Chapter 10: Just Ask The Question

She arrived at The Bitter End a half hour early. She didn't want Reid to chicken out if he saw she wasn't there. Besides, being early gave her plenty of time to think.

She'd known they both had an affinity for men. Reid had accidentally come out to her when she drove him home because he was drunk as a skunk. Watching the baby genius explain, in his actually-did-you-know voice, that her attempts at setting him up "with a nice girl" were almost pointless because he was "a Kinsey 5" was incredibly adorable, especially because he'd slurred every single word. Despite protests that he didn't want blind dates, she'd adjusted her tactics to better suit his tastes in case he ever decided he did want a date. Morgan, on the other hand, well, she'd caught him at a gay club. He'd been practically fucking some lanky young thing on the dance floor when she walked in with some friends. Once he finally spotted her gawking, his explanation had been flimsy at best. She'd never pressed the issue, but that was when she realized that Morgan probably had some UST for Reid.

Oh yes, she'd definitely asked Tony to call Reid "pretty boy," but it was mostly because she was tired of looking for signs that he felt the same way as Morgan did. She hadn't expected Reid to be sporting a hickey or for Tony to tell her he was quite sure that Reid had a boyfriend. 'Who's the mystery man who's marked the Junior G-Man as his own?' she'd wondered. 'And how long have they been going at it? Christ...he coulda just told me when said he needed some lovin...' Then the case happened and Morgan had yelled at her and in the rush of everything, she'd almost forgotten.

Almost.

She'd called to set up a coffee date, knowing that was the most likely way to get him to meet her somewhere, as long as she feigned innocence, and then once he arrived, she could hopefully get him to dish about the new man in his life. To say she was a little thrown off by Morgan answering Reid's phone would be an understatement. Add to that, Morgan was out of breath from god knows what, he'd admitted to spending the night there, and then said Reid was still sleeping. Not making a sexual joke about all of that was quite possibly one of the most difficult things she'd done in quite some time.

'There he is,' she thought as Reid arrived right on time, looking vaguely anxious. "Over here hunny," she called, smiling sweetly. 'Nope, this is the most difficult thing I've done lately,' she mused, trying not to giggle at the slightly pained way Reid walked over and sat gingerly on the stool.

"So, uh... Hi."

"Hey yourself." He stared at her as if she might do a multitude terrible things to him. "Reid, if you keep looking at me like I'm an unsub who's kidnapped you, I might have to take you captive on principle alone," she smirked. Reid's nervous stare turned into an angry glare. "Well, I'm not sure that's any better, but it'll do. So...how'd you like Tony?"

His dazed face said he obviously wasn't expecting that question and a slightly pink-ish hue grew across his face. "Ahh...he was...nice, helpful."

"Yeah, he's both those things. Hot too," she prompted.

"I can't disagree with that assessment if only because his features are quite symmetrical, but we both know you didn't call me here to talk about Tony," he said, gaining some confidence.

"That's my baby genius," she smiled. "How's my stud muffin been since the case?"

"Oh, he's been pretty...happy and you know ahh...he's not exactly...yours now," he grinned smugly, obviously proud of himself for being vague and direct all at once.

"Dr. Reid, you're fun. Well, I'm so happy you two lovebirds got together. I think you're gonna be really good for each other."

"Thanks, I hope so." Reid smiled awkwardly. "We're umm...thinking that we should keep it under wraps...for now anyway."

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "No worries, mum's the word."

"Thanks Garcia, you're the best."

"Loving the flattery Reid, but don't kid yourself. It's a team of profilers that you're talking about trying to fool and you know they pick up on these things better than me. I mean, Rossi and Prentiss were dating for how long before I noticed?"

"Hey, it was before they officially told the team," he protested. She stared at him, waiting. "Okay, okay...four months, two weeks, and five days," he admitted.

"And how long did it take you?" she asked pointedly.

Reid grimaced. "Eleven days."

"Look, I'm not saying that because I figured it out so soon that you two haven't been subtle because to be honest, I just kinda stumbled upon it. And obviously, the rest of the team will play along and pretend to be utterly blind until you finally tell them, just like you did with Rossi and Prentiss. I just want to remind you that it's not a big deal because most of them probably already know and are just as happy as I am about it."

"Umm...thanks for the reminder, I guess. And Garcia?" She nodded and he continued, "Please don't ever tell Derek that I agreed with you on Tony's appearance. You should have seen the look he gave me when I told him Tony called me pretty boy and asked if I had a boyfriend."

She laughed. "Yes, yes, of course darlin. Now...I think I owe you a drink."

"Wait, wasn't it the other way around?"

"Are you really turning down free coffee?" she asked, bemused.

Reid grinned. "No, actually, you're right. You do owe me coffee."

"That's what I thought," she responded as she got up to order his favorite.

A/N -

1) Somewhat short chapter, at least in terms of my recent word counts (the first chapter was about this long and didn't have an A/N lol). Mostly because I think it'll break up the flow too much if I include more. This may make the next chapter longer, but no promises on that.

2) Have you ever tried to look up coffee shops near Quantico? Because all it was giving me was Starbucks and Starbucks is good and all, but I don't think that's where Garcia and Reid would seriously meet up.

3) I'm going to assume that Garcia would totally use UST rather than "unresolved sexual tension" in her head. Because she's Garcia damnit. Or something. (Still really insecure about this chapter, guh)

4) What? I skipped nine hours of sexy times? Silly, did you think this was PWP? ;-) But I kinda like the mystery. Did Morgan fingerfuck him thoroughly? Or did he pop his ass cherry? I'M THE ONLY ONE WHO KNOWS (till later heh). :-D

5) I did fill a prompt at the kink!meme. Hooray for me! I feel like it's pretty obvious which one is mine based mostly on writing style alone, but it's possible that it's only obvious to me. Still considering others (I have five open tabs, though I doubt I could fill all of them and re-watch/make notes about/analyze "JJ" and finish the next chapter hahaha). After it ends, I will be posting any fills I complete here.

6) Watching "JJ" hurts. I want to cry like almost every time JJ is on the screen. Even though I know she's coming back, it still hurts. "Strauss *cough*CBS execs*cough* thinks we're all replaceable." Her transfer is an "executive" decision. "It's a bad decision, she's a vital member of our team." "I'm afraid it's a done deal." Hotch's apologies sound like the CM execs apologizing. Asking how she can tell the team she's leaving sounds like telling the fans. And, of course, the whole end speech. UGH UGH UGH. But really, the joke's on CBS since our complaining is bringing her back. Suck it bitches. XD