Work Text:
Spencer was a man of science, before he drew a conclusion he looked over every fact and every single piece of evidence, and then, and only then, he would draw a conclusion that was always correct. It was how he had always worked and he had never been wrong before.
So when David Rossi joined the BAU he watched the man for two weeks before drawing a few conclusions. One, the man flaunted his wealth as a way to hide his loneliness. Two, Rossi didn’t know how to work as part of a team. Three, David Rossi was homophobic.
The first two conclusions were backed up by circumstantial evidence, the lack of trust he had, the way he wore a different designer watch and suit every day, and the way he spoke to the younger members of the BAU. The third conclusion however, had zero circumstantial evidence to back it up, it was made from a careful evaluation and in-depth analysis of the man’s language as well as his past.
The main points to this conclusion were; David Rossi was older, he is a Catholic, and he makes jokes that could be classed as homophobic if you look to deep into them.
So with his conclusion Spencer Reid knows he can never come out to David Rossi. Ever.
-
The months passed, and soon it was time for another of the monthly celebrations that Rossi made them take part in. No one had slipped up and revealed Spencer’s secret, he had asked them to keep it quiet and they all agreed, so when Rossi invited them over for dinner, partners included, Spencer was stuck at a crossroads.
He could go alone and pretend he was single. He could say he was busy that night. Or, and this one was not on the cards really, he could go with his boyfriend of a year.
The third option terrified Spencer more than an unstable unsub pointing a gun to his head because he knew inviting Alex meant ruining his friendship with Rossi and that would cause a rift in the team, the people he calls family. But, at the same time, he wants to bring Alex, he wants to show his incredible boyfriend off to everyone because he is just that, incredible.
The day of the dinner creeps up on him and the night before he is sitting on the couch with a drink in his hands, not drinking it, but staring into the liquid like it held the answers he so desperately craved.
The others on the team knew about his sexuality, they had found out during the whole Hankel situation when he confessed to his ‘sins’ and they never looked at him differently, but it felt different telling Rossi. Spencer had always looked up to the man, he was an inspiration with his books and his skills. He had created the BAU, and the last few months he had grown to almost be seen as a father figure to Spencer.
He downed the drink in one and pulled out his phone, clicking the contact for Alex and typing out a message.
Hiya Darling, I was just wondering if you were free tomorrow. I want the team to meet you.
The message was short but it got his point across, and before he could second guess himself he sent the message and threw his phone across the room.
There was no backing out now, he couldn’t tell Alex they weren’t going because he wasn’t ready for Rossi to know that he was bisexual, Alex would feel hurt that Spencer was hiding him, but he wasn’t. Spencer adored Alex, he was sure it was love, but he hadn’t said it yet, still too scared for that.
His phone rang and he glared at the piece of technology before realizing it was Alex calling him. He stood from his seat quickly, moving to grab his phone and answered it to only be met with a squeal from his boyfriend.
“Doctor Spencer Reid, are you serious? Please don’t tell me it was a joke. I would love to meet them!” He sounded so excited and Spencer let a smile appear on his face as he imagined his boyfriend waving his hands in the air like he did when he got overwhelmed.
“Yeah, I didn’t know if you wanted to. I’m not forcing you at all, and to be honest I’m slightly scared about it. Everyone, but Rossi, knows that I’m Bi yet it still terrifies me to let them see how happy I am with you because I don’t want them to take their acceptance away.” If it was anyone else Spencer would never have said any of that, but Alex had a way of getting Spencer to open up about everything.
There was a small silence on the other end of the call and Spencer feared he had said too much and that Alex was finally going to break up with him because he could do so much better than needy little Spencer Reid.
“Are you in your apartment?” Spencer raised an eyebrow at the question, but hummed in answer. “I will be over in 20 minutes to talk. Good talk, nothing that you need to worry about Baby.” Spencer hummed again, not sure what to say. “Talk to me while I drive? Tell me about something.”
