DISCLAIMER: I do not own Criminal Minds, or NCIS. I am not making any money from this story.
A/N: I know I've not finished 'Heroes' yet, but this idea won't go away. Plus it's only a one-shot! Set after 'May Day', 'Trapped' and 'The Burger Bar' so obviously an NCIS cross! If you haven't read those, basically Reid, Prentiss and Morgan got stuck at NCIS HQ and went and got drunk when they eventually got outta there and JJ and Garcia tagged along and also got drunk. Reid got along swimmingly with the NCIS girls... Hehe. Also, in 'May Day' a bad guy did bad stuff to Reid and he had to re-learn his motor skills and stuff but he's dandy now!
Set about six months after 'The Burger Bar'
SECRETS AND LIES
Reid was acting strange. Morgan had noticed it. Prentiss had noticed. Even Hotch had commented on it.
The team had been called away to Nebraska. Women with red hair in their mid to late thirties had been murdered. It was obvious from the similarities in the victims that the women had been surrogates. It was on the jet on the way out on Thursday morning that JJ had first commented on it. Reid was on his phone, standing at the opposite end of the jet to the others so they couldn't hear what was being said. They did notice however that he was smiling. Lots.
Morgan was sure he heard Reid say 'we'll figure it out later.'' Followed by 'I'll call you to let you know how the case is going.', but when he asked Reid about it, he said he'd been speaking to his mother. Prentiss, Morgan and JJ had shared looks, but said nothing else.
By Friday Morning Rossi had begun to notice that Reid was a little on edge. He kept checking his watch, and seemed to be very frustrated that they weren't making quicker progress. When Hotch had asked him if he had some place better to be, Reid had shook his head and looked embarrassed.
Nobody could ignore the look of relief on Reid's face when a brake came in the case on Saturday morning after Garcia had managed to narrow down a suspect list to just two people. When it turned out one of them was in prison for Manslaughter, thus narrowing it down to just one, even Garcia noticed that Reid's gratitude towards her seemed a little out of place.
And so, on Saturday afternoon, with the suspect charged and in custody, the team, to Reid's obvious relief, were on their way back to Quantico.
(((((())))))
"It is good to be back." Prentiss said, placing her Go bag on her desk. "I hate working weekends."
"Tell me about it." Garcia said, approaching the team from her office. "But now you're all back, I can go home and not feel guilty that my intrepid Crime Fighters are still out on the streets." She smiled as she placed an arm around Morgan, giving him a little hug.
Rossi chuckled to himself before heading of to his office.
"Urgh," JJ yawned, stretching a little. "I cannot wait to get home." She said, rubbing her forehead. She knew it was unavoidable, but she really did hate it when the team got called away over a weekend. She knew she had the house to herself as Will had taken Henry to see his Mother and at the moment, a nice, long hot bath was looking good.
"Uh hu." Morgan said, moving away from Garcia. "I'm outta here." The team mumbled their agreement before heading towards the door.
"Guys." Hotch called from where he still stood next to Prentiss' desk. He waited until they all turned to look at him. "Case reports?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Seriously?" Prentiss whinged, sighing like an annoyed teenager.
"It's six thirty on a Saturday evening, Hotch!" Morgan exclaimed, "You can't be serious."
"Please, Hotch." Reid added. Morgan noticed the same look of worry and frustration he'd seen of Reid's face during the case.
Hotch looked around the team. He sighed. Could he really make them stay to the late hours of day? He knew Rossi was more than likely in his office filling out his reports. He also knew that if he left now, he'd have time to see Jack before he went to bed. He glanced down at his watch. "I want them done, on my desk by midday Monday."
"Hotch, you are the best!" Reid called, turning to practically run out of the doors, pulling his phone out of his pocket as he did. Hotch raised his eyebrows as he watched Reid leave then turned to head towards his office.
"See," Morgan said, turning to watch Reid go. "Now that is weird." He looked back at JJ, Garcia and Prentiss. "Even for Reid."
"Maybe he's got a lady?" Garcia suggested, shrugging.
