Fic post! When's the last time one of these happened?
I'm planning on writing a coda/tag to each CM episode as they air this season. I wrote this immediately following the premiere, but forgot to post it. So here it is, as the next ep is scheduled for tonight. I'm so excited!
Title: Gravity
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Genre: Relationship Study? IDK.
Pairing/Characters: Rossi/Reid if ya squint.
Summary: Tag/coda to 7x01 "It Takes a Village."
Warning: Spoilers for same.
Rating: PG for references to Emily's "death."
It's a summer that's too hot, too long, and too different.
Maybe it's the fact that Hotch is in Pakistan, and Emily's gone, and Seaver transferred out, but even with JJ home again, everything seems off.
Reid gravitates to Dave, because he's steady and stable and has never scared him. Dave has never left, never almost been lost. Dave is safe, and Reid needs that, when everything is tumbling around his ears. With so many people gone, Reid needs someone to hold onto.
So he finds himself floating in the edges of Dave's space, orbiting the one constant he has. He wonders if Dave knows; he probably does.
But Dave doesn't mention it, just lets it happen, and Reid is thankful for that beyond words.
When it's all over, though, when Emily is home and Hotch is home and they are all a family again, Reid still can't break out of orbit. He has trust issues that he's well aware of, trust issues and the fear of loss and abandonment -- his list of problems is miles long.
But Dave remains, and Reid finds comfort in the sphere of his gravity.