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“We’re at a dead-end, here. It’s been two days and we haven’t learned a damn thing.” Morgan threw the file down on the table and leaned back in his chair, squinting at the photos pinned on the board.
“Let’s not go that far yet,” JJ said, crossing to Hotch’s side. “There has to be something here.”
They stood in front of the board, looking for anything they must have missed. Spencer was pouring over the separate cases and autopsy reports for the third time, his notebook slowly filling with information.
There was some kind of commotion at the front of the precinct, and Hotch pressed a hand to his forehead, his mouth tense.
“I’ll see what’s going on out there,” he said with a sigh.
“Probably nothing good.” David’s chirp from the corner of the room almost made him smile, but the stress of it all was eating at him.
When he walked out, he found the fresh and rested face of his new wife, her badge out and go bag in-hand.
“What are you doing here?” He tried to keep his query neutral, but he was so relieved to have his other half on this case with them. She was a gifted profiler, and only left the BAU to pursue a relationship with him. Worth it.
“Don’t look so surprised, Agent Hotchner. ” Her eyes flashed with humor, but her face was neutral and professional. She was mocking him, and he knew it. “The brass sent me.” She looked around. “Where’s the unit set up? I’d like to brief you all.”
Aaron suppressed the urge to smile and roll his eyes, pressing forward past the curious local officers and taking the bag from her hands. It was rare that the legal department interfaced with the bureau’s operations, but not unheard of. He led her back into the conference room, where he held the door for her and closed it behind both of them.
“Y/N!” The chorus of joy from the team made her smile, and they each took turns embracing her and pressing loving hands to her hands and shoulders.
Aaron hung back, enjoying the reunion. Her position in legal usually allowed her to pick Jack up from school and stay with him when Aaron was out on a case, but it kept her from their BAU family much of the time.
When they all recovered from the excitement, Y/N asked everyone to take a seat. Aaron sat beside her, squeezing her thigh under the table before focusing on the task at hand. She continued setting up her space even with the heat creeping into her cheeks.
“This city is trigger-happy with lawsuits.” Y/N tossed a copy of a file to every member of the team, detailing every instance of the city filing against, well, anything and nearly everything. She did her best to avoid Aaron's subtle appraisals of her form as she moved about the table, however much she loved them.
“What’s their deal?” Emily’s furrowed brow covered her scanning eyes as she flicked through the pages.
“We’re not sure,” Y/N answered. “The director called me in to make sure all our bases were covered, and to ensure someone on the legal team was prepared to answer questions regarding the scope and structure of FBI involvement in the case.”
“And they sent you because of your experience with the BAU and profiling, right?” Spencer closed the file and looked up, already finished reading it in its entirety.
“Exactly.” Y/N grinned and bumped Aaron’s shoulder with her own. “And I guess they thought I hadn’t seen enough of your unit chief after our three-week vacation.”
Aaron rolled his eyes with a small smile and said “Alright, that’s enough. Everyone get back to work on this and I’ll brief Y/N on the case. Split into pairs and revisit the crime scenes. Anything you find may help us build a coherent profile”
Everyone rose and scattered, grabbing keys and bags. Before long, the newlyweds were alone in the conference room, staring at the board.
“Hi,” she said, hiding a smile.
She saw the corners of his mouth tip up before he began to walk her through their findings so far, “accidentally” brushing hands every once and a while. He took her on a tour of the precinct, but it was mostly an excuse to slip somewhere quiet and make out like teenagers.
As his lips forged a path from her collar to behind her ear, she thought back to the early days of their friendship. If someone told her she would one day straddle her unit chief's thigh in a rural police department's utility closet, one hand wound in his tie and the other in his hair while he did obscene things with his hands, she would have sent you to a psych eval.
+++
It was day seven and they were still struggling to find a suspect that fit the profile.
That aside, the team found a good amount of humor hiding the Hotchners’ relationship when necessary, as Y/N was still going by her maiden name on her official documents. Unofficially, the BAU and legal departments referred to the pair as the "Agents Hotchner," and calling for "Hotch" had both heads on a swivel.
The local police force had already taken notice of Y/N’s friendly and open nature, and she took to liaising freely, with her easy smile and a ready laugh. They’d even gone so far as to ask after her personal life after overhearing a couple of early-evening phone calls from Jack. (Yes she was newly married, yes she has a step-son, yes her husband’s incredible, etc. etc. etc.) She was warm where Aaron was removed, gentle where he was terse.
Dave was at the records desk with one of the administrators Y/N had grown to know rather well, discussing the general function of the BAU as they searched through pertinent city records.
“We’re like a family. It helps us work together well,” he said, and it was the truth.
The young woman laughed. “Have there ever been any office romances?”
“You’d be surprised,” Dave said through a laugh. “Most people transfer out, but we actually have a married couple on this case.”
Her eyes widened. “Really?”
Dave nodded, "It doesn't usually happen, but she has expertise pertinent to the case."
His eyes strayed to the conference room, where Y/N and Aaron were bent over the same set of photos and reports. They were almost cheek-to-cheek as they leaned in to read. Any outsider would see an intensely focused, cohesive, and trusting pair, though they might miss the matching wedding bands on their left hands and the different photos of the same three-person family on their personal phone wallpapers.
The administrator looked around at each of the profilers scattered around the room, taking stock.
“Any ideas?” Dave sat back and watched her evaluate each member of the team.
“Not even a little,” she laughed.
Dave gestured to Y/N and Aaron with his pen, who had moved from the table to the board, pinning new photos and noting new discoveries. They were like magnets or planets in orbit, anticipating the needs of the other and working seamlessly as one unit. As Dave watched, she began to reach for a pen, and Aaron had one ready for her, pressing it into her palm. Aaron stepped back and watched as she moved things about on the board. They never said a word, but their ease of communication was clear to anyone watching.
“No way.”
Dave nodded, a smile on his face.
“But he’s so....” Her brow furrowed, unable to find the right word for Aaron’s serious and no-nonsense affect. “And she’s...”
“Someone had to melt that heart, right?”
+++
The team retired to their respective hotel rooms following the arrest of the unsub (the roommate – Spencer’s first hunch).
Y/N collapsed on the bed, face down. She felt the bed sink beside her, and she blindly reached for Aaron, who laughed and wrapped her in his arms, kissing her until she dissolved into breathless laughter. He was without his tie and blazer, the top buttons of his shirt undone.
“It’s good to have you back with us, however temporary,” he said.
Y/N smiled. He was right, but working out “Did you hear what happened today?”
Aaron raised his eyebrows, inviting her to continue.
“One of the women in the precinct today simply couldn’t believe we were the married ones.”
Aaron laughed out loud, and she thought it must be the best sound in the world. “Really?”
“Are you surprised? I mean, have you seen us?”
Aaron’s eyes softened, and he pulled Y/N closer to him, tucking her head under his chin. She felt, as well as heard, his words rumble through him.
“I love you. You’re the best mom and the best partner.”
She tipped her head up. “Show me.”
He grinned wolfishly and rolled, trapping her under his body with both of her hands caught in one of his over her head, his mouth following his other hand unbuttoning her blouse.
It was safe to say, the entire hotel knew which pair of agents were the married ones by the early hours of the morning.