Title: Comfort and Joy
By: Sam
Pairing: Gideon/Hotch
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Rating: AO
Disclaimer: Not mine, no money made.
A/N: Belated Secret Santa fic for Buffy.

***

Jason Gideon in a Santa hat could quite possibly qualify as the cutest thing Aaron Hotchner had ever seen. Not that Hotch would ever utter that thought aloud, of course - one did not call one of the world's most renowned criminal profilers 'cute' without a great deal of provocation.

And an even greater amount of alcohol.

So he had smiled behind his red plastic cup of punch as Jason had steadily pulled brightly wrapped Christmas presents from a giant red bag that someone, somewhere, had produced for their erstwhile 'Santa', and kept his smile and his amusement to himself. If Strauss had thought that sending him and his team into downtown DC with a couple of FBI issued SUVs worth of toys on Christmas Eve was a punishment, she was bound to be disappointed. Not only had they had a wonderful time with Santa Gideon, and Reid pulling candy canes out of that ever-present satchel, acting as a defacto-elf for all of the kids gathered around in an excited semi-circle, the unexpected side trip had only bonded them even tighter as a team.

Even if Gideon was, officially, no longer a part of the BAU or the FBI, and Rossi had been unsure how to act with the former SSA in the middle of what was supposed to have been a team assignment. After that stunt Dave had pulled with Morgan, Hotch, for one, had been perfectly content to sit back and watch Rossi sink or swim on his own. Let him consider it a chance for personal growth...

Even with the uncertainty, it was that concerted effort of teamwork that had gotten them through their SUV-as-sleigh loads of toys soon enough that they had managed to hit the annual BAU office Christmas party on their way back.

Once again hiding a smile behind a vibrant red plastic cup - this one spiked with more than just the holiday punch - Hotch took in the sight of his family, happy, healthy and slightly tipsy as Prentiss snickered at Reid where the slender young man was having trouble keeping his own Santa hat from falling off his head. Hard to carry on an animated conversation without losing your hat or your punch, or both. Personally, Hotch decided the hat would be sacrificed before the punch, if it were him. Morgan had done a really good job with the Schnapps this year...

"Such dreams entranced know lovers scorn, with cause to doubt old lovers mourn, each turn and season, brought on the wheel, no chance to mend, nor wounds to heal, We wait for hope, for tender mercy, alas in vain unbind this cursing in death we greet our final hour, as the ferryman beckons with impatient glower.

No more to fight, our struggles at end, in death reborn, we begin again."

Spencer grinned at the end of the recitation, much to the open amusement of JJ, Prentiss and Garcia, each of the women looking at the young genius like he might have finally snapped and gone insane.

"That, was a Christmas poem?" Prentiss asked in disbelief.

Spencer merely nodded his head, once again losing the hat, and bending to retrieve it with a flourish as his smile grew wider. "Yes. You see, it symbolizes the renewal of the seasons and the eternal hope for the return of the light - either as physical warmth or another chance at salvation."

"So...you're saying we live only to die and live again."

Spencer pursed his lips before admitting easily, "Certainly whoever wrote the poem is saying that. It was anonymous, by the way. I'm just saying we need more punch."

"Uh uh - no more punch for you, Sir Byron." The rest of them laughed as Spencer opened his mouth to protest, Morgan suiting actions to words and taking Spencer's cup from him. "Time to pour you into a cab and get you home."

"I'm not that drunk," Spencer protested, frowning down at his empty hand where the cup had recently been.

"Sure you're not. Say goodnight, Reid."

"Goodnight...Gideon. Hotch." Spencer grinned, waving as Morgan steered him around his desk and through the bullpen, managing to snag both of their coats on the way without ever once letting go of the young man's arm.

"I should go, too," Garcia said, casting a quick look at the men standing by the elevators while gathering up a purse beaded and beribboned in reds and greens and throwing an equally colorful shawl over her shoulders, smiling. "Goodnight."

"Same here. Goodnight, boys. Sir, it's good to have you back." Prentiss observed, favoring Gideon with a smile before turning with coat, purse and secret Santa exchange gift in hand. "JJ, you coming? Yo, Morgan! Hold the door!"

Gideon returned the salute, demurring firmly, "Not back, just visiting."

Rossi clearly took that as his opportunity to escape the awkward atmosphere with grace and offered to escort the ladies to their cars. "I'll see you out." Nodding to Hotch, the older profiler followed the women to the elevators.

"Goodnight." Hotch looked over at Gideon as the older man chuckled and offered their retreating friends a Merry Christmas.

