Title: Hiding Place
Author: Trista Groulx (dustytiger)
Rating: T (same as the show)
Disclaimer: I don't own CM, it belongs to CBS et al. And I don't own the song that inspired this fic Serena Ryder and her record label do. Don't sue I am just a lowly barista.
Summary: Reid wakes up to find Prentiss curled up to him. Where will their relationship go?
Notes: I hope you enjoyed the bit of drama. Some smart cookies knew what was coming tho… good for you! Thank you again for all the support. You guys are great!
O, darling can I touch your face? And let your skin be my hiding place, I promise I won't take up too much room
For four months Prentiss and Reid had been able to keep their secret, and with one incident, one rather minor injury the safe place they had made together was gone. They were going to have to face their friends, and their colleagues, earlier than they had planned. Prentiss wasn't ready for everyone to know. She liked that only Reid knew how much she loved him. She loved that he was the only person who knew that sometimes it was better to be held by the man she loved than to compartmentalise. She liked being the only person who knew how gentle and sweet Reid was when he was with a woman. She even liked sneaking into one another's hotel rooms on cases, looking for comfort and a good night's sleep. As much as she hated keeping the truth from everyone she felt safe keeping it a secret. If no one knew she was with him, no one could take him away from her. She knew from the beginning they weren't going to keep things a secret for long, but this wasn't how she wanted the truth to come out.
Prentiss was mostly upset by the fact it was Morgan who had caught them together, sharing a tender moment after one of the worst moments she had ever had to witness. She knew now that his injuries had been minor, but when they had tumbled to the floor after that shot had been fired she didn't know what was going to happen next. She didn't know how severe his injuries were, or if the person who had shot at them would take another shot. Everything had turned out all right, but not even hours before she could have lost the man she loved, and no one would have known how she really felt about it.
Prentiss walked over to the coffee maker and poured herself a cup, she had to stop herself from pouring a second one, and adding five sugars to it. She sighed softly, and looked at the black liquid. Just the smell of it made her think about Reid. She put it down on a table, and sat down in one of the uncomfortable hospital chairs. She knew, logically that Reid was fine, he had been talking to her after he was hurt and on the way to hospital, but she felt guilty. He wouldn't have been hurt if it wasn't for her. She thought about the whole incident knowing that Reid had done the right thing her injuries would have been worse, but she still hated that he had been hurt because of her. She hated hospitals and sitting alone in the waiting room reminded her how much she didn't want to be there.
She sighed softly realising just how many questions she would have to answer when the rest of the team arrived. She had never been so relieved to hear a nurse call her name. The young nurse explained that Reid wanted to see her, and she followed her to a room. When she saw him, sitting in the hospital bed, wearing a hospital gown with his leg patched up she felt a lot better. She went right over, and took his hand.
Reid smiled at her, then squeezed her hand. She leaned in and hugged him tightly. He sighed happily glad to have her in his arms. He knew that he should let her go, before the rest of the team arrived but he didn't want to. She took a deep breath and curled closer into him, careful not to hurt him anymore. He ran his good hand through her hair, silently telling her he was glad that they were both all right. He leaned in and kissed her softly, and right away she began to relax.
She sat down on the bed carefully, and he wrapped his arm around her waist. She curled into him as close as she could, wishing that they could stay like that, and not have to face their colleagues and friends. He kissed her forehead softly, and then she leaned toward him and kissed him again. He relaxed into the embrace, neither of them heard the door open.
"So Morgan doesn't need his eyes examined," Rossi chuckled.
Prentiss pulled away from Reid, but he kept his arm around her waist. She looked at him, and smiled a little, glad that he was there and that she didn't have to face everyone alone. Both of them were relieved that Rossi was the first person to come into the room. He might be one of their superiors, but he easier to talk to. He seemed to understand that rules were sometimes meant to be bent or broken, especially the ones, rumours had it, had been put in place in his younger wilder days.
"You two are aware of what the consequences might be?" he asked them.
"We are, but we're hoping it won't come to that," reasoned Reid.
"Strauss has been looking for a reason to break up this team for a long time. This would give her good cause. I can talk to her, but I can't be sure it will help."
"Our work hasn't changed. There is no reason to believe that our relationship will change the team dynamic."
"Just because you have been able to hide a new relationship for a few days won't prove anything to Strauss."
"Would four months be enough?" Prentiss asked.
