I know a lot of people in the fandom (cough myself included cough) were disappointed that Spencer was never announced as bisexual (though it was def cannon and Prentiss was def gay too but it's fine). In honor of this, as well as a suggestion by Petunia, I present to you a 5 + 1 of the five times Reid came out to his team and the one time he didn't have to. This isn't necessarily during season 3, but it's with the cast from 3 :)
Once again this is much longer than I intended it to be initially, but I had so much fun writing it. Enjoy some more cute fluff. Reid needs a break from all the pain sometimes. 3

Five Times Reid Came Out to the BAU Team and the One Time he Didn't Have To

Reid knew he was not completely straight. He'd known for a very long time. When he was going into college at the spry age of thirteen, he started to realize that he was interested in girls, but he was also interested in a lot of guys. Out of curiosity, he'd done some research and it turned out he was bisexual.

Now, Reid had never actually come out to anyone before, in fact, he didn't really see the need for it. Maybe it was because he never really had anyone he wanted to come out to. His dad left when he was eight, and his didn't feel like he needed to tell his mom. It would probably just confuse her, and she'd forget. Plus, he knew that no matter the gender of his significant other, his mother would always be supportive.

That's why, as an almost 26-year-old man, it was confusing to Reid when he suddenly felt like he was hiding from his new family. On one hand, he knew they wouldn't care who he dated, but at the same time he was terrified that the moment they found out he was bi, they would stop treating him like a part of the family.

Reid found himself mulling it over for weeks until he was constantly nervous around the team. He knew he needed to tell someone just to get it over with. He was struggling to sleep because he'd become so anxious about being rejected, and it was wearing down on him.

Logically, he knew it wasn't a big deal. None of them had ever mentioned anything that suggested they were homophobic, not that he really expected that little of them. But each time he got up the courage to say something, his body seemed to shut itself down and he ended up retreating.

1- Derek

Tonight was different, though. They had flown to Arizona, chasing an unsub who was killing people like 'Son of Sam' had. Because of that, the team was paired off, sitting in downtown Phoenix in the night, waiting to see any suspicious looking activity.

Morgan and Reid had been paired together. The two of them sat in silence, surveying the area. It had been a few hours already, and they hadn't seen much activity. Reid's leg was bouncing up and down with anxiety. He knew now was a perfect time to say something to Derek. It was just the two of them, no one would overhear the conversation. Plus, it was Derek. He was high on the list of people who wouldn't care what his sexuality was.

Reid awkwardly cleared his throat, making up his mind. He was going to do this now.

"Uh… Derek? C-can I tell you s-something?" he stuttered nervously, looking down. He wiped sweaty palms on his pants, anxiety building quickly.

Derek's head turned, slight confusion on his face. "Of course, what's up?"

"Um…" he trailed off clenching his jaw. He shook his head and bit his lip. He could do this! Reid looked up, making eye contact with Derek. The man was concerned, probably assuming he was about to confess something awful to him. Reid opened his mouth, but no words came out. Suddenly his mouth was very dry, and he couldn't form any sentences.

"Hey, hey, hey kid. Whatever you tell me just stays between the two of us, okay? It's alright." He reached out a hand, grabbing Reid's tightly. He squeezed lightly, hoping to encourage the kid to spit out whatever had been bothering him. He'd clearly been anxious about something the past few weeks, but just couldn't get the nerve to tell anyone on the team what was going on. Derek didn't want the kid to back out now.

Reid nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat. No backing out now. "I'm… um… bisexual."

The look on Derek's face quickly flashed from concern to confusion to happiness. He started laughing. Reid's face flushed, unsure of what to make of the reaction.

"Oh my god kid, the way you were acting, I thought you were going to tell me something horrible!" This brought a smile to Reid's face, and he began to chuckle a little as well. Derek pulled him into a hug, smiling at the kid. He held him tight for a few seconds before letting up a bit. Keeping his arms on the kid's shoulder, he gave a big smile. "I'm really glad you felt comfortable enough to tell me Reid. I hope you know that I don't care who you date, as long as they're not an asshole."

"Thanks Derek. Really… th-that means a lot." Reid beamed. He felt a heavy weight off his chest. "You're uh… the first person I've ever come out to." He stated.

