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Chapter Text

Hotch had a marathon coming up soon so he planned to start training, he decided he needed a scenery change and that meant a new park, he found a good one and on Saturday he got there early in the morning, the run was usual, he heard a lot of children that from what he could tell were in one area, but he didn't think much of it, then the joggers started to slow down, so he also did, first he noticed the kids, and all the glitter, then he noticed the parents, tables set up with snacks, a coffee kiosk nearby and he finally noticed someone he could easily identify, he recognized the hair and the clothes, and Reid must have felt his eyes on him because Reid looked up, slowly got up after setting aside the notebook, and headed towards him

"Hello Hotch, training for another marathon?" He wipes some glitter off his vest even though it didn't seem to matter since he had glitter all over him

"Yes, I am, and what are you doing?.."

"Monitoring the unofficial science club I started accidentally, but the kids kinda run it most of the time, I still do demonstrations and help, but I sit back and act as google whenever I'm not doing that", he glances at the group, where some kids were surrounding a paper, others trying to create some projectile for what he assumes is for glitter, and the others had a ton of soda and mentos, he had a big smile and he looked so proud

"Cool, cool, well I should get back to running" 

"Mhm, see you soon" he heads back to his spot, he was making sure to avoid anything becoming Airborne, he nearly got hit but he managed to avoid it

Hotch returns to the path and starts running again, he made a mental note to not share what he saw since this seemed to be Reid's comfort place 

~———~———~———~

It was Saturday, the day Reid always looked forward to, the day started out normal, the chaos was all around him and he was working on something in his notebook, at some point he felt eyes on him, so he looked up, it was hotch, he takes a deep breath, slowly got up and walked over to him

"Hello Hotch, training for another marathon?"

"Yes, I am, and what are you doing?.." he takes a drink from his water bottle

"Monitoring the unofficial science club I started accidentally, but the kids kinda run it most of the time, I still do demonstrations and help, but I sit back and act as google whenever I'm not doing that"

"Cool, cool, well I should get back to running" he glances at the path 

"Mhm, see you soon" 

Roxy goes up to him "Who was that?"

"My boss" he grabs his notebook again

"Oh, what do you do? research stuff?"

"I don't research stuff, I'm a FBI agent"

"So you have a badge and a gun? Do you carry both with you?" She seemed excited 

Reid smiles slightly "I carry my badge, but not my gun, I'd prefer not worrying about the kids and all they're doing and making sure no one gets my gun" 

"Understandable" 

Maya shouts "Roxy! We need your help" 

Roxy nods slightly at Reid then walks over to Maya

Chapter Text

Emilly and JJ were going to hang out, and they had henry with them, they heard hotch talk about the new park he trains at, and how amaizng it would be to bring jack, and decided to go to it, so they head over there on a Saturday, they instantly heard a lot of noise, lots of laughter, they were confused and head towards the direction of the laughter

They make it over and see a ton of kids, parents, tables, and glitter, JJ heads over to a nearby parent "what is this?"

"A unofficial science club" 

"And who runs it?"

"Dr. Magic Man as the kids call him, his real name is-"

Henry squirmed in JJs arms and starts saying "Uncle!"

JJ was confused and looked where Henry was looking, she was surpised to see Spencer "Spencer runs an unofficial science club?"

Reid looks up then whispers to a kid then quickly heads over to them, once he makes it over he looks at Henry "hey buddy! How are you?"

"I'm good" he does grabby hands towards Reid

JJ hands Henry to Reid "so you run an unofficial science club?"

Reid sighs "yes, I do" he bounces Henry "it's how I unwind after work, its loud in a way that follows me home in a good way" 

"That's good, well we should let you get back to this" JJ reaches for Henry

Henry shakes his head "can I stay with uncle spence?"

JJ looks at Spencer, she was asking a silent question 

Spencer thinks about it and glances at all the chaotic kids "how do you feel about glitter?"

"Its a horrific creation, but I can deal with it, as long as he doesn't get hurt"

"The kids will be careful around him" Reid smiles a little more 

Emily walks over to them "Spencer, hey, so what is with all the kids?"

