#(trying very hard to make sure her son derek has a good christmas morning but she is so tired)

[jendoe]

tagged by the always lovely @chuckhansen to use this picrew!

🍓 jen doe | 🌼 maisie buchanan

🏡 renee callahan | 🩺 karin garcia

🧁 lyn collins |🔎 liz clairmont

tagging @phillipsgraves, @queennymeria, @denerims, @risingsh0t, @indorilnerevarine, @shellibisshe, @loriane-elmuerto, @echo3-1, @jackiesarch, @shadowglens, @leviiackrman, @arthrmorgann, @florbelles, @unholymilf, and whoever else wants to do this!! no pressure ofc mwah

[babymetaldoll]

The BAU First online Secret Santa (aka: Rossi vs Zoom)  (Spencer Reid/ Reader)

Summary: Rossi might have said too much when he wasn't muted in the BAU online Secret Santa Celebration. And Reid is too embarrassed to face (Y/N) afterward.

Requested: Yes. My boyfriend asked me to write this, and asked for some specific gifts for some team members. (Based on season 7 of Criminal Minds in COVID quarantine).

Pairing: Spencer Reid/ Reader- feat the whole team 

Warnings: None

Word count: 3K

Masterlist 

.

- “Hello?”- Penelope waved at Rossi, but he didn’t reply. She sighed and stared at the camera on her computer, and nearly started jumping and waving. 

- “Rossi!! Hey!”

- “Penelope??”- Rossi screamed, looking at the screen, unable to find the tab with the Zoom video conference on his navigator. He could hear her but couldn’t see her. 

- “Where are you??”

- “Rossi!! I can’t hear you! you are muted!”- Penelope was already frustrated, and it had been only two minutes. 

Rossi had been struggling using Zoom the whole quarantine. Every online meeting for the last couple of months had been filled with “Rossi, you are muted,” “Rossi, we can see you picking your nose,” “Rossi, you aren’t mute, we can hear you fart.” It had been as frustrating as funny for the team. 

- “Hey!”- Prentiss waved at the camera- “Where’s everybody?”

- “We’ve got Rossi trying to find us and unmute his mic”- Emily chuckled and nodded- “And Hotch just logged in… hey!”

- “Hello everybody”- Aaron Hotchner waved, and his son Jack appeared in the back of the room, waving too. 

- “Did you clean your room?”- he asked his son

- “Yes…”- it was clear Jack was lying

- “So if I go upstairs right now, your room is going to be clean, your bed made, and your toys in their place?- Jack stayed still and just smiled. Slowly, he turned around and ran back to his room. 

- “Hey, how did you change your background?”- Emily asked Garcia, who started explaining how to do it. 

- “Henry! what is it?”- JJ logged into the conversation, but her attention was really on her son, who kept crying somewhere near her. 

- “Hello? Hey? can you hear me?”

- “Hey Spence!!”- Prentiss and Garcia said at the same time and chuckled. 

- “Hello! How’s everybody!”- he smiled and stared at his screen. 

For someone who hated technology, he was pretty comfortable meeting the team online. Maybe because his germaphobic self was glad they didn’t have to go to the BAU if there was a pandemic going on.   

Germs were worse than technology, which was good to know when it came to his phobias. 

- “Baby girl, what are you doing?”- Derek’s voice interrupted Garcia’s class of “How to change backgrounds one on one.” Emily enjoyed her time switching pictures on his background, laughing, while JJ tried to convince Henry to eat his banana. Hotch was reading a case file, not paying attention to anything going on around him. Rossi was lost and muted still, trying to find the right tab in his browser, and Spencer was reading a book, sipping a cup of coffee.  

- “Hey!!”- (Y/N) waved at the screen and stared at the scene. Everyone in the BAU was on their little bubble.  

- “Hello, hey! How are you?”- Spencer closed the book and waved. (Y/N) blushed and waved back. She just stared at him, and all the memories of their last video call came to mind. 

They had literally spent the night together. They started a video call around seven, then cooked dinner. Spencer actually cooked ‘cos (Y/N) gave him an easy cooking lesson online. Both of them ate spaghetti with homemade bolognese sauce. 

They started talking and talking, drinking tea, and coffee, and cocoa, and more tea. They snuggled on their couches and kept on talking, laughing. Somehow they started reading each other their favorite parts of their favorite books. And somehow, they ended up in their beds, drinking one last cup of tea. They were hugging a pillow, wishing they could actually hug each other, but never saying those words. And so they kept talking until they fell asleep. 

(Y/N) had fallen asleep first. Spencer felt he had bored her ‘till she passed out, but the truth was, she had made her best effort to stay awake but failed at four in the morning. She loved talking with Spencer. She loved Spencer, all of him, including all the facts and statistics he would ramble on for hours. 

If only she knew he felt the same. He could hear her ramble about books and albums she loved. He didn’t know half the bands she talked about but always googled them after their conversations to understand her a little bit better. And to add facts to their next talk. 

.

- “Rossi! Rossi! unmute your mic”- Aaron repeated for the hundredth time during the call, but Rossi still had no idea what he was doing. 

- “Ok, ok, don’t touch anything, I’m hacking into your computer,”- Garcia simply said, already tired of waiting. It wasn’t the first time she had done it during the latest months. I wouldn’t be the last either. 

- “Hello? can you hear me?”

- “Yes, David”- Aaron nodded and almost smiled- “Hello everybody, I trust you are all having a nice day.”

It was their annual Secret Santa, and for the first time, it was online. They had all made sure to mail their presents earlier enough, and everybody had gotten theirs already. It was December 24th, and though it was still just noon, Rossi enjoyed the first whiskey of the day.  

.

- “I sent you all cookies!!”- Penelope clapped and smiled, staring into the camera- “Did you all get it?”

- “Yes!”- they all answered but (Y/N). 

- “No… I didn’t”

- “What?! But I sent them yesterday! the delivery said you had gotten them,”- Penelope explained, but (Y/N) just shook her head. 