Derek's smile somehow became even warmer with affection. "Well I'm honored." He reached up to ruffle the kid's hair, "I'm glad I could be the first one to support my little brother."

Reid smirked, tears building in his eyes a bit. He was very touched, and so happy, that Derek was being so supportive. It was more than he could've hoped for.

Feeling a lot lighter, and much happier, the two returned to their stake out.

The team didn't miss Reid's improved mood when they returned to the station the next morning. They'd all noticed something was off the past few weeks, and it was odd to see that he suddenly was acting normal again. The team was curious what had happened in that car, but whenever someone asked Derek he'd just say, "You'll find out in time, the kid will tell you one way or another."

2- JJ

JJ and Reid had run to the local coffee shop in the small town they were in. The case they were working was a tough one, and it looked like it was turning into a spree. Hotch had been desperately attempting to get Reid to pull himself away from the cork board for hours, and finally JJ was able to lure him away with the promise of coffee.

Reid rubbed his eyes for the hundredth time, attempting to wipe away the sleepiness that lay within them. His dark circles made his eyes looked bruised and his hair was all over the place. Needless to say, his guard was definitely down.

He was currently sitting in one of the booths, waiting on their order. JJ had gotten up to use the restroom, so he began people watching out of boredom.

Reid suddenly became completely distracted when a cute guy walked in. He looked like an angel. Tall, muscly, and a bit of scruff on his face. He was wearing a plaid shirt and tight jeans. VERY tight jeans. Reid found himself slightly entranced by the man's appearance.

He stared at him as he ordered coffee and watched him walk over to the opposite counter to wait on his drink. The man must have noticed his staring because unexpectedly he sent a sultry smirk Reid's way. Reid's eyes immediately widened, and he whipped his head in the opposite direction, blushing profusely. He hadn't meant to be so obvious.

A few seconds later though, a large hand placed a napkin appeared in front of him, with a name and cellphone number scribbled down on it. Reid glanced up; the man was standing right next to him. He was incredibly tall and handsome, and Reid seemed to be at a loss for words.

"Call me." His deep voice stated. The man smirked, turning to leave with coffee cup in hand. Reid sat there in shock for a few minutes, trying to process what happened.

He was brought out of his trance when JJ appeared in the booth next to him.

"Spence you look like you've seen a ghost," she jived, then she reached for the napkin, "what's this?"

Reid swiftly grabbed the napkin before she could get it and she looked up at him shocked.

"Uhhhhhhhh… nothing?" He claimed.

"Oh my god, did you get a girl's number?" JJ smiled, teasing. She began laughing, trying to reach for the napkin.

Reid's nerves spiked. Now was as good of a time as any. "Um it's a guy's number… I-I'm actually bisexual." He stated quietly. He had a small bit of fear in his eyes as he waited for a reply.

JJ paused for a moment, nodded her head and said "oh, okay" and then continued her playful escapade to grab the napkin. Reid was immediately relieved, smiling and laughing as she attempted to grab the note.

She eventually did get it from him and began singing "Spencer and Marcus sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" while running away from him in the parking lot.

Reid laughed with slight embarrassment but mostly happiness. He always knew JJ wouldn't really care if he was bi, but he felt better now that she actually knew. When they'd settled down in the car, she handed him the note back, telling him he should give the guy a call before they left town.

"Maybe if we have extra time…" Reid said, smiling. "Um actually, JJ, could you not… uh mention this to anyone? Only you and Morgan know…" he stated, trailing off.

JJ smiled, "of course Spence." She laughed a little, "I hope you realize I will be telling Morgan about this 'Marcus' fellow though."

Reid's eyes widened, "Oh god please don't he'll never let it go," he pleaded, but JJ shook her head.

"Yeah, Spence, that's the point. You're our little brother, it's our job to embarrass you."

Reid's face turned red and he slid down in his seat slightly, but he didn't really care all that much. He was just happy that he was able to be himself and his two family members were supporting him unconditionally.

3- Garcia

He'd been in Las Vegas, visiting his mom, when the team got called on a case. They'd flown up to Atlantic City to investigate a series of murders which had taken place over the last few months.

