A Good Man

Christmas Eve 2003

Moments before the elevator doors opened to the floor of the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit, Haley Hotchner plastered a fake, but kind smile on her face. Being the daughter of a career politician and wife of a once Federal Prosecutor, she had learned early, how to mask her emotions and morph into a hospitable lady regardless of how she felt. She had grown to hate this floor, this unit of the Bureau, but no one, not even her husband had yet recognized that hatred.

She adored most of the people beyond the glass doors, but she hated how her husband's career was slowly stealing him from her. One day, she knew that the job would win if she made him choose, but for now, she wouldn't make him choose. She hoped that when their child was born, that he would voluntarily step down as the Unit Chief. The position had been expected to last one year while Jason taught at the Academy, but when Gideon returned from his sabbatical, he did not solely take the position back. He had simply been placed as the Co-Unit Chief. Aaron maneuvered the bureaucracy while Jason focused on leading the cases in the field.

Haley inhaled and exhaled a calming, deep breath before she glided toward the double glass doors to enter the unit. One step within the bullpen, she was bombarded by a curvy woman dressed in a tight green dress with Christmas lights wrapped strategically around her and the dress. Medium sized silver ornaments hung from the woman's earlobes. A headband with a large gold star made from felt material rested upon the crown of her blonde head. Haley had never expected to see a curvaceous, walking Christmas tree when she came to persuade her husband to come home from the office party. Haley nearly made a comment to the stranger about the holiday being Christmas Eve not Halloween. The comment would be unbecoming of the wife of the Unit Chief hence she refrained.

"Mrs. Hotchner!" The walking Christmas Tree with long, curly blonde hair, short side-swept bangs, and bright red lips greeted her. "It's lovely to see you, again."

Again? Haley smiled in greeting, but her confusion must have slipped through her mask.

"It's Penelope. You and JJ took me shopping a few months ago." Penelope laughed as she held a plastic red cup in her right hand. "I do look quite different now than I did then. Black to blonde, about gave the hairdresser an aneurysm, but we did it in a few more treatments than I'd like. My apologies." Realizing that her the wife of one of her bosses still could not recognize her, Penelope extended her right hand and stated, "Hi, my name is Penelope Garcia. I'm a Technical Analyst for the BAU."

Oh.

Yes.

Haley remembered once Penelope had said Garcia. She remembered the day that her husband came home to ask her to take Analyst Garcia shopping with his credit card. A wife doesn't forget when her husband spends money on another woman...a beautiful, young, albeit bizarre woman. A woman, in which, he created a position for on his team.

Haley knew that she shouldn't have went through confidential paperwork in his home office, but she had learned quite a bit about the woman standing before her in green stilettos. Really? Who wears stilettos to an FBI Office Christmas party? The woman should be in jail on several hundred felonies due to hacking and other cyber crimes, but Aaron had extended the deal of the century to her. What did the woman have that warranted that leniency? Did she know where Hoffa was buried?

Haley recognized that she was being foolish by allowing jealously to attack her self worth as a wife, as a woman, but if she didn't know her husband as well as she did, she would think he was having an affair with the young blonde. But, in all actuality, she knew he was cheating on her with his career, not the unusual woman in front of her.

"Yes, Penelope. I remember. It's so good to see you." Haley said as she extended her hand for the handshake. Usually, she did lady-like handshakes, with her hand limp, but she felt the need to exert her dominance and gripped Penelope's hand as if they had closed an important business deal. Intentionally, she did not give her leave to call her by her first name. She wanted the younger woman to remember that her boss was married and she, Haley, was his wife.

"Mrs. Hotchner, I wanted to congratulate you personally on your impending bundle of joy. I've given my congratulations to Aaron, already. Jackson is a good strong name."

"Thank you." Haley smiled, stiffly. They hadn't announced what they had chose for a name, but Aaron must have told Penelope in confidence. "Agent Hotchner and I are very blessed and excited for Jack's arrival."

Penelope had sensed Haley's standoffish demeanor, but hadn't realized that she was the source until that moment. Penelope's bubbly smile faltered as she recognized the veiled jealousy emanating from the older woman. Penelope thought she must be reading signals not there, but she tested out her theory when she said, "Excuse me, Mrs. Hotchner. I must go fill the chocolate. You know how Aaron is when he doesn't get his chocolate fix."

The mask momentarily fell when Haley glowered as she said, "My Aaron doesn't eat sweets, dear."

Penelope ducked her head and smiled sheepishly, "My mistake."

As Penelope walked away, she shook her head at the misplaced hostility and incorrect statement. Haley's Aaron might not eat sweets, but Agent Hotchner definitely had a key and used said key to the desk drawer in his Analyst's office where a secret stash of sweets, particularly chocolate was kept.

