Cold Hands ✔️

thirty one

chapter 31; you wont believe this false hope

Garcia used her hand to stifle a laugh. I nudged her with my arm but started laughing as well, her laughter becoming contagious.

"You're going to give us away!" I whispered, hiding more under the desk. She waved her hand at me, breathing deep to try to calm down.

"Here he comes!" JJ whispered from next to us.

Most of us were hidden by our desks, the closest we can get to surprising Reid. Not too much of a surprise though, it was 10 a.m., the lights were still on and Hotch and Rossi refused to hide under the desks. Still, it was fun to be a little silly with the group.

"Good morning Reid." Hotch spoke to Reid, still reading a folder.

"Welcome back!!" Everyone shouted, jumping up from their desks. Reid smiled wide and laughed at us,  his hands clasping in front of him.

"What's this?" He questioned, glee in his voice. He came over to the desk and looked at all the things we got him. It wasn't much, but I guess it's the thought that counts. Some scratch cards, a coffee, a few CD's and a unicorn mug lay out on the table.

"We all pitched in," Garcia explained, "Some scratch cards for good luck, a few CD's to brush up on pop culture music, a coffee to get through the day and a unicorn mug from your favourite team member." She beamed.

"You know, statistically you have a very low chance of winning the big prize. One report said that the chances of winning the Powerball jackpot was 1 in 292.2 million. You have more chances of being killed by a vending machine, which is about 10 to 13 people each year." He had picked up a ticket and observed it while speaking, reading the rules and inspecting it. I dug a quarter out of my pocket and held it out for him.

"You know you wanna do it." I said, nudging it closer to him. He smiled and grabbed it out of my hand, biting his lip.

"The lottery system is actually pretty ingenious with making people think they can win. They will say you have a 1 in 5 odds of winning the big prize but it actually depends on the amount of tickets sold, and even then the company takes away bigger prizes to keep it as pure profit..." Reid rambled as he scratched off the tickets.

"It doesn't matter the odds, it's all up to chance anyway. Did you win?" I asked, coming to stand next to him. We all leaned over the desks to get a better look.

"$20, I just won $20!" Spencer jumped up and down and hugged me, the rest of the team cheering.

"Told you the kid was lucky!" Morgan said, whistling.

He released me and looked at the ticket like a little kid in wonder. I laughed and leaned into him to make sure that he actually won.

"What now?" He asked, turning his head slightly to look at me.

"Now you take it to the convenience store and cash out. But first you have a few more to scratch." I slid the other tickets into view and watched as he tried again.

He didn't win any more, but it was fun just to be happy and merry with the team. It felt good not to worry about a looming serial killer or about trivial things. We deserved to relax and have fun, especially now that the team was back together.

"Thank you, everyone. It feels good to be back." Reid said. He looked the most relaxed I've ever seen him, which makes me happy. He sends a smile my way and I smile back, my stomach twisting in knots.

"Welcome back, Reid. Sorry to cut the fun short, but we've got a new case." Hotch raised a case file to emphasize his point and turned on his heel, leading the way up to the room. I turned to follow the group but was grabbed by the arm. I turned around to see Reid holding my arm, his gaze stuck on his hand.

"Oh uh, sorry. I didn't mean for that to be so rough." He said, quickly dropping his arm and meeting my gaze.

"No worries, what's up?" I asked, my stomach officially performing in the Olympics gymnastics. A part of my brain hoped that this was the moment. This is what all these weeks of careful flirting and challenging has led to. I wanted him to ask me out, to properly do it.

"I... I was just wondering, um-" his hand rubbed his neck and he grimaced "I meant to thank you, for being with me in the hospital."

"Oh, yeah no worries." I gave a weak smile as I turned quickly on my heel and walked towards the conference room.

"Ouch, that one has got to hurt." Harper appeared next to Hotch's office and I let out a huff.

"Oh now you come out? Buzz off" I spoke lowly and waved her off. Just when I thought she had left, the demon on my shoulder makes her appearance again.

I straightened up and took a deep breath before entering the round table. I shouldn't be upset. I was looking for things that probably weren't there. I shouldn't want to be with him. Nevertheless, I was a little blue. I wanted to be close with him, to know all of his secrets and his family. I wanted that connection with someone.

"Alright crime fighters, today you leave for Cincinnati..." I zoned out as I started thinking more about the past year.