- “Sorry Garcia, I just got my Secret Santa present this week, and that’s it”

- “Someone stole your cookies, pretty girl!”- Derek chuckled and took a bit of one of his- “Your lost, ‘cos they are delicious.” 

- “Great… not only I get to spend Christmas alone, now I have to bake my own cookies.”- she groaned and sighed. 

- “What? Alone?”- JJ was in shock- “What about your family? Family get-togethers are allowed this weekend. It just has to be less than ten people in each house.” 

- “They live in Seattle, and I can’t travel ‘cos I don’t wanna expose my grandparents to any risk, so I decided to spend Christmas alone”- (Y/N) cut the team a short smile. They all wide opened their eyes in shock. Christmas alone was never a good plan. 

- “Me and Jack are going to spend it with his grandfather and aunt. We would be glad to have you over.”- Hotch immediately said, and (Y/N) smiled.

- “Thank you, but that’s ok, it’s just Christmas…”- that really didn’t sound good. 

- “I’m gonna be alone too,”- Spencer texted her ‘cos he didn’t want to say it in front of the team- “Do you wanna spend Christmas with me? I can save you some cookies”. 

(Y/N) chuckled as she read, and Spencer smiled, staring at her. You don’t usually get to see the reaction of the person you text. And he loved it. 

- “Why are you going to be alone?”- she wrote back

- “Same as you, I don’t wanna expose my mom, and she is all the family I’ve got. She’ll spend Christmas with aunt Ethel”. 

- “Hey! (Y/N), are you listening?”- Penelope waved and nearly yelled. 

- “Sorry, what?”- (Y/N) left the phone aside and tried to focus on the team. 

- “JJ was saying you are also welcome to spend it with her mom, Henry, and Will.”

- “Thank you guys, but… I think I’ll be ok.” 

She blushed at those words and made her best not to look at Spencer as she smiled. Which was incredibly useless, ‘cos no one knew where Spencer’s image was on her screen. And at the same time, it was so easy for the team to profile what was going on. That’s why neither of them said another word.

- “Ok, can we start opening presents now?”- Prentiss asked. Her background was now a beach, and she had put on a big hat and sunglasses. Penelope and JJ laughed at her so loud that they didn’t listen when Aaron said they should make a distant toast. 

- “Wait! let me get something to drink!”- (Y/N) stood up quickly and poured herself a cup of tea. 

- “Ok, now I’m ready, sorry”- and when she looked at the screen, Spencer was blushing, and everybody was chuckling. 

- “What did I miss?”

- “Nothing pretty girl”- Derek just smiled- “Let’s do the presents thing… who wants to start?”

- “Henry is pretty restless today, so if you guys don’t mind, I want to start”- JJ waved and showed everybody her present. 

“You have to guess who gave you your present,”- Emily explained and sipped her cup of coffee. 

- “Alright… let’s see… I got this envelope from my Secret Santa and… it’s just what I needed!!”- JJ smiled and nearly jumped on her seat

- “It’s a whole spa day!! Mom needs a day off when this pandemic ends!! thank you, Secret Santa!!” 

- “Who do you think gave you that?”- Penelope asked, and JJ looked at each one of her teammates on the screen.

- I’m gonna go with… Hotch, ‘cos I think he understands exactly what’s like being a parent in quarantine- Aaron chuckled and shook his head. 

- “Sorry, I would have given you that, though, but it wasn’t me.”

- “Then who?”- Rossi raised his hand and smiled

- “I noticed you were a little… stressed last time we talked. I thought maybe when this whole thing ends, you would enjoy a day to treat yourself.”

- “Thank you so much, Rossi. I really appreciate it!!”

 .  

The whole team continued opening their presents and laughed, trying to guess who was their Secret Santa. Hotch got a horrible (and yet adorable) Christmas sweater with a gigantic Rudolph on it and a matching one for Jack. He guessed right away it was from Penelope. 

Hotch bought García a fantastic pair of high heels and confessed he had picked them himself. Aaron Hotchner had a pretty good fashion sense. Who knew? 

Rossi opened his present and laughed, shocked. It was one costly and hard to find Scotch bottle. He thought it was from Emily, but no, it was from (Y/N). 

- “I remembered you said it was your favorite, and I thought maybe you’d like to share it with us next time we have a real get-together in your house.”

- “It’s very nice and naive of you to think I might actually share this present with anyone”- Rossi smiled and waved at the screen- “Thank you, kid.”

Emily got a weekend in Vegas from JJ to make it up for the “Sin to Win” weekend she lost because of a case a few months before. And again, she refused to explain to the team what “Sin to Win” meant. 

Morgan got a life provision of baby oil to rub on his six pack and biceps each time he took his shirt off. It was a joke from Emily, and Rossi nearly had a heart attack laughing at it. Penelope wanted a demonstration, but Derek promised a private show. Prentiss also got him a new kit of tools for home repairs, which always came in handy for him… mostly to fix all the doors he kicked. 

- “And what did you get, Spence?”- JJ asked, now holding Henry in her arms, trying to keep him calm. Reid opened his present and smiled. It wasn’t a happy smile though, it was a “are you fucking kidding me?” smile.   

- “Dating for Dummies”- he said and showed the book- “And I’m pretty sure this is from Morgan.”

- “As soon as this quarantine ends, you and I are going to a club, so you better study that book, ‘cos I’m gonna make you put it on good use.”

Morgan joked, but after all those years, it just wasn’t funny anymore, not for Spencer, at least. 

- “And last but not least, what did you get (Y/N)?”- Penelope’s eyes were shining. She loved Secret Santa. She had forced Hotch to put on his sweater, and he was now feeling like a dork on camera. Garcia, of course, had taken many screen-captures to save that amazing moment. 

- “Well, I’m pretty sure this is from Spencer”- she smiled, ‘cos he was the only one left. He blushed and waved. 

- “I hope you like it”- (Y/N) unwrapped the present carefully and smiled, surprised. 

- “Where did you get this?”- it was an original edition of The Little Prince, in french. It was tough to find. 

