Without Reid

[ragcat.livejournal.com]

Title: Without Reid
Author: Ragcat
Rating: FRM/R
Characters/Pairings: Reid plus each of the current BAU gang...
Warnings: Language; slash & het references. Nothing explicit, but mentions of naughty goings-on...
Disclaimer: I own nothing and no one from "Criminal Minds" and no money is made from this, it is just for fun.
Summary: Told from Rossi's bewildered POV, the BAU team reacts badly when Reid has to be out of town for a week. Satire. Inspired by the fact that we have to go all summer without a new episode (cries). One-shot.

A/N 06/27/10: Maybe I should put links to the follow up fics, huh? Here they are:

"The Lash (Reid/Hotch)"

"Play Time (Reid/Garcia)"

"Back in Morgan's Arms (Reid/Morgan)"

"Pressure" (Reid/JJ)

"Unladylike Behavior" (Reid/Prentiss)

"Hallelujah" (Reid/Rossi)

This is now complete!!

*********

Dave Rossi glanced at the case file Hotch had handed him in preparation for the morning meeting. He'd come in early, right after Hotch; shortly thereafter, JJ had arrived, followed closely by Prentiss; Morgan came in last. At 9:00 they got settled in the conference room, leaving a spot for Hotch at the desk. Everyone chatted for a bit, then they began to glance around and impatiently check their watches. At 9:12, it was past time for the meeting to begin.

Suddenly, JJ asked, "Hey--where's Reid?"

"Yeah," Prentiss responded. "He's not usually late." A look of mild concern crossed her face.

"He'll be here. Probably got caught in traffic." Morgan looked anxiously toward the door, as if expecting the young profiler to walk in at any moment.

Hotch came out of his office, took his place at the head of the group and cleared his throat. He looked a little shaky. "I'm afraid Reid won't be joining us. He had to leave town suddenly. He called me early this morning from the airport--his mom became ill with acute appendicitis, and will have to be hospitalized. Her doctor is concerned that the stress will create a setback for her, and wants a family member available to offer her support while she's away from Bennington."

"How awful," Prentiss said worriedly. "How long will Reid be gone?"

"Yes," JJ added, her voice tight. "Do we know? Surely, this'll just be for a few days, right?" She looked to Prentiss for reassurance, and Prentiss patted her arm.

"That's extremely optimistic. According to the doctor, he'll need to be there at least a week, maybe more." Hotch bore an even graver expression than usual.

"This is bad," Morgan said. "Poor kid. That's a long damn time for him to be gone." He crumpled a piece of paper and dejectedly threw it into the trash.

"A-a whole week? Wow." JJ was shaking her head as if unable to wrap her mind around the idea.

Rossi looked around at his co-workers. Each one was now wearing a profoundly sorrowful expression. He was puzzled--and, he'd never felt like such an outsider. Obviously, it was unfortunate that Reid's mother was ill, but surely it wasn't the tragedy that the woefulness around him suggested it to be.

"Hey--come on, everybody, what're you so worried about? Appendicitis isn't life-threatening, if it's caught in time. I'm sure Mrs. Reid will be fine."

Prentiss turned her attention to Rossi. "Of course she will. It's not that--it's... Reid. We need him." She shifted uncomfortably in her chair and stared down at her hands. "How are we going to get along without him?" she asked in a small voice and JJ wrapped a protective arm around her shoulders and hugged her. Rossi wrinkled his brow. He'd never heard Prentiss--strong, self-confident Prentiss--sound so lost. He tried again.

"Look, I agree, Reid's an important part of the team. But, we can manage without him for one lousy week, right? Jeeze, cheer up!"

Hotch shot a reproving look in his direction. "A week? It's Reid's mom, Dave. He's going to be very upset. He might decide to stay out there even after she gets out of the hospital. He might decide... to take personal leave." Hotch pursed his lips. If Dave didn't know better, he'd think their boss was on the verge of tears.

At the mention of "personal leave," everyone became silent, and distraught glances were traded from one to the other. Just then Garcia cheerfully stuck her head into the conference room.

