Disclaimer: The characters and Criminal Minds don't belong to me.
Authors notes after the story.
"Reid, We Talked About This"
Hotch glanced down from his office and noticed a small group of people gathered at Reid's desk. Well, that could only mean one thing. He got up and opened the door to his office and stood in the doorway, watching and listening. He thought it might unnerve them if any of them looked up and saw him staring down, but no one did look up. They were too busy watching Reid.
"No, not just a trick," Reid said, explaining it to some agent, from another department, who clearly had never seen Reid's show before. "It's magic. Physics magic." Hotch felt a small smile tug at his lips at the tone in Reid's voice as he said those two words. Like they were something wonderful and mysterious.
His office was a good vantage point to see the little canister go flying through the air. It landed and Hotch could tell it hadn't gone as far as the last time Reid had gotten bored at work.
"One more time," Reid said. "I think I can get it to go farther."
All right, maybe he should put a stop to this. Once was enough. There was work to be done. He considered making his presence known, which would guarantee Reid's audience scurrying back to their desks like rabbits. But, he didn't move. He was sure the slight interruption from paperwork wouldn't send the FBI to a screeching halt. It was probably good for morale as well. And, truth be told, Hotch liked it as much as anyone. Like he had told Elle and JJ once, he had been a little bit of a nerd. And, he was interested to see just how far Reid could make the rocket fly. So far, the flights hadn't been all that spectacular.
The group of agents turned back around to face Reid. Show time.
It was up and whizzing father than it had ever gone– and straight past the ear of Erin Strauss, who was making a rare appearance out of her office. She looked around wildly from side to side for a second, trying to figure out what had just happened. Then she frowned and her eyes narrowed.
Well, Hotch's abilities to scatter a crowd were nothing on Strauss'. In two seconds flat, everyone was back to work. They needed have bothered, though. Strauss took no more notice of them, then as if they had been ants. Her eyes were focused up, right in his direction.
Hotch knew she saw him, so there was no use in trying to duck out of sight. Not that Aaron Hotchner was the type of guy to do that. He simply met her gaze and waited for her to make it to his office. Whatever reason initially brought her there, he was sure it was going to come after she gave him a lecture on letting his agents waste time and disrupt the workday.
Well, Hotch reflected, maybe she did have a point. He'd talk to Reid about it for formalities sake, anyway. He would just have to take care not to notice the next time Reid felt the urge. He wouldn't be able to reprimand him for something he didn't see. It would mean missing out on seeing the physics magic. On the other hand, he wasn't sure anything could top the expression on Strauss' face as the rocket flew past her.
Authors note: The muse decided to make me try something light. This is set sometime before Profiler, Profiled in season 2. It also references a brief exchange in Compulsion, from season 1. As always, constructive criticism is appreciated. I'm very concerned with getting Hotch right.