Chapter Text
“Congratulations, agent,” Agent David Rossi said, shaking Aaron’s hand.
Aaron had just graduated the FBI academy and was both excited and terrified to be going straight into the BAU. Agents Rossi and Gideon were standing with him outside the FBI building, although Gideon didn’t seem to be in a talkative mood. While Aaron was excited, he was a little awkward talking to them, scared he was messing up every sentence he spoke.
“Thank you, sir. I’m excited to be joining your team soon.”
“It’ll be good to have you, Aaron. But before you do, what are you going to do to celebrate this weekend?”
“I’m off to Vegas.”
“Be careful,” Rossi cautioned.
“Oh no, not for that. I don’t gamble. My father moved us there not long after my mother passed and I haven’t seen my baby brother for ages.”
“That makes more sense, I will admit, I didn’t see you as the casino type.”
“No sir.”
“Well enjoy.”
“I just need to work out what to get Spence… I’ll likely be working on his actual birthday so giving him a present early. But what do you get a nearly-five-year-old genius?”
“A chess set and rubiks cube,” Gideon answered. He’d not said anything up to that point, so Aaron was slightly surprised to hear him speak.
“A chess set is a good idea… I’ll skip the rubiks cube though, he figured them out when he was three…”
“Actual genius. Wow, can’t wait until mini Hotchner is ready to join the FBI too,” Rossi laughed.
“Technically mini Reid. I used my mother’s maiden name when I joined the FBI. Figured that since I practiced law under Reid I should try to avoid making a bigger target on my back.”
“Ah, fair enough. Well, enjoy the long weekend, I’ll see you on Monday. Another new recruit is also joining then, we got her from Interpol.”
Hotch nodded, “I look forward to meeting her.”
“Enjoy seeing your brother.”
***
Aaron unlocked the front door and immediately saw a small blur running towards him.
“Aaron!” Spencer yelled, throwing himself into his arms, “I missed you!”
“Missed you too buddy,” Aaron readjusted his grip to avoid dropping his brother.
“Spencer, let your poor brother in before you squish him,” a call came from the living room.
“Sorry mommy,” Spencer called back.
“Okay kiddo, let me say hi to your mom,” Aaron put Spencer on the ground, ignoring the grumpy hum, and walked through to the living room.
“Diana, hi,” he said, bending down to kiss her cheek, “How are you?”
“I’m doing alright, Aaron. Or should I say Agent Hotchner?”
Aaron laughed slightly, “It feels weird using a different name.”
“I see why you decided to use it though,” Diana said.
“Yeah. I guess dad’s at work?”
“He is. Though he promised he’d be home just after 5.”
“Aaronnnnn, play with meee,” Spencer said, hanging off Aaron’s arm.
“Okay kiddo, what’re we gonna do?”
“Nerf guns!” Spencer said, dragging him to the garden, “I wanna see your FBI tricks.”
***
“Spencer, can you come and set the table for dinner?”
“Coming,” Spencer called, sliding down from his treehouse, sending a sneaky shot at Aaron as he went.
“Hey, you shot me when my back was turned,” Aaron objected.
“You turned your back while I was armed,” Spencer retorted, sticking his tongue out.
Aaron scooped Spencer up, carrying him into the house upside down, depositing him on the couch. Spencer was hiccupping, giggles threatening to overcome him.
“Spencer! Table,” Diana called.
“I’ll give you a hand,” Aaron said, and the pair headed through to the dining room, quickly laying everything out.
A key sounded at the front door.
“Daddy!” Spencer yelled, running to greet his father, “Aaron is here! He’s really here!”
William came through to the dining room, Spencer wrapped around one of his legs, and hugged Aaron.
“Good to see you, son,” he said, “How did it go today?”
“It was good. I met my new bosses.”
“Do they seem like they’ll be good to work for?”
“They do. In fact, one of them gave me a suggestion for Spencer’s birthday present.”
Spencer looked up at that, sending his best puppy dog eyes to Aaron.
“After dinner, kiddo,” Aaron laughed, “And you ought to go and wash your hands before we eat.”
