MISCOMMUNICATION
SUMMARY: Miscommunication between the Genius, Spencer Reid, and returning Agent David Rossi brings some surprising results…for everyone involved.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds and promise to give the characters back none the worse for wear.
WRITTEN FOR: Mary Anne, thanks for all your help hun! I know this story took awhile and I hope it was worth the wait!
Thanks To: Kat for the prank idea and H-n-H for letting me whine and helping point me in the right direction
A/N: Sorry for taking so long to post anything. With everything going wrong around here it's been hard to concentrate! I hope you all like this! It's longer then what I've ever written for a one shot and even some of my chaptered fics! It's about six thousand words!
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PROLOGUE:
"…so that's why I need some ideas," FBI Agent and profiler, Dr. Spencer Reid finished his speech, looking at the group that sat around him with wide eyes.
The group stared at each other before shrugging and muttering amongst themselves while Reid waited rather impatiently. It was almost five minute before one spoke.
"My brother put Tabasco sauce in my dad's coffee," A thirteen year old suggested with a shrugged.
It was the suggestion that seemed to open a tidal wave of others suggestion from the group of 13 and older kids who gathered to watch and play chess with the Agent. Among them were a hand in a warm basin of water, a whoopee cushion under a seat during a meeting, and one Reid wasn't even going to think about.
Twenty minutes of suggestions produced no results for Reid who gave a frustrated sigh. Misunderstanding the sigh, the older brother of one of kids came over to the group.
"Are they bothering you Spencer?" Marc asked with a frown.
"No, not at all," Reid replied honestly, "We're just stuck."
Ruffling his younger brother's hair, Marc sat down by Reid, "I don't have an above average intelligence but can I help with anything?"
Before Reid could reply Marc's younger brother spoke, "Actually you would be perfect! We need…"
Reid interrupted not wanting the younger boy to get in any trouble, "I need a prank idea."
"You need a prank idea," Marc clarified with a raised eyebrow, "Why?"
Feeling like he was being questioned by his own big brother, one SSA Derek Morgan, Reid blushed and looked down, "One of the Agents is being a…jerk and I thought maybe a prank would…"
"Make him stop," Marc finished for him, a slight frown on his face. "Why don't you talk to your brother or your Uncle? Derek is gonna be pissed when he finds out you pulled a prank."
"Derek doesn't even like him!" Reid protested, "Please Marc?"
Marc groaned to himself when not only Reid and his own brother, but the group as a whole, started giving him puppy eyes. There was no way he could say no now.
"Derek is going to kill me," Marc sighed, sending a quick prayer to the heavens, "First, you will not tell your brother who gave you the idea. Secondly, what's the agent afraid of?"
Spencer Reid gave a true smile for the first time in days, "He doesn't like snakes."
"Here's what you do…" Marc started.
Reid gave another grin. The Agent was gonna regret the day he decided to rejoin the BAU.
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SSA David Rossi walked into the BAU bull pen looking, for all the world, like a man without a care. The truth, though, was that he was on guard. Someone had been playing pranks on him for almost two weeks straight and he was starting to get annoyed.
It had started small enough; he'd left his coffee unattended and when he came back and took a swig, he actually spit it out as his mouth instantly caught fire. Emily Prentiss hadn't been amused when the spit out coffee landed all over her though everyone else had laughed.
It got slightly worse when he learned that someone had switched the ink in his pen with invisible ink. Of course he only learned that because Aaron Hotchner had come to him demanding to know why he hadn't signed his reports.
Of course the most annoying prank had been when he'd gone to his car, ready for a long weekend, only to find that his car was filled with packing peanuts. For that prank he demanded to see surveillance footage and had been stunned when it showed nothing.
The worse of the pranks came almost a week and half after they had started. A bucket, of what could only be described as goo, was dumped on the older agent as he exited the building. The thick green slime drenched his head and shoulders and as he looked himself over, he spotted a long green snake. With wide eyes, and a bit of a scream that he would deny until he took his last breath, he flung the snake off of him. It was a very pissed off and now covered with a bit of goo, Derek Morgan who let him know the snake was only a plastic replica; everyone else laughed.
