Second Thoughts

Ahmose Inarus

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.

JJ/Hotch

Awkward was the best word that came to mind to describe the scene that Aaron Hotchner was currently witnessing. But even that didn't do it justice. The guests were waiting, staring back down the aisle... Emily and Penelope stood there in wide-eyed silence in their lavender dresses, clutching their bouquets. Morgan and Reid glanced at one another nervously, from where they stood in their tuxedos off to the side of Will Lamontagne. Hotch's own son Jack, and Will's son Henry, were both sitting in the front row on either side of Hotch's sister-in-law, Jessica. She was staring at Hotch, wondering what was going on. Rossi cleared his throat, looking back and forth between Will, and the other end of the aisle... the aisle that Jennifer Jareau was supposed to be walking down... but she wasn't there.

Murmurs began to rise from the small crowd, with people craning their necks, trying to catch sight of the very absent bride.

Finally, unable to take it any longer, Hotch stood from his seat and strode up the aisle. He wore his trademarked Unit Chief Frown, and this successfully kept people from staring at him; they would take one look, and then avert their eyes nervously. Hotch made his way into the little building where JJ was. Hotch approached the room and knocked lightly on the door.

"... JJ?" He called. There was no answer. Now frowning and worried, Hotch pushed the door open.

And there she was. JJ was sitting at the little dressing table, hunched over her bouquet in her snow white dress. Hotch's eyes widened slightly, closing the door and walking over to her. He knelt beside her and reached out, placing a hand over hers. They were shaking, and clutching her bridal bouquet so hard that the petals were shaking and the stems were being crushed. At the man's touch, she lifted her head.

"JJ..." Hotch gasped. Her eyes were bloodshot, and tears were streaking mascara down her cheeks.

"... I can't do it." She whispered, her voice broken. "I... I thought that... this would be okay. I thought that maybe, if we did this... it would... I dunno... fix things."

"What do you mean?" Hotch asked, gently.

"We... thinks have been so rough since I came back to the BAU. Worse, actually. He doesn't like me being a field agent. We fight all the time now. Every time we have a case... every time I have to leave." JJ admitted. She shook her head. "Getting married won't fix this, Hotch!" She finally sobbed. "To quote Spence, it's like putting a tourniquet around your neck because your head is bleeding!" Her head dropped again as she cried. "I must be crazy..."

"You wanted it to work." Hotch murmured softly, reaching out and gently stroking her long blonde hair. "He's the father of your son... You love him."

"I did, once." JJ whispered. "But... I don't think I do anymore."

"Well... You have to do what you feel is right, JJ. For you, and for Henry..."

"I don't want to take him from his father. I want him to know his father and spend time with him and have a good relationship with him, but... I can't be with his father... And thinking that I did... I was just fooling myself. I'm a PROFILER dammit! But I couldn't see the truth in myself!" And she hurled her bouquet into the wall. "I don't kiss him anymore! And when he does, I wish he was someone else! I wish I was going home with someone else. When we have sex, I'm thinking of another man!"

"JJ... do you love someone else?" Hotch asked, softly. She nodded, sniffling. "JJ... look at me." Slowly, she obeyed. Hotch sighed, hating the anguish in her eyes. He lifted a hand and gently wiped away her tears. "You are a very strong woman. And you need to live for the happiness and well being of you and your child. I know that you want Henry to grow up with his mother and his father... but how long before he starts wishing that you and Will weren't together? How long before he realizes that his mommy and daddy would be happier apart?" JJ sobbed again, nodding. "Most couples who insist on staying together because of the children don't know that their children wish that they would just separate."

"I know." JJ nodded.

"If you don't love Will... and if you know you won't be happy with him... then don't marry him. If you love someone else... then tell him."

"You... really think I should?" JJ asked. Hotch nodded, and slowly, the blonde smiled. "It would be a really... ballsy move."

"Well..." Hotch chuckled. "You have the biggest non-existent balls I've ever seen in a woman. I'm sure you can do it."

"I will." She said, and then leaned forwards, and her lips pressed against those of Aaron Hotchner. His eyes widened, his brows nearly disappearing into his hairline. Slowly, JJ slid off of her chair and dropped to her knees before Hotch, changing the angle of the kiss and placing one hand on his cheek and the other on his chest. This hand slowly slid up, over his shoulder and moved to curl around the back of his neck.