Reid was going to join them, but his mom hadn't been doing very well, so Hotch insisted he stay in Las Vegas with her instead. She'd been taking new medication, and the introduction to it was going to be a long process. The drug should help her a lot, but the first month of it being in a patient's system had proven to be difficult, causing more psychotic episodes. Essentially, the drugs would make her a lot worse, before she became a lot better.

He stayed two extra days but decided he couldn't watch his mother continue to spiral. It was too painful. Feeling a bit down, he made his way back to DC.

When he came into the office the next day, he found the team was still in AC. He called Hotch, asking if he should come up to meet them, but Hotch told him to stay in Quantico instead. He could catch up on the case faster and then work with Garcia in her office, hopefully developing a helpful geographical profile or adding to their current victimology or profile.

Reid made his way to Garcia's office, still down from his trip to see his mom. He held a cup of much too sugary coffee in one hand and lots of files in the other. He rushed to her door, awkwardly opening it and letting himself in.

"Spencer! Welcome back!" Garcia squealed with excitement. He managed to put down his coffee before she threw herself at him, hugging him tightly. He smiled lightly, wrapping his unoccupied arm around her.

"How was your mom? Was your trip good?" She asked, delight on her face.

Reid's face dropped at the mention of his mother, but he recovered quickly. "Uh yeah, it was fine." He said, attempting a smile. He tried to divert away from any other questions she was about to ask; "tell me about the case."

Garcia immediately launched into a summary of what they'd found. Reid listened to her and simultaneously began reading through the files. By the time she was finished, he'd gotten through all the reports and was beginning to compile a profile in his head.

The team had found that when jumping into a case, it was better to take all the information and make your own profile before looking at the one that had been given already. This way, there was another unbiased second opinion which either further supported the first profile or could oppose it and help the investigation look in a different direction.

He quickly began drawing a geographical profile on the map Garcia had handed him. He started connecting the dump sites to where victims were taken, and all the other important locations they'd found. He was also studying victimology in his head, forming a profile.

When he'd finished, he quickly relayed his profile to Garcia. It matched almost perfectly to the profile the team had given. She sent a photo of the map Reid had drawn up to the team, hoping it would help narrow down the search for the unsub.

Reid began to slow down now, finally having sent off his most important information to the team. Garcia was scrolling through ViCAP, attempting to match victims. He glanced around at her other screens. There were six men on one of the screens. All of them were pretty attractive, Reid noticed, that was a shame. Why couldn't murders all be ugly losers, instead of attractive losers?

Garcia noticed his staring and smirked. "Those are possible unsubs. It's a shame that they're all beefcakes isn't it?"

Reid scoffed, "You can say that again." Suddenly he froze, realizing he'd said that out loud. He turned around and Garcia had the world's biggest smile on her face. He immediately became beet red, but he was at a loss for words and couldn't figure out how to explain himself.

"Oh. My. God! Is my baby boy into the same beefcakes as me?! Can we gossip about men together?! I'M SO EXCITED OH MY GOD REID!" She got up from her chair, throwing herself at him. She wrapped him into a bone crushing hug.

He started to laugh as she pulled away. "Um yeah, I'm bi. So… I can definitely appreciate a, uh, 'beefcake' with you." He smiled as she began to squeal in excitement. She pulled out a box of pins that she'd had randomly shoved in one of her drawers. After a few moments of searching, she picked out a bi pride flag pin, and immediately handed it to him.

He grinned, taking it from her. Some happy tears began building in his eyes, he was very touched. "Thank you." He whispered, looking closely at the detail of it.

She grabbed his hand, closing his palm around the pin. "Whenever you're ready to be fully out for all to see, I want you to wear that. I know it can be scary to come out to people, even if you know that you'll get their support regardless, and I'm not going to pressure you to go any faster than you're comfortable with, but whenever you're ready, I want you to wear that pin with pride." He nodded, a few tears escaping from his eyes. He mouthed another thank you at her and she once again wrapped her arms around him.

When they separated, he gently placed the pin in a small pocket in his satchel for safe keeping. One day, he'd do exactly what Garcia had suggested. He'd wear that pin with pride.

