A/N: Hey guys! Back again with another update, late as ever. Lol. A couple of things before we get on with the show. I've written a one-shot/companion, deleted scene to Amazing Grace called Climbing Trees. A light conversation between Reid and Morgan that fits in around Chapter 17 of Amazing Grace. Check it out for a cute Reid/Morgan moment.
Also, the 2014 Profiler's Choice Awards are currently in progress. Check out the ballot at the Profilers Choice Awards 2014 Forum (direct link in my profile) and nominate your favorite authors and fics. (As a co-moderator this year, my fics aren't eligible for nomination.)
Anyways, hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.
Chapter 25:
It was late when Hotch arrived home after the Christmas party. Jack was definitely fast asleep, probably even Jessica. Mindful of this fact, Hotch unlocked the door and slipped inside as quietly as possible.
He was right; the whole apartment was pitch-black. And Jessica was most likely in the guest room, sleeping. When he'd left earlier in the evening, he'd had every intention of being home early enough so she could go home to her own family. No such luck.
Hotch hadn't meant to be out for so long. But after the whirlwind night he'd had, after his interrupted confession to Maizy, he'd needed the extra time to drive around the city aimlessly as he attempted to calm his racing heart and mind down.
He let out a tired sigh; too bad it didn't exactly help.
Without switching on the lights, Hotch started for the kitchen, needing a glass of water to quench his thirst. A light switched on suddenly, blinding him momentarily, halted his progress.
"It is way past your curfew, young man," Jessica's amused sounding voice came from somewhere in his small living room.
His eyes finally adjusted to the dim light and he found Jessica sitting in his favorite arm-chair, with the lamp that hung above it now switched on.
"Very funny," he replied dryly. He detoured to the living room, joining her, taking a seat on the couch. His exhaustion hit him hard as he sank into the leather seat. He glanced at the clock hanging on the wall above Jessica's head. "God, Jess. It's three am; what are you doing still up?"
She shrugged her shoulders. "Couldn't sleep. Made myself a cup of warm milk. Besides, I want to know every single detail about your night."
He grimaced. My night… God…
"That bad?" she questioned.
Hotch let out a sigh, ready to tell his former sister-in-law to kindly mind her own business. It was her encouragement that got him to this point anyways.
"Or…" she began, beating him to speech, her voice full of awe. "That good? Aaron, did you… Are you and Maizy…"
It seemed that the blonde couldn't form a coherent sentence from all her excitement. "No," he shook his head. "Maizy and I aren't anything."
"Oh," she replied. Her face transformed so quickly into a look of such acute disappointment. It would have been comical if it wasn't his love-life that was so disenchanting.
He let out a sigh. "But—" he began.
"But?" she jumped on the word. "There's a but! Come on, Aaron, tell me everything."
"Shh… geez, Jess, calm down, you'll wake up Jack," he scolded lightly.
She looked sheepish for a moment, but to her credit, did not relent. "Spill it," she whispered.
There was no way he was getting to bed without telling Jessica something at least. So, he opened his mouth, intending on giving her the bare facts. Instead, he told her everything. And he meant everything.
"I'm in love with her," he admitted, to himself as much as to Jessica. It was easy to do in the darkness and safety of his home. Without any outside judgment or the harshness of reality, he could fully admit that he loved Maizy Tibbs.
When she didn't comment on his proclamation right away, Hotch glanced up from his lap to look at Jessica self-consciously. She was rooting for him, yes, but he'd just admitted to being in love with another man's—and not just any man: Reid's—girlfriend. He expected to see a little bit of judgment on the woman's face. But looking at Jessica who'd helped him so much, he could see that even in the dim light, her eyes shone bright beneath a sheen of tears. Happy ones, he deduced by the genuine full-wattage smile she was giving him.
"What?" he mumbled, looking away.
"I just… it's just…" she began, shakily. He heard her take a deep breath and then she said more steadily, "I haven't seen you this happy in a long time. You're in love! I'm so happy for you."
