A friend is one soul abiding in two bodies - Aristotle

It was bitterly cold in Quantico. The temperatures had plummeted during the day. While the clock ticked down to midnight, the thermometer hit minus twelve degrees centigrade.

The team had returned earlier in the day from a case in Iowa, where an unsub had murdered seven pairs of friends in front of each other. It had been a rather depressing arrest as well. Hotch had shot their unsub on the spot when he breached the door and located the unsub holding a bloody knife. But it had been too late and the damage was already done.

The unsub had two more victims in his custody and the male victim was already mortally injured. He had died in his best friend's arms, bleeding out while the ambulance was still on the way.

Even for the profilers, somewhat more used to tragedies, the sight of the young woman crying over her best friend's body had been a harrowing sight.

Hotch had taken the burden of moving her away from the crime scene onto himself. It took him a while to get her to move. She didn't want to leave her friend behind on the cold floor, but they needed to secure the crime scene for the crime scene investigators.

The mood on the plane home was understandably quite muted. But when Rossi had invited them out for drinks, nobody declined. It was much more comforting to be with people who truly understood the troubles of their day instead of going home.

The idea had worked even better than planned. When the seven of them had squeezed themselves around a corner table at O'Kefe's, nobody was in the mood to talk. But after a few rounds, they slowly began to unwind. Conversation began flowing easily and the drinks kept coming. When they finally got ready to leave for home, it was close to midnight and they were in good spirits again.

It had still been obvious that everybody still felt the aftershock of the day. They had kept closer to each other than usual throughout the evening, as everybody was ready for some friendly comfort.

Morgan had an arm placed around Garcia's shoulders, while JJ had stuck close to Reid, leading against him more and more as the evening went on.

Emily, who sat between Hotch and Rossi had kept both men close to her, their legs constantly touching.

An outside observer may have mistook them for couples, but for them, it was all friendly and familiar love.

"God you drink like a group of pirates," Rossi mused as he paid their bill. They had ordered more or less a bit of everything from the drink menu and most of them were fairly tipsy when they exited the bar into the swirling snow.

Outside, they were in luck and a few cabs were waiting nearby for customers. Due to the overall drunken state of the group, their goodbye took considerably longer than expected and involved many hugs. Even Reid, normally reserved to physical contact, lubricated by the three drinks participated and closed both Garcia and Emily into tight hugs.

He was by far the most sober, but even he felt the effect of the alcohol.

Everybody settled into the cabs except for JJ, who was adamant she wanted to walk.

Hotch however was very much against the idea. He knew that he couldn't order her around after work, but the idea of leaving one of his agents running around alone in the dark freezing cold while also drunk was appalling to him.

But JJ insisted as she liked the snow and how it felt on her rosy cheeks. She also wore ample clothes so she had no problems with the temperature. Before Hotch could protest again, Reid got out of his cab.

"I go with her," he proposed. Hotch gave him an agreeing nod, content with this solution.

They lived in the vicinity of each other, only 10 minutes apart, so it didn't mean much of a detour for him anyway.

JJ beamed at him when he took his place next to her, where they waved as the others drove off. When they went on their way themselves, Reid let the way. A second later, he could feel JJ tucking herself into his side, linking their arms.

He looked down at her, and the sight of her sparkling eyes and the sweet smile she gifted him, made him feel warm inside and he smiled in response.

JJ was drunker than he had thought, so it took him a little effort to keep them on a steady course. They walked together through the sparsely illuminated empty streets, enjoying the snow that covered everything in comfortable silence. Like in the bar before, they stuck close together, which provided them some shelter against the cold.

When they entered their quarter, the somber darkness was pierced by colorful Christmas decorations, shining their friendly light through windows. Even if Christmas was still two weeks away, most people were clearly already in holiday spirit. As they neared a park, JJ stopped under the warm light of a street lamp to gaze upon the snow-covered trees and bushes.

Uncharacteristically for a city, it was nearly completely silent, the blanket of snow muffling all noises.

"You know I love you, right?" JJ's quiet voice pierced the silence, "You are the best friend I ever had".

Reid was taken by surprise when he heard her voice pierce the silence and he averted his gaze from the winter wonderland in front of him to face her. She had a strange expression on her face, but her eyes still glowed kindly.

He couldn't help but smile down at her as she stood there by his side. Her profile, illuminated by the yellowish light of the lamp, vaguely resembled the depiction of an angel.

"Of course I know and I do too," he reassured her, sensing that the mood had shifted. She surprised him yet again when she pulled him into a tight embrace. He held her close while she snuggled up to him and he rested his cheek atop her head.

When they separated, he quickly checked her body language, slightly concerned by her emotional outburst. But she caught him and gave him a sheepish look.

"You can stop worrying Spence, I'm fine."

But his genuine look of concern warmed her heart and she elaborated,

"It's just what happened today, I guess I just want you to know how much you mean to me."

"I know," he reassured her again with an affectionate look, "I didn't have many friends when I was younger. I was always much too young for anybody in my class to hang out with. I found my first best friend when I met you."

At his admission, she looked close to tears.

"The drinks made you mushy," he remarked. He wasn't well-versed in heartfelt conversations and this whole situation made him slightly uncomfortable, even if he was immensely grateful for her friendship.

She just shook her head in response and blinked a tear away, not trusting her voice. She hadn't intended to become so emotional, but she couldn't help herself.

He watched her as she composed herself, before he urged her on, "Come on, it's getting cold out here and hypothermia sets in much earlier than most people think."

When they got moving again, it was he who pulled her close. Arm in arm they continued on their way, while the snow kept falling.