"Hey, babies--I'm running a system update, so it'll be a few minutes before I can pull any virtual rabbits out of my cyber-hat, ok?" She took in the somber atmosphere and noted that one of the group was missing. She took a tentative step into the room. "Hey... what's going on? Why's everybody so quiet? Where's Reid? He's not here, is he? Oh, God--is he ok? He is ok, isn't he? What--"

"His mom's got appendicitis and he had to fly to Vegas early this morning," Prentiss recited numbly. She raised pain-filled eyes to Garcia's.

Garcia looked stricken. A hand fluttered up to her chest and she looked a bit unsteady on her feet. "Oh, no. How long's he going to be gone?"

"At least a week," Morgan said with a touch of bitterness.

"A week...? Oh." Garcia shook her head and just pulled away and headed back to her lair.

Rossi was beyond bewildered.

xxxxxxxxxxxx

After the meeting, he went to Hotch's office.

"May I speak with you a minute?" he asked.

Hotch nodded and motioned for him to sit down. "What is it, Dave?"

"I'd like to discuss this morning's meeting, if you don't mind."

"What about it?"

"Well, it was very unusual."

"Unusual?"

Rossi nodded.

"How so?"

"For starters, this thing about Reid being away. Everyone seems positively devastated about it. Why? I don't understand it."

Hotch gave him a look of consternation. "Diana Reid is in the hospital. She's quite ill--she's in a weakened state, her recovery could take a very long time--in fact, God forbid, she could even pass away. Do you have any idea how terrible that would be?" Hotch had a horrible vision of a grief-stricken Reid calling to tell him he'd be in Vegas for up to three months, and he shivered in despair at the very thought.

Rossi was pondering Hotch's seemingly over-blown concern for Reid's mother. It made no sense to him. "Clearly, Diana Reid must be quite a woman. I feel very disadvantaged not to have had the pleasure of meeting her. What makes her so special?"

Hotch came out of his near-panicked state and stared at him. "Excuse me?"

"The threat of her continued illness and possible demise seems to have you quite agitated. Is there something about the lady that I should know?"

"What? Uh, no. It's just that... we're all very fond of... Mrs. Reid," Hotch said lamely. Just then, Morgan strode in, without noticing Rossi.

"Hotch, I got to talk to you, man. I don't know what the hell I'm going to do without Reid for a whole week, I--" He noticed the third agent and stopped speaking. "Oh--uh, sorry, didn't know you were--uh, I'll come back later."

Just then, JJ walked in and listlessly placed a stack of file folders on Hotch's desk. "There you go--this week's cases." She sighed heavily, raising her shoulders as if utterly defeated. She barely acknowledged Rossi as she left.

Rossi started to say something, but Prentiss flew into Hotch's office. "Hotch, Reid's not answering his phone. Do you know which hospital his mom is in? Maybe I can get them to page him--"

Rossi couldn't help but interject. "Prentiss, please! The man's mother is probably in surgery by now, I'm sure he doesn't want to be disturbed with work calls!" He looked to Hotch for support, but Hotch was thumbing through several pages of notes on his desk. "She's at Las Vegas General. Here's the number. Let me know if you get a hold of him. I want to talk to him, too."

"Right, boss." Prentiss nodded in a no-nonsense fashion and gave Dave a slight sneer as she zipped out.

Rossi fixed Hotch with a narrow look. "All right, Aaron, this is getting ridiculous. Obviously, this is about Reid, not his mother. I don't understand--what's going on?"

"We're a tight-knit team, Dave, you know that. We're all simply very concerned, and we want to show Reid our support, that's all."

Rossi nodded, but he continued to look skeptical. He got up and went to his own office, determined to disregard his teammates' odd behavior and focus on his work.

***********

The next few days passed slowly within the walls of the BAU. Rossi was becoming more and more stumped by the rest of the group's strange mood. Garcia was constantly on the verge of tears, but any small conflict could turn her into a snarling creature from hell. Morgan was antsy to the point of pulling his gun when Rossi startled him in the break room. His personal grooming seemed to have fallen off a bit, and Rossi thought he would bite his head off when he asked him if he was growing his hair out.

