A/N: I'm truly very, very sorry for the late chapter. It's just I've been bombarded with so many awesome things that my brain is literally going "AAAHH!" I've rewritten this chapter like five times. I'm not joking. :\ five times. All that aside I hope you'll enjoy this chapter. Things are going into full swing pretty soon (I hope).
Criminal Minds does not belong to me and all of that stuff. Bleep bloop bleep.
Reid sighed as he checked his phone. It was dead. He knew he charged it earlier that day, but with phones, you never know sometimes. The battery probably needed to be replaced.
"Hmm," Prentiss checked the last door down the corridor and found nothing- just more dirt and an abandoned bed, stained and abused. "He's not here, but we still need to keep a sharp eye. There are many places he could be hiding."
"It's easy for the unsub to get trapped. This building is unstable after all," Reid said as he pondered the unsub's whereabouts. He wondered if his gut was giving him mixed signals and that the unsub was where they originally thought he was. It was probably the overwhelming darkness that made it churn.
"What if there was a…" he turned to face Prentiss but she wasn't standing there. "Prentiss? Where did you go?" He gulped. She probably found something in one of the rooms.
"Prentiss? Did you find something?" He inched closer to the room he assumed she's in. It was odd that his partner didn't respond. There must be a reason why she's not answering. Did she find where the unsub is? A million possibilities were running inside his head. "Em-Emily?"
Great, this was one of those missions where everything can and will go wrong. The doctor sighed as he slowly walked down the hallway. If he saw Prentiss again he is going to punish her some way for this. Maybe by accompanying him to a lecture his favorite physicist was holding next week. Along with two months of free coffee of course.
"Reid!" Emily's voice echoed through the corridor. He was overjoyed to hearing it but it sparked a new set of worries inside of his already overactive brain. "Reid, I'm stuck!"
"Are you hurt?" The doctor ran towards the voice and flashed his light at every possible corner. "Em?"
"No, I'm fine. Just stuck. Ew! I HOPE that wasn't a rat just now."
Reid walked into the room and found Emily inside a large manmade pit, deep enough to keep the agent from crawling out. Emily was perched on top of a small table and waited for the doctor to help her. Spencer let out a sigh of relief and inched in closer to shine a light on her. Her flashlight looked like the only casualty in that fall. "How did you end up there?" He asked.
Prentiss shot him a pointed look to hide her embarrassment. "I heard a barking sound and well… I walked on over here and the floor caved in."
"It's a trap the unsub used… um, hold on; I'll go look for a rope," he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. A rope would be too much to hope for but he had to try. The phones were dead and who knew where the unsub could be right now.
"I feel so stupid," Emily crossed her arms and gave an irritated moan. "This happens to cartoon characters, Reid. I'm a FBI agent, and I fall into a damn hole like Daffy Duck. Don't tell anyone… Especially not Morgan."
Reid chuckled. He could imagine what Morgan would say and Prentiss would have to exact some kind of revenge. That is their brother and sister dynamic and Spencer felt lucky to be a part of it. "I promise I won't tell Morgan."
"What was that? A delayed response?" Emily stood up from the table and noticed Reid turn his back on her. "Aha! You were planning something weren't you? Bribery maybe?" She tiptoed to try and get some kind of response. Something was wrong and she hoped it was just Reid tensing up because of a rat or a possum spooked him. "Reid? What's wrong?"
BANG!
Hotch rushed inside the building with the rest of his team. He hoped his two agents were all right but he was sure they could take care of themselves. Prentiss and Reid always made a good pair when they were out on a dangerous mission. Like what Rossi said before, "Those two have the largest balls." It was true but a very disturbing thought.
"Spooky," Morgan whispered. "Should we split up? This place is the size of a demented Ikea."
"I doubt that would work," Hotch looked at the floor plan Garcia brilliantly uploaded on his PDA. "This place is too large, so splitting up would increase the dangers."
"Is the SWAT team on their way?" Rossi asked Garcia though the loudspeaker on his phone.
"Yes sir," Garcia used her professional tone of voice.
"Good, it wont be long then," Rossi gave the lobby a once over, his eyes glistening with determination and that calm he always unnaturally had. "Hotch, Morgan, the unsub is still inside so we'll have to be extra careful." The two nodded and took out their guns.
BANG!
Without a second thought the three followed the noise and hoped it wasn't what they thought it was. Reid in peril again, they supposed. Hotch rushed up the stairs and into the corridor; the light from their flashlights weren't strong enough to push away most of the darkness and the dust. Morgan managed to kick up as he ran past the two older agents. Hotch felt an uneasy churn in his stomach when his flashlight up ahead revealed a body sprawled up against the wall. Blood oozing out of its chest, creating a small puddle of blood as it picked up the dust from the floor.