He allowed himself a moment to bask in that knowledge. That feeling of rightness you got when you found the person who completed you in every way. Hotch loved Maizy.
Jessica was right, he hadn't been this happy in a very long time. But she was forgetting one important fact: the woman who had him feeling this way wasn't his. Worse, Reid was the one who had her. And Hotch was sure the young doctor loved her too.
This couldn't end well.
"She's with Reid," he reminded unnecessarily.
Jessica sighed. Hotch knew that she was also fond of the younger agent. She didn't want to see him hurt either. "You were serious about fighting for Maizy?" He nodded. God, yes. It was hard to imagine a life without her anymore. "Spencer's a big boy, Aaron. If he wants Maizy than he needs to fight for her, too."
"And our friendship?" he asked the question that had been on his mind ever since all this began. Could it survive this?
Jessica frowned. "I don't know, Aaron."
Not the answer he was hoping for. He guessed he had to decide whether losing Reid's friendship was worth the risk he was about to embark on. A fist clenched over his heart. It was hard to imagine a life without Reid's special brand of quirkiness in it. There was a time he would have never even considered it, but that was a time before Maizy.
"Get some sleep, Aaron," Jessica suddenly said. She looked beat now and ready to crash. The warm milk's doing? Or did he just exhaust her with his problems?
He on the other hand, was now wired and had a racing mind to contend with, courtesy of Jessica's prying. Thanks a lot, Jess! he thought amusedly.
She got out of the chair and turned towards the hallway to the bedrooms. Pausing, she gave him a grin. "I can see them now!"
"Who?" Hotch asked, confused.
"Beautiful, olive-skinned, dark haired baby's Tibbs-Hotchner! Oh the eyes those kids will have!" she replied fanatically.
She laughed manically.
"Jess!" he protested, throwing one of the couch cushions at her. Too late, she'd darted down the hallway in a fit of giggles that were sure to wake up his precious son.
Sometimes… He shook his head from side to side. She was too much like the teasing younger sister he never wanted. Still, he had to smile. It was nice to have someone so solidly in his corner.
Maizy waved to the car on the street from her front stoop. She could see Spencer waving back, a happy smile on his face.
She'd ended up spending the night; though, in a completely different way than she'd intended when she'd first gone with him to his apartment.
Turning to her door, she put the key in the lock.
She didn't want to think about her freak out, even though on another level she knew she'd have to deal with it sometime, maybe even contact her former psychologist Instead, she wanted to dwell on the good parts. The playfulness between them before her outburst. The comfort she'd felt when when they'd settled on the couch together after Spencer had let her borrow a pair of sweats and a t-shirt—both too big, but comfy. Their hands brushing against each other as they reached into the bowl of popcorn between them, smiling at each other each time it happened. And finally waking up with her head on Spencer's shoulder after a long night of Doctor Who watching.
She could have stayed longer, but her family weren't morning people; so she'd asked Spencer to take her home early, before breakfast, so as to avoid answering any uncomfortable questions. With luck, her family hadn't noticed her absence last night.
Pushing open the door, she stepped inside, pausing on the threshold to watch her boyfriend drive away, smiling to herself. How she'd landed such a great guy, she had no idea. The incident with Aaron hadn't come up not once after the awkward car talk. They were back to normal.
She shut the door behind her and would have gone straight upstairs, if it weren't for all the noise coming from the kitchen.
It couldn't be her family; none of them were up before nine am at least. Then it hit her: robbers! She was being robbed!
Maizy grabbed the closest object she could find: a long thin candlestick holder her Aunt Amanda had gifted to her—even though Maizy hated candles as decoration—from the side-table, holding it above her, club-style. She tip-toed to the kitchen.
She'd thought it was robbers. But with each step towards the kitchen she took, the louder the voices became. And the clearer it was that she wasn't being robbed. Not at all.
