Fanfic Challenge 16 - Christmas Fic Gift Exchange
This one is for dustytiger - hope you like it - ended up being the longest CM fic I've written to date *l*.
Pairing : Reid/Garcia
Song Prompt : Snoopy versus the Red Baron aka Snoopy's Christmas (had been altered to Silent Night by the administrators, so I included both songs)
Three Christmas prompts : A vegetarian Christmas feast; a "first" milestone ornament; the Muppet Family Christmas movie (all used)
Deck the Halls
It was the Monday after Thanksgiving. At a time of the morning when most people would still debate it actually being morning yet. Still, there were advantages to getting to work well before sunrise some days. Reid had to admit the dual temptations of Garcia's cookies combined with his favorite coffee blend had been sufficient to lure him to the office extra early. The bribe was in return for coming in at this early hour to assist in 'decking the halls'.
The first thing he heard was the high-pitched sounds of Alvin and the Chipmunks singing. Somehow, Garcia managed to hear him coming in over that and came out to greet him with a blessedly large cup of coffee in one hand and cookies on a small plate in the other.
"My hero – I knew I could count on you, sweetcheeks."
While not in full Christmas gear, Garcia was wearing a Santa hat and Reid noticed that a similar one was perched on his desk waiting for him. Passing over the promised goodies (she knew better than to expect work prior to caffeine), she gestured toward the nearest speaker.
"A little music to go with decorating. You don't mind my eclectic selections, do you?"
Reid gave a happy sigh as he breathed in the aroma of the coffee.
"Not at all. I didn't get much chance to watch cartoons, but I was a Simon fan as a kid."
"Simon? Why does that not surprise me?"
Smiling broadly, Garcia picked up her own generous sized coffee and saluted Reid with it.
"We have limited time and much to do so let us get our caffeine and sugar buzzes in gear, my young Padawan. I will teach you the ways of the decorating force."
While they paused to sip their coffees companionably for a moment, the music shifted to the Muppets and John Denver singing Silent Night.
"Oops. While I do like that song, we need zanier and peppier for this time of the morning in order to maintain the proper motivation."
Garcia moved to her desk to forward the system past that song, taking a moment to shake up the snowglobe that she'd added to the tchotchkes at her station. The next one that came up was definitely in the zanier category. Snoopy versus the Red Baron (also called Snoopy's Christmas). Garcia popped up and started gathering the first round of garland while singing along with the chorus.
Christmas bells, those Christmas bells – Ringing through the land
"Put on your hat, my extra tall elf. It is time to begin."
Reflecting that there were far worse things that Garcia could ask him to wear to put up holiday decorations, Reid went along with it and plopped on the hat – only to notice that Garcia immediately took a picture.
"If you're going to be doing that constantly, we'll never get done before everyone else comes in."
"All too true. Fetch the ladder over to here and we'll start at the top and work our way down."
"Oh for - Garcia? How many boxes do you have of stuff? We'll never get all of that up in one morning."
"You'll be surprised, my elfin boy wonder. Garland is bulky and we're putting up a lot of it. Plus since the fire regulations won't allow me to bring in a live tree, I brought in the biggest artificial one I could find that looked reasonably life-like. Say, what would you think of a vegetarian Christmas spread for the gang?"
"Well? I suppose it depends on what all is offered up. If it's just all salad stuff, that doesn't seem very Christmasy."
"Perish the thought. I was thinking a nice big platter of crudités with three or four different dips, a pair of nice soups - probably a minestrone and a butternut squash. Hmm - main courses, I had in mind a nice ratatouille, some stuffed eggplants and maybe a spanakopita - I know a Greek place that makes a killer one. Side dishes would likely be stuffed sweet potatoes and... well, I'll think of something else. Maybe a stuffed tomatoes thing. Deserts - I was thinking gingerbread, brownies and bakalava. That last also from the Greek place with the killer spanakopita. And, of course, much coffee."
"Sound good to me. Especially the bakalava."
