'The table was long, the man's face longer. The cafe was quiet, the woman quieter. Neither wanted to be there, neither quite knew why- but they each knew why they hadn't left. The woman; in need of a job, in need of a new start, in desperate need of an escape. The man; in a need of a way to appease his intruding sister in law...' It had been six months since FBI's Agent Aaron 'Hotch' Hotchner lost his (ex) wife to a serial killer his team had been hunting for a year, eventually succumbing to the hands of the man he made a widowed single father. A lack of social or love life, of which he says he's happier without, leaves room for only one thing in his life after the tragedy other than his son; his work. Catching and profiling criminals is his world; blood on his sleeves at the end of the day, an empty stomach until the job is done, an addiction to righting the wrongs that walk the earth at the cost of living his own life beyond files and crooked company. How could a man known more his lack of pleasantries and cold demeanour even to his closest of companions find himself forced to invite the human embodiment of sunshine into his home for the sake of his son? Annika-Sunday Li Mai Paisley, Sunday for short, is what some might call Hotch's worst nightmare: A kindergarten teacher turned nanny, a smile that is as genuine as it is bright, and an ability to scold his morally ambiguous ways with a look that could make a nun confess to murder. But can the soft smile and gentle scolds of curses disguise the real reason a former Miss Paisley quit her beloved teaching job with a recent promotion of her dreams to Au pair for the son of the most ill-mannered, cold hearted man she had ever had the displeasure of meeting for less than minimum wage? Will their differences and dedication to keep their secrets just that succeed, or will it drive the two opposites closer than either knew possible? (criminal minds fic)
21 parts