“I was reading up on Sikhism the other day, and did you know that in their religion you have to keep the Guru Granth Sahib in the highest place in the room. It is a sign of respect because it is seen as the 11th Guru, and a Guru is a Teacher and someone who is seen in high regards in the religion. The most famous would probably be the man who created the Sikhism religion, Guru Nanak, and he famously said ‘There is no Hindu, there is no Muslim,’ as a way to show that everyone worships the same God no matter your religion.”
Spencer continued to talk about Sikhism and the interesting facts about the religion, gently spurred on by his boyfriend when he fell silent every so often. It was only 20 or so minutes later when Alex told him he was there did Spencer realize what his boyfriend was doing. He was being distracted from his thoughts so they could talk about them together.
When he opened his door to his boyfriend who had just hung the phone up he let a genuine smile grace his face. The team had only just gotten back from a case so this was the first time that they had seen each other in a week, and Gods above did Spencer miss him.
“Can I get a kiss before we talk?” Spencer leaned forward, pouting slightly until Alex rolled his eyes, but nodded. Spencer grabbed his boyfriend and pulled him close, bringing him in for a kiss, relaxing when he felt Alex’s hands go to his hair and gently pull Spencer closer to him. It was right.
They pulled away after a moment and Spencer already missed his boyfriend’s touch on his lips and his hands in his hair, but they did have to talk. Spencer grabbed his hand, letting the door shut behind him as they walked over to the sofa and sat down, only for Alex to pull Spencer onto his lap.
“That’s better, I missed you this week.” Spencer blushed as he felt Alex’s hands on his hips, holding him still. “So, will you tell me what brought this on?”
Spencer moved ever so slightly, letting his forehead fall to Alex’s head so he could whisper the words, it was also because he missed being in his boyfriend’s lap. “I want you to meet them and I want them to meet you. I’ve kept my work and personal life separate, but the team is my family and we have been together for a while so I think it is time to introduce you to them. I don’t want you to think I am ashamed of you because I am not, you are the most amazing person ever, but I’m not out to Rossi yet and I don’t know how he will take it.”
Spencer stopped his small rant, closing his eyes as he tried not to overthink everything that was going on, this was another reason he never mixed his lifes, the anxiety was overwhelming. Alex was quiet for a few seconds, obviously getting his words together before he spoke softly. “You are scared that he won’t accept you, and because you see him as a father figure you don’t want to lose him like William and Gideon?” Spencer hummed into his hair. “I know it is scary Baby, I hate coming out to people still, and I know the team accepted you without any trouble, so you know they will back you up if Rossi thinks he can say anything. If we do go you can always tell me you are uncomfortable and we can leave, we can go out for ice cream then come back here to just be us.”
Spencer blinked a tear away, Alex was so thoughtful and kind, he was far too kind for Spencer, he could get anyone he wanted. “Really?”
“You know I would do anything for you Baby. Do you need to tell them tonight that you are bringing a guest?” Spencer nodded and Alex moved him so they could look into each other's eyes. “Be honest with me now, do you want me to be there with you?”
“Yes.” Spencer didn’t even need to think the question over, he wanted to show Alex off, he wanted everyone to see how amazing his boyfriend was, he wanted everyone to see how happy Alex made him. “I want you with me always.”
“Careful Doctor, that sounds like a confession.” Alex laughed gently and Spencer knew at that very second that the feeling he had was love, and he needed to tell Alex.
“I love you. I really fucking love you.” Spencer closed his eyes, not sure if he wanted to see Alex’s reaction to his confession.
“I really love you too Baby, I love you and I always will.” Spencer opened his eyes with a smile, he felt a tear fall from his eyes, but he didn’t have the energy to wipe it away so when Alex lifted one of his hands, using his thumb to wipe the tear away Spencer moved to kiss him. It was perfect, Alex was perfect.
“As much as I want to continue this you need to eat something better than noodles. Spencer went to argue, but Alex stared at him so he kept quiet. “That’s what I thought Baby, now I am going to order us something and you are going to message your team to say you are bringing someone.”