- “You said you loved the book ‘cos your mom read it to you when you were a kid, so… I thought you’d like it.”

(Y/N) couldn’t stop going through each page, as a million memories of her childhood came to her mind. Her mother had passed away when she was in high school, and the book meant more to her than anyone could imagine. 

- “Thank you”- she whispered and bit her lip, making her best not to cry. 

- “Jesus Christ! When is he going to tell her he loves her!?”- Rossi nearly yelled. He was in the back of his office, pouring himself a glass of his Secret Santa present. 

The whole team stayed quiet, making their best not to laugh. Spencer wanted to die. He rested his head on the desk and controlled the urge to leave the conversation. 

- “Hey, Rossi… just so you know, you weren’t muted.”- Prentiss managed to say and chuckled. He looked at the screen and stayed quiet. 

- “Ok... I think I’m gonna go now. This Scotch is already getting to my head, so… see you guys!!”- Rossi waved and tried to leave. 

- “Fuck! I hope I didn’t ruin it for the kid. Well, someone had to say it anyway”- he whispered, embarrassed.

- “Rossi, we can still hear you. You didn’t close the conversation, just minimized it”- JJ warned him, and that time, everybody burst out laughing. 

- “Ok, I’m gonna go now…”- Spencer couldn’t even look at (Y/N) anymore. He just waved and closed Zoom. 

- “I’m gonna go too”- (Y/N) whispered- “I hope everybody has a nice holiday!”- she didn’t even wait for anyone to say anything else. She just left the conversation and walked to the kitchen to get herself a glass of water. 

What the hell had just happened? 

.

Spencer had a panic attack. What was he supposed to do now? Confess his feelings? Rossi had already done it for him. Should he call (Y/N) and tell her it was just a joke? Tell her the truth? Invite her over for Christmas, again? 

- “Fuck!!”- he shouted and walked to his kitchen. Some whiskey Morgan left last time he visited was still there, and though Reid wasn’t much of a drinker, he needed one. 

He honestly had no idea what to do. He knew he couldn’t face (Y/N) now. How? he would fluster just to be in the same room with her. Rossi really ruined everything. It seemed it was the end of the world. 

- “I’m gonna have to quit, move from DC, change my name, start my life from scratch…” 

Yes, Spencer was making a drama out of the whole situation. But in his defense, he had never been in that kind of situation before. 

.

It was eight pm when Spencer heard a knock on the door. He had been lying on his couch most of the afternoon, trying to read. Still, his mind kept coming back to (Y/N) and the embarrassment he felt after Rossi’s comment.

- “Hi”- (Y/N) whispered as soon as Reid opened the door, and his heart stopped- “You said I could come for Christmas… so…”- he stood still and just nodded. She was there, wearing a Dr. Who mask, with some snowflakes on her coat.  

- “Can I come in?”

- “Sure! I’m sorry, I just…”- Spencer moved from the door and watched her taking off her shoes, leaving a few paper bags on the table, and smiling at him as soon as she removed her mask. 

- “Can I wash my hands?”

- “Of course, the bathroom is…”- Reid stopped himself. She knew where the bathroom was. That wasn’t the first time she was there.    

While she washed her hand, he made his best to clean a little, folded the blanket on his couch, and piled all the books that were lying around. 

- “So… I hope I’m not interrupting anything…”- (Y/N) started apologizing again, but Spencer just shook his head. 

- “No, not at all, I just wasn’t expecting you to come after… what…”- he couldn’t even mention it.

- “After what Rossi said?”- she turned around and avoided looking at Spencer. She walked to the bags she had brought and started taking things out

 - “Should we worry he was getting drunk so early?”- she simply said, and Reid chuckled

- “I don’t know, maybe… what are you doing?”

- “Well… I’m not into chicken tandoori for Christmas, so I cooked some things.”

- “It smells delicious”- Reid smiled, and so did (Y/N), feeling her cheeks blushing. 

- “It’s mom’s turkey recipe, so it better be good”

- “Let me put that in the fridge”- Reid held the turkey, roasted potatoes, and many other things (Y/N) had cooked and walked to the kitchen. 

- “I also got you this”- (Y/N) giggled and followed Spencer. As soon as he left everything he was carrying, she put a Santa hat with red and white stripes on his head.

- “You look like the cat in the hat”- she joked, and Spencer laughed, feeling like the happiest nerd on earth. 

- “I’m gonna take that as a compliment.”

- “It is…”- (Y/N) stared at him and sighed, both of them smiling in silence for a second. 

- “Did you get one for yourself too?”- he finally asked.

- “Yes! so we can take dorky pictures and send them to Garcia, she is gonna love those”- she made a pause and bit her lips for a second. 

- “So… do you like Christmas traditions?”- she asked and looked down at her shoes 

- “Mmm, sure… like watching Home Alone drinking hot chocolate?- Spencer asked, thinking he hadn’t really lived many Christmas traditions growing up. However, he knew his mother had made her best to make him happy each holiday. 

- “Yeah… that and… maybe this”

(Y/N) took a mistletoe from her pocket and lifted her arm to place it right on top of their heads. 

Spencer didn’t move. He just wide opened his eyes, staring at (Y/N), who was now smiling, completely blushed. 

- “Since we are spending Christmas together, I thought… we… could…”- but she couldn’t finish talking, ‘cos Spencer leaned in slowly, very slowly until he reached her lips and kissed her. His hands cupped her cheeks carefully, and her arms ended up wrapped around his neck.  

- “Merry Christmas, Spencer”- she whispered, rubbing her lips against his when the kiss ended, but neither of them wanted to move apart.

- “Merry Christmas, (Y/N)” 

.

[arcturusreads]

Christmas Whiskey Part Two - Merhayes

@merxmac asked for a part two to this fanfic so I hope this doesn't disappoint. Also, if y'all have prompts please send them my way, my dissertation is killing me and I'd love a distraction

Cormac wasn’t surprised when he got home on Christmas Eve to find his boys still awake playing video games and Irene in the kitchen prepping the turkey. He’d managed to draw the boys’ attention from their game long enough to propose the idea of dropping in on Meredith and her family during their walk.

