Don't own Criminal Minds
Thank you all reviewers!
Garcia dropped Reid off at Hotch's home and handed him a bag of treats she had gotten for him from the festival. He had been quiet the entire ride back, deep in thought over the incident with Agent Donovan. Morgan was eying him warily as if he some deep seated big brother instinct knew that something was wrong with his friend but Reid had steadfastly refused to acknowledge anything.
"See you tomorrow morning baby cakes!" Garcia called as Reid slipped out of the vehicle.
Reid turned and waved at the two with a faint smile, "Sure!" He walked back up the few steps that led up to Hotch's front door and let himself in quietly.
"You're back later than I thought you'd be." Hotch's voice carried over to him from the living room where he was sitting next to a reading light with what looked to be a case file on his lap. He was already in his night clothes, a pair of old FBI sweats and his hair looked tussled as if he had been running his hand through it.
"We went out to get something to eat." Reid responded, slipping out of his worn converse and padding over to the couch to sit next to Hotch, leaning comfortably against the older man so he could peer into his lap and at the file. "What is that?"
"Nothing special." Hotch said easily, shutting the file.
"Aaron…" Reid muttered, briefly annoyed at his lover but he decided that he had more pressing matters to bring up, "Something happened at the festival…"
"If it has something to do with Garcia, Morgan and chocolate I'd rather not hear about it." Hotch chuckled and Reid frowned again.
"Agent Donovan was there."
The smile fell from Hotch's face so quickly that it was as if it had never been there to begin with. "What?"
Reid leaned back to watch Hotch's expression as he explained what went down at the festival. "…and it was mostly very subtle…"
"He propositioned you! If he's threating you Spencer then we need to report him."
Reid shook his head, "Actually, I planned on letting him continue."
One of Hotch's eyebrows went up on his face, he was curious, "Why would you do that?"
Reid smiled a smile that even Hotch only saw now and again, it was mischievous and broad. Reid had a plan and he was getting ready to strike back at Donovan and whoever he was working for in his own way.
"Do you trust me, Aaron?"
"Of course I do." Hotch responded as Reid motioned for him to lean closer.
"Well, let me explain it to you then…"
Reid arrived at the BAU offices thirty minutes after Hotch the next day. He had stopped off at his favorite corner café for his first coffee of many and was feeling like this was going to be a good morning when he saw that Hotch and Strauss were clearly in the middle of a disagreement in her office.
"What's going on?" Reid asked Rossi who had been standing down in the bullpen watching the back and forth with a mild look of amusement on his face.
"Strauss is trying to probe Hotch for information but Hotch could teach Fort Knox some new tricks and she's not happy."
Reid looked a bit unsettled despite Rossi's calm tone, "What sort of information?"
"I have no idea," Rossi drawled out, his dark eyes settling onto Reid, "Do you?"
"Why would you assume I know?" Reid asked, his voice going only slightly higher.
"The same reason you assume I do." Rossi laughed and headed up to his office to finish up some of his work.
Reid rolled his eyes and dropped his bag onto his desk, sifting through it to pull out some files and extra papers he would need for the day.
"Oh…hey Reid." Garcia walked up, holding a file close to herself, "Where's the boss man?"
"With Strauss." Reid responding, nodding his head over in the general direction. Garcia looked over with a small frown playing across her bright red lips. "What's wrong?" He added.
"He asked me to give him some information…" She trailed off and shook her head, "I'll get him later then."
"Garcia," Reid called out to keep her from walking away, "Information on what?"
She gave him another smile, this one filled with an apology, "Sorry, Reid. I really have to go!" She took off before he could stop her again and he stared at the spot she had just occupied for several minutes in apparent disbelief. He had laid everyone out for Hotch last night, pushing his own instinct to keep the problem to himself because he knew it would be important to Hotch. Hell, the other man just last night had even admitted that he trusted him!
He shook his head, it could be anything…he knew he shouldn't jump to conclusions like that. He and Hotch were on the same team and they needed to stay unified or everything was simply going to fall apart faster.
"Hey kid." Morgan's voice cut through his thoughts, "Can you do me a favor?"
"Huh? Oh yeah, of course. What is it Morgan?"
"I think baby girl got me on the back with a few of those sparkly stickers of hers, can you check it out and pull them off?"
Reid had to laugh as he stood next to Morgan's shoulder and pulled off the first one, "Wow, she really got you…"
"Last time I let her hug me." Morgan grumbled, holding on to Reid's arm as the younger man leaned across his back to get a few more.
Aaron Hotchner had glanced away from the lecture he was receiving from his section chief long enough to spot something odd in the bullpen. From the angle it was at it looked as if Morgan and Reid were caught in some half way hug with Morgan pulling Reid's arm across his chest and Reid caressing Morgan's back. Hotch's eyes narrowed but Strauss's voice pulled him sharply back to her,
"Am I clear, Aaron? I need to be aware of what's going on with my units, if anything comes up that has to do with what we've talked about then I want you to report it to me."
"Yes ma'am." And with that he left her office, having to catch and stop himself from marching down to Reid and Morgan to find out what was going on. When he got closer he could almost feel the relief flow through him as he pieced together the scene. Reid's hands were filled with stickers and Morgan was attempting to look at his back,
"I got them all, Morgan, calm down." Reid chuckled, setting the stickers down on his desk. "Oh, Hotch, how was your meeting?"
"Long and drawn out." Hotch responded curtly, still surprised at himself for the earlier thought he had had about Morgan and Reid, "We have a few consults to finish today, so let's make sure we get them all done promptly."
Miles Donovan was inside his apartment, cooking himself a steak for dinner. His home was cluttered but also comfortable filled with pictures, movie posters and memorabilia. He set his dinner plate down on his kitchen table before plopping into the seat himself. He began to cut his steak and when he had enough pieces he dropped his knife and pulled a folder over. He flicked it open as he took a bite of food and reread the information for what had to have been the fiftieth time.
It was a file on Aaron Hotchner and Spencer Reid which was chalk full of interesting tidbits but he what really focused on was Reid's picture.
The younger man intrigued him more than he thought he would have and when he had been offered the chance to do more than simply ask him questions at Internal Affairs, he had jumped on it almost on the spot.
His partner, Edwards, had decided that messing with the two and having them suspended for a few days had been punishment enough and while Donovan had been inclined to agree, their benefactor did not.
Donovan wasn't exactly sure why Ryan Allen hated Aaron Hotchner but when Edwards had put his foot down and backed out of any further plans, the congressman had appealed to Donovan, using the man's clear interest in Dr. Reid.
He was going to be paid amazingly well and he had a feeling the congressman was dipping in to his wife's vast fortune for this one and there was a promise that if any backlash came to light he would be protected by the congressman's power and friends.
He snorted at the thought, he knew that if backlash came the congressman was going to just cover his own ass and leave him to wolves, which is why he had begun a contingency plan. He grinned down at Reid's picture and shrugged to himself; even if he did get caught he knew he was still going to have one hell of a good time.
So it looks like Reid's got a plan, Hotch has a plan, Donovan has a plan and Morgan has stickers