"We need an ambulance," Morgan calmly spoke to his phone. The man was calm- that was a good sign that it wasn't Reid or Prentiss's body lying there. Hotch jogged up to the sight and his suspicions were confirmed. It was the unsub, but where were his two team members?
"Hi guys," Reid awkwardly waved with one arm as he steadily walked out of the room. He was head to toe covered in dust and it would have been quite comical if it weren't for the situation.
"Geez! What happened to you," Morgan got up and patted the slim man's shoulder and a little dust cloud appeared. He laughed as he blew the cloud away. Leave it to Morgan to make light of things after an investigation.
Reid swatted the man away with his free hand. There was a small bundle of fir in his arms, but right now the doctor was more preoccupied with something more important. "Prentiss is stuck in a pit up ahead. We should get her out you guys. She's losing her patience."
Morgan stifled a laugh once he walked up to where she was. Prentiss glowered at Morgan warning him with her eyes. The man decided it would be best to let it slide for now. He should focus on rescuing her and then celebrating their success. The teasing came later.
Rossi was sitting in the back of the van because, for him, this was the best seat. He had to evaluate the progress of his two favorite side projects, Hotch and Reid. The two agents were sitting in the front, Hotch driving the van and Reid was preoccupied with the small animal he picked up from the sanitarium- a tiny chocolate Labrador pup.
"Let me get this straight," Rossi pushed his aviator glasses up to the bridge of his nose. "The unsub was threatening to kill the dog?"
Reid nodded, "It was exactly like the puppy was a victim."
"It was a victim," Hotch added.
"Right. A human victim, I meant," Reid scratched the puppy's head with his long almost delicate finger. The puppy wagged its tail and eased its head closer to Reid's hand. "The dog was pretty calm through the entire thing, amazingly enough, up until the unsub was ready to stab it, then I had to shoot him."
"I never pegged you as a dog lover Reid," Rossi smirked at the thought.
Hotch noticed Reid squirm in his seat. He knew the kid never had any luck with dogs. Mostly because Reid would tense up when he was near them and the dogs picked up it easily. It wasn't a surprise to him that the young genius shot the unsub to save a dog. As long as he saved a life was all that mattered to Reid and the rest of the BAU. Any life saved to make up for those they couldn't.
"You made the right choice," Hotch stretched his hand out to Reid and ruffled his hair a little. "Don't let Rossi bully you into thinking that it was silly. Old man just wants to have fun."
Reid's eyes widened at the display of playful contact Hotch made. Hotch never, and he meant never, ruffled his hair for any reason. He didn't ruffle anyone's hair- except for Jack, of course. Maybe he was reading into this too much. Reid's panicking mind wasn't lost for the two older agents. Hotch looked at the rearview mirror and glared slightly at his friend. "Rossi just takes pleasure in bullying people, that's all."
Rossi took the message and grinned. The oldest agent leaned back in his seat and let the two entertain him with their stupid little love games. Reid was busy holding the puppy in place as it tried to wriggle out of his grip and Hotch tried to ignore the display as much as possible now so he could focus driving.
"We are going to the vet, right?" Reid asked with hopeful eyes. Hotch couldn't take much more of this Reid and puppy combo and he mentally hit his head on the steering wheel. Rossi wished he had popcorn.
Kevin didn't know how it happened, but right now he was lying on the couch staring into the many glow in the dark stars and moons on the ceiling. One minute he and his beautiful goddess, Penelope, were watching a TV series together on her laptop and the next he was here. What was it again? Oh that's right, the argument between what was better, Sherlock Holmes the movie or the brand new series. They both agreed that the show was pretty amazing but the comment Kevin made about the movie star who was a one trick pony sent his girlfriend into a tirade and the argument got heated.
"Note to self, I hate that guy," Kevin mumbled to himself. Right when he found a position comfortable enough so that he could drift of into sleep there was a knock on the door. "Perfect…. Just perfect… hold on!" He rushed to put on his glasses that sat on the coffee table and shuffled to the door.
"You better have a damn good reason," Kevin flew the door open and was met with a very stern looking Agent Rossi. "Oh, uh sir. Please come in."
Rossi raised his brow quizzically at the man when he saw the couch was pretty much a mess. He knew what that meant; he was no stranger to a couch back in the day. He decided it was best to sit on the chair. "Can you get Penelope for me?"
Kevin nodded rapidly, "Sure. Um… Would you like a drink?"
"Just some water."
"Okay," Kevin rushed into the kitchen first to buy some time to prepare himself for the onslaught of Penelope's rage. He came back into the living room, placed the drink on the coffee table and rushed to the bedroom.
