Chapter Text
Based on 3x14, Damaged
Chester Hardwick. A serial killer that managed to take the lives of twenty-three women before he was caught. Hardwick had decided he was ready to talk, and Spencer Reid couldn’t have been more excited to get into this man’s mind. Hotch, on the other hand, was just plain angry, and for good reason. Haley was being completely unfair with this divorce. He figured if he had something else to focus on, the pain and anger would leave the forefront of his mind, at least momentarily.
None of that interview had gone as planned. Hotch had tried to fight Hardwick after the man revealed his plans of killing two FBI agents to get out of the death penalty, thinking maybe he could put his anger to good use. Reid, though, had been able to talk him down, and likely saved his superior’s life, talking and distracting Hardwick for the thirteen minutes they had before the guards returned.
Hotch was impressed. He’d never seen someone distract an unsub for that amount of time, let alone calm him down enough to deter his plan of killing so instantly. But a play on narcissism was always a strong one.
Reid was… Well, Reid was turned on, to say the least. This sort of adrenaline always got him going. And seeing his boss all puffed up, ready to kill the man who had just threatened to kill them? That was a thought for another time.
“So, Haley wants me to sign the divorce paper uncontested so nobody wastes money on lawyers,” Hotch started, when they were in the car on the way back to D.C. “You don’t want to?” Reid questioned. “What I want I’m not gonna get,” Hotch replied, leaving Reid puzzled. “What is it you want, Hotch?” He didn’t get an answer.
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Back in Quantico, the team had just wrapped up another case. Reid was currently witnessing a very confusing encounter. Kevin had just stopped Rossi and said they needed to talk “man to man,” and then JJ sang some song about Garcia and Kevin and a tree? He had no idea what was going on. Instead of continuing to sit there confused (no one would explain it to him for some reason, apparently what was happening was obvious), Spencer decided to go check on Hotch. He had obviously not taken Haley’s request well, and the interview couldn’t have helped.
“Hotch,” Reid said quietly, knocking on the office door and poking his head in. “Come in Reid, close the door,” Hotch replied, not looking up from his paperwork. Reid sat down in the chair across from Aaron and handed him a file. “My reports for the interview.” “Thank you, Reid, I appreciate you getting this done so quickly. I wanted to apologize for the situation I put you in today, it really was not appropriate. I shouldn’t have provoked him the way I did,” Hotch stated in full “Unit Chief” mode. “Hotch,” Reid began, pausing and making sure the words that were about to come out of his mouth were going to come out correctly. “Let me take you out for dinner tonight. I think you need someone to talk to, and honestly, I probably do too.” Reid didn’t really need to talk, he had been doing much better in the aftermath of Hankel recently, but he did know that his boss would be more likely to say yes if he thought it wouldn’t only be to benefit him. Hotch looked up from his paperwork, gave Reid a look the younger man couldn’t decipher, and thought for a few moments. “Well,” Aaron answered, “that actually sounds lovely. Let me just finish this last file and I’ll come get you. I’m assuming you took the metro?” Reid nodded. “Great. I’ll drive us and I can bring you home after. Think about where you want to go.”
Reid entered the bull pen with a faint smile on his face. Sitting down at his desk, he thought back to how Hotch looked preparing to defend himself and Spencer from that highly dangerous man and found himself beginning to get hard. He shook his head as if he could shake the thoughts from his mind and walked to the bathroom to splash some cold water on his face. He wasn’t supposed to think about coworkers like that. Especially not his boss. It wasn’t Spencer’s fault the man was so effortlessly attractive. Spencer then reminded himself that his boss was married. It was a failing marriage, but the thought sobered him up either way. He made his way back to the bull pen and saw the face Morgan was making at him. “What, do I have something on my face?” he asked. “No,” Morgan replied. “You just were in Hotch’s office, came back all pale, and ran off to the bathroom. Are you feeling ok?” “Fine, just got a little nauseous for a moment. I’m okay now. Thanks for asking though, I appreciate it,” Reid answered, only half lying about the feeling of nausea.