"Reid?" Morgan asked, his voice a little higher than usual. "Please, Baby Girl."
Prentiss laughed a little. "Hey, you guys wanna go grab a beer?"
"Ooh!" Garcia said excitedly, clasping her hands in front of her. "There's this bar on Filbert Street that has a live band every Saturday night." She looked around the group. "Apparently the band tonight is real good." She added, as if trying to entice them.
"Sounds good." Prentiss said, turning to look at Morgan who nodded. "JJ?" She asked.
JJ shook her head. "Not for me tonight guys, I'm sorry."
"Aww, come on Jayje!" Garcia said, sounding heartbroken. "Just for one?"
JJ sighed. "Fine." She said, resigning herself to the fact the Garcia wouldn't accept any other answer.
(((((())))))
''Scruffy Murphy's'' turned out to be quite a cosy bar. It had two main rooms. One with a bar and simple booths around the room, plus a few tables in the centre. The other room was through a door to the back of the room. This was where the band was playing. The sound drifted through the wall so they could be heard quite well in the front room where Morgan, Garcia, JJ and Prentiss sat.
"I've never been here before." Garcia confessed. "It's better than I thought." She said, looking around. The bar certainly had that 'lived in' feel to it, but it was far from actually being 'scruffy'.
"This band are actually ok." Prentiss added. She had been expecting an awful din to be making its way into the room but she was actually quite enjoying the music. They were playing a mix of modern and older songs, mainly focusing on rock and indie. "Good singer." She added.
JJ nodded. "He sounds a bit like Josh Franceschi." She said, taking a sip of her beer before looking up at the others.
"Who?" Garcia asked, a blank expression on her face. Morgan and Prentiss were wearing matching expressions.
"You Me At Six." JJ half answered, half asked. "What?" She continued seeing the still blank faces of her companions. "You guys don't read the NME?"
"You do?" Prentiss asked, laughing lightly and taking a sip of her beer. "They are good though." She added.
"Told you so!" Garcia piped up, sipping her flamboyant cocktail.
Morgan nodded. Although this wasn't his usual taste in music, he had to admit they were good. "So what do you reckons' up with Reid?" He asked, taking a sip of beer. "He's been acting kinda weird for months."
JJ shrugged. "It's Reid." She said, plainly. "Who knows what's happening in his head." She smiled a little and the others chuckled.
"Maybe he's moonlighting for the CIA?" Garcia suggested, taking another sip of her cocktail.
"That doesn't happen." Prentiss said, taking a sip of beer. "Well, it does, but there's that much protocol to follow there's no way we wouldn't know."
"So that just leaves a new woman." Morgan said, smiling broadly.
"You think?" Garcia asked, tilting her head to the side. "But who? And from where?" She asked, looking around the table. "You think it was someone on a case?"
JJ shook her head. "Nah, gotta be someone or something more local. Did you see the way he ran out of the Bull Pen today?"
Prentiss laughed a little, looking over to the bar. It was almost time for another round and she hated having to wait if the bar tender was busy. "Oh my God." She said, under her breath. "DiNozzo!" She called across the room, seeing the other man was waiting to be served.
Morgan, Garcia and JJ turned to look in the same direction as Prentiss. True enough, standing at the bar was NCIS Agent Tony DiNozzo, and standing next to him Tim McGee. It was McGee who turned around, scanning the room for whoever had shouted before his eyes found Prentiss. He waved and nudged DiNozzo.
"Hello Emily." DiNozzo said as the two approached the table. "Guys." He said, nodding at the others around the table before his eyes settled on JJ. "Agent Jareau." She said, smiling broadly. The two Agents were dress casually, both in jeans and shirts, DiNozzo black and McGee dark blue.
"Nice to see you've not lost your charm, Tony." JJ said, smiling back.
"How have you guys been?" McGee asked, sitting down next to Morgan after that larger man had made room for him.
"Same old." Garcia answered. "Travelling the country, solving murders, saving lives." She took a sip of her drink. "Well, the afore mentioned applies to me without the travelling bit." She smiled. "You?"
