Unexpected gift.

Okay, this is the result of the Chit Chat Corner, Mix & Match Challenge.

Pairing: ReidxPrentiss

Prompts: bush, phone, playground, bird.

It all began with the death of her cat, Sergio. He was sick, and the only option left to the vet was to end his suffering. Emily Prentiss had cried more than she ever had for a cat, and soon felt depressed.

It wasn't only his death which made her gloomy, but an accumulation of several things: what happened with Ian Doyle being one of them, the awkwardness of coming back was have a part too. She was really happy to see the team again, to be a part of them, but still, she felt weird acting as if none of it happened. Her team was doing its best to support her, but those kinds of wounds couldn't heal so easily. She had envisaged to have maybe other animals, and had thought about birds, she had even talk about it with JJ and Garcia, but Garcia told her it wasn't easy to choose the goos specie of birds. The one that could get well along with you.

She sighed, it was the end of the day, and she knew she would find her flat all empty. She checked if she hadn't forgotten anything and noticed her keys were apparently missing. She searched in her bag, and everywhere on her desk, but couldn't find them. After ten minutes of searching, she slumped on her chair, annoyed and frustrated. How was she supposed to go home without her damn keys?

Prentiss jumped in surprise as she heard her phone rung. God, since when was she that nervous? She took it and saw it was Reid calling. What could he want? He was rarely calling her. She answered, slightly curious.

"Hi."

"Hi, Emily, it's Reid, hum, I…Just have to tell you I got your keys."

"Oh thank God! I thought I lost them!"

"No, don't worry, I just stole them."

She stayed stupid at first at hearing those words, and wondered if she heard them well.

"What the hell? You…You stole my keys?"

"Yeah."

"I am gonna kill you. Seriously Reid…"

"If you want to got them back, you'll have to play a little game, I have a little surprise for you."

"I don't have time for this…"

"You have. And you must. Well, first, you know the playground near that pizzeria where we went some days ago? On Carroll's Street?"

She sighed, defeated. She was sure he had planned that with the other in the team.

"Yeah…I have to go there?"

"Yep, call me when you are there. I left the key of your car on my desk, so you can drive."

She shook her head, exasperated, and took her bag and the key on Reid's desk before exiting the building. She drove to the playground in question, hoping it wouldn't be some stupid prank. She had some difficulty to found it at first, when she finally did twenty minutes after, she saw it was quite dark, not enlightened much. She still walked in, somehow a little afraid, her painful moments with Doyle resurfacing somehow. She called Reid immediately.

"Okay, Reid, I am there, what's next?"

"Okay, well, you see the bush next to the swings?"

"Yes."

"Well if you search a little, you'll see a little box."

"What is this? Some kind of treasure game?"

"Not exactly. Just do it."

She sighed again, if Reid hadn't been at the phone, she would have slapped him right now. She crouched to the bush, and searched for the box in question, helping herself with the light of her phone. She quite felt like Indiana Jones, searching for a treasure, in spite of what Reid said. She found herself laughing a little at this idea. She finally found it, it was a little white carton box, she took it and opened. She saw two keys in it, and hoped for a moment it would be her home's keys, but it wasn't. She didn't know what it was for. She frowned, and phoned Spencer.

"I found a little box with two keys, it was that?"

"Yes perfect. Now sat on the swing, and wait for me, don't move."

"Okay."

Surprisingly, she felt less angry, maybe it was because she was feeling a little curious. After all, she admitted it was a break from her routine. But somehow, she was still nervous.

She sat on one of the swings with some wary, wondering what was about to happen. It was stupid; because it was Reid who gave told her to come here. But since everything that happened with Doyle, she couldn't help but have her survival instinct kicking in when she didn't know what was about to happen. She looked at her dark surrounding, and although she was tough, she was feeling more and more like a little girl vulnerable, her hands squeezed the ropes tightly, in a childish way. She breathed in and out. What the hell was wrong with her?

Breath in, breath out, that's what she did for some minutes, but wasn't really able to relax like this. She tensed a little more as she heard footsteps from behind; she turned her head to see Reid coming. She sighed in relief, staying on the swing.

"Reid, can you tell me why the hell I am here? And what have you done of my keys?"

"I have a surprise for you. First, don't move from this swing."

She frowned, but somehow felt as if she had to comply, her natural curiosity wanting to find out what he had in mind. He took the ropes and began to move them, she was completely stunned as she felt the swing moving, and she wanted to jump out of it, but she instinctively gripped the ropes harder, plus he told her not to move, and even in this situation, she trusted him.

"Reid, what the…"

He continued pushing her, more and more, she was completely unsettled by this; it was…It was so unlike him! But somehow, she found herself smiling and laughing. Even if it was strange, it was kind of fun right now. He continued to push her, and she giggled happily.

"You're crazy! Was this your surprise?"