And finally, Hotch closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around the woman. Time seemed to stop. Hearts soared. And for a moment it was all perfect, until the familiar clearing of a throat brought them crashing back to reality. Hotch and JJ whirled, staring at David Rossi. The man eyed them with a scolding look.

"Well..." He finally sighed. "I guess I should inform the guests that we have a runaway bride on our hands." He looked back and forth between the pair. "I suggest you do just that. I'll handle Will. And I'll see that Jack and Henry are taken care of." The pair just STARED at him. "... I'm not seeing a runaway bride yet. And I suggest that the weasel in the hen house make himself scarce too." And he turned and left the room.

Slowly, Hotch and JJ turned and looked at one another.

"I suggest we take his advice." Hotch murmured, slowly guiding JJ to her feet. "Especially if Will is carrying his gun."

"If he is and he tries anything, he'd just better hope that I'm not carrying mine." She said, firmly. Hotch grinned scooped up her bouquet, handed it to her, and then took her hand and led her out the door and into the parking lot. He opened the door of her car for her and she climbed in, now all smiles. Hotch jogged around to the the driver's seat and climbed in, and as they pulled out of the parking lot, the tires squealed, drowning out Will calling to JJ, and followed by the team and the other guests.

JJ rolled down the window, and as they drove by, her garter and bouquet went flying. A startled Garcia gasped and stumbled, and then stared down at the flowers that had landed in her hands. And slowly, she turned and looked up at Derek Morgan, standing by her side.

The garter fluttered on the wind and drifted down, and with a little "Huh?" Reid caught it as it drifted by. He looked down at the lacy garter in his hand, and then his eyed widened and he turned red, let out a squeak, and then turned and shoved it into Derek Morgan's hand, making a quick retreat as if the thing would bite car turned and corner and JJ turned and looked at Hotch."So... I have the key to the Honey Moon Suite..." She offered. Hotch glanced over at her, and smirked.

"Do you now?"

"I do." JJ said, and Hotch felt the deeper significance she had put in those words. Hotch looked at her, and smiled.

"Let's not be too impulsive." He said. "Let's do this right."

"And how is that?" She asked.

"JJ." Hotch said smiling. "Would you like to go out and have dinner with me?" she blinked, surprised, and then grinned, eyes sparkling.

"I would love to." She said. After all... the dating part of a relationship did have its own charms... and she was looking forward to it. And every thing that came with, and after it...

Again, I write this for Jekkah, who was devastated/furious when she found out that Will and JJ were going to get married. She was so upset by the news, I had to do something to cheer her up! ^_^ Love you, Jekkah!

Author's Note: For those of you who do not know, the site admin of Fan Fiction . net put up this announcement on the main page a couple of days ago.

"Please note we would like to clarify the content policy we have in place since 2002. follows the Fiction Rating system ranging from Fiction K to Fiction M. Although Fiction Ratings goes up to Fiction MA, since 2002 has not allowed Fiction MA rated content which can contain adult/explicit content on the site. only accepts content in the Fiction K through Fiction M range. Fiction M can contain adult language, themes and suggestions. Detailed descriptions of physical interaction of sexual or violent nature is considered Fiction MA and has not been allowed on the site since 2002."

What does this mean? Implied sexual activity is permitted, but it cannot be described. So... "They made hot sexy love all night" Is permitted. "She groaned as her lover put his censored into her censored" is NOT allowed. My personal rule? They can be naked, they can make out, but the moment the parts of the body that swim/trunks and/or bikinis cover come into play, it is no longer permitted content on this site.

This has ALWAYS been the rule here on Fan Fiction . Net. The site admin are just going to enforcing it much more. As such, many authors have edited their stories so that they are in compliance, and are moving the MA rated material to other sites such as "the writers coffee shop . com" and "archive of our own . org" You will need to remove the spaces from those... fan fiction . net does not permit links in stories or on author profiles.

I, myself, have re-activated my account on "adult fan fiction . net" (not affiliated with this site) and you will see my stories going up in their full, unedited, smut filled glory soon! However, you need to keep in mind that this site is restricted access. You must be 18 or older to access this site. If you are under 18... you shouldn't be reading most of my stories anyway! LOL

We, the authors, wish to extend our apologies to the readers for this horrible annoyance, and wish to remind you that this is not something to be angry at the fan fiction side admin about... all they are doing is enforcing their own rules, which many of the authors knowingly broke. Those who did not know that they were breaking the rules did not have a full comprehension of the difference between M and MA, and some were unaware of the MA rating completely, thinking that M was the highest.

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