“What if they think you are a girl?” Spencer didn’t want to move off Alex’s lap, he was comfortable where he was, but he knew they needed to move soon anyway.
“You can tell them or you can ignore them. You do that and then pick a documentary to watch while we eat. Does that sound good?” Spencer nodded, frowning slightly as Alex moved him off his lap so he could phone the pizza place for a delivery and Spencer glared at his own phone for a minute before he picked it up and typed a message before sending it before he could second guess himself.
I’m bringing my partner tomorrow, is that okay?
He didn’t get an answer for a minute and he looked to see Rossi’s message back.
Of course Kid, I can’t wait to meet her.
Spencer’s fingers hovered over the screen, it would be so easy to just correct him, but that would raise questions and he didn’t want to ruin their friendship until it was inevitable, so instead he switched his phone off and grabbed the TV remote off the table and looked through Netflix for something to watch.
He decided on an Aztec History documentary, it was something he could talk to Alex about, his boyfriend having a doctorate in Mesoamerican Studies.
His boyfriend came back in and they fell together on the couch, Spencer sitting on his lap again, Alex’s fingers in his hair as Spencer played with Alex’s side, they were just enjoying the others company until the pizza arrived and the rest of the night passed in a blink of an eye.
-
Spencer had panicked for half the day, it would have been all day, but Alex had distracted him enough in the morning. He had spent three hours on choosing his outfit and then his hair, he had lost count of how many times he had changed clothes until Alex pulled him close and just held him against his chest, not talking, but just holding Spencer tight.
The dinner was at 6pm and they had to leave at 5:30 to make it there on time, that gave Spencer two hours to panic still. He had finally decided on an outfit, a black shirt, and black pants that he liked because Alex loved them on him.
He paced the floor for half an hour before Alex told him to stop, the next half an hour he read a few books, his mind just taking the words in, the last hour he sat in Alex’s lap and listened to his boyfriend explain a bloodletting ritual that the Olmecs were known for, and before he knew it they were in the car and heading towards Rossi’s mansion.
Spencer knew he was worrying Alex with his silence, but he had no idea what to do. It was going to be real soon and it terrified him. He was going to introduce the man he loved to his family at the same time as coming out to David Rossi, the man he saw as a father figure.
“We are here Baby, are you okay?” Spencer just nodded and Alex frowned. “You want to try that again?” Spencer looked around the parking area, everyone was already there apparently, maybe Rossi had told them he was bringing someone, but no one had messaged him, but Hotch could have told them to stay quiet about it. “Spencer.”
“I’m sorry. I just need a minute?” Alex nodded at him and Spencer closed his eyes as he leaned against the headrest. He took five deep breaths and counted to 10 and then down from 10 before he opened his eyes and nodded at his boyfriend. “I am ready, I promise.”
“You know I love you and nothing changes that. Ever.” Spencer nodded, moving to kiss Alex gently. “If you want to leave then you tell me and we go, no questions asked.”
“Thank you, really, you are too amazing and I love you.” Spencer blushed as Alex kissed the back of his hand like he was a princess and it made him feel safer knowing that he had his boyfriend with him. “I’m ready, are you?”
“Yeah I am Baby.” Spencer opened his door, shutting it as Alex shut his own and they walked to the front of the car before Alex grabbed his hand, squeezing once before they were heading to the door and knocking. Hotch answered and Spencer smiled at him.
“Hotch this is Alex, my boyfriend.” Hotch raised an eyebrow just slightly, but stuck his hand out for Alex to shake and his boyfriend took it.
“It is nice to meet you, Sir. Spence has told me so much about you.” Hotch turned to Spencer who blushed slightly.
“It is good to meet you as well Alex, I would say Reid told us about you, but it seems he kept you for himself.” Spencer blushed even more, his face had to be bright red now, but the two men didn’t seem to care as they laughed gently. “Come on in, I’m sure the others are wondering where we are.”
