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1.Jennifer Jareau
Haley Hotchner had hit the jackpot, or so everyone said enough times for her to believe it. Her husband was everything any girl's parents wanted with a steady income, devoted to her, and a total gentleman. The type of love she'd read in fairy tales.
But Aaron had decided to change his job, from working to be a partner in a lawyer firm to working for the FBI catching criminals. She had accepted and supported him through it all because it was her duty as his wife and she loved the man.
What she didn't love was learning he'd been tasked with helping his Unit Chief to find a Communications Liaison. She didn't understand why Aaron had to interview so many pretty women; and she knew because he'd taken some files home and she'd peeked.
When Aaron said Jennifer Jareau had joined the team, Haley had tensed up. She remembered the picture of a petite blonde girl with big blue eyes and delicate features. Her resume was nothing to scoff at, and she had won against dozens of candidates. Aaron spoke about her like she had been the missing piece to the best puzzle ever without looking up from his plate, while she had lost her appetite.
"Is everything okay, honey? You went silent on me." Aaron asked, drinking some water and wiping his mouth clean.
"Yeah, no, it's fine. Sorry I spaced out. You were saying this Jennifer is from Yale?"
"Yes, and she did an internship at the Pentagon a few months back. Gideon is training her and he's pleased so I think I can finally ditch all the other applicants." He talked about it like it wasn't a big deal, and maybe it really wasn't but she couldn't stop herself.
"And are you working close with her too or just Gideon?" The words were out of her mouth before she could phrase the question better.
She saw Aaron drop his fork on the plate and smile with his dimples showing. His eyes were shining with glee.
"Honey, are you jealous?"
"No!" Too fast, too loud. She saw him snort.
"Haley, I know you saw the pictures," he gave her a look that made her blush, "but I regret to inform you I am not more interested in her as more than a colleague. She is not my type."
Now it was her turn to glare at him.
"Darling, she is too young and I am in love with the most beautiful woman in the whole world." He leaned closer to give her a chaste kiss on the corner of her mouth.
She couldn't help but keep kissing him. She saw in his eyes that he wasn't lying.
And days later, Jennifer came home with Aaron to give her a fruit basket as a thank-you gift because Aaron had been the first man hiring who made her feel like she was a worthy professional without diminishing her by looks or implying she'd earn her place with favors.
Haley felt silly thinking her husband would be anything less than loyal to her.
2.Elle Greenaway
When Elle Greenaway joined the BAU, Haley had told Aaron to make sure she knew how welcome her presence was. Aaron had smiled and assured her he would do it.
On one occasion Haley was invited to a team's outing, she was met with Wonder Woman herself. Elle had this mystic beauty to her and her aura felt dangerous. She was everything Haley could ever dream of being.
She saw the woman talking to Aaron about something and she could barely follow the conversation but her husband was as fast as a bullet and then they laughed and she pretended she understood.
In the following weeks, whenever Aaron stayed late at work, Haley would sometimes ask if he was the only one staying, and if the team was out of state, then she would ask if he was rooming with Gideon or he snagged a room just for him, to which Aaron mindlessly answered that he mostly roomed alone or a rotation of Gideon, Morgan, or Reid.
Aaron telling her that he'd rushed for Elle's almost naked body when she was detained during a case had her bristling, though she couldn't say he was wrong. She understood her husband's closeness to each member of his team, but the fact that whenever he came home she had to listen all about it really started nagging at her.
Aaron kept missing dates, family outings, Jack's important milestones, and hearing how Aaron had come home late again because Elle had been teaching him some new techniques she'd learned at a training camp made Haley breathe a little hard and grind her teeth.
When Elle had almost died during a case and Aaron spent the days glued over there, instead of letting the others do their job, Haley felt something crack inside her. Luckily, only her empty marital bed heard her sobs.
By the time she learned the woman had left the BAU soon after, Aaron's only indicator had been the empty bottle of whiskey in his office trash bin that she'd thrown away, and a few nightmares she'd ignored for her own sake.
3.Penelope Garcia
Penelope Garcia was a breath of fresh air at her husband's job. She had baked something for Jack when he turned one; she kept Haley updated when she couldn't reach her husband, and was adamant on Aaron's loyalty to Haley.
