Aaron's divorce with his wife Haley had hit him incredibly hard, to the point where he buried himself into his work, living up to the 'workaholic' title that had got him here in the first place.

Well, Haley had full custody of Jack now and as far as Aaron knew, his eldest (you), was 19 and studying abroad in the UK and due to flight expenses, couldn't get back for Christmas in time. To him, this was going to be his first Christmas completely alone.

Garcia was having none of it whatsoever.

She, being the tech wizard she is, managed to get a hold of your phone number and contacted you. She had been talking to you and planning with you for awhile, she and you put together enough money to buy a ticket for you to fly over.

You, with your suitcase, made it to the BAU at about 10am. Luckily, today there wasn't a case and it was a cold, snowy day. You walked into the building and you were met by Garcia.

"He's going to be so happy to see you. He really needs someone now." Her words, void of the usual sass, were genuine but her smile was bright and excited all the same. "You look just like him by the way." She adds, of course, she'd met you when a few years ago, but something about you was different, more mature. Perhaps the divorce of your parents put things into perspective for you... "I hope it wasn't too cold getting here."

You reassured her that you were fine.

"Alright, come on!"

She leads you into the bullpen and nearly immediately, curious eyes were glued to you, profiling you merely by your appearance and body language. Of course, none of them had seen you in over a year now, and you din't look that different, it was just a shock to see you back. You were rigid, a little nervous, but also thrilled with the idea of getting to surprise your father. The desks had little Christmas decor on them, and that combined with the snowy weather build a cosy atmosphere that distracted you from the brutal and nightmarish reality that the files, pictures and papers had scrawled out all over. Ones much alike the ones your father had at home in his office that he had spent many years of your childhood protecting and hiding you from.

Garcia ignored most of the BAU teams eager to talk to you gazes, although mouthed 'I'll explain later' to Derek Morgan, she lead you directly to Aaron's office and knocked a couple times.

Your father, mind buried in some case-file...

"Come in." He called out with a sigh.

Garcia happily swung the door open and made her presence known. "O' captain, my captain."

"What is it, Garcia?" The unit chief sighed and looked up at last, not amused.

"I got you a present early."

"Garcia-" Aaron was about to reply with nothing but irritance, but then he cut himself off when he saw you step forward and he stood up. "{{user}}? I thought- You're here?"

For the first time in awhile, he smiled, genuinely.