He wasn’t at all surprised at Irene’s eagerness to the suggestion. His sister-in-law had been wanting to meet Meredith since her own visit to the hospital. Once she’d found out that the General Surgeon was out of her coma and back on her feet, she’d kept asking Cormac when they could meet. So far, he had managed to put her off by saying that Meredith was still recovering and that everyone’s schedules at the hospital were still crazy as they came out of the peak of the pandemic. What Cormac had been surprised at was how easily the boys agreed to it, Austin even saying that he was looking forward to it.

***

Christmas morning had passed. By the times the boys had woken up, it was more like afternoon. They’d opened presents, lit a candle for Abigail and the boys messed around with their presents, which included a new set of goalposts in the garden that were a bit studier than the ones that Cormac had put-up when they had first moved there, and a drone. Cormac and Irene spent most of their time in the kitchen sorting out Christmas dinner. Afterwards, they’d all sprawled out around the living room, half comatose, wondering why they decided that a second helping was a good idea.

It was 5pm by the time the four of them had managed to haul themselves out of their seats and change out of their pyjamas. As he shrugged on his jacket, Cormac couldn’t help but feel slightly jittery at the thought of seeing Meredith today. He had texted her that morning to wish her a merry Christmas and ask if they should bring anything over to hers. She’d said that there was no need, they had enough food to last them until the end of January but said she was looking forward to seeing him.

“Mac, you ready?” Irene nudged him with her elbow. “What are you smiling about?” She teased.

Cormac hadn’t even realised that he had been smiling in the first place and quickly replaced his expression with a more neutral one.

“Probably thinking about Dr Grey again,” Liam joined in on the teasing as Austin made kissy faces behind his brother.

“You know it’s not too late for me to take those drones back.” Cormac threw an arm over each of his sons’ shoulders and began walking towards the door.

***

There was a large park that happened to be smack in the middle of the route between Cormac Meredith’s houses. After taking a long walk around it and having a kick about with the football the boys had bought with them. They began to make their way to Meredith’s.

“Are you sure we shouldn’t have brought anything with us?” Irene asked him for the 20th time as Meredith’s home came into view.

“We’re bringing Da, I’m sure that will be more than enough.”

Cormac groaned, a red flush crawling up his neck. He stopped in his tracks and turned around to face his family. “Can I trust you all to behave when we go in there?” He was praying that they wouldn’t make any comments in front of Meredith, or he would be mortified.

“I’ll have you know that me and my nephews are the best-behaved people you know.” The smirk on their three faces told him otherwise and he shook his head and he began walking again.

“Heathens, the lot of you. Don’t know why I put up with it.”

He was responded to with snickers and rolled his eyes. As the Hayes family walked up to Meredith’s door, Cormac cursed at the butterflies in his stomach. Damnit, he was a grown man with two teenagers. He should be past this stage of feeling nervous about seeing a woman. It wasn’t like this was a date. She’d invited him over as a friend, their kids were going to be there.

Cormac continued trying to convince himself of this as he knocked the door. It didn’t work though because the moment Meredith opened the door to his family an entire zoo erupted in his stomach. She wasn’t dressed up to the nines, in matching white loungewear and hair half pulled up but it was the flush on her cheeks that caused a wave of feeling to wash over Cormac. The grin on her face, the glint in her eyes and the ease of her shoulders. She was radiant.

“Hey, sorry it took a while to get to the door. We’re used to people just walking in and out. Come in!” She ushered, Cormac, his boys and Irene into her home.

Before Cormac was able to say anything, Irene stepped forward with a grin on her face. “Meredith, I have to say it’s nice to finally meet the woman behind the name. I’m Irene, Mac’s sister-in-law.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Irene. Sorry we couldn’t meet sooner.”

Irene waved off the apology, “I hear you were a bit tied up, so no worries. Thank you so much for inviting us to your home.”

“I have an open-door policy at this house, you guys are always free to drop in if you need anything. Most people do. Austin, Liam, feel free to hang your coats up. You guys have a good Christmas?””

Mer turned to the boys who were slightly surprised that she had managed to identify them both correctly. They’d only met two or three times and they hadn’t even expected the surgeon to have paid much attention to them.

The boys nodded and launched into how their Christmas had gone so far. Cormac couldn’t believe with how much ease and comfort the boys spoke to Meredith. Sometimes he found it hard to get two words out of them when he got home from work.

Meredith began to herd the four of them into the living room where everyone else was lounging around. Cormac realised he hadn’t actually said anything to Meredith since he had gotten there, he reached out and gently grabbed her arm, pulling her back towards him.

“Hey?” Meredith looked at him, slightly confused.

Cormac quickly let go of her arm, “Uh, sorry.” He rubbed the back of his neck, “Just wanted to say Merry Christmas.”

“The same thing you text me this morning?” Meredith teased, arching a brow. “Merry Christmas to you too, Hayes” She grinned at him, seeing him slightly bashful was a new thing. Cormac was usually a lot surer of himself.

“Come on, let’s head in.”

Meredith found that there was no need to make any introductions to the kids. Austin and Liam and sat on the floor with them, which was covered with blankets and cushions. Liam had started to chat with Zola and Bailey whilst Austin was taking a keen interest as Ellis showed him what she had gotten for Christmas.

As Cormac said hello to the other surgeons in the room, Meredith headed into the kitchen and began to heat the milk to make the hot chocolate. Whilst she was never going to be the next MasterChef, hot chocolate was one thing that she could manage.

Stirring the pan of milk, Meredith looked out onto the living room. Seeing the way both Cormac and Irene had settled into conversation with everyone else. Seeing both her and Cormac’s kids getting along so easily. A feeling passed over her that she had not felt in a very long time. Not since Derek had been alive.

She’d always felt at home here, a sense of belonging but now there was a feeling of completion within her. There was nothing missing, her heart didn’t feel as though it was yearning for anything. It was like something had just clicked into place.

“Can I help you out?”

