8This is for Challenge 18 on the CCOAC forum. I chose Reid (of course) and once again I got Aaron Hotchner for the second person. And the kicker, everyone has the same prompts. I do have Hotch and Reid in it, but it hopefully doesn't read as they are together. But feel free to read into it however you want.
The three prompts I am using are hopefully the safest ones. So what I'm using are a dozen red roses, candy hearts and Can You Feel the Love Tonight
Warnings: Fluff, friendship and slash. Very slightly hinted mpreg if you squint hard enough.
Pairing: Hotch x Reid (friendship), Morgan x Reid (hinted at, established)
Disclaimer: Same for everything. I still don't own Criminal Minds. But if I did, we know what I'd do by now. And right now I'm wishing that Breen Frazier did tonight's episode… Morgan would have done what I thought he did with Reid… I also don't own Can You Feel The Love Tonight? That is © Elton John and only used for fic purposes.
Of Roses and Candy Hearts
He who is in love is wise and is becoming wiser, sees newly every time he looks at the object beloved, drawing from it with his eyes and his mind those virtues which it possesses.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Valentine's Day, a day that most people either despised for one reason or another, or they loved everything about it and wanted to go all out for their significant other. For the last two years one man never really thought much about the actual day, he had only his son and his sister in law along with his brother. But over the last three months he noticed something was different, especially concerning one member of his team.
Everyone was well aware of the fraternization rules that were in place due to his close friend and fellow co-worker David Rossi, although it was evident that some of his co-workers and some people from other teams were finding loop holes around the rules. Even their tech analyst had found some way around it, but Kevin wasn't on their team. He was even on a different floor from theirs. But right now Aaron Hotchner was literally fishing for ideas, knowing that it was cliché to wait until the very last second to get a gift for their lover. However he was among those that did so, mostly due to their busy work schedule and the fact they had a case that lasted two days and they had just arrived home last night.
He walked out of his office, looking over his shoulder to see Garcia walking past the windows on her way toward the elevators with Kevin. Looking down the catwalk he noticed that Rossi's office was open, meaning he had more than likely left for the day. He knew the other was probably spending a little bit of time at Carolyn's grave before doing something else. As he headed down the catwalk and down the stairs into the bullpen he noticed that JJ and Prentiss were gone as well, leaving Reid at his desk while Morgan was probably out planning something on his own. But a few things hadn't gone unnoticed to the older male.
"Heading home?" Reid asked, looking up from his second to last file for the day. The young genius noticed that the older was holding his brief case along with a case file under his arm. "I'll be a little late coming home myself, I have a few things to do."
"That's fine." Hotch nodded, looking at the younger as he walked toward the glass doors. "I'll see you in a couple hours? Jack had something for you, but it can wait until you come home. Or I'll surprise you."
Reid chuckled softly, closing one file before opening his last one. "In that case I'll take care of my business quicker. Tell Jack not to worry, I have something planned for him too."
"I'll tell him." Hotch replied before turning out of the door, wondering what exactly the younger male was planning. But it generally wasn't a good thing if someone left a super genius alone with his own mind. Maybe it wasn't as bad as he was making it out to be and he'd be surprised when Reid walked through the doors.
6pm
"He's here!" Jack chirped, running to the door as soon as he heard a car door close and peeked out the window to make sure that it was Spencer. As soon as he heard a knock on the door he remembered what his father had taught him before he opened it. "Who is it?"
"It's Uncle Reid." Reid smiled, glad that Jack remembered the safe way to answer a door instead of pulling it open. He didn't want to think about the youngest Hotchner getting hurt or worse if he saw the wrong person.
"May I open the door daddy?"Jack asked, watching as his father nodded before a rarely seen smile crossed his lips.
"Of course." Hotch answered, unlocking the top deadbolt before allowing his son to open the door for the young genius. "Come in, Reid. Oh… who are the flowers for?"
"It's a mix of everyone really. And I need Jack's help with candy. Don't worry; I won't let him eat any until after dinner." Reid smiled, walking in with a large bouquet of roses with various colors along with a bag of candy hearts. He had a sheet of lyrics under his arm as well carefully folded up.
Jack smiled as he watched the older pour out a few hearts before spreading them out onto the glass table. He walked over to see what Reid was doing, although he really did want to eat one. What could one little sugar heart do for his dinner anyway right?
"I like the pink and yellow rose." Jack spoke up, spotting seven different colored roses mixed in with twelve red roses.
"Oh?" Reid smiled, carefully pulling it out of the bouquet before he handed it to Jack. "Yellow means to forgive and forget, pink is friendship. And I did want to say sorry for not going to your big soccer game that you invited me to last week."
"Daddy said you were busy and helping the big kids." Jack smiled, taking the flower carefully before handing it to his father. "He said you were… what's the word?"
"Giving a lecture." Hotch smiled, taking the rose from Jack before he was surprised by a rose of his own that was pure yellow. "What did you do and why do you need forgiveness?"
