Title: It’s Better the Second Time Around
Fandom/Genre: NCIS, Criminal Minds
Characters: Tony DiNozzo, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Rachel Cranston (Minor appearance only), Tobias Fornell, Timothy McGee, Leon Vance, Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard, Abby Sciuto, AD John Evans, SC Mateo Cruz, Aaron Hotchner, David Rossi, William Brandt, OC-Robert Morgan Jr,
Relationship(s): Tony DiNozzo/Leroy Jethro Gibbs, Tony DiNozzo/Aaron Hotchner, William Brandt/Robert Morgan Jr,
Content Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Gibbs living up to the Second B, Canon Divergence: NCIS, Anti-Abby, Anti-Gibbs, AU after NCIS The Nature of the Beast, Mentions of Child Abuse or Neglect, Cheating, Humor, Mentions/Implied PTSD, Light Angst, OoC Will Brandt,
Notes: Warnings, characters, and relationships will change as chapters are added! Please keep an eye on these as each chapter is posted. I can’t think if anything triggery in this fic, but I’d rather be safe than sorry. This was originally posted on Rough Trade for the 2016 April challenge. It has been edited, sections added and completed since then. The story is completely written, with the exception of one chapter at the end of the fic. Posting will be once per week on Sundays.
Summary: Tony thinks that he has it all. He has a job that he loves. He has friends that he thinks support him, and he has a man that he is crazy about. Even if Gibbs is somewhat reluctant to take the next step. That’s ok. It’s normal right? That’s just Gibbs, right? Not so much. When the bottom falls out, Tony finds himself turning to the past in order to find his future. The last thing he expected was to find everything he’d always been looking for.

Aaron Hotchner loved his career. He hadn’t once regretted the sacrifices that he’d made to get where he was. OK, so his life away from work was fairly empty, but it didn’t matter because the team was a family. It didn’t matter that his marriage had failed because he loved what he did. He’d lost his wife to long hours and a refusal to have a child. He always assumed some day they’d try again. Then one day a serial killer takes that away from him. Hotch decided there would be only work from then on… Until a passionate, angry man returns to the FBI like the prodigal son with scars as thick as Aaron’s own. He has to admit that he is more than a little… intrigued.

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