Meredith had even seen Irene approach her, “You’re our guest! Go and relax.”

“You wouldn’t let us bring anything, the least I can do is help you with the hot chocolate. Where can I find the mugs?”

Knowing that Irene wasn’t going to take no for an answer, Meredith directed her towards mugs. “They’re in the cupboard to the left of the sink.”

“You know, I haven’t seen Mac like this since before my sister died,” Irene placed all the mugs on the counter next to the stove and began to spoon the cocoa powder in there. “When he first moved back to the states, I was excited to have him and the boys here but he wasn’t himself. Not that I was expecting him to be after everything he’s been through.”

Irene sighed, placed the spoon on the counter and turned to face Meredith. “Ever since he told me that you were awake again and leaving the hospital, there’s more light in his eyes. He’s more playful, like he was before. His tread isn’t so heavy anymore.”

“I, uh,” Meredith wasn’t quite sure what to say. She knew that things had changed between her and Cormac, but she didn’t think that any of the changes that Irene had mentioned were down to her. “I mean, work has gotten a lot more manageable lately with the Covid numbers going down so that’s probably helping.”

Chuckling, Irene began to stir the hot chocolate and Meredith poured milk into the mugs. “We both know that isn’t true. My brother-in-law has started to fall hard for you, Meredith. I just don’t want to see him hurt if you don’t feel the same way but from the way you’ve been looking at him, I’m going to guess that you do.”

With that she picked up two mugs and walked into the living room with them. Meredith stood, mouth agape as she watched Irene walk away. Her own sisters had only danced around the topic about Cormac and her, teasing her and making the odd comment when they were seen together. They definitely had not been as forthright as Irene had just been with her.

“Momma! Hot cocoa time!” Ellis’ voiced pulled Meredith out of her thoughts as she took as many mugs as she could carry into the living room.

Eventually there were only two mugs left and as Meredith made her last trip from the kitchen, there was only one person, other than herself left without a mug.

“Hot chocolate?” Meredith offered the mug to Cormac who took it gratefully, their finger brushing against each other.

“Thanks, Grey.”

Looking around for a place to sit, Meredith found that the only place left was next to Cormac on the two-seater.

“Do you mind?” She asked, motioning to the seat next to him with her head.

“That you sit on your sofa in your house?” The glint in his eye made simultaneously made Meredith’s stomach flip and made her want to punch him

“I don’t know why I bothered asking…” Meredith muttered under her breath, but Cormac managed to hear and laughed.

From the other side of the room, Irene kept an eye on them the entire night. Now 100% sure that Meredith Grey did feel the same way about Cormac and come hell or high water, she was going to make sure that they both did something about it.

[spencers-renaissance]

All Roads Lead Home

Summary: Spencer's working the Christmas Eve shift when a young boy with a hurt arm comes into the ER. Nothing out of the ordinary, except his rather flirty dad and leaving later with an extra phone number in his contacts list...

Tags: fluff, hospital au, christmas fic, first date, getting together, gentleman aaron, soft spencer

Pairing: Hotch x Reid

Word Count: 2.1k

Masterlist // Read on AO3

Spencer’s never really minded the Christmas Eve shift in the ER: it’s often fairly quiet, only the odd accident here and there to one extent or the other, what with most people holed up at home with family by now. Everyone working tries to make it as jolly as possible, nurses wearing elf hats and wrangling as many doctors into santa ones as possible, and Christmas music plays on the hospital radio. Plus, it’s something for him to do. He usually spends Christmas Day with his friends, but Christmas Eve can be long and drawn out, so spending it at the hospital helping people is the perfect solution, really. The bonus pay doesn’t hurt either.

It certainly proves to be true when he pulls open the curtain to treatment four to reveal a criminally attractive man and his son who’s clearly in quite a state, tears streaming down his face as he heaves great big sobs. 

“Hi,” he says, deciding to focus on the situation at hand and not the ruggedly sexy man trying to calm his son down, “I’m Dr Reid, how can I help?”  

“Well, Jack got a little over-excited when playing with his friends earlier,” the man explains, ruffling his son’s hair gently, “and slipped in the snow. He’s in quite a lot of pain so I thought it was best to get it checked out today so we can enjoy Christmas properly tomorrow.” He smiles fondly down at Jack before looking back up at Spencer hopefully.

“I’m sure we can get it all figured out in no time,” Spencer says reassuringly before bending down slightly to level himself with Jack, who's cradling his arm protectively. “Okay, buddy, do you mind if I have a little look at that arm there?�� 

As soon as he tries to reach for Jack’s arm, he sobs even harder begging him not to touch it, so Spencer decides to switch tactics. “Hey, Jack, do you want to see a magic trick?” he asks encouragingly. 

Even through his tears, Jack nods eagerly, so Spencer wastes no time in showing him one of his favourite tricks, instantly captivating him with his deft hand movements, distracting him enough to slow down his sobs. By the time he’s pulling a penny from behind his ear, Jack’s cries have calmed down enough for him to smile excitedly. 

He takes the opportunity to conduct his examination as quickly as possible, noting how much pain Jack seemed to be in. “Now, you’ve been quite the brave little soldier but how about I get you some medicine for the pain, hey?” 

He waits for Jack’s nod before looking to the nurse working with him and requesting 25mcgs of fentanyl. “We’ll start with a relatively low dose but if Jack’s still in pain after that we can adjust it to make him as comfortable as possible okay?” Spencer says, checking to make sure they’re both happy before administering the medicine. “Now, we need to get you up to radiology to do an x-ray just to check if there’s a fracture, but until then, hang tight. You did so well, Jack.” He gives both of them a warm smile before walking up to the nurses’ station and ordering the exam. 

He doesn’t give the interaction much more thought until an hour later when he’s stood at the vending machine suddenly desperate for a coffee and craving something sweet. “Oh, Dr Reid!”

Spinning round to see who called him, he sees Jack’s father a few metres away, walking up to him. “Mr Hotchner, hi,” he says, smiling a little. “How’s Jack doing?”

