The Long, Lonely Road Ahead

The following events take place after Hotch’s divorce but prior to JJ’s giving birth.

Yes, I know it’s a Mary Sue in some ways, but it was fun to write, so I’m throwing it out there for you to read and see what you think.

The Long, Lonely Road Ahead

Chapter Twelve

At a bit before 7, people began to arrive. Spencer Reid and Emily Prentiss arrived first, having shared a cab to get there. Emily brought a good bottle of wine, which Pen immediately opened and Spencer brought Pen a book of Edmund Spencer’s poetry.
“How thoughtful,” she said, taking it from him. “Thanks Reid.”
“It’s The Fairie Queene,” he pointed out, taking the glass of wine she offered him in exchange.
“Thanks! I’ve never read it,” she told him and handed Emily a glass of wine too. Rossi arrived next, bearing yet another bottle of wine. Aaron was the last to arrive; he had two bouquets of flowers in his hands.
“Two bouquets,” Prentiss exclaimed, looking at Pen. “Wow.”
“One for you,” Aaron said, handing a bouquet of carnations to Pen, “and one for you.” He handed me a dozen red roses.
“Wow,” Prentiss exclaimed again, her eyebrows up in her hairline. Reid and Rossi exchanged a look as well. Aaron kissed me and I was surprised, given his earlier reticence, but figured he knew what he wanted to do.
“Well, Merry Christmas, everyone,” Rossi said. “It’s very kind of you to invite us all over for dinner, Penelope.”
“Well, I love Christmas and I don’t often get a chance to go all out,” Pen said. “But now that you’re all here, have a seat, have a drink, and there’s snacks on the coffee table…”

The dinner was a roaring success. Everyone ate, drank, and talked—granted, they did tend to talk business more than I would have liked, but there wasn’t much of a lapse in the conversation.
“This has been one of the best Christmases I’ve had in a long, long time,” Prentiss said, finishing the last of her red wine and reaching for the bottle. Rossi stayed her hand as he was closer, and poured the last of the bottle into her glass.
“I couldn’t agree more,” Rossi told her. Pen grinned and kissed Kevin on the cheek.
“I don’t think I could eat another bite,” Reid said, putting down his fork. “This pie was great, Garcia.”
“Everything was excellent,” Aaron agreed, raising his glass to Pen.
“A toast to the hostess,” I proclaimed, raising my glass to my cousin. We all raised our glasses as Pen blushed.
“Now… what’s happening for New Year’s?” Pen asked, and there were groans from around the table.
“I can’t think about more than one holiday at a time,” Reid said. “New Year’s Eve is always a disaster for me, anyway.”
“Nowhere to go?” Prentiss asked.
“And no one to go with,” he said. “I usually spend New Year’s in Las Vegas with my mother. It can be a hard time for her.”
“But you’re not there this year,” Rossi stated, looking at him over his now empty wine glass.
“No, no… I decided not to go this year. And I might actually have somewhere to go this year, which is a bit of a surprise.”
“Right,” said Rossi. “That bartender we met, who does magic too. She’s not in town, though, is she?”
“No, Austin lives in Atlanta, but really, it’s not that far away from Washington,” Reid said. “We were talking about meeting up for New Year’s Eve, if she doesn’t have to work.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Prentiss said. “I’ve got a party to go to with a friend from college, myself. She works at the British Embassy.”
“How very posh,” Pen replied in a snooty English accent and everyone laughed. “I’ve got my eye on a couple of fairly nice possibilities for us for New Year’s Eve.”
“Us?” Kevin asked. “I hope you mean you and me, babe.”
“And Terra,” Pen said. Her eyes flicked to Aaron, who was sitting next to me at the table. “That is, unless you’ve got other plans?”
“Not at the moment…” I said. I looked at Aaron.
“Not yet, anyway,” he said, sipping at his water.
“We’ll see then,” I said. Pen just nodded and reached for another bottle of red wine.