Joining in the smile as Gideon turned to him, Hotch couldn't help shaking his head. "They've gotten worse you know, " he told the older man as they set about straightening up and throwing away the tin foil and plastic utensils that always seemed to be a requirement of office parties everywhere. Forks, spoons, dull knives that wouldn't cut a good pea soup; the equipment stayed the same, only the colors changed with the seasons. "And it's all your fault."

At Gideon's silently inquiring eyebrows, raised to question just how their behavior could possibly be his fault when Jason no longer worked for the FBI, Aaron muttered, "I think they enjoy tormenting Rossi more than they ever did you."

Gideon shrugged, though there was a light of humor in the dark eyes as he demurred, "Rossi's easier." His hands fluttered through the air in counterpoint to his observation. "More old school than I ever was. He'll learn."

Hotch snorted. "I hope so."

"Ready to go home?"

"Yeah, just let me get my things." And if that didn't sound like an old married couple...

Coat and briefcase full of potential case files in hand, lights off and the door to his office firmly locked, Hotch rejoined Gideon as they made their way out to the lobby so Jason could turn in his visitor's badge. He was surprised Strauss had let Gideon in the building, much less up to the BAU floor and Christmas party. With the way she had dismissed him after Gideon had left, turning his request for unspecified medical leave into a resignation instead, Hotch was just glad there hadn't been either sparks or bloodshed as the two h ad briefly collided over the buffet earlier. The cool pleasantries that wouldn't have fooled a room full of first graders, much less seasoned profilers, had been bad enough.

Reid was still reeling over the forced retirement, and Morgan had been about ready to cause some of that bloodshed when they had found out. It was only the fact that Gideon had found out what Strauss had done - thanks, no doubt in great part to Garcia - and quickly returned, that cooler heads prevailed.

That, and the fact that Jason had accepted a teaching position at George Washington University, fully intending on remaining available to his old team whenever any of them should need an ear or some sound advice, helped. Change, it would seem, was inevitable in coloring their future, rather they wanted it to or not.

Hailey had filed for divorce and Hotch had given it to her. Taking it one step further, he had moved out of the house, leaving it, not to his ex-wife, but to his son. Living with Gideon was far more comfortable than living with his wife had been in months, if not years. At least with Gideon, he wouldn't have to explain or apologize for those sudden, late night phone calls...

A warm hand on his shoulder pulled him out of the uncomfortable thoughts.

"Come on. I've got a bottle of scotch and loaf of fruitcake with our name on it."

Casting a sideways glance at the other man, Hotch felt a wave of gratitude even as he grumbled halfheartedly. "Are you trying to cheer me up, or kill me?"

"Not into fruitcake?" the older man asked innocently.

"Not into working my way through what is sure to be years worth of re-gifting on the off chance that the middle is still soft." Hotch snorted. Though, on the other hand... "Unless you made it?"

The half-hope was dashed at Gideon's sorrowful shake. "Mrs. Peterman next door decided I needed some Christmas cheer. Brought it over this morning."

"Wasn't her daughter-in-law in town this past weekend?"

His suspicions were confirmed at the short nod and dry smile. "She was."

"In that case, I say we stop by Manetti's for take out to go with the scotch." Hotch said instead. "Better on the digestive system if the alcohol and preservatives that are sure to be in that fruitcake don't have to war over who gets to attack first."

Hotch heard Gideon chuckle as he slipped in behind the wheel and started the car.

Glancing over, he was amused to find the older man buckling up, cell phone

already to his ear as Gideon waited for the restaurant to pick up.

--

Settled comfortably in the couch, Aaron sighed in almost perfect contentment. Dinner was a pleasant - ok, a very pleasant - memory, the scotch had indeed been very good, going down with a smooth kick that warmed the soul, and the fire that flickered brightly in the otherwise darkened house was lulling him into a peaceful, sleepy place that had nothing to do with being tired and everything to do with the arms around him and the quiet companionship he shared with the man they belonged to. The kids were all safe and sound, tucked in their - or other - beds, and Hotch had no doubt that, if they woke up with hangovers, at least they would be waking up happy.

Reid, at least, would no longer have to be alone on Christmas, not if Morgan and Garcia had anything to say about it. And with JJ and Emily leaving the party together...

*About time,* he thought privately. *They've been dancing around each other for months. At least Morgan had Garcia to set things in motion and speed things along with Reid.* In fact, Hotch wouldn't be surprised if she hadn't timed their seduction to culminate tonight...