"Unofficial science club I started by accident" he continues to bounce Henry 

"of course you'd start a nerd thing by accident" 

A child with a NASA hoodie randomly popped up, "is there an issue?" she looks at Spencer "we need you, Roxy can't help us apearntly"

Spencer chuckles "okay, also she's my friend, she was being friendly not rude"

The kids look at Emily and JJ "okay", she looks back at Spencer "who's the kid?"

"My nephew Henry"

"Is he joining us?"

Spencer glances at JJ "yeah, we will have to be careful with the projectiles though"

"Cool, anyways come on" she rushed back to the spot she was sitting at

Spencer was smiling, he looked so happy and proud "see you two later, also sorry about all the glitter that will be in your house"

"I forgive you"

"Well I should go over there" he glances at the group of kids where a teen stood out who had bangs dyed blue 

"Okay, see you later" 

"See you two later" she watches as he walks off while holding Henry close

"he runs a science club"

Emily nods "did not expect him to be able to handle loud kids, but I guess it helps that they are learning science, the more you know I guess, lets walk then" 

JJ nods 

~———~———~———~

the chaos was in full swing, Reid was helping the chaos team when he heard

"Uncle!"

Reid looks up then whispers to Lila then quickly heads over to them, once he makes it over he looks at Henry "hey buddy! How are you?"

"I'm good" he reaches for Spencer

JJ hands Henry to Reid "so you run an unofficial science club?"

"yes, I do, it's how I unwind after the long week, its loud in a way that follows me home in a good way" 

"That's good, well we should let you get back to unwinding" JJ went to grab Henry

Henry shakes his head "can I stay with uncle spence?", he clings to Spencer 

Spencer looks at JJ, he knew the stare was her wants to know if it's okay

Spencer thinks about it "how do you feel about glitter?"

"Its a horrific creation, but I can deal with it, as long as he doesn't get hurt" it showed on her face how she felt about glitter, but she was also looking at Henry giggling and smiling

"The kids will be careful around him"

Emily walks over to them, she seemed confused "Spencer, hey, so what is with all the kids?"

"Unofficial science club I started by accident"

Emily seemed surprised but also grinned "of course you'd start a nerd thing by accident" 

Maya surprised all of them by silently making her way over to them, "is there an issue?" she looks at Spencer,  her expression was a mix of concern and defensiveness "we need you, Roxy can't help us apearntly"

"Okay, also she's my friend, she was being friendly not rude"

Maya looks at Emily and JJ, her concern and defensiveness go away "okay", she looks back at Spencer "who's the kid?"

"My nephew Henry"

"Is he joining us?" She started smiling

"Yeah, we will have to be careful with the projectiles though"

"Cool, anyways come on" she ran to the spot she was sitting at

"See you two later, also sorry about all the glitter that will be in your house"

JJ smiles "I forgive you", she seemed genuine 

"Well I should go over there"

"Okay, see you later" JJ messes with Henrys' hair and he giggles

"See you two later" Reid headed over to where the Chaos Team was so he wasn't dragged over there while holding Henry

Roxy looks up from where she was trying to figure something out "so we have a new addition?"

"Temporary addition, he's my nephew"

"You have a sister?" Aiden looked up, he seemed excited 

"Not biologically or even by law, more like a found family situation" 

"So like us?" Lila smiles

"Kinda yeah, it's just the other found family is more adults than kids" 

"Is it the adults you work with?" Nico was still looking down, focusing on what he was working on

"Yes, but with how much time we spend together and bond they are also a found family"

"Cool!" Lila looks at Henry "what's your name?"

