2007 -The day after the episode "True Night":
Agent Spencer Reid walked onto the floor at the BAU well before it was time for him to be there. A glance at the offices told him that both Hotch and JJ had beaten him there today, much like they usually did. Walking into the bullpen, he lifted the strap of his messenger bag over his head, placed the bag under his desk and then headed for the blonde media liaison's office. Reaching it, Reid knocked tentatively on the open door.
At the sound, JJ looked up from the case file she was already looking at. "Hey, morning Spence," she greeted, a smile coming to her face.
"Morning," Reid replied, as he took a step into the office. "Do you have a minute?"
"Of course," JJ said, closing the file and gesturing to the empty chair across the desk from her. "Have a seat."
Reid took a few more steps into the office and then closed the door to the office. Slowly, still trying to figure out how to voice the request he wanted to make, the FBI agent approached the empty chair. Sitting down, he looked over the top of the stacks of files on the desk to see his friend, leaning back in her chair, looking at him expectantly.
"I need to ask a favor of you," Reid told her, looking at the top file on one of the piles as he said the words.
"Okay," JJ said slowly. "What's the favor?"
"Well, it's just that I've been doing a lot of thinking about how things are with me and Amber. About how choices in someone's life can take them in different directions or bring them back together. We got a second chance and after all the time that passed, it almost seems like no time at all has passed when I'm with her. I feel at ease with her. Like I don't have to hide anything from her because no matter what I've done, she'll understand. She won't walk away."
"I think someone is in love," JJ commented, smiling as she watched the color rise in Reid's face. The flushing was all the indication she needed that she was right.
"I don't think I have any idea what that word means beyond the scientific definition."
"Oh, I think you do. You're just scared to admit it to yourself," JJ told him. Reid shifted in the chair and started looking around the office, except for in JJ's direction. "So what's the favor you wanted?" JJ asked, not wanting to embarrass the young genius any more.
"Well, I guess this last case got me thinking about how we really don't have control over what happens. I mean look at Jonny McHale and Vicky. They thought things were perfect and then one night changed everything." Reid paused, and after taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, he continued. "I want to propose to Amber but I need a ring and I don't think I'd be able to pick out an appropriate one by myself," Reid said, in a voice so low that JJ just barely caught what he said.
"You're going to propose?" JJ asked, sitting up straighter in her chair, as she spoke. She wasn't sure what she had been expecting when Reid had walked into her office but this definitely wasn't it.
"You don't think I should?" Reid asked, finally looking in JJ's direction.
"No. I never said that. It's just that I wasn't expecting to hear that," JJ told him, getting over her surprise. "I think its sweet."
"Will you help me?"
"Of course. Do you have any idea what ring size she wears?"
Reid shook his head.
"No problem," JJ said, leaning back in her chair again. "A little detective work, and I'll figure it out," she told him. At Reid's questioning look she smiled. "Trust me."
Reid nodded. He had gotten through the easy conversation. Asking for JJ's help in picking out a ring for Amber was nothing compared to the next to conversations he had to work up the courage for. First there was a conversation with Rossi. The older profiler had seemed to be okay with everything so far. Things at work hadn't been any more awkward than usual. If anything, Reid thought that Rossi may have warmed up to him a little. Either that, or maybe he was just getting more settled with the team. Whatever the case, at least Rossi wasn't sending looks at him as though he were trying to figure out if Reid was for real. Still, asking the man for his daughter's hand in marriage was something quite different than spouting off statistics or quoting from books. The thought of not bothering was quite appealing, though Reid had quickly dismissed it.
Though Reid still planned to ask Amber to marry him if his conversation with the elder Rossi didn't go well, Reid knew he had to at least make the attempt. Amber was Rossi's only daughter and it didn't take a genius to see that she was his world. He'd do anything for his daughter and Reid knew that he and Amber would be much happier with the gentleman's blessing on their union.
Assuming he survived that conversation, then he had to actually get up the nerve to ask Amber to marry him. He hadn't a clue how to even begin that conversation. He knew a lot of people took their potential fiances out to a nice restaurant or made some other public display of it. He knew that was out. He'd never be able to ask her in front of an audience. He'd need to create the right mood somewhere private.