An hour or so later, the table began to clear as everyone got up to help clean up. Despite Pen’s protests, the top profilers of the FBI’s BAU were doing dishes, Rossi in Pen’s purple dishwashing gloves and an apron to keep his clothes dry, Reid with a dishcloth, drying the dishes Rossi washed. Kevin took the garbage out, while Emily and I cleaned up the rest of the mess. Pen put the dishes back and the leftovers into the fridge. There weren’t enough jobs to go around, so Aaron sort of stood and supervised, helping when necessary. In about half an hour, the place was spotlessly clean and everyone was taking their leave for the night.
“We have work tomorrow, remember,” Rossi reminded them all.
“But if you come in a bit late, I’m sure we’ll understand,” Aaron added with a smile.
“I’ll remember that,” Prentiss said.
“Right. The 26th isn’t a holiday here,” I said.
“It’s Boxing Day in Canada, isn’t it?” Reid asked, putting on his boots.
“Yep. Makes sense to me to take a day off after Christmas… if you celebrate it,” I said.
“Mmmm, sounds good to me,” Pen said, Kevin’s arm around her waist. “Maybe I’ll move to Canada.”
“Just for the holiday? And miss all this?” Prentiss asked with a laugh.
“Yeah well, maybe not,” Pen agreed and I laughed.
“Good night, all,” Rossi said, taking his leave. Reid and Prentiss left next, sharing a taxi just as they’d done to get there. Aaron, Kevin, Pen and I stood in the doorway of the apartment, watching as the others headed down the stairs and out the main door of the building.
“So,” I said to Aaron, “am I staying or going?”
“What would you like to do?” he asked.
“Don’t be coy. You know what I’d prefer, but you have to work tomorrow,” I said.
“You’re going,” Pen said. “Pack a bag, take a key, he can drop you off on his way to work. Or better yet, he can bring you to work and I can give you a tour.”
“You can’t do that. She doesn’t have clearance, Penelope,” Aaron admonished her.
“Oh, right. Well, bring her back her in the morning, but take her with you now,” Pen said, looking over at Kevin.
“It’s a small apartment,” I told Aaron.
“Ah,” was all he said.
“I’ll be back. Just give me a second,” I said, heading back into the apartment.

I packed a small bag with a few things and then met Aaron back at the apartment door. “Ready when you are,” I told him.
“Good night,” Kevin said, pushing Pen back into her apartment.
“Kevin! Hold on,” she said, pulling me aside. “You don’t mind, do you? It’s just that I didn’t expect Kevin to be back for the holidays and all, and…”
“I get it. Don’t worry about me. This works very well for me too,” I said with a grin. She grinned back.
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” she said and I swear, Aaron blushed.
“There’s a lot she wouldn’t do,” I told him as we left the apartment.
“Hey! None of that!” she snapped as the door closed on her. I laughed.
“Thanks for the roses, by the way,” I said. “I never really got a chance to thank you properly.” I kissed him just as we hit the last step down. We stopped and kissed for a moment before heading out the door and towards his car.
“You’re very welcome,” he said, opening my door for me. I climbed into his car. “It was my pleasure.”
“You’re quite the romantic, aren’t you?” I asked, as we drove away.
“I’ve never really thought about it,” he mused. “I guess I am.”
“None of the men I’ve dated have been very romantic,” I said. “I think I like it.”
“I’ll try and remember that,” he said with a smile. I grinned back and leaned back in my seat as we drove towards his house.