It took Garcia only ten minutes and a little yelling for her to get out of bed. She knew Rossi was inside her apartment, but seeing him drinking from her plastic cup that had the daisy pattern all over it was a surprise. "Sir, what can I help you with?" She asked curiously.
Rossi put the cup down and stared squarely at her, "I need you to stop with your shenanigans."
"W-what?" Garcia gaped at the agent.
"Your little match maker game. I know all about it. I highly recommend that you stop."
"How did you know?" Garcia hugged her throw pillow tightly to her chest. Rossi found out, and now she was going to get trouble with him and who knows what else.
"I have my ways," Rossi leaned back and placed his hands on his lap. "We also gathered that your project is failing spectacularly. Either way, we don't want to take any chances if Reid actually ends up falling for someone. We won't allow that."
"We?" Garcia frowned and puckered her lips tightly in confusion. "We? If you don't mind me asking Agent Rossi, who is this we?"
As on cue J.J. opened the door and carefully shut it behind her and gave Garcia a gracious smile. "Sorry I'm late. Henry decided to wake up in the middle of the night. I'm starting to think he's part owl."
"J.J.?" Garcia leaped to her feet and her jaw dropped to the floor, "What the? Guh! Fuh! Buh!"
"Hello to you too Penelope," J.J. sat on the couch and held a manila folder in her arms. She always looked like she was working even when she wasn't. "Rossi, I assume you told her a little bit."
"I didn't reveal too much J.J.; I felt that you would do a better job," Rossi chuckled, because Garcia was on the verge of a panic attack. "Please, start from the beginning."
J.J. settled herself on the couch across from the tech goddess and asked Garcia to sit down so they could begin their 'briefing'. If she was going to do it one way, it was surely going to be the way Garcia was accustomed to. The blonde was having a lot of fun with it and the look in her eyes glistened as she set her little work area on the coffee table up. "Lets begin. Since you already know about our boy genius's situation I won't go into to much detail. I will tell you this, Garcia, your project is compromising our own plans."
"And what plans are you two are up to, pray-tell?" Garcia crossed her arms.
The blonde agent paused as she thought about how to break it to her. "Ah, okay. Garcia, what if we told you that someone from our department has eyes for our sweet little Reid for some time now? Lets say… For a really long time."
"Really? Oh my god! This is too awesome! It's Anderson right? I knew that guy had something going on," Garcia danced a little in her seat. J.J. and Rossi glanced at each other and both knew this was going to take a little work. They couldn't blame her though; she was mostly cut off from the rest of the team and was surrounded by her lifeless technology that she deemed her friends.
"Uh, no, it's not Anderson. It's someone you would never ever expect Garcia. Someone from our team."
"Morgan? That's even better! I think I'm going to die of happiness now."
"Garcia it's not-"
"Wait, wait, wait. It's Rossi! Oh you cheeky old man you."
Rossi spat out his drink and began to have a coughing fit. Out of all the crazy guesses she picked him? Her mind was starting to scare poor Rossi. Profiling can only go so far into someone's mind but this... this was something else. J.J. snickered but felt bad for the man being suspected on having the hots for Reid.
"It's not me you crazy broad!" Rossi yelled.
Garcia giggled despite being yelled at by the senior profiler. "Sorry sir. It just came out."
Kevin came out of the bathroom with a toothbrush in his hand. "It's Hotch isn't it?" he said, as a matter of fact.
J.J. and Rossi were still and waited for Garcia to fly off from her couch to either strangle poor Lynch or to dance around with joy. It wasn't either.
"Wait, you are both telling me that… wait…" Garcia shook her head uncontrollably. Many thoughts began circling her already overactive imagination and then finally, it struck her. "Are you both joking? Am I on drugs? Kevin did you sneak acid in my food you bastard!"
Kevin shook his head and held his arms up defensively, "I did no such thing."
"Hotch! Really? This is the most… wonderful thing I've ever heard," Garcia squealed. "So how did this happen? Hotch and Reid? How did I miss it?"
"It barely passed our radar actually. Us two are the only ones who know about the sparks they had for each other. Don't feel bad Pen," the blonde apologized wholeheartedly.
Penelope felt the sting of being left out of this little operation, but she could see why the two agents kept it to themselves. It didn't take a profiler to understand the complexities of the office romance. Rossi and J.J., including herself, know what kind of hell it is to be in love with a workmate. "I understand J.J. It's just, how did you two find out?"
"It was an accumulation of little things for me," Rossi stood up and swirled his water as if it was wine. "A slight touch here, a comment there, and this air about them. Trust me, both are meticulous at hiding things they don't want anyone to see. Too bad for them I have more experience than both of them combined with courting and profiling."
"I can see your disappointment Penelope," J.J. smirked at her friend. "You were expecting us to tell you that we found them in a janitor's closet."