“He’s just getting his cast on actually,” he explains, matching Spencer’s smile. “Turns out it was fractured after all, but with the pain medicine kicking in, he wanted to be a big boy and have it done without daddy there.” 

“Well, as soon as he gets back to school, he’ll be king of the playground,” Spencer points out. “These sorts of things end up actually making most kids happy in a funny kind of way.” 

“Ah, he’s already brainstorming how to get the most signatures possible,” he replies, shaking his head with a fond smile lighting up his face. “I wanted to thank you, actually, for being so good with Jack earlier. You really helped calm him down.”

“Oh, please, it’s not a problem!” Spencer says, waving a hand. “Kids are the best part of this job. Getting to flex my magic muscles is just as fun for me” 

“No, seriously, it meant a lot to me. Let me buy you a coffee?”

“Oh… Mr Hotchner, you really don’t need to--”

“Call me Aaron,” he interjects, grinning invitingly. “And I really do insist.”

Well. How could Spencer say no to that? He absolutely does not check Aaron’s left hand for a wedding ring as he lets himself be guided to a table in the cafeteria, but he can’t even feel guilty about it because Aaron’s giving him a certain kind of look that holds promises, and damn if that doesn’t stir something in Spencer’s gut, a spark of unfettered excitement shooting down his spine. 

“Thank you,” Spencer says earnestly as Aaron comes back from the counter with two coffees and pastries, “this is exactly what I needed.”

“You’re a saint for working on Christmas Eve,” he replies warmly. “And you’ve made what could’ve been a pretty rotten day much better, so it’s the least I could do.” 

“Well, I appreciate it,” Spencer smiles, looking down at his hands wrapped tightly around his coffee cup bashfully for a moment. “So, what are your plans for Christmas?”

“We keep it lowkey,” Aaron says after a mouthful of hot coffee. “A nice slow morning of treats and toys before we head to my late wife’s family’s house for a meal and presents in the evening.”

“That sounds lovely,” he replies, choosing to brush past the mention of Aaron’s late spouse; in his experience that only tends to make things awkward. “I’m sure Jack appreciates still seeing that side of his family.”

“Oh, he does,” he chuckles in response. “But so do I, I’m not that close with my own family so having a relationship with Haley’s really means a lot to both of us. Anyway, what about you?”

“I spend Christmas with my friends, actually. My mother lives in Las vegas, but it’s kind of hard to see her anyway,” Spencer says, decidedly not elaborating on that. “Most of my friends have family living out of state or no family at all, so we all go to Derek’s and spend it there, it’s actually a really nice tradition.”

“Definitely,” Aaron agrees. “Well, since we’re both occupied tomorrow, how do you feel about going to dinner with me after Christmas?”

“Really?” Spencer asks, suddenly feeling a little shy. 

“Of course,” Aaron says, face open in a refreshing kind of way. “That is, if you want to. There’s obviously no pressure, but I’d really like to take you out.”

“No, I definitely want to,” Spencer says quickly, reaching out a hand across the table to brush Aaron’s on instinct, the embarrassment he feels once he realises what he’s done dissipating when Aaron interlocks their fingers, keeping him close. “I was just surprised, is all. Spend Christmas with your family, but I’d love to see you afterwards.”

“Perfect,” Aaron smiles warmly. “Hand me your phone?”

⭐️

The rest of his shift flies by and Spencer spends Christmas in a much better mood than he has done in years. His friends needle him for details but it sort of feels sacred, he doesn’t want to say how he feels out loud, much less what he hopes for lest he jinx it. It’s on Boxing Day that his phone chimes with a text. He’s in the kitchen putting together a sandwich full of Christmas leftovers, but he abandons it in an instant as hope flares in his chest. 

Hope you had a good Christmas. Tell me about it at dinner tomorrow night? - Aaron

He can’t stop a ridiculous smile from spreading across his lips, but he can’t find the heart to care; he hasn’t felt like this for a long time, the idea of spending more time with such an intriguing person who seemed to hold so many possibilities excited him beyond belief. 

Absolutely. Pick me up at 7? - S

Shoot me your address. - Aaron

The 27th of December passes in much the way it always does, languid and lazy, but it feels even more tortuous this year with the promise of a romantic dinner with Aaron Hotchner, the man who managed to make him feel so much in such a short period of time, the man who set his tummy fluttering the second he lay eyes on him. 

Eventually, though, 7 rolls around and Aaron knocks on his door perfectly on time. He pulls the door open to reveal him impeccably dressed, wearing a fond, private little smile on his face. 

“Hi,” Spencer says, trying to seem somewhat intelligent and put together despite the mush his insides are currently melting into.

“Hey,” Aaron says softly. “You look gorgeous.”

Spencer flushes immediately at that, looking down at his toes to escape the intensity of Aaron’s gaze. “So do you,” he manages finally, voice a little strangled. “Ready to go?”

Aaron drives them to a cosy little Italian restaurant on the edge of town, and Spencer immediately falls in love with the quiet, intimate atmosphere and the beautiful Christmas decorations still covering the room from head to toe. He pulls out his chair for him, making sure he’s settled before rounding the table to his own seat, the very picture of a gentleman, and Spencer thinks with a little sadness weighing on his heart that his mother would love him. 

“This is perfect, Aaron, thank you,” he says sincerely as he continues to observe his surroundings, immediately feeling comfortable with the other man. 

“Of course. You have to get started on the right foot,” he grins, a joking glint taking root in his eyes. “Especially if you have serious intentions.” 

“You have serious intentions with me?” Spencer asks curiously, tilting his head a little as he implores Aaron with wide eyes.

“Well, yes,” Aaron says slowly, “but don’t feel any pressure if you don’t feel the same, I’m happy to just see where things go…” 

“Hey, no, I definitely do,” Spencer rushes to clarify, reaching out to touch Aaron’s hand just as he did in the hospital. “I’m sorry, I keep messing that up.” He huffs out a little laugh as he averts his eyes.

