(Welcome everybody to Road to Recovery :) This is a sequel to my first fic Sick Days, so lets get this show on the road shall we?)

Aaron Hotchner sat on his couch. He looked at the clock hanging on the wall. '7:47' He had expected Dave over by now. It had been a tradition ever since Aaron had gotten out of the hospital and able to take care of himself. Dave would come over every night after work and hang out with him. Sometimes he would talk about cases the team was on, Rossi choosing to stay behind of course, but it didn't bother him. Dave needed to be there for Aaron until he fully got back on his feet.

It had been about a month since Hotch had gotten out of the hospital. The prescriptions piled up on his counter. Once Hotch left the sterile building, Rossi was attached to his side for almost two weeks before Hotch finally told Dave to go home, tired of the constant attention and worry.

Hotch's arm twitched. He bit his lip and frowned, grabbing onto his wrist, wanting it to stop. After a few seconds it calmed down. He sighed with relief and shook his head. The medication they had put him on wasn't working as much as they hoped. His muscle didn't spasm as long, but some days were still better than others. There had been a couple days where it almost seemed like his arm never stopped.

Every Tuesday and Thursday Hotch went back to the hospital for physical therapy. Usually they focused on his arm, which the doctor's told him could be the reason for many of the seizure like symptoms he felt in his arm.

His hearing hadn't gotten much better since he left the hospital. He was given two hearing aids, one for each ear.

Smith stepped into Hotch's hospital room, having transferred the recovering man out of the ICU. Hotch was sitting up, for once his room empty of visitors, having told everyone to go home and get some rest.

Hotch didn't really speak much now. To him, it almost seemed impossible to communicate. His brow furrowed as he spotted the devices in the man's hands.

Smith saw the confusion on Aaron's face and chuckled quietly. He held up the devices so Hotch could get a better look.

Hotch frowned. His eyes fell to the bed. Hearing aids? He bit his lip, but nodded slightly and held out his hand for them. He looked up as Smith set them in his hand. He turned them over in his palm. They were smaller than any other devices he had seen. They looked like their own earpieces they had back with the BAU. The thought that had been bugging him all week slowly resurfaced. Would he ever be able to really hear again? He sighed quietly and shook his head.

Smith sighed and sat on the edge of Hotch's bed. He quickly scribbled something down on a blank piece of paper. He didn't want to yell just so Hotch would be able to hear him. He turned the paper so Aaron could see.

'This is the only way, Agent Hotchner…people won't see you as weak. They know what hell you've been through.'

Hotch's eyes scanned the paper. He looked back up at Smith, the man nodded. Hotch looked down at the hearing aids, but nodded. He carefully slipped them on, easily fitting them on his ears, having practiced a plethora of times when using their own earpiece. He looked back up at the doctor.

Smith offered him a small smile before he walked to the side of the bed and carefully turned each aid on. He slowly turned them up a bit before taking a step back, watching Hotch's face light up. "Agent Hotchner?" He asked quietly. The whole staff was unsure if using hearing aids would even work. It was a long shot, but it was all they could do.

Hotch blinked, his lips forming a smile. "I..I can hear you." He spoke softly, his own voice rough with disuse. "I can hear you!"

Hotch still hadn't gotten in much of a habit of putting them in every morning when he woke up. For the first two weeks Rossi would always remind him, since the older man slept over every night. But now since Dave was back to sleeping at his own place, Aaron ended up forgetting to put them in. It was usually until he turned on the tv or made toast in the morning that he realized and had to go back to his bedroom to grab them.

His hearing was getting a little better. Sometimes if it were just Rossi and him he would be able to take them off and focus on the man and he would understand. Sure it was a little quiet, but he always preferred that than wearing the damn things. However, being with a large group was the opposite. There was always too much to focus on, so Hotch always needed to wear his hearing aids if the whole team came over, but that only happened maybe once or twice.

He didn't have much to do in his little apartment. He was going stir crazy sitting in here all day. He missed his family…but he called Haley after about a week of being home and told her everything that happened so she could hear it from him and not Dave when he tried to explain it. He told her that he needed time to get back on his feet, but mainly he just didn't want Jack to see him like this.

