A/n hey everyone. My thanks to all who've reviewed. Sorry people there will be no Hooters in this story.
Disclaimer: I don't own them people
The food court was crowded with teenagers in packs. There were harried mothers with packages and children in tow, and there were people in business suits on their lunch breaks. Reid and Garcia were making the circuit of the food court when Garcia let out a squeal. Reid's hands went for his gun and then he remembered he didn't have it. He looked to his left where she walking and blew out a relieved breath when she didn't appear to be bleeding, or shot, or in any kind of distress. He felt a tug on his arm and she yanked him along to the "Angry little Greek."
"Oh… wow look at that! They have roasted lamb on a spit, it smells great. Let's get some gyros." Garcia gushed rushing him to the back of the line.
"What's a gyro?" Reid wondered.
"Oh you poor deprived child, you'll see, just trust me! I'm also getting some spinach pie which you will love, the Greeks call it something else, I can't remember what, but it is delicious!" The lust in her eyes frightened him badly, but he let her pull him along in line, ignoring the various looks they got from other people.
After a very long wait, and the counter guy getting their order wrong once, they found the last un-occupied table and sat down. Reid was looking very suspiciously at the food in front of him. It appeared to be pita bread wrapped around roasted meat and some kind of white sauce. Garcia caught him staring at it. "Hey sweet cheeks, your Jedi powers of levitation aren't working, pick it up like this."
She picked up her gyro and took a large bite. She chewed with a happy smile while he poked hesitantly at his gyro and then picked it up. He took a very small bite and Garcia watched him very closely until his eyes lit up and he swallowed loudly.
"That's good!" He said with genuine delight.
"Of course it is gorgeous, when have I ever lied to you." He opened his mouth and she stopped the words by pushing a forkful of spinach pie in his mouth.
"Hey…" he said around the mouthful. He chewed and found that the pastry with feta cheese and spinach was very tasty.
"You'll never doubt me again, will you baby." Garcia beamed at him around her gyro.
"I wouldn't go that far," Reid retorted digging into his own spinach pie. Did he once say he didn't like spinach? He'd been wrong, this was wonderful.
"See… now maybe you'll put some muscle of that skinny frame of yours."
When he only stared at her, she rolled her eyes dramatically and explained. "Don't you remember Popeye? I'm Popeye the sailor man…" She began to sing.
"Alright… okay… but there's no way I'm going to eat this and get super strong. In fact… it's physically impossible to go from being a wimp to a strong man seconds after eating canned spinach, so you see…"
She reached over and pinched his arm. "Ow… what was that for?" He whined, rubbing his arm.
"Enough with the reality check Dr. Reid. It was a cartoon for kids; no one expects that to happen in real life." She told him with exasperation coloring her voice.
"I know that… I just wanted to get a rise out of you." Reid explained sitting back out of range of her hands.
"Since when did you become such a smart ass?"
"Since always, you and the rest of the team never bothered to notice before," He waggled his eyebrows at her and she laughed.
They finished their meal in friendly silence after that last exchange, each feeling very satisfied with the outcome of their verbal sparring match.
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After lunch they decided to look around the big mall, but it was mostly the same types of stores you see at any mall in America, so they headed back out to the harbor. Pier one was the most interesting of the sights as it berthed the USS Constellation.
"Hey Garcia… did you know that the USS Constellation is the oldest oldest Civil War ship still afloat."
"That's all very interesting, honey pie, but let's take the tour. One is starting in thirty minutes so we are just in time to get through security." Garcia pulled on his arm for the fourth time that day and he followed her to the security check point.
"What is with all the security everywhere you go?" Garcia complained as they stood in line.
Reid opened his mouth to explain and she glared good naturedly at him. "That was a rhetorical question Dr. Reid."
He closed it with a snap and began to look around him, unconsciously profile the people in line with them. The man right in front of them was the epitome of a badly dressed tourist at the end of the season. He wore a loud Hawaiian shirt in an unfortunate purple color that made his skin look waxy. His shorts were khaki and he had the standard black socks with white tennis shoes. He had a digital camera around his neck and he was alone. That bothered Reid, and he decided to keep an eye on this guy.
"Stop profiling and take a day off sweet cheeks." Garcia hissed at him.
He was going to lie and say he wasn't profiling, but he decided that lying to Garcia was like playing with a bear cub, you never knew where the mama bear was, or if you were going to get your face mauled.
He decided she was right; he didn't have to watch everyone for signs of psychotic behavior. Garcia was taking pictures of the ship and Reid started to give a bunch of obscure fact about "Old Ironsides," despite Penelope reminding him that they were about to take a tour.
