Playing Games by JuliaBC
A/N: Tag to 11x19: Tribute
The evening was winding down, and Reid could see a restless energy in Emily, something driving her motions and she was talking even more than usual.
She didn't want to leave. Of course, she wasn't leaving yet, but she didn't want to leave period.
He smiled a little, feeling the usual bittersweet pinch of seeing her again. Of course she'd leave again. Of course it wouldn't last.
That emotion was always paramount when surveying his friend.
"I want to challenge you guys," Emily finally said, lifting her glass. "Damn, it's empty."
"Challenge us?" Rossi asked, crooking a brow.
"It's time to drink," Emily said. "I've been disgustingly sober for too long. Tequila shots are in order; I'm challenging you guys to drink more than me."
"No, no, no, we're working tomorrow," Hotch said immediately, holding up his hand.
"Chicken," Emily gasped. "Hotch is a chicken. I never thought I'd see the day."
"Wait," Hotch said, a smile twitching through on his trying-to-be-stony face.
"I am so in on this thing," Garcia chortled, flagging the waitress down. "Tequila shots for all of us. Do we need to show our IDs?"
"No," she giggled, dismissing the thought, and recounted them before going off to fetch the drinks.
"Okay, fine," Hotch said. "I'm in too, but for the love of God, no one needs to go past getting buzzed. If anyone passes out tonight, I'm suspending them."
"Tough," Emily whined. "Good thing I don't work for you anymore."
"You've got a visit with the Morgans tomorrow and I don't think Morgan will appreciate you showing up hungover tomorrow," Hotch warned. "Have you forgotten?"
"Derek'll just be jealous that he didn't come," Emily sniffed. "His fault. I texted him."
"It is his fault then!" Garcia said. "He could have come for drinks and dinner!" The tech analyst sighed, shoving her food away.
Emily sighed. "Fine. I'll be responsible."
Reid smiled as the tequila came, looking a little warily at the shot placed in front of him.
"I can definitely have four without being hungover," Emily announced.
"I don't really like tequila," Rossi said, looking down at his glass. "The taste is so...juvenile."
"Get over it," JJ joked. "You just don't want to do it."
"My, these ladies are certainly challenging tonight, aren't they?" Rossi said, raising his eyes to meet Hotch's. "I feel a little pressured."
"I'm going to pressure you too," Tara cracked. "Raise your glass, David Rossi."
She downed her own; the first to do so. Emily and JJ let out a cheer.
"I'm going to toast this team with my shot," Garcia said. "Yes, I meant singular. I'm trying to be healthy and last time I drank a large amount of tequila I couldn't walk straight for two days."
"You've been remarkably quiet tonight, Reid," Emily said, turning to him. "I think you should go next."
"You're a lightweight, Reid, and there's nothing wrong with that," Hotch began. "Don't let these guys make you drunk."
Reid downed his shot, flinching a little at the taste. Rossi was right; it wasn't a nice flavor.
"He went for it," JJ applauded. "I love it." She downed her own, following Tara's lead and asking the waitress for another.
Emily drank hers, forcing Hotch and Rossi to follow suit.
"Second round," Emily called out. "Come on!"
"I give up, you can call me chicken as much as you like but I do not like the taste," Rossi said, folding his arms. "Could you bring me a martini?"
"Spoilsport," Emily grumbled, taking another shot.
Hotch was considering the glass in front of him, and Tara and JJ were already on their thirds.
Reid took his second quietly, getting a side eye from Hotch, who rolled his eyes and shoved his glass away. "Not getting drunk tonight," he apologized.
"So you're stopping at one?" Emily crowed. "You're the real lightweight here, Aaron Hotchner."
"I know my limits," he said stiffly. "Unlike some people."
Reid reached over and took Hotch's shot, letting the liquid go down quickly, not sure what his aim was here.
"That's your third," Rossi commented.
"Who's third?" Tara asked. "Me and JJ are on thirds, but I just remembered that I have an interview tomorrow and should be clearheaded."
"Speaking of, Will is off tomorrow so maybe I should stop too," JJ said, returning her fourth shot to the table untouched.
Tara sighed, following JJ's lead.
Emily reached for one glass, downing Tara's. "Four," she cheered. "I didn't even have to go past my limit to beat everyone. I am the boss, you guys can admit it."
Reid reached to take JJ's, feeling something, probably alcohol, maybe something stronger, slip into his veins.
As much as he wanted to remember, there were some things he wanted to forget. And sometimes it took something a little stronger.
The whole table went silent for a moment.
"I thought Reid was a lightweight," Tara said, as Reid ordered another round.
"Wait, I have to take another shot to beat you?" Emily said.
"Or the other way around, considering that here is my tequila and you haven't ordered another yet," Reid said, taking the glass, his hand remarkably steady.
Really, he should get drunk more often. This was not nearly as bad as he'd feared it would be.
Emily's eyes narrowed. "I bet you won't actually drink the fifth," she said.
The words weren't even completely out of her mouth before he downed the glass.
She pounded her hands on the table. "This is war, damn it!" She said.
The waitress brought another round. Emily took the fifth without blinking and Reid took his sixth, feeling a very pleasant buzz.
"This is the tipping point," Emily said. "You take a seventh and it'll stop being fun."
