FIC: Gladiators - CM, Jason/Spencer, FRT
Spencer leaned back on the couch next to Morgan trying to get comfortable, but it seemed impossible. He wanted to be curled up next to his lover while watching the movie, but to no avail.
Garcia had plopped down at her boss’s feet, chattering excitedly. Even Hotch had showed and shared the loveseat with Jason as they stared at the piles of DVDs on the floor.
“C’mon,” Morgan sighed. “Clockwork Orange. It’s a classic.”
The blond computer geek spoke up. “I am not watching that man-flick.”
“Well, I’m not watching French Kiss,” he shot back, rolling his eyes as he stretched out on the couch, his arms comfortably lining the back of the couch.
“Right, Spencer?” He turned a conspiratorial smile on his friend, patting his hand on the slender man’s shoulder.
Jason bit back a growl at the touch and suggested mildly, “Silence of the Lambs?”
Hotch snorted at his friend, a smile lighting his eyes, even though his lips didn’t twitch. “I think we get enough of that at work, Jason.” He paused before continuing, “Though...” The dark-haired, younger agent made a face. “I do believe Bob the Builder is out of the question.” His pushed his son’s movie to the side with his foot.
“What about... Gladiator?” Reid asked, his tone slightly uncertain as he looked around at his coworkers, his gaze settling on his lover.
Garcia clapped. “Half-naked Russell Crowe! Oh, I think I love you for that alone, baby boy.”
Elle sounded her agreement as she walked back into the room with the bowls of popcorn. “Sounds good to me, genius boy.”
“I can do that,” Morgan agreed, his need for manly blood and gore appeased.
Hotch nodded as Jason smiled at the younger man. “Looks like you chose the right one.” He levered himself up to put in the DVD.
And thus began team movie night, which was something that had started at Garcia, JJ and Morgan’s insistence. With Russell Crowe shouting about dying. Irony...yes. But Jason was less interested in the portrayal of Roman culture and more focused on his lover. Most specifically, where Morgan was touching his lover.
Morgan was a tactile person, especially with those he was comfortable around. And Spencer always enjoyed being close enough, knowing someone well enough, that they felt comfortable touching him. And so, without thinking about anything else, he relished the friendly touches.
As the movie went on, Aaron noticed his best friend becoming more and more surly. Jason occasionally glanced at Morgan, giving the young profiler a lethal look.
Hotch sighed softly, reaching over and placing his hand on his friend’s arm. He’d known Jason a long time and despite the fact the older man had always been reserved, he was glad to see emotion. But he also knew his friend wouldn’t like everyone knowing the reason he was glaring at the young profiler.
“What?” Jason growled under his breath to his friend. Morgan now had his arm around Spencer’s shoulders and it was all he could do not to storm over and yank him off.
“Relax, Jason,” Hotch said quietly. “It’s not like he’s poaching.”
Head jerking over, Jason asked stiffly, “What do you mean by ‘poaching?’“
“I think you know,” he responded, making sure the others were engrossed in the movie before turning toward his friend. “It’s obvious to someone who knows you.”
Flushing slightly the older man muttered, “It’s serious, Aaron. And I’d appreciate it if you’d treat it that way.”
“Who said I wasn’t?” he asked incredulous at how sensitive Jason was about this. “I -- “ Looking over when Garcia shushed them, he inclined his head and grabbed an empty popcorn bowl as an excuse.
Jason followed stiffly in the kitchen and reached up to pull down another bag.
“Jason...” he began, unsure of how to continue. ”How long?” There. That was a simple enough question.
Putting the popcorn in the microwave, the older man replied, “Four months now.” He watched the bag jerk behind the glass.
“Yeah?” Hotch thought back over the past few months, and realized how much more.... even Jason had been. “He’s been good for you.”
“I’m glad...I’m glad you think so,” Jason replied, tearing open the bag and pouring the popcorn into the bowel. “He...makes life more livable in many ways.”
“Good.” Hotch paused for a moment before stating, “I’d never taken you to be a possessive man.”
Jason cleared his throat uncertainly. “Spence is very special. It is one of my greatest fears someone more deserving will recognize that.”
