Chapter Text
The initial cooking lesson and dinner at Rossi’s after Emily’s unexpected return evolved into a regular tactic for the BAU team to blow off steam. There was always delicious food and wine, lively music and, depending on the amount of wine, dancing. The amount of wine consumed was usually directly proportional to how horrific the last case had been for the team.
The last case had been particularly horrific - a family annihilator in Omaha who had taken out four families before his own. That, of course, meant that the consumption of wine at Rossi’s one Friday evening was substantial.
Emily, JJ and Penelope had taken control of Rossi’s Bose system, blasting 80’s tunes and giggling wildly as they danced out on the patio, holding glasses of wine. Derek and Spencer sat in deep Adirondack chairs on the fringe of the patio, chuckling at the girls, shouting encouragement and waving off frequent requests to join them on the dance floor.
Rossi and Hotch watched the shenanigans from under the twinkle-lit pergola closer to the house. The men reclined in matching Adirondack chairs, having given up wine for tumbler glasses half full of a single-malt Scotch given to Rossi when he retired the first time. Rossi held a fat cigar between clenched teeth, occasionally puffing and lazily blowing out rings of fragrant smoke.
“Looks like the girls needed this…” Rossi’s eyes twinkled with amusement as Emily, JJ and Penelope bounced up and down wildly, singing along with Dexy’s Midnight Runners asking Eileen to come on.
“Mmm-hmm.” Hotch sipped his Scotch, trying to look nonchalant. Over the past few months, a switch had flipped within him when it came to Penelope Garcia. It had started out innocently but had soon become a niggling itch under his skin, waiting to be scratched.
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It had started one Wednesday afternoon when the team was on the way back from Tallahassee after wrapping up a case. Jessica’s car had broken down on the way to pick Jack up from school and Hotch was in a bind. In a slight panic, he’d called Penelope who immediately agreed to step in and headed over to the elementary school to rescue Jack.
When he’d arrived home, he found Penelope and Jack thick as thieves, sprawled out on the living room floor building a Lego city to rival D.C. itself. Jack was giggling as Penelope posed little Lego figurines that were obviously the members of his father’s team.
“And here’s Reid,” Penelope placed a little blonde Lego figure next to a building that Hotch identified as a library. “And here’s Emily.” A brunette Lego figure stood outside a little cafe holding an oversized coffee cup.
“Hey buddy!” Hotch set his briefcase on the console table next to the apartment door and crouched down, unfolding his arms for a hug from his son.
“Dad!” Jack jumped up, launching himself at Aaron, who caught the boy, scooping him up and burying his face in the boy’s blonde hair.
“How’d everything go?” Aaron tipped his head back to meet Jack’s eyes.
“Dad, Aunt Penelope is THE BEST! She helped me with my homework, we made cookies and then we made this awesome Lego city and then she was going to show me how to make pizza for dinner. Not the kind that comes in the box, but the kind you make at your house!” Jack was clearly infatuated with Penelope. Hotch glanced over Jack’s shoulder at Penelope who was silently sitting on the living room floor, smiling serenely as Jack excitedly chattered to his dad.
“That sounds great, bud,” Hotch set Jack down and the boy scrambled back over to his Legos, plopped back on the floor and resumed fitting together miniature bricks on an unfinished tower.
Hotch stepped further into the room and began loosening his tie. He looked exhausted, his hair slightly more unruly than usual. “Thank you, Garcia. I don’t know what I would have done…”
“No worries at all, sir. Spending time with Jack-in-the-box here was the best thing I’ve done all week and you know what my week’s looked like so far,” While she spoke, she ran a hand gently over Jack’s head. “I’ll head out now. I’m sure you want to hang out with your little buddy here.”
Penelope started to rise, but Jack made a distressed sound, grabbing at her leg.
“Wait! We were supposed to have pizza!”
Aaron shrugged off his suit jacket and draped it over a chair. Truthfully, he was too tired to try to come up with dinner tonight and the thought of having someone else deal with it was kind of a relief.