It wasn't the last prank that had fake snakes in it and David Rossi was becoming immune to the fright they gave him…which was really too bad for him.
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David Rossi walked into his office, shutting the door behind him, as he spotted a medium sized brown box on his desk. He gave a soft sigh wondering what kind of prank was awaiting him.
He opened the box to find a familiar looking invoice that made him smile. He'd ordered a rare book online and had been waiting for it to arrive for almost three weeks. He didn't bother to read the contents as he plunged a hand in the packing peanuts.
He stilled as he met a familiar shape and gave a sigh. He pulled out the fake snake and gave it a shake.
"I'm really starting to hate you," He grumped to the plastic toy as he gave it another shake.
Before he could drop it into the trash a sudden pain flared in his hand and he looked down only to find the very REAL snake attached to his hand. With a yell he gave a jerk of his hand and the snake went flying.
His yell brought the rest of the team to his office. While they were pretty sure it was a prank they couldn't wait to see what had happened; ready for new ammo to tease the returning Agent with.
They weren't prepared to find Rossi clutching his hand and pale.
"What happened," Hotch demanded.
"I thought it was a fake," Rossi got out in disbelief, "It bit me! The damn snake bit me!"
Wide eyes met the statement as everyone spoke at once. Morgan got them to quite.
"Shut up!" Morgan yelled as he turned his attention to the older man, "What kind of snake was it Rossi?"
"How the hell should I know?" Rossi demanded glaring at the other Agent.
"Considering it was probably a prank," JJ tried to soothe the group, "I'm sure it was just a harmless snake."
"True," Prentiss dragged out in her usual fashion, "Or those pranks could have been to give a false sense of security."
"You're going to the hospital," Hotch decided after hearing the statement.
Rossi's attention was elsewhere as he was too busy trying to figure out who from the team was pranking him.
"I'll be ok," He answered absent mindedly. He brought himself back to the present and insisted, "I think JJ's right; it was just a prank that went bad."
"It's better to be safe," Hotch disagreed, "Unless you know where the snake is right now so we can find out."
"I threw him somewhere in that direction," Rossi pointed to the far corner of his office.
Hotch and Morgan shrugged before heading in that direction and looking for the snake. They found him quickly and Hotch picked it up, bringing it to Reid, who had been as quiet as possible through the whole ordeal.
"It's a simple garter snake, right Reid?" Hotch asked, wanting to make sure he had the right species of animal and knew there was only one person on the team who might know.
Reid looked the snake over, keeping a safe distance as it was well known within the group that while not afraid of snakes, he wasn't overly fond of them either. After a minute of looking he nodded in agreement.
"It is; see how the…" He was stopped before he could start a lengthy lecture.
"Thanks Reid," Hotch turned back to Rossi, "I'll take the box and get rid of it Dave."
Rossi sat down at his desk, trying to be nonchalant about what had happened. He rubbed his hand warily, "If I could have my office back…"
"You should get your hand looked at," Hotch retorted, grabbing the box from the desk, "I'm sure you won't have to worry about anymore pranks."
Rossi snorted at the subtle demand to the team as he replied, "I think I'll try to get into my doctor's office during lunch."
Hotch gave a curt nod before hustling the members of his team out of the older man's office. As they left one gave a final look back, a guilty expression on his face. Unbeknownst to the person, David Rossi had caught the look and knew just who was playing the pranks on him.
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Spencer Reid sat down on his worn couch warily. It had been hard trying to keep an innocent air about him all day, especially since he felt so guilty about Rossi getting hurt. Sure, he wanted to scare the man a bit, get the others to have a laugh at the man's expense but he had, had no intention of anyone getting injured.
In truth though, Reid didn't have to be all that careful for the team never thought to look to him. Hotch, or Uncle Aaron, as Reid called him outside of work, thought that Derek Morgan or Emily Prentiss had been pulling the pranks; the both of them teaming together never cross his mind though. Prentiss and Morgan were too busy blaming each other for pulling the pranks. JJ, unbeknownst, to her, agreed with Hotch's assessment. Garcia, and unknown to Reid, Rossi were the only ones who knew the truth.