Haley stepped to the side of the entrance and watched the Analyst flit around the room engaging in small-talk before she arrived at the refreshment table. Haley watched her add cookies from a round tin to the rectangular tray. She kept watching her until she noticed her husband walking toward her with a stoic look on his face.

"Haley," She heard the question within his voice. Gently, holding her elbow, he guided her through the small crowd to his office. Once the door was closed, he said. "You told me that you wouldn't be able to make it, tonight."

"Hi, Aaron." She said, overtly cheerful. "I haven't lost my memory even with this pregnancy brain fog that I have going on. What I said was that my parents and sister are coming for dinner at our home tonight."

Aaron sighed as he sat down in his desk chair. He motioned for her to sit in the chair across from him. Her eyes widened in offense. "Really, Aaron?" She said as she walked around the desk, toward him. "I am not sitting in a chair across from your desk." She played with the lapels of his suit jacket. "I am your wife, not a subordinate."

Aaron gently grasped her upper arms to prevent her from sitting in his lap. "Haley, no. This is inappropriate. Not in my office."

Startled and displeased, she said, "Inappropriate? Aaron. I am your wife."

Aaron uncharacteristically rolled his eyes as he dryly stated, "Yes, Haley. I'm aware."

Haley whispered as she stepped backwards out of his grip. "Are you, though?"

Aaron's mouth opened in surprise at the question. He gingerly sat down in his desk chair as he asked, "Haley?"

She sat down on the edge of his desk and folded her hands in front of the baby bump. "It is not inappropriate for a woman to show affection to her husband. What is inappropriate is for an employee, a government employee to dress like a street walker auditioning to be a Christmas tree. She calls you by your first name. In this office, only Jason and Erin have the right to call you by your first name. That dress was not bought on the shopping excursion that you ordered me to take her on. It ends above her knee and hugs her like a custom made glove. It's scandalous to wear to the office, regardless of it being after hours. Really, Aaron. I will concede that she is a very beautiful woman, but then again, if she were ugly, you wouldn't have jumped through hoops to keep her out of jail. How many favors did you call in to keep her out of jail and in your office?"

Aaron sat quietly as he listened to his wife. He processed what she said, but couldn't believe that she was accusing him of cheating on her. Perhaps, it was the result of another mood swing. She had them quite often, lately. The accusation of infidelity was laughable, but when she referred to Penelope's plea deal, he clenched his jaw in anger. "Haley, I never told you how Garcia came to be on my team. I only asked you to help a new recruit conform her unique wardrobe to that fitting a role on my team."

"Oh, you mentioned that she had been in a hard-spot recently, when you handed me your card, not the unit's card."

"Referring to someone's financial situation being less fortunate does not equate to keeping her out of jail. When did you breach the security system in my home office?"

"It doesn't matter, Aaron. I won't tell anyone what I saw."

"But, it does matter, Haley. You're accusing me of infidelity, which you know isn't occurring. You are the one who has broken trust within this marriage. My work is highly confidential, you know this. You cannot and must not look at any of the files that I bring home. My work now is more confidential than my time for the federal prosecution." She tried to interrupt him, but he raised his hand and continued speaking. "From this moment forward I will not bring files home."

Haley inwardly jumped for joy. He wouldn't bring work home anymore?! Wasn't this what she wanted? The joy plummeted quickly when she heard him continue to talk.

"I will not bring files home, because I will keep all files here and work here as long as needed. If I cannot trust you to stay away from personnel files, I cannot trust you to stay away from files concerning investigations."

She had inadvertently became the catalyst for his extra long hours at work. Unknowingly to either of them, she had made him choose the job over her long before she would intentionally make him choose.

"You cannot trust me? Fine, Aaron, let's talk about trust. I cannot trust that, that girl won't turn your head. I trust you. You're a good man with honorable intentions, but damn it, Aaron. What made you put your career on the line for her? You won't put your career on the line for me and our baby. I saw the formal reprimand from Strauss on your desk the day that, that girl, Jennifer, and I went shopping. You offered that heathen a job, which did not exist, on your team without clearing it with Strauss. This unit has always used the technical analysts and cyber forensic scientists two floors below. You did not need your own personal one."

"Haley." Aaron said, weary. "Stop."

"No, Aaron." Haley said, her tone polished and clipped. "Mark my words, that girl has the hots for you." Aaron laughed which angered Haley more. "Don't you dare laugh at me. She looks at you like you are responsible for the moon and the stars."