"Now, now - no concentrating just on the sweets."
They were almost done with the upper-most round of garland when Reid paused at the top of the ladder as the song changed again. He glanced down to give Garcia an incredulous look.
"Dogs barking to Jingle Bells?"
"The cats wouldn't cooperate. Back to decking the halls, elf boy."
Grumbling under his breath about the need to form an elf union, Reid finished connecting the beginning and end of the garland together and climbed back down.
"Next?"
"Next we assemble the tree. I think I want us to put it here. I want to be able to see it from my Fortress of Solitude."
"Doesn't that belong to Superman?"
"Nonsense – I do, however, allow him to borrow it periodically. It's hard for a woman to turn down a well-built man in tight tights."
For some reason he couldn't quite fathom is his own head, Reid found himself trying to suppress a blush and busied himself with assembling the base of the tree in hopes that Garcia wouldn't notice. And thankfully, she didn't.
The music shifted back to the Muppets again. He started getting the branches into their proper spots to the sounds of Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem doing Jingle Bell Rock while Garcia was hanging wreaths on each and every door she could find including storage closets.
"You know, I have the recording of the television special our current music selection is from. If we manage to get everything done, you are officially invited to a showing of A Muppet Family Christmas complete with hot cocoa and brownies, my chocolate eyed elf."
Grinning, Reid adjusted the ladder so that he could get the last of the smaller branches onto the tree.
"You're going to have me on a sugar rush through New Years Eve at this rate. Not that I'm complaining."
"Not that I thought you would. Just stay up there on the ladder, my dearest genius. I can pass you the branches and save you some climbing."
"Thanks, Garcia. Almost got it. Just need the top piece now."
"Very nice job, Doctor Reid. You got it done in half the time it took Derek to assemble one nowhere near so large."
"I probably only beat his time because he refuses to read the directions."
"You may have a valid point there. And I declare that with the tree fully assembled, it is time for a coffee break and rest period."
"No argument from -"
Reid's phone going off had him stop in mid-sentence as he reached to answer it as soon as he reached the bottom of the ladder and glanced at the caller ID.
"Morning, Hotch."
"Reid - glad I was able to reach you. Just stay home today - don't risk getting out in this mess."
"I'm - wait. What mess?"
"Haven't looked outside this morning yet, I take it? Ice storm. It hit the area about two hours ago and it's coming down with a vengeance. Mayor's already requested that all non-essential personnel stay off the streets and right now, that includes us. Stay warm - I've got to contact the rest of the team."
"I'll tell Garcia."
"No need to do that, Reid. She's on my calling list."
"No - I mean that she's here with me, Hotch. No need to call her when I can just relay it over."
There was a slightly odd pause. Not a long one, but odd.
"Alright then. I'll give a call back when we get the all clear."
"Right, Hotch."
As he tucked his phone back away, Reid puzzled over that odd pause for a minute before calling over to the tech-goddess.
"Hey Garcia? Do we have anything more substantial than cookies? It seems we're stuck."
Her head popped up from the desk that she was currently facing with metallic wrapping paper.
"Stuck? What do you mean, we're stuck?"
"Ice storm. Hotch just called. It started up not long after we got here apparently."
"Of all the mornings for me not to tune into the weather reports. I don't know if it ranks as more substantial, but I have a beef stick, cheese ball and cracker combination in my office. It was destined as a gift, but I can replace it later."
They walked over to a window together. The glass had an icy glaze and more of it was forming on the outside as the watched. It made Reid shiver just looking at it.
"Hotch said he'd give us a call back when - oh no."
The reason for the odd pause suddenly hit Reid. Hotch didn't know that the two of them were at the office, decorating. He must think -
"What's wrong, hun? I don't think I've ever seen anyone manage to go so pale and blush at the same time."
"I just - Hotch - he -"
"Deep breath. What about Hotch? He's not stuck on the side of the road, is he?"
"No, not that. He thinks you're with me."