"The usual," DiNozzo answered. "Dead Marines, dead Sailors, finding killers. The occasional terror threat." He finished, sitting next to Prentiss, sipping his beer he'd just bought.
JJ took a sip of her beer when she recognized the song that began playing. "I love this song!" She exclaimed as 'Stay With Me.' began drifting in from the other room.
"I've never even heard this song!" Morgan exclaimed, laughing a little as JJ began to dance in her seat, mouthing the words 'you me at six' at him before she began singing along.
"Maybe JJ should have a coke next round." Garcia said, grinning and moving out of the way when JJ leant across the table to slap her arm playfully.
"So what are you guys doing here anyway?" Morgan asked, "You guys live across town, right?"
"The Band." McGee and DiNozzo answered in unison.
"You came all the way across town to see a band?" Garcia asked. She'd freely admit they were good, but to travel all the way across town on a Saturday night when there were bars closer to hand seemed odd.
"You don't know, do you?" DiNozzo asked, turning to face McGee. "They don't know about the band, McGee."
"Know what about the band?" Prentiss asked, confused.
"They really don't know about the band." McGee said, standing as DiNozzo did.
"Follow the McGeekster and Myself." DiNozzo said as the two began to head into the other room.
The four FBI agents stood and followed the NCIS agents. "It's gonna be loud in there, isn't it?" Morgan asked before they entered.
"Stop whining, old man." JJ said, smiling at him. She walked into the room and almost crashed into Prentiss and Garcia who had stopped dead just through the doorway.
"Oh my God." Garcia was repeating over and over, with a broad smile on her face. "Oh my God!" She said once more as she turned to look at JJ and Morgan.
"If you'd move out of the way, Baby Girl, we'd be able to see." Morgan said, titling his head to the side. Garcia and Prentiss silently moved further into the room.
The first thing Morgan noticed was that the room was packed with people, much fuller than the last room. Similar booths ran along the edge of the room but the centre of the room was a large open space, filled with people. He turned to speak to JJ and noticed she was staring open mouthed at the stage, as was Garcia. Prentiss was grinning from ear to ear. Morgan turned his attention to the band. "Oh My God." He said, as his eyes fell on them.
Three of them – the drummer, bass player and guitarist, he'd never laid eyes on before. But there, playing lead guitar and singing, still wearing the purple shirt and black tie he'd had on all day at work, was Spencer Reid.
Morgan turned to look at DiNozzo and McGee. "That's Reid!" He said, turning to look at Prentiss and Garcia. "Our Reid!" He said. He turned to look at JJ. "Doctor Spencer Reid!" JJ just nodded, mouth still agape.
"Come sit down." DiNozzo shouted to them over the music. "We've got a booth over there." He said, pointing to the far corner of the room.
The six of them made there way over the booth where Abby and Ziva were sitting. "Where's our drinks!" Abby shouted at McGee before seeing the FBI agents behind him. "Guys!" She squealed, clapping her hands and standing to give each of them a hug. "It's so good to see you!" She said, sitting back down.
"It is." Ziva added, smiling at each of them.
"So you guys all knew Reid was in a band?" Morgan asked, sitting next to Ziva. He was confused as to why the NCIS agents would know this about his friend, and yet they all be left in the dark.
"You did not?" Ziva asked, her eyebrows raised.
JJ shook her head. "We were just talking about why he was acting so odd and I guess now we know." She said. She was a little hurt that Reid hadn't told any of them, she couldn't pretend she wasn't. But if Reid had something in his life that he enjoyed and wanted to keep away from work she guessed she could understand that. She hadn't told anyone about Will, after all.
Garcia was still staring at Reid in shock. "He looks kinda hot up there, doesn't he?" She asked, looking around the table. "Is it weird I find Reid hot up there?" She added, looking worried.
"He certainly looks different." Prentiss answered. This was not a hobby or a talent that she would ever associate with Reid, but she had to admit he looked pretty confident and comfortable on that stage.
