❝ BEHIND ALL THE SARCASM , THE KID'S PRETTY NICE ❞
━━ in which aaron hotchner's teenage daughter finds herself in the midst of trauma and tragedy, as she attempts to follow her father's footsteps, soon becoming one of the BAU's most promising agent...
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❝ SEASON ONE ❞
THE CLASSIC holiday song, Jingle Bells, aired through the office, to Jennie's request, as she sat at an empty desk, wrapping gifts for her younger brother.
"You know he's barely a year old? It's not like his chubby baby hands are going to be able to open them." Morgan came up to the girl, taking a sip from his coffee, noticing how precise Jennie was with her wrapping.
"Family pictures are always taken by the tree. And when Jack wants to look back at them in ten years, i'm going to make sure it's a pretty sight to see." Jennie informed the man, not taking her eyes off of the gift, "If it doesn't look nice- he's going to be disgusted, and he's going to feel bad at the fact that I didn't wrap his gifts perfectly. And then he's going to get sad, and then comes in the emo phase─"
"Emo phase?" Derek recreated, laughing as he shook his head, before making his way over to his desk.
"Yes. Emo phase." She finally finished wrapping the gift, throwing away her extra pieces of paper, "I love emo phases, I think they're really cool. But─ Jack Hotchner? The son of the bubbliest woman in the world? He's not going to be a cool emo kid."
"Seems like you've put in a lot of thought into that, huh?"
Jennie only nodded, a hint of amusement displayed onto her small grin.
It was just then when Elle and Spencer walked in. They both walked by Jennie, each placing small gift boxes and bags on the desk in front of her, "Merry Christmas, JenJen."
Morgan watched the whole interaction, his eyes slightly widening, "Did I not get the memo that we were all getting Jennie a gift today?"
"The memo was the fact that she's our boss's daughter." Elle told him, sitting on the edge of Jennie's desk.
"Oh, Hotch is going to love you now, Morgan." JJ teased, going over to his desk. Spencer let out a laugh, before he moved quick enough so Derek wouldn't hit him in the head.
Before Jennie could assure the agent that it was fine, the music in the room went off. She turned around to see her father's finger on the button to turn off the music player, before he went up to her.
"Im surprised you haven't already decorated my office with Christmas lights and ornaments, yet." The man spoke, placing his hand on his daughter's back.
"Oh!" Jennie's lips formed into a huge smile, moving a box that was previously on the ground to on top of the desk. The box was labeled Christmas-y Things, "I was just about to do that!"
Hotch shook his head, as the team stifled their laughs. He then stood straighter to walk away, but asked one more question before leaving, "Oh, hey─ did you ever get your score back for your trig exam?"
"Oh, yeah!" Jennie grabbed her bag from the edge of her seat, rummaging through the papers inside, before finally pulling out the one with the exam score on it, and handing it to her father, "A solid 98%, baby!"
That comment had made Derek let out a laugh. Hotch shook his head once more at the teen, as he looked down at the exam paper. Jennie could see a smile form on his lips as he went through it, before he softly stated, "Good job, honey."
As he began to walk away, Jennie was quick to jump up, furrowing her eyebrows at her dad, "W-Wait, wait, wait. Did you just smile? At my exam score?"
The man turned around at his daughter, shrugging, slightly confused, "Was I not supposed to?"
"N-No, it's just─" Jennie spoke with her eyes wide, in shock, "You never smile at my school grades! You usually just say good job and then walk off. But this time you smiled! Is the simulation glitching or something?"
Hotch only rolled his eyes, "I have a meeting at three, so you'll be able to decorate my office then. No snowmen with doll eyes this year, though. Those always creep me out."
─
JENNIE was standing on a stool, filling her father's tall shelf with Christmas decor, letting out small groans when something would be too high. She'd occasionally sneeze, as the shelf's were covered in dust.
As she was placing a snowman with doll eyes ornament on one of the shelves, despite her father's request not to, her eyes landed on a book that was on it. She pulled it out of the row, an interested expression written onto her face.
"Mm. Seems like a good read."
"It is."
The sudden voice behind her made Jennie flinch, dropping the book onto the floor. She let out a dramatic breath, placing her hand over her heart, turning around to see her father by the doorway.
"Holy crap, you scared me." The teen shook her head, stepping off of the stool. She picked the book up from the ground, and placed it on top of the bin for Christmas decorations.
"Don't you think you're being a tiny bit dramatic?" The man asked his daughter, walking behind his desk, while placing his briefcase down.
Jennie shook her head, taking a seat near her father's desk. The man also sat in his desk chair, organizing a few things on the table.
The room was in a comfortable silence for a few moments. Jennie skimmed through the book she had gotten off of the shelf, and Aaron went through paperwork that was scattered on his desk.
The man then looked up, staring at his daughter for a moment, before speaking, "You know I'm proud of you, right?"
Jennie looked up at the man, her nose scrunching slightly at the words that came out of his mouth, "Ew. You're showing emotion. I don't like it."
Aaron let out another soft chuckle at his daughter, "I'm serious, Jennie. You do know it, right?"
The teen's eyebrows were slightly furrowed, confused at the sudden needing of reassurance, "Is this about what I said this morning? About how you don't smile whenever I talk about school? Dad, really, it's fine. I was just messing around."
"I know, I know." Aaron spoke, letting out a sigh, "I just need you to know that I'm proud of you, and I've always been proud of you."
Jennie stared at the man for a bit, staying silent. She couldn't help but have her lips form into a soft smile, and warmth invade her heart. She had always valued her father's approval, so it was nice to see him showcasing it.
"Thanks." She told him. It was silent for a few more moments, until the girl cleared her throat, sitting up straighter, "Now, no more talking about being proud, and whatever. It's weird, and makes you seem human."
The man shook his head, "You're impossible."
The two shared a laugh, and for the rest of the night, they talked about the most random things. That was their most favorite part of the day. Being able to talk about dumb things like debating on what animal is the best for a pet, or how plaid should be pronounced as 'played'. It would display a bond between them that nobody could break if they tried.
Because in the event that Aaron and Jennie Hotchner were ever to fall apart, they'd always find their way back to each other.