"Well, I am with you. sweetcheeks."
"He doesn't know we're here. He must think you're at my place. Or that I'm at yours."
"Oooh. Well, don't worry about it. After all, I'm not embarrassed to be with you. You aren't embarrassed to be with me. are you?"
"Of course not! It's just -"
Before another word could come out, the power died. A second later, the emergency lights flared to life. Garcia took it philosophically.
"There go our Christmas tunes. We'll just have to sing them for ourselves now."
"You want to keep decorating?"
"Of course. Why not? Isn't as if we can go anywhere, so what's to keep us from finishing up? We won't even have any interruptions."
Reid just laughed at her continued enthusiasm.
"Sure. But I have to warn you that I don't really know many Christmas songs."
"Nonsense. With a memory like yours, precious? I bet you know a whole lot more of them than you realize that you do."
Not only did Garcia prove to be right about the number of song lyrics he'd picked up without really thinking about them, but the young doctor also turned out to have a fairly nice singing voice. Decorating kept them from just staring out of the windows at the ice and Garcia managed to scavenge up enough tidbits that weren't necessarily very nutritious, but that were at least filling. The big problem for them both was likely to be caffeine withdrawals from coffee depravation. That and the fact that it was growing colder in the offices and a warm drink would have been very welcome.
They both hesitated when the emergency lights started to die as the batteries ran out of juice. The ice glaze over the windows was cutting down on the already limited natural light and even Garcia had to concede that it was too dark to continue. She also had to admit that the usually over-lit area was a bit creepy when there were more deep shadows than light.
"I don't think we're getting out of here tonight. We'd better figure out something for a bed before the light goes any more."
"Good idea, Reid. Let's see what we have to work with."
The pair quickly and methodically raided every office for cushions, sweaters, throws - anything they could use to make what Garcia was already referring to as a nest. The couch and chair cushions formed the base and the sides so that everything else could be piled onto top of them for warmth. She briefly thought about cracking a joke, but decided that Reid had already been mortified enough by what Hotch might be thinking.
To her surprise, Reid gave her a sudden grin.
"I guess I'd better just hope Hotch doesn't ask what we were up to. I won't be able to deny us sleeping together."
That earned him a light swat and laughter from Garcia, who was actually delighted that he was starting to see some humor in the situation they'd found themselves in - instead of focusing on the increasing absence of light. It would certainly make for less tension as they tried to get some sleep. Reid even started singing carols softly with her again until they both got too drowsy to continue. Garcia snuggled and fell asleep with a smile on her lips.
At first, she didn't know what it was that woke her, but then she heard them again. Voices. Even without being able to make out the words, the tone of the voices made her blood run cold. Reid woke up shortly after that as he felt the fingers of Garcia's right hand clutching at his arm while her left hand rested lightly on his lips to warn him to keep quiet. There was a moment of sleepy disorientation, but the dim, distant laughter snapped him to alert. The voices were coming closer, but as quiet as the building was without even a fan running, it was difficult to tell how far away they were.
Reid carefully took hold of the hand that Garcia still had over his mouth and then spoke in low tones to her.
"Garcia, I want you to go into your Fortress and lock it down. Don't let anyone know that you're in there, but see if you can reach Hotch or any of the rest of the team. They might not be able to help, but one of them walking into this without warning could be very bad for them and us."
He felt her grip tightening more on his arm.
"No. We can go into my area together and keep out of sight."
"Wouldn't work. It's too obvious that someone is here and we don't have time to hide the evidence of that. Besides - "
Reid hesitated for a moment, but then pulled his arm free of her grip only to pull Garcia close into a bear hug that took her totally off-guard as did his soft whisper in her ear.
"You have no idea how much you keep me sane here. Please. Go. We don't have time to argue and you have all your gear in there. You have the best chance between us of getting help for us here."