Shortly we were settled in the living room with wine, the gas fireplace on full to take the chill out of the air. I was scanning his CD collection, pulling some out to look more closely and passing right by others.
“Does it meet with your approval?” he said, his voice gently teasing.
“Mmmm, I s’pose,” I mused. “You’re quite the rock god.” He laughed.
“That’s an interesting way of putting it,” he said, plucking the CD out of my hand. “I like jazz too.”
“And oldies, I see here.” I pulled out a CD and popped it into the player.
“Sinatra?” He looked at me askance, one eyebrow up.
“Why not? Dance with me.” I downed my wine, and then held out my hands to him.
“I usually don’t dance,” he said, taking me in his arms.
“Why not?”
“No one to dance with any more,” he said a bit sadly.
“I imagine, given what you’ve told me, that you and your wife hadn’t done much of that for a while,” I said, pressing my face against his shoulder and inhaling his scent. Intoxicating.
“True,” he said as we swayed to Sinatra.
“My last relationship kind of just fell apart too,” I said, looking up at him. He was about four inches taller than me, just about right. “We were together for about three years, but he didn’t really want to know who I was or what I wanted or anything. We just lived together, and slept together and then one day, we didn’t.”
“How does something like that just fall apart, though?” He pulled away from me, looking at me intently. “I know a lot about how people work, how our minds work, but I don’t really understand that sometimes. You love someone so much you don’t want to let them go, and then one day you just don’t? I know, I know… it doesn’t really happen like that.”
“It’s a number of small things that build up over time. Things you don’t talk about, don’t deal with, don’t look at…”
“And they all add up.” He sat down on the couch and pulled at his tie, loosening it.
“I was wondering when that tie was going to come off,” I said, helping him to remove it. “You’re a little uptight, Aaron.”
“You’re right,” he said. “But the job I do, the things I see…”
“I know all about things like that. I’ve lived all sorts of things like that.”
“We both come from violent backgrounds. I wonder if that’s one of the things that’s bringing us together.”
“I’ve heard that when you’ve lived through certain… things… you give off physical signals, like body language. And that someone who’s been through the same things recognizes those signals, picks up on them.” I got my wineglass and poured myself another glass full.
“I know that’s the case. Sometimes I feel like I know too much to even have a relationship,” he said, his face serious.
“Let’s not call this a relationship then,” I said, and when he began to protest, I put my finger on his lips to silence him. “Look. I like you a lot Aaron, but we’ve been seeing each other for, like, four days or something here. That’s not a relationship yet. That’s just… hanging out and having a good time.”
“Mm.” He nodded his head, the fire reflected in his dark eyes. He leaned over and kissed me. I kissed him back, nipping at his lower lip, and the kiss deepened, his tongue sliding between my parted lips. “It’s late,” he said when we broke apart.
“It is,” I agreed, kissing him again.
“Maybe it’s time for bed,” he suggested, taking my wineglass from my hand and putting it down behind me.
“I think you’re right,” I agreed again, and then allowed him to lead me upstairs to his bedroom.

It felt a bit like the first time we made love; we couldn’t get enough of each other. We undressed each other and ourselves, clothing going everywhere, kisses landing on all exposed flesh. He pushed me down onto the bed and slid up my body, covering me with his length. His skin felt hot, and we kissed as though we were trying to devour each other. I wrapped my fingers in his hair, pulling him as close to me as he could get, and he slid his lips down my neck, making me crazy.
“I can’t wait for it, Aaron… come on!” I hissed, my hips coming off the bed, rubbing myself against his hard cock. “Come on, come on, come on…”
“So beautiful,” he murmured as he sucked my nipple, and then he slid into me, hard. I gasped, meeting his thrusts, and we kissed as we fucked, the heat of his mouth burning me. I came, hard, crying out as he thrust into me, my legs locked around his waist, my nails biting into his shoulders. He came with a groan, his face against my neck, and we shuddered to a halt with him still inside me, my muscles spasming around him. “Oh God, Terra.”
“Shhhh… That was amazing, Aaron,” I said, kissing his shoulder, his forehead, his cheek. We stayed like that for a bit, and then I got up to use the bathroom. I brushed my teeth, and cleaned myself up, pulling on my underwear and a t-shirt. When I came back to bed, he was under the covers and already asleep. I slid in next to him, and he turned in his sleep, putting his arm around my waist. It was amazing how quickly we found our place together in bed, sleeping together as if we’d been together for years. How quickly the flesh learns its place. I sighed, snuggled against him, and fell asleep.