerie Pierce, have voluntarily entered a social relationship.
We acknowledge that James Bartley, the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is committed to providing a workplace that is free of harassment, discrimination, conflicts of interest, and favoritism, and that the FBI will not tolerate unwelcome or offensive conduct, conduct that creates a hostile work environment, or sexual harassment. We have read and understand the FBI's anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies.
We understand and agree as follows:
1. The social relationship is welcome and consensual by both employees.
2. Either employee may terminate the relationship at any time without suffering workplace retaliation of any form.
3. Agent Hotchner will not participate in any discussions or decisions related to the terms of Doctor Pierce's employment, including those related to assignments, evaluations, discipline or discharge, compensation, scheduling, promotion or demotion, and development.
4. The employees will not engage in conduct that could reasonably be regarded by co-workers as favoritism.
5. The employees will behave professionally toward each other at all times, even if the social relationship ends.
6. The employees will not engage in public displays of affection or other inappropriate conduct in the workplace or at work related functions.
7. The social relationship does not violate the FBI's anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies, and participation in the social relationship has not been made a condition or term of employment.
8. The employees will continue to comply with the FBI's anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies.
9. The employees with inform James Bartley if the social relationship ends or if the conduct of the other employee is no longer welcome.
Hotch cleared his throat. I knew the prosecutor in him was about to come out full force. He negotiated with Ayad so he'd still be in charge of my assignments, evaluations, and schedule. Once everyone was happy, we all signed the papers in front of us. Aaron made copies and filed them away in his desk for later.
"What about the team?" I asked as soon as Shaeed left the office. "Should we tell them or make them figure it out?"
"You're sure Prentiss will keep it a secret?" He asked.
"Absolutely."
"Then let's not tell them. They're profilers and we all see each other way too much. It shouldn't take long for them to figure out, but I want to see who gets it first."
"My guess is JJ or Garcia." I said. "Reid or Rossi will probably be last."
"Definitely. Get out of here and I'll see you in a little while."
"Is that a threat or a promise?"
"Both." He smiled, then quickly went back to his usual serious face at work. I gathered my things, grabbed Emily on my way out, and drove home.
I didn't know what we were doing, so I didn't know what to wear. I assumed we were just going out to dinner, so I put on a white dress and sandals. It didn't feel right and Pepper looked less than impressed.
I changed into a tighter dark purple dress, reapplied my makeup, brushed my hair, and heard someone knock. I grabbed a pair of heels from the closet and opened the door.
"You look..." Aaron's eyes raked over me. "You always look ethereal."
"You're not so bad yourself." I grinned, stepping out in the hallway with him. He was wearing all black— a tight black button up, black slacks, and black shoes. I locked the door behind me and grabbed his hand as we walked to the elevator. He clicked the button to go up, not down like I'd expected. "Where are we going?"
"You'll see, pretty girl. I love how curious you always are."
The elevator came to a stop on the top floor. I hated the snooty rich people who lived in the penthouses because they thought they were so much better than everyone else, so I didn't usually go up that far. Aaron guided me to the exit and opened the door to the rooftop, which was beautifully decorated with flowers, lights, and a table and chair in the middle.
I gasped. "Did you do this?"
"I called in a favor." He said.
"He's doing all my paperwork for a month!" Emily grinned as she stepped out of the shadows. She cleared her throat and put on a French accent. "Dinner is served."
Aaron, as usual, pulled out my seat and pushed it in for me once I sat down at the table. We lifted the covers off of our plates and revealed chicken and waffles, which almost made me laugh.
"I had to ask Emily what your favorite dish was and I guess I was surprised. Why chicken and waffles?" He asked as he started cutting his up.
"My mom was raised in New Orleans and her parents weren't really in the picture. The woman next door basically took her in and taught her a bunch of stuff, including how to make this." I motioned to the plate. "We only visited once that I can remember, but seeing my mom so happy with the woman as they cooked made me happy too. They made chicken and waffles, so now it has a special place in my heart."
