A Criminal Minds Valentine

A/N: Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! So, this is my entry for the CCoAC challenge round 8, Valentine's Day gift fics.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds or the title of this story, which I kind-of-sort-of-totally ripped off "A Charlie Brown Valentine." Couldn't think of a better title, sorry…

The song was "(Everything I Do) I Do it for You" by Bryan Adams (this song has really grown on me, by the way)

The prompts were: conversation hearts, a pink teddy bear, a romantic movie

And this story is for cuz-snarry's-awesome! I very much hope you enjoy this!

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You have to walk carefully in the beginning of love; the running across fields into your lover's arms can only come later when you're sure they won't laugh if you trip.

~Jonathan Carroll

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Honestly, he never thought it would come to this. Never, did he, Supervisory Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid, think he would be standing in Wal-mart at 6:45 PM on Valentine's Day, bordering on being late to his date with his girlfriend of ten months, debating between a pink teddy bear and plush puppy covered in red hearts with the other forgetful boyfriends and husbands.

In his defense, he hadn't exactly forgotten Valentine's Day. In fact, he'd known exactly what day it was when he woke up that morning and, as an added bonus, could cite the holiday's suspected origins, tell people when the first Valentine's card was sent, and note exactly how many flowers were sold on this day, which was more than any of the other absent-minded lovers in this aisle of shame could do, he was sure. So, no, he hadn't forgotten, per se; he'd just ignored it.

Really, he still wasn't sure how it had ended up being his fault. He'd asked Garcia what she wanted to do for Valentine's this year- their first Valentine's Day together, he'd noted- and she said absolutely nothing. Reid had been confused at first, as Garcia always did something for… well, every holiday. But she'd explained that she knew he didn't really care for that holiday in particular and promised that being able to spend an evening with him was more than enough. He'd thanked her and kissed her and that was that.

Or he'd thought that that was that. Until this morning.

The morning of February 14 was turning out to be a rather pleasant one. The temperature was low but the sky was clear and blue and, for a Monday, people seemed to be in a remarkably good mood. Reid had made a stop at a nearby coffee shop for his usual- tall, black and sugar-laden for himself and a concoction of caramel, chocolate and cream for Garcia- and the barista had even winked at him when he paid her. He'd blinked in surprise, thanked her for the coffee and wandered out of the shop and towards the subway, wondering why he'd only started noticing those sorts of advances after he'd begun dating Garcia.

After making it to work without further encountering amorous advances, he stopped by his desk to drop his coat, bag and already half-gone coffee before heading for Garcia's office to deliver her drink. He rapped several times on the door before entering. "Good morning, my gorgeous genius." Garcia greeted without looking up from her computer as she tapped away on the keyboard.

"Good morning." Reid greeted, placing the coffee on the table behind the tech where it was out of range of any electronics. "How are you today?"

"I," Garcia whirled around with a flourish in her rolling chair. "Am absolutely fabulous, love. And you look positively darling today."

Reid raised an eyebrow at the comment and unconsciously smoothed over the black vest and pink button-up shirt he'd chosen as a nod to the holiday. "I thought, perhaps, it was appropriate, since I have a reason to have something other than complete apathy towards the holiday this year." He replied with a small smile. "You look very… festive today. I like it."

Garcia gathered up her ruffled knee-length pink skirt and curtseyed with a coy smile, boldly showing off the amount of cleavage her red, black heart-patterned top gave and then readjusted her white jacket. "Thank you, kind sir." She laughed and stepped forward to kiss the genius lightly on the lips.

"I thought we weren't going to have public displays of affection at work?" Reid pointed out, despite his smile, when she pulled away.

"Oh, my sweet, but I am a public display of affection!" She grinned at him and kissed him one more time before grabbing her coffee off the table. "Besides, it's Valentine's Day- oh! That reminds me…"

The tech hastily placed her cup back on the table, went over to her desk and produced a plastic bag from beneath it. She dug into it and pulled out a small, colorful box that rattled when it moved. "Here you are, my dove; Happy Valentine's Day!" She pressed the box into his hands.

Reid glanced down at the box to discover it was full of multicolored conversation hearts. "But… I thought you didn't want to celebrate Valentine's Day?" He asked, looking back up at Garcia.

"Oh, I know, and I wasn't going to- I really wasn't! But I saw these all on sale while I was out yesterday and even though they taste icky, I've always loved them and I just thought it would be nice to give them to people. Y'know, sweet little messages to brighten their day and remind them that they're loved." Garcia explained in what seemed to be one breath before she ducked around him and clacked out of her office on hot pink high heeled shoes.

Unsure of what else to do, Reid followed her out of her office and watched as Garcia sashayed around the bullpen, distributing boxes of candy hearts and hugs their friends. He moved to sit down at his desk as Garcia was making her way back up the catwalk to invade Hotch and Rossi's respective offices. Morgan had already popped open his box and was crunching on one of the candy bits as he turned to Reid. "So what'd you get her?" Morgan asked suddenly.

"What?" Reid turned to his friend, still feeling slightly bemused.

"Garcia- what did you get her for Valentine's Day?" The older agent reiterated.

"Oh, uh… coffee." Reid replied, looking away again.

"And…?" Morgan raised an eyebrow, prompting the thin man to continue.

"And… a kiss?" Reid half-asked, starting to feel a bit like a heel.

"Oh, no," Morgan practically moaned, coming over to lean on Reid's desk. "Reid, man, don't tell me you forgot."

