SSA Scottley - A collection - S.R.

Safe haven

"He's beautiful, Lily."

At that, Lily smiled, taking her eyes off of the park in front of her to turn around and face Hotch instead. Now that Scratch was gone for good, Hotch and Jack were allowed to leave the Witness Protection program and, since Jack - well, Christopher, really - had just finished his 8th grade at school, Hotch felt like it was the perfect opportunity for moving again.

He wasn't going to go back to the FBI, he had told Lily so, but he had built his whole life in D.C. and so had Jack. Here, they had all of their friends and Jessica and everyone they had ever cared about, so it was only fair for them to want to move back as soon as this whole mess was over. And Lily couldn't deny she was happy for it. After all, she did miss Hotch in the office, and it wasn't that she didn't like Emily in command, it was just... There was something she missed about having her ex-boss' presence there.

But, at the very least, he was nearby again.

"Thank you." Lily said, reaching a finger over to Alec who had been sleeping, wrapped up in his blanket in the arms of no one other than Aaron Hotchner himself. "I think he likes you."

"I hope so." Hotch smiled gently at the baby in his arms. "He looks like Reid."

"Yeah." Lily nodded. "He does."

Hotch frowned a little then, noticing how the smile on Lily's lips didn't quite meet her eyes. He knew her well enough by now to know her tells and he could tell there was something bothering her. He wanted to ask her upfront what it was. He wanted to know if there was anything he could do to help her, but he knew better. He knew that, should he ask, Lily would deny everything and their conversation would lead them nowhere, so, instead, he took a softer approach.

"You're on maternity leave?" He asked, as Lily nodded.

"Yeah." She said. "It's been a long time since I've been away from this job for that long."

"Trust me, I know."

Lily laughed then, rolling her eyes at Hotch's comment, but she couldn't really deny it. The last she had had such a long leave it had been after her abduction by Howland almost five years before, and, even after her mother's death or Oliver's death, as much as Hotch tried to push her away from the job, she always insisted in coming back sooner than he would have liked her to. But he couldn't blame her. He had loved his job just as much as she did and he too might have ignored some orders from doctors and therapists in order to get back on business faster than he should've a few times before.

"I only have another week off, though." Lily said. "And I mean, don't get me wrong, I loved having this time with Alec and everything, but I can't wait to go back. I miss this job far too much when I'm not doing it, for some reason."

"I'm sure they miss you too." Hotch said. "Especially considering you do most of the job, selecting the cases."

"Yeah." Lily chuckled. "Maybe I'll finally start being appreciated."

Hotch smiled then, passing Alec back to Lily when the boy started to fuzz in his arms. He watched in silence as Lily quickly rocked the baby gently in her own arms, letting him clutch to her as she hushed him sweetly. Hotch smiled then. He had always known she would be a good mom. It was written all over her whenever she interacted with children and, as he watched her with her own baby, he knew he had been right all along.

"Is the team away in a case?" Hotch asked, as Lily nodded, her eyes still on Alec, but her attention on the conversation they were holding.

"Yes." She said. "They're in Silicon Valley, I think. They haven't told me much."

"I'm sure Reid will bring all the details back when he gets home."

Hotch didn't miss the way Lily stiffened at the mention of her fiance and he frowned. Was that the problem? Was Spencer what had been bothering her all along? Were they in trouble? As far as he knew, they were still together, but as he took another look at the young woman beside him, he noticed she wasn't wearing her ring anymore.

"Did I say something wrong?" Hotch asked, trying to sound as gentle as possible as Lily sighed, placing her sleeping baby back on his bassinet beside her before turning around to look at him.

"You... You know how Spencer went to prison, right?" She asked, as Hotch nodded. Yes, he knew. She had told him all about it the first they had met after the Scratch mess was done. "Well, I mean... He's still affected. Which is... Which is obvious, of course, but... A few weeks ago he... We talked, I mean, and he said he wasn't ready to take any big steps with me anymore so I... I mean, we called the wedding off. Again."

"Oh, Lily..."

"And I mean, I understand. Truly, I do. It... It's probably not easy for him, any of this, but God..." Lily sighed. "When we dated, everything was fine. We didn't even argue at all. As soon as he decided to put a ring on my finger, though... We've called the wedding off already once. Because of Cat. I didn't want to call it off twice. Especially not because of Cat Adams."

"Well, but you worked it out the last time, didn't you?" Hotch asked.

"Yes, but Spencer just keeps pulling away from me everytime something goes wrong and I just... I'm just so frustrated." She whined. "I love him. God, I do. But, he's just so..."

"He's used to shielding himself, Lily." Hotch said. "He was a prodigy, much like you. You understand him better than anyone. He went through a lot in school and college and even in the FBI. He's used to shielding himself. And everytime something slips out of his control, he freaks out and pulls away."

"I know that..." Lily sighed, picking on her nails as Hotch sighed beside her. "I just... I'm scared, I guess."

"Scared of what?"

"I mean, we worked it out the first time, but what if... What if we don't, this time?"

"Lily, you can't be serious." Hotch shook his head, as Lily frowned and turned to look at him again. "Of course you will. Because you need each other. You need him and he needs you. And, sure, maybe he needs some time to realize it, but he will. And, when he does, he'll come back to you. He'll always come back to you."

"You think so?"

"You're a safe heaven, Lily Scottley." Hotch smiled a little. "And not just for Spencer, but for pretty much everyone. JJ, Emily, Penelope, me... Jack. We all feel safe with you."

"You do?" Lily asked, as Hotch chuckled.

"I wouldn't have broken the sigil of my witness protection life for just about anyone, would I?" He asked, smiling when Lily did too. "You'll see, Lily. Everything will work out in the end. Just let him think for a little, put his mind back into place and then he'll come back for you."

"Thank you," Lily smiled back at him. "Not... Not just for the advice but for... Everything."

"You don't need to thank me, Lily." Hotch shrugged. "I'll be always here for you."

Lily smiled then, her eyes falling on Alec again when the baby stirred, but when he didn't even open his eyes, she allowed herself to turn back around to see Jack running toward them with a football in hands.

"Aunt Lily, come play with me." He pleaded and, for a moment, he didn't look at all with the almost fourteen-year-old boy he was. In that moment, Lily was transported back to that sweet five-year-old with whom she would spend hours upon hours as she helped him distract himself from the loss of his mother while pulling from him the strength she needed to get over the deaths of her mom and boyfriend just a few weeks prior. "Come on, I got a lot better at playing soccer. I want to show you."

"Oh, come on, you were already so much better than me before..." She whined playfully. "You're gonna crush me now."

"Yes." Jack said, without missing a beat, as Lily laughed, but allowed him to pull her up to her feet by her hands. "Now, come on."

"Alright, I'm going." Lily giggled before turning to Hotch. "Will you..."

"I'll keep an eye on him." He nodded at Alec before smiling at her and his son, happy that whatever bond it was that those two had, they hadn't lost even after years. "Go have fun."

And without another word, Lily nodded, allowing Jack to tug her along as they stood in the middle of the park, rolling the football along and laughing together as they played. Hotch had never lied to Lily before and he meant every word he had said to her. She really was the safe haven of many people - even people she only saw once, during a case or another - and she made everyone around her feel safe. Especially Jack. Especially him. And, for that, Aaron Hotchner would forever be grateful.