"Henry"

"Hi Henry, I’m Lila" she had a big smile 

Henry squirms in Reids arms so Reid sets him down

"What are you doing?" He seemed curious 

Lila scoots a little to the left "come closer, let me show you" 

Henry stands next to lila as she explained what they were doing

They do a few experiments, Henry ends up covered in glitter, but JJ doesn't mind because he seemed happy and Spencer also seemed happy and proud, Emily and JJ also agreed to not talk about this at work while walking back to the car, even though they assumed Hotch knew already

Chapter Text

Morgan ran into a friend from his college team, they planned Saturday at a park to catch up, that Saturday he goes to the park, he noticed Reids apartment on the way and thought he would maybe visit afterwards, he pulled into the parking lot he was told to park at, then follows the directions given

He glances down at his phone 'Find the path that says unofficial science club, follow that and you'll see my and my wife sitting at one of the picnic tables' he noticed the words on the floor 'unofficial science club' it was a little smudged, and colorful but most importantly seemed to sparkle like glitter was on it, he followed it

Morgan sat down, he waved at the kids, Elijah and Jasmine, who were talking, they stopped and waved at him then continued talking, he looked at his old friend Thomas, "so how have you been?"

"Good, what about you?" Thomas seemed slightly tired

"Good, had a tough week, but got through it" 

Thomas nods "that's good" 

Morgan glances at the 2 kids "so you bring your kids here every Saturday?"

"Yeah, though usually the adult who runs it is here by now" thomas looked at the path Morgan just followed, he seemed nervous 

"Must not be feeling good, what happens if he doesn't show up?"

"The kids just continue, he helps and does demonstrations and is soemtimes needed but mostly he is here to keep the kids entertained, answer questions, and make sure nothing goes too wrong"

Thomas looks at Morgan "anyways, what do you do for work?"

"FBI, I work at the BAU"

Jasmine looks up "Dr. Magic Man works at the FBI, or so we've heard"

Morgan seemed confused but then he noticed Reid, he had his cane, he also had a bag, a teen quickly goes over to him and grabs the bag that seemed slightly heavy 

He said something to the teen

Thomas looks "oh, that's new.." he glances at his wife, Aaliyah if Morgan remembered correctly 

Aaliyah stands up, on her way she grabs a thermos and snack, she goes over to him, and from what he could see, offers to help him, and Morgan was surprised by Reid accepting it, he was guided to a green bench, she then returned "he says he's fine"

Thomas glances at Reid, who was now sipping whatever was in the thermos, and he did seem mostly fine but also in slight discomfort 

"I'll be back" he stands up and walk over to the bench, he sits down next to Reid

"Morgan" 

"call me Derek when we aren't working"

"Okay, hi" Morgan noticed glitter was on him, odd, there was a lot of glitter here

"Hi Spencer, is your knee okay? Did you mess it up during work?"

"No, I tripped on the way up the stairs after getting home, messed up my knee, not as bad as it could be, I just need to give it a break, and the weather doesn't help, so what are you doing here?" Reid looked at him , he seemed mostly calm but also slightly nervous

"Catching up with a friend from college, so you run a unofficial science club, is this how you unwind?"

"Yeah, the kids are great, so are the parents" 

"You accepted help"

"Yes, please don't psychoanalyze that, or at least share what you're thinking"

"I won't, I'm just glad you found a place safe enough for you to do that"

"Work is also a safe place Derek" he was adjusting his tie

"But it's still work"

He nods "while you're here can you bring a table over? It's over there" he points to a folded table

Morgan nods and grabs it, he sets it up for Reid, then heads back to the picnic table 

Thomas looks at him "you two work together?"

"Yeah, just checking on him, making sure his knee wasn't during working that it wasn't too bad"

"And what were the answers?"

"His knee is just irratted from him tripping after a case, and it isn't too bad" 

Thomas nods, he smiles as he watches his kids run to a group, today it was The Sparkle Unit, "well glitter will be everywhere in my home today"

"His afro seems to have glitter in it already"

"He just attracts that stuff, sand, dirt, and glitter, but today he's working with what is called 'The Sparkle Unit' so it will be extra" 

"So they work with different teams?"

"Yeah, Elijah joins unless he sees a new kid to recruit, Jasmine is the diplomat apparently

Morgan leans on his hands "that's sweet"

"He creates such a welcoming environment" Thomas looks at Morgan "Dr. Reid I mean"

"He's good at that, though he's the baby of the team"

"So the youngest?"