"That's so sweet. Why'd you only visit once?"
"I don't really know. We don't talk to that side of the family anymore, so there must've been a falling out."
"Have you told your parents you're back?" He asked.
"Not yet. I think they'd rush over here and I'm just not ready for that yet. They're a lot to handle."
"Really? The most popular mayor and a successful director who raised you are a lot to handle? I can't believe that."
"Shut it, wise guy." I laughed. "You'll see when you meet them."
"So that means I will be?"
"Of course. I want to show you off to the whole world, especially them. They'll love you, Aaron. I think you'll fit right in with the whole family."
He cleared his throat. "I, uh, I told Jack about you the other night. He remembers you from past events and said you're his favorite on the team. I hear you had a riveting conversation about what order you should watch the Star Wars movies in."
"He had it all wrong. He thought you should go in theatrical release order, so I had to help him out." I smiled. "Does that mean we all get to hang out? I don't want to step on any toes by-"
"We would both love that." He said quickly with a huge grin.
He lifted up another cover when we were done with dinner and pulled out blueberry cobbler. The wind picked up suddenly and my hair went all over the place, temporarily blinding me. I gathered most of it and felt a warm hand pulling the rest back for me. He tied it back with a hair tie from his pocket.
"Do you always have one with you?" I asked.
He nodded. "I do now in case you need one and don't have one. Actually, I stole that one from you and I've carried it with me for a few months."
My heart swelled thinking about him actively trying to make my life easier. He was the sweetest and most thoughtful person I'd ever met. I was so lucky that I was the person he chose to love.
Once we were done, we walked back down to my apartment and Aaron stayed in the doorway.
"Aren't you coming in?" I asked.
"I didn't want to assume I'd get to." He said simply.
"Come in, honey pie. You're always welcome, especially after a date."
He laughed as he walked in and closed the door behind him. Little paw steps made their way to where we stood and Pepper looked taken aback when he saw who was with me.
"Oh, baby, I'm sorry." I said, racing over to pick him up. "It's okay."
"What's wrong?" Aaron asked.
"He hates men. Don't take it personally."
"So he took after his owner, huh?"
"His last owner wasn't very nice to him, so he'll attack a man if they get too close or if he feels threatened. One time when Morgan was here, I went to the bathroom and Pepper apparently didn't trust him, so he bit him and latched on until I was back. He's not mean, he just tries to protect himself and me." I explained.
"At least we can agree there. I think we'll get along nicely. We just have to warm up to each other, right? Will he get used to me if I'm here enough?"
"I'll have to talk to him about it later. I'll be right back." I walked to the guest room and put Pepper on the bed. He had his toys, food, water, and litter box, so I knew I didn't have to worry about him. I left the door open a few inches and went back out to Aaron, who was pouring two glasses of wine. "That was gonna be the next thing I did."
"Always one step ahead of you." He grinned.
"In your dreams, lover boy. You did surprise me on the roof, so I'll give you that."
"I'm full of surprises that you'll just have to wait for."
"For you, I'd wait forever." I took his face in my hands and gently guided it down to my lips. He put his glass down on the counter to put his hands on me instead. He pulled the hair tie out and let my brown locks down.
His phone ruined the moment. As soon as it started ringing, I knew it meant that we had a case and that we'd have to leave as soon as possible. He pulled it out and put it to his ear.
"Dave, is everything alright?" He asked quietly. That's weird. Rossi wasn't ever the one who alerted Hotch to a new case. I was expecting Strauss or Garcia, but maybe Rossi and Strauss were together at the moment. "No, what happened? I don't know anything about it... Did sh- for how long?... How long has this been going on?... At least she is now... Yes, thank you. Let me know if there's anything I can do, Dave." He hung up. His eyebrows were knitted together and he rubbed his fingers together absentmindedly like he did when he was thinking.
"What is it? What's wrong?" I asked. "Is he okay?"
He looked at me, the wine on the counter, then the floor. "He just took Strauss to rehab for alcoholism."