Title:  Unfold 11/?

Author:  _nextboldmove_

Rating: FRT (story) P/SC/SV (case)

Fandom:  Criminal Minds (with mentions of Ghost Hunters)

Pairing: Het & Slash Hotchner/JJ, Reid/?, Garcia/Kevin

Summary:  Three weeks after 1, Reid goes back to work in an attempt to keep himself productive.  Between a busted knee and a broken heart, Morgan is afraid that he’s loosing his best friend.  Meanwhile, a case finally forces JJ and Hotchner to make a decision that changes the BAU forever.  From multiple character  perspectives.

Comments:  Better than watching Reid suck on a lollipop (and that was pretty darned good)

~~~

Disclaimer:  I don’t own any rights or trademarks to Criminal Minds, the FBI, TAPS, Ghost Hunters, Sy-Fy, CBS or any of the characters within.  No infringements of these copyrights are intended.  Any similarities between original characters therein are a coincidence.  I make no profit from the following fictional story.  (Fictional, maybe, but I swear this happened all in my head).

~~~

The next afternoon, BAU at Quantico

Penelope Garcia

I hear a tap at my door frame and turn around to see Morgan with my frappacino drink.  “Hey there hot stuff,”

“Here you go,” he hands me the drink and sits in the free chair next to me.  “What’s this?”

“Kevin and I decided to get married at this great hotel in New Hampshire—The Mount Washington.  It’s absolutely beautiful, look at this.”  I bring up the photos on my computer.  “They do amazing weddings and it’s up in the mountains, in the winter?”

“Nice,” I nod.  “Looks fancy.”

“Costs fancy, thankfully Kevin’s parents are loaded, not to mention the huge bonus he got from his new job, and I had the foresight to take some of my parent’s life insurance and invest it so we can totally afford it.  That, and since we’re only going to have maybe a hundred guests, it’s perfect.”  I smile big, taking a sip of my sugary drink.

“When’s the date?”

“September—man, it’s still four months away but there is so much to do!  JJ and Hotch have already worked it so we are all on leave and the other teams handle the on-call rotations.  This morning I finished booking the hall and the rooms for the guests—oh, uhm that’s something you’ll have to pay for.”

“No problem.”

“Since we are blocking a ton of them they’ll be half-price.”

“So, what are your colors?”

“Orange, brown, red…fall colors, it matches the décor of the main hall perfectly.  We are getting roses and doing a TON of candles.  Now I wanted your input because Prentiss and JJ both said chocolate and I’m making you the final factor.  Wedding favors—a little box of chocolate or little pumpkin cut-outs with our names and the date on them.”

“Chocolate, definitely.”

“Figures.”  I finish my text to Kevin and slam my cell phone shut.  “What’s on your mind hot stuff?”

“What do you know about cats?”

“Cats?  Uhm, they are cute and cuddly and the crap in a box.  They are fairly self-sufficient and come in a variety of colors.  Why, you thinking of getting one?”

“Reid is.”

“That would be good for him, not to be alone.  That and you can sleep in your own apartment.”  I smile, looking him up and down.  “It doesn’t take a profiler to see that you’re wearing the same clothes from yesterday.”

“He was drunk Garcia, you should have seen it.  I didn’t want him to fall and aggravate his knee.”

“It’s cute how you take care of him like you do, musta learned that from your sisters.” I smirk and turn back to my computer screen.  “Tell him to get two cats, so that when he’s gone they aren’t lonely.  They do really well in pairs if you get them together, like, from the same litter.  And if you are really nice he might let you name one.”

“Oh man, that’s right he’s going to give them obscure literary names.  Or worse.”  He stands up.  “He’s on his way in, cleared for the field.  He just called me.”

“Great!  His desk has been so empty.”

~

Twenty minutes later I find an excuse to go into the bull pen and sure enough, Reid is back.  He cut his hair and shaved, but it’s still Reid.  “Hey there boy wonder!”

“What’s up?” he looks up from a pile of folders.

“Just saying hey.”

“Can I ask you to cross-check all the DMV records for the suspects in this case?” he hands me a file.

“We have a case?” I take the file from him.