There was no mistaking the loud commanding voice of her aunt, ordering her family about the kitchen.
What in the world were any of them doing up? Even Rose had inherited the sleeping-in Jenkins-gene they all had.
Maizy entered the kitchen and gaped at the scene before her. Her perfect little, country-style kitchen was a mess!
Alyssa and Amanda were standing at the stove, fighting over Maizy's spatula. From Maizy's spot by the kitchen entrance, she could see a pancake burning in her good frying pan. Mason had Rose in his lap and was attempting to feed her some sort of mush. The little girl was adamantly refusing—probably because it was way too early for her breakfast—and most of the said mush was landing on Mason and the floor around them. Carter wasn't helping much, he kept darting his own spoon full of semi-burned pancake towards the child and Rose kept swinging at it. Finally, she made contact, the spoon flying across the kitchen, its contents flying here and there too. Maizy didn't blame Rose, she blamed her cousins. And in all the chaos her Uncle Chris sat at the head of the table, a newspaper in front of his face, oblivious to the chaos his family was currently engrossed in.
"What in the world!" she exclaimed.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to stare at her as if she were the strange one out of the bunch.
"Maizy, dear, put the candlestick down. For goodness' sake, it's genuine crystal!" Aunt Amanda scolded.
Realizing she was still holding the stick above her head, she lowered it. She almost would have preferred robbers to this, her crazy family.
"What are you guys doing awake? It's only seven!" she questioned.
Carter stood up giving her a searching, critical look. "The better question is why are you just getting home now?"
Mason followed suit, taking poor Rose with him. "And whose clothes are those? Those aren't the clothes you left with."
Maizy had left the dress at Spencer's. She was going to get it later. Her mouth dropped open at her cousin's matching looks of disapproval. But she steadfastly refused to so much as blush.
"Where does this doctor live?" Mason asked suddenly. "He's got some explaining to do!"
"I might hurt him, I'm just saying," Carter added, ever the helpful brother and cousin.
"Guys!" she protested.
And then chaos ensued once again as everyone seemed to talk at once. Both her cousins continued on with their threats, while Amanda tried to get all the "juicy details" about her niece's night with Spencer. And Alyssa attempted to quiet both her husband and the cries of her daughter.
Maizy was just about to scream bloody murder when her uncle Chris bellowed, "Enough!" The room went silent instantly. And all looked at the older man. "Let the girl breathe, geez!" He stood up, too. "Now, I don't want to hear another word about where Maizy was or what she was doing, unless she wants to tell you. Got it?"
Five heads—including baby Rose—nodded solemnly. He moved around the table and approached Maizy. "Good morning, honey," he greeted, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
"Morning, Uncle Chris," she returned happily.
"I'm going to take a nap. It's way too early to be up on a holiday."
The whole room watched the older man go. He was out of sight for all of thirty seconds before the twenty questions began anew. Maizy should have known that even with all of her uncle's good intentions, it wouldn't be a match for the prying Jenkins family.
"I'm going to shower and change," she proclaimed over the questions. "You guys, clean this up!"
She promptly left the room, hoping against all odds that they'd do what she'd told them for once. And leave her alone. She sighed when she heard the footsteps behind her.
No such luck.
Her aunt Amanda slipped inside Maizy's bedroom just before she'd shut the door.
"Aunt Amanda!" she protested.
"No, I know, honey," the older woman said. "I'll leave you be in just a second."
"Ok…" she prompted. There was no helping it, the force that was her aunt would say what she wanted to say when she wanted to say it. No one could stop her.
"So… how was your night?" the woman asked, raising an eyebrow suggestively when Maizy didn't fully get what she was asking.
"Oh!" Maizy blushed acutely. "I didn't… We didn't… We watched Doctor Who all night!" she finally blurted.
"Doctor… Who?" her aunt responded confusedly.