4- Prentiss

It was kind of shocking that it took him so long to work up the nerve to tell Prentiss. I mean, Hotch and Rossi he felt like were more understandable. Hotch was like his dad, so he was incredibly nervous to come out to him, and Rossi… Well he grew up in a different generation, and that in and of itself made Reid a little nervous. But Prentiss? I mean she was like his older INCREDIBLY protective sister. There was no way she would do anything but support him unconditionally.

Yet, somehow, Reid almost forgot to come out to her. He didn't really feel like he needed to, he kind of thought she might already know. Not that any of the other team members he told had shared the information (well, not until they knew other people knew, Morgan, JJ, and Garcia were still all secretly teasing him about the Marcus story).

So, it wasn't until she caught him checking someone out that Reid realized she had no idea that he was bi.

They had been walking around a park on a day off. They had finished a case the previous day and were actually receiving a weekend, like a normal person with an ordinary job would get. Prentiss had asked Reid if he wanted to go to brunch and catch up since they hadn't talked about their outside lives in a while. They were currently finishing their drinks, walking through the park near the restaurant, continuing to fill each other in on their relatively small social lives.

Reid had been speaking to Prentiss about his mother. She was doing much better now that she had adjusted to her medication. He was hoping to go visit her again soon now that she was more lucid. He was in the middle of his sentence when he spotted him.

The man was very attractive. He had short, wavy blond hair and very tan sun kissed skin. He was muscular and looked like your typical surfer dude. But what made Reid completely lose his train of thought was his outfit. The man was wearing booty shorts and a crop top in the middle of autumn. His ass was essentially hanging out of his shorts and Reid could stare at his abs for days.

He hadn't even realized that he'd stopped talking, or that he was practically gawking until Prentiss elbowed him in the ribs.

"OW! Em!" He said, turning to Prentiss.

She smirked, "really Reid, do you wanna be a little more obvious when checking out a guy? I mean just like that, IQ of 187 turned into 6." She began to walk again, leaving him in the dust when he furrowed his brows.

He'd never told her, had he?

"Wait!" He said, running to catch up with her, "Um Emily, I should tell you that-"

"You're bi? Uh yeah, no shit kiddo. A disaster bi for sure." She stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Reid was taken aback. "Did Garcia tell you? Or-"

"Listen kid, you're not the only gay one standing here, okay. I knew you were a disaster bi a long time ago, just like I'm sure you're completely oblivious to the fact that I'm a HUGE lesbian."

Reid blinked, "Oh." He smiled as she shook her head at him, "Cool."

She put her hand on his back, guiding him to keep walking. "Next time you check someone out, at least keep your mouth closed so you don't drool all over yourself."

He immediately wiped his mouth, "Hey!"

"Just trying to look out for you" she said, playfully shoving him to the side.

Reid smiled. "Thanks Em."

5- Hotch

No matter what words of encouragement the other four members of the team gave him, Reid still felt a pit in his stomach standing outside of Hotch's house. He'd been trying to come out to his father figure for a few months now, but every time the time was right he'd either chicken out at the last minute, or they'd be interrupted.

Emily had announced to the team that she was gay a few days after she'd told Reid. She didn't really need to come out, as she'd already told everyone, but she wanted to "show Reid how it was done."

This consisted of the song Run the World by Beyonce playing on a boombox as Prentiss was wheeled into the bullpen by Garcia. She was wearing a bright pink dress and holding about ten sparklers. She had two giant flags, one the general rainbow pride and one the lesbian pride flags behind her and there was a giant cake that read 'I'm gay bitches!'

Everyone had laughed and clapped for her as she took a bow, thanking everyone for witnessing her beautiful performance. She sent a pointed look at Reid and then had walked over to cut the cake.

Reid could never do anything that extravagant, he hated being the center of attention. Hell, he hated when people sang him happy birthday because of that reason. But he still wanted to do something formal for Hotch.

That's why he was standing awkwardly outside of Hotch's house. The man had invited him over for dinner so they could catch up. Hotch tried to have him over once a week so that he knew Reid was getting a homecooked meal and the two of them could just have some nice bonding time.

However, lately their case load had been so crazy, he hadn't had the kid over in almost two months.

When they'd finally had a break and Hotch invited him over, he decided it was time. He was going to come out to Hotch. He went to his friends, looking for advice.