"Yeah, he got recruited at age 22, by the founder of our unit, kid is impressive academically, catches bad guys during the week then on Saturday he teaches kids science apearntly" he glances at Spencer and felt proud that the kid had a healthy way to unwind now

Thomas smiles "I bet it's helpful after a week of seeing a lot horrific stuff" 

Morgan nods

~———~———~———~

Reid did not want to go today, his knee was bothering him slightly, but he got up anyways, he did decide to put a heating pad on his knee for a bit, he did end up being late but he knew no one would care, he made it there slowly due to needing a cane and the extra weight from what was in his demonstration bag, but he made it to the park

Roxy noticed him and quickly headed over to him, she wordlessly grabbed the demonstrations bag

"Thanks, just set it on the green bench"

Reid slowly makes his way over to it, he heard some footsteps and looks in the direction, Jasmine and Elijah's mom approached him

"Let me help you"

Reid nods "thank you"

He got helped to the bench, he started sipping his thermos of very sweet coffee

He heard another pair of footsteps when he had been sititng down for a bjt, he looked at the direction and noticed Morgan 

"Morgan" 

"call me Derek, we aren't at work" he seems to have a neutral expression 

"Okay hi"

"Hi, is your knee okay? Did you mess it up during work?" He seemed mildly concerned 

"No, I tripped on the way up the stairs after getting home, messed up my knee, not as bad as it could be, I just need to give it a break, and the weather doesn't help, so what are you doing here?" 

"Catching up with a friend from college, so you run an unofficial science club, is this how you unwind?" The concern was gone from his face 

"Yeah, the kids are great, so are the parents" 

"You accepted help" he was grinning slightly 

"Yes, please don't psychoanalyze that, or at least share what you're thinking"

"I won't, I'm just glad you found a place safe enough for you to do tthat" he was smiling, it was a small but genuine smile 

"Work is also a safe place Derek" 

"But it's still work" he looked at the floor, he had a solemn face for a few seconds

Spencer nods "while you're here can you bring a table over? It's over there" 

Morgan nods and grabs it, he sets it up for Reid, then heads back to the picnic table 

Reid starts to set up the demonstrations and kids start to surround him 

Lila asks "are you hurt?"

"No, I just irritated my knee when tripping"

"How do you irritate your knee if it's not injured?" Zee spoke up

"A past injury, its healed I'll just have moments where I may need my cane, like today"

Zee nods 

He does the demonstration, Roxy ready to help grab anything that may fall, the day goes by, Morgan stayed, helped him clean up, and there was another unspoken agreement to not talk about this at work

Chapter Text

It was Saturday, Rossi wanted to treat himself so he went to a cafe he loved, he got his order and was waiting, it was the afternoon and the sun was still in the sky, he was relaxing, he heard the bell ring, he was people watching so he noticed who walked in, it was Reid, and a teenager

Reid was talking to the teenager quietly, he noticed Rossi but didn't wave, he whispered something to the teen who nodded, then Reid headed to his table, he pulled up 2 seats and he sat down, the teen slowly sat down

"Hello Rossi" he looked at the options, he looked at the teen "want anything Roxy? I'll pay for it"

Roxy grabs the menu, "you sure?.."

"I'm sure, no strings attached, I just don't want to make a teenager pay for something if I can cover it easily" he said clearly trying to reassure her, Rossi also could tell there was some concern 

Roxy nods, she points to what she wants 

"Okay, well I'll go order. Roxy meet Rossi, Rossi meet Roxy" he stands up and gets in line, he had a relaxed pose

Rosiss looks at her "hi" he was confused, this teen looked like a cliché alt look which checks out but why was Reid hanging out with her, he must have been concerned about her

Roxy glares, she had defensive behavior, she mutters "hi" 

Rossi just stared and stayed silent 

Roxy was avoiding eye contact "so you work with Spencer?"

"Yeah, how do you know him?"