"From keeping my relationship with Morgan a secret from you," Reid started. "But if you would rather have the pink rose, I'll put the yellow rose on Prentiss's desk. She could use it as an apology for how I reacted when she came back and she wasn't really dead."
Jack giggled, soon moving four candy hearts aside to go with the red roses. He didn't really understand what the young genius was talking about with the flowers, but he hoped that the candy would make him happy.
"I thought you said the roses were for daddy." Jack frowned after placing the last two hearts on the table. He tilted his head in confusion, not understanding why Reid mentioned Morgan after everything.
Hotch blinked, wondering where Jack got the idea that Reid was going to give him flowers. He wasn't aware of any feelings the younger man had for him aside from friendship and deep respect at work along with the love a son would have for a father. He didn't see anything further than that. He then picked up the candy hearts and smiled a little before he plucked the light orange one that read Pick Me and handed it to Jack.
"He already gave me a yellow rose, and I accepted his apology already. But do you want Spencer to explain it to you?" Hotch asked, sitting on the couch before Jack climbed up next to him. "And maybe you can tell me why you thought he was giving me flowers."
"I heard him say that he was bringing flowers over for you to look at." Jack replied, looking at the two before directing his attention to Reid.
Reid smiled, deciding to stand up slowly as he retrieved the remaining hearts from his boss's hand. He perched on the arm of the couch, looking directly at Jack before clearing his throat lightly. He saw the sayings on the hearts, planning to put them to good use soon.
Hold Hands
Hey Babe
I Love You
Love Me
Soul Mate
"I think you probably misunderstood me," Reid spoke softly, hoping that he didn't sound like he was profiling the young boy. "I know I mentioned that I was going to bring flowers over for him to look at. But I didn't meant that all of them would be for him, I was going to share some with the team also."
"But what about that big bunch?" Jack asked, catching his eye on the dozen dark red roses once more.
"They're for Derek…" Reid replied, feeling his cheeks heat up slightly. He wasn't sure how much Jack understood, but apparently enough if the boy thought his father was in a relationship with his friend.
"I like him." Jack smiled, looking up at the genius. "And he's your friend right?"
"Jack… you remember how your dad felt for your mom?" Reid asked carefully, knowing that Haley's death was still a hard subject even two and a half years after the fact. "It's sort of the same with me and Derek."
"So you like Uncle Derek?" Jack smiled, watching Reid turn a few shades darker until his face almost matched the roses.
"Yeah… almost as much as your dad loved your mom. But we're still taking a few baby steps…" Reid replied, blinking as he heard a knock at the door. "I don't know what your friends tell you about that kind of thing… but I'll try to talk to you about it later."
"Daddy said sometimes kids have two daddies, and sometimes two mommies." Jack spoke, seeing his daddy come back down the hall with a very familiar face. "And he said that it's okay with him, but some people don't like it that way."
"I swear you've been hanging around me too long." Reid laughed, carefully hugging Jack before ruffling his hair. "But he's right. Some people don't like two boys or two girls together. They're just silly like that I guess."
Morgan smiled, walking over to Reid before taking the roses from the table. He offered his hand to help the younger male up from the floor after he was finished hugging the youngest Hotchner.
"Couldn't have said it better myself, pretty boy." Morgan spoke, moving his arm around Reid's waist gently. "Are those hearts for me too? I have something for you in the truck."
"They are." Reid smiled before heading toward the door, looking back over at Hotch and Jack as Jack smiled at him. "I promise, we'll go to the museum or somewhere fun to make up for me not going to the soccer game Jack."
"Have fun." Jack chirped, waving to Reid and Morgan as they walked out the door before turning to his father. He blinked as he heard a familiar song play, causing him to run to the door to see the driver side door open for a familiar black Suburban sitting in the driveway with Morgan soon closing the door behind him. The song still playing through the rolled down windows on a rare warm evening.
There's a calm surrender
To the rush of day
When the heat of the rolling world
Can be turned away
An enchanted moment
And it sees me through
It's enough for this restless warrior
Just to be with you
(Chorus)
And can you feel the love tonight?
It is where we are
It's enough for this wide-eyed wanderer
That we got this far
And can you feel the love tonight
How it's laid to rest?
It's enough to make kings and vagabonds
Believe the very best
Hotch chuckled softly, hearing the song as well before closing the door behind his co-workers once Morgan drove off down the street. He did forgive Reid, and was glad the young genius was happy. And he was also glad that the mystery had been solved as to why the youngest member of his team was acting odd. Happy that it was something as simple as love, and not his worst fear.
…..
Additional notes: With Paget Brewster quitting the show, I may have rekindled some inspiration for my fics. But I won't do anything too drastic until we see what happens with the season finale. Doesn't mean I can't imagine though, that is the beauty of Fanfiction.
And I do apologize for any confusion. It is extremely hard for me to write Hotch x Reid slash. Poor Jack though… he probably could use the apology roses now. I can make this a two shot if requested.