The Profiler and Hunter (CM x SPN MiniFanfic)

Chapter 9 (Final)

You placed the eighth and final plate at the head of the table, looking at your hard work. Your apartment was the cleanest it's been in months, you've restocked your wine just for tonight, and you had a slew of candles surrounding the dining room. You were admiring your effort when a knock came from the door.

You ran to the entrance, throwing your dirty apron into the kitchen as you did so. When you finally opened the door, you were greeted with a bouquet of roses. You grinned, taking the flowers from a very handsome Hotch.

"Thank you, Aaron, they're beautiful. Come on in! Everyone else should be here in half an hour." You said, walking to the kitchen to put the flowers in some water.

"I didn't realize I got here early. I thought you said seven," He replied, closing the door behind him before following you.

"I did. I just wanted some alone time with you, that's all," You said, wrapping your arms around his neck and planting a sweet peck on his lips.

"Well, Jack is at his aunt's tonight, so we will have a lot of alone time," he suggestively lifted his eyebrows, causing you to laugh.

"Maybe so, but... There's something I wanted to show you first, before the others." You grabbed his hand, leading through the hallway until you came upon your office. Hotch has been here many times before and noticed this door was always closed, but he never gave it any real thought until now, while you unlocked the door with a small flick of your wrist.

You pushed open the door and there everything was, just as you left it, grimoire, candles, and all. Protection symbols painted different parts of the wall along with a few shelves of ingredients needed for spells and a bookshelf of magical artifacts. You walked in the middle of the candle circle, but Hotch stayed standing at the door frame almost gawking. Well, in the way that he could gawk.

"You're not scared now, are you?" You jabbed, extending your hand to him. He took one last look at everything before his eyes landed back on you, softening.

"Of you?" He took your hand, joining you in the circle, "Only when you get woken up too early without anything to eat."

"Good," You laughed before becoming more serious, "But everything you see here is a part of me. All this magic is who I am, and I just wanted to make sure you know what you're getting yourself into. If you don't want to be a part of this, then I understand."

Your voice was calm and your face never wavered, but Hotch could see in your eyes that you were terrified. Terrified of him leaving, of him not loving you, no matter how many times he told you. It broke his heart. He took your face into his hands, gently caressing your cheeks with his thumbs.

"I knew what I got into as soon as you came into work late one day, corrected Reid on some obscure fact about a plant, and hit the unsub with a fish to stop his attempt to run," He smiled when he heard you laughing, music to his ears.

"Our, what... ninth case together?" He nodded.

"You were quiet. Still new to the team, but the unsub had gotten on your nerves at the fish market. When he began running, you whipped out a fish from a stall, threw it at the unsub, then threw a $20 bill at the vendor. After that day, I knew you were smart, determined, and resourceful. I still see that now, just different tools. Nothing has changed, and certainly not my feelings for you," he whispered reassuringly, leaving butterflies in your stomach, "I love you."

"I love you, too," you whispered back, his thumb wiping a stray tear from your cheek.

For the next 20 minutes, Hotch helped you finish the dinner for the team: pasta (Rossi's recipe of course), some garlic knots, and a homemade cheesecake for dessert. The team arrived soon after you took the garlic knots out the oven, right on time. They greeted each other before everyone took their place at the table, passing their food around. Once the food was passed and the wine was poured, you stood up, raising your glass.

"I know this dinner can't ever be enough, but I wanted to thank you for coming to save me, even after you found out monsters were real. This is my world, not yours, but you still came anyway. You didn't abandon me like others have in the past, and I can never thank you enough," You said, tearing up a bit.

"You're family, (Y/N). No monster will change that," Rossi replied, the others agreeing.

"I will go through a dozen vampires to help you, cupcake," Garcia chirped, waving her glass around and making everyone chuckle. 

"Well then, to family!" You all raised your glasses, clinking them together, "Dig in!"

"This food looks damn good, (N/N)!" Morgan complimented.

"Hey (Y/N), are you going to light the candles?" Reid asked, noticing the untouched towers of wax.

"Oh right!" You jumped back up, straightening yourself out, "Watch this."

With a few flicks of your hands, you turned out the lights, started some soft music, and lit all of the candles. They stared at you in awe as you became more giddy.

"I could've done more, but you guys are new to this, so baby steps. It's been so long since I've done that in front of people without looking over my shoulder," You grinned, brightening up the room before everyone resumed.

The dinner was full of laughs and good vibes as you shared memories. At one point they even tried playing a game called 'Past Unsubs: Human or Monster?' You ended up answering a lot of questions that night, as well, but all in all, it was the best dinner in months.

----

"I'd say that went pretty well," Hotch commented, drying and putting away the dishes you handed him. The team had filtered out a while ago, so now it was just you two left to clean up.

"Yeah, until I caught Reid trying to sneak out one of my tomes from my office," You laughed.

"To be fair, you did tell him to go crazy," he chuckled while you finished the last plate, handing it to him.

"The man can read 20,000 words a minute. He didn't have to steal a single book," you grinned, watching him dry and put up the final dish. You met him halfway, putting your head against his chest while he wrapped his arms around you, "It almost feels like I'm dreaming. I'm in a loving relationship with an amazing man and I have amazing friends who know I'm a witch and hunt the supernatural. I don't have any more secrets."

"Sounds more like a cheesy movie," You lightly slapped his arm, giggling when he pulled you in for a kiss. He slowly molded his lips to yours, running his hands lovingly over your back. You could tell he was reluctant to let go, as were you, but a certain black cat's meow distracted you, leaving you two chuckling.

There almost seemed to be an ethereal glow around the two of you as you pressed your foreheads together, swaying to nonexistent music and gazing into each other's eyes. The love and adoration Hotch held for you was almost tangible. So many emotions, so many thoughts, but you could tell he would move Heaven and Earth for you given the chance.

"I love you, too," you whispered, not catching him off guard in the slightest.

"I didn't say anything." He mumbled back, the corners of his mouth moving up.

"You didn't have to." You pulled him back in, beginning with a simple peck before he moved his hand through your hair. That simple action made the kiss needier, your breathing becoming heavier. You only pulled away to look at him once more, panting as he looked at you with hooded eyes. No words were spoken, but none needed to be spoken as you gently took his hand in yours, walking back to your bedroom with only the candles to light your way.

END

I really hope you guys enjoyed this story! The idea actually began as a 3 or 4 part entry in my oneshot book, but I got way carried away lol.

Thx for reading <3

-AJ