"Or the elevator," Penelope added excitedly.
"For me," J.J. began, pulling up her folder to her chest, "Rossi accidentally dropped his notebook and I accidentally opened it and accidentally read what he wrote about our little love birds."
"I wouldn't call snooping around an accident J.J.," Rossi smirked.
"After that, and a good argument," J.J. eyed the older man with a little displeasure, "we decided to work together and to observe them closely. We didn't want to meddle into their lives until you started to do the meddling."
Penelope frowned at the two, "I wouldn't have done any of that if I knew you two decided to play spy games. I'm not going to be angry at you both because I love you like my own family. Still it hurts me a little," she feigned a sad little sniff.
"Good," Rossi walked to the front door to make his exit, "Welcome to our sub-team. Tomorrow I want a full report on any useful information you gathered on the boy. Got that?"
"Yes sir!" Penelope saluted.
The next day was exciting for the techie. She strutted down the hallway with new gusto and a new aim that will keep her from being bored. Not that she was bored all the time but another side project would never hurt. She walked past Hotch and wished him a good morning. Hotch drank from his coffee and raised his brow at her. Garcia had a new spring in her step. Maybe Lynch proposed, the unit chief wondered.
J.J. was in her office a little tired from last night but that was something she was used to. She felt a new shinning presence strut into her office and she wondered who in the hell could be this cheery this early in the day. "Penelope?"
"Hello J.J." Garcia walked up to her desk and placed a fluffy pink notebook on J.J.'s desk. "This, my sweet little spy crumpet, is my master piece. All the info I've gathered on Reid's dates are here, and I did a little research on Hotch myself. Not to shabby eh?"
"Um," J.J. flipped through the pages and her eyes almost bulged out of her sockets. "Did you Photoshop these?"
"Just a few little motivations I cooked up."
The blonde looked through them again and nodded her head in approval. "Don't let Rossi see these."
"Before I forget," Penelope opened a page from the notebook and pointed at the page with her manicured finger. "I have a plan J.J., and it's crazy enough to work. All I want is you guys' approval."
"Oh my god," J.J. gasped as she read the plan. "This is risky but… I like it with a few revisions."
"I'll call Rossi," Penelope winked. "If he doesn't see an alternative then this is our only hope."
At the same time in another office, Hotch walked into Rossi's office, casually holding a glass of water. He closed the door behind him and flashed his friend a rare grin. "I hope you got my message in the van Dave."
Rossi lifted his head up from reading a book and shrugged. "Yeah I got it. It wasn't very subtle at all."
Hotch walked in closer and looked around the office, "What's that? A new ficus plant? Did your black thumb of death strike again?"
"Aaron," Dave sighed and put his book down. "Why are you here?"
"You tell me," Hotch smiled and poured the remaining water from his glass in the plant's pot.
Rossi gave up. "You know Reid likes you. You've known for a while. That display in the van was loud and clear. Why don't you pursue it and end both of your suffering?"
"You know the answer," Hotch sat on the empty chair. "Your past discretions make it difficult for any office romance to flourish. Let alone two men."
"That's bullshit Aaron. Garcia and Lynch seem to be doing fine. Nobody takes those rules seriously anyway," Rossi glared. Hotch had to bring up the 'it's your fault you were a player' card. Also, using Garcia and Lynch for an example wasn't a good idea, especially after Lynch was sleeping on the couch last night. "Is it Reid's abandonment issues that scare you? Or is it your own insecurities?"
Hotch ran his fingers through his own hair and he felt the bite of Rossi's truth. "There are a lot of things Dave. A lot of things. Right now, I'm content at where things are now."
Rossi nodded, he understood his friend very well. Hotch didn't need to tell Rossi out loud about his worries. The worries about Reid's own willingness to confess or not. The worries about Hotch repeating the mistakes he made when he was with Haley. The worries about losing Reid because of something he did. There were too many of these. How can Dave possibly blame Aaron, when things have become this complicated in a non-existent relationship?
The oldest agent rose up from his seat and walked next to where Hotch sat. His hand resting upon Hotch's shoulder to show that he understood. "I know exactly how you feel, Aaron. I just don't want you to regret it when Reid gets taken away from you from someone else."
"I'm expecting it," Hotch nodded quietly.
A/N: What a downer. Yes, I noticed the lack of Morgan and Reid in this chapter. I like Morgan, but his role will be more important in the later chapters so don't you worry. And as for Reid, he's going to have a couple of visitors on his way. Possibly permanent visitors.
I also want to thank you readers for reading my drabbly goop *insert smiley face*. Also, I want to thank the-vampire-act for being such an awesome beta. You rock!
Till next time ~_^ ciao