"This is a good way to relax you know, it doesn't only gives you fun. Rhythmic movements like this are very…"

"Reid!"

"Okay, it's not my surprise; I just wanted you to have fun."

She giggled again, and encouraged by this, Reid continued for some minutes. He liked it, the moves of her rich raven hair, balanced by the movement and the wind, floating and dancing in the darkness with just enough light to see them. He liked to see the motions of her legs, bend and stretching along with the rhythm of the swing, and to see her as of she was going to fly. But more of all, he liked to hear the light sound of her laugh, to feel some happiness coming out of her.

He finally stopped, and she turned to grin at him. He went before her, and she stood, understanding it was time to go. She reminded one thing, then.

"Reid, what is the keys I found for?"

"You'll see. Come."

"Okay and where are we going?"

"To your flat."

She frowned, wondering if he had entered in. He understood the silent question, and confessed:

"I had to steal you the keys, it was essential, but don't worry, everything is alright."

"Oh gosh! You broke into my home?"

"Well, no I opened the door normally, with the keys, so I didn't technically broke into it…"

Seeing her annoyed eyes, he dropped the explanation.

"It was necessary, I assure you."

She sighed and decided to trust him. They went to his car, and he drove her home. Once they entered the building together, she felt her stomach contract. She hoped it wasn't a surprise party; she wasn't really in the mood, although the thing with the swings had been nice. Maybe it was the reason for she didn't wish a party; she was more in the mood for calm and relaxing entertainment. When she opened the door, she felt even more nervous. Obviously no one was there. She turned to Reid.

"Go in the living room."

She did it and gapped while her eyes widened. She would have expected anything but this! There before her, were two cages which contained at least seven or eight birds that were singing and flipping their wings. They were both locked. She heard Reid approach and looked at him in complete astonishment.

"Gideon told me a lot about birds and the way they lived. So when you said you would have like to possess one or several…I chose mainly independent birds, who can live with other birds easily, so they won't be too affected by your absences on the job. The keys are there to open the cages."

Prentiss couldn't believe it, she approached the cages with a smile growing one her face, replacing progressively the gap of her mouth. She couldn't recognize all of them, she saw canaries among them, who were pretty cute, all brightly yellow and tiny, but for other, she couldn't say what kind it was. All she knew was the fact they were beautiful. She observed them with a lot of interest and a growing delight. Reid went to her side and showed first a couple of quite tiny birds with a mostly grey-brown plumage, whitish cheeks and throat, and a red stripe through the eyes. They were pretty, one of them, the female, was slightly paler.

"Here you have Common Waxbill, but I prefer the scientific name, it sounds more beautiful: Estrilda Astrild. They are sociable with other birds, and live in groups, they should not be the most affective birds but they won't be unhappy."

He then passed to another couple of bird brightly colored and bigger than the precedent. The colours were impressive, on the male especially, but the paler tone of the female's plumage was giving her a gentler appearance. Purple, pastel blue, green, and yellow, those colours seemed even brighter with their black head.

"Those are Gouldian Finch; they are sociable too with other birds and tends to be calm. I took a couple because they like to have at least one other bird of the same specie with them. The female is the paler one, and the male is the brighter."

"Here it's Zebra Finch, in French Diamant Mandarin. They are also sociable, I thought you would like them, they are very beautiful, and this black track under their eyes made me think of cheetahs, I like them. You know, they have too this kind of black tear under their eyes, it's beautiful."

She turned to him still smiling with wide astonished eyes. Reid had such an idea? She would have never imagined him to do such a thing.

"They are all so beautiful. Thank you."

"You…Hum…You're welcome."

She came back to reality however.

"But I don't know how to take care of birds. Plus, there is a lot…"

"Oh, if you don't want to keep them, you can bring them back. But don't worry, I know how to take care of birds, I have a book with explanation, and I bought the materials you need, plus some food for them."

"It must have been incredibly expensive to buy them and all this stuff."

"I don't really care, if it can avoid you a depression, it's worth it."

She wasn't surprised to have Reid concerned about her well-being, though she was amazed to see he could go at such length, but she was really touched by this. Reid was a little uneasy, not really good in those situations as usual.

"In the book there are methods to tame them, plus if you need help, I engage myself to help you take care of them."

Prentiss smiled hugely and maliciously. He was smart, truly.

"So, if I keep them, you will be here a lot, and we will spend a lot of time together."

"I guess."

She was wise enough to see the proposition under it. It was really a beautiful way to seduce a woman, not common, sure, but somehow, all those efforts made her feel special, She looked at the birds then at Reid and realised she wanted both. The doctor was maybe more than a friend to her now. She wasn't ready to express what she was feeling, it was so new…

"Okay, I keep them."

Reid knew the under meaning of this. He had a chance.

I hope that whoever gave the prompts he/she liked this one. I am not the best at writing Romance.