“Don’t apologise,” Aaron says, voice warm and inviting and Spencer just wants to fold into him, give in already. “We’re still getting used to each other and our mannerisms and the way we approach things; that’s the whole point of dating. I’m just happy that we’re here getting started.”

Spencer feels his body relax at Aaron’s words, melting into the reassuring comfort of his presence. “Me too,” he says, and he means it. 

They both eat pasta to a background of quiet hustle and bustle and elegant instrumental Christmas music, and they click even more than they did at the hospital, quickly settling into easy and interesting conversation. By the time the waiter comes over with the bill, they’re both full and satisfied, glasses of wine empty and plates cleared. Aaron insists on getting it this time and after he’s paid, he takes Spencer’s hand and they head towards the door together.

Before they can actually leave, however, an older woman comes up to them. “You’re standing under the mistletoe,” she winks, pointing upwards. They both follow her finger, and sure enough a sprig of mistletoe is hung right above them. By the time Spencer looks back towards Aaron, he’s already looking at him with an air of intention. 

“May I?” he murmurs, and Spencer just smiles shyly and nods, feeling Aaron’s lips pressed gently against his own the very next second. 

It’s a relatively short first kiss, they are stood in the middle of a public restaurant after all, but it doesn’t make Spencer feel any less dizzied by it, completely overwhelmed by how good it felt having Aaron that close to him, his hands on his waist as they melted into one another. 

The lady’s gone by the time they come back to reality and open the door onto the cold street, and Spencer’s fairly sure that he’s dreaming because this only happens in films right? But he’s snapped out of his doubtful thoughts when Aaron wraps his arm around his waist, bodies pressed closely against one another, because nothing’s ever felt more real than this.

@strippersenseii @criminalmindsvibez 

[handsingsweapon]

9. For the October challenge with Phichit and anyone else you'd like to scare a bit 😂

9: A fun, creepy night of urban exploration gets the character(s) into trouble.

1. This is a college/frat AU because why the heck not2. credit: https://detroit.curbed.com/maps/thirteen-haunted-creepy-or-spooky-detroit-places3. putting all of these below cuts just in case

“Yuuri.” Phichit has a specific tone of voice he uses when he’s whining, which Yuuri now knows is his cue not to look at the Thai skater. Looking, he learned, back in Phichit’s first semester in Detroit, when they were both still living with Celestino, was always a fatal mistake. Phichit has better puppy-dog eyes than an actual puppy-dog, and Yuuri would know, he’s got experience. “Yuuri,” he repeats, forlornly, and finally Phichit Chulanont forces himself to endure the indignity of standing between Yuuri and the television screen. Normally he’s got the other playstation controller, but not tonight; tonight he’s trying to talk Yuuri into going along to the Halloween party that Sigma Theta Upsilon has put together this year. “It’s called a ghost float.”

“Phichit, nothing about walking through old Detroit until midnight at the end of October sounds even remotely reasonable,” Yuuri grumbles.

Phichit tries a series of enticements:

“Drinks are going to be half off at every pub along the way.”

“No.”

“We can wear a couple’s costume so nobody hits on you.”

“No.”

“Victor Nikiforov’s the one giving the haunted tour talks.”

This, at least, makes Yuuri die on-screen, and he tosses the controller aside, and looks up with a scowl. “Liar. Christophe Giacometti’s giving the haunted tour talks.”

Phichit has a sinister grin whenever Yuuri’s walked into a trap. “Oh,” he hums, innocently. “So at least you looked, huh.”

“No.”

“Yuuri,” Phichit repeats. “Ghost float.”

Yuuri grumbles something about Phichit, Christophe Giacometti, and the phrase notice-me-senpai, but he eventually agrees. “This has nothing to do with Victor Nikiforov,” Yuuri says, in a tone of voice that Phichit imagines Yuuri likes to think means something like let’s be clear or I want to be understood.

It actually means: I am lying through my teeth. 

“Right,” he chirps, ignoring Yuuri Katsuki’s no-good, mega-crush on Sigma Theta President Victor Nikiforov for the millionth time. Their first-ever discussion on the topic ended with this: He’s probably not even gay, Phichit. Phichit thinks Yuuri’s out of his goddamn mind and his gaydar is broken: nobody dresses like Victor Nikiforov does and is straight. Not that Phichit’s interested. He’s seen Victor and Christophe both in a swimming pool: one of them turns a strange shade of red with exposure to just forty-five minutes of sunlight; the other one turns into bronze Adonis. “I’ll take care of costumes.”

“I get veto rights if you do anything ridiculous,” Yuuri mutters.

“I’m offended,” says Phichit, who is only offended because his top three ideas are now entirely off the menu.

The party starts at 9 PM at Belle Isle. In spite of a significant amount of honking, there’s no sign of a white deer, or a woman’s ghost.

Phichit has done Yuuri a favor: together, they’re the dynamic duo of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Yuuri is the curmudgeon in a Red Wings jersey; Phichit thinks he’s in-character already. Phichit is Ferris Bueller, of course; he found the awful jacket and the leopard vest at Goodwill and counted his lucky stars. Currently, he’s counting them again, because Sigma Theta’s Vice President has shown up as Hansel from Zoolander, which means … Ah, yes. Phichit only has to look over his shoulder at Yuuri to witness his reaction to Victor Nikiforov in red leather pants. “He dyed his hair,” Yuuri whispers, with a choked, cut-off whisper towards Victor-masquerading-as-Derek. “Why did he dye his hair?”

“Gonna wash it out for him, sweetheart?” Phichit offers, batting his eyelashes. Yuuri hits him. “Ow!” 

The Ghost Float turns out to be mostly large-group pub crawl, with a few of Detroit’s landmark stops along the way. A few people peel off with Georgi Popovich at the Leland Hotel, evidently intending to brave the Industrial club in the basement. At the Alhambra Apartments, Christophe tells a story about a scorned chef who once poisoned the residents after her demotion. Apparently two people died. 

Victor Nikiforov’s eyes sparkle like he might actually cry, and he wraps his arms around himself and looks like a very distraught Derek Zoolander. 