Spencer and Alex followed Hotch into the house, the noise of the team getting louder until they stood in the doorway and Spencer froze beside Alex, no turning back now .
The two of them stood at the door until Spencer spotted JJ poking Emily and nodding over to them so Spencer took a breath and tugged Alex into the room with everyone, and as they sat beside Garcia the others were silent and staring at them.
“So who is this?” JJ questioned him and Spencer looked up at her with a small smile, his eyes darting over to Rossi who had a raised eyebrow, but he wasn’t saying anything.
“Everyone, this is Alex, my boyfriend.” He raised their joined hands up to show everyone and the silence around the room was broken by a squeal from Garcia who shot her hand over to Alex.
“Hi, I’m Penelope Garcia. Where did you meet? How long have you been dating? Are you living together? What is your last name?” Spencer laughed slightly at her questions, her over eager energy didn’t leave any time for someone to speak.
“We met at my school, he was teaching a class and I went to a few of them before I asked Spence for a coffee. We’ve been dating for 13 months and 12 days, no we are not living together and my name is Alex Condor.” Spencer flet his eyes go wide as Alex said his last name.
“Garcia you are not running a background check on him.” The woman in questioned nodded sheepishly, but Spencer knew she was going to do it anyway. He looked around the group, no one seemed to hate Alex and Rossi was still silent in the corner so he spoke up again. “So I’m guessing you are all okay with us?”
“Of course we are Pretty Boy, we knew you were Bi so why wouldn't we be fine with the two of you?” Spencer looked at the ground as Derek spoke, not talking to them yet.
“Well I would like to know more about this Alex, what do you do? You said school, so are you a student or teacher?” Emily was leaning over to them and Spencer looked back at Rossi who was staring at him still.
“I was getting my PhD in Mesoamerican Studies, and Spence was teaching a class on serial killers, my friend dragged me because he said the FBI Agent was hot and well I have to agree.” Spencer looked at the ground as Alex spoke to the group in front of them. “I kept going back to the class until he called me out on it, and instead of telling me not to go back he signed me up for the classes. Then I just asked him for a coffee, and well the rest is history.”
“That is so cute! So what do you do now?” JJ was looking between him and Spencer as she asked her question, but Spencer was watching Rossi carefully, waiting for the man to either freak out or tell him to leave.
“I’m a professor at George Mason University, I teach Anthropology.” Rossi stood up and everyone seemed to go silent as he looked at Spencer.
“Come help me in the kitchen Kid?” Spencer nodded, squeezing Alex’s hand before he let go and followed Rossi into the kitchen, the silence following them before the older man sat at the table and Spencer stood awkwardly at the side.
“You didn’t want to tell me.” Spencer nodded at Rossi’s statement. “Did you think I would hate you for it?” Spencer shrugged, he didn’t know what to say to the man. “I don’t Spencer. I could never hate you.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know how to tell you.” Rossi stood up and Spencer backed away before he stopped, Rossi would never hurt him. The older man pulled him into a hug and Spencer let him.
“I’m proud of you Spencer, and I’m sorry you didn’t feel comfortable telling me.” Rossi held him tighter and Spencer just nodded into his shoulder. “So tell me about Alex.”
“He is amazing, he listens to my rants, he knows that our schedule can be messy, but he never makes it my fault when date night needs to end. He reads the same books as me and we go on walks when we have time, I really love him.” Spencer watched as Rossi moved towards the stove to start with the dinner. “He cooks dinner when we are on the way home and keeps it warm so we can eat together. He doesn’t let us go to bed angry with each other so we talk it out, and if we can’t talk it out we don’t go to sleep because his parents taught him that going to bed angry just made it worse.”
“He sounds like a good match for you.” Spencer nodded as he helped Rossi with the sauce. “Tell me about your first date, I want to see if I can approve of him.”