Garcia gathered her wits enough to give him a quick squeeze back before she answered him by heading quickly for her office. Her boy genius was right. If anyone could get a message through to the cavalry, it was her. Locking the door, she immediately made sure she was out of sight before dialing Hotch. With the weather, it didn't really surprise her that it went straight to voice mail.
"Hotch, this is Garcia. Reid and I are in troub-"
Dead air greeted her as the connection went down. Alright, one option down. Still, she took a moment to make sure that her phone's alerts were muted and switched to vibration before picking up the regular phone to check for dial tone.
Reid hadn't been idle. He'd carefully untangled himself from their 'nest' and groped over to the side for where he had laid his holster and gun, quickly putting it back on once he got to his feet. He wanted to get as far away from the cushions and assorted covers as he could to avoid tripping over it of it in case he needed to move quickly. Though admittedly, moving quickly in the dim light would be a very bad idea.
As he maneuvered further from the nest, Reid was running over options in rapid order in the diminishing time left to him. At least two distinct voices, both male. Hiding from them - out of the question for the same reason he gave Garcia. It was too obvious that someone was here and he didn't want a search started that might reveal Garcia's hiding place.
Pretending to be oblivious to the men's approach? That didn't seem to be a good option and he couldn't see where that would gain him any sort of upper hand. That left confrontation. Much as he disliked it, that was the best option of his limited selection. Visibility was bad. By now, none of the emergency lights in the office area were still on and possibly only one or two in the corridors had any power left.
He steadied his breathing and drew out his weapon. If these guys were just vandals, it was quite possible that meeting with an armed opponent would be all that it would take to convince them that it was in their best interest to leave. The footsteps were echoing now and a moment later, he heard the door.
Carefully keeping his voice steady and firm, Reid spoke. With the absence of other noises, there was no need to shout.
"FBI - do not come in any further. Be advised, I am armed."
His only warning was a 'click' that didn't give him enough time to respond before he found himself blinded by what his brain registered must be a very powerful handheld spotlight. A man's voice came from somewhere behind the light.
"Now let us advise you, Agent. You can't see us but we can see you perfectly. Put your weapon down on the floor slowly or you'll be dead before you hit the ground."
"Alright."
Galling as it was, Reid shifted his hold on his gun, slowly knelt down and placed it on the floor. He wasn't about to start shooting blindly at people. He couldn't tell how many there were or even if they were or weren't armed. Too many unknown variables. He would trust that Garcia was managing to contact the others and that made his current job one of keeping their minds on him and off of anything else for as long as he could manage it.
"Very good. Now stand back up, keep your hands in sight and turn around slowly."
Reid found himself grimacing. Some unsubs were like watching an old movie. You knew what was coming next as they followed some route pattern that they probably picked up themselves from watching those self-same movies. Or one too many police dramas on television. He did manage to keep himself from commenting on the predictability of what was probably going to be said next.
"Good. Now put your hands behind you."
As expected. He winced as his wrists were jerked together and a cable tie pulled tight to keep them that way. A heavy hand on his shoulder forced downward. Something was nagging at the back of his mind about that voice though.
"Down on your knees, Doctor Reid."
In her office, Garcia froze at the use of Reid's name. This whole mess just went to another level. In the still, she could hear the next cable tie being pulled tight. The thought of cable ties made her think of her tool kit she kept in her desk. Sliding open the drawer as quietly as she could, she reached in and pulled out her pair of diagonal cutters, slipping them into one of the pockets of her sweater. She heard a different voice speak up then.
"It's him? You're sure?"
"I'm sure. A little older and his hair's different, but it's him. The technician from the 'Higher Authority'. We didn't expect to actually find you here. We were going to set up and wait for you to come in after the storm. Guess we don't need to wait now. Asshole. You ruined my life."
It all clicked then in Reid's head. He spoke out loud to let Garcia know what he'd put together.
"Anderson. Harold Anderson. That was back in Texas, right? Over five years ago. How did I ruin your life?"
"They took away my gun. She got away from me. I never caught up with her again."