He wanted to go back to work. Certain cases Rossi didn't want to talk about, so Hotch almost had to force it out of him. He just wanted to get back out there. That was another question that he had needed to ask the doctors.

"Will I ever…be able to go back to work?" Hotch asked quietly, scratching at his ears, not yet used to the devices that remained in his ears.

Smith looked down at his clipboard, juggling the words in his brain like a circus act. He bit his lip and sighed. He shook his head. "Honestly, I don't know. You may be cleared for desk work, but I'm not sure if you'll ever be in the field again." He said, his eyes falling onto Hotch's arm. "It seems as though it'd be a bit of a problem to aim with a shaking arm." He knew that Hotch's arm just got worse with stress, which meant being in the field and chasing down an Unsub, wasn't the best option. "If these medications do the trick, than I think there is a good possibility, but honestly Agent Hotchner…I don't know."

Thats what upset him…the pills weren't working. He told the doctors and they said they would try to find something else, but they weren't sure if they would be able to find anything.

The muscle spasms didn't hurt…they never did, it was one of the only things holding him back from being an agent again. His ears were a smaller problem. He hated wearing his aids, but if it meant he could be out there again, chasing monsters…he would do it.

But right now there wasn't much Aaron could do except sit on his couch and wait for Dave. He sat criss-cross on the couch, his fingers impatiently tapping against his knee. Now it was past eight and Dave was never late without a call.

Finally the front door opened. Hotch had given Dave a key, figuring that he wouldn't be able to hear a knock most of the time. Dave sighed heavily and set his bag by the door. He looked over at Hotch, the man having not moved since he came in. Damn…he forgot his hearing aid again. Rossi rolled his eyes and stepped into the living room, his shadow catching Hotch's eye.

'Hey' Hotch signed easily, having dedicated a lot of his spare time now to learning sign language. Of course he could talk, but it was difficult to form words when sometimes you couldn't even hear your own words. Even if he spoke sometimes he would end up signing, it was just a habit by now.

Rossi offered him a smile and held up the brown paper bag. 'You hungry?' He tilted his head and sat down in the chair opposite Hotch.

Hotch nodded, watching as Rossi set out the takeout. 'What took so long?' He signed as he caught Dave's eye.

Dave shook his head and grabbed some chopsticks before he settled into his chair with his meal. 'A case.' He returned easily. He pointed to the food, knowing that Aaron would want to focus on the case instead of 'Eat.'

Aaron rolled his eyes like a kid, but nodded. He grabbed his chopsticks and the food, nodding a 'thank you' as he began to eat.

Once the pair had finished their meals, Rossi cleaned up before he sat back down in his usual spot. He grabbed the sign language book off the table that he had bought for Hotch. Hotch had always asked him where Dave had learned to sign, but he never told him. It was just another one of Dave's many secret perks.

He flipped open the book to a random page, having assigned certain pages for Aaron to learn, but also to strengthen up his arm and wrist. The doctors had assigned a bit of physical therapy at home, and Dave was there to make sure he always did it, as well as do it right.

He figured it would be the easiest way to communicate, especially if he kept forgetting, or just not wanting, to put his hearing aids in. The ones the doctors had specially designed for Aaron were almost undetectable, but the man still refused to wear them due to his damn pride.

Rossi signed a few of the words from the book before looking up, quizzing Aaron. Aaron easily finger spelled the words back, Rossi nodding once Aaron got them right. Aaron's wrist started to shake. He silently cursed his dominant hand and grabbed his wrist shaking out his hand, hoping to relax it.

Rossi knew that Aaron's pills weren't working, and thats what worried him. He knew that if Aaron spent any more time in this apartment he would go insane, but its impossible to hold a gun with a shaking hand.

Once Aaron's wrist calmed down, he sighed and finished signing what he had wanted to Rossi, his wrist already sore.

Dave smiled and nodded, turning over a few ideas in his head.

'Good job kiddo.' He paused, deciding. 'Why don't you come with me to the office tomorrow?'