"I go to the unofficial science club every saturday" she wasn't muttering now but she was being quiet still

Rossi nods, he waited for her to continue

Roxy glances at Reid, Rossi noticed she had a different expression, a less nervous one 

"You trust him"

Roxy quickly looks at him, she seemed guarded again "I forgot he works at the BAU" she sighs "don't tell him"

Rossi nods "I won't tell him, your secret is safe with me"

Roxy relaxes very slightly 

Reid gets the stuff then sits down

Reid takes a sip of his coffee

"So, Reid, you do an unofficial science club?"

Reid smiles "yes, every Saturday, and I end up covered in glitter" Rossi noticed he was checking that Roxy was eating

Roxy chuckles slightly "the glitter just sticks" 

"I'll hang out with Henry whenever Reid can't watch him and he loves arts and crafts, Henry is his nephew"

Roxy nods "met him before, he was a special guest for a day"

Reid chuckles then his expression was a mix of fear and acceptance "This is so much worse, there is a whole team called 'The Sparkle Unit', we have introduced glitter into the parks ecosystem" Reid takes a drink 

"I don't know how you handle what I assume to be loud young kids, especially when glitter is involved" 

Reid smiles, he noticed it was a smile he has only seen Reid have when it came to Henry or Jack accomplishing something, "Its sometimes too much but the kids can also manage themselves and still have fun so I manage, and it's a break from what we see"

Rossi nods "well it's what works for you, and that's all that is important, I'm sure it helps overshadow some of the things we bring home"

Reid nods "it does help" 

~———~———~———~

The day went normally for Reid other than one thing, he noticed Roxy seemed off, he didn't bring it up though, and when the unofficial science club was wrapping up, she seemed scared and exhausted, but like bone deep exhaustion, and she was sitting alone, he heads over to her

"Hey, I'm planning to get some coffee at the cafe nearby, want to join me?" 

Roxy looks up "why?"

Reid shrugs "just because, unless you'd rather sit here alone" he waits for a response 

"Fine" she stands up

they start walking and talking then they walk into the cafe, and Reid noticed Rossi

"Would it be okay if we sat with my friend? Over there, the old one staring at me"

Roxy nods so he heads over there, he made sure to put 2 seats at the table, he sat on the left so he was next to the wall, he noticed Roxy hesitantly sitting down

"Hello Rossi" he looks at  "want anything Roxy? I'll pay for it"

Roxy grabs the menu, she messes with it, she seemed hesitant "you sure?.."

"I'm sure, no strings attached, I just don't want to make a teenager pay for something if I can cover it easily" 

Roxy nods, she points to what she wants 

"Okay, well I'll go order. Roxy meet Rossi, Rossi meet Roxy" he stands up and gets in line, he made sure to watch the table 

He watched as they talked, Rossi did most of it

Roxy glances at Reid, he smiles at her and gives her a thumbs up

Rossi said something that caused Roxy to quickly look at him which made Reid curious but he didn't plan to push either of them to find out what

Reid gets the stuff then sits down

Reid takes a sip of his coffee

"So, Reid, you do an unofficial science club?" Rossi focused his attention onto Reid

"Yes, every Saturday, and I end up covered in glitter"

Roxy chuckles slightly "the glitter just sticks" 

Rossi sighs "I'll hang out with Henry whenever Reid can't watch him and he loves arts and crafts, Henry is his nephew"

Roxy nods "met him before, he was a special guest for a day"

"This is so much worse, there is a whole team called 'The Sparkle Unit', we have introduced glitter into the parks ecosystem" Reid takes a drink 

"I don't know how you handle what I assume to be loud young kids, especially when glitter is involved" he seemd horrified at what Reid assumed was the idea of glitter being added to a ecosystem 

"Its sometimes too much but the kids can also manage themselves and still have fun so I manage, and it's a break from what we see"

Rossi nods "well it's what works for you, and that's all that is important, I'm sure it helps overshadow some of the things we bring home"

Reid nods "it does help" 

They finish and leave the coffee shop together, but they all go separate ways, Reid was still concerned about Roxy, he saw some of his past self in her, but he couldn't do much other than be there for her

