Aaron
"Good morning" I greet Garcia as I join her to the conference room
"Good morning, sir" she replies.
The rest of the team come in the room as well when they see me enter. "Just a heads up, her royal highness is back today" Morgan speaks
"No, she has two more weeks off" I say
"I caught her in the elevator today, Hotch" he insists
"Olivia got cleared to come back earlier than expected. But she is strictly on desk duty" Dave informs us.
Out of nowhere, I feel a tightness in my chest. I clear my throat, "Let's start the briefing" I say to change the subject quickly.
Once the briefing is over, I take my things and head out. However, when I get in the elevator I stop myself from tapping the button for the garage and I select the 8th floor's instead. I'm just going to greet her, that's all.
The door of her office is open. I stand there and take a moment to look at her. It's like she never left. She is doing paperwork, just as she was the day before the... incident. She is wearing her glasses and she has her hair down, must be a special occasion.
Olivia
I am wondering for how long he can stand there staring at me. I would be lying if I said I don't like the attention -his attention, especially. This is probably some kind of PTSD or transference after saving my life. And maybe I am feeding into his hero complex. Either way, I enjoy this twisted rescue-romance so far.
"I truly admire your patience and determination" he speaks. I push my glasses to the top of my head as I look at him. "You came back early for desk duty? I would go crazy if I had to do paperwork all day" he explains
I chuckle, "Now, imagine having an Agent that gives you reports in cursive writing"
"I'd reward them for their great handwriting" he replies
"No, you wouldn't. Are you leaving?" I ask
"Yes. I just heard you were back and wanted to see it for myself"
"Well, I am back. But I'm sure you didn't miss my strict management at all"
"That I didn't miss" he confirms. "But I am glad you are here. I can't stand doing any more paperwork in your place".
There it is again. He says something nice, and then tries to throw me off with the next sentence. I'm going to hold onto the first part and repeat that in my head as I look at him leaning on the doorframe with his hands in his pockets.
My heart needs an ICD to beat properly, but the heartbeat between my legs certainly doesn't whenever he is around.
"You better get going or you'll be late" I say without taking my eyes off him
"Right" he remembers. "I'll notify you when we arrive to the location"
"Ok" I reply. He walks away and I finally breathe out.
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Hotchner didn't only not argue with me, but he even sent me updates for anything new they had with their case. If I knew dying would get him to finally oblige, I would have tried it sooner.
"Chief Stephens" Agent Anderson walks in my office, "This came in for you" he places a package on my desk
"Thank you. You can go home early if you are done with everything else" I say
"Thank you, ma'am".
I take the package and cut the tape open. Inside of it there is a card and another box. I almost exclaim as I see the Lego logo on it. I push the card to the side -for now- and I take the gift out. It is the Lego Flower Bouquet. I've actually had this on my wishlist for so long but I was always putting off buying.
I grab the box, the card and my phone. I run to close my door and blinds shut. I sit on the small couch I have on the other side of my office and put the toy down in front of me. I call Rossi as I get the box open like a kid on Christmas morning.
"What's wrong?" he asks as soon as he picks up
"Does something have to be wrong for me to call you?"
"Usually, yes" he answers.
"Well, I wanted to tell you how much I love you and appreciate you"
"How come?" he chuckles
"I just got your gift. I remember showing it to you and telling you that it was going to be my next purchase, but I wasn't expect you to get--" I cut myself off before finishing the sentence as I open the card.
'When I came to your house, I noticed your collection and thought these would be a good addition. I am sorry for being an insufferable hardheaded son of a bitch all this time'
It is written in perfectly straight letters, almost like it was typed into a computer. Only his signature is in cursive which is the only thing I would not expect him to change.
"I'm sorry, Liv, I didn't have time to get you any welcome back gift" Rossi says.
"Yeah, right. My bad. It's actually from Jackson" I lie.
"Focus, kid. No drinking on the job" he jokes
"Oh, I know" I chuckle, "Anyway, sorry for the disturbance. Bye" I hang up quickly.
I look at the card again for a moment. I search Aaron's name in my contacts. But I hesitate to press call. My hand almost shakes and my chest feels heavy.
What's wrong with me? I call him on daily basis when we are working.
I open the message app and I text him a simple 'Thank you. You really didn't have to do that' without further explanation.
His response comes in seconds. 'It was no trouble. But I am expecting to see the results once it's done'.
It makes me smile and, suddenly, my chest feels lighter. What the fuck is happening to me right now? I feel like a teenager.
YOU ARE READING
EndGame || Aaron Hotchner
FanfictionAs the direct supervisor to Agent Hotchner, Chief Olivia Stephens has to make sure he and the units function at their best. But he has been making it more and more difficult for her. Out of all the psychos, misogynistic men and paperwork she has fac...
