they’ve all speculated it. They thought he was dating someone. They just never knew who. It wasn’t until he was walking in late when he spotted her. she took the wrong badge by mistake. It was his badge she was wearing. And then he laughed. He laughed so much the whole BAU stopped and stared.
Feel free to do with that what you will.
inspired by the tiktok i sent to the server
GRECY YOU HAVE THE BEST IDEAS I SWEAR THIS WAS SO FUN TO WRITE <3333
as it wasn't your name derek had said, you didn't acknowledge his words, continuing to skim through the file placed in front of you. you expected to hear aaron's voice, which seemed plausible at the sudden recall of his name, but the only sounds that followed were the distant chatter of the other agents in the bullpen. you raised your head only to discover a questioning stare on derek's face, directed right at you.
you glanced around briefly, confirming that aaron was definitely nowhere in sight, turning back to him with an extremely confused look. "what?"
derek didn't answer; he simply continued to study you, as if he had never seen you before in his life. to be honest it was starting to freak you out, which prompted you again.
"why are you staring at me?"
"why are you wearing hotch's badge?"
your eyes immediately widened, your hand flying to the badge attached the bottom of your shirt to see for yourself. sure enough instead of your image, you were met with aaron's smiling face, a rather ironic picture considering, well, he was aaron. you must have grabbed his by mistake this morning, as both you and aaron rushed out his door as a result of staying in bed for a tad bit longer (it was completely his fault, if anyone asked- which technically derek was). a blush crept onto your face while derek held onto his stare, he wasn't letting you get away with this one.
"oh, i, um..." you searched for an excuse, or any words, but came up short. what could you possibly say? how in the world would you have ended up with aaron's badge in a scenario that wasn't suspicious?
derek's eyes averted from yours, moving so he was glancing behind you. you felt another's presence, and you didn't need to turn around to know who it was.
"hotch." derek didn't skip a beat.
"morgan." aaron's voice came from behind, while you internally face palmed. there was no way you were getting out of this; the two of you were absolutely caught.
"do you care to explain?" derek gestured to badge in your hand, while you looked at aaron with wide eyes.
his eyes moved to the badge, and quite honestly, you had no idea how he was about to react. would he come up with a believable excuse? freeze? would he be absolutely mortified?
he laughed. it wasn't a chuckle, or one of those laughs where you just attempt to brush the topic of matter off. nope.
a genuine laugh. it was unrestrained laughter, the kind that was gut wrenching and loud. you glanced around; not only did all the team members have their undivided attention on the scene unfolding before them, everyone on the floor did as well.
it was clear that no one has ever heard a sound like that escape aaron hotchner. and from the look on everyone's face, it was like they were contemplating a fight or flight response. aaron paid them no mind; he just laughed and laughed, laughing hard enough there were tears in his eyes.
you stood there like a deer in headlights, while derek gaped at him as if he had completely lost his mind.
"what? what is it?" penelope hurried over, looking rather alarmed. derek continued to look between you and aaron, the expression on his face comparable to if he had just solved the entire zodiac case all by himself.
derek pointed his finger at aaron, who was wiping at the tears under his eyes with his thumb. "you know how we were all saying hotch was seeing someone."
"yeah?" penelope confirmed, while the rest of the bau members crowded around your desk. meanwhile, your cheeks flushed even more.
"here." aaron said in a laugh, unclipping your badge off his jacket and clipping it on you, back in it's rightful place. "that's what i get for delaying us this morning."
there was a slight moment of pause after he spoke, and you knew it was coming.
"delaying...? oh my god." penelope gasped, grabbing onto your arm which audibly resulted in a slap. "you?! you're the one?"
"um," you began, slightly stunned due to how quick everything had unraveled. "surprise?"
penelope let out a high pitched squeal, grabbing onto your arm with both hands now as she demanded you for all the details. meanwhile, derek was still utterly bewildered, spencer turned back to his book, and jj and emily looked almost as surprised as derek.
"to be fair, i knew all along." dave stated, raising an eyebrow which resulted in aaron letting out a subtle snort.
"i'm sure you did." aaron amusingly shook his head, and you took the initiative to clip his badge back on his suit jacket for him. once it was back where it belonged, your eyes lifted to his.
aaron's lips were turned up in a smile, which involuntarily caused one on yours. you immediately resisted the urge to kiss him, given your exact location, not wanting to give everyone a show for the second time. in relation, you admired the fact that he didn't seem to care that he had made a 'scene' in front of many people; people of which thought he never smiled to begin with.
a rush of warmth went right through you at the thought, grabbing onto his sleeve which you decided was an appropriate measure of affection for the meantime. "i guess all it took was a little bit of identity theft for everyone to find out, wasn't it?"
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tags: @sylvieofasgard @hotchgirlsummer @ssamorganhotchner @greg-montgomery @sannunah28 @anlin2058 @14buddy22 @thebaileybugle @gothwifehotchner @dungeons-are-too-cold @rousethemouse @louderfortheback @mulattomoon @itseightbeats @gspenc @reidsbookclub @alexxavicry
