Saving Agent Hotchner | 1

13. Enemies of the past

Y/N didn't receive any calls or texts from Hotch while he was on the case. Penelope called every once in a while, but apart from that, she didn't have any contact with him. She sat on her couch, reading a book when suddenly her thoughts travelled to Hotch. What were they? Were they dating? It was clear to her that he liked her, but no actual confirmation had been made. Unbeknownst to Y/N, Hotch's confirmation would come sooner than expected.

The pain in Y/N's shoulder had subsided for now - considering she took pain killers. 11 PM rolled around as a knock sounded in Y/N's apartment. She carefully got up off the couch and walked over to her front door, looking through the peephole to see Hotch standing outside. A grin formed on her face as she opened the door. To her surprise, Hotch immediately cupped her face and pulled her in for a gentle kiss. This kiss was sweet - yet passionate. It was the kind of kiss a husband would give to his wife after not seeing her for days.

He pulled away, his breathing heavy.

"I- I love you, Y/N. I needed to say that." Hotch breathed, biting his bottom lip.

"I love you too, Hotch." Y/N smiled.

"A- Aaron. Call me Aaron. Hotch is for work, Aaron is for home." He insisted.

"By that logic, you're insinuating that you'd like to see me outside of work. Does this mean that...I'm your girlfriend?" Y/N asked, shutting the door behind them as Hotch put down his bag.

"If you want to be? I mean, it's sort of frowned upon for bosses to date their employees and...I am older than you-" He went to continue, but Y/N pulled his face down and placed a kiss on his lips.

"I'd love to be your girlfriend, Aaron." Y/N smiled.

"Now, as much as I love this sudden confession of love, you look like you've seen a ghost. What's wrong?" Y/N pulled him to her couch, sitting him down. He discarded his jacket and tie, running his hands through his hair.

"T- The Boston Reaper. He's back." Aaron exhaled, leaning back.

"The Boston Reaper?" Y/N asked, confused. Considering she didn't know the name, she assumed it was a case from before she joined the BAU.

"Yes. The Boston Reaper appeared between 1995, and 1998. It was my first case as the lead profiler for the BAU. At the time, he had killed 20 people, but it wasn't enough for him. He made a deal with the lead detective on the case - Tom Shaunessy. He would stop killing people if Tom shut down the investigation, and without any leads, the case was shut down before the BAU were able to create a solid profile." Aaron explained.

"Unfortunately, Shaunessy died recently and this caused the Reaper to reappear again. We just got back from hunting him down. Evan Harvey, Nina Hale, Arthur and Diane Lenessa. Those are the most recent victims of the Reaper. We thought it might've been a copy cat, but eventually we figured that the Reaper was back." Aaron turned his head away, clearly trying to fight tears.

"So, you knew the Reaper was back. You eventually came up with a profile, right?" Y/N asked.

"Yes, we had. We gave the profile, but something about the Reaper didn't fit. What's worse is he offered me the same deal that he offered to Shaunessy." Aaron closed his eyes briefly.

"And you rejected it?" Y/N knew she was right. Aaron nodded.

"Hotch, times have changed. You made the right choice. We never make deals with people like the Reaper." Y/N reassured him.

"Because I rejected his deal, 6 more people lost their lives." Aaron shook his head.

"Aaron, look at me. You made the right choice. Hell, Rossi was retired before he re-joined the BAU. Should he have blamed himself for every victim who got killed while he was on his book tour? No. There were people just like the Reaper before you became a profiler, and there will be people just like the Reaper when you're no longer working for the BAU." Y/N placed a kiss on Aaron's forehead, watching as he closed his eyes, clearly enjoying the comfort.