Garcia knew only because she had been the one to "fix" the surveillance footage so that way the pranks pulled couldn't be traced back to her "junior g-man". While she wouldn't normally condone the pranks she knew how Rossi was treating the youngest member of the BAU team and it truly ticked her off.
Rossi had been the only one to notice the guilty looks that fleeted across Reid's face at random times, mostly whenever the younger man saw him.
As it was Reid was just grateful the day was over with and that he and the rest of the team had the next couple of days off. He'd purposely chosen the day of his prank to coincide with their weekend off so that way when the tempers flared they'd have time to calm down.
Reid tried to bring his attention back to the book he was currently trying to read but found he couldn't concentrate. Feeling the need to fidget get worse, Reid gave up on trying to read and headed for the kitchen, hoping that some warm milk would make him sleepy enough to want to go to bed despite the early hour.
He'd just sat down with his mug of milk and picked up his book when a knock sounded at his door. His eyebrows furrowed as he wondered just who would be at his apartment. He knew that his Uncle Aaron was spending time with his son and his big brother Derek was on a date.
He opened the door and felt his eyes go wide, "A-agent Rossi. What are you doing here?"
"Mind if I come in?" Rossi responded, not wanting to explain until he was inside the apartment.
"Umm…" Reid cleared his throat, trying to hid his nervousness, "S-sorry; of course, please come in."
Rossi had to fight the urge to tease the young man by asking if he felt nervous, knowing it would confuse Reid. He let his eyes adjust to the dim light and took a good look at his surroundings. The apartment was smaller than expected yet it seemed to house more books then he had thought possible.
The furniture was sparse but considering their jobs, Reid was barely home to need the furniture. The furniture that was present was obviously well used. All in all, despite the threadbare look, it felt homey. Deciding to be nice Rossi let Reid know his opinion.
"Homey," He murmured with a small smile. He took his jacket off and pointed to a chair, "May I?"
Reid could do nothing more than blush at the compliment before blushing more as he realized he was being rude. He rushed to take the man's jacket as he nodded his head by way of answer.
"Sorry," Reid apologized again when he came back from the hall closet where he'd placed the older man's jacket, "not really used to having guests."
"We need to talk," Rossi said, saving Reid from embarrassment by ignoring his last statement.
"We do," Reid asked, confusion showing in his tone and face.
Reid thought back to the day wondering what he could have done to make the older agent come to his apartment to talk to him. After all there was no way that Rossi knew about…his thoughts were interrupted.
"Why have you have been pranking me Spencer?" Rossi questioned sternly, never taking his eyes off the younger man.
Just like that Spencer Reid found himself too stunned to protest; too stunned to hide his reaction. He had been pulling pranks with neither his Uncle nor older brother aware. How did this man know?
Not knowing what else to do Reid did the only thing he could think of.
He crossed his arms and glared, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Reid," Rossi couldn't keep the small amount of amusement he was feeling from showing, "The cat's out of the bag kid. I know you're the one pulling the pranks."
Rossi watched as Reid started to twitch; the guilt finally too much for the young genius.
"I didn't mean for you to get hurt," Reid rushed out, "I thought you'd see the snake and get scared. You weren't supposed to get bit!"
"But I did," Rossi swallowed the laugh that wanted to spew forth at the sight of the trained profiler sounding and looking like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar. As much as he might want to laugh he, first, had to get to the bottom of why Reid was pranking him. "I guess I should thank you for not putting a more lethal snake in the box."
"A-agent Rossi," Reid looked at him, tears filling his eyes as the guilt started to consume him, "I never meant for you to get hurt. I swear it…"
Rossi held up a hand to stop Reid from talking, "I know you didn't mean for it to happen, kid but it did happen. We can't change that fact. Right now I want to know why you are pranking me."
Reid gave the man a pleading look, his face heating up with a blush. He didn't want to admit why he'd been pulling pranks on the older agent. Despite his discomfort though, the feeling of guilt was still there and become more pronounced.
"I figured if you hated me so much, I might as well give you a reason," Reid stated softly, the guilt finally winning.
David Rossi was a confident profiler and author. He'd been known to talk himself out of many a situations. Sitting in Spencer Reid's living room, across from said younger man, he was completely thrown for a loop.
