Reconciling the Hotchners | 2

10. Back to normal

Y/N
Tonight was your final night before you'd be returning to the BAU. The team had finally gotten Barnes to back off and now, tomorrow morning at 9 AM, you would join Rossi, Emily, Spencer, Tara, Matt, Luke, Penelope and JJ in the conference room for another case briefing.

Your final night was calm. The kids had finished getting ready for bed. You changed Toby so that he was comfortable in his new diaper. Jack and Avery cleaned their teeth before heading to their rooms. Once you'd said goodnight to your children, you sat on the couch and took a moment to breathe. You felt strange in this house. You hadn't slept here in over 3 months.

"You're home late. What happened to coming home at 5 PM?" Aaron questioned as he put some books back on the shelf behind him.

"Me coming home at 5 PM every night was temporary." You admitted, feeling the tension rise.

"What do you mean 'temporary'? You finally started coming home at a good time and now it's over? You've gone back to late nights?" Aaron scoffed.

"Me being a professor alongside Spencer was a temporary job. Neither of us wanted it to last." You explained.

"I thought you liked the idea of being a professor?" Aaron questioned.

"Firstly, I never said that. Secondly, I probably would've enjoyed it more if I hadn't've been forced." You corrected him.

"Forced?" Aaron furrowed his eyebrows, confused.

"The only reason why Spencer and I were temporarily professors was because of Linda Barnes." You revealed.

"Linda Barnes?" You couldn't tell if he had met her or even heard of her.

"Assistant director of National Security, Linda Barnes. 3 months ago was the anniversary of Spencer's arrest in Mexico. Every year it's protocol for an internal review. This year, Barnes was the one in charge of reviewing all of our cases. According to Emily, Barnes had found some...inconsistencies with some of the decisions that Emily made. As a result, Emily was suspended and JJ was forced to take over." You started.

"Barnes joined the team on one of the cases. Spencer and I refused to help Barnes take apart the team, so we didn't go. The main team had the unsub identified and a possible victim in protective custody. JJ and the team said that Barnes agreed on a specific strategy to get the unsub into custody, but while they were in the middle of executing the strategy, Barnes got impatient. She brought the victim into the line of fire and the victim was shot - the bullet grazing her. Because of this, Tara and Luke were forced to kill the unsub." You continued, watching as Aaron genuinely looked interested.

"When the team got back, Barnes blamed them and claimed that the shootings were their fault. She had contacted the director, who apparently agreed with her and that's when everything went downhill. Emily was reinstated, but reassigned to a different unit. Tara was also reassigned. Spencer and I...we were forced to become full-time professors. Rossi was forced into retirement. JJ became the conditional Unit Chief of the BAU, a position created just for her. Matt and Luke remained with JJ in the BAU. Penelope was reassigned to Cyber Crimes." You finished, taking a deep breath in and out.

"And...the case?" Aaron asked.

"We weren't supposed to work on it. Barnes explicitly told us not to investigate it, but we couldn't just ignore it. JJ lost her job for a few hours because Barnes was told that we were working the case against her orders." You admitted.

"Well, at least you can return to being a professor without force." Aaron smiled.

"What? No. I'm going to be returning back to the BAU tomorrow." You shook your head.

"Really? You're going back, even when you know how I feel about it?!" Aaron's eyes widened. He immediately looked pissed.

"Yes! The BAU is our family! I love being a profiler as much as I love you and our children! You're acting like I'm purposefully ignoring your feelings and going against you! Well, news flash Aaron, this isn't just about you! Yes, I could be home more often but I love my job too much to let it go! I love our friends too much to let them go. Your feelings and opinion aren't the only ones that matter, not when I'm the one working at the BAU." You snapped.

"So you're choosing your job over our family's happiness?" Aaron scoffed.

"You're the only one who has a problem with me working at the BAU, Aaron. Jack hasn't said anything. Avery hasn't said anything. Toby isn't old enough to even understand what's going on. Unlike you, I've made sure our kids feel like they are safe and can talk to me." You rolled your eyes.

"If they say anything to me, I'll consider leaving." You exhaled.

"So my opinion doesn't matter anymore?!" Aaron looked at you with sadness.

"You've had since Toby was born to tell me how you really felt and you just kept lying to me and to yourself, letting the guilt and regret build until you got angry at me, so no." You shook your head, leaving the house to head back to Penelope's.