"She?"
"My wife. Ex-wife."
Reid thought back to that day on the train. The gunshot that wounded the unsub.
"That gun you had. You were going to kill her, weren't you?"
The silence was enough of an answer for him and he spoke again.
"Then I'm glad I got in your way."
In her office, Garcia flinched as the sound of the blow seemed to echo. A second later, she barely stifled a cry as the vibration went off in her pocket. Grabbing her phone, she quickly answered it without even checking the caller ID, praying it was Hotch.
"Garcia? What is -"
Speaking in an urgent whisper, Garcia interrupted with one word.
"Text."
She quickly began texting the details over to Hotch - the name of the man, where they were, that he and whoever was with him had Reid and that he had a grudge against their genius. Hotch moved to a window, looking out briefly. He texted back what he hoped was reassurance to Garcia, but the weather wasn't going to make coming to their aid easy. He quickly made calls to the rest of the team. Morgan was determined he was going to get there, ice storm be damned.
This all seemed so crazy to Garcia. Just a few hours ago, she and Reid were singing carols together and decorating. Now she was hidring in her office and having to listen to the periodic blows Reid was taking. It worried her that she hadn't heard Reid's voice in a while. Garcia wasn't sure whether to be relieved or more concerned when Anderson started asking questions again. At least it still meant Reid was able to answer. Taking a deep breath, she reached up to her desk and grabbed the snow globe she'd been playing with earlier. Garcia wasn't sure what she could do yet, but she couldn't just keep cowering while this lunatic was hurting Reid. She'd accomplished what she'd had to do for them - the team was on the way.
"Where's your partner? The woman?"
Still recovering from the last blow, Reid had a moment of panic thinking that Anderson had somehow found out about Garcia. Then he remembered the train - and Elle.
"You're a few years too late. She doesn't work here any more."
"Where can I find her now?"
"How should I know? We aren't pen pals."
Garcia knew it was coming. She timed unlocking her door with the next blow then held her breath as she waited to see if either man had noticed. All she heard though was the second man's voice and he had other concerns.
"Harry? I've got to go."
"You drank too much, idiot. Go on. He's not going anywhere. Are you, Mister Technician?"
With the one man apparently headed for the bathroom, Garcia didn't think she'd get a better chance. She tried to be quiet, but she accidently bumped one of the desk chairs. The squeak seemed horribly loud.
"What was that? Is someone else here? Answer me!"
In the illumination still provided by the spotlight, she saw Anderson raise his hand. The one with the gun in it. He pointed it at Reid's head when he didn't answer, so Garcia took her chance and chucked the snow globe as hard as she could - not at the man, but as far away from all of them as possible.
The thud drew the man away from Reid as he went to see who was over there, yelling the entire time at whoever was over there. Garcia made the rest of her move unheard over the noise that he was making and killed the spotlight. The sudden return of darkness was rewarded by the sounds of Anderson tripping, falling and cursing.
Reid wanted to yell at her, but he wasn't about to give Anderson a direction to aim for. He felt Garcia's hands grope until they found one of his arms, then she followed it down and made quick use of the diagonal cutters. She caught a little of Reid as well, but he bit his lip to keep from making noise as she continued feeling her way to his ankles and freed them as well.
Flexing his fingers quickly to get the numbness to lessen, Reid reached out to where he'd laid his gun down. Almost as if he triggered a switch, the power flared back to life as he grabbed onto the weapon. He was grateful that he'd been looking toward the floor and not toward the lights.
In the seconds that followed, everything seemed to happen in an odd mix that Garcia could only think of as rapid slow motion. Like a series of crystal clear slides that flashed from one to another. Anderson's eyes fixed on her and his gun swung toward her direction as he took a step toward her. Reid's focus was on Anderson as he brought his own gun to aim. The second man picked that inopportune moment to return from the bathroom. There was a masculine yell, a gunshot - then the music kicked back on - the random shuffle landing on Snoopy versus the Red Baron once more.
