EASY WAY OUT ¹ ➢ spencer reid

V

 The next morning was rough. Prentiss and I stumbled onto the plane, our heads pounding as we found our seats. Prentiss laid on one of the couches, chugging water and trying not to puke, while I sat in the back with Reid, who after last night refused to leave me alone. While the two children played their game, Reid and I spent most of the night talking about the usual things people did when getting to know each other. I figured out his favourite food was Indian and that he was big Star Trek fan. Also that he could kick anyone's ass at chess in the blink of an eye.

"And then to Kirk's surprise the Romulan's finally revealed th..."

"Reid," I rubbed my eyes, "if you don't stop talking in the next five seconds I'm going to take my gun and shoot you in the leg."

JJ walked past, gripping a coffee and laughing as she wandered over to Prentiss. She sat down next to her, handing her the cup. "I see you guys went a little hard last night," she spoke.

"The ladies did. Reid and I are fine," Morgan responded smugly.

"Shhh," Prentiss whispered, sitting up to take a sip. "I'm never drinking again."

"You're going to have to. You lost last night so you owe me drinks." Morgan smiled.

She squinted her eyes in frustration.

"Given previous results, you win every time," Reid interjected.

Morgan stood from his seat and walked to the kitchenette, slapping Reid on the shoulder as he passed. "That I do, pretty boy."

The plane ride went pretty smoothly after that. Every so often we'd talk nonchalantly about what we were going to do with our potential weekend, but most of the time we did our own things. I tried to sleep, but with the turbulence I was way too on edge. I nervously picked at my nails. Reid watched me over the edge of his book. At one point, the plane fell a couple of feet, causing me to rise from my seat. I squealed, gripping the sides of my chair tightly.

"You know, turbulence isn't a big deal, it's microbursts that you need to worry about." I shot him an angry look to try and silence him, but he continued anyway, "if we get caught in one those we'd be eviscerated."

"Remember when I said I'd shoot you in the leg?"

"Mhm."

I moved closer, whispering quietly in his ear. "It's now your groin."

He swallowed hard, pulling away. He didn't talk much after that, which made the last hour or so of the plane ride as enjoyable as it could be. We landed at around noon and took the vehicles to the office where we sat until we finished our paperwork. Everyone had finished and gone home by the time I'd done mine. I yawned and walked up to Hotch's office, surprised he was still there. "Uh, hey, I'm all done." I put the file folder on his desk.

"Thank-you."

"You're still here?" I asked.

"An agents duty is never done." The way he said it made it sound like a joke, but I couldn't tell. I smiled anyways. "How are you feeling?"

"Me?"

He nodded.

"Good, actually. I thought I was going to have a hard time and I know it's only been a couple of days, but everyone is really supportive. I feel comfortable."

Hotch smiled, which confused me. He had a nice smile though, one that you only ever got to see once in a blue moon. It seemed special. "You fit in well."

"Thanks."

"Well, you better head home and rest. There's very few moments we get of that around here." He nodded his head, motioning to the door.