Aaron came out of his office almost an hour later, finding Reid lost in a book at his desk. “Reid,” he called out softly, placing a hand softly on his shoulder as to not startle him too much. Reid jumped and looked up at him. “Hotch! You scared me,” he exclaimed. “Sorry,” Hotch chuckled. “I’m also sorry I took so long, I got call from the Wichita police department.” Reid looked up at him, disappointment showing clearly in his eyes. “No case,” Hotch said quickly, noticing the disappointment. “They were just letting me know how that case from a few weeks ago turned out. Our unsub was prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, landing him with three life sentences, no parole. Have you decided where you want to go for dinner?” Reid nodded and stood up, collecting his belongings and making his way towards the doors of the BAU.
Spencer didn’t begin to feel nervous until he was sitting in the front of Hotch’s SUV. Hotch turned to look at him and asked, “so, where are we going?” Reid replied, “it’s a surprise. I’ll just be your backseat driver and give you directions. Turn right out of the parking lot.”
Twenty minutes later, they were sitting in front of a small Greek diner. “Did you know that Greek is my favorite?” Hotch asked, a small smile playing across his lips. His very kissable lips, Reid thought. Spencer blushed and looked away. “Yeah,” he answered quietly. “I thought you might want comfort food. I don’t really have experience, except for my own parent’s divorce, but I know what you’re going through can’t be easy.” Hotch’s smile grew. “Thank you, Reid.” They got out of the car and made their way into the restaurant.
“I’ll bet you that I can order for you and it’ll be exactly what you were thinking about ordering,” Hotch said, out of nowhere. “What’s on the line?” Reid asked. “Loser pays for dinner.” “You’re on, I’ll make the same bet,” Spencer answered, silently deciding he would wait on the difficult conversation until they received their food. The waitress approached their table and Hotch informed her they would be ordering for each other. The waitress gave a small smile, looking between the two of them. “Of course,” she said, leaning down to look over Hotch’s shoulder to see what he was pointing at on the menu before turning to Reid and doing the same.
The next fifteen minutes were filled mostly with Spencer finally getting an explanation as to what had occurred between Garcia, Kevin, and Rossi. Spencer laughed, not believing he hadn’t picked up on it. Their food arrived then, putting a stop to their conversation. The two men looked down at the food set in front of them. Reid had ordered a Greek soup for Hotch, and Hotch ordered Reid a pork gyro. They looked back up at each other and both said, “you win,” before laughing. “How about this,” Reid started. “I’ll pay this time, and you get the next one.” “The next one?” Hotch questioned. “Well, I hope there’ll be another, I don’t know about you, Hotch, but I’ve really enjoyed myself tonight.” Aaron looked back up smiling in a way that Reid had never seen before. “I have too, Reid.”
“So,” Spencer started cautiously. “Let’s talk. You never answered my question in the car before. What is it that you want?” Hotch heaved a sigh, looking down at his lap before resignedly looking back up to meet his subordinate’s eyes and said, “you can’t tell anyone anything about what I’m going to say.” Reid nodded earnestly, excited that the man was going to open up to him. “Haley wants full custody. Which, in reality, makes sense because of how often we’re away, but it means I’m not going to be able to see him anywhere near as much as I want to.” “That’s all, Hotch?” “Yeah.”
Reid thought for a few moments before speaking up again. “Why don’t you ask for skype or phone calls at least every other night? I know he’s little, but hearing your voice will be good for him. And for when you’re home, ask to have him at least two nights a week. Weeks we have off and holidays can be negotiated by the two of you privately. You know, her lawyers are probably just making an unfair offer to get you to contest it so they can make more money. She is a reasonable person. I’m sure she’ll be willing to compromise.” That was a lot for Hotch to take in. Letting out another sigh, Aaron looked back up as Spencer and replied, “That’s actually fairly realistic. I’ll talk to her about it. If she’s not willing to change, this is just going to have to get messy.” Relaxing back in his seat, Hotch gave a small smile. “I should come to you for advice more often, Spencer.”
That night, when Spencer got home from work, he got himself off to the thought of his (married) boss and only felt guilty for an hour. Or three.