And in the end, we were all just humans, drunk on the idea that love, only love, could heal our brokenness.
Published: August 5, 2019
Completed: April 15, 2020
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JJ left the BAU at the end of the week. The change hit Reid the hardest. Maybe not as bad as when Gideon had left but it was a close second. Aaron walked into his office on the first day and was greeting by Garcia.
"Sir I was wondering if I could fill in JJ's position. I have the most overlap with her job," Garcia blurted out
Aaron replied, "Garcia it isn't possible."
"But sir you can't possibly allow a stranger to join the team," she protested.
Oh if only she knew. "Garcia, a replacement has already been put in."
"What? But I didn't see it in the system. Is it someone we know?"
"You'll just have to wait and see," he told her.
Garcia just promptly left his office. He assumed she was probably going to try and find out through her own digging. The reason why Victoria and him hadn't arrived together was because it was her turn to drop off Jack, and much to his dismay Jack finally got his wish granted to ride on the motorcycle. The argument was that it was a five minute drive in a residential zone and would help her avoid traffic. Aaron couldn't protest if it helped her get to work on time.
JJ had selected their next case before leaving and Victoria had read up on it and created a presentation for it for the morning briefing. All she needed to do was show up. Word seemed to have spread that Hotch had found a replacement for JJ. Curiosity seemed to settle in as they all had their eyes fixated the elevator. Aaron realized he had left his coffee thermos at home the second he went to drink some. Hopefully she grabbed it or the world would learn just how grumpy Aaron Hotchner was without his morning coffee.
He was sorting his paperwork and making sure everything was in order for her arrival. Taking JJ's spot on the team meant that she would also be taking over the office and the large stacks of paperwork that came with it. He had already cleared it with JJ who agreed that the space should be put to good use.
He watched those elevator doors open promptly on time as Victoria walked in with her motorcycle helmet tucked under her left arm. She smiled, "Hello fam."
Garcia exclaimed, "Victoria it's so good to see you! What are you doing here?"
Rossi chuckled as he knew that Aaron had pulled some strings. Ultimately it was Reid who placed two and two together. "Y-you're here to fill on for JJ," Reid stated.
Victoria nodded, "Oh course I am kiddo. Wouldn't want a complete stranger coming in."
Morgan said, "You got that right."
"Strauss approved this?" Prentiss was the only one slightly skeptical.
"Mhmm, Aaron ran it by her. This time my stay here is permanent until JJ asks for her job back." Victoria knew that she would step down if the woman wanted to come back. When the woman could come back. It was obvious JJ hadn't wanted to leave, but politics was politics.