"And hope she doesn't say no."
"Amber isn't going to say no," JJ told him, making Reid realize that he had said that last bit out loud.
"How do you know?" Reid asked her.
"From the way she looks at you," JJ said with a smile. "You two are so right for each other and its about time that both of you wake up and realize it. Garcia, Prentiss and I were starting to think we might have to give you a little push in the right direction."
"You three have been talking about me?"
"We're women. We're suckers for a good love story, though there are still quite a few holes in this one. Just how did you and Amber meet anyway?"
Reid got to his feet.
"I'm not going to tell you, just so the three of you can talk about it over the water cooler."
"No problem," JJ said with a shrug. "I'll just ask Amber tonight. She's joining us for girl's night."
"Just great," Reid said softly as he started for the door. The first time he had met Amber wasn't exactly one of his better moments, though given the time he had taken JJ to the Redskins game, one that JJ could relate to. It wasn't exactly something he wanted his teammates to know about as he could already hear the jokes they would get in at his expense. Not that the beginning of their first official date had gone any better, though he had been relieved when Amber had been able to get the dress he had managed to shut in the car door repaired.
"Where are you going, Spence?"
"I've got files waiting for me in my inbox," he told her. "I'll talk to you later."
"Okay. As soon as I figure out the ring size, we'll go shopping."
"Great. Thanks," Reid replied, giving he a slight wave as he walked out the office door and right into the path of Agent David Rossi who was just arriving. "Oh, sorry, sir," Reid managed, as they both stopped abruptly and managed to avoid running into one another. Reid could feel the heat rising in his cheeks.
"Not a problem," Rossi replied, giving the younger agent a quizzical look as he stepped around him and continued to his own office.
Reid made his way to his desk in the bullpen, relieved that his other two co-workers had yet to arrive. Sinking down into his chair, Reid pulled the stack of files that needed to be worked on toward him. At least this was something he understood.
"I want to pop in here a minute, girls" Garcia said, as they approached a small jewelry store, on their way to the café they were planning to eat at.
JJ breathed a sigh of relief. Garcia had just unknowingly helped her out. She had decided the best way to find out what size ring Amber would need was to have her try on rings. JJ had been trying to figure out how to get the four of them inside a jewelry store without things looking too suspicious. ~Thank-you, Garcia,~ JJ thought, as they followed the blonde tech into the store.
"Looking for the ring you want Kevin to give you eventually?" Prentiss asked, lightly as she walked through the front door.
"Very funny. We are so nowhere near that stage of our relationship. However, it is nearing Christmas and I thought I might give you and JJ some hints as to what you could get me," Garcia replied.
"Who says we're going to get you anything," JJ teased.
"Oh, come on girls. It's not like any of us have men in our lives to buy us jewelry, well with the exception of Amber. We've got to take care of each other," Garcia told them, as she started looking at the jewelry displayed in the nearest case.
"I'm not expecting jewelry from Spencer this Christmas," Amber commented as she looked into a case near-by, with JJ hovering nearby, looking over her shoulder. "The only time I ever got jewelry as a gift from him was for Christmas my senior year of college and we had been dating for two years at the time. I think he's too shy to be seen in a jewelry store."
"Oh, don't worry Sweetie, I know how to handle that," Garcia replied. "I'll take Boy Genius out Christmas shopping myself if I have to."
"Now that's a pretty ring," JJ commented, seeing an emerald ring sitting in the case. She looked around the store for an employee. Seeing a young lady she waved her over, as Prentiss joined them.
"Can I help you?" the store clerk asked as she approached.
"I'd like to try that ring on," JJ said, pointing to the emerald ring she had seen. She really did like it, although she knew it was probably out of her price range and it wasn't as if she and Will were serious enough for her to expect a gift like that from him. Not to mention, no one even knew the two of them were dating yet.
The store clerk nodded and taking out a set of keys, opened the case. She removed the ring and placed the box on the counter so JJ could try it on. Meanwhile, Garcia had joined them and asked to see another ring. After trying the emerald ring on, having noted the size, JJ told Amber to try it on. The brunette shook her head.
"Oh, come on. Have a little fun," JJ said.