Twas the night before Christmas, 40 below ~ When Snoopy went up in search of his foe
Hotch had made it with a police escort when he explained the situation to the squad car that had tried to pull him off of the road due to the conditions. They had just found the unconscious building security guard when Morgan arrived and hurried in. The power flared back to life as they were discussing how to approach the situation. The gunshot ringing out ended all planning as they left the security guard in the care of the police who called for paramedics, an ambulance and backup as Hotch and Morgan headed for the BAU offices.
The scene wasn't one that they expected. Garcia was in a very determined looking stance holding a gun on a man who had his hands at the back of his head. Reid was in the process of looking over a downed man and was holding the gun he'd removed from him.
Some of the relief Morgan felt left again as Reid turned and the blood on his face became visible. Time to worry about that later though. He and Hotch moved to secure both men. Grateful that it all seemed to be over now, Garcia lowered the gun, handing it back to Reid who re-holstered it.
Hotch was looking over the downed man, frowning.
"He's not shot?"
Looking over with a soft laugh that spoke heavily of a nervous release in progress, Reid shook his head.
"No. No-one was shot. He was aiming at Garcia as he moved. From the look of it, his foot landed on the snow globe and when he fell backwards, his gun went off. Knocked himself out."
Garcia looked behind her and up. It took a moment to spot it, but she pointed out the mark in the wall just above the garland strand. Then she noticed her hand was shaking and lowered it before anyone else could notice. She wasn't quite successful - Reid had noticed, but that didn't really bother her. He was leaning heavily against a desk himself right now as Hotch came over to check out what damage was done. Split lip, bloody nose and bruising, but it didn't appear that anything was broken.
"We'll have the paramedics take a look at you when they get here."
"I'm fine, Hotch. Just a little banged up is all."
Reid glanced over to where Anderson was regaining consciousness.
"He's mad because we got in the way of him killing his wife. He was about to shoot me because I couldn't tell him where Elle was, but Garcia distracted him."
Garcia settled next to Reid at the desk and gave him a hug before noticing the blood at his wrists.
"Oh no - did I cut you when I clipped the cable ties? I'm so sorry."
"Don't be. You probably saved my life."
"We saved each other."
The police arrived then and took custody of the two men. Garcia gave her statement to the police while a paramedic gave Reid a quick examination, cleaning and bandaging his injuries. Nothing that required a trip to the hospital fortunately, so he gave his statement to the police after they were finished with Garcia. In all, it was over an hour before the police left. By that time, the rest of the BAU team had made it to the office and were reassuring themselves that their teammates were fine.
The sun was starting to come up by then and Rossi volunteered to go grab something for them all to eat from a diner he'd passed that appeared to be open. Morgan went with him to help carry. With a little urging from Garcia. the rest of them began to help trim the tree. JJ disappeared for a moment into her office, coming back out with a small gift bag that she offered to Garcia.
"Seems appropriate that you open it now, Penelope."
Garcia took the small bag and unwrapped the tissue paper. A moment later, she was laughing and holding up the small ornament. It was a tiny FBI vest with a hand painted message on the back. First official year in the field. She moved over and hung it on the tree.
"You are going to have to tell me where you got that made. Because no way are you going to convince me that was from a Hallmark store."
Rossi and Morgan arrived with styrofoam containers packed in a box as well as large 'to-go' containers of fresh coffee. They all trouped into the conference room and dove in, especially Garcia and Reid. After everyone had their fill, Garcia pulled Reid to the side for a quick word in private.
"Reid, did you mean that? About me keeping you sane?"
Reaching out, he took hold of Garcia's hand. She found her eyes fixating on the bandage at his wrist.
"Of course I meant it. You do that for all of us, you know. That's what a goddess is supposed to do, right? Provide hope. Inspiration. Brownies."
The laughter was exactly what she needed to dispel the last of the darkness that remained from the night.
Happy Holiday season, fellow CM fans.