He opened and shut his mouth several times before getting out, "Why would you…I don't hate you Reid."
"But you don't like me either," Reid accused, sounding like a ten year old who's trying to make a point to his dad. He ticked off on his finger, "You never let me finish a sentence. I can never just talk to you about a case. You ignore my very existence. You…You…"
Reid was too angry and too hurt to finish his train of thought which was just fine with Rossi who was having a hard time listening to the accusations.
"Okay, okay," Rossi held up a hand, breaking off Reid's jumbled words. Seeing a more intense hurt look cross the younger man's face Rossi was quick to speak again, "I know you're not done and I apologize. I need you to listen to me; ok?"
Though he was hurt at being interrupted (again he growled to himself) Reid nodded for the older agent to continue.
"It was never anything personal kid," Rossi looked Reid in the eyes in the hopes that the younger man would know he was telling the truth. "I am not used to working with a team, especially with one as young as ours is. Every one of us has our quirks, you all know how to work with them and it's going to take me time to learn. Just like you'll have to learn to work with mine; for instance, I'm not one for long speeches. I prefer you say what you need to say and then stop. I'll learn to listen to you just like you'll learn when to stop and let me think or talk."
"You aren't even trying," Reid couldn't even muster up the anger to glare. Right now, he was more hurt then anything; his eyes betrayed his feelings.
"I'm waiting," Rossi explained. Seeing the look of confusion he continued, "You all distrust why I'm back and I understand that. You need to understand Reid that you all aren't making it that easy for me. Prentiss wonders but could care less. Morgan simply dislikes me though I have a feeling that, that's on your behalf more than anything. Hotch is angry at Gideon for leaving and he's angry at me because he things I'm trying to take Gideon's place which I'm not. JJ is just trying to do her job; if I let her than we'll have no problems. And you…kid you just scare me."
"I what," Reid demanded, a look of surprise on his face.
"Do you realize the amount of facts you spew on a daily basis?" Rossi asked in a gentle tone that no one would have expected. "If it were any other agent he would have been called a know-it-all or a show off but you're different. You don't even mean to, do you? You want honesty? I don't know how to interact with you Dr. Reid."
Reid opened and closed his mouth, too stunned for words. All this time, he'd been pulling pranks on Rossi, making him the butt of the jokes throughout the FBI building…and all because Rossi didn't know how to interact with him.
The guilt that had been pushed down in exchange for hurt and anger, not only resurfaced, but took a dominant place in Reid's feelings.
'I'm an idiot, a complete moron,' Reid thought to himself frantically. Of all the things he could have done, should have done differently…there was only one way for him to feel better about the whole situation and it came with a high price.
"Are…I mean," Reid cleared his throat, "I know I have no right to ask this of you Agent Rossi but…would you please allow me the chance to tell Hotch that it was me?"
While Reid had been thinking, Rossi was thinking about his fault in the situation and couldn't help feel slightly guilty. If the two had bothered to talk to each other even once the whole thing could have been avoided. It was with those thoughts that Rossi came to a decision.
David Rossi wasn't about to let the younger Agent get into any trouble. With that, he fully intended to say his goodbye's and head for home. Spencer Reid's words stopped him in his tracks.
"I don't think we really need to involve Hotch," Rossi replied after a minute of silence. "We were both at fault Spencer."
Reid wanted desperately to agree. As the boss, Reid knew that Hotch would have to at least suspend him; his pranks had caused disruptions and an agent had gotten hurt. As family, Reid knew that his Uncle Aaron would not only ground him but spank him as well. Not only that, but by endangering his job because of something like pulling pranks, he was bound to be upended, not once but at least twice.
No, Spencer Reid wanted none of it to happen. However, knowing that Rossi got hurt and because of a simple communications error that he'd made a fool of the returning Agent, there was no way he could keep his guilt from showing any longer. He'd made poor decisions and now it was time for him to pay the piper.
Rossi gave the younger man, what could only be described as, a gentle look. He could tell that Reid wasn't going to be able to let it go and that, more than anything else, proved to Rossi just what kind of a person the younger man really was.