"He never told you?" Abby asked, sounding shocked. She turned to face Ziva so fast one of her piggy tails narrowly missed Morgan's face. "That means they probably don't even know..."
"What Reid chooses to tell them and what he chooses to keep to himself is up to Reid." Ziva interrupted.
Prentiss notice the look that crossed Ziva's face as did JJ. The two FBI women looked at each other; something was going on here...
Before anyone could say anything, the room erupted in cheer. It was then that Prentiss realised the band had finished playing. She saw Reid making his way over to the table, being stopped along the way several times by people in the room. "Hey Guys." He said, greeting McGee and DiNozzo before Abby stood and hugged him. "Guys?" He said, sounding surprised upon seeing his FBI co-workers. "Erm... Hi."
"'Hi' indeed, Doctor Reid!" Garcia exclaimed, standing up to scold him. "And when, prey tell, did you intend on telling us about this?" She asked, placing her hand on her hip.
"I, erm..." Reid awkwardly ran his hand through his hair.
"Reid..." Garcia pushed him, tilting her head to the side.
"Ok I wasn't." Reid confessed. "I didn't want to have to put up with Morgan teasing me, ok?" He said honestly. "I'm sorry." He said, sitting down next to Ziva.
"You thought I'd tease you?" Morgan asked, "Reid, Man," he shook his head. "You were pretty good up there." He smiled at the younger man. "Really good."
"Yea," JJ added. "Where did you learn to play guitar?" She asked. She'd known Reid for years and never known he could play.
"A few years ago," Reid answered once everyone had managed to squeeze into the booth. "Remember the case in Lafayette Parish?" He asked, looking around his team.
"Louisiana?" Prentiss asked. Reid nodded. "Sammy Sparks, right?"
"The autistic kid?" Morgan asked. Prentiss nodded. "I remember that case, yea."
Reid nodded again. "I know its kinds stupid but after that I taught myself to play the piano and after a few months I tried a few other things." He said, sounding sheepish.
"You taught yourself to play?" DiNozzo asked, sounding surprised. "I did not know that."
"So you learnt piano, then taught yourself guitar?" JJ asked, still a little shocked by the whole situation.
Reid nodded. "I started playing guitar at Shustoke, to help with my co-ordination. It's the same basic principle for each. If you look at the mathematics..."
"We get it, Reid." Morgan interrupted, smiling. "But then how'd you find out you could sing? And where'd you meet those guys?" He indicated in the direction of the stage.
"Hey, where are the guys?" McGee asked, turning to look at the empty stage.
"They went to get a beer." Reid answered, still a little embarrassed by all the attention he was receiving.
"But who are they?" JJ asked, sipping her nearly empty beer.
"They're some friends of mine." Abby answered. "Their singer and guitarist left and they needed a replacement and I introduced them to Spencer here and bam!" She clapped her hands for emphasis.
"Ahh..." JJ said. That explained why Abby, Ziva, DiNozzo and McGee were there. If the rest of the band were Abby's friends, it stood to reason that Abby had probably dragged them along to many gigs in the past and would continue to do so. "But how did you know Reid played? We didn't even know?"
"Good question." Garcia, who had now sat back down, said. She knew Reid had spent the night at Abby's months ago when they'd all gone out after a case, but had he told her that much about himself. Reid had been too drunk to even remember what had happened and Garcia was pretty sure Abby had been in a similar state.
"Ziva told me." Abby answered simply, taking a sip of beer before a look of horror and realisation spread across her face.
The four FBI agents turned to face Ziva. "I erm..." She shifted a little awkwardly in her seat, glancing at Reid how simply shrugged. "I heard him singing in the shower."
"Oh." JJ said. Prentiss eyes went a little wide.
"Wait." Morgan said, shaking his head. "When did you hear Reid in the shower?"
"They don't know." DiNozzo said under his breath. He turned to look at McGee who was avoiding the looks of the FBI agents, as was Abby. "I'm going to get a few more drinks." He said quickly before leaving the table.
"I'll help you!" McGee called before running after him.
"Reid?" Garcia asked, looking at him expectantly. "Why had Ziva heard you in the shower?"