“And you think that’s Morgan? Morgan, for one, thinks of Reid as his brother. And for another, is... mostly straight.” Hotch grabbed a few pieces of popcorn as he waited for the reaction.
“Mostly straight?” Jason asked in a strangled voice, taking a step towards the living room.
“Jason, don’t do something you’ll regret,” Hotch warned. “And yes. Mostly. But he’s not the type to ever get involved with a coworker. And I doubt he’s even considered it.”
Swallowing, the older man took a deep breath. “I am too close to produce an accurate analysis.” He hesitated for a moment. “You’re sure?”
“Yes. And you would be as well, if you worked past that jealousy.” Hotch gave him a pointed look. “I’m not sure if you or Spencer are ready to be public, even with the team, so you might want to tone it down some.”
Jason flushed again. “I’ll certainly take that into consideration. Thank you, Aaron.”
“Not a problem,” he murmured, following his friend back into the living room to watch Russell Crowe beat down Joaquin Phoenix.
Garcia started crying right on cue. “That’s not fair...” She hugged Hotch’s leg as she mourned the passing of Crowe’s character.
He patted her head in a comforting gesture as he watched Spencer sigh heavily and lean into Derek. Wincing inwardly, he looked over at his mentor and saw the tightening around his eyes. Great.
Elle glanced at her watch. “I’m out of here before we start cleaning up.” She grabbed JJ’s hand and started tugging. “I made the popcorn,” was the shout before the door closed.
Morgan rolled his eyes at the woman and got up, pulling Reid with him. “C’mon, genius boy. Help me clean up some since /other/ people took off.”
“Spence,” Jason said mildly. “Can I borrow you to help with the kitchen while Derek and Aaron take care of the living room?”
“Sure thing,” he answered, smiling at his lover as he gathered all the glasses and bowls he could carry and followed the older man into the kitchen.
As soon as they had a semblance of privacy, Jason pinned the smaller man up against the counter and kissed him soundly.
Gasping, desperately trying not to drop the dishes, Spencer just gave, opening his mouth and breathing hard when his lover pulled away. “What was that for?”
“For looking so wonderful,” the older man replied with a small smile. He lifted the dishes onto the counter.
“Yeah?” he asked quietly, a small happy smile gracing his lips. “Good to know.”
Nuzzling the pale neck, Jason breathed, “God...You are so perfect.” His fingers ran through the dark hair.
“Hmmm?” he managed, completely distracted by the breath hot on his neck as his hands grasped the older man’s beltloops.
Jason kissed up the pale throat lazily. His tongue flicked out over the strong pulse before he moved up and thrust it into the hot mouth. Moaning, completely forgetting about the other two men, Reid wrapped himself around his lover, opening up and allowing the kiss to deepen even more.
“Okay...” Derek turned and walked into Hotch. “More than I ever wanted to see...” He looked up at his boss in confusion.
“What’s that?” Hotch asked, his lips twitching at his profiler’s reaction.
“Gideon’s...um...” The younger man searched for the right term. “Um...getting very intense with our little genius in the kitchen.”
Smiling at Derek’s discomfiture, Hotch straightened up the pillows on the couch. “I’d guessed that. You have a problem with it?”
Derek raised his hands defensively. “I’m no bigot. But...just...Never saw that one coming.”
“I think you need to brush up on your skills there,” he teased, biting his lip when he realized he might have gone too far with that comment.
“Hey, man, profiling teammates is rude,” the younger man protested. “‘Specially without letting them know.”
“Really? So I guess you’d want me to tell you first, then,” Aaron stated after folding Garcia’s blanket back up.
Derek stared. “You’ve been profiling me? Why?” He didn’t seem angry, just surprised and he started putting pillows back on the couch.
Shrugging, not really having an answer he’d be comfortable sharing, Hotch just stated, “Habit.” There. That was good enough, right? It was partly true, at least.
“Oh...” Putting the blankets away, the younger man asked, “Do you end up doin’ it to everyone?”
“Not everyone,” he stated softly, berating himself for having started this line of conversation.
Considering it, Derek offered, “I figured you do it to so many people you eventually end up doin’ to everyone, ya know? But it would be weird to...I donno, profile your spouse or somethin’.”