But when Aaron had first mentioned her, Haley had to admit she'd imagined a very different woman. Because of the description and the way Aaron talked about her with some wariness and then fondness, Haley had thought the "Dark Queen" would be a dangerous vixen ready to pounce on any unsuspecting man.
Despite Aaron being a profiler, he tended to be oblivious when it came to people being attracted to him. Haley had fought off many girls back in the day, because a hot law major and then being fast tracked to a government job meant Aaron was attracting people like a moth to a flame.
She'd set to meet the woman by any means and mark the line she wouldn't allow to be crossed. However, when they were on a night out at a bar, they bumped into a very joyous woman with clothing that made her stand out and a bosom that did indeed draw the eyes in.
Penelope Garcia had destroyed every thought Haley had harboured for weeks. Her husband loved the woman, that was true, but the love she noticed was not the one she'd imagined. She had loved Penelope too, and her love for the woman would grow over time, and when Haley had confided her insecurity from before, Penelope had hugged her so hard and had vowed to keep Aaron on permanent watch on her behalf.
Haley Hotchner had nothing to worry about, except her husband having to penalize Derek Morgan for flirting too much with Penelope Garcia.
4.Emily Prentiss
Emily Prentiss was definitely the female version of her husband. They could've been siblings and no one would've questioned it.
Her arrival to the team that kept her husband busier every day had chipped away a little more of something she didn't want to describe out loud.
The fights in her marriage had persisted now that Jack was part of their life. Haley was an understanding wife, as she'd been taught, but the life she was living wasn't her own anymore.
Hearing her husband talk that much didn't always make her upset, but him going on forever about the new girl being a spy for a superior did not help with taking care of their family. She could accept there was no one else he trusted, and she'd sworn to always support him through everything but it was ridiculous, and she had let him know.
The tense interactions that came after made Haley feel more like she was just another object at home, just waiting for Aaron to come back home and activate her. Her baby was her world, but sometimes she couldn't decide if it was a sad statement or a happy one.
As Aaron came home to directly hole himself up in his office, while she took refuge in Jack's room, she couldn't help but let the thoughts form. She'd asked Garcia before and the woman had answered that Prentiss was more like if Aaron became a woman, and that had puzzled Haley. She got a picture and Emily had everything that she didn't. Her circle was more in tune with Aaron's upbringing, her work was a complement of his and...
No. She had to stop putting herself down. She could accuse Aaron Hotchner of countless things, but unfaithful to her was the only one that kept her from spiraling.
5.Kate Joyner
For Haley Hotchner, her marriage wasn't anything more than a house of cards. The worst she had ever felt hadn't happened yet.
If she'd struggled with her husband having the worst change in career history, there would have to be a new word invented for what was happening to her.
Her husband had been attacked during a case and he'd almost died in an explosion. The saddest part was learning that even when he was on the brink of death, he'd been looking out for others...
His team had made sure she was in the know of everything. Penelope immediately kept her updated and the rest of the team was tightening up everything for Aaron. She hated it.
She went to the office and sought Penelope to ask for everything that had happened. He was not supposed to be in danger, no more than usual.
But there was someone else. Kate Joyner's face mocked her in the darkness of Garcia's lair. Hearing everything that Aaron had done since the moment she'd appeared had made Haley feel rage simmering inside.
There was no question anymore. In his quest to be better at helping others, Aaron had forgotten that he too could make a difference by being better with the people around him.
Penelope had said nothing when she saw Haley crying silently.
1.Spencer Reid
After getting divorced, Haley Brooks could breathe better. She had her son, her sister and her parents supporting her with everything she needed.
Aaron had understood why she couldn't stay anymore, and she was glad she could go on without feeling like she would drown with every breath. Her life could be hers again.
As weeks went by, she eased into a rhythm and she even found herself again, this time not only as a mother or wife but as a woman. She hadn't felt beautiful in a while and having attention again was nice. It didn't mean she was eager to date or meet someone new, but she wasn't averse to getting an extra nice greeting or a free pastry at a coffee shop while Jack napped in his stroller and she read.
One evening, she had accepted an outing with some old friends who'd come into town. Jess had been an angel about it and she was the biggest tease for Haley to smile again and have fun. Her new dress was cute, her hair was done and her makeup had suited the occasion. She was enjoying her second margarita, this time with alcohol in it, when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye.
She did a double take and, if possible, she would've said it had been because of the alcohol, but she'd barely sipped her drink.
