Title: The End Result of Rumor
Rating: K+
Disclaimer: Not mine in any way, shape or form.
Author's Note: This is almost a continuation of my last story, "Naughty Nights and Magic Fingers".
The End Result of Rumor
He was vaguely aware of the change in rumors as he made his way to his desk every day. It had begun the first day he had walked into the office. Spencer Reid, in testament to his true self, had found out about that rumor seven months later when he overheard Hotch discussing its consequences with Gideon. It had been the first.
"Jason, you're not worried about this?"
"Why should I be worried? I know his contributions to the BAU are beyond comparison, and you know this. Is there any reason why you should be worried?"
"When people question another person's right to be somewhere it can lead to distrust and enmity. You know this."
"Then he'll just have to prove his worth to them. He did for me when he first walked in here."
The clinking of glasses and the pouring of sugar-two familiar sounds that calmed Reid as he thought about running from his spot outside of the conversation-kept the new agent stuck to the darkened wall.
"He has nothing more to prove."
"Then it's up to them to prove their own worth. Just give it time."
He had sidestepped to avoid them as they walked away, and he had tried to ignore any whispers in the hall. Spencer Reid could not afford to be paranoid. It was the last conversation he had allowed himself to listen to in the office. His body had gotten to the point of dancing around the desk of the whisperers and only allowing his eyes to 'listen'. He could guess what the whispers were about then.
It had started with worth in the office and moved to women at the table. He watched the somewhat knowing smiles and careful glances as they eyed him leaving work early or coming in less early the next morning, and he did not have the heart or courage to correct them. He almost enjoyed the guessing game. And so he let Morgan tease him about a secret lover and he watched Hotch smile as though his youngest brother were finally passing through some stage in life.
He figured that a woman was a better reason than anonymous narcotics meetings. It made for less awkward conversations and more high fives that represented normalcy to the youngest agent.
It was when they had heard no names, seen no pictures, and meet any girlfriends that the whispers became silent again. He accredited the volume of the rumors to a strange loop.
It moved from women to men, and Spencer Reid again sat back and observed the now darting glances and quiet nods. He was surprised by how quickly they changed their stories to suit their need for more gossip. However, in the quiet of the office he watched Morgan and Prentiss give in and Hotch stop supporting the gentle teasing of younger adopted brother, he was four years wiser.
He had four years worth of courage.
Morgan had stopped discussing women with him, and Prentiss had taken to sharing thoughts on the men in bars. The gifts at Christmas had become slightly less masculine, and the men around the floor had become slightly more wary of getting coffee or riding in the elevator with him. He had quickly realized that even had this not occurred he would never wish for their companionship as friends, and his mind had filed away their faces somewhere under a tab entitled, "Beware." It was only as he filled out one file report at 1:00am that he spoke to Morgan and Prentiss while they looked through some magazine looking at girls and the clothes on the girls…Respectively.
"I'm not gay."
He kept his eyes down, and he said it with the cadence that his voice always possessed.
"What?"
He pressed his lips together and looked up at Morgan. One of Reid's shoulders shrugged.
"I'm not gay." Prentiss's eyes widened and darted to the left-the doors-as she ducked her head down. "I'm not stupid either."
"Reid, no one said you were."
"Well, I haven't heard them say it." He spun his chair to face them and nodded all the while spinning a pen across his fingertips. "But I'm sure they have."
"You know we wouldn't care if you were, right?"
"I know. I just want to stop this one before it morphs into something else."
Prentiss sat down while she spoke and managed to fling the magazine into a drawer without taking her eyes off of Reid. "This one?"
"It started out as to how I got this job, then whether or not I had a girlfriend, and now it's why I don't have a girlfriend and if I have a boyfriend." He rolled his lips together again out of habit. "I just don't want it to get out of hand." Morgan smiled.
"Now why do you figure that there's a rumor that you're gay."
"None of the guys in the office will ride in the elevator with me alone."
"Maybe they're just afraid of statistics."
"I don't talk to anyone else in this office besides out team. Why would I suddenly talk to them about statistics?"
Reid was glad that the gentle teasing was back. Prentiss smiled now.
"Maybe they just don't like your vest." She scoffed at the pen as it landed on her desk. "I'm just kidding Reid."
It was silent as they all sat there nodding, smiling and watching each other in the early hours of the day, and Morgan finally broke the silence.
"Hey man, you know who can completely kill this one, right?"
Reid nodded, but quickly changed direction and shook his head. "No."
"Kiss a girl in the office." Morgan leaned forward on his elbows. "Get some smokin' girl geek friend of yours and get her to come into the office with something you forgot and just kiss her. Pay her in comi-con tickets or something." Reid smiled and laughed, but shook his head.
"I'd have to pay her in coffee."
"Whoa! You actually got a girl in mind?"
"Yeah, and she's more of a coffee person."
"You're not actually taking Morgan's advice, are you?"
Reid just grinned as he answered Prentiss. "I'm kind of going to enjoy this advice. It'll be nice to finally get back at everyone on this floor."
Morgan leaned back and held out one fist to Reid as he got up to leave.
"Prentiss, I'm getting here early tomorrow. You bring the food and I'll get the drinks. There's going to be some entertainment." He smirked as Reid pressed his own fist against Morgan's and walked towards the doors. Prentiss nodded.
"I'll call JJ and Garcia so that they're here early."
--
He did the deed before lunch when everyone on the floor was beginning to congregate towards the coffee machine for an extra shot of caffeine before they ate. The BAU team had picked seats around his desk, but low enough to leave lines of sight for everyone else. There had been a collective silence from the entire floor as the unknown woman walked through the bullpen and towards his desk. She was small, brunette and glancing around for a desk as she walked, but the four eyes on her had a feeling that
she knew exactly where she was going. It was when she got closer that they saw the holster at her side and the outline of a badge in her coat pocket.
"Spencer!" Her eyes had widened behind her glasses as she spotted him, and Morgan turned his head to Reid in time to see the small smirk on his face. Spencer Reid stood to meet her.
"Kathy, what are you doing here…?" He had taken on the familiar nervous voice and gesturing fingers. His four friends glanced at each other before turning back to watch. He was half acting and half truly nervous, and they knew it. It was only when Garcia spoke that they took their eyes away from Reid again.
"I know her. We know her."
"What?"
"That's the girl from the café."
"You left this on my desk this morning when you dropped off the files you wanted me to look at…" She trailed off as she turned to pull a leather wallet out of her bag. "…Fell out of your bag as you took out the folder."
"Oh! Thanks for running this up. Ummm, thanks!" He pressed his lips together as he grabbed the folder and nodded. "We're still meeting tonight for dinner?"
Shifting and glancing up at him between the entire foot of difference between their heights, she nodded. "At eight."
"Thanks." He used one hand to tilt her face up as he bent down to kiss her. By the look in her eyes when he pulled away Morgan realized the trick in the kiss. She licked her lips before turning and seeking some sort of refuge in the elevator from the eyes she found staring at her as she had pulled away from Reid. Spencer Reid just smiled and sat down as he listened to the whispers begin to get louder.
"You didn't tell her you were going to kiss her."
"Nope."
"Spence, isn't that girl kind of, oh, seventeen?" JJ's question had caught him in the process of raising one hand to his mouth, and he covered his movement up by leaning towards them and balancing his chin on his palm.
"No, her birthday was today-this morning. That's why we're going out tonight."
Prentiss just raised her eyebrows are Garcia before turning away, and Morgan shared one look with JJ before smiling. He shook his head.
"My man, I have taught you well!"