Maizy let out a sigh. Once again, she didn't want to think about the moment she'd lost all sense of time and reality and was transported back to the worst moment in her life. She didn't want to explain to her aunt that nothing had happened between her and Spencer because she was afraid she was too damaged for anything to ever happen between them. She just didn't want to deal with it. At least, not right then. So, she said what she hoped would get her aunt off her back for the time being. "I wasn't ready, Aunt."
"Oh…" the woman who practically raised her responded. A considering look passed over her features, but it went away. "All right… But you had a nice time at the party?"
It was an innocent enough question. But, it brought back to her the last moments of the party. Standing closely with Aaron, his telling her he wanted her. Making things complicated for all of them.
It doesn't have to be… You could have said something…
"The best time," she answered. Aunt Amanda didn't need to know all the details.
"That's good, honey, I'm happy for you," the woman said, thankfully moving towards the door.
Maizy turned towards her dresser, pulling some clothes out for the day.
"Hurry it up, sweetheart, we're all going to the mall to get Rose's picture with Santa done," her aunt informed her. And she had to groan, the line-ups would be massive this close to Christmas Day. "I wonder if Aaron's taken his son…"
Maizy groaned even louder. She just had to say it.
Reid made the climb up the four flights of stairs to his apartment slowly. He didn't relish going home to any empty place, not when it had felt so full just this morning; waking up to the sight of Maizy settled comfortably in his arms.
They'd had a good time together, watching her favorite David Tennant episodes: Blink, The Satan Pit, and Journey's End. And even squeezing in a Matt Smith episode: Vincent and the Doctor. He was almost able to forget about what had occurred earlier in the evening. Almost being the operative word.
Because when she fell asleep first, he watched her, looking for the girl who had been so afraid of him hours earlier. She looked utterly peaceful, no trace of that Maizy whatsoever. Deep down, though, he knew that scared, young woman was still there. And all he could think about was how could he help her. Because it didn't take a profiler to figure out someone had hurt her profoundly. He only wished he knew who had hurt her so he could hurt them as much as they'd done so to Maizy.
Letting out a sigh, he approached his apartment door, now out of sorts; he needed something to distract him from his dark thoughts. Maybe he'd go out and buy a few presents for the Jenkins' family; he didn't want to arrive for Christmas dinner later this week empty handed.
He pulled out his keys and was just about to unlock his door when noises coming from inside made him pause.
What? he thought to himself.
Putting his hand on the doorknob and twisting slowly, he found it unlocked. Someone was most definitely inside. And, unfortunately, his gun was locked away inside as well.
Reid knew he should call 911. Report a break-in. Instead, he examined the lock himself. There was no sign of a forced entry. So how did they get in? Hmm… He was beginning to get a sneaky suspicion about this.
Putting his ear to the door, he listened. There. More than one voice. Suspicions were confirmed.
"Don't you think we should have asked Spencer before taking over his apartment?" Alex's voice. She was speaking to someone. So, there were at least two people in there.
"No!" came Garcia's protest.
Garcia, he should have known. When she'd suggested the team each give her a key to their homes 'just in case…' he should have known she'd use it for nefarious purposes.
"Reid would have made some excuse, anyways," Emily said knowingly.
She was right and she knew him well. But for what the excuse was needed for, that he could not decipher from the other side of the door. And… it was time to make his presence known.
He pushed open the door and got a pretty good shock. For one, his modest, if not shabby, little apartment was spotless! And completely transformed. He looked at his watch—he'd only been gone an hour. So, he had one question: How?—and back at his living room and kitchen. How in the world… he thought, brain slow to comprehend, a new feeling for him.
No one seemed to notice him. So, he had time to take in every one of his intruders. And there were quite a few of them.
Alex and Emily were standing on either side of his bookshelves—now full of his strewn about books. He wondered if they'd placed them alphabetically, or his preferred way, by year of publication. He'd have to check later—hanging red and green streamers. Twisting them around the already hanging strands of popcorn.
