12 Days
A/N: Hullo, all! Welcome to day seven of 12! I can't believe it's been a week already… and that there's five-ish days left till Christmas… one till Yule… Anywho, enjoy!
Warning? This is another JJ/Reid. Last one. Promise… I think.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds or the characters.
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Day 7: Mistletoe
The bar scene was a rather strange one just two days before Christmas. However, Garcia was of the opinion that it somewhat suited the members of the BAU.
There were people everywhere, some still wrapped in coats and scarves, contrasting with the scantily-clad dancers on the floor. Half-hearted garland hung here and there but the lights, which added to the atmosphere, were artfully arranged. Music to dance to blasted out of the speakers and the playlist was dotted with the odd Christmas carol remix. No denying it was an interesting mix, which was exactly why Garcia had chosen the place to entice the team out for a post-case, pre-Christmas unwinding. Tomorrow, in her words, they'd have planes to catch, trees to trim, families to meet, but tonight… they danced.
Or they at least relaxed. The tech wasn't terribly picky.
She knew it was useless to try and make the members of the team do something they didn't want to. For instance, she couldn't make Morgan stop dancing until he was ready to stop (not that she wanted to, of course). She couldn't pull Hotch or Rossi away from their male-bonding-reminiscing-fest over at the bar. She couldn't pull Emily away from the hot dark-haired guy she was chatting up near the dance floor (he might think he was chatting her up, but anyone who knew Emily knew it was the other way around). And she certainly couldn't pull JJ or Reid apart.
Garcia rolled her eyes as she watched the two youngest agents of the team sit close to each other and talk. She'd never thought just talking could be so irritating. Or adorable. Most days Garcia found she was torn between the two assessments. Sighing, she leaned forward on the table, took a sip of her drink and then wielded her questioning stare on the couple. "So tell me, my unlikely love birds, how did you two end up coming together right under our noses?" She asked finally.
It was a question that had secretly been driving the team mad for weeks, since they found out about JJ and Reid's relationship. It was also secretly causing the couple pleasure to know they were driving everyone else mad. If only a little.
"You know, it actually happened a year ago." Reid said with a ghosting grin. "To the day."
Garcia grinned right back, if not somewhat less innocently. "Got any plans to celebrate, my doves?"
Reid had the decency to indulge Garcia's wishes and blush at the implication, but JJ only joined in the grinning. Her smile held the secrets of what would come later. "Do you want to hear about how we got together or our plans for celebrating our anniversary after we get out of this bar?"
"Oh, a little of this, a little of that. I'm not picky." Garcia giggled. "But if I must choose, I suppose I'll go with the first."
"It was on the case in New York we had a year ago. The one just before Christmas." JJ began.
It was some sort of Christmas miracle, for sure. The BAU had been called in after three little girls had gone missing. No bodies turned up, but two more girls went missing during their time in New York. They assumed the girls were still alive until proven otherwise, but in their heads, way in the back of their minds, they thought the worst.
Imagine their surprise when they discovered who the UnSub was, went to their house, and found all five blonde-haired, brown-eyed little girls alive and well. The UnSub, one Martha Night, had been kidnapping the girls in an attempt to create a Christmas she'd never had as a child. However, when her fantasy didn't play out, she seemed to be unable to kill someone whom she saw as herself and, instead, simply added another 'her' to the mix.
Martha's house was quite possibly the strangest crime scene the team had ever been to, and certainly the most festive. It looked like the Christmas spirit had manifested in the middle of everything and then exploded. Decorations covered everything; holly, garland, tinsel, wreaths, lights, not to mention the enormous tree. Yes, this psycho's halls were definitely decked.
It didn't take long to clear the scene, get Martha out to a squad car and the five girls back to their anxious parents. There didn't appear to be much more to see at the scene, beyond the vaguely creepy dancing Santas, and it was quickly becoming emptied of people. Before too long, Reid was the only one left in the house. "Hey, Reid, are you coming? We're going to head back to the station soon." JJ came back into the main room to check on him.
"Yeah, I'm coming. I just wanted to… look at all of this, I guess." Reid shrugged.
"What's to see? It's a psycho's version of Christmas; it's creepy." JJ shrugged in return, looking around the room as she came further in.
"It's not a psycho's version of Christmas… it's everyone's image of an ideal Christmas. It's eerily perfect; what everyone seems to think makes the holiday right." Reid replied.
JJ was silent for a moment before she shivered slightly. "Okay, now this place is really giving me the creeps. Let's get out of here."
Reid nodded and followed the blonde out the front door and stopped just beyond it, standing on the porch and surveying the scene before them. People were still rushing about here and there, calling superiors and families, talking to members of the BAU and the police force, but overall mood was somewhat… cheerful. As though a heavy weight had been taken off everyone. The officers were smiling, as were a few members of the team. The families of the girls were beyond happy, to say the least. There were literal tears of joy. And that was as it should have been; how often was there a case where absolutely no one died?
"Personally, I think this is a better version of Christmas than the one inside." Reid said shyly.
"Christmas a crime scene?" JJ asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No, I just mean… everyone is happy. Carefree. They're celebrating. It's Christmas and we reunited five families. It's nice." Reid clarified.
"Oh." JJ looked out over the five families and then turned to Reid and smiled. "You're right. It is nice."
Reid didn't look back at her, but at a point just above her. "She even got the mistletoe." He mused quietly.
"Excuse me?" JJ looked up as well.
"Martha Night, she had mistletoe." Reid said, gesturing to the plant hanging above their heads.
"Ah."
There was a moment of silence as both agents regarded the bit of greenery before Reid broke it. "You know, the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe originated long ago, but it wasn't until 18th-century England that the tradition as we know it formed. A girl standing under a ball of mistletoe could not refuse to be kissed. In some regions, the mistletoe would be burned on the 12th night of Christmas, or everyone who kissed under it would never be married." He said quietly, looking back down at JJ.
JJ regarded the young man for a moment. "You're not going to propose a kiss, are you?" She asked teasingly. "Because I may not be able to refuse, but we are at a crime scene."
"What? No, I wasn't- I'm not… Not that I wouldn't- I mean…" Reid attempted to speak before stopping altogether. "Um… weren't we supposed to be leaving soon?"
Smiling, JJ nodded, then stood up on her toes to press as quick kiss to Reid's lips. Then she grabbed the perplexed genius' hand and began to lead him towards the SUV. "C'mon, Spence, let's go."
"Aw!" Garcia cooed as JJ closed the tale. "That's sweet… and a little disturbing. Your first kiss was at a crime scene?"
Reid shrugged. "If you consider how often we're at crime scenes, the chances in favor of it being at one were statistically high…" He said with a small grin.
JJ smiled as well and leaned over to press a kiss to his cheek. Garcia shook her head but smiled affectionately. "At least there were no dead bodies around…" She muttered quietly.
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On the seventh day of Christmas, the new case gave to me:
Seven fast food joints,
Six hotel beds,
Five cups of coffee! (apiece)
Four calls from Strauss
Three Morgan tackles,
Two Reid lectures,
And a psycho on a killing spree!
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A/N: So, that was terribly corny, but sorta fun to write. Hope you enjoyed! I eliminated the commentary on "The 12 Days" for various reasons, in case you hadn't noticed, but I'm keeping the song. Sorry if anyone was actually enjoying that part. Anyway, Happy Holidays!
Oh, I'm thinking of doing another "Criminal Carols"! If anyone has any songs they'd like to see butchered, let me know! Thanks!