"Haley," He said as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders in a hug before stepping backward with his hands resting on her bony shoulders. "I will address this once and only once." He said as he made direct eye contact with her. "I am not and will never cheat on you with anyone, including Penelope Garcia. I love you, Haley. I love you. She is a beautiful woman, yes, but she isn't you. She has had a hard life, which you know since you read her file. Do not call her that girl or that woman, or any other description that steals her of her identity. Too many have done that before you. Garcia is a good woman searching for meaning in life. She's lost and needs help adjusting to life outside of the life she's known since her parents' deaths. I am guiding her on that journey as a boss and friend. If you must know, Gideon is as well, but she's afraid of him, so it's not working out too well between them, right now. I'm hoping that Morgan will have better luck with connecting with her than Gideon did."

"Aaron, she-Penelope-isn't a stray cat or bird with a broken wing to mend back to health. She is a grown woman capable of surviving a lifestyle change."

"Haley, just drop it, please." He said, in a tone of finality. "Did you reschedule the dinner with your parents?"

"No, actually." Haley said as she wiped away tears from her face that she hadn't realized had fallen. "I came tonight with the intention of you leaving with me. Jess is parked downstairs waiting for us in the visitor parking lot."

"Haley," He groaned as he slid his hand across his face. "I will not leave my team. It's our Christmas party. It's only just started. If possible, I will try to leave in an hour."

"Exactly, Aaron. It's Christmas Eve. You should be with family, not work." She sighed. "Just forget it, Aaron. I'll tell my parents that you caught a case. Bad guys don't take a holiday, after all."

He gripped the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger of his right hand. Briskly, he said, "Don't lie to them."

She laughed, bitterly. She asked, "Why not? I'm already lying to myself."

"What?" Aaron said, his brow furrowed in confusion. "Lying about what?"

"It's not important." She replied in a dismissive tone. "I love you, Aaron." She hugged him quickly. "Please, wake me up when you get home."

"I will." He said as he kissed her on the forehead. "I love you."

Haley left the office with her head held high, a fake smile across her lips, and a confident gait in her glide. She waved quickly to the woman she was certain would one day fall in love with her husband, if she had not already.

Once in the elevator, Haley dropped the mask, but refused to cry until she was outside of the building. No matter how much she hated her husband's career change from lawyer to prosecutor to federal agent, she would do nothing to hinder his career or reputation. A hysterical wife leaving her husband's place of work, particularly an office Christmas party, would look bad not only on him, but her as well.

However, once inside her sister's rental car, Haley cried. She would continue to cry during the ride home and throughout dinner.

This would be the night that the Brooks family began to look at Aaron Hotchner differently. Once a good man in their eyes, he would now be seen as a self centered workaholic.

Years later, this would be one of the nights that Haley would look back on as she penned her goodbye letters during her time with the Marshall Service. Being the daughter of a career politician and ex-wife of a Federal Agent, she had learned a thing or two about persuasion. She would convince a Marshall protecting her to mail a package containing the goodbye letters to a government address. The Marshall would acquiesce with the condition that the letters be read first in order to determine if anything within would compromise her new identity and life. The Marshall had cried while reading many of the letters, possibly compromising letters, but agreed only in the case of Haley's death, to mail all the letters within one package to:

Technical Analyst

Penelope Garcia

Behavioral Analysis Unit

Quantico, VA

Haley Brooks Hotchner died knowing that her ex-husband and son would be loved.

Yet, Aaron Hotchner would not read the letters she penned until ten years after her death.

A good man would become a broken man unwilling to read the love of his life's last words to him.

Author's Note: Hotch/Garcia was the pairing which lead me to search for Criminal Minds fan fiction back in 2010. A scene from a season one episode during an A&E marathon intrigued me about their possibility.

It was nice to write a Criminal Minds fan fiction based around them even though this one is from Haley's perspective and more Haley/Aaron than Penelope/Aaron. The original idea for this one shot was for it to be a prequel to a following one shot that I had tentatively titled Haley's Blessing. However, one idea lead to another which spawned A Good Series.

A Good Woman: Aaron Hotchner felt drawn to the young woman like he hadn't any other. The woman dressed in black was a facade. There was a good woman, a scared woman lurking beneath the goth girl flirty persona. He knew it just as he knew that he was a married man who shouldn't find her as alluring as he did. First Installment of A Good Series.

(This story) A Good Man: If she didn't know her husband as well as she did, she'd accuse him of having an affair with his subordinate. Haley Hotchner/Aaron Hotchner. Hints to a future Aaron Hotchner/Penelope Garcia. Second Installment of A Good Series.

A Goodbye Blessing: Two weeks after Haley's murder, Penelope Garcia, receives a delivery from the Marshall service. She mails the letters contained within the package to the ones addressed except for two, her own and one she was instructed to mail ten years after Haley's death. Third Installment of A Good Series

A Good Life: Penelope Garcia had long ago given up on a happy ending of her own. Yet, sometimes it's not about having a happy ending, but a good life. No matter what role he played within her life, having him in her life made for a good life. Final Installment of A Good Series.

Look for the other three stories in the series in January and February 2020.

Thank you for reading. :)