"No, I didn't forget!" Reid replied defensively. "Pen- Garcia said she didn't want to do anything for the day, so… I didn't."

Morgan shook his head but before he could reply, Garcia walked by, carrying her now-empty bag in her hands, and paused at Reid's desk. "BTW, I have a much better gift than those hearts to give to you later, sweetness." She said with a wink.

"Please tell me you've come to your senses and are talking to me, mama." Morgan teased, smiling winningly at Garcia.

"Sorry tall, dark and handsome, but I'm perfectly happy with my geek love, here." Garcia reached over and ruffled Reid's hair gently before heading back to her office.

Turning back to Reid, Morgan raised his eyebrows at him. "Reid, when women say they don't want anything for Valentine's Day, it means they don't want to ask and you have to earn extra points by doing something anyway." The dark agent said.

Reid scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. "But… that doesn't make any sense." He replied.

"Prentiss, tell the man." Morgan turned to Emily, who had been watching the exchanged with an amused smile.

"Sorry, Reid," Emily shrugged. "It's true."

Reid simply sat for a moment, staring down at his desk as though he was attempting to puzzle something out before he groaned and leaned forward to rest his head on the surface. "Great…"

That, of course, had led Reid to where he was now. And after another few minutes of debate, he settled on the pink teddy bear and headed for the register. On his way to the checkout line, he passed a display of flowers and, as an afterthought, picked out an arrangement of pink and red carnations. The cashier smirked at him when he handed the items over, but the look was pointedly ignored. Reid quickly paid for the items and dashed out into the frigid night air. He got into his car and noted that he could still make it to Garcia's apartment on time if he hurried.

The radio came back on when he started the car and began spouting a love song, which seemed to be the order of the day.

…Don't tell me it's not worth fightin' for
I can't help it – there's nothing' I want more
Ya know it's true
Everything I do – I do it for you…

Reid sighed as the song continued. That's all he needed; Bryan Adams mocking his romantic ineptitude. "It's not as though I don't feel that way about her, but she said…" He began to say, before he shook his head and changed the station, silently placing talking back at the radio in the 'Not Good' column of social behavior.

Two minutes shy of 7:00, he pulled up in front of Garcia's apartment, grabbed his impromptu offerings out of the passenger's seat and went up to buzz her apartment. The answering buzz was almost immediate and Reid headed up to Garcia's third floor apartment.

He knocked when arrived- preferable to the doorbell, in his mind- and waited for the door to open. That, too, happened almost immediately and he barely had time hide the gifts behind his skinny form before Garcia appeared in front of him. "Come in, my dear genius, come in!" She smiled warmly and tugged him through the doorway, more or less in the same way she greeted him every time he came over. "Have I got a lovely little night in planned for us. I thought we could start out with a movie and then, perhaps, we'll move to the bed for activities of a more adult nature and, of course, I have many things with which to tantalize that large imagination of yours and- what are those?"

Partway through Garcia's rundown of the night's events, Reid had pulled the gifts out from behind his back and held them out, feeling slightly lame for his lack of presentation. "Um… Happy Valentine's Day." He offered, turning the bouquet of carnations slightly in his grip. "I… I'm sorry it's not much, but I…"

Garcia cut the genius off before he could say anymore. "You got me flowers and… oh, this is just adorable!" She exclaimed, accepting both the flowers and teddy bear from his outstretched hands. She stood upon tiptoe to give him a quick kiss. "Thank you."

Reid blushed slightly and looked down at the two gifts. "I know they're not exactly the most inspired presents…"

"I'll give you that, Doctor," Garcia replied with a smirk before softening slightly. "But what you lack in originality, you make up for in sheer sweetness."

"I just… you said we didn't have to do anything and then you were still doing things and by now I think I'm getting used to you confusing me, as odd as that is, so I just tried to make up for my lack of action earlier today. I mean, if you look past all the commercialization, Valentine's Day is supposed to be about showing the one you love that you… well, love them, and I… I wanted to show you…" Reid stammered, attempting to vocalize his feelings- something he'd never quite gotten the hang of.

The tech placed her gifts on the nearby table and reached up and placed a finger over his lips, effectively silencing him. "Spencer, you don't need to get me presents to show you love me- no matter what Morgan told you." She added with a knowing smirk. "You show me every day that you're with me. You're your lovely, know-it-all, sweet self and you let me be my wonderful, sparkly, awesome self and you don't try to change a thing. That's all I need."

She leaned up to kiss him again and he met her half way, winding his arms around her waist. "If that's all you need," He breathed when they broke apart, "I can certainly continue doing that."

"Well, I need that… and I need for you to sit down and watch "Moulin Rouge" with me." Garcia stipulated, inclining her head towards her TV.

"I can do that as well." Reid nodded, glancing towards the television.

"Also, I'll need for you to join me in bed afterwards." Garcia continued with a wicked grin.

"That, I can absolutely do." Reid replied, mirroring her grin and dipping his head for another kiss.

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Oh, if it be to choose and call thee mine, love, thou art every day my Valentine!

~Thomas Hood

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A/N: Okay, that? Was fun! I've never written straight up Garcia/Reid romance before… I very much hope everyone enjoyed this! I especially hope cuz-snarry's-awesome enjoyed it and that, perhaps, it was some semblance of what you were hoping for…

Happy Valentine's Day, once again and if you don't celebrate the holiday, I still wish you a pleasant February 14th!