“No, I’m helping with some of Morgan’s consults.  He’s behind from yesterday.”

“Sure thing.  Oh, there is a great animal shelter down on Fletch and Fifth that’s running a buy-one-get-one on kittens this month,” I say, walking away from Reid and over to the kitchenette and effectively leaving a stunned look on his little innocent face.

Reid doesn’t want cats, Reid wants a guy in his bed every night.  When is he going to admit that to himself?  And furthermore, when is Morgan going to admit to himself that he wants to be that guy?

~~~~~

That evening, Dr. Reid’s apartment

Dr. Spencer Reid

“Careful!” I hold up my hands and gently guide the pet carrier down to the floor.

“They are just fine,” Morgan assures me.  “Let’s let them calm down a little bit from the car ride and set up their things.”

I grab their bowls and fill them, setting them in my kitchen in a very easy-to-see place.  While Morgan opens up packages of cat toys, I take the two litter trays the shelter volunteers suggested I get and poor litter into them, taking one into the bathroom where I want them to always go.  I put the other one in the living room against the far wall.  They are still kittens and I don’t want them to have an accident.  Over the course of a few weeks I’ll move the second box gradually closer and closer to the bathroom until I get rid of it all together.

“Ready?” Morgan asks me.

I go over to the carrier and sit in front of the door, gently opening it.  “Hey there guys, welcome home.”

After a few tense moments, my two new kittens come crawling out.  They are almost four-months-old, not really kittens, and they were spayed only two weeks ago.  They are sisters from the same litter.  One of them is a dark grey short-hair tabby with white paws and the other is a lighter khaki color with hints of tabby stripes on her sides and a white rear left paw.  They instantly come crawling towards me, with the dark grey one making her way up my leg and into my lap.

“They are so cute,” Morgan says, sitting on the floor next to me and reaching a hand out to the lighter one, who sniffs it and finds a toy and starts batting it around.  “Don’t tell Garcia I said ‘cute’ okay?”

I nod.  “You helped me pick them out,” I say, scratching the dark one behind her ears and feeling her purr almost instantly.  “I guess the Reid Effect doesn’t apply to cats.”

“Sure doesn’t.”

“Dave Tango had a cat,” I swallow.  “Oliver.  It had run away a long time ago and he found him after six weeks in the ditch by his house.  Hit by a car.”  I gently pick up the kitten and hold her close to my face.  “But these are going to be indoor cats.”

“Have you thought of names yet?” he asks me, doing what he does best and just going with the flow.  I had expected him not to say anything or give me a long silence, and he didn’t.

I shrug, not really sure.  “I’m not sure, I mean, I could give them really silly names.”  I pull the kitten’s face close to mine and she licks the tip of my nose.  Normally that would make me want to wash my face right away, but instead I find it cute.  I pull her close to my chest and cuddle her, feeling her purr against me.  “I think she likes me.”

“Dude, I think she’s in love with you.” Morgan reaches for the other one and cuddles her in his lap.  “She’s purring, aww.”

“I think I’m going to name you Taffy,” I say to the kitten in my lap.

“Why Taffy?” Morgan giggles.

“When I was a kid, there was this neighborhood cat that I used to play with when my mother wasn’t watching.  I called her Taffy.” I scratch Taffy behind her ears again and set her on the floor to go play.  She finds a toy and starts playing with it, the other one crawling away from Morgan to join her.  “And that’s going to be…Sally.”

“Your first crush?”

“I just like the name.” I stand up and pat Morgan on the shoulder.  “Thanks for helping me—and for the advice about getting two of them.”

“That was Garcia.”

“AH HA! I knew it!” I point an accusing finger at him.  “You told her!”

“You didn’t say I couldn’t,” he smirks back.  “I needed advice to give you.”

“You tell her everything.” Then my heart leaps into my throat.  “You didn’t tell her that after everyone left I propositioned you?”

He shakes his head.  “That’s just for me.”

“You’re such a good sport,” I laugh, “thanks.”

“Sure thing Reid, see you tomorrow.”  He turns around and leaves, making sure the kittens don’t notice the door is open so he can safely exit.