Garcia was in the kitchen, bowl in hand, mixing something up. Now that he was inside he could smell the delicious aromas coming from there. Currently, she was pulling double duty: cooking and scolding Morgan, who was sitting at the island, lazily eating chocolate chip cookies.
Even JJ, Will, and Henry seemed to be in on the home invasion. All three were perched around a tree—where and when did they have time to get that?—at different heights, decorating. They were also the first ones to notice his presence.
JJ looked past Will, the smile on her face dimming just a bit when her eyes lit on him. "Oh!" she said in surprise.
"Uncle Spence!" Henry exclaimed, running to him for a hug. Reid quickly knelt down, catching him mid-launch.
He squeezed the little tyke back tightly. "Hey, buddy," he greeted; despite the situation, he was always happy to see his godson.
His eyes, though, looked past his little blonde head to stare at his friends shrewdly. All activity had stopped in that moment.
Henry let go of him and pointed to the tree. "Look, we got you a tree Uncle Spence. How come you didn't have one already? Want to decorate it with me and mommy and daddy?" the little one shot off rapid fire.
Reid stood up again, sparing Henry a smile. "In a bit, Henry."
"It wasn't me!" the boy's father exclaimed quickly; Will's finger pointed at the culprit unnecessarily. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out whose brain-child this fiasco was.
"Gee, thanks, Will." Garcia frowned.
She put down the bowl she'd been mixing and came around the island. Garcia was wearing the apron Maizy had put on over her gown just last night. Fond memories flooded him, softening his expression.
"So, I wanted to have a family post-party breakfast bash, so sue me!" she exclaimed defensively, almost daringly. As if to say, 'just try to stop me!'
"Ok… but why here?" Reid asked slowly.
"For one," she started, counting on her fingers. "Why not?"
"Err…" he stammered, that wasn't a reason.
"We also had a running bet to see if you even remembered what time of year it was right now… you didn't," JJ quickly took over.
"And, baby girl, here, wanted to catch you in the act with Maziy!" Morgan added triumphantly.
"Derek!" both Emily and Garcia exclaimed together, the latter close enough to punch him on the shoulder.
"Ouch!" The big profiler rubbed at his arm. "What? It's the truth, isn't it?"
"Well, you don't tell him that? Look, now he's blushing. You've gone and embarrassed your best friend."
"Nah uh, that's all you, Penelope. This was your idea—"
Reid listened to them banter at his expense. No doubt that he was blushing just as Garcia claimed him to be. Why they all felt the need to butt in on his love life, he had no clue. He didn't remember everyone arranging a get together at JJ's when she revealed her relationship to Will.
Why me?
"Uh… Where is Maizy?" Alex asked delicately, her calming voice cutting through Morgan and Garcia's bickering.
"I just dropped her off at home," he replied, only too late realizing what he'd revealed.
"She stayed the night?" Garcia latched on to that fact.
"Uh…" he stumbled.
"You had a sleepover with Mrs. Tibbs?" Henry piped up. "Did you have a pillow fight?"
"They sure did, kid!" Morgan answered, sending an annoying wink Reid's way.
"Morgan!" this time Emily and JJ scolded.
Reid felt the beginnings of a headache. He still hadn't had his morning coffee yet. He was not ready to deal with this.
"Is there coffee?" he asked, moving to the kitchen. He found a full pot waiting for him. The first right thing to happen since his arrival. He poured himself a mug full in his favorite cup—someone had also done the dishes. Nice—and turned to face the waiting horde. "It's not what any of you are thinking," he finished.
"You didn't have a pillow fight with Mrs. Tibbs?" Henry asked confusedly, also looking disappointed.
"Ok…" Will piped up. "Henry, can you help me with those presents we bought your uncle Spence, inside?"
The little boy, easily distracted, jumped up. "Yeah!"
They all collectively waited until the two LaMontagne's were out of ear shot.