"I was staying at her place." Reid answered simply, although he avoided eye contact.
"Hmm." Prentiss said, smiling and looking around at the team. "And why would that be."
"You really should just tell them." Abby said, taking another sip of beer. Reid sighed, but didn't answer.
"Oh for heavens sakes." Ziva said, shaking her head at Reid before turning to look at the others. "Because we had sex."
"Ziva!" Reid cried, looking horrified. "You can't just... I mean...You..." He stuttered without actually getting a sentence out.
"What?" Garcia, JJ and Prentiss said, practically in unison.
"Way to go pretty boy!" Morgan laughed. He grinned widely at Reid, unable to believe the skinny, awkward genius he saw everyday at work, his friend, had not only been in a band, and a pretty damn good one at that, but also had a secret girl.
"On the phone to your Mom my ass!" Prentiss said, smiling.
"So wait," JJ said, "was this like a one time thing or what?" She asked, still unable to believe what she'd heard. It wasn't that Reid was unattractive or anything, she just couldn't imagine him actually having anything to do with women other then being friends.
"No," Ziva said. "It has happened many times over that last six months." She answered bluntly, almost making Reid spit out the mouthful of beer he'd just had.
"Ziva!" He cried again, this time turning a little pink in the cheeks.
"What?" She asked, turning to face him. "There is nothing wrong with two consenting adults who find each other attractive to..."
"I think they just want to know if you're going out." Abby interrupted, trying to spare Reid from any further embarrassment.
"Oh." Ziva said, looking from Abby to the FBI agents and smiling. "Then yes, we are dating."
"Six months! I can't believe you never told us!" Garcia said, slapping him on the arm. "Why wouldn't you tell us?"
"Morgan." Reid answered simply, smiling.
Prentiss nodded. "In Reid's defence, imagine if Morgan had been teasing him for the last six months."
Morgan held his hands up defensively. "If Pretty Boy here is gonna get with a chick that can kill him soon as look at him, Man I ain't gonna get in no ones way." He laughed.
"Look, Guys," Reid said, seriously. "I'm sorry I never told you but..."
"We get it." JJ answered. "We've all had our secrets." They had, as well. JJ had never told them about Will. Prentiss had never told them about Doyle and Morgan had never talked about Buford.
"Man, I'm just happy you found a girl to take care of you." Morgan said.
"I'll drink to that." Prentiss said, raising her bottle and clinking it with JJ, Morgan, Garcia and Abby in a small cheer, all downing the last of their drinks.
"Looks like we're just in time!" DiNozzo called as he and McGee made their way through the crowd of people, beer bottles and one extravagant cocktail in hand.
"Kensington Court Special, right?" McGee asked, placing the drink in front of Garcia.
"You remembered!" She said, standing up briefly to grab him round the neck in a tight hug. "Bless you, Timmy McGee!"
Reid smiled and placed his arm around Ziva's shoulders. She sank into him as DiNozzo sat down and McGee managed to free himself.
"May I just say," Garcia said, sitting back down, "Although I am happy for you Reid, in all respects, do not expect to be let off the hook lightly for not telling me about all of this." She said, gesturing around the room with her arm.
"Garcia," Reid said, smiling. "I never thought you would."
The End.
(((((())))))
Know it's silly, but the idea had been in my head for AGES and it was getting in the way of me writing 'Heroes' so I had to do it! A few people mentioned Reid getting with Ziva after 'The Burger Bar' so I though why the hell not!
Hope you enjoyed. If not sorry... You win some, you loose some.
If you don't know 'You Me At Six', look them up on You Tube. Particularly "Stay With Me". I love his voice and thought Reid may have that kinda sound. Not too perfect but still good. Also, forgive my ignorance, but I don't know if you have the NME in America. If not, it's the 'New Musical Express'. It's basically a weekly music magazine that focus' on rock and indie music. Sorry if you already knew that :P
Will update 'Heroes' in the next few days if you're reading that, just needed to get this out of my head! Thanks for reading!