Rating: K
Pairing: None
Warning: None
Undergraduate
"You want to bring an almost underage boy from undergraduate to a member of this team?", Hotch asked, quirking his eyebrow.
"Something like that", Gideon replied, with a smile that told Hotch that there was more much than that. "Listen, I just want you to meet him first. Reid is a great kid and I think you'll like him."
"Yeah, you said it. A kid. Never has a 21 years old integrated the B.A.U. Let me check his file and I'll come back with it later, okay?", he sighed, desperate to avoid the glare his colleague was giving him.
"Actually", Gideon started again. "I was kind of hoping on a blind date."
"Blind date?", Hotch repeated, choking. "No. No way in hell that's happening, Jason. What's wrong with him?"
"Will you just trust me on this one? I want your first impression to be the good one!", the unit chief replied, smiling with that damned disturbing smile.
Hotch reluctantly agreed. They set a meeting at the Academy with the kid, Reid and Aaron felt grumpy that day, to be dragged this way like he was Gideon's little puppy. The cadet was standing in the middle of an empty classroom, sipping a coffee while flicking rapidly through a book, obviously trying to find something.
"Cadet Reid?", Gideon asked and the boy, man snapped out of his stance, smiling at him.
"Agent Gideon! Hi!"
"This is SSA Aaron Hotchner."
The said SSA was standing there, phased by the cadet in front of him. He seemed so out of place in the academy, so… small and naive. What was he doing here?
"It's nice to meet you, agent Hotchner. I heard a lot about you", Reid smiled shyly.
"I… must admit that Gideon wouldn't say a lot about you. What are you studying, again?"
"Mathematics, right now. I'm just about to have the PhD. I think it might be the last one for a while."
"The last one?", Hotch wondered, glancing at Gideon who seemed just victorious.
"Yes, I got two other ones. Engineering and Chemistry."
Even Reid seemed confused and Hotch turned to face Gideon, frowning.
"You told me he was an undergraduate!", he exclaimed and Reid couldn't help but laugh loudly.
"That's technically true. In mathematics", Gideon smirked.
"I'm more of an undergraduate than he is!"
Still to this day, even with all of his qualifications, the burst of hilarity that got into the shy genius at that exact seemed to be what charmed Hotch into letting him on the team. And he tried everyday to make sure that this laughter wouldn't disappear forever.
My thoughts seem to be so messed up lately I'm surprised I was able to wrap this one up!
SmartBlackRose :)