Hotch was more silent than Rossi had ever seen him in his life. His capacity for speaking in full sentences seemed to diminish by the day, until Rossi feared he would be down to nothing more than mono-syllabic grunts doled out like rations in a post-apocalyptic age if Reid was gone longer than a week.

JJ was morose, her large eyes seeming to have turned a darker shade of blue overnight. She was hard-pressed to smile, even in front of flocks of reporters, leading to speculation among the press corps that things were far more dire within the BAU than their PR rep was letting on. The police force was doubled as a result.

But, the worst-affected seemed to be Prentiss. She was drifting further and further away from reality. Sometimes, she would break into inappropriate laughter with a wild look in her eyes; other times, she would burst into racking tears and have to be helped.

By the fifth day, things seemed to be on the upswing. Rossi thought if he heard the phrase, "Once Reid gets back..." one more time, he would lose it, but everyone seemed to be in better spirits. He overheard Garcia and JJ trying to entice Prentiss into smiling by offering to let her decorate a batch of cupcakes Garcia planned on bringing in to celebrate Reid's return--"Don't you want to put the sprinkles on, honey? You know Reid likes sprinkles--" and it made Rossi want to gag, but Prentiss actually giggled a bit and nodded.

*********

But, the turnaround was not to be. At 4:45 pm that day, Hotch received a phone call. Rossi was passing his office when he heard Hotch slam down the handset and make a choked sound similar to a sob.

He hurried into Hotch's office. "Aaron--what's wrong?"

"It's Reid," he whispered. He raised his eyes to stare hopelessly at Rossi. "He's decided to stay until Tuesday."

Three more days. Rossi shook his head. He didn't think he could take much more of the insanity. He turned and strode down the hall to Garcia's office. He'd had enough, and Garcia was the one person on the team who seemed to still be in possession of her faculties, even if she was on a short fuse.

"Garcia--may I speak with you?"

Garcia continued to type even as she shot a grim look in his direction. "What is it?" she asked curtly.

"You've got to tell me. What the hell is the matter with everyone?"

"I don't know what you mean." Garcia was now resolutely staring at her computer screen.

"Come on. Ever since Reid left, this place has degenerated into a mad house. What's going on? Why is Reid such a... big deal?"

Garcia slowly turned her gaze back to Rossi. "Excuse me?"

Rossi sat down and looked into her eyes. "Please, Penelope. I don't understand. Help me to understand this. Why is every single person on our team losing their minds just because Reid's not around?"

"You're imagining things," she snapped.

"I don't think so. Please--I thought I could count on you, at least, to be honest with me."

Garcia sucked in her upper lip and thought for a long moment. Finally, she shrugged her shoulders. "You really don't get it, do you?"

"Get what?"

"The situation."

"The situation? No, you're right, I don't get the situation."

"All right. I'm going to explain it to you, but you had better not ever tell any of the others that I told you. Swear?"

"I--yes, I swear."

Garcia sighed and leaned back in her chair. "I don't even know where to begin. But, let's just say--Reid is like a... ground wire."

Rossi frowned. "How so?"

"Well... this job we all do. How long do you think anyone could last doing this job without some sort of--safety valve?"

"I don't understand."

"Think about it! What did you do the first time around, when you were helping to create the BAU? How did you stay sane?"

Rossi made a face. "I... drank. And, I got married. A lot."

"Uh-huh. Well, none of us have had to resort to that kind of thing, and it's because of Reid."

"What are you saying?"

Garcia raised her eyes to the ceiling. "Reid has a way of... of pulling the craziness out of us--each in our own way. For me, it's play-time."

"Play-time."

"Yeah. Once in a while, when I'm feeling really stressed, he comes over, we play with my dolls, have tea, fuck like bunnies, and then I'm all better."

Rossi's eyes widened. "You--what?"

"Oh, you heard me. Now, take JJ for instance. She's completely devoted to her husband, but if I've walked in on her and Reid in the women's bathroom, with Reid on his knees and JJ's skirt hiked up around her waist once, I've done it a thousand times--"

"Oh, my God--are you saying Reid offers JJ oral sex when--"

"Just when she needs it, jeeze."