Emily suggested they all come over and do something extremely extravagant as she'd done (mentions of rainbow glitter-bombing Hotch's living room so it would be forever ruined had been brought up, but Reid quickly shot it down). Garcia seconded Prentiss, but Reid shook his head.

Morgan and JJ had both told him to just say it casually, as he'd been doing with everyone else. He didn't need to do anything fancy. They knew Hotch's approval mattered a lot to him, but he didn't need to be worried. Hotch wasn't going to stop loving the kid because of this.

Reid took a deep breath, knocking on the door. Hotch quickly answered it, smiling and stepping back so that Reid could enter. He quickly slipped off his converse, revealing two mismatching but equally bright colored socks.

Hotch lead him into the dining room, food already sitting out, ready for the two of them. Quickly, Reid took his seat, smiling in thanks at Hotch. The man began speaking of Jack and his latest endeavors at school. Jack had a science fair project which Reid had helped him with, and he ended up getting third place in the science fair. Reid beamed at this, excited that Jack was doing so well. He loved that kid.

After a while, Hotch shifted the attention, asking Reid what he'd been doing in his small amount of free time. Reid's stomach started to flip as anxiety filled him. He couldn't back out now, he'd never hear the end of it if he chickened out again. Plus, he was kind of scared Emily might glitter-bomb HIS apartment if he didn't do this tonight.

Clearing his throat, Reid put down his cutlery, focusing his attention at the task at hand. He took a deep breath before making eye contact with Hotch.
"Um, Hotch? There's actually something I've been wanting to tell you for a long time… I mean not a super long time like I haven't been hiding something from you for years, or well, I guess I have, but it was unintentional, I just didn't think it was important until recently and now I feel like I need to tell you but I've been nervous because I don't know how you'll react and you're really important to me so I don't want to mess up our relationship and-"

"Spencer, breathe" Hotch said, cutting him off. Reid took a shaking breath, realizing that he'd been going on an unintentional ramble because he was nervous. "Whatever you tell me, I'm not going to think any different of you. It's okay." Hotch smiled at Reid.

Reid smiled back, nodding his head. He took another breath, wringing his hands in his lap. He averted his eyes before speaking again, "I'm… um… bisexual…" Reid's eyes wandered around the table a few seconds, before chancing a glance at Hotch.

Hotch was smiling and standing from the table. He quickly got around to Reid's side and kneeled down in front of his chair, holding his arms out.

Reid smiled, leaning into Hotch's arms. The man pulled him in close, holding him tightly. Reid buried his face into the man's shoulder, smiling.

"Thank you for telling me Spencer. I'll love you no matter who you love."

Reid felt overcome with emotion. He was so happy that Hotch said that, it's all he had ever wanted to hear.

"Thank you" Reid choked out, becoming slightly overcome with tears of joy. Hotch responded by holding him a little tighter. When they separated from the hug, Hotch wiped the few tears that had dropped from Reid's eyes away, smiling at him with adoration in his eyes. Hotch then stood and returned to his chair. The two began eating again and chatting, as if nothing had even happened.

However, the next day Reid was filled with joy when he got to work, seeing a small bi pride flag sitting on his desk with a note that was clearly in Hotch's handwriting. Reid almost began crying when he read what it said.

"I'm proud of you."

+1- Rossi

Rossi had been inviting the whole team over for dinner for a while now. Most everyone always came. They were a family after all and, since most of their lives revolved around the BAU, typically they'd hang out outside of work as well.

However, he started to become concerned when Spencer Reid suddenly stopped attending the gatherings.

Had he said something wrong to him? He thought the kid and him got over whatever problems they'd had in the past. Now the two of them got along great. In fact, he treated the kid as if he was his favorite grandchild, constantly attempting to feed him and give him small gifts. He couldn't help himself, he felt protective of him. He understood why the team had been so mad at him when he'd initially arrived and been rude to him, you almost couldn't help but feel protective of him.

But for the past few weeks, he couldn't seem to get Reid to come to his house. At first, he thought he must be mad at Rossi for some reason. He tried to read him at work, seeing if there was anything wrong with him, but he seemed perfectly happy. If anything, actually, the kid seemed more happy than normal.

