Maeve watched as Haley placed a blanket over her shoulders. The woman was kind, so much so that it made Maeve think that she is the opposite of Hotch. But if there is one thing she has learned, it is that opposites somehow work, maybe better than two people. completely equal.

The woman handed Maeve a cup of tea, she accepted it, both women were silent until the eldest of them could see her son peeking curiously on the stairs.

The Hotchner family was having dinner before a not-quite-planned guest arrived. Jack being the couple's son, familiar with his father's unit team, as much as the woman did not know Agent Hunter beyond those times of Aaron coming home with a headache for her, Maeve was no longer the new member, months had passed since she was no longer considered the new member. However, Maeve had not had any opportunity to get to know her boss's family.

— Hey. — Maeve whispers with a shy smile towards the boy.

Haley turns to the stairs looking in the same direction as Maeve.

— You should be in bed. —Says the woman, carrying the child when he was in front of them.

Jack, Hotchner's son. She knows it's him because of the light locks of hair like his mother's, Maeve assures that he is about eight years old.

— Maeve this is Jack. — The girl smiles at him, shaking her hand, he does the same perhaps with more emotion than her.

Haley listens to her husband needing her help upstairs. She asks Maeve if it's okay to leave Jack with her in the meantime and she says it's okay.

Maeve plays with the blanket covering her shoulders, watching the boy in front of her silently. Jack moved his feet that didn't reach the floor as he watched Maeve. She occasionally glanced at the stairs waiting for Haley to arrive.

Now she understands how Spencer feels around new people. She doesn't know what to say or feels like she will say the wrong words, but unlike Spencer, Maeve was faced with an eight-year-old boy who she felt was going to judge her just as much that his father did say something.

— Are you a friend of my dad? — Jack asks, taking Maeve by surprise.

— Oh. . .He-He is my boss.

— Are you a friend of my dad? — Jack asks again and she just nods, not knowing what to answer. — Do you want to meet Squishy? — Maeve doesn't know what to answer or what he's talking about so she decides from now on to just nod to whatever he asks her.

Maeve loses sight of Jack which makes her question if she should go looking for him since Haley has left him in her care.

But he was in his own house, it's not like he's going to get lost. Maeve thinks.

When Jack returns he brought with him a plastic toy, it was a starfish, a little bigger than Maeve's hands with a shiny happy face, he squeezes the toy and it makes a squeaky sound and also stretches every time he does it.

— I'm pretty sure that's for dogs. . .

— Hunter. — She stands up at the boss's voice.

Maeve follows Hotch up the stairs, Haley makes sure to leave Jack in his bed, he should be sleeping by now.

Her boss points out the inflatable bed in the attic. Haley had tried hard to make the place not look so frivolous, putting up some sheets and several of Jack's dinosaur-shaped bed lights. Even though it didn't look like a comfortable place, but Hotch does not have a guest room, since that would imply that he would accept people to sleep in his house and that has never been his plans.

— You can stay here. At least until this passes. — Hotch says. —It was unexpected. Did you write to Reid to let him know where you are?

She nods.

— I can go back to Spencer, this is not necessary.

— Yes, you could. But you follow the rules just like Jack colors without going outside the lines. You wouldn't be willing to be in the quarantine apartment.

— What does that mean?

— You won't take to the streets until they arrest the unsub.

— Hotch none of this is necessary.

— They're murdering women, Hunter, and in case you haven't understood, you're their target.

She bites the inside of her cheek and gives a nod.

— Yes sir.

Maeve had woken up a while ago, but had not had the mood to go downstairs, spending most of the morning staring at the wooden ceiling. When he decides to leave, he first looks out the attic window, recognizing the van parked near the block as part of a surveillance squad, who would be there day and night, this of course not directly at Hotchner's house to avoid attracting attention.

She hears laughter as she goes down the stairs, approaching to see where the sound was coming from, Maeve sees Jack and his mother from the kitchen door. The boy laughed while it seemed like he was talking to his mother and Maeve wonders what kind of conversations you can have with a child to make you laugh like that.