They finally made there way though the tour. The tour guide was a very tall man who looked like he was carrying around an extra thirty pounds. He spoke in tones that clearly said he was bored to tears by his job.
"Stay together people… there are certain areas on the ship that are off limits to the general public." The guide said in an officious tone.
Garcia rolled her eyes at Reid and he found himself laughing at her. The tour was pretty short for the time spent waiting in line. Garcia had dozens of pictures that she promised to send to Reid. As for Reid he was having a great time, but he wasn't about to admit it to Garcia. Their relationship demanded that she gently bully him into having fun and that he make token attempts to resist her. "Come on, it's time to go see the National Aquarium." She grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the Aquarium.
They were just in time for the live action dolphin show which was pretty exciting. The dolphins leaped and tumbled with their trainers. There was a small child, that began to cry when the dolphin show began. She had blond hair and blue eyes. Her mother looked a little like JJ, and Garcia planted an elbow in his side when he didn't hear her talking to him.
"Stop staring at her. Her husband is glaring at you." Garcia said when he finally turned to look at him.
"Sorry…" he mumbled turning cherry red.
"Sweetie… when are you going to ask JJ out again." She said nearly yelling over the very noisy crowd.
"Can you yell a little louder Garcia; I don't think they heard you in DC." He shot back, his face now approaching purple.
"Oh please… no one can hear us and even if they could, it's not like JJ is sitting right next to you.
Reid went warm all over just thinking about that possibility. He didn't notice when the show was over or the strange look he got from the little blond girl's mother.
"We'll be lucky if they don't call the police on us." Garcia hissed at him as they began to walk in the opposite direction.
They headed to the newest attraction: Animal Planet Australia and Reid said, "If they do I'll just flash my badge."
"Very cute Dr. Reid," she said sarcastically.
"You were the one that suggested it when you were trying to break the land speed record on the way here." He reminded her as they entered the attraction.
They forgot to argue when they were confronted by the 35 foot waterfall, the exotic birds that flew overhead, and lizards basking on rocky cliffs.
Garcia pulled him over to the fresh water crocodiles, and he only stopped resisting her tugs on his arm when she pointed out that the crocodiles were safely behind a thick acrylic barrier.
"Now that's cool." Garcia squealed, for once she was speechless or as speechless as she ever gets.
"Yeah… I just glad they can't get out of there." Reid said watching their every move behind the barrier.
He was amazed at the sheer number of different aquatic species the aquarium had in its collection. Garcia was startled into silence again at the replica of a killer whale in the large atrium. She took tons of pictures and made Reid stand next to several different exhibits and smile like an idiot. He remembered that she was a huge fan of photo shop and shuddered to think where these pictures might end up. He was a BAU profiler after all and had to maintain some dignity. What if she put him in some kind of swim wear, or something and plastered it all over her blog.
"Those are just for your photo album right." He asked hopelessly.
"Are you kidding sweet cheeks, these are going right into photo shop." She giggled and pinched his cheek.
He sighed and decided that if he didn't make an issue of it, maybe she would forget about them. Right… that was as likely to happen as snow of the Forth of July next year. Oh well… so much for professional decorum.
From the Aquarium they headed over to the world trade center. The building is the tallest, even sided pentagon shaped building in the world. The elevator took them to the observation deck. The view was spectacular, and they could see for miles over the city of Baltimore on one side, and out over the ocean on the other side.
Garcia spotted the gift shop and they left with her carrying a bag full of souvenirs, including a pair of earrings with killer whales hanging from them. They went perfectly with the hair combs she had bought at the Aquarium gift shop.
She tried to talk Reid into buying something for JJ, but he refused. "Come on Reid, get her a gift. It'll give you an excuse to talk to her."
Reid went crimson and she patted him on the arm. "I don't need an excuse to talk to JJ," he protested.
Garcia was pawing through a display of other jewelry. "Yes you do…" Garcia countered. "If you didn't you'd have asked her out again and you haven't and I know you're totally into her."
"I am not!" Reid denied, but he didn't meet his friend's eyes.
"Yes you are. Stop denying it and do something about it."
"Why is it so important to you?" He asked as she picked up and inspected another pair of earrings.
"I want you to be happy and JJ makes you happy." she said simply. He tried to think of a rebuttal for that and found that he couldn't.
"Besides, I just found the perfect gift for JJ." She said.
A/n again, it has been years since I visited Baltimore with a friend who lived there, so please forgive any mistakes. The Greek dis mentioned is real, but I can't remember what it is called or find it on the net. The Greek restaurant mentioned is a figment of my fevered imagination.