Rossi stared; watching as Reid gave a soft sigh, a look of anguish on his face yet there was something else…it was a feeling of relief.
David Rossi knew at that moment that Reid wouldn't be able to release his guilt…yet.
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The silence between the two agents grew yet it never got uncomfortable. After seeming to decide a course of action, Reid looked up.
"A prank is something that makes everyone, including the one the one being pranked laugh," Reid sounded as if he were repeating something he'd heard. He met Rossi's eyes nervously, "You never laughed and I knew you wouldn't. Hotch may have seemed to let it go but he'll find out eventually and it'll be better if I'm the one to tell him."
"Do you really want to tell Aaron, son?" Rossi asked, his tone demanding an honest answer.
Reid shook his head as he asked incredulously, "Would you sir?"
"Point taken," Rossi chuckled before becoming serious, "What if I could promise you that Hotch would not look into the pranks so long as they stopped?"
There was hesitation in the younger man's demeanor. Rossi hoped that he'd be told that so long as he could come through with the promise then Reid would be willing to drop the issue. However, the guilt was so noticeable that Rossi knew the minute Reid walked into the bullpen he'd be called into his superior's office.
"I have two choices for you Spencer, and one of them is going to require a lot of trust on your part," Rossi waited until Reid glanced up at him and nodded, showing he was paying attention. "One, I will deal with your pranking myself and I will make sure Hotch drops the issue completely. Two, you can enjoy your days off and come Monday, we will go in together and talk to Hotch to sort everything out. Let me warn you now, once you make your decision, you can't change it."
Reid gulped; his nervousness palpable and it took every ounce of Rossi's self control to not comfort him. Sitting before him wasn't a trained FBI Profiler but a kid who knew he was in trouble and had to decide if he'd rather dad or mom to punish him.
For his part Reid honestly thought about his choices. As his Uncle and boss, Hotch had a right to know what he'd done. At the same time, it'd been Rossi who had been hurt by the pranks so it should be his right to punish him for them. Besides that, he strangely didn't feel guilty when around his Uncle or big brother, just around Rossi. His eyebrow's furrowed as he came to a decision.
"It was you that I pranked," Reid met the older man's eyes, "I'm willing to accept whatever punishment you feel I deserve."
Rossi nodded, not showing that he was suddenly nervous, "Then here's what I want you to do. Go shower, change, get ready for bed; when you're done, come get me. You have thirty minutes Spencer."
Reid looked confused as he nodded his head and went to do as he was told. When he heard the shower turn on Rossi ran to his car to grab the overnight bag he always carried. He knew from Reid's words already that there was no way he could leave the younger man alone once he was done doling out the consequences for the pranks.
It didn't even take the full thirty minutes before Reid was back in the living room, looking younger then Rossi thought imaginable, in a pair of Halloween pajamas (courtesy of Garcia the year before), hair wet and dripping onto the floor, all the while dragging a towel behind him.
"Are you trying to catch a cold?" Rossi couldn't help but ask as he grabbed the towel from Reid's hands, "Sit down Spencer."
The confusion Reid felt when he first sat down soon turned to embarrassment as David Rossi took the towel and gently started to dry his hair.
"Uh, Rossi," Reid protested, trying to pull away, "I can do that myself."
"Yet you didn't," Rossi cut him off, "So now it's my turn. Now stay still or you're gonna feel my hand on your hind end sooner rather than later."
Reid stilled…this wasn't good; it wasn't good at all.
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Rossi only took a couple minutes to dry the young man's hair. He looked Reid over and nodded in satisfaction.
"I think you'll be ready for bed when we're done," Rossi said in a way that let Reid know it wasn't a suggestion but an order, "so let's go to your room. You can comb your hair first though so it doesn't tangle."
Reid nodded, his hair feeling weird as he usually let it dry the way it was; he brought his towel mainly to dry the spots on the floor or furniture when needed.
"Let's go," Rossi ordered, motioning for the younger man to lead the way.
Reid could only do as he was told, his knees starting to feel weak now that he knew what Rossi had planned for him. He'd known how Hotch and Morgan would have dealt with him and with everything he knew, he hadn't been prepared for Rossi to have the same idea.