— Morning. — Maeve sits next to Jack.

— Hey. Good morning, Maeve .Do you want coffee?

She nods at Haley's question.

— Morning, Hunter. — Maeve raises her eyebrow when she sees how Jack calls her.

— You really are Hotch's son.—He just smiles while eating his pancakes.—Doesn't Jack go to school? —Maeve asks when the woman places the cup of coffee in front of her.

— He's sick.

— Oh yeah? — Maeve turns to the child who to her looked in perfect condition. He coughs and puts his index finger on her lips asking Maeve to shut up, she just laughs.

Maeve winks to assure him that his secret was safe.

Jack coughs harder, Haley knew his cold wasn't true but she preferred to leave him home at least this once.

Maeve pours sugar into her coffee while shaking her head, Jack gets off the chair and runs out in search of something, when he returns he arrives with a book which he wanted to show Maeve. He wanted to impress her with all of his toys.

Jack loved visits because he rarely had them. He was almost always the one who had to go to his friends' houses to play, and Maeve's presence makes him feel as if one of his imaginary friends were alive in front of him and he would already have someone with him to play besides his mother. Jack didn't even have to say the book because Maeve had recognized him instantly.

— God. I had this book when I was younger.

Jack extends the book to Maeve and she accidentally takes it, causing the coffee cup to fall to the floor and break..

— I'm sorry. —Maeve said looking at the floor and leaving the book on the table. —I didn't mean to break it. — She bends down to pick up the largest pieces of porcelain. — I promise to pay you back, Haley.

— Maeve. — The woman now next to him uses a small cleaning shovel to pick up the pieces. —It's just a cup.— She said, putting a hand on her shoulder and smiling to let her know that she was okay.

She nods and Haley removes the remaining parts to throw away.

Jack returns to her with the book at the end of the day. She looks at the object with a smile, it was a children's story but it would always be special to her, she wanted to read it but he didn't let her.

— He wants to show off that he already knows how to read. — Says Hotch, who had seen the scene, entering through the door.

The little boy greets his father by waving his hand effusively and Hotch goes over to hug him.

— Oh. In that case I prefer him to read it.

— What day is it? —Little Hotchner reads, opening a random page of the book.

Haley arrives at her husband's side, welcoming him with a kiss.

Maeve watches the couple and an involuntary smile appears on her lips.

She had not done it on purpose, but she had outlined the relationship of both adults and no matter what analysis crosses her mind, everything returns to her first analysis: Love.

They separate and Maeve lowers her head to hide that she was paying attention to them and looks back at Jack.

— Today. Piglet said. Oh. — Jack tried hard to change his tone of voice to a harsher one, making Maeve laugh. — Pooh said.

— My favorite day. —Maeve answers without even having seen the book because she knew the sentence that would continue.

— Hey, I was reading it. — Jack complains and Maeve shrugs.

The couple looks at each other, Haley smiles at Hotch.

Maeve assumes that Hotch was at work, and she didn't know how her own case was going, nor did she have access to that information, so the summary of the next three days was the same. Maeve was helping Haley with some household chores, even though the blonde told her it wasn't necessary, Maeve genuinely wanted to do it, it's not like she had anything better to do anyway.

She has watched Haley from afar in the kitchen, and perhaps learned a little more than she knew. She never offered to help because that was not her strong suit, she would probably ruin it.

Hotch was always the last one to leave the office so sometimes she and Haley would spend nights on the couch drinking coffee and watching Golden Girls.

At the moment, according to Hotch, there were no clues about anything, and it is likely that the unknown man is looking for Maeve in different areas since he has not seen her in places that were their common routine, such as cafeterias or her apartment, so they had to return to give her a little freedom when going out.

Maeve has returned to the coffee shop she frequented three times in one day, just to try to get that man into the public eye again so that others can catch him, but there were no signs that anyone was following Maeve that day. 

She's been talking to Spencer through messages every day, reminding him how much she misses him and vice versa.