"Besides, we need to know what you like and what looks good on you so we can help Reid with his Christmas shopping," Garica added, as she held the hand with the ring she had tried on out to admire it.
Reluctantly, Amber tried on the ring, as well as several others that the girls insisted she try. It didn't take long for JJ to figure out what size ring fit perfectly on Amber's left ring finger, and she made a mental note of it. She also observed that Amber tended to like the rings that had the smaller stones in them, rather than large stones, which she made a mental note of in order to help Spencer pick out a ring for her.
It was a half hour later before the girls walked out of the store, Prentiss with a small bag tucked in her purse, as she had bought a pendant for her mother for Christmas. The four women continued to the café they had been heading to before their side trip. They were quickly shown to a table and it didn't take long for them to decide on what they wanted to eat. As the waitress left to place their orders, JJ turned to Amber.
"Okay, so I'm curious. Just how did you and Spencer meet? He wouldn't tell me, which only makes me more curious," JJ said.
"Yeah, I'm not surprised that he wouldn't mention it. It wasn't exactly one of his finer moments," Amber replied, smiling as she thought about the first time Spencer had waited on her and her friends at the Sun and Surf Café.
"What did he do, spill something on you?" Prentiss asked, half jokingly, as she had seen the coordination issues her co-worker had at times.
"Actually, yes," Amber replied. "And he took quite a bit of teasing about it from my friends at the time."
"Yeah, going out with Spencer means you should probably bring a change of clothes," JJ commented, thinking of her 'date' with Spencer to the Red Skins game.
"Yeah, well I was lucky that more of the soda ended up on the table and the floor than on me. I heard you pretty much ended up with the whole soda on you," Amber commented, having heard the story from Spencer about the game.
Both Garcia and Prentiss looked on with interest. Details about the Red Skins 'date' had been virtually non-existent in the BAU, not that the team members hadn't tried to get details. JJ wasn't surprised that Reid wouldn't mention it and she had decided to keep quiet to spare him the teasing from their teammates.
"Yeah, though I've had worse spilt on me. Though, seeing as you seem to know my experience now you have got to tell me about yours," JJ said, trying to deflect attention off her 'date' with Spencer.
"You guys promise not to tease him about it if I tell you?" Amber asked, looking around at JJ, Prentiss and Garcia.
"Not a word," Prentiss said.
"My lips are sealed," JJ replied.
"I leave the teasing to Morgan," Garcia replied with a grin. "And I promise not to breathe a word of this to him either," she added.
"Okay, then," Amber said, and began the story about the first time she had met Spencer Reid.
Reid parked his car behind Rossi's SUV, which told him that his co-worker was indeed home. Getting out of his vehicle, he was well aware of how old the thing looked. Behind the fairly new SUV parked in front of it, his car looked even older. Reid looked from the vehicles to the house, feeling even more aware of the differences between Rossi and himself.
Who was he kidding? He had nothing he could offer Amber. She definitely didn't need him to take care of her as she was more than capable of taking care of herself. She had proven that hadn't she.
Yet, she was the one that had called him. Amber had told him she was interested and the one thing that Reid was sure about in this whole situation was that he didn't want to lose her again. He had made that mistake once before.
Gathering his courage, Reid started heading toward the front porch of the house. The house kept looking bigger and bigger as he walked toward it. Somehow, it hadn't seemed so big when he been over here to visit Amber while she had been living with her father.
Reaching the bottom step, Reid paused again. Perhaps he should have just done this at the office. He turned and looked back at his car, wondering if he could just get back inside it and drive away. Had Rossi realized he was out here yet?
The sound of the front door opening made Reid look from the car back to the house. Through the screen door, he saw Agent Rossi standing there. Rossi opened the screen door and stepped onto the porch.
"Are you going to come inside or keep lurking out here?" Rossi asked.
"Well, you see there was something I wanted to talk to you about."
"I gathered that much," Rossi replied, a half smile coming to his face. He even had a feeling he knew why the younger FBI agent was here and if he was right, was pleasantly surprised. He hadn't expected the kid to get up enough nerve to even get this far. He wasn't about to let him off easy though.
"Could we talk inside?"