“It’s alright, Garcia. Why don’t you stay and make pizza with Jack? I’m going to go take a shower, so you guys get started and I’ll be out in a few minutes.”
Jack cheered and sprang up, making a beeline for the kitchen. “Come on, Penelope!”
Garcia hung back a moment, a look of uncertainty on her face as she peered at Hotch.
“Are you sure, sir? I don’t want to intrude and, the truth is, you look like you might fall right over.”
Hotch chuckled inwardly and ran a hand over his face, the rasp of his whiskers filling the room.
“I actually just might. It’s really fine though. Honestly, having someone else handle dinner tonight is kind of a miracle.”
“Okey dokey then. Jackers and I will handle dinner. You do what you need to do.” Penelope, in her usual Penelope way, bopped into the kitchen after Jack, calling out to him to get ready.
Aaron shuffled into his bedroom and shut the door. He could hear Jack’s voice and laughter drifting down the hall and smiled to himself. There was no doubt that Garcia was a hit with his son. They’d spent time together before, but this might have been the longest stretch yet and Hotch was sure she’d now be a more frequently requested companion.
By the time Aaron exited his bedroom, dressed in a pair of jeans and a grey t-shirt, he could smell the scent of homemade pizza in the air. When he arrived in the kitchen doorway, Jack was washing his hands, wearing an oversized apron, flour dotting his face. Penelope was peering into the oven and looked up to see him lurking in the doorway.
“Pizza’s just about ready! Have a seat at the table and Jack and I will bring it out!”
Aaron did as he was told and for the next half hour, he sat and listened to Penelope and Jack chit chat about this and that. He chewed his pizza quietly, but watched him with a hint of a grin on his lips. When dinner was over, Jack managed to wrangle two cookies out of Aaron and then pushed the envelope even further when he requested a bedtime story from Penelope. As a man who firmly believed in picking his battles when it came to his son, he relented.
Penelope ushered Jack back to his room, assisting him with his pajamas and brushing his teeth. Hotch came in to say good night to Jack and exited the room to the sounds of Penelope animatedly reading one of Jack’s favorite books, complete with character voices.
Aaron straightened up the kitchen tiredly before sinking onto the couch and resting his head against the cushion. He heard Penelope wish Jack a good night and her footsteps coming down the hall towards the living room. He heard her pause and hesitate. He lifted his head and turned to look at her. “I’m not asleep.”
“Sorry about that, sir. I’m going to take off now.” She began to move around the room, gathering her purse and jacket.
“Penelope,” Her eyes shot up to him at the rare use of her name from his lips. “I can’t thank you enough for your help tonight. I don’t know if Jack will ever let anyone else take care of him again.”
“Honestly, it was my pleasure. He’s such a sweetheart.” She slid her jacket on, sweeping her blonde hair out from under the collar. She draped her purse over her elbow and made her way toward the door.
Aaron lifted himself from the couch, meeting her on the way. There was something about the way she spoke about his son that was so endearing to him. He’d loved watching her with Jack and their interactions tugged at his heart in a way that he hadn’t felt in a long time.
She came up beside him and reached for the doorknob at the same time he did. His hand closed over hers in a completely accidental gesture, but her breath hitched. Their eyes met for a moment, before her eyes darted away nervously.
“Well, good night, sir. See you tomorrow.” She was halfway through the door, trying to slide her hand out from underneath his.
Aaron’s hand wrapped around Penelope’s wrist, causing her to pause. “You don’t have to call me sir here, Penelope. Aaron is fine.”
She blinked at him as a small smile crept across his face. It was so rare to see his lips tip up in that way. She allowed herself to smile back at him, not able to ignore the warmth of his hand on her wrist.
“Alright then. Good night Aaron.”
He released her wrist, but in that moment, something passed between them. A warning sound went off in his brain. “Good night, Penelope.”