Work Text:
The best things in life are the people we love, the place we’ve been, and the memories we’ve made along the way.
-Unknown
“I’ve got a surprise for you,” Hermione announced, walking into her living room, holding something Spencer couldn’t see behind her back.
He let out a sigh and closed his book with a finger holding his place. Resting his arm on the back of the couch, Spencer turned to get a better look at her coming down the hall. “You know I hate surprises,” he said, smiling at her.
Hermione rolled her eyes, joining him on the couch and placing the item she was holding behind her back on the coffee table. “Do you know what this is?”
Spencer turned, leaning forward and looking at the box sitting in the middle of the table. There was a series of doors with numbers written on each of them. “A countdown calendar?”
Hermione nodded her head quickly. “Yup! Do you know what it’s counting down until?”
Spencer stared at the calendar for a few more moments, locating each number from one until he ran out of doors. The last number he found was twenty-four. He furrowed his brow and tilted his head to the side as he thought about what it could be counting down to. He turned his head to Hermione, smiling back at him with the biggest smile he had ever seen. “Christmas?”
“Yes, it’s an advent calendar,” Hermione began. “And each day from now until Christmas Eve, you get to open one of the boxes and find a special surprise inside.”
Spencer chuckled, setting his book down on the table next to his calendar. “Is it only presents for me?”
“I mean, I’m sure I’ll enjoy a few of them, especially since Hotch has given us a few weeks off between now and Christmas,” Hermione replied, propping her elbow up on the back of the couch. “Well, aren’t you going to open the first box?”
“You know Hotch didn’t really give us the time off,” Spencer said, shaking his head as he reached for the advent calendar. “The BAU is just closed because of the holidays. That doesn’t mean we won’t get called in for a case.”
“Unless we both put in for some time off,” Hermione mumbled, turning her head away.
“Unless we do what?” Spencer asked, furrowing his brow. “I didn’t put in for any time off.”
“Just open the first box,” Hermione huffed, leaning forward and pointing to the number one on the calendar. She settled back on her haunches as she watched him pull the door open.
“I didn’t agree to take any time off,” Spencer grumbled, looking at her out of the corner of his eye.
“We can talk about it after you open your first present,” Hermione insisted, nudging his arm with her elbow.
Spencer shook his head and pulled out a small piece of paper that was folded up. With a puzzled look on his face, he began unfolding it until he found the message scribbled inside.
Hidden in paper of silver and blue, you will find a small treat for both you and me. Underneath the evergreen decked out in lights, you will find something that will bring you delight.
Search high and low until you find present number one with a great big bow.
“You couldn’t just stick the present inside the calendar?” Spencer asked, raising a brow as he slid off the couch and walked over to the tree. He began looking around at the small stack of blue and silver packages, shaking his head as he found numbers that didn’t match the one he was looking for.
“The present was too big for the box,” Hermione replied, shrugging her shoulders as she settled back into the cushions. She laughed as she oversaw Spencer examine each package individually, hoping that he would find the one he was searching for early on in his hunt. However, Hermione had hidden this particular present at the bottom of the stack.
Ten minutes later, Spencer had finally reached the bottom of the pile and located the gift labeled number one. Shaking his head, he held the envelope up in the air, waving it victoriously.
“You found it!” Hermione cheered, clapping her hands together.
“You could have told me that it was at the bottom of the pile,” Spencer replied, glancing up at her over his shoulder with his brow furrowed.
“That would have taken most of the fun out of it,” she giggled. “Besides, now if the other presents were in any sort of order, you have successfully scrambled them. This means every day will be a brand new scavenger hunt for your gift unless it fits in the advent calendar.”
“Did any fit in the calendar?” Spencer asked, eyeing up the collection of presents sitting next to him on the floor.
Hermione shrugged, smiling coyly. “I guess you’ll just have to wait and see.”
Spencer shook his head and pushed himself off the floor, and returned to the couch. He reached over and wrapped an arm around Hermione, squeezing her tight. “Thank you for this,” he said, kissing the top of her head.
“You’re welcome,” Hermione smiled. “Aren’t you going to open your present?”
Spencer laughed, nodding his head. He picked at the wrapping paper edges, slowly breaking the seal between the tape and the paper. As he peeled back the paper, he found an envelope. He furrowed his brow and glanced up at Hermione. Her smile made him laugh as he flipped the envelope over.
Venture Fiji invites you to Dolphin Island for a luxury five-night vacation in our Hilltop Sleep-Out Bure this holiday season.
“What is this?” Spencer asked, looking up from the tickets in his hands.
“I told you, Hotch gave us some time off, so I thought I’d make the best of it,” Hermione replied, shrugging her shoulders. “If you don’t like it, we don’t have to go. I can trade it in for something else.”
“No, no, no,” Spencer said, taking her hand. “I love it. I’m just confused.”