Rossi nodded and opened the screen door again. Holding it open, he motioned Reid inside. Hesitantly, Reid walked past Rossi and stepped into the house. He took about five steps into the house and then stopped, turning to watch Rossi step into the house, pushing the front door shut behind him. Reid jumped slightly at the sound of the front door shutting, which reminded him of a cell door shutting. The movement was not lost on Rossi.
"Where's Mudgie?" Reid asked, nervously looking around.
Rossi smiled again. "Oh, he's around here somewhere," he said, waving a hand in dismissive manner, even though he knew exactly where his black Labrador was. As soon as he had noticed Reid's car in the drive, Rossi had shut the dog in his study, knowing that for some reason Mudgie didn't like him. It was a fact that the older profiler found strange because Mudgie liked everybody. He made a great hunting dog but as far as guard dogs went, the black Lab was useless. If someone did try to break into the house, Mudgie would probably greet the intruder like an old friend. Not that it mattered, as he didn't need a guard dog with the security system that he had put in.
"Why don't you have a seat in the living room," Rossi told Reid. "I'll be right with you."
"Um, yes sir," Reid replied, heading in the direction of the living room.
Rossi headed toward the kitchen. He really had nothing that needed to be done but he wanted to make the kid sweat a little. Reaching the doorway of the kitchen, Rossi paused before going into it. Glancing back the way he had come, he could see that Reid was no longer in sight. Rossi stood there, outside of the kitchen, for a few minutes.
David Rossi was sure that his co-worker was going to ask him for his daughter's hand in marriage. There was absolutely no other reason that would bring Reid out to his house after work hours. The younger man, after several attempts to talk to him about his work when Rossi had first returned, had been avoiding him even while they were at work. Even more so recently.
Rossi had already decided not to stand in the way of Amber's relationship with Reid. He didn't see any reason to. Though a bit hard to take at time, Spencer Reid was a good man and Rossi knew he would take care of his daughter to the best of his ability. Not to mention, the two were happy together. That fact was easy to see. He knew that trying to stand in their way would only accomplish creating a riff between him and his daughter. Though he was quite sure Amber would look for his blessing and support in this decision, she wasn't going to give in if he told her not to go through with it. Just like she hadn't given in to her mother about joining the Coast Guard. Amber had grown into a self-sufficient, independent woman and he was proud of that fact. At least he had managed to do something right along the way.
That didn't mean he didn't worry about what the two of them were facing. He had his own failed marriages and Hotch's current marital issues as evidence that their future together was going to be anything but easy. One of them was going to eventually have to give up their career in order for them to stay together. David Rossi wondered if that was something either one of them had considered yet.
Deciding he had made Reid squirm enough, David Rossi made his way in the direction of the living room. Walking into the room he found Reid standing near the fireplace, looking at the pictures on the mantle above it. Walking quietly across the room, Rossi came to a stop behind the younger man. Reid was looking at a photograph of Amber posing with Wendy before Amber's eighth grade dinner dance. Though Wendy had walked out on him, he would be forever grateful for the love and caring she had shown her stepdaughter during the years Amber had lived with them. Of his three marriages, the one with Wendy probably had the least amount of hard feelings associated with it. Not to mention, Wendy was the only one that had not asked for alimony when they had divorced, determined to make it on her own. The two of them had remained in touch, mostly because of Wendy's connection to Amber, and though not required to by the court, he had helped her out financially a couple of times over the years when she had hit a rough spot. It had never been a lack of love between the two of them that had drove them apart. Wendy simply hadn't been able to deal with his long hours at work. She had wanted a husband who came home every night and that was something he couldn't provide her.
"My third wife, Wendy, and Amber," Rossi said, causing Reid to jump at the sound of his voice. "The two of them were quite close. Even though she walked out on me, I owe Wendy for all she did for my daughter during a very hard time. Last I knew, Amber had stayed in touch with her."
Reid nodded, knowing exactly what Rossi was referring to. Amber had told him about the time she had spent living on the east coast with her father and Wendy. Had confided to him the reason for it. Reid had even met Wendy once, when Amber's former step-mother had come out to LA for a visit while they were in college. Reid wasn't sure that Rossi would want to know those details, and even if he did, Reid didn't think he would be able to give voice to it as he suddenly found his mouth very dry.
