Prompt 40: Sight
Prompt 40: Sight
Title: Out of Sight, Out of Mind
Author: Fireness
Beta: None
Characters (Pairings): Gideon, Reid, Hotch, mention of the team (Reid/Gideon, Reid/Hotch)
Rating: FRC?
Warning(s): Implied slash, incredible amounts of sappiness
Spoilers: Season three, although no specific mentions of what happened.
Summary: “Happy birthday, Spencer.”
Word Count: 710
Author’s Notes: I can’t believe I just wrote Reid/Hotch……….. I blame empathy_apathy for making me see the potential in the pairing.
Disclaimer: I don’t own any of these wonderful characters.
“Happy birthday, Spencer.”
Reid eyed the small package apprehensively; it looked altogether too familiar. “Please tell me that isn’t more football tickets.”
Gideon raised an eyebrow in response. “You didn’t like my present last year?”
“Four long hours of watching twenty or so guys chasing a ball that isn’t even shaped like a ball, while trying to make conversation with a woman I work with that didn’t involve actual work - because let’s face it: serial killers don’t make good date-conversation material - and eating crappy concession stand food? Let me tell you how exhilarated I was.”
“Alright, so you don’t like football.”
“Not exactly, no. Though if I were perfectly honest, I don’t think I would have minded it so much if you had been there.”
“That so? I hate football.”
He was still looking at the package as though it might suddenly bite him. “What about baseball? Soccer? Basketball? Hock-”
“Just open the present,” Gideon chuckled.
Reid picked up the present; it certainly felt heavier than a pair of tickets. Ripping open the paper, he stopped short at the sight of an oblong jewelry box. “Jason…”
“Go ahead.”
The sight of the carefully crafted silver chain nearly took his breath away. “It’s beautiful, thank you,” he said softly. “But I think it might be a little too big for my wrist.”
“It’s not for your wrist - it’s for your ankle. I thought if I got you a bracelet people at work would start asking funny questions, and you don’t really need a watch, so…” He gestured at the anklet. “That way nobody will see it unless you show up to work wearing shorts and sandals, in which case I’d have to fire you anyway.
“Oh?” Reid laughed. “I thought you liked my scrawny, pasty chicken legs.”
Gideon smiled. “I do. But my eyes have built up an immunity. It wouldn’t look good for us if you blind half the FBI.”
“Not to mention Morgan would probably die of a heart attack right then and there.”
“Exactly. May I?” At his lover’s nod, Gideon removed the chain from the box, and bent over to secure it around the young genius’s leg. “I had them make it fairly thick, so it should be able to withstand all your running around.”
Reid looked the older man in the eye, trying as hard as possible to convey everything he was feeling at the moment with just that glance. “Thank you,” he whispered.
“Spencer?”
Reid started. “Sorry, what?”
Hotch looked at him quizzically, still holding the silver chain in his hand. “I asked you what this was and you kinda blanked out for a few minutes.”
“Sorry, I was…remembering. It was a gift from Gideon.”
Peering at it, “What was it doing in your underwear drawer?”
“What were you doing going through my underwear drawer?”
Hotch merely gave him a Look.
“Er, sorry. I guess I just stashed it there after he left because I didn’t really have the right to wear it anymore, especially after you and I…” His voice died away.
“And you didn’t want to get rid of it either.”
Reid shrugged. “Haven’t you ever kept something for purely sentimental value?”
“I still have just about every gift I ever received from Haley,” Hotch admitted.
“So you don’t mind then?”
“Not really, no. I mean, I know about you and Gideon, and it’s in the past, so I can’t really complain.”
“Yeah.”
Hotch sighed, placing the anklet on top of the dresser. “Oh well. In any case, happy birthday, Spencer.” He handed his lover a small, oblong present. “Although now I see that I’m not as creative as I thought.”
Reid opened the paper enthusiastically, his face lighting up when he saw the jewelry box. He took the lid off; inside was a thick gold chain, in the center of which was a gold plate bearing the inscription ‘forever.’ “It’s beautiful.”
“It’s for your wrist, not your ankle, but then again you and I were never as good at hiding our relationship as you and Jason were.”
“I love it, thank you.”
“You’re welcome. C’mon, we have to meet the others soon for your birthday dinner.”
Reid grinned. “I can’t wait to see the look on Garcia’s face when she sees this.”