/***NOMINATE, NOMINATE, NOMINATE YOUR FAVORITE STORIES AND AUTHORS IN THE SECOND ANNUAL PROFILER'S CHOICE CM AWARDS HOSTED BY CHIT CHAT ON AUTHOR'S CORNER FORUM! DON'T KNOW HOW? SEE AUTHOR'S NOTE AT THE END OF THIS CHAPTER!***/

Spying the Spy

Chapter One

She was spying on him again.

He could feel it. Even now as he kept his eyes carefully glued to file on his desk, he could feel her watchful gaze on him.

Watching her watch him had become one of his favorite hobbies lately. Knowing someone cared about him, despite his often cool demeanor he used as a shield, provided just enough warmth to his heart to keep him from becoming completely jaded about the job they'd all chosen freely.

Except for him, the cost of his supposedly free choice had been a steep price to pay. The dissolution of his marriage, losing those few precious hours he'd found every night with the son they'd created together, his ex-wife's death at the hands of a psychotic killer he'd been responsible for baiting...all of it together had changed him.

And not for the better. Some things just couldn't be altered.

The losses he'd suffered in the past year and a half had changed him. While he might have gained custody of his son, it was in a way that he'd never wanted. Seeing the pain shining in his son's eyes everyday when the little boy remembered that his mother was gone diminished whatever joy Aaron felt at being a permanent presence in his child's life. Then first losing JJ to the DOD, then Emily to another psycho that had been waiting to fill The Reaper's shoes...it had almost broken him.

Almost. There had been one salvation left for him.

If not for the gentle woman currently pretending not to watch him, he might have lost his mind.

But her compassionate nature, her ability to find humor in even the grimmest situations, her ready smile and generally optimistic outlook on life…that's what had kept him going. Day by day, she'd wrapped herself around his heart a little tighter, ingratiated herself a little deeper within him.

When JJ had been pushed out of the Bureau, it had been her that had readily stepped up, offering to change herself to suit the needs of the team. Her attempt to reinvent herself had been in vain, though; Penelope Garcia epitomized the words "one of a kind". Her effort hadn't been lost on him, however. Any woman willing to don a boring black suit when she loved those bold "notice me" colors as much as she did definitely cared…far more than he had ever realized. It was then he'd began to notice just how far she was willing to go to make his life just the tiniest bit easier.

When they'd lost Emily, if he'd allowed himself to lean on anyone, it had been her. Her steadfast determination that each of them would survive yet another loss had propped him up in his weakest moments…which had been far more often than he cared to admit. Somehow, cups of coffee appeared on his desk when he walked through his office door in the morning, sandwiches had mysteriously appeared on his desk if he happened to leave his office for a trip to the bathroom during the lunch hour, and at least once a week a tin of his favorite cookies waited in his office chair. It shouldn't have surprised him that she was privy to the well-kept secret that he was addicted to oatmeal sandies…but it did. Her tender care had even carried over to his still confused son with impromptu field trips to the zoo...to the museum...to the ice cream parlor.

He half suspected she had his office bugged, since she anticipated his needs so well.

Of course, he knew she'd never invade his privacy in such a manner. At least, he thought he knew. Instead, he chose to believe that she could intuitively read his mind. It was a hell of a lot better than wondering if she had indeed engineered a way to gain her intel again in a less than professional manner. Although, with his Penelope, anything was possible. The woman was positively relentless when she wanted something.

And this time, he realized that he actually enjoyed the fact she was focusing her attention on him.

Hiding a smile as he heard the familiar click of her pumps coming up the metal stairwell to his office, he glanced at his clock.

She was right on time. Well, on her time. He had realized early on that Penelope Garcia observed her own special version of minutes and hours.

It was noon. That special time of the day when the bullpen cleared for an hour and she made her daily pilgrimage to check on him, whether she'd ever admit it or not. Even odds said she came armed with some random form in her hand that desperately required his signature. Little did she know that he was well aware of her unusual talent at forging his John Hancock on whatever she deemed necessary. If it had been anyone else taking such liberties, he'd have been livid. With Garcia, however, it was just par for his course.

And they both knew it.

Truthfully, he looked forward to this all too brief break each day, missing them immensely when he was away on a case. Just these few brief minutes in her distinctive company could lift his spirits, making even the darkest days a little brighter.

And he refused to dwell on the fact that he could no longer remember exactly when he started feeling this way. He refused to look a gift horse in the mouth, after all.

"Knock, knock, O Captain, my Captain," Penelope Garcia sang from his doorway, her bright purple nails tapping perfunctorily against his open door, careful to observe social niceties in some form or fashion. "You busy?" she asked with a sunny smile as she cocked her head and looked at him.

"For you?" Hotch asked dryly, finally lifting his head at the sound of her voice, knowing he wouldn't be forgiven for waiting too long. "I wouldn't dare be. Last time Rossi told you he was busy, I heard you put a flag in his credit report. I'd hate to suffer the same fate."

Although, he told himself as she winked in his direction, he might be willing to suffer if it meant he could stare at those beautiful eyes for just another minute.

Author's Note: Hello, Friends. A couple of announcements for all of you. First, you still have approximately SEVEN days to sign up for "The Masquerade Challenge" for October's on "Chit Chat on Author's Corner" forum. We also have a "Freaky Friday" mini-challenge in progress for those interested. Details for both can be found at the forum. We'd love to have all of you sign up. I think we'll have a lot of fun this Halloween Season.

Second, you all have a little less more than three weeks left to nominate stories for the second Annual Profiler's Choice CM Awards. The nomination ballot, rules and category summaries can be found at "Chit Chat on Author's Corner" forum. To reach that post please either take a trip to the forum OR links are provided on the profile pages of ilovetvalot, Profiler's Choice CM Awards AND tonnie2001969. Nomination ballots should be PM'd to the Profiler's Choice CM Awards ONLY. That link is also provided on the forum or the profile pages listed above. PLEASE REMEMBER, WITHOUT NOMINATED STORIES, THERE CAN BE NO AWARDS! SO, PLEASE, COME OUT AND SUPPORT YOUR FAVORITE FANFIC AUTHORS AND NOMINATE THOSE STORIES.

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As ever, we appreciate every single one of you that takes the time to read and/or review our stories. Your valuable feedback is deeply appreciated and we love hearing from you!

And, if we haven't stated it before, we do not own Criminal Minds, but darn, we wish we did!

*** SPECIAL NOTE: For whatever reason, disabled the Profiler's Choice Awards PM system. That means all attempts to submit ballots failed from September 11 - 16. Could you all please help spread the word that anyone who tried to submit a ballot during this period listed above should RESEND their submissions. I am very sorry for any inconvenience this has caused. We really need help reaching all the different ships out there though. So, PLEASE, those willing to help, let me know if you can include this as part of your author's notes to readers.***