Back To December || Aaron Hotchner

Chapter 22 - Aaron

Our first stop is the Staunton Police Department. I park outside the station and I turn the car off. Taylor doesn't move and neither do I. It is understandable to hesitate after what happened.

I am still processing everything she told me. I would have never imagined this is how it all went down. Especially the part where my brother saved her life and stayed with her, risking his own self. I always called him out and blamed him for running away from responsibility. This was so far from that. Maybe it is my fault, because the one time he didn't run away, I cussed him out for it.

And now we are at the place where everything started. I wait for Taylor to feel ready before I get out of the car myself.

"I am putting tough Taylor on..." she tells me, breaking the silence

"Take your time" I reply, rubbing her knee. "I am here for whatever you need" I remind her.

She takes my hand and nods.

"Let's go" she orders and steps out.

I grab both our suits' jackets from the backseat as I get out too. I hand her hers as I meet her by the hood of the car. She chose to wear her blue suit today, the same one she was wearing her first day in the BAU with a satin champagne colored top.

She slides her jacket on and pulls her hair out of the back. "Ready?" she asks me

"Whenever you are" I answer as I fix the cuffs of my jacket.

We walk to the entrance together. Her black high heels click angrily with every step she takes. Her face is absolutely emotionless, the same way it was back when we were not getting along. It is scary because she is using it to hide her real emotions, and I hate that it works on me too some times.

I open the door for both of us and I follow her inside. An officer approaches us as she sees us "Hello. Can I help you?" she asks politely

"I am Agent Hotchner with the FBI, this is Agent Wilson" we show our badges.

"What can I do for you Agents?"

Taylor speaks before I could "We are looking into some old cases in the area that we believe are connected over some details. But since they are quiet old, they may not have been uploaded to the system" she says

"We do keep some of the old case files in here, but those are already in the system. If you are looking for undocumented reports more than 10 years back those are kept in a storage space a few blocks away. They were moved because they took up a lot of space here" she explains

"How do we get access to that?" Taylor asks

"I could give you the address and keys to it. However, I will need permission from my Chief first" she answers

Taylor pulls a paper out of her jacket and gives it to the officer. "We don't really have time for that. I have the warrant right here and it is signed by our section Chief Erin Strauss as well".

We do?

The officer reads the paper Taylor handed her and then hands it back to her. "I suppose this overrides his permission. I will be right back with those keys for you".

I turn to Taylor as soon as the officer walks away. "When did you get this?" I question

"I made it on the way here. I had the DA and Strauss' signatures from another document, I just changed a few words in the paper, and printed it out on the gas station we stopped a few miles back" she explains

"You realize this is very illegal"

"Is it? I had no idea. Does law school teach you that?"

"Don't--".

The officer returns and I cut my sentence short. "Thank you very much. We will return them to you as soon as possible. Have a good day" Taylor says as she takes the keys and a small note with the address

"You too, Agents".

We leave the station and sit in the car in silence. "You shouldn't have done that" I say

"It got us the keys without any harm. And luckily for us, Leo was not there to recognize us. So, let's just move on" she gives me the note with the address.

I sigh and I start driving without more argument. We want to put him away, but we also need to stay clean. If they catch us getting information illegally, then none of those evidence will hold up in court.

The ride was silent until Taylor's phone started ringing. "Oh no..." she breathes out and shows me JJ's name on the caller ID.

"You haven't told her?" I ask

"Of course not. She thinks I am alone in Chicago"

"I'll be quiet".

"Hey, babe" she answers. Babe?
"Boring, irritating... You?"
"That sounds amazing. Did you get my gifts in time?"
"I wish I was there" she says excited.

Then she freezes. "She did...?" she asks as she looks at me. "Yeah, I did ran into Hotch today in the airport. I returned to Virginia this morning because I forgot my nephew's present back. He was waiting for that toy and I couldn't bare to see him wait until I get back to ship it. I am already on my way back"

"And you didn't tell me?!" I hear JJ's voice from the phone. "You are obsessed with him and you didn't tell me that?"

I want to stay mad at Taylor for the stunt she just pulled in the station, however I can't help but smile at that last sentence. Taylor gives me a killer look, which makes me smile even more.

"I am not obsessed! Like I just said, we ran into each other as we were walking out of the airport and he was kind enough to make conversation and walk with me outside" she explains

"Since when? You two were fighting-- What are you not telling me?"

"A lot happened but I don't want to tell you over the phone"

"Oh... Oh! You definitely had sex"

"Goodbye, JJ!"

"That is good. I mean, it depends on how it went but--"

"JJ..."

"You think it will happen again?"

"JJ!"

"Ok, ok. But you will tell me everything when I see you"

"I will. Bye"

"Bye".

She hangs up and drops the phone on her lap. "Next time ask me to put it on speaker instead of trying to overhear" she says

"I wasn't trying to hear you, it happened" I chuckle

"Oh, are you laughing now Mr. Grumpy?" she asks causing me to laugh again

"It is hard not to. I mean it's not everyday I hear that you were obsessed with me"

"Shut up" she blushes.

"So, who saw us?" I wonder

"Penelope. She was in line for boarding on her flight and she saw us walk passed them together"

"And we didn't see her?"

"I believe it was at the moment we were debating which one of us should drive the car" she reminds me

"Right. And just to be clear, you are never driving when I am here"

"Don't start that fragile masculinity shit..." she rolls her eyes

"It's not that. It's because of the way you drive. Believe it or not, I would like to make it alive out of a simple car ride"

"Now you sound like my dad" she crosses her arms.

I pull at the parking lot of the address of the paper and we head to the storage unit. Taylor unlocks the door and we are immediately taken back by the amount of boxes that are saved there. At least, there are a few desks we can use.

"You get this side, I get the other. We are looking for February 20 years ago, and any case after that involves Leo McClain's name" Taylor says

"Yes ma'am".