Prompt: Mistletoe

Characters: Alex & the team (Season 8)

Words: 398

The first time it happened, Alex found herself unprepared. One moment, she was standing in a doorway, and the next, Reid had pecked her on the cheek.

"What- What was that?" she stuttered, surprised.

"Mistletoe," he nodded above her head.

So, really, she should not have been surprised when Rossi gave her a very chaste kiss later that night as she was passing from the living room into the hallway. She pressed her lips together, hating to let her need for personal space and proper etiquette get in the way of the fun of her first office party. The truth remained, though, Alex felt like an outsider.

All these people knew each other, and, save Reid, she didn't have the same advantage. It was difficult to inject herself into conversations about family, home lives, children, or Emily Prentiss, when she had no firsthand experience with any of it. So, it was only natural that Alex stood on the fringes of the group. Unfortunately for her - she always happened to be backed under that damn mistletoe.

Morgan and, God, even Hotch, managed to sneak one in when Alex was least expecting it. But then, she breathed a sigh of relief. That was it. No more surprise kisses under the mistletoe.

But an hour later, when Alex caught herself inadvertently lurking in the same doorway again (for the record, she blamed Reid's shoebox sized apartment), Alex realized she had sorely underestimated JJ and Garcia. They looked at her with humor shining in their eyes. She tried to back away, but they caught her between them, each smooching her on a cheek.

"Okay, what is this, exactly? Would someone fill me in, please?" she gasped, laughing in spite of herself.

"It's initiation," JJ whispered against her face.

"Into the wonderful world of BAU Christmas parties," Garcia added, and Alex was sure she left a bright red lipstick print in her wake. "Just go with it. We mean well," she reassured as everyone laughed. "It's all love."

Alex thought she might be the butt of office jokes, or just plain shunned, but the mistletoe business really did break the ice. Especially when JJ and Hotch's little boys ran toward her, screaming, "Mistletoe!" and wrapped their arms around her because "kisses were gross."

"So? Did I pass?" she asked JJ, with a boy clinging to each leg.

"With flying colors," JJ grinned.