That night Haley, Hotch and Maeve were playing Monopoly. Jack had gone to sleep at a friend's house and Hotch's wife was in the kitchen preparing snacks for the three of them.

— Pay me. —Maeve says, extending her hand and Hotch paying the fee for falling into her property. The girl smiles happily as she counted the fake bills.

— The team says you're dating Reid.

Old news, Hotch. Those two have been together for months.

If you thought there was nothing more uncomfortable than staying at your boss's house, it's talking about your boyfriend with your boss.

— Hm. . .Yes. 

She nods and drinks her water.

— I always thought there would be some kind of rule prohibiting employees from dating each other.

— There is.

— There is? — Maeve laughs, believing that he was lying, but Hotch nods. —Are Reid and I immune to the rules or why have we never found out about it?

— Because you and Reid are kids. — Maeve wrinkles her eyebrows, hating being referred to by that word. Now she understands why Spencer was underestimated in many things just for being the youngest on the team. — If it were a married couple, the rules would be different. Both you and Reid would be separated into different sections of the bureau to avoid distractions. In the worst case, one of you two would be fired.

— What is the difference from a married couple in the bureau?

— What?

— You said Reid and I are a different case, why would it be different? Besides wearing a ring obviously.

— It's a matter of time. Relationships at an early age are unstable and unserious. It's just a deadline you must meet.

Maeve doesn't know what to respond to his words but it has left her speechless. She almost says something back but she remembers that she is at her boss's house and she shouldn't be disrespectful. The girl just wrinkles the corner of her mouth and she decides to look down.

— I don't think I want to play anymore. — Responds when standing up.

Hotch is unaware of what he just said and Haley returns to the table with the snacks watching Maeve walk up the stairs.

— What happened? —The woman asks her husband, and he also wonders the same thing.

Haley insists that he should go upstairs but he doesn't understand what he's done wrong until he explains the situation to his wife and she explains it to him.

Accepting his mistake Aaron goes over the words he had said in his head and goes upstairs. He was heading towards the attic but finds the door to his room open.

He pokes his head out and realizes who was there was Maeve. She was invading his privacy in the worst way when he realizes that she was searching through Aaron's closet.

— Hunter, what are you doing?

Maeve already knew the house well enough to know that he had that closet to keep everything related to her work away from Jack.

Hotch watches as the girl pulls out a gun, and begins to load it.

—Hunter, what are you doing? That's an order.

The girl asks him to be quiet and points to the ceiling, Hotch doesn't understand it at first until he hears footsteps above them. He quickly searches for her gun among his things, and stops Maeve before going up to the attic, making her retreat.

— Tell Haley to hide. I don't want her in danger and calls the team.

Maeve nods and goes downstairs. Hotch goes up to the top floor.

The agent complies with his orders, checking the other parts of the house after taking Haley to the swats team. Prentiss would be on her way, as soon as possible.

Maeve hears knocks from above and goes up when she has noticed the entire secured perimeter. No agent could enter without Aaron Hotchner's order.

She goes up and finds her boss with the gun on the ground raising his hands while the man pointed his own gun, Hotch was lying on the ground, it seems that he had hit him roughly. Just as the profile that Rossi had put together matched that man, well, she was looking for the image of someone else in women similar to Maeve.

Taking into account the fact that he had faked a suicide so he could continue his plan in the shadows undisturbed, the team deduced that he is capable of taking anyone's life to obtain Maeve.

— Honey. — He says when he sees Maeve.

I should have taken that acting class. Maeve thinks, remembering that she must play along.

The man's gaze goes from more sensitive to aggressive when he notices that the girl was carrying a gun.

— Why are you using that?

Maeve looks at Hotch for an answer, but this only arouses the man's jealousy as he steps towards Maeve and she just raises the gun pointing at him, letting him know that she can shoot if he gets close.

— Why do you point me at babe? — The man asks with a sorrowful face, Not believing that she was capable of hurting him, since, according to him, she loved him.

