When Reid woke up an hour later Mac still wasn't back. "Where's dad at?"
"He got called in; he'll be back in a little while. Want to talk about what happened?"
Reid gave Mac a curious look. "I missed the curve; it was stupid but nothing more." Danny glared at him but neither said anything for a while. When Mac finally came back Danny got up. "I'm outta here Mac. Reid…" Danny walked over and bent down so that his mouth was a mere inch from the boy's ear. "I'm the one person, you never lie too…you should have thought about that."
Danny gave Mac a hug and walked out of the room. "Did I miss something?" Reid shook his head; 'I'm in so much trouble'. The two sat and talked for an hour and then Reid fell back to sleep.
---- FLASHBACK ----
Reid was bored. Mac had grounded him for two months and it just so happened that Reid was on his summer break. Mac hadn't wanted to leave the boy alone but knew that Reid couldn't spend his days in the lab either so he did what he'd done the first time; at different intervals someone would go to his house under a false pretense to ensure the boy was still there; usually it was him and Danny.
The first month went by well enough but as the second month continued Reid was having a hard time and finally decided he needed to get out. Having figured out that the time intervals was between three to five hours Reid decided he had enough time to go for a walk, grab a hotdog and get back in plenty of time. What he did expect was Danny coming to pick him up for lunch; just the two of them.
Danny wasn't too surprised to not find Reid in the apartment so he sat and waited. When Reid showed up he stood rooted in place and stared at older man. "Where were you?" Reid opened his mouth but no words came out. "You get one warning boy and then there are consequences; where were you?"
"I went for a walk. I'm sorry…I-I just got tired of sitting in here and doing nothing. I was feeling like the walls were closing in on me…why are you here? Stella just left like two hours ago."
"I talked your dad into letting me take you to lunch; I figured you'd be climbing the walls about now." Reid looked away; tears coming to his eyes. 'Why do I keep messing up?' Danny could see the pain in the boy's eyes and got up and hugged him.
"Listen to me Reid; it's ok. I understand; I really do. You think you're the only that gets grounded; I did six months at one time. I know how restricting it can feel…you were going to lie to me weren't you?"
Reid blushed, "Yeah but you reminded me so of Mac the truth just slipped out…that and I didn't know a good enough lie." Reid chuckled softly; 'of all the things to admit…'
"I'm gonna say this once: I'm the one person you never lie to. You get drunk, need a place to crash, come to me. I'll call Mac tell him you're with me, you go home the next afternoon and he's none the wiser. I doubt you'll be able to lie to him but that's ok. You shouldn't lie…especially to me. Remember, I can help you out of a fix but if you lie, you're on your own; got it?"
Reid nodded his head and suddenly hugged the older man. "Thanks Danny…" Danny hugged him back and in the end neither told Mac about what happened and Mac instinctively knew not to ask.
---- END FLASHBACK ----
The week had gone by slowly for Mac and Reid but it was finally over and Mac led Reid into the apartment. Reid looked around and smiled, 'it's so nice to be home'. Mac kissed Reid on the forehead as he lowered the younger man onto the couch.
"How are you holding up son?"
"I'm fine dad…really."
Mac smiled down at his son and went about getting supper ready. "Is Danny going to be coming by?" When there was no reply Mac turned around and saw Reid lying down on the couch…asleep. He smiled and went about his business.
On the couch a guilt Reid waited until Mac was in the kitchen before opening his eyes. Truth was he didn't know what Danny was up to; Danny hadn't talked to him more then necessary. As he started to fall asleep he couldn't help but think that it'd been some time since Danny had been made at him.
---- FLASHBACK ----
Reid had been on his best behavior since Danny had caught him out of the house and soon his second month of grounding was over. With school just a few weeks away, Mac allowed Danny to take Reid down to DC to meet some friends. They were to be gone for a week. Before they left though, Mac gave Danny absolute power of the younger boy.
The first few days went by great and with no real problems. Then one of the younger siblings of a friend (follow that train of thought!) came down and all heck broke loose. The other boy, Alan, invited some people into the hotel room and soon a full blown party was in swing…it was just too bad that Danny and the other older guys weren't there…until about ten that was.
Danny was furious at what he found. Alan took the blame with ease, knowing that nothing would happen and Reid said nothing. When Danny asked him about it Reid had gone silent and answered his questions with nods and shakes of his head. Afterwards Danny refused to talk to Reid.
The duo had been home for a week when Reid finally broke down and told Mac what had happened. Mac had, of course, spanked him and later Reid apologized to Danny and told him the truth. He left out that Mac had spanked him but Danny knew and all was forgiven….
---- END FLASHBACK ----
Mac woke Reid up from his nap and noticed his son looked sad. "Are you ok?"
"Is Danny here?"
"He got here fifteen minutes ago; come on and eat." Reid followed Mac to the table and sat opposite Danny who nodded at him but in no other way acknowledged his presence. Reid knew what he had to do…but…'I can't do this!'