And then more than one mouth opened to speak. So, Reid cut them all off quickly. "We had a nice night…" He knew there was no way he was getting away with not saying a thing about what happened after they'd left the party. "We had a… moment."
They did. They had. But then Maizy had panicked and the moment had spiraled out of control. Reid didn't think he'd ever forget the pure look of fear on Maizy's face. It scared him and at the same time it urged him to do whatever was in his power to protect her.
"He's frowning, why is he frowning?" Garcia tugged on Morgan's sleeve. "Fix this!"
"I'm sure it's nothing, Pen," Emily urged for reason. "Right, Reid? It's nothing. You and Maizy are all right, right? Right?"
The hysteria was already spreading.
"We're fine. We had a good time," he quickly assured. "We watched Doctor Who until we fell asleep. We woke up and I took her home. End of story."
"How… romantic?" JJ said questioningly.
Contrary to popular belief. It was. Well, before and after Maizy's attack. So nothing physical happened between them. That didn't matter. He still enjoyed and loved the time he spent with her.
But, he didn't have to explain that to them. It was definitely time for a subject change. "What's for breakfast?" he asked. "And if this is a family breakfast, where are Kevin, Rossi, and Hotch?"
"Kevin's on his way home; he's spending Christmas with his family. And yes he did invite me along, I declined." Garcia looked tight-lipped after that. There was a story there, but unlike his friends, he would respect her privacy.
"Uh… ok…"
"And Rossi is busy with Bree," Morgan informed suggestively.
Emily groaned. "Did someone slip my boyfriend stupid pills or… Viagra or something?"
"Hey," he protested at the same time everyone laughed.
"And we couldn't reach Hotch," JJ said. "He's probably spending the day with Jack.
Hotch. Why did he have to mention the other man's name? It brought back to mind the compromising positon he'd found the two of them in the night before. His friend and boss was so clearly pursuing his girlfriend. Reid didn't know how that made him feel. Angry, sure. Hurt, definitely. He wished the man he looked up to would at least have the guts to come out and say it. Reid was a big boy and he could handle the competition.
"Reid?"
He looked up to see everyone watching him concernedly.
"You ok?" Morgan asked.
He shook off the melancholy feeling and looked around the room. A good chunk of the people who he cared about were here. There wasn't time to dwell on the depressing, not when everyone was in the mood for a good time. So he put his game face on—a big grin—and asked, "What can I do to help?"
That's it for this chapter. I didn't realize how much the Maizy and Reid parts of this chapter mirror each other until I sat down to do my final edit. That's what happens when you write chunks of your chapter sporadically, I guess. Lol.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed! And I hope you'll let me know what you thought about this chapter. Thanks!
And thanks to everyone who's been reading, following and favoriting this story.
Big thanks to those who left a review: natalie in boston (Totally plan on continuing this. It will be finished, despite my crappy updating habits. Lol. Thx for the review!); nebula2 (yay for Maizy earning points, now if only we could get Hotch some. Lol. As always thank you for reviewing!); Ezeiel (I hope you enjoyed your holiday.); Marcallie; BarbyChan4ever; Annber03 (Thank you so much for your review! You have a way of providing insight into the characters that I didn't even realize. Like how he had to deal with Maizy's trance-like attack is similar to what he probably had to deal with with his mother. Dead on. So, yeah, thanks! I appreciate it.); jmdernier (lol. I'll try); Lor-Zod (Ch 24 was the Reid chapter I was speaking of. But don't worry, he's not done yet. The next chapter, I believe, will contain some more drama—what's new, right? Lol—and a significant Reid portion. Hope you're enjoying!); Reidisawesome (I'm sorry you feel that way. But thank you for saying that it's written well. I knew when I started this that it would be a tough read for some; putting two of our favorite characters at odds over some girl… Yeah, I get it. But, I'm trying to tell it as realistically as possible for a situation as this. Anyways… thank you for taking the time to let me know what you think. It's appreciated.); and TheMysteriousGeek2345.
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