Hermione let out a sigh of relief and smiled, taking the tickets out of Spencer’s hand and flipping open the pamphlet. “Our flight leaves on Sunday, and we would be gone for a week, guaranteeing that we are back in time for Christmas, so we can go see your mom or bring her here.
“Hotch knew he couldn’t promise that a case would pop up, but he did have Penelope take us off the call list for the duration of the trip. But we can always take our go bags with us just in case,” Hermione explained.
Spencer looked at her in awe and shook his head. This woman never ceased to amaze and surprise him. Since the day he met her outside of the FBI building, his life had never been the same.
“So,” she urged, batting her lashes slowly as she offered him the tickets back. “Do you want to run away to Fiji with me for five days?”
“Are you sure that Hotch is okay with us going out of the country for five days?” Spencer asked, glancing down at the tickets on his lap.
Hermione rolled her eyes and leaned back against the arm of the couch, crossing her arms over her chest. I told you I took care of everything to make sure that we would be okay to take this trip. If you don’t want to travel with me for pleasure, instead of work, just say so, and I’ll return the tickets.
“It’s not that I don’t want to travel with you, Hermione,” Spencer said, reaching out to grab her hand and squeezing it tightly. “I’m just not used to someone wanting to spend time with me. People think I’m a tad weird.”
“ I like that you’re weird. Besides, people tell me I’m weird all the time,” Hermione laughed. “So I’ll ask you one more time, do you want to go to Dolphin Island with me and escape for five peaceful nights before the Christmas chaos sets in?”
Spencer slid across the couch cushion and leaned over, placing a kiss on Hermione’s cheek. “I would love to escape to paradise with you for five days as long as you let me spoil you with a surprise trip next Christmas.”
Hermione wrapped an arm around Spencer’s neck and pulled him in for a kiss. “Sounds like a good plan to me,” she whispered, kissing him once more before pulling away. She jumped up from the couch and extended a hand to him.
Spencer looked down at her hand, raising a brow as he looked back up at the smile on her face. “What are you doing?” he asked, wrapping his hand around hers.
Hermione pulled back on his hand, attempting to pull him to his feet. “Our flight leaves Sunday,” Hermione replied, “which is in three days. Do you want to be running around trying to find clothes the night before our flight, or would you rather be prepared?”
Spencer thought about it for a moment. They were headed to Fiji in December, the beginning of the rainy season. He knew that the average temperature was in the upper eighties during the day, and it only dropped down to the seventies at night. All of his summer clothes had been put into storage. Hermione was right; he would rather be prepared. With her help, Spencer stood up from the couch and followed her back to their bedroom.
. . . . . . . . .
The warmth of the sand beneath her toes sent Hermione into a fit of giggles as she ran towards the edge of the shore. The echo of the waves crashing on the shore resonated through her ears. She glanced back over her shoulder and saw Spencer watching her from a distance. Shaking her head, Hermione turned away from the waves and ran toward him.
Spencer braced himself for impact, opening his arms to catch her when she ran into him. Hermione’s body collided with Spencer’s as she wrapped her arms around his neck with a thud. His hands rest on her hips, holding her against him.
Hermione tilted her head back to look at Spencer with a smile on her face. As he opened his mouth to say something, she cut him off by kissing him chastely. She pulled away slightly and waited for him to start to talk. When he did, she pressed up on her tiptoes and kissed him again. This pattern continued on for a few minutes before Hermione pulled away from him in a fit of laughter.
Spencer stared at her as he waited for her to calm down. He shook his head and crossed his arms over his chest. “What is so funny, Hermione?”
The smile fell from Hermione’s face as she raised her eyebrow, looking him up and down. “The fact that we’re in paradise surrounded by beautiful blue water and you’re hiding up here near the cabana. Come stick your feet in the water with me,” Hermione said, batting her lashes as she extended a hand to him.
“Did you know that vibrio alginolyticus is a flesh-eating bacteria that can enter your-”
Hermione stepped up and placed a hand over his mouth. With a furrowed brow, Spencer looked down at her and cocked his head to the side.
“What are you doing?” he mumbled, his voice muffled by her hand.
“No statistics. No, ‘did you know questions.’ No facts. Just take advantage of the fact that for the first time since we met, we are on vacation,” Hermione pleaded, smiling up at him as she waited for an answer.
“Okay,” Spencer said, nodding his head. Hermione could feel him smiling behind her hand. She dropped her hand from his mouth and interlaced his fingers with hers.
She pulled him gently to follow her down to the water’s edge. Standing with their toes in the water, Spencer reached over and wrapped an arm around Hermione’s waist, pulling her close to him. In the stillness of the moment, he pressed a kiss to the top of her head and squeezed her tight.
Spencer knew they would create memories on this trip that he would want to relive over and over again. No matter how stubborn he may have been about taking the trip in the first place, he would forever be grateful for Hermione’s clever ways of treating him when he didn’t feel like he wanted to be treated special.