She took her sixth, her eyes challenging him, almost choking but getting it down. "There," she said triumphantly. "Six. Give up now, Spencer Reid, and no one has to get in trouble."
"I'm cutting you both off," Hotch said. "I mean it."
There was one more glass on the table.
Reid took it and down it went, blurring his vision and making him suddenly dizzy.
JJ and Garcia had to actually talk down Emily from ordering another, but when she had, Emily came over to Reid. "Good job," she said, clapping him on the back.
He didn't sway forward and he felt very impressed with himself.
"Don't ever do this again," she continued. "It's really weird to see you drunk. You're supposed to be the one spouting off facts about how dangerous blood alcohol poisoning is."
"It may occur to you that I have grown up," he said, the words teasing.
"Or just wilder," Emily said. She slipped her arms around him in a clumsy hug. "Garcia, get a picture," she called, and the tech analyst got a shot. "The defender and the new champion," she announced.
"None of you are driving," Hotch warned. "I've already called taxis."
"You isn't driving?" JJ asked.
"You, Tara, Emily and Reid," Hotch said. "Rossi I'm not sure about either, but he can make that decision since he only had one shot."
"I'm getting a taxi too," Rossi admitted. "I wouldn't want to get a ticket tonight of all nights."
"But our cars," JJ protested.
Hotch smiled a little thinly. "I took care of it," he said. "Remind to never go to a place that serves alcohol with you guys when we have to work tomorrow again. I don't want to see any of you in the office until tomorrow afternoon."
JJ cheered. "Do you mean it?" She said. "You're the best, Hotch."
He let a reluctant smile slip out. "I wouldn't say that," he said.
Reid realized, a bit too late, that Emily's arm was still around him. "Em?" He asked, and realized that she was snoozing on his shoulder, eyes closed tight and mouth wide open.
There were some memories you couldn't pay for. This was one of them. He found himself leaning into the drunk woman and just letting it happen, until Rossi said that he'd take Emily home and let her stay at his place; she'd never sorted out a hotel.
Reid wandered outside, Hotch nearby, steering him to a taxi. Hotch gave the driver Reid's address, but Reid leaned forward.
"No, can you change that?" He asked.
"Why?" Hotch asked, eyes piercing Reid.
"I need to pick up Poe at Kate's," Reid explained.
Hotch nodded, giving the driver Kate's address instead, and then turned to Reid again, before the genius got inside. "Why get so drunk, Reid?"
"Because I wanted to be in the game for once," Reid said, folding his arms. "Instead of just watching. I see Emily what, once a year if I'm lucky?"
"You won't even remember this night," Hotch warned.
"Try me," Reid said, and toppled into the backseat of the taxi, waving goodbye.
Kate startled awake at one a.m., at the sound of the doorbell.
Oh god, what if it was bad news?
She stumbled from the bed, hurrying downstairs in her pajamas, almost tripping in her hurry. She saw a taxi outside; what the hell could that mean?
And then she saw Reid, and threw the door open.
"Reid!" She exclaimed. "Is there something wrong?"
"Everything..." He began, swirling on his foot and lunging forward, catching himself on the house. "Close one," he said.
"You're drunk," she said.
"Maybe," he admitted. "Listen, I've got a taxi and I'm fine. I just need to pick up Poe."
"Sorry?" She asked.
"I'm here to pick up Poe, I'm sorry that it's late but I thought you'd be expecting me," Reid said, his voice very wobbly indeed.
The relief that this was just a social call, a bizarre one, certainly, but just a social call nonetheless, had Kate suddenly laughing, feeling a little weak in the knees from how relieved she was. She moved behind her to sit down on the stairs, just laughing out loud.
"Why is that funny?" Reid asked, swaying into the house.
"Because of one thing, Reid, or maybe three," Kate said. "Oh god. First, I've never seen you drunk and it's kind of adorable, even if I'm slightly fearing for your life right now. Second, it's past one a.m. and I almost fell out of bed trying to get down here. Third, Poe isn't here, Reid. You left him with Travis."
The taxi driver was now approaching the house. "Hey, do I have to wait?" He asked. "The meter is building and I'm losing fares."
"Go ahead," Kate said, standing up. "I'll get him home. Are you paid?"
"Yeah, his boss swiped his card at the beginning," the driver said. "With a very hefty tip to get him home safely."
"Hotch is worried too," Kate said, sending the driver off, shutting the door behind her.
Reid was now in the middle of her foyer, staring down at her. "I thought you were driving me home," he said.
"In the morning," she said. "My guest room bed is very comfortable. I think you'll be fine, especially considering that if you hadn't forgotten that Poe wasn't here, you wouldn't have woken me in the first place."
She pushed him up the stairs, trying hard to get his tall body through the halls, until he was lying face forward on the bed.
"Good night, Reid," she whispered, thinking that he'd fully passed out.
"It's actually morning," he mumbled, barely lifting his head.
"Well, that's debatable," she said, and carefully closed the door.
A/N: Would recommend Hippiechic81's story titled Gotta Do What Ya Gotta Do for those hoping for an Emily/Derek interaction.
To someone who is still confused, this is a story centered around Kate. Therefore it will have a lot of Kate in it and I will never apologize for that.
