"Seriously?" McDowell asked, gesturing down at her outfit. A longsleeve cowl-neck red sweater dress, slim-fitting and short-hemmed, and a tall pair of gray lace-up winter boots with fur trim that went to just below her knees.
"What? It looks good on you," Garcia said with grin.
"Come on, you look nice. And besides, we all always dress up for Rossi's Christmas party," JJ said.
"He's a man of class," Garcia teased, her voice sounding sly.
"Maybe I shouldn't go," McDowel reasoned, self-consciously tugging the hem of the dress down lower.
"Well why not?" Prentiss asked as she came into the room. They were all meeting at the BAU to catch rides together.
"Cause I've only been here six months, and in case you haven't noticed, fancy parties aren't really my style," she objected.
"Of course you're part of the team, and everyone's going to be there," JJ said.
"If we don't go now we're going to be late," Garcia reminded them all, heading for the door.
"You look fine, you're coming," Prentiss insisted, noticing McDowell tugging on the skirt again and hanging back a bit. With a begrudging sigh, though, she gave in and followed them all outside.
When they arrived, the party was already in full swing, and Rossi graciously greeted them at the door. Morgan spotted them coming in and came over.
"Look at these lovely ladies. Hello, beautiful," he kissed Garcia on the cheek and then noticed McDowell and remarked, "Wow, I hardly recognize you, Rookie. Oh, by the way, Reid was looking for you," he added coyly with a wiggle of his eyebrows.
She scoffed and rolled her eyes but headed in the direction Morgan's eyebrows had indicated anyways. She spotted Reid and went over by him, glancing over his black and white tux before getting his attention by stating, "You clean up nice, Pretty Boy."
Startled, Reid snapped his attention to her, his mouth open as he stared. He cleared his throat and stammered, "You--uh, clean up nice, too," going for casual but sounding utterly at a loss for words.
"Thanks, I guess. Blame Garcia," she said sarcastically, again pulling at the edge of the dress.
"Is someone discussing my fabulousness?" Garcia teased after overhearing them, joining the conversation. She had a glass of wine in one hand and her other was behind her back.
"Just mentioning your impeccable taste in fashion," McDowell admitted.
"If I hadn't joined the BAU I think I might have become the next Coco Chanel. Or cupid," Garcia said, her eyes surreptitiously flitting above their heads as she pulled her hand out from behind her back, holding a bunch of greenery tied with a little red bow and flecked with white berries.
"Don't tell me that's--" McDowell started, but Reid laughed and finished, "Mistletoe," glancing at McDowell.
"I'm not leaving till you kiss," Garcia commanded with a smile.
McDowell sighed and turned to face Reid, closing her eyes and leaning forward, and Reid smiled softly before leaning in as well and pressing his lips to hers for a brief second before they pulled away. Rossi laughed and raised his glass, a rare smile flitted across Hotch's face, Garcia beamed excitedly, and Morgan smirked while JJ and Prentiss glanced from the pair standing under the mistletoe and shared a mischievous look.
"Merry Christmas," Reid told McDowell, and she laughed and grinned in spite of herself, softly answering, "Merry Christmas, Reid."
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Criminal Minds One Shots
FanfictionA collection of story blurbs containing cut material and alternate scenes from my book Unknown- A Criminal Minds Fanfic but also some random Criminal Minds stories featuring the members of the BAU and the character Charlie McDowell. Not all stories...