"Why don't we sit down?" Rossi suggested, gesturing to the couch and arm chairs that were positioned in the middle of the room.
With another nod, Reid moved away from the fireplace and toward the couch. He sat down on the end cushion, sitting on the edge. He rested his forearms on the top of his legs, looking down at the coffee table in front of him. As Rossi took a seat in the near-by armchair, Reid thought over what he should say. Suddenly, his planned speech just didn't seem appropriate.
Rossi watched the young man sitting on the couch, as he leaned casually back in the armchair, settling one ankle on the opposite knee. From the den, Mudgie barked causing Reid to jump slightly as he looked around the room. Rossi smiled, wondering if he should leave the kid off the hook about the dog.
"He's in my study," Rossi said.
Reid jumped at the sound of Rossi's voice.
~Man he's jumpy,~ Rossi thought, as Reid looked at him. ~Maybe I should ease up on him a little.~
"What?" Reid asked, as if Rossi's words hadn't registered.
"Mudgie. I shut him in my den when I saw your car in the driveway."
"Oh," Reid managed, though he didn't seem to relax at all. His eyes wandered around the room.
"So what did you want to talk to me about?" Rossi asked casually, trying to keep the smile off of his face.
"Well, um, sir, I was wondering . . . well I don't want you to think we're rushing things. Amber and I did date for a few years back in college. I know we haven't been back together long, sir, but well I know she's the one," Reid said, stumbling over the words. Inside he cringed at how much of a bumbling idiot he sounded. "I know that I don't want her walking out of my life again, sir. So, I was wondering . . . I wanted to ask you for permission to ask your daughter to marry me, sir?"
"Okay," Rossi said slowly. "So are you going to ask?"
Rossi watched what little color there was in Reid's face drain from it at the comment. That was definitely not the answer the kid had been expecting. Rossi was about to let Reid off the hook when Reid spoke again.
"Sir, I'd like your permission to ask your daughter to marry me," Reid said quickly, just trying to get the words out fast before he gave into the strong urge he was feeling to just flee the house.
Rossi nodded thoughtfully. He felt sure that his young co-worker must be in love with his daughter to have actually gone through with what he had just done. However, the older profiler wasn't about to just give his blessing to the union without asking a few questions. No one knew better than him how hard it was to make a marriage work, and how much certain jobs could make that task even harder. In this case it wasn't just one of them involved in one of those jobs, but both of them. It wasn't that he didn't think these two couldn't make it work but he wanted to be sure they were thinking of things like that before they got too involved with each other.
"What happens if another transfer comes in for, Amber? Or what if you end up getting transferred elsewhere? Have the two of you even discussed that? A marriage proposal means that going your separate ways won't be quite as simple as the last time."
"We haven't really discussed it," Reid admitted, still not looking at Rossi. "I don't think it's something that can be planned for as we won't know what our options are. I can tell you one thing though, it doesn't really matter. I've thought a lot about this, and if it comes down to it, I'll walk away from my job to keep Amber in my life. I'm not letting her walk away again."
Rossi was listening to more than just the words that Reid was saying. He was listening to the tone of the words and trying to judge the intent behind them. Was the young man just saying what he thought he wanted him to hear or did he really mean what he was saying? Rossi couldn't hear anything but sincerity in Reid's voice. It really did sound like Reid meant what he was saying.
"Well, the two of you definitely have a hard road ahead of you," Rossi said. "I know from experience. However, its not my place to stand in your way of making a go of it. If you want to ask my daughter for her hand in marriage, you both have my blessing."
Reid finally looked up at the older man. "Th-thank-you, sir," he managed to get out, but didn't know what else to say or do. Did he leave now? Should he try to engage Rossi in a conversation on another subject? He hadn't thought much beyond asking Rossi for permission to marry Amber and even then he hadn't expected it to go the way it had. Reid realized he had actually been expecting Rossi to tell him he wouldn't bless the union.
"So, seeing as you want to marry my little girl, perhaps the two of us should take a little time to get to know one another a little better," Rossi said, taking the pressure off of Reid to continue the conversation. Rossi knew it was going to fall on him to keep the conversation going, but with any luck, Reid might be a little bit more at ease around him than he currently was.