Trickery
A/N: I don't know where this idea came from, but I'm glad it came.
Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds. If I did, Morgan would have his shirt off a lot more and Hotch would strip tease at bachelorette parties on the side.
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It had been fun he had to admit. After the long awkward beginning, Spencer Reid had to admit that he had fun. He certainly hadn't expected any of it when she had knocked on his door completely out of breath but still managing to laugh hysterically.
"Well?" said the curvy woman next to him. "What did you think?"
"Well, it was certainly different from anything I've ever done." He said with a small laugh. He picked up a leaf from the ground next to him and twirled it between his fingers.
"Good different?" the woman said in a sultry whisper as she put her hand on his chest.
Reid stopped spinning the leaf and blushed a deep shade of red. The woman laughed and sat up, stretching her arms in front of her. She looked over her shoulder at Reid who was still lying on the ground, blushing, with a leaf in his hand. The woman laughed at the sight of him and lightly poked him in the side.
"You up for another go?" she asked.
"Who's next on the list?" Reid propped himself up on his elbows and watched the woman dig around in a massive and overly-decorated purse until she pulled out a crumpled sheet of paper with five names, four of them crossed off.
"Last one!" the woman said as she waved to paper.
"Who is it?" Reid asked.
The woman's smile faded and was replaced with worry.
"What's wrong?"
"Um…the last person is kind of Hotch."
The two stared at each other in silence.
"Are you up to the challenge, Mr. Genius?" the woman said, quickly recovering with a wink and a smile.
"Garcia, I may catch serial killers and psychopaths for a living, but if Hotch ever found out we—"
"Aha! And there in lies the trick, my sweet little bon-bon! What Hotch doesn't know won't hurt us." Garcia took out a pen and circled the name 'Aaron Hotchner: Boss man' on the list in her hand.
"'Sweet little bon-bon'?" Reid asked with a raised eyebrow. "Won't Morgan get jealous?"
"He didn't seem that jealous when he was chasing us down the street and hour ago. And anyway, why not go for Hotch? He's like the boss level in a video game."
"I never played video games."
"Well, here's your chance! Now get in the car! Up!"
Garcia jumped to her feet and dragged Reid to his. She wrapped her arms around one of his and pulled him to her violently orange vehicle as he stuttered his protests. She opened the door on the driver's side and pushed him into the passenger seat. Before he could even consider jumping out, let alone sit up straight, Garcia had already turned to key and slammed her foot against the gas pedal. Reid yelled out as he slammed against the seat and Garcia laughed at the shocked expression on her friend's face.
After Reid had buckled his seat belt and Garcia had started driving at a reasonable speed, they talked about whatever came to their minds and joked and Garcia teased Reid relentlessly when he tried to find a radio station to play in the background.
"We're here." Garcia said in a shady whisper as she pulled up to a curb.
"Here?"
Reid looked down the street and saw a house he had only seen in the background of a picture.
A picture that was framed on Aaron Hotchner's desk.
"Welcome to the boss level." Garcia said.
"I don't feel very welcomed." Reid said. He covered the buckle of his seat belt with his hand so Garcia couldn't try and drag him out of the car the way she had in.
"Oh, come on, Reid." She nudged him with an elbow and gave him an encouraging smile. "It's not like he has a sign on his front gate that says 'I don't care who you are, I will shoot on sight should anyone try and cross my property with tricky intentions'."
"He doesn't need one." Reid said. "It's like an unspoken rule of the universe."
"Oh, get over yourself."
Garcia pounced and yanked his hand away from the buckle. Though Reid heard the infamous 'click' of the seatbelt being undone and knew it was the sound of his defeat, even though he saw an arm reach across his body to the door, he still tried to fight Garcia from pushing him out of the car and onto the grassy curb.
And failed miserably.
Reid sighed as he lay on the grass under the swaying shade of a tree. He heard Garcia's heels clunk against the asphalt and didn't even try to run.
"Reid?"
"Let's go try the boss level." He said.