A kiss placed against his temple made him smile even before Gideon chided softly in his ear. "You're thinking too much. Stop worrying about Reid, he'll be fine."

"Maybe I was thinking about JJ?" Aaron challenged.

Only to feel Gideon's chuckle as it rumbled in his chest, transmitting that hum through his back, even as the man's arms tightened around to hold him. "Match made in Heaven," the older man asserted without any doubt.

Hotch quietly snorted his agreement. "You're right."

He had been thinking about that very thing earlier. About how each of their teammates had managed to find happiness in another person...or, in Reid's case, other people...

His own friendship with Gideon had began gradually; starting from the immediate jolt of attraction he had felt from that very first meeting and slowly building into the solid trust they had formed the foundation of the BAU on. Hotch knew Gideon; knew his reactions and the way he reasoned out a profile. He knew what he ate on the road and which mode of transportation Gideon would take if he had a choice. Knew which side of the bed Gideon preferred and how he took his coffee, black with two sugars. Somewhere along the way, that awareness had turned into a solid friendship that had grown into attraction, and that attraction into a comfortable love.

He hadn't even realized it for what it was until, in a fit of frustration, Hailey had called Gideon his 'second wife'. Even then, with all of the pieces falling into place as clearly as the last piece of an intricate puzzle, even then, he hadn't done more than acknowledge what he felt to himself, knowing

that there was nothing more forthcoming from that love than the solid, easy friendship the two shared.

Hailey had sworn that he and Gideon had been having an affair and therefore, by her reasoning, her affair somehow didn't count. But they hadn't. Not that he hadn't wanted it - it wasn't like he hadn't thought about it on occasion, sleeping only a couple of feet away from the man in the second anonymous hotel bed, case after case - but Hailey was his wife, and married men didn't cheat. Though apparently, married women did.

Of course Hailey didn't believe him about Jason.

And, now that the divorce was final, Aaron was beginning to realize he didn't really care all that much if she did. As long as he had regular visitation with Jack and she didn't do anything to jeopardize that, she could have all the affairs she wanted.

As for Jason, they had discussed it, mostly after the older man had come back and Hailey had had Hotch served with papers at work - the one place she had been sure she could find him. Gideon had told him with a small, gentle smile that it was Aaron's decision, but that he would wait as long as it took for Aaron to be ready for them.

It hadn't come as much of a shock when Hotch realized he had been ready for a long time; only the divorce had been holding him back from committing to another lover. And now that Hotch no longer had a reason to resist crossing that line...

Shifting up, he turned to straddle the older man's lap. Dark eyes curious at the sudden movement, Gideon remained silent, allowing his hands to rest on Aaron's hips as his eyes quietly searched, patiently waiting for answers.

Winding his arms around his new lover's shoulders, his voice firm, Hotch asked softly, "Make love to me?"

Thumbs rubbing comforting circles in the denim at his hips, the light in the dark eyes grew brighter as Gideon smiled. "Are you sure?"

No trying to talk him out of it, no evasion, no judgment as to why now - just 'are you sure?' As if Jason hadn't seen the signs long before Aaron had...

Hotch smiled and bent his head to kiss those lips, garnering his first taste of a new lover and an old friend. "Very."

"Then yes, I will."

--

Even in Gideon's modest home, the trip upstairs to the bedroom had seemed to take forever, though once there, they had taken their time; undressing each other in between slow, thorough kisses, one button at a time.

Once completely naked, Jason had taken his time, simply touching and getting to know the body under his hands before preparing and entering him slowly, carefully adjusting to his gasps and the firm grip Aaron had on his arms. With both the decade long wait and thorough foreplay, it hadn't taken long for those gasps to grow louder, turning unto greedy moans of pleasure as Jason alternately drove and rolled into him, pulling him in close and holding on tightly as he sent him over the edge.

It wasn't until he had come back to himself, held close and secure in the strong arms with tears wet on his face, that Hotch realized he had been crying. He had missed this. It wasn't until Gideon's gentle murmurs, brushed against his ear, came into focus that he realized how *much* he had missed this closeness; this intimacy shared with another person after sex.

Maybe he hadn't been as ready as he had thought.

Too tired, too drained to take it all in at that moment, he simply relaxed into the arms holding him, trusting Jason to take care of him, and allowed the reassuring words of comfort to sooth him down into sleep.

The last thing he felt as the tears dried on his cheeks and he drifted off to sleep, was the slow, rhythmic brushing of Gideon's fingers over his skin and the warm puff of breath ghosting over his forehead as Gideon's soft snores chased him down into the darkness.

end