Airing Aaron (HotchxOC)

Fretful Families.

The sixth floor of the FBI had grown almost quiet for a while. The team were almost complacent, and they were gradually getting on top of their paperwork while not risking too many tellings off from Alessandra. And it was for that reason that three days after their last monthly update, she walked into the bullpen with a frazzled look on her face. Her eyes had immediately checked on Hotch's office, but he didn't seem to be in. 'Can I help?' Reid asked when he noticed her lost look and pounding heart.

'Where's Aaron?' She asked quickly.

'Hotch is in a meeting with Strauss right now. He should be back soon, he left fifty-six minutes ago, and it usually takes seventy-three minutes,' Reid informed her, and she nodded at him as her shaking hand came to rest on her forehead, and her eyes closed for a moment.

Taking a deep, steadying breath, she managed to stop herself from shaking so badly when a figure stepped in front of her, and his cologne washed over her. 'What's wrong?' Hotch asked when he arrived in front of her. He held a slip of paper in one of his hands, but she was too consumed in her thoughts to read what it said.

Prentiss watched their exchange closely. Alessandra stood in front of him with her arms around her back, her fingers twisting together as she refused to keep her feet still. A muffled patter of her heels on the floor was like a trance. The worry on her face remained, but every other emotion spanned across her face, too, from panic to anger, and then she smiled at him. 'You guys seeing this?' Prentiss asked JJ and Reid, who were discussing something about a case.

Soon, eyes glanced up, and they also saw what she was talking about. Rossi, Morgan and Garcia were quickly messaged, and they all but ran to see what was going on that had Prentiss so eager to spill the drama. 'No way,' JJ mumbled as Reid furrowed his eyebrows and tried to understand what was going on in front of him.

'What is it?' Reid asked as Hotch's hand came up to quickly tap her upper arm, and the group's eyebrows collectively raised while Reid's only furrowed further. 'I don't understand,' Reid confessed as he tried to read their body language. 'Is it so weird for two friends to get along and comfort one another?' Reid asked.

'When do you reckon they'll announce it?' Garcia asked with a high-pitched squeal.

'They've already handed the BAU over to Donald after he fully qualified. There are no conflicts of interest. The FBI might have already been informed,' Anderson mentioned as he lifted a document from his desk. 'I wondered why she was so keen to wash her hands of us,' he joked before walking away.

Eyes grew even more curious when Hotch's hand lifted to her shoulder, and carefully, he left it there to rest while they spoke quietly amongst themselves. 'So it's been longer than two months,' JJ suggested as the team shook their head at the scene before them.

Before any of them could say anything, the glass doors were pushed open by Mariah and two faces they didn't recognise entered in front of her. Both of them looked around curiously and glanced across at Alessandra, who was nearly in tears at the sight of them. They didn't seem to even twig that she was there. 'There she is,' Mariah chimed, and suddenly they both looked at the woman Mariah was looking at, Alessandra.

'Alexa?' They both asked at once, and the team watched in horror as Alessandra nodded reluctantly, gulping down her nerves as she checked over them both. Both of their eyes showed no recognition of the woman to who they had just spoken to.

'Now I know they did not just call Noble, Alexa,' Morgan quietly mentioned to the team as they waited for any context they could get.

Alessandra took a step forward so that Hotch was no longer in the way, and she could see them clearly. Hotch's hand automatically fell to the small of her back, and she relaxed at the touch. 'Looks like it's worse than we thought. There is no way they haven't been acting like rabbits for a long time,' Prentiss mentioned at the gesture.