“Oh, well it was the day after my last class, the short sabbatical I took after
that
case. Gideon mentioned going into teaching to get my mind off of everything so I did, I didn’t really like it until this bright young man walked in with his friend. He wasn’t on my rooster, but he was really smart and knew a lot about serial killers, so I held him back one day and questioned him. He told me, ‘My friend was interested in the class and I keep coming back because the professor is hot’ and Rossi no one had ever said that to me so I just blushed and told him he was allowed to keep coming back.” Spencer sat down as Rossi gestured to the table. “He passed with flying colors and on the last day of class he walked down to my desk. I could see he was nervous so I waited for him to start talking and he blurted out, ‘Coffee, you and me?’ I just nod at him and he gets the massive smile on his face, he was so beautiful, still is, and when we go out he buys me a coffee and a muffin, he tells me that he liked listening to me talk, we talk for hours until the shop is closed and then he walks me home and asks me if we could have another date.”
Spencer stopped talking, watching Rossi drink and the two of them were silent, the noise of the group in the other room reminding them that they weren’t alone. “You know I’m happy for you Kid, you deserve to be happy.”
“Thank you.” Spencer smiled up at Rossi before there was a knock on the door and they both turned to see Alex and Penelope with their arms around each other.
“I have delivered your man to you Spencer, we did not interrogate him too much.” Alex laughed slightly and Spencer opened his arms to get a hug from his boyfriend. “Can I bother you for a drink? I think a few of us want to forget a few things.” Spencer raised an eyebrow at Alex who shrugged with a smirk.
“I’ll get the good drinks. Kid you are watching the food while I grab something.” Rossi pointed at Spencer with a spoon and he nodded, already moving towards the stove with Alex following him. Garcia left the room with Rossi and the two of them were left alone.
“Darling, what did you tell them?” Spencer felt a hand on his waist, pulling him close to Alex as the two of them stirred the pasta and the sauce.
“Just what they asked and if they asked a few things they shouldn’t have then that is their fault. Now, are we running to get ice cream or enjoying this meal?” Spencer turned his head to the side, pouting to get a kiss from Alex.
“We can stay.” Alex smiled and Spencer turned back to the pots. “Am I going to be embarrassed going back in there?”
“Maybe. Don’t do that!” Spencer stopped what he was doing as Alex pushed him away from the stove and started to do something so Spencer just wrapped his arms around Alex’s waist and placed his head on the other man's shoulder. “Mixing it too fast could ruin the consistency, did Rossi not teach you better?”
“I like you already, a man who knows how to cook is the only man who is allowed to date our Spencer.” The two of them turned to see Rossi holding a bottle of wine and smiling at them both. “Kid, why don’t you go back through, Alex and I can finish this up.”
Spencer shook his head, not sure he wanted to leave Alex with Rossi just yet, but before he could argue Alex nodded. “I would love to help you, Baby you go and talk with your friends, I’m sure they have a lot of questions for you.” Spencer blushed, but nodded before he kissed Alex’s cheek and left the room.
He didn’t even get three feet into the living area before Derek was laughing at him. “There he is, you know I learned things I never wanted to know from that boyfriend of yours.” Spencer’s eyes went wide as the others laughed at him.
“I’m scared to ask.” Spencer sat down beside JJ and Emily, both who were laughing slightly. “Am I going to regret introducing you to him?” Spencer wasn’t sure he could ever regret introducing them, but he could come close to it.
“I think Hotch hated it, Alex was so honest I didn’t think he would be like that.” Spencer closed his eyes, his boyfriend was just that, honest to a fault. “So Pretty Boy, we know you make him very happy, but does he make you happy?”
“He does, I’ve never been happier. I love him, I really love him.” Spencer felt JJ’s hand on his back and he leaned into her smiling at the group in front of him. His family were finally together and they were all happy with him, he was finally allowed happiness.
“So those bruises you keep getting aren’t from being clumsy?” Spencer groaned as Emily smirked at him, maybe he could still hate on Alex a little bit for airing their sex life to his family.