For his part, Rossi, had entered the room and sat on the bed, immediately liking the fact that bed was high enough that he could pull Reid over his lap with little problem. He waited patiently while the younger man pulled a comb through his still growing hair.
Reid was tempted to find ways to prologue the 'discussion' he knew was going to come but the sound of Rossi clearing his throat let him know that it wasn't a good idea. He turned around, a contrite expression showing, to face the older man.
"Come here," Rossi pointed to a spot in front of him.
Reid walked over to him, feet dragging in a show of reluctance. He looked down and met Rossi's eyes briefly before looking away. He felt rude towering over the man and it threw him off.
When Reid finally stood where he wanted him to, Rossi continued, "Look at me. I want you to understand this so there are no questions later. You are going to be spanked because you pulled pranks that were not in good taste. You were being rude, disrespectful, and downright mean. That's not even mentioning the disruption you caused at work. This does not happen again Spencer Samuel, do you understand?"
"Yes, sir," Reid's voice was quiet, his eyes wet with unshed tears, "I'm so sorry."
Rossi nodded to show he understood before guiding the Reid over his lap, his backside at just the right angel. He laid an arm around Reid's waist, more for reassurance then restraint, and drew him closer.
He didn't bother with any more words as he drew his free hand in the air and brought it down with a sharp snap. *SWAT* Reid hissed through his teeth at the pain that blossomed in his backside by the one swat.
Though he'd never admit it out loud, Rossi was proud of the young man before him for taking the punishment as well as he was. He'd been fully ready for Reid to yell and put up a fuss; he'd been even more prepared for Reid to be vocal during the spanking. Aside from the hiss at the first swat, Reid hadn't made a noise.
Rossi laid down over a dozen swats before he spoke. Though they had nearly talked to death about why Reid was getting the spanking, Rossi felt the need to make a hundred percent sure that Reid truly understood.
"Why are we here Spencer?" Rossi demanded to know.
"Because I – OW – was pulling pranks," Reid responded, a slight hitch in his voice.
"What about the pranks?" Rossi questioned further.
"They were – AH – mean," Reid cried out, burrowing his face into the bed as the onslaught of swats made the fire in his backside grow.
"And," Rossi demanded to know.
"OW – D-disruptive," Reid cried, "I w-won't pull – AH – pranks again!"
Reid did his best to muffle the rest of his cries. The spanking he was currently getting was worse than anything he'd had so far. It wasn't because Rossi was being overly harsh; in fact if he were to be honest, his older brother and Uncle definitely swatted harder.
However Rossi's method of swatting the same area twice before moving on brought a sting more quickly than a single swat did.
Rossi lectured firmly, bringing the young man out of his thoughts, "I don't mind pranks Spencer, so long as they're in good taste. If you ever, pull the type of pranks you pulled on me again, on anyone, for any reason, not only will I spank you again but you will be losing certain articles of clothing and when I'm done you will go to Hotch and tell him everything. Do I make myself clear?"
"Y-yes, sir," Reid managed to get out.
Reid couldn't hide his cries any longer as Rossi targeted the sensitive under curve that let Reid know sitting was going to be hard for the next day or so.
"Rossi – OW – please," Reid cried out, "I'm – AH – sorry!"
Rossi took a deep breath as he readied to land the last of his swats. It actually made his chest ache to watch Reid's feet kick against the bed, his legs twitching to try and move away from the swats.
As he landed the first, of his last dozen swats, he put more force into them causing Reid to throw his free hand back to try and protect his backside.
Rossi caught the wrist and trapped it gently against the younger man's back. By the time he was halfway done with the dozen Reid had given up any pretense of trying to hide his tears and instead lay over his lap, limp and crying openly.
It only took a matter of seconds for the last six to drop and Rossi instantly released the captive wrist and tried to soothe the distraught younger agent.
"It's alright kid," Rossi rubbed soothing circles on Reid's back, "Just breathe Spencer; you're ok…"
"S-sorry," Reid sobbed, "S-so sorry."
"I know you are Reid," Rossi hoisted him up and pulled him into a hug, "We're ok son; I promise."
"I d-didn't mean f-for you t-to get h-hurt," Reid hiccupped, his sobs finally calming.
