Reid glanced at Hotch and then at Hardwick and then again and again. It was all going horribly wrong. Hotch was aggressive. He had been all morning. Ever since Haley had contacted him with the bad news. He was in no mood to manipulate a criminal. What's more, he felt that he himself needed to be punished. It was all his fault: he had driven his wife and son away. He was mad but not at Haley. It was himself that he despised more than anything. And Reid knew that what Hotch wanted right now was for Hardwick to attack him, to punish him.

Reid moved to the background to observe both men. He needed to come up with a plan and quick. 'Unfortunately for you I am not a 5 ft tall 100-pound girl,' Hotch snarled at Hardwick, taking off his jacket.

Yes, Reid was scared. But he couldn't help noticing how Hotch's tight muscles stretched the shirt at all the right places. He lowered his gaze in embarrassment and licked his lips. It lasted only a second and then he was hectically thinking again. But now he had one more reason.

Hotch was taking his tie off now. And he was antagonizing the prisoner. He was making this personal. Reid needed to bring the discussion back to Hardwick and his past.

*13 minutes later*

'Is that true, I never had a chance?'

'I don't know, maybe.' Reid desperately wanted to get out of there. He could feel cold sweat on his palms as he clutched his bag. He would later say 'I find that I do some of my best work under intense terror.' And he would not lie. But terror had one prominent side-effect: it made people honest. And it was this honesty that urged Reid to suggest stopping by at a diner on their way back to Quantico.

Just before Reid suggested it, Hotch admitted that he 'didn't really help' during the prisoner situation. Reid agreed readily, containing a smirk. On the one hand, Hotch was right – he really had antagonized Hardwick. On the other, however, him taking off his jacket was enough of a help for Reid's brain and he was itching to tell him that. Perhaps some other time.

They found themselves in this tiny little place in the middle of a small town close to the jail. They were the only clients at the dead afternoon hour. Hotch mentioning his divorce had reminded Reid of their night together with JJ. A couple of weeks had passed by and all three of them acted like it had never happened. It was not really awkward or anything, it was just… Reid could not put a finger on it, but something was missing. They knew JJ didn't want to do it again because of 'reasons'. (Which effectively meant she was seeing someone. Reid even had his suspicions on who he was.)

Reid tried to push these thoughts to the back of his mind for the time being. He and Hotch were talking about his son, Jack, and how he hoped to see him as often as possible. Suddenly Reid caught himself staring at the other man's mouth. He blushed. Hotch smiled.

'It's ok, Reid,' the older man said reassuringly.

Reid hesitated. 'You mean…you don't regret it?'

'Of course I don't. If I remember correctly, I was the one to initiate it. But I get it if you feel uncomfortable. It needn't happen again.'

'Actually…' Reid was extremely nervous by now, but he wanted to finally spit it out. 'Actually, I think I'd like that.'

'You amaze me every time. I suppose I should have trusted Gideon on that.'

'On what?' Reid was really confused now. As far as he knew, Gideon and him had always been just friends. Of course, he had a tiny crush on his teacher and mentor, and Gideon probably saw him as a protégé, someone who will carry on his work after he retired for good. But there had never been anything sexual between them.

Hotch bent his head a little to the side. 'He used to say one day you will blow our minds. I have to admit, though, I never thought it will be like this.'

They locked eyes and just stared at each other for the longest moment.

'May I confess something to you?'

'Of course, Reid.'

'I kinda find talking to you about divorce a bit arousing. I hope it doesn't offend you.'

'Not at all, kid. We make far worse associations on a daily basis.'

Reid smiled awkwardly and bit his lip while directing his gaze to his fries. He hated junk food. The only reason he would stop at a place like this was to spend a bit of time alone with Hotch. He had no idea what he expected to happen; he had even less of a clue what he hoped would happen. Hotch was, after all, a man, and Reid had never been into men before. JJ used to tease him he had a crush on Morgan, but Reid had been observing him purely in an attempt to improve his own instincts and reactions. Derek was the most physically fit among them and Reid was currently competing with Garcia for the last place. And competing with a blond female programmer was definitely not something to be proud of.

'But… doesn't it bother you…you know, being with men?'

'I was not with a man that night, Reid, I was with you. You are far more than your gender. You of all people should know that.'

'Yes, of course,' Reid hurried to agree, eyes locked on his meal. He was still not sure what was going on. He only knew that he itched for some kind of physical contact. Hotch practically read his mind. He stretched his arm across the table and carefully raised the younger man's chin in his hand until their eyes met again.

'We are here for each other. This is what matters. Everything else is semantics.'

When they got back, they split directly after entering the office. They still had a lot to do and for Hotch, it was not just the reports that awaited him. The rest of the team landed half an hour later. Reid had been deep in thought, half concerned about his own strange future, half intrigued to know what that tech guy Kevin wanted to do with Rossi. So when they asked how the trip had gone, he hesitated for a fracture of a second. 'Ultimately uneventful,' he said. No one demanded any more detail. 'I mean, we didn't have sex in that diner,' Reid thought of adding. Good thing there was Kevin to talk about.

'Just when I thought nothing scandalous was ever going to happen around here!' Prentiss exclaimed and that brought Reid back to reality. Whatever his friend meant, she was so sadly mistaken… Still, what did she mean? What was he missing? What was all this about Penelope and Kevin?

And there he was again, the weird kid who missed the joke. He would figure it out eventually. There was no rush.