Wincing at that, Hotch decided it was definitely time to turn this conversation around. Reaching down to sort his movies from the stack, he asked, “You’ve never found yourself doing it out of habit? Watching the way people move and react and just seamlessly... calculating?”
“Naw,” Derek shuddered theatrically. “That’s grounds for going nuts yourself, no offense. I just switch it on and off. Makes life more interesting.”
Hotch turned his head to study the younger man, surprised. “You can do that?”
“Yeah.” A smile lit up the handsome face. “Dates are much more fun if you don’t know whether she’s going to throw her wine in your face or kiss you.”
“I’d imagine so,” Aaron stated, rising from his seat. “Need a ride, Derek? I think Jason and Spencer are going to be distracted for quite some time.”
Flushing at the noises coming from the kitchen, Derek nodded. “That’d be great, man. I don’t think...I don’t wanna think about trying to get Spence to drive me home.”
Smiling slightly at that, Aaron made sure he had everything and headed for the door. He swore he didn’t mean to pass by that close to Derek. Really. But his breath drew in his distinctive scent and the man put off heat like a furnace. Clamping down on his almost uncontrollable reaction, clenching his teeth, Hotch reminded himself why that was stupid. Even if he lived in a hotel now. Morgan was a coworker. God, he hoped he hadn’t noticed.
Derek automatically put one hand on Hotch’s shoulder as he followed him out. “Did you see Garcia’s face? I almost felt bad for letting her watch the movie.”
“She’s seen it before,” Hotch murmured, the hand not holding the DVDs clenching in reaction to the other man’s touch.
“I know, and she cries every single time just as hard. I just hate it when women cry. Makes me feel guilty.” The younger man grinned.
“Yeah,” Aaron said quietly, unlocking his car as they reached the curb and pulling away from Derek to get in the driver’s side.
The younger man’s hand reached out and touched his cheek. It was brief, easy enough to pass off as accidental flailing. But the intensity to Derek’s eyes suggested it was anything but.
Cocking his head to the side, Aaron’s eyes watched his friend... coworker, subordinate, he reminded himself. But that didn’t really seem to matter that much at the present time. “Derek.”
“Um...Hotch...Aaron...” After a moment Derek managed to force out, “I think I just had a huge internal revelation.”
“And what was that?” he prompted, waiting, his expression and body language as neutral as he could make it.
Underneath his tan, Derek blushed scarlet. “You’rereallybeautiful...”
It took him a moment to untangle the words before his eyes widened slightly, unsure of what to say, what the other man wanted from him.
“Um...can we pretend I did not just say that,” the younger man asked as the silence grew awkward.
Hotch deliberately set the movies on the seat before turning back around and fully facing the younger man. “I don’t think so, Derek.”
Sweating, Derek mumbled, “Must be something...Freudian. I don’t think I meant it that way.”
“What way is that?” Aaron was in no mood to make this easier on Morgan, especially since it was probably in his best interest to just walk away from this conversation in the first place.
“I...Can you have a sexual identity crisis after puberty?” Derek honestly looked confused.
Hotch’s lips twitched slightly before reaching up to cup the younger man’s face. “You can have any kind of crisis you want at any time, Derek. Is that what this is?”
Blinking the younger man asked, “Can I go mid-way with sorta?”
“Sorta.” The word was flat as Aaron tried to decide whether or not he wanted to show Derek what he was talking about it. After thinking it over a few times, he leaned in, placing a soft, almost chaste kiss to the younger man’s lips. Pulling back, he murmured, “There’s no kind of mid-way with that, Derek.”
Derek grinned. “Not with that. But if not a total crisis, it’s a sorta crisis. And I’d say this a good sorta crisis. After all, it’s not everyday you figure out you’re bi and your boss is really, really pretty in all sorts of ways.”
Chuckling to himself, Aaron backed away. “C’mon, I’ll take you home, Derek.”
“And you could come in for coffee...Which, according to JJ, is how things are done these days,” the younger man said with a brilliant smile.
Hotch paused as he got in the car, his dark eyes contemplating the other man as he said, “If you want me to.”
Clapping the other man on the shoulder, Derek replied, “Great. Consider yourself invited.”
Nodding, Aaron slid into his SUV and waited for the other man as he started up the vehicle.