Hey all!

This piece is for the August Heat Wave Challenge! My chosen character was Spencer Reid and my extra character was David Rossi. The prompts were:

A melting ice cream cone,a swimming pool, a bikini top, swim trunks, a thunderstorm, and soaring temperatures.

Again, I don't own Criminal Minds.

….

He who would learn to fly one day must first learn to stand and walk and run and climb and dance; one cannot fly into flying. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

If there was one thing David Rossi could do better than write a book or profile an UnSub, it was throw a party, especially a farewell party for Emily Prentiss, who was about to depart for London.

She was all packed, her apartment had been emptied earlier that week and her keys were in the hands of her former landlord. Recently, she had been staying with Rossi until her plane left that Saturday.

Of course, the long wait had allowed David to conspire with Garcia to create a final send-off party for their teammate. Rossi had the space, which included an indoor pool, and Garcia had the will.

On that Friday, the team was gathered at Rossi's indoor pool. The dark threat of a summer thunderstorm hovered above the glass roof of the swimming pool. The pool was twice the size of one you would find in someone backyard. There were three diving boards lining the deep end and a water slide. There were also various pool toys lining the full-sized windows of the room, artifacts from Rossi family gatherings.

Now, Morgan was in the water with Emily, and they were in the midst of a full-on noodle war with Garcia and JJ, respectively. Henry and Will were floating nearby, with Will holding a noodle and trying to hide a grin. It didn't take a profiler to know what he was thinking. Hotch and Jack had commandeered the water slide, with Beth watching as the father and son took turns riding the current. Kevin Lynch was in the process of attempting to dive off the highest board Rossi had at his pool. However, the poor man was slightly uncomfortable with the height of the board and was standing on the edge, toes curled over the side as he stared into the depths of the pool.

Meanwhile, Reid and Rossi sat in a pair of beach chairs at the edge of the pool. Both were wearing swim trunks and t-shirts. Reid's was a deep blue with the Doctor Who logo and the front was designed to look as though the wearer had the TARDIS on the front of his shirt. His trunks were also a dark blue, but had purple vertical lines on the legs. Rossi's trunks were hunter green and he wore a camouflage shirt. Mudgie, Rossi's hunting dog, lay by his Master's side.

"…So you're saying the Doctor faked his death?" Rossi asked.

Reid nodded. "The Tessalector, the robot that can transform into various people, disguised itself as the Doctor. Before that, it helped by delivering the postcards to Amy, Rory, River and Canton."

"But how did the younger version of the Doctor get his envelope?" Rossi was confused.

"My guess is that the Doctor crossed his own timeline in some way and discretely handed it off to his younger self." Reid paused to sip his drink, a Root Beer Float with a green umbrella perched atop the edge. "Like that scene in Back to the Future when Doc Brown is almost seen by his younger self in 1955."

"Yeah, he was looking for a tool and Doc from 1985 had to hand it to him."

Reid nodded. "I think it was a wrench."

"Hmmmm," Rossi intoned, throwing back his brandy and looking up at the glass ceiling.

Reid also glanced up. "Good thing this is an indoor pool," he noted.

"My third wife wanted a greenhouse," Rossi said. "I agreed with her because I thought it would strengthen our relationship. The two of us working to create life year-round sounded like a great plan, especially since she didn't want kids. We ended up divorcing because of the kid thing, and because the pumpkins and tomatoes were dug up by Mudgie. She said it was either her or the dog."

Reid grinned as his eyes landed on Mudgie, who was lazily watching as Henry and Will floated closer to the battling noodles. Will was now swiping at Morgan and Garcia, who were attempting a hasty retreat.

"Hey Rossi!" Morgan yelled. "Baby Girl and I could use some help here!"

"No can do, Morgan," Rossi called back. He then turned to Reid. "Do you swim?"

Reid shrugged. "I did in college. I actually spent five years with the CalTec Diving Team and the Water Polo team. I used to be really good, and the diving actually helped me during my Physics thesis."

Rossi looked toward the diving boards, where Kevin was slowly climbing down the ladder of the high dive. "Think you could dive off that high one there?" he asked, pointing toward it.

Reid set his drink on the table between the two chairs. "I think so. I might be a bit rusty though. It's been years since I was in a prime diving condition." As he spoke, however, Reid began to pull off his shirt, revealing a slim, toned torso.

"But let's see anyway," Rossi prodded, and Reid slowly stood and stretched, making his way to the diving board. He passed Kevin, who nodded and mounted the lower board. His board sprung and the sound of splashing was heard as Reid grabbed the fourth rung of the high board.

As he mounted the ladder and began to climb, he noticed that the pool had fallen silent for the most part; apparently, Kevin had seen where Reid was going and the others had stopped to see what was happening. As he stepped onto the board, his sight confirmed what he'd heard before. Morgan and the girls had stopped their noodle fight, Will and Henry had been joined by Hotch, Jack and Beth and Kevin was standing next to Rossi, who gave Reid the thumbs-up.

Reid nodded and turned around, taking a deep breath before bending his knees and jumping from the board. Instinctively, his legs curled up into his body and as he fell, he moved the momentum of his body to flip once…twice…thrice…four times before hitting the water.

As he was submerged, Reid uncurled himself from this ball and swam up, his head breaking the surface of the pool to thunderous applause.

He grinned, waved and performed a textbook dolphin kick toward the shallow end where he finally got out of the pool and retrieved his shirt from his chair, snagging Rossi's fist bump as he passed.

….

Later, Reid and Rossi were sitting in Rossi's study. Reid's car wouldn't start, so Rossi had gladly allowed Reid to stay for the night in one of the house's many guest rooms. Emily had already gone to bed, having an early flight in the morning.

Outside, the pitter-patter of rain was accompanied by the flash of lightning and the growling rumble of thunder.

Inside the study, the two men continued their discussion of Doctor Who, spurred on by Rossi's revelation that he had a majority of the Doctor's fourth and fifth regenerations on DVD.

Finally Rossi breached the subject of Reid's dive earlier that day.

Reid paused, thoughtful. "My coach asked me to consider doing trials for the 2000 Olympics, but I was working on my thesis and said that I couldn't leave it when I was this close to finishing. Plus, I told him that I had no desire to compete beyond a college level. My presentation was the same day as the trials anyway."

"And the water polo?" Rossi drilled.

Reid shrugged. "I played for two more years after I dropped diving, but when I had to work on my Chemistry doctorate, I had to give that up too, for time management purposes. And my professor didn't appreciate the fact that I smelled like chlorine when I walked into the class five minutes late."

"That's a shame," Rossi said dryly. "You could have had the gold medal hands down. Want to try for 2016 maybe?"

Reid's eyebrow shot up. "….Maybe," he considered thoughtfully, drumming his fingers on the desk.

….

A/N: I hope you enjoyed it! Please feel free to review if you wish.

Love,

*~N_CBAU~*