Her husband was on the other side of the room. Well, her ex-husband.
Thankfully the bar was big enough that she didn't have to walk close to where he was if she wanted to leave. And apparently he hadn't seen her.
She tried telling herself it wasn't him, but he was, and she couldn't help noticing he was dressed as usual. She couldn't explain why she was relieved to not see him wearing casual clothes. It wasn't her business anymore.
She tried keeping up with the chat her friends talked about but her eyes wandered.
A waiter had given Aaron a drink, and she'd seen him point at someone at the end of the bar. A woman had sent Aaron something. Aaron gave it back to the waiter who bashfully walked back to his station and placed the drink on the bar in front of the woman.
Haley caught herself smiling and she shook her head, thankful that her friends didn't notice it.
Was she glad Aaron hadn't found someone? By what Penelope told her, Aaron had not deviated from work. He'd kept the same routine, despite his life changing because he'd moved into a small apartment that was more like a motel for the man.
Her thoughts of him getting worse now that she had left him were interrupted by a blur that moved where Aaron sat. She leaned back just so one of her friends didn’t slap her face with her flailing while telling a story, and kept observing who it was.
The sight wasn’t unknown. It was one of Aaron’s teammates. The young genius with lots of doctorates and quirks.
Aaron signalled for the waiter from before to take their order and a few moments later there was a familiar glass for Aaron and soda for Reid. They seemed to talk endlessly and that wasn’t out of the ordinary for Haley.
What made her stare, instinctively maybe, was seeing Aaron openly laughing at something the young genius had said. His hands moved around and there was mischief in his eyes, but it seemed to be directed at her ex-husband. She also noticed the closeness that they shared. The booth was not big, but it looked like both men were gravitating to one another. Aaron usually kept reaching for his drink as a clutch when he was not at work and he had to interact with ordinary people now hadn’t even touched his drink. Reid had almost knocked his soda twice, but Aaron’s hand had stopped it without even changing his focus.
She was not even pretending to pay attention to the people at the table. She only had eyes for the men a few feet away, because she saw the younger man put his hands under the table, and she saw how Aaron’s hand also moved and even from afar she could see him reaching for the thin hand, and their faces…
Time had stopped.
There was a ringing sound in her ears, and bile was rising in her throat. She had to get out of there. She looked at one of her friends and they all moved. She hadn’t noticed they had also seen the man they’d known for a long time. It was swift, but she was safe inside the women’s restroom, with her head above the toilet just in case she threw up, a friend outside the door holding her purse, and the quietness of the place she needed just to process what she’d seen outside.
Aaron was holding hands with Doctor Reid in a way that was so tender and even intimate, while he looked at the young man like he was the sun he needed to live. Doctor Reid was looking at Aaron like he was seeing a god in front of him. The world didn’t exist for them.
If they had kissed, maybe she wouldn’t have reacted the same, and she would never consider herself homophobic, but it had been worse than just seeing two men having a public, discreet, display of affection. It was the fact that Aaron had apparently found what he couldn’t have when they’d been together.
Her hands hurt from where she was clenching them by her sides. The toilet water rippled when teardrops rolled down from her cheeks. The first choked sob was barely audible but after it came out, she felt like exploding. Her breath was shaky and she could have fallen to her knees, but she didn’t.
None of her friends would question her. They were good people. She needed to leave.
She came out of the stall, wiping her eyes and walking straight to the sink, splashing water to her face, her makeup smudging. There was a hand towel handed to her and she took it. She asked her friend to get her a cab immediately. She saw the woman rush out of the restroom after she assured her she would be out in a minute. She walked slowly, trying to stop her hands from shaking.
When she walked out, she was grateful more people were moving around, and the lighting was being dimmed for ambiance. She looked over again, but the booth was empty. The waiter was already cleaning the table with the unfinished soda and the whisky gone.
Her friend came for her to guide her to the bay where the cab was waiting. She got in and only reacted when the man at the front told her she was home. She scrambled to pay but the man let her know it had been covered already.
She went into the house, ignoring Jess’ worried voice. She was talking about getting the call to wait for Haley at the door, and asking questions she couldn’t answer without screaming.
She lied on her bed, dropping her purse on the floor and leaving her shoes on. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply.
Maybe when she woke up the guilt would be gone.