***
“Chess? How does that work?” Spence asked, inspecting the basic instruction booklet.
“I can explain the basics, but I’m not an expert. My new boss suggested that you may enjoy it. Once you’ve worked out the basics then the other book will help you work on strategy.”
“Cool! Thank you!”
Aaron helped Spencer set up the pieces, explaining the names and moves as he did so.
“Spencer, you go first.”
“Okay,” Spencer moved a pawn, frowning slightly at the board.
Over the next few moves, Spencer started to develop some strategy in his moves, thinking harder before moving the pieces. Aaron smiled – Gideon was right, this was a good gift for Spencer.
They hit a stalemate at half seven.
“Spencer, time to get ready for bed,” Diana said, “Say goodnight to Aaron.”
“Aww. Night Aaron. Thank you for getting me the chess set.”
“You’re welcome, Spencer.”
“Right, I’m going to do some work on my talk for Wednesday,” Diana said, ruffling Spencer’s hair.
Once Spencer was upstairs and Diana had gone to the study, William pulled two beers out of the fridge and headed to the back porch where the evening air was cooler.
“Agent. Never thought I’d see the day. I’m proud of you, son.”
“Thanks dad.”
“Though agent or not, I was tempted to give you a time out when you got here,” William’s eyes were twinkling with mirth.
“Oh no. What did I do?”
“You left some David Rossi books on your shelf last time you were here. Spencer got a hold of them. I had a very awkward conversation with his kindergarten teacher after kids in his class wanted to play cops and robbers and he suggested ‘psychosexual sadists and Special Agents’.”
Aaron leant back against the porch rails, laughing at that, “I’m sorry. I forget that he reads so well. Poor teacher must have been confused.”
“Yeah. We have actually decided to home educate now until we can find a more suitable arrangement for him. He’s too bright for elementary school, he’s already finished all of the forth grade work, but the school won’t let him work any higher than that. Spencer was bored. And at least now I don’t need to worry about phone calls from teachers because my five year old is discussing crimes in too much detail.”
“This conversation happened more than once?”
“Four times.”
Aaron’s eyes widened at that, although he was also trying not to laugh at the mental image.
“Are you ready for Monday?”
“Yeah. Though I am nervous. Another agent is joining the team, but she’s been working at Interpol for the last however long. So she’ll be better than me.”
“But she didn’t put the Big 7 behind bars.”
“She worked a joint Interpol/CIA case putting multiple international arms dealers away.”
William paused, “Okay. I see your point. However, do you remember what your karate teacher told you when you were a kid?”
“I assume you aren’t referring to not eating yoghurt just before working out?”
“No… although that advice probably also tracks. You don’t want to repeat your second competition during an FBI raid.”
Aaron went red at the memory and changed the subject back to the advice, “If you think your kicks are high enough, go stand next to someone kicking higher. If your punches are strong enough, stand next to someone who punches harder.”
“Exactly. Maybe that’s what this other agent will be. And you’ll have skills she doesn’t have, that’s how we work. If you do things properly then you’ll both encourage each other to be better, and that is the best thing for both of you.”
“Yes sensei,” Aaron laughed, “Thanks, dad.”
“No worries, kiddo.”
“One sec,” Aaron saw movement in the living room and put his drink down, heading back inside. Spencer was stood behind the couch with his hands behind his back.
“Give it back,” Aaron said, raising an eyebrow.
“Give what back?” Spencer asked, trying his hardest to look innocent, “I don’t have anything.”
“Which is why you look guilty as heck. Kid, I’m a profiler, you can’t lie to me.”
“You haven’t actually started yet,” Spencer mumbled, pulling a face.
“I’ve had some training. But that’s beside the point. Give it.”
“Don’t have anything.”
“So when I look in my bag, I won’t be missing my copy of David Rossi’s latest novel?”
“Fine,” Spencer dumped the book on the couch with a dramatic sigh, “Didn’t wanna read it anyway.” And with that, he stalked up the stairs to bed, shutting his bedroom door as firmly as he could without slamming it.
“What are we going to do with that child,” Aaron said, biting his lip against the laugh threatening to escape.
“No idea.”