Then he thought maybe he was overcompensating for something. Maybe something had happened with his mom and he was pretending like everything was fine, so he didn't have to talk about it. The kid was funny that way, he'd analyze any of the team in a second and try to figure out what was wrong so that he could help in any possible way, but he still had a hard time accepting help for himself.

But no, the kid seemed genuinely happy. So why was it that he seemed to be avoiding these social gatherings?

Finally, Rossi broke down. his curiosity got the best of him. He had to know. So, he went to Hotch. He figured that since the kid clearly looked as Hotch as his own father, that he probably told him most everything. But when he asked Hotch, the man genuinely had no idea either, and had said that he'd been wondering the same thing.

Over the next few days, he attempted to corner the rest of the team members in order to solve this mystery. However, shockingly enough, no one seemed to have an answer.

He would approach Reid about it himself, but he suspected Reid would either dodge the question or he'd shut himself down and refuse to tell anyone anything.

It was another week before something changed. Reid accepted an invite to his house and asked if he could bring someone with him.

That was it! Reid was genuinely happy because he was seeing someone. That's why he hadn't come to his house for meals, he was probably going on dates with this woman.

Rossi was excited to meet her. Anyone who could have Reid in their clutches like this must be pretty special. He didn't mention the fact that he was bringing someone along because Reid had told Rossi he wanted it to be a surprise for the rest of the team, so he bounced in excitement alone.

He made enough pasta to feed their large family and brought out lots of booze. It was going to be a great night.

Slowly, everyone trickled in, greeting one another with love, until Reid was the only one missing. He soon walked in the door though, a few minutes late. He smiled at everyone, sending a small wave their way before speaking.

"Um, everyone, I'd like you to meet my boyfriend," he stepped out of the way reveling a very tall man who was smiling at Reid, "Marcus."

Rossi was a bit taken aback. He had no idea Reid was gay. The rest of the team stood immediately, smiling and introducing themselves. JJ punched Reid in the arm and her and Morgan high fived about something, the whole group laughing. Reid glanced at Marcus; both clearly had a lot of love for each other.

This wasn't something Rossi had experienced a lot of, seeing two men together. However, he'd seen his fair share of love. He had been married three times after all. And in seeing the way the two men looked at each other, he could tell it was true.

Rossi smiled, looking at Hotch who was still standing next to him. The two exchanged an amused look before turning back to the group. After a few minutes, Reid walked a slightly more nervous looking Marcus over to him and Hotch.

"Um, Hotch, Rossi, this is Marcus." Reid said, a sideways smile on his face.

Marcus stepped forwards immediately, offering his hand, "Pleasure to meet you both."

Hotch shook the man's hand first, "The pleasure is mine," before turning to Rossi.

Rossi grinned at the man, giving him a firm handshake. "It's great to meet you."

Reid nodded at the two of them before grabbing Marcus's hand and turning to walk to the kitchen to get a drink. Rossi noticed a pin on Reid's lapel. It was a little flag. He expected it to be the rainbow flag that he had seen before, but its colors were different. They were striped with pink purple and blue.

He leaned to Hotch, whispering "What flag is that?"

Hotch smiled. "It's the bisexual pride flag." He shifted his weight, turning more towards Rossi. "It's my understanding that Garcia gave that pin to him a long time ago, hoping one day he'd be comfortable enough to wear it for everyone to see."

Rossi smiled at that. It sounded like something Garcia would do. "Well, I'm glad he's wearing it now."

I REALLY HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS FIC! I had such a fun time writing it and it has to be one of my favorite ones so far! For the people needing more injured!Reid, don't worry, we're gunna roll back onto that track here in a bit. The writers finally gave Reid a little bit of a break, so there wasn't a ton of injured!Reid or sad!Reid material to work with, but I finally got to a few eps where that can definitely be worked with.
Also I'm sure someone is wondering; will I bring Marcus back into the story at some point? Well the answer is idk. Honestly I didn't plan on making him a bigger part of the story until I got to the Rossi part and I came up with the idea that Reid would just bring him to a dinner party. I don't usually like making up characters, but I thought it folded well into this instance.
Anyways, have a lovely day :) 3 Love y'all!