Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds at all.
Drabble/ ficlet set after "Revelations." When Reid says to Hotch, "I knew you'd understand." That brought this to mind. There is a whisper of a pairing if you really look. Review and tell me what you think? (Wow, a hundred hits in two days? You guys are amazing!)
Reid looked up from the hospital bed he was sitting on as Hotch knocked on the open door.
"You okay Reid?" Hotch said quietly, as he walked into the room.
Reid gave a minute smile as he nodded. He had his arms wrapped around himself in a classic self-hug pose as Hotch walked up in front of him.
"Can I just ask you one thing?"
Reid nodded. "Sure."
Hotch gave Reid a considering frown. "Back at the cemetery, you said 'I knew you'd understand.' How did you keep yourself aware of everything? How did you figure out how to give us the message while he was torturing you?"
Reid looked down at his feet, wrapped in bandages because of what Tobias, well Charles, had done to them. "You. I gave you the message." Reid smiled another smile, this one a little larger than the last. "I knew you would unravel my misquotation and understand what I meant by it. I know you and I trust you." Reid looked up into Hotch's eyes. "You want to know why I was able to stay alert? It's because I knew you would find me. And I knew you would bring me home."