Maeve hesitates about how she should act and doesn't know whether to lower her weapon, and he observes this weakness in her and grabs her by the neck, not hard enough to hurt her but enough to make it difficult for her to breathe.

Maeve's gun falls to the floor and she uses her hands to try to push it away, but he doesn't give in, Maeve feeling every little breath that leaves her body believing that she can stop breathing at any moment she hits herself against the wall just so she can hit his arms, when his knuckles couldn't withstand the grip Maeve manages to free herself and staggeringly holds her gun, No matter how accurate she was she shoots his body before he even thought about touching her again. Twice in a row, in case she didn't aim for the first time.

The first shot went straight to the man's thigh and the second to his knee.

— FBI. — Maeve points the unit to her boss who was standing up. She manages to spot Emily among everyone else and the black-haired woman sees the man twisted in pain trying to hold back his blood.

Prentiss looks at Maeve with a tired look, holding her neck and then at Hotch as the others help him. It wasn't difficult for her to imagine a scenario. So helping the stranger was not important to her. She handcuffed him, making him stand up. and limped down the stairs.

Hotchner goes looking for his wife and makes sure she is okay when he becomes more aware of the situation.

— Wasn't Maeve with you? —Haley asks and Hotch looks at the horizon in search of the girl.

 —Prentiss. — He turns in the direction of his agent this time. — Where is Hunter?

Emily also looks around locating the girl, when she catches a glimpse of her sitting in the ambulance while the others followed their protocols checking her health.

— Hunter?

The paramedic moves away and Maeve manages to see her boss. There were no bruises or injuries on either side, although they both were told that she could present them within four to six hours.

— What you did in there was very stupid.

— It's my middle name but thanks.

— I'm serious, Kid. Don't do that again. You do something like that and you're out. Do you understand that?

She nods.

 — I thought they hurt you in there.

— You're going to need more than one unsub to get rid of me, Hotch.

— I expect so.

— And then I said bang! — Maeve joins her hands simulating a gun pointing forward. —and I shot him. — Morgan laughed at how the girl told the story. — And then Prentiss came and handcuffed him and said: Not on my turn, idiot.

— You're already exaggerating. But I like it. — Emily said between laughs.

— Nobody says bang when shooting. — Spencer says sitting next to his girlfriend.

— You were there, Reid? No? Shut up then.

Spencer had already returned to work, as much as he wanted to have been there for Maeve, a man with a cane wouldn't exactly be the best help.

He rolls his eyes at Maeve's comment, but that doesn't stop him from hugging the brunette, wrapping his left arm around her shoulders, kissing her neck where the appearance of small marks could be seen. He passes her his cup of coffee. Morgan and Prentiss look at them both with a smile.

JJ joins them also drinking coffee.

— It's your fourth cup of the day. — Emily says to the blonde.

— I could not sleep. Henry cries all night, His first teeth are coming in. I don't even know if I'm wearing the right pair of socks.

— Who is Henry? — Maeve asks in Spencer's ear, trying to be discreet but everyone hears her.

— It's her son. —Replies Morgan who has heard the question.

— Since when have you had a son?

— Maeve you were at the baby shower. —Emily answers.

— I was?

— And at his birth. —Spencer confirms.

— What? Remind me not to have children, I won't remember their names. — Maeve jokes, taking a sip from her cup. — And JJ, you have to introduce me to Henry one day, I'm sure I don't know him.

— Or maybe you could take care of him for me one day.

— What have I done to you to make you hate me like that?

— Wouldn't you like a little genius? —Emily asks him.

Maeve turns her head back over Spencer's shoulder and looks back at Emily.

— Were you talking to me?

Prentiss nods obviously. Both Maeve and Spencer look at each other askance. It wasn't an idea they had thought about until it was mentioned to them. Spencer had thought about starting a family, thinking that it would come with time. He imagined himself in a happy home, with children and a wife but it wasn't a present plan, it was just something he wanted, he didn't know exactly when he wanted that, but he assumes he wants it.

— I can't even take care of myself. —Maeve answers briefly.

She hadn't thought about that, and she doesn't want to now.