Criminal Minds One Shots

The Next Jason Gideon

I heard a knock on the door, and I groped for my phone and squinted against the blinding light of the screen as I checked the time.  12:03 am.

I slipped my housecoat on over the too-big T-shirt I had put on after I got out of the shower and then went to answer the door, wondering who was stopping at my apartment at midnight.  I unlocked the deadbolt and opened the door as far as the chain lock on it would let me.  Reid was standing there, and I wasn't surprised, it probably had something to do with work so I quickly undid the chain and let him in.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked, but I noticed his eyes flitting to my attire, or lack of it.

The T-shirt was barely long enough to cover my underwear and I hadn't tied my housecoat shut cause I was in a hurry to answer the door.

I quickly wrapped it closed around me and Reid cleared his throat before answering, "We have a case.  Sorry it's so late, but we've only got twenty-four hours until--"

"Okay.  Give me a sec, I have to go change," I replied and then rushed back into my bedroom in the apartment.

I dropped my housecoat on my bed and pulled navy blue skinny jeans on, and then socks, and I stuffed my feet into my black boots and then pulled the white T-shirt over my head, replacing it with a gray tank top and army green button-up.  I snatched up my black leather jacket, keys, phone, and gun holster, the gun in it.

"Let's go," I said when I came back into the main room of my apartment and Reid headed for the door.

I locked it behind me before climbing in the passenger seat of the SUV and we headed for Quantico.

"How come you were up this late anyways?" Reid asked.

"I'm probably still stuck in college mode.  One in the morning is the earliest anyone went to bed," I remarked before asking, "What about you?  Those are the same clothes you were wearing yesterday."

"Oh, I was up late reading," he said, but even the not-super-experienced profiler in me could tell he was lying, so I prodded, "When's the last time you slept?"

"What?" he asked, taking his eyes off the road for a split second to look at me with furrowed brows.

"When we were on the plane, you didn't sleep at all.  When we were down in Miami you were the last one to go to bed and the first one up, and you practically live on coffee.  You're like a vampire, I have never seen you sleep," I told him, serious even though I was slightly teasing.

"Do you watch everyone that closely?" Reid asked me.

"As hard as it may be to believe, before college I never talked to anyone, and if you never talk you have a lot of time for watching and listening," I answered before stating, "Something's bugging Prentiss but she'd deny it if any of us asked her, Hotch thinks about Jack at least five times a day if not more, Rossi wonders why all the horrible things we see everyday don't faze him anymore because he's been doing this for so long, Morgan is angry at how heartless the world can be and channels it into his job, and JJ doubts everyday if this is the right job for her."

"You've been here three weeks and you already know all of that?" Reid asked me, a bit awed.

I smirked and teased, "Just call me the next Jason Gideon."

"You knew Gideon?" he asked, surprised.

"No, I did this little thing called research.  It's amazing what you can find on the internet," I said, and Reid laughed softly next to me in the dark interior of the SUV.