Chapter Text

Garcia was bored and she could hang out with Emily, maybe JJ, or maybe even Derek, but they were busy, so she decided to drive to Reids place, she knocked a few times and got no answer so she left, she noticed a park so she decided to take a walk through it, what she didn't expect to see was Reid, sitting down, him and a teen talking while a young kids styled his hair with hair tinsel, purple, black, and red, he was calmly sitting there while the teen talked, there was also a lot of hair tinsel being used, and he was surrounded by so many kids, she stood there long enough for Reid to notice her

Reid waved her over so she goes over to him

"Hi Penelope"

The kids looks at her

"Hi Spencer, I see your Saturday plans are interesting"

Reid looks at her "yep, we're figuring out how much hair tinsel until it becomes too much, and it's a collaborative experiment apearntly"

"So what is this?"

A kid with stars in her hair speaks up "a unofficial science club, Dr. Magic Man teaches us science, right now we need to know how much hair tinsel is too much so I can figure out how much I should use without it being too much"

"Well I think it's cute" 

A kid with a NASA hoodie looks at her "how do you two know eachother?"

"Work" reid said while looking forward but glancing at the kid

"Yeah, we work together, I do the tech analysis stuff" 

"Ooooo cool" a kid with her bangs dyed blue says "so you're the FBI tech analyst?"

"Nope, just the BAUs" 

The kid looks at Reid "the BAU gets its own tech analyst?"

Reid sighs and looks at the kid, "Well it was either that or she'd go to jail"

The kid nods "that makes it even more cool" 

Penelope sits down, she watches as Reid becomes still, the kid with the stars in her hair stopped and took notes "we have found the 'TOO MUCH' point I think"

The NASA hoodie kid nods "it's a lot, and I mean that in a bad way"

Penelope laughs as she watches other kids agree with the NASA hoodie kid, then the kid with stars in her hair starts to remove the hair tinsel

Reid smiles "you can keep some in there, just make sure its spread out" 

The kid smiles a lot "okay!" 

Garcia smiles, she continues to watch as Reid relaxes, as if this week he didn't have to see some horrific stuff, clearly this meant a lot to him, and she felt lucky to see this so up close

~———~———~———~

Reid was spending this Saturday apparently sitting down being used to test how much hair tinsel was too much, in the middle of this he saw Penelope, she was staring at him

He waved her over, she seemed surprised as she approaches to them

"Hi Penelope"

The kids looked at her, they seemed guarded 

"Hi Spencer, I see your Saturday plans are interesting" she was smiling but he could tell she was slightly nervous 

"yep, we're figuring out how much hair tinsel until it becomes too much, and it's a collaborative experiment apearntly"

"So what is this?" She looks at the mess that was in the general area of the experiment area 

Lila speaks up "a unofficial science club, Dr. Magic Man teaches us science, right now we need to know how much hair tinsel is too much so I can figure out how much I should use without it being too much"

"Well I think it's cute" she was genuinely smiling 

Maya looks at her "how do you two know eachother?"

"Work" Reid was making sure to stay still

"Yeah, we work together, I do the tech analysis stuff" she was looking at the young kids until 

"Ooooo cool" Roxy spoke up "so you're the FBI tech analysis?"

"Nope, just the BAUs" 

Roxy looked at Reid, she had an excited look but was trying to hide it "the BAU gets its own tech analyst?"

Reid sighs and looks Roxy "Well it was either that or she'd go to jail"" 

Roxy nods, she started to have a mischievous look "that makes it even more cool" 

Reid hears Penelope sit down, he stayed still until lila stopped and took notes "we have found the 'TOO MUCH' point I think'

Maya nods "it's a lot, and I mean that in a bad way"

Spencer stays still as lila starts removing them, he decided to say "you can keep some in there, just make sure its spread out" 

He can tell Lila was happy about that as she says "okay!"

Garcia stays, starts to participate half way through, and they had fun but eventually the kids had to go home

~———~———~———~

"Want to watch Dr. Who?" Reid was busy shaking off glitter 

"Sure" Garcis was doing the same

They do their best at shaking the glitter off then walk back to Reids apartment, and on Monday when Reid showed up to work he had the hair tinsel still in