Reid brushed his hair out of his face and saw Garcia smiling down at him with a hint of smugness. He got to his feet and starting brushing the dirt from his clothes but Garcia grabbed his elbow and dragged him across the street in a hurry. She ran crouched over with her eyes constantly on Hotch's door and windows as Reid staggered after her. When she reached the other side, Garcia slammed Reid into the hedge guarding a neighbor's privacy and stealthily leaned into it. She stood forward on the tips of her toes and saw the door to Hotch's home closed and the curtains drawn.
Garcia leaned slightly further to see whether of not the garage door was open when she lost her balance and began to fall.
"Garcia!"
Before she had even fallen five inches, two arms shot out and caught her and held her close as they guided her back to her feet.
"Are you okay?" Reid asked.
Garcia fixed the position of her glasses and looked up at Reid's worried face. He was still holding her tight with her back against his chest.
"I take back what I said before." She said. "You're my sexy, sweet little bon-bon, holding me like this."
"What?"
Garcia looked down and Reid followed her gaze and immediately blushed a new shade of red not seen before. When he had caught Garcia, one of his arms had wrapped around her waist. But the other one was across her chest with his hand resting a little below her collarbone.
Reid let go and stepped back from her, holding his hands up as though he were being arrested. Garcia laughed as she saw the expression on his face and he suddenly found a tree in someone's yard very interesting, his face growing brighter with every second as he blinked rapidly.
"Aw, Reid…."
He glanced at her from the corner of his eye.
"You're so cute." Garcia reached out with her finger and tapped Reid's nose with her finger, causing him to jerk back and blink in confusion. "Now come on, we have a boss level to beat!"
Garcia grabbed his elbow for a second time and set off down the street, jumping up to see over the hedge as they got closer and closer to the house of their boss. She stopped without warning when they reached the end of the hedge and Reid bumped into her, jumped back and gave a hurried apology. She gave no notice, however, as she turned to face him with a smile.
"We're here."
Reid looked over her shoulder and saw a modest suburban home complete with the white picket fence. The garage door was still closed but the curtains in the living room had been opened, giving a clear view in and out.
"What now?" Reid asked.
"I don't see anyone in the living room." Garcia shrugged.
"So what, we just walk right up?"
"It looks like it. You keep an eye out for Hotch on the outside and I'll look for him inside, okay?"
Reid nodded, all embarrassment forgotten as he obediently scanned the lawn and sides of the house.
"Let's go."
The two walked fast and bent almost double behind the fence as they headed for the walkway that would take them directly to the door. They stopped at the gate and crouched low to the ground.
"See anything?" Garcia asked as she slowly poked her head above the fence so the only her eyes and pig-tailed hair were visible.
"Nothing. You?"
"No, just his…get down!"
The two ducked behind the gate as Aaron Hotchner walked in front of the living room window with a child-sized juice-stained shirt in his hand.
"Perfect!" Garcia whispered. "Now we know where he is."
"On three?" Reid asked, glancing at Garcia.
"One…" she said.
"Two…"
"Three!"
The two ran up the path to his house, eyes staring through the window for any sign of Hotch and jumped lightly up the wooden steps, making almost no sound. In unison, Reid and Garcia both reached out their pointer finger and hit the small plastic button.
Ding, dong!
"Run!"
Reid grabbed Garcia's arm as she already started running. No longer bothering with the path, they ran across the lawn and jumped over the fence. They dashed for the hedges and skidded to a halt behind their cover as they heard the click of a door open.
"Hello?" came Aaron Hotchner's voice.
Garcia had to cover her mouth and Reid had to bite his lip to stop from laughing and giving themselves away.
"Is anyone there?"
"Who is it, honey?"
"Probably the neighbor's kids again."
They heard the door close and they quietly laughed their victory as they ran down the street, shooting glances over their shoulders, as they made for their get-away car.
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A/N: I've never ding-dong-ditched anyone before, myself. Kids these days and their crazy shenanigans….