Yuuri looks at Victor like someone’s kicked his puppy. Blue steel, indeed.

By 11PM, Phichit’s officially daunted: he’s able to walk in a straight line because Yuuri is able to walk in a straight line. Even though Yuuri’s face is already flushed from drinking and the cold, he’s got legendary endurance when it comes to this sort of event, the kind of reputation that got solidified last year at a New Year’s Eve party where he wound up running across the snow-covered quad with a tie wrapped around his head and his pants missing. They are nowhere near pants-missing territory yet. At least not in Yuuri’s case. Phichit makes no promises for himself because Christophe’s been the one telling all of the ghost stories.

Christophe tells the story of an Italian immigrant who set up shop as a mystic and would-be cultist. “Evangelist prescribed all kinds of strange medicine,” Giacomtti intones as they stand on the grass lot that was once the Evangelist home on St. Aubin Street. “He did expensive psychic readings, gave out herbal remedies, wrote a four-volume Occultist bible.” 

“Love potions,” says Victor Nikiforov, who has been uncharacteristically quiet for a great deal of the trip. It’s unusual for Christophe to do all of the talking. He smiles, tight and quick, when the assembled crowd whistles and hoots; Phichit elbows Yuuri; Yuuri stomps on his toe. “He made love potions.” 

Phichit thinks he might be looking at Yuuri. Yuuri is trying to look anywhere except Victor Nikiforov’s ass in those pants. It’s not working. Phichit is working off of two hypotheses currently: one, he is beginning to suspect that Victor Nikiforov might have a no-good, mega-crush on Yuuri Katsuki; two, he’s starting to think that Victor hates ghost stories.

What he needs is the right environment to stage a test of these two theories, but he keeps getting distracted by Christophe, gorgeous Christophe, Christophe who could read Phichit the dictionary and leave him hanging on every word. It’s not fair that someone in the universe has a body constructed for sex and gets to possess that voice. “Had a lot of enemies, too,” Christophe is explaining. “People who thought they’d been ripped off.” Phichit’s not sure where Christophe manages to pull pictures of Benny Evangelist’s creepy, paper-mache God-dolls from, but he’s got them, and they’re being passed around. He shivers. It’s not because of the beer, and it’s not because of Christophe’s voice. 

“He cut a business deal involving some lumber, promised to pay the delivery man in cash the following morning,” Christophe intones. “Morning came and went. So did a neighbor, who found all six bodies: Benny, 43, his wife, Santina, 36, their four children, Angeline, 8, Matilda, 5, Jay, 3 and their 18-month-old son, Morrio. According to the police report, good old Benny’s head was sitting on a chair next to the bed he and his wife died in.”

“Yuuri,” whispers Phichit, who quickly passes off the handout, and who tells himself he’s getting two drinks at their next bar, “that’s messed up.”

“You want a real ghost story?” Yuuri raises his eyebrows. Apparently he’s just getting started. “You ought to hear about some of the shit from back home –”

“Hard pass,” squeaks Phichit. 

They make it to Elmwood Cemetery at midnight. It’s supposed to be the last stop of the tour, so to speak, largely because the gates are closed at this hour, and Victor and Christophe have some responsibility, when it comes to university rules. The problem with this is simple:

Yuuri Katsuki is drunk. “What,” he complains, after Christophe tells another round of stories. “That’s it? We’re just going to stand here?”

“You have a better idea?”

Phichit hooks his fingers into Yuuri’s Red Wings jersey, uselessly: Yuuri’s an athlete, and he’s over the fence like a shot, waving his arms from the other side. “C’mon,” he taunts. “You scared?”

Phichit looks at Yuuri.

Victor looks at Yuuri, and then Victor looks at Christophe. Phichit does not understand the reason for Christophe’s smirk; he only knows it’s unfairly attractive. “You just gonna let the ghosts get him, then?” Christophe asks.

This is how about six or so of the party-goers wind up climbing over the fence, and how Phichit Chulanont gets lost by himself in the cold of a cemetery, wondering how it is that Yuuri Katsuki could ruin something called a Ghost Float, put on by Christophe Giacometti. Everywhere he turns he hears distant voices; probably his friends, looking for him, but who can be sure? It’s dark, and his phone has already protested the use of its flashlight once with a low battery warning, consequence of his overuse of Instagram earlier in the night. 

Leaves rustle behind him. 

Phichit thinks he hears footsteps.

When he turns around, nobody’s there.

Yuuri, I love you, and I’m going to kill you.

There’s breath on his neck, a whisper against his ear. “Boo.”

Later, there will be conflicting stories about this incident. Christophe Giacometti will insist that Phichit Chulanont screamed; Phichit Chulanont will tilt his chin up, dark eyes flashing, and insist that he roared like a lion.

He shrieks, he nearly falls over, he finds himself in Christophe’s arms.

“Have you seen Yuuri?” Phichit asks, far too rapidly, trying to play it cool. He’s Ferris Bueller. He’s the coolest kid.

“He’s with Victor.”

“With Victor or With Victor?”

Christophe’s eyes sparkle in the dark. His innocent face somehow betrays both nothing and everything. The story will come out by Christmas, by the time Yuuri and Victor make it official: Nikiforov hates ghost stories, and horror movies, and junk food, and a lot of other things Yuuri loves, and somehow they’re still disgustingly perfect for each other. “We’ve got everyone,” Christophe says instead. “Came to get you. Were you really that scared?”

“No,” Phichit lies, putting on a brave face.

“Oh.” Christophe looks thoughtful. “Cold?”

Now Phichit’s not sure where this is going. “… No?”

“That’s a pity,” Christophe murmurs, making sure Phichit’s righted on his feet before letting go and taking a few steps back towards the path he must’ve come through on. He tut-tuts underneath his ridiculous blonde wig. “Now what am I supposed to offer, huh?”

Phichit catches on quick. “Oh,” he says, falling in step behind Christophe, and trying to tell himself it’s not because he’s looking at Giacometti’s ass. 

“In that case, I was fucking terrified, and I’m freezing, too.”