"You've kept this from the whole team for four months?" Rossi asked, shocked.
They both nodded. Rossi was trying to figure out how he had missed the signs in the last four months. He tried to remember a time where their behaviour around each other had been different either in the field or at the office, but he couldn't think of anything. There were some times where they were in each other's hotel rooms at odd hours, but they always said they had been working. He realised that all the times they had shown up at work together, claiming their chess game had run late had been lies. He hadn't suspected a thing, and he knew that no one else did either.
"If we were able to keep our behaviour from raising any red flags when we work with profilers, I don't see how our continuing relationship will affect us in the future," Reid explained. "We decided to keep this from everyone we care about so when Strauss asked us these questions we can answer them truthfully. We can tell her that our relationship hasn't change our work, and that is the reason the rules are in place in the first place. If something changes in the future then we'll deal with those complications then."
"You make a compelling argument, but what if that doesn't work?" Rossi asked.
"He'll just throw statistics at her until she doesn't know whether she's coming or going and will agree to anything," laughed Prentiss.
The door opened again, this time JJ and Garcia came through the door. Garcia went right over to Reid and began to fuss over him, practically pushing Prentiss out of the way to make sure that the young genius really wasn't hurt that badly. Prentiss couldn't help but be amused by Garcia's actions. She hadn't even noticed they were holding hands.
"Spence are you all right?" JJ asked.
"I'll be fine," Reid assured her.
"Wait a minute!" Garcia exclaimed. "You two are holding hands."
"I was actually holding my girlfriend before you came in and started to examine me," Reid explained.
"Girlfriend?" all three women asked.
Garcia and JJ were shocked by the term because they had no idea their friends had been dating, and Prentiss was surprised by it because he had never said what she was to him out loud before. The tips of Reid's ears started to go red when he saw the way they were all looking at him. He was glad that he was able to tell them the truth about their relationship. He hated having to hide the truth from their friends.
"If I called you my lover that would be rude and disrespectful," Reid told Prentiss.
"Spencer," Prentiss laughed, kissing him softly.
"I thought that it was just the pain meds going to his head," laughed Garcia. "But you two look awfully comfortable doing that."
"Wait, the night you watched Henry, and he told me he saw you kissing, were you two?" JJ asked.
"That's all he saw, I assure you JJ."
"I can't believe I didn't believe him!"
The door opened again and this time Hotch and Morgan came in. They had been down at the station making sure that the police kept a closer eye on abandoned homes, hoping that if they caught someone trying to break in, he would be the person who had shot Reid. They were glad that their teammates hadn't been seriously injured, but they did want to see the person who had done this brought to justice, or given the help he needed.
"All this time I've been teasing you about not being able to get with Prentiss, you two have been shakin' up?" Morgan asked. "Why didn't you defend yourself, kid?"
"I didn't feel the need to," Reid reasoned. "I knew eventually the truth would come out. I know how to make Emily happy."
"Even when you're trying to be all macho, you're still sweet, boy genius," laughed Garcia. "So Emily does our boy have reason to be proud of himself."
"Do not answer that question, Prentiss," Morgan warned.
"You might want to shut off your ears. You have been teasing my man for months, it's time for some pay back. Let's just say I am a multi satisfied woman, since Reid and I woke up together that first morning. It's amazing none of you noticed me grinning when I would come in to work in some mornings. Winning a game of chess doesn't make a woman that happy. The tricks that Spencer knows can though."
"I still don't understand how he worked up the courage to make a move. The kid has had a thing for you from the second you walked through the door," Morgan explained. "Reid isn't exactly a ladies' man who knows all the moves."
"Some women don't want the moves, most women want something real, and Spencer is that. It's nice to not wake up alone in the morning."
The team was glad to see their friends so happy. They began to talk about what might happen when Strauss found out, but mostly they talked about how the couple had hidden their relationship for so long. Just like any family there was some teasing about their new relationship. Everyone was surprised that Reid kept contact with Prentiss the whole time they spoke. Both of them were glad to be able to be so relaxed around their team, while they found comfort from each other like they had only been able to do while hiding before.
End Part 6
Notes: Well that was that, I don`t really want to write the part with Strauss we are going to pretend it all went well for them. The next part is just straight up fuzzies before one more small dose of mini-drama cause Reid needs Prentiss as much as she needs him ;)