A/N: A small thing with Hotch and Rossi, written for a challenge over at the spanking-world lj community. I hope everyone enjoys!

I also have a question for everyone. I really like Blake, from season 8 and 9, and want to write something with her, but I can't seem to come up with any ideas for what... Can anyone give me one? :)

Warnings: Writing lines as punishment, threats of spanking

"You want me to write lines?"

"That's what I said," Rossi replied, completely ignoring the incredulousness in Hotch's voice.

"Lines?" Hotch repeated.

"You heard me the first time."

"Well… yes, but… lines?" Hotch looked up from the pad of lined paper lying in front of him on the table to give Rossi a skeptical look.

Rossi shrugged. "You can't be new to the idea."

"No, but…" Hotch broke off and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. "Dave, it's ridiculous."

"You think so?"

"Yes!" Hotch spread his hands, giving the older man his best you're-being-unreasonable-look. "What is it supposed to accomplish?"

"The same thing all your punishments are. Make you not do it again."

"It won't work," Hotch replied, realizing just a split-second after he'd said it that it might not be the smartest thing to say: basically telling Rossi that he intended to disobey again. But Rossi didn't look particularly angry, instead just raised his eyebrows and gave Hotch a somewhat amused look.

"Ah. What would you suggest then?"

Hotch frowned. "Nothing. Just… tell me what not to do."

"I kinda already did. The whole it being a rule thing?"

That was probably a valid point, Hotch had to concede. Since their kind-of agreement that Rossi was allowed to have some control over Hotch's life, the older man had instituted some rules. Not very many, really, and not, if Hotch was honest with himself, particularly unreasonable ones.

And one of the rules Rossi had given him was that he get enough sleep. Their definitions of 'enough' differed and they'd had a few arguments about it, but one thing Rossi wouldn't budge on was his ban on unnecessary all-nighters. They'd argued about 'unnecessary' as well, but right now not even Hotch with his lawyer training could make a convincing case that the two nights Rossi was upset about qualified as necessary.

"Well…" Hotch began. He tried the wide-eyed sincere look that tended to make people give in to him. "What if I told you I promise not to do it again?"

"I'd be happy," Rossi said, for a moment giving Hotch a flicker of hope, but then he quickly continued: "and then I'd tell you to get on with writing your lines before I lose my patience and decide you need some incentive." He paused for a beat. "The incentive would be a spanking, if you didn't get that."

Hotch sighed. "Fine," he said and picked up the pen lying next to the pad, "How many sentences did you say you wanted?"

"I think a hundred is reasonable. 'I will not work all night unless it's necessary.' And write neatly, kid."

"'Cause you always do," Hotch muttered.

"I don't generally write as a punishment," Rossi replied, "Now be quiet and get on with it. And stop sulking."

"I don't sulk," Hotch mumbled, more to himself than to Rossi really, but then decided he had probably pushed his mentor far enough and quieted as he began his task.

"I'm done," Hotch called out what seemed like a really long time later.

Rossi appeared in the doorway to the living room. "A hundred sentences?"

"Yes," Hotch drawled, "Like you said."

"I'd take it easy with the attitude if I were you," Rossi reprimanded distractedly as he accepted the pad Hotch held out to him and flipped through the pages. "Do I need to count?"

"No. It's a hundred sentences."

"Good," Rossi said, apparently trusting Hotch even if he didn't seem to be very happy with him right now. He threw the pad down on the table. "You're not gonna do any all nighters without my direct permission for a while."

"What!?" Hotch began to protest, but the familiar way Rossi raised his eyebrows in clear skepticism about whatever Hotch was about to say made him change his mind. He sighed. "How long is 'a while'?"

"Until I feel I can trust you to decide on your own."

"What if you're not around?" Hotch asked.

Rossi shrugged. "You ask Jason."

"And if he's not around?"

"You ask Alex," Rossi snapped, "Aaron, I'm not very happy with you right now, so I suggest you cool it with the attitude."

Hotch looked up at Rossi from under his eyelashes with an attempt at a wounded look, raising his eyebrows in question. "I thought the idea was that you forgave me after punishment."

Rossi looked a bit taken aback at that, but then he recovered and pushed a hand through his hair with a deep sigh. "That's true. And you are forgiven. I'm not really angry with you. But your health is important to me. And it should be important to you. It frustrates me that you keep disobeying me about this."

He did sound frustrated, but also resigned and very tired. Suddenly Hotch felt a little bad. The last thing he wanted to be was a burden to his mentor. He grimaced.

"I… I do try to follow your rules, Dave. I just…" He trailed off and with a sincere look at the older man he shrugged. He didn't mean to continuously end up disobeying Rossi; it was just that in the moments when he was making the decision other things seemed more pressing, or it didn't seem very important to listen to Rossi, or a dozen other excuses.

"I know," Rossi said, "That's why I want you to ask me for permission. You don't have to make any decisions; you just have to ask me. And if you somehow find yourself about to forget that, you can just keep in mind that I will spank you if you do."

"Got it," Hotch replied after a beat, deciding that unquestioning compliance was probably the way to go right now.

"Good. So, wanna go out for dinner?"

"How about takeout? I…" Hotch hesitated, unsure if he wanted to share even this inconsequential weakness. "I don't really feel like going out."

"Of course," Rossi agreed quickly. "Chinese?"

Hotch nodded. "Sounds good."

"And then you're going to bed."

Hotch reflexively opened his mouth to argue the decree – it was what he did, on principle: contradict Rossi once or twice when he gave orders like that before giving in – but then he changed his mind and closed his mouth. He supposed he could forego his demonstration of independence this time.

Rossi seemed to follow his train of thought, going by his decidedly amused look. "Good decision. So… how about that new place?"