Rossi was beginning to feel a little warm. Then, a disturbing thought cooled him down. "What about Morgan?"

Garcia laughed gaily. "Oh, use your imagination. Morgan uses Reid like a two-dollar whore. Poor kid can barely walk after a night with Morgan... But, nothing takes the edge off for my gorgeous bronze hunk like a roll in the sack with our little genius!"

Rossi flinched, and a look of distaste spread across his face. "Hotch?" He was afraid to ask, but couldn't help himself.

"Bondage. 'Nuff said."

"But--"

"Yeah, yeah, Reid's the dom, I wouldn't think about it too much, if I were you."

Rossi took a deep breath. "And... what about Prentiss?"

Garcia raised an eyebrow and drummed her fingers on the desk. "Sure you want to know?"

"Uh..."

"Cross-dressing."

"Cross-dressing?"

"Yeah--Reid dresses up like a girl, Emily like a boy, they go out, have a few drinks, then they come home and Em uses a strap-on on him."

"Oh, my God..."

Garcia smiled. "You see why we miss him?"

"I'm beginning to, yes."

"Good. Now, please--just leave me alone. I'm very... tense." She turned back to her computer and began playing some sort of game that involved blowing things up.

Rossi rose and went back to his office, feeling more left out than ever.

***********

Two weeks later...

The team was lounging in the BAU private jet on their way home from a demanding, difficult case half-way across the country. Rossi was trying to read, but he just couldn't maintain focus on his book. He kept sneaking peeks at his co-workers' faces--each of them had a pleased, sated expression on his or her face, and they were all relaxing--napping, reading, or listening to music--in what appeared to be complete inner peace and fulfillment. This, in spite of the horrific nature of the crimes in which they'd just been so deeply immersed.

Rossi looked around for Reid. He'd found himself becoming more and more curious about the power the young man seemed to hold over the rest of the group. He glanced up and noticed him sitting alone at the very back of the cabin. He was, apparently, having more luck with his reading than Rossi had been having, and was zipping through a thick tome as he frowned in concentration.

Rossi stood up and went to sit across from him. It took a moment, but Reid's attention was drawn from his book to his co-worker. He looked inquiringly at Rossi. For the first time, Rossi noted how the boy's long hair hung softly around his face, and how the low light cast shadows over the fine planes of his face and made his eyes warm and luminous.

"Yes?"

"You look tired."

Reid shrugged. "We're all tired."

"No, no. Everyone else seems... content. You look like you could sleep for a hundred years. You're awfully young to be so burdened."

"I'm fine. I've just been very busy, uh, catching up, since I got back from Vegas. Lots of things seemed to go... untended, while I was away."

Rossi nodded. "Yes. Well, I can assure you, the team certainly did miss you."

"I know." Reid gave him a pleased smile. "But, that's nice to hear." He picked up his book again and began to read. Rossi continued.

"You seem to have a very... stabilizing effect on them. All of them."

Reid peered at him from over his book, then lowered it again. "I don't know what you're getting at."

"I had a little talk with Garcia. She told me that you have... relationships outside of work with each and every one of the rest of the team. Very special relationships."

Reid frowned slightly. "So?"

"It's true?"

"Well, I like to think they're special. They're all very good friends of mine, they mean a lot to me. Do you find that odd?"

"Not at all, but--you seem to relieve these people of a lot of the stress they suffer as a result of their work. I admire that, it's an admirable quality."

Reid ran a hand through his hair then looked Rossi in the eye. "Feeling... stressed, Rossi?" His eyes twinkled.

Rossi smiled. "Maybe. I think I'd like the opportunity to become one of your... very good friends, too. I hope I'm not being presumptuous."

Reid set his book on the seat beside him and leaned back, stretching his long legs out in front of him. He had his shoes off and one sock-clad foot brushed over Rossi's calf. "Of course not. We're a team. In fact..." Reid's mouth twisted into a grin and his eyes fairly glittered in the glow of the overhead lamp. "...I thought you'd never ask."


--The End--