I sigh and turn around.  I got cats.  Why did I get cats?  I know why I made the choice, because it gives me the sense of not being alone when in fact, I am alone.  I need to push myself outside of my traditional comfort zone by doing things that normal people do.  I am going to have a life outside of the BAU, even though I can’t not be a part of the BAU.  I’m not going to keep secrets, that’s dangerous, but I am going to have a life.  And Taffy and Sally are the start of it.

“Here kittens…” I say, looking down to see Taffy and Sally running down the hall and into the bathroom.  “FUCK!”

I run after them but not before I see Taffy has already jumped into the toilet bowl.  She’s howling and while the water isn’t deep enough for her to drown, she’s frantically trying to crawl out.  I grab her out and set her down in the sink, holding her in with one hand on her scruff while I plug the sink and start running warm water.  She’s squirming so it’s hard to get her clean.  I use a very small amount of hand soap since I didn’t buy pet shampoo, knowing that if I rinse her off well she can’t ingest enough to poison her. 

Once she’s clean I grab a towel and dry her off, holding her wrapped up close to my chest.  “Taffy…why did you do that?”

She looks up at me and meows just as my doorbell rings.

Holding a wet kitten in my arms and fully aware that Sally is scratching in the litter box, I answer the door.  “Prentiss.”

“Hi Reid, who is this?” She comes in and scratches Taffy’s head.

“Close the door or Sally will get out!”

She turns and does.  “Sally?”

“I got two of them.”  I sigh.  “This is Taffy.”

“Hi kitties, Garcia told me you were getting a cat but two cute kittens?  Total guy magnet.” She laughs.

“Did Garcia tell everyone?” Deeming Taffy is dry enough, I set her down on the floor, where she instantly runs to the couch and starts licking herself dry.

“Hotch actually did a double-take when he heard,” Prentiss laughs.  “How’s things?”

“Well, Taffy decided to take a bath in the toilet so I had to give her a proper one, and I’ve only had them for an hour.”  I go to the kitchen and find myself a leftover beer from last night, offering one to Prentiss.  “Welcome back to DC, right?”

“I am so happy you’re back,” she says, standing opposite of me and drinking her beer.  “We missed you.”

“I missed you guys.  Is it weird that I’m actually excited to get another case?”

“Not at all, I can understand the feeling.  You know, Morgan’s glad you’re back too.  It’s like he was a different person when you were gone.”

“I talked to him all the time, it’s not like he didn’t know I was coming back.”

“I think he kept thinking that was a possibility.  I mean, none of us thought you’d take leave and go to Vegas for four months but you did.  Oh, this must be Sally,” she bends down to pick her up, snuggling her close.  “You are so cute.  You’re daddy is going to have his hands full, yes he is.”

A little wierded out by being called ‘daddy’ I take another drink.  “My neighbor has already offered to look in on them while I’m gone.”

“Good.”  She puts Sally down and looks me in the eye.  “Are you okay?”

“I’m good.”  I feel a kitten rub against my leg.  “I’m great.”

She nods.  “Well, good.  I’m off, I’ll see you in the morning.”

As Prentiss leaves, I realize that yeah, I am good.

~~~~~

7:25 am the next morning, Hotchner’s apartment 

Agent Aaron Hotchner

I open my eyes just seconds before my alarm goes off.  I guess I’m finally getting used to sleeping in.  That’s something JJ’s already got me doing—sleeping in.  It’s hard to leave a warm bed and soft person in the early morning.  Knowing she doesn’t take much time to get ready in the morning since she showers in the evening, I let her sleep and carefully crawl out of bed and into the bathroom.

When I get out, she’s awake and scrambling for her things.  There isn’t a smile on her face, which can only mean one thing.

“I got a call from Escanaba, remember the case with the women…”

“Detective Ledger and Halloway, yes I recall.” I yawn.

“They have another body.  I’m going to call the team, have them meet us at the airport in forty-five minutes.”

I open my closet and grab a suit, thinking twice and leaving the jacket in the closet and the tie on the rack, opting for a white button-down and navy pants.  I see JJ smirk out of the corner of her eye.

I wonder what everyone else will say.