"I know you didn't," Rossi held Reid away from him, forcing the younger man to look at him, "Listen to me Spencer Samuel. I know you didn't mean for me to get bit and I'm not mad. We're ok now son; ok?"
Reid nodded, feeling a weight being lifted from his shoulders, "Promise?"
Rossi smiled indulgently, "I promise. Why don't you go wash your face so you can get some sleep?"
The younger man nodded, knowing he wasn't really being asked but ordered. He was happy when the older man brought him in for another hug.
"Go on," Rossi prodded him towards the bathroom.
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It only took a few minutes before Reid was back in his room, a slight blush to his face. He gazed shyly at the older agent still in his room before looking at the floor and shifting where he stood.
"None of that," Rossi ordered his voice gruff yet gentle, "Into bed."
Reid didn't hesitate to crawl under the covers that the older man held up. He was tired and not only from the spanking he'd just gotten but from the guilt he'd been carrying around until the before mentioned 'event'.
Rossi sat on the bed beside him, rubbing his back in a soothing circular pattern the way a parent would after a child had, had a nightmare.
"I'm gonna be in the living room if you need anything," Rossi told him.
"You don't…" Reid started but was instantly hushed.
"I'll be in the living room if you need anything," Rossi firmly intoned again. "No getting out of bed before 8 unless it's to use the bathroom, an emergency, or you need me. I don't want you to leave your room before 9; we'll have breakfast at 9:30; ok?"
"Yes, sir," Reid mumbled, his eyes already closing.
Rossi waited a few minutes before getting up and walking out the room. As he went to shut off the light Reid called sleepily from his bed.
"Can you leave the light on?" The boy's voice was drowsy once again reminding Rossi of how young he truly was.
"Of course," Rossi replied, deciding to leave the door slightly open just in case, "Good night kid."
Rossi went back into the living room to grab a change of clothes before heading to bed. He checked on Reid one last time and smiled at the site of Reid buried under his blankets, and holding a pillow like a child would a stuff bear.
It was with a smile that Rossi fell asleep and for once neither agent had a nightmare.
EPILOGUE:
SSA David Rossi walked into the BAU bull pen looking, for all the world, like a man without a care. The truth, though, was that he was a man on a mission.
He walked into Aaron Hotchner's office without knocking.
"I'm not busy," Hotch grumped, "Come in Dave."
Rossi shut the door behind him before sitting down and staring at the man behind the desk.
"Stop looking into the pranks," Rossi was blunt as usual.
"I'm not looking into the pranks," Hotch's eyes narrowed, "Was I supposed to?"
Rossi glared, "I know you Aaron. You owe me; I want you to stop looking into the pranks."
"You know who it was," Hotch demanded.
"I do," Rossi replied.
The two men stared at each other, each upping their glare until finally Hotch looked away.
"You took care of it?" He asked.
"I did," Rossi answered a slight smirk on his face, "I want your word Aaron."
Hotch stared at the man, wondering who could have played the pranks. With the way Rossi was acting it was someone he hadn't suspected which led him to Garcia, Reid, and JJ. He'd already seen Garcia and the female tech hadn't looked or acted guilty. JJ, he could see pulling the pranks but the fact that…his thoughts were interrupted.
"Your word," Rossi about growled, "Now Aaron."
"Or what," Hotch raised an eyebrow.
"Do you really think I don't know who put the packing peanuts in my car?" Rossi demanded to know, a glare on his face, "You pulled the same damn prank when you were a rookie on this team. I'd have thought you'd learned your lesson then."
Hotch stared at the man with a blank expression, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Considering you're an FBI agent," Rossi smirked, "I'm surprised you forgot to get the surveillance footage from the store across the street."
Hotch gave a defeated sigh, "I'm done looking."
Rossi nodded and got up to leave. He was stopped before he could even open the door.
"It was Reid," Hotch questioned, "Wasn't it?"
Rossi opened the door and looked back at his boss, "I don't know what you're talking about."
THE END
A/N2: So…was the ending cheesy? The beginning of the epilogue may have sounded familiar; it's from the beginning of the story after the prologue. I did this on purpose!