Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds. Never have, never will. But I'd like to sneak into the sandbox and play around for a while.
AN: The wonderful aquazephyrus provided the tumblr prompt 'Hotch/Reid, stars.'
This one is not set in any particular season- use your imagination!
Not beta'd.
They had just wrapped up a case on the outskirts of Manassas, VA and were looking forward to sleeping in their own beds. At least, for the handful hours of the night that remained. The team had arbitrarily split up into the three SUVs that they had driven into town four days earlier, and headed for home.
Hotch had decided to take the Prince William Parkway back, whereas the others decided to head north to take the I-66 across, and planned to stopover at a late-night diner on the way.
Not even fifteen minutes into their journey, he pulled over onto a service road. Reid was jolted out of his thoughts by the deviation in the route.
"What's going on, Hotch? Did we get a flat?" he asked, a puzzling frown marring his youthful features.
"No, nothing's wrong." Aaron cut the engine before saying, "Slight cramp in the shoulders. I should stretch too, while we're stopped." He opened the door then paused before sliding out of the SUV. "Hop out for a bit. The air's nice."
"Air is air, comprised mainly of nitrogen, oxygen, argon, and carbon dioxide, with several other gases in smaller, even minute, proportions. The fact that it's breathable is nice," Spencer replied. As he replied, he spotted something in the peripheral vision and turned his head to get a better look.
He squinted into the darkness that engulfed them, but didn't see— no, there it was again. Spencer leaned forward to gaze upward through the windshield and was rewarded with a streak of light that came and faded in the span of a blink of an eye.
Spencer was startled when Aaron had opened the door on his side of the vehicle, having not noticed when the other agent had circled the SUV.
"Spencer, join me? Please?" he asked in a low voice, holding a hand out towards his lover.
Another glance confirmed what his eyes had seen, and he unbuckled his seatbelt and took Aaron's hand as he exited the vehicle. Spencer looked upwards again, drawing his lover's attention to the stars above. They leaned against the side of the SUV, hands still clasped, and taking in the sight.
Without the blinding lights of a heavily-populated metropolitan area, Aaron and Spencer saw a plethora of stars, taking turns pointing out the constellations. In Spencer's case, also reciting the mythologies associated with each one. They fell silent in awe as another shooting star appeared briefly.
Aaron's voice was hushed. "Make a wish."
His lover tilted his head, about to ask why before changing his mind. He closed his eyes and thought of the first thing that popped into his head, causing a smile to blossom on his face. When he opened his eyes again, he noticed that Aaron was staring at him.
Aaron blurted out, "No, don't tell me." At puzzled look he received, he added, "You can't if you want it to come true. But seeing you look so happy when you made your wish, there's a couple of guesses as to what it was."
Spencer nodded, content with his wish. He leaned into Aaron, who automatically put an arm around him. As they continued their stargazing, the number of shooting stars increased.
"There are a number of meteor showers that happen throughout the year. Of course, not everyone would be willing to sit outside in below-freezing temperatures. Fortunately for us, while it does get a bit on the cool side overnight, the Lyrids are quite brilliant with a plus-two magnitude."
"Fortunately for us," Aaron echoed softly. He separated from Spencer and went to the back of the SUV and dug through his Go-bag to remove his toiletries and other breakable items before pulling it out of the vehicle.
Spencer watched him, wondering what the older man was up to, the question burning on his tongue. He watched his lover place the bag on the ground some feet away from the vehicle before lowering himself to sit on the bag.
After making the impromptu seat comfortable, Aaron motioned for Spencer to come over. Taking hold of the slender hand, he tugged gently to signal that he wanted Spencer to have a seat also. He helped his lover maneuver his willowy frame to sit across his lap with his legs dangling off one side, then put his arms around him to hold him steady.
It had felt awkward at first, as they both shifted to accommodate the added weight, settling into a comfortable position that wouldn't suddenly upend them from the makeshift cushion. Once certain that there weren't going to be any unexpected surprises in that area, Spencer sighed deeply, contently, still watching the meteor shower with eager eyes.
Aaron tried to enjoy the view, but kept on getting sidetracked by the desire tugging at his core. Succumbing to temptation, he first nuzzled Spencer's neck before nibbling on his earlobe. He glided a hand in a lazy caress along his lover's thigh, briefly straying to brush over the fly, eliciting a startled gasp and a shiver of delight, even of anticipation from the other man. Aaron gave a throaty chuckle, then murmured, "Whenever you're up for it, we can head back to my place."
"But-"
"Jack's with Jessica. We're not picking him up in the middle of the night. She'll be dropping him off, as scheduled."
Spencer relaxed, then straightened again. "What about-"
"We got back a day earlier than expected. And it's still the weekend," came the reply. "I have a new bag of Kona and there's still some Kopi Luwak."
"You sure know how to spoil me," Spencer teased, practically purring the words while grinning like he won the lottery. "How did I get so lucky?"
Aaron gave his thigh a squeeze. "I'm the lucky one." He gave his lover a kiss before asking, "So when do you want to head home?"
Spencer practically leapt up, and exclaimed, "Right now sounds good!" He helped Aaron to his feet, and kissed him deeply.
Aaron broke it off and gasped out, "Better hold off, or we might not make it home."
"Sure we will," Spencer countered. Grinning, he added, "I wished to spend more time with you. And we've got another thirty-five hours, fourteen minutes until Jessica drops off Jack."
Aaron gave him a pointed look. "Didn't I say you weren't supposed to tell what your wish was?"
"You asked for me to come over, we'll have the privacy we want. Knowing what my wish was will mean that we'll make it happen. It's not like we're expecting to be called out on another case. We're supposed to be in Manassas until the morning." Spencer raised an eyebrow, and cheekily added with a wink, "Besides, with all those 'shooting stars,' who said I made only one wish?"
Spencer grabbed Aaron's Go-bag, securing it in the back of the SUV. Then he climbed into the vehicle as Aaron turned the ignition. All thoughts of the meteor shower and constellations were forgotten as he contemplated ways of pleasuring his lover until he saw stars— the kind that weren't in the night sky.