Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is owned by CBS. I own nothing but my imagination.

Christmas Magic-Chapter 2

"Is that really the tree you want for your son's first Christmas?" Dave asked, as he took in the sad looking, Charlie Brown Christmas tree the young woman was holding.

JJ huffed, "It's the best I can do with one hand, a tiny car and an empty checking account," she informed him. "Besides, he'll be more enchanted with the lights on the tree than on the tree itself."

"Jen, if you put lights on that dried up husk of a tree, your son will find himself enthralled by the fire in his living room. That thing is dangerous!" He declared.

"Well what do you suggest I do, Dave?" She asked frustrated.

"I suggest you take your son to your car, buckle him in and head back to your apartment. I'll get a tree that's actually alive and I'll meet you there in half an hour," Dave told her.

"Dave, I can't let you do that," JJ said softly. It's not that she didn't want her little boy to have a nice Christmas tree, it was that she had difficulty relying on another man for anything right now. Plus, she'd always paid her way in the world and she didn't want to stop doing that now.

"What?" Dave asked innocently, "All I'm doing is helping you get your tree home. Give me the money you were going to spend and I'll pick one up for you."

JJ thought for a minute and then grabbed the cash from her wallet, "You win," she said, thrusting the small wad of money at him. "Do you have some paper so I can write down my address for you?"

"I'll call Garcia and get it from her," he lied smoothly. The truth was, he had her address etched in his brain from the many drive bys he'd done past her apartment. "You get going home before your son turns into a popsicle," he directed, giving her a small push towards the parking lot. With one more backwards glance at him, JJ turned and made her way to the parking lot. Dave watched as she buckled her son into his carseat and then exited the tree lot. Once her car was out of view, Dave counted the money she'd handed him and chuckled sadly; he doubted it would have been enough to even get the pathetic little tree she'd been holding.

Casting the dead tree aside, Dave made his way to the tree salesman and picked out the biggest, fullest tree they had. After generously tipping the guy and his employees, they tied the tree up and attached it to the roof of his SUV. Thankfully JJ's apartment was nearby, because the tree was longer than his truck and Dave was afraid that he might hit something with it.

Miraculously, Dave found an empty parking space directly in front of JJ's building. After giving them each fifty dollars, three high school kids unloaded the tree from the SUV and helped him carry it to JJ's apartment. Once inside, they helped him set it up and then left to go spend their unexpected Christmas money.

"Oh my God, Dave, it's beautiful!" JJ exclaimed as she held Henry in an excited embrace. She walked around the tree and then shot him a suspicious look, "There's no way I gave you enough money for this big of a tree. How much more do I owe you?" She asked as she picked her purse up from the sofa.

Dave waved her offer away, "Just enjoy it JJ, it's on me."

She shook her head, "I can't let you do that, Dave, I always pay my own way. Now how much do I owe you?"

"Dammit JJ, just let me do something nice for you, okay?" He said snippily. Seeing her open her mouth to argue, Dave plowed ahead, "You are coming dangerously close to insulting me," he warned.

JJ thought about that for a minute, she knew the legendary profiler was easy to annoy and anger, but she'd never heard of him being insulted before. Not wanting to offend the man she had pined over for months, she finally smiled, "Thanks Dave, I really appreciate all of your help."

He smiled back at her, "That's better," he said happily. They stared at each other for a few moments before JJ finally broke the silence.

"Well, I'm sure you have better places to be," she said. "Thanks again for all of your help." To her surprise, Dave slipped his heavy jacket off and laid it over a chair.

"If it's okay with you, I thought I'd stay and help you decorate the tree. Who else will be able to reach those tall branches?"

JJ was shocked, never in her wildest dreams did she think the older agent would want to stay and help her with anything, much less trimming a Christmas tree! "Thanks Dave, but I got really chilled out there and I was just going to take a hot shower and leave the tree for tomorrow."

Dave shook his head, "But we might catch a case by tomorrow and you have me here right now. Tell you what, you go hit the shower while I get all of your decorations out of storage. You can leave Henry in his baby swing and I'll keep an eye on him for you."

"O-okay," JJ agreed, still shocked that Dave wanted to spend more time with her and her son. "The decorations are in the hall closet and they should be marked," she said as she put her son in his swing and turned it on.

"I'll find them JJ, now you go take your shower, we'll be fine out here," Dave assured her with a smile.

Remembering how he'd held her son at the tree lot, JJ was slightly worried about leaving the two of them alone, but she figured that if anything went horribly wrong, she was only one room away. "Thanks Dave," she said softly as she made her way to the bathroom. As she stood under the hot spray, she wondered how in the hell she'd gotten the FBI's most legendary agent to babysit her son.