12 Days

A/N: I am so sorry I missed the date! I got hit with some nasty Christmas cold and was so not feeling up to writing this… but I'm here now with the final installment of 12 Days! I hope you all had a good Christmas and that you enjoy this chapter!

Warning: Fluffy shmoop contained within. Also, hints of Hotch/Prentiss, Morgan/Garcia, and JJ/Reid… nothing terribly serious, though.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything recognizable. Including, but not limited to: Criminal Minds, the characters, or Christmas.

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Day 12: Togetherness

It really was something of a picture-perfect Christmas, Rossi reflected. The whole team, biologically related though they weren't, had gathered around the over-large dining table his second wife had insisted on purchasing and sat down to what he modestly dubbed an absolutely delicious dinner. He, Emily, Garcia and, surprisingly, Reid had worked all afternoon to make a turkey dinner with all the "fixin's" and when they were through, their labor had been absolutely worth it. There had been turkey, stuffing, gravy, various types of potatoes, rice, squash, green beans, several different pies and, really, more than enough to feed seven people.

After all the lazing about and conversation that had taken place while they all waited for the effects of such a large meal to wear off, everyone decided that, as it was getting late, it was time to head out. However, with all their cooking, eating and general merrymaking, they had failed to notice the snow piling up outside. It was just Hotch stood up to get his coat and be the first one out, the room went dark. There was a slight uproar, the loudest shout sounding suspiciously like Reid, and then all was silent. "What just happened?" Emily's voice came through the thick darkness.

"I believe the power went out." Reid's voice answered.

"I'm aware of that. I meant why." Emily snipped.

Ignoring Reid's protest of "then you should have said so," Rossi spoke this time. "The power in this area isn't the most up-to-date. The weather probably knocked it out." He said.

"If it's just this area, we should all get going. Dave, I can put you up until the power comes back on." Hotch's voice came from somewhere in the room.

"Thanks." Rossi replied, then cursed the fact they had been in an interior room when the power went out. "Can anyone find their way out of here without killing themselves on the furniture? There's a window in the next room."

There was a beat of silence before the sound of shuffling filled the void. After a minute or so, the sound of a door handle clicking joined the shuffling and a square of light appeared where the doorway was, revealing Reid still holding the knob. "Man, how'd you do that so fast?" Morgan, who was next closest to the door, asked with a barely-visible shake of his head.

The glowy outline of Reid raised a hand and tapped his temple. "Eidetic memory- I remember where all the furniture is."

Morgan could be seen shaking his head again but flashing a luminous smile as he moved through the doorway. He was followed closely by Hotch and Garcia, then Rossi. There was a distinctly feminine hiss of pain as either JJ or Prentiss thudded into an invisible piece of furniture, then both women left the room, followed by Reid.

The next room over was, conveniently, connected to the entryway and Hotch was the first to make it to the front door, which emitted little squares of snow-reflected light. He opened it up and squinted out into the whiteness, then shut it again with a shake of his head. "I doubt any of us can drive in that. I can barely see a few feet from the door."

Disappointment was palpable in the silence before Rossi spoke again. "Reid, you used the bathroom, didn't you?"

"What?" Reid asked incredulously.

"You went down the hall to use the bathroom, right?" Rossi repeated.

"Yes… why?" The genius' uncertainty was clear in the question.

"There's a closet a few feet past the bathroom. I keep some flashlights and a battery-operated radio in there. Think you get down the hall without running into anything?"

"Oh. I think so, yes." With that, the man headed out and down the hall.

"Preparing for every eventuality, huh?" Emily asked in a slightly teasing tone.

Rossi shrugged, though it was barely visible. "Obviously, it paid off."

A few minutes later after stifling laughter at the sound of Reid cursing the table he'd run into, the team saw the return of their youngest, baring four flashlights and a radio. He placed them all on the table and stepped back, discretely rubbing at a spot on his thigh.

The radio was swooped in on immediately and switched on. It was already tuned into the local news station. From what they could gather after coming in halfway through the newscaster's report, their fears were confirmed; the power was out, the roads were out, and they were all stuck in Rossi's rapidly cooling house.

It didn't take long for them to decide on a course of action, as they were, after all, a close-knit team of FBI agents. Garcia insisted that, after years of forced camping trips with her brothers, she would be able to light a fire in the grate better than any of the others and set to work with Hotch's assistance. Morgan and Rossi took a flashlight and went to raid Rossi's stock of firewood. JJ went about the room, flicking off light switches so they wouldn't be blinded if the lights came back on in the night. She left the tree plugged in, however, so they'd have an indicator of power if and when it returned. Reid and Emily were dispatched back down the dark hallway, with a flashlight this time, to retrieve blankets and pillows. The plan was to make Rossi's living room warm and comfortable until either the power came on or the roads cleared.

Soon after they'd all returned to base, Garcia and Hotch had a fire roaring in the grate and the seven agents huddled unashamedly around it. Odd nests were constructed out of the bedding and it wasn't long before everyone was dropping off to sleep.

A few hours later, Rossi found himself forced into wakefulness by the chill that was seeping into his skin. Sitting up and shaking his head to clear it slightly, he found that the fire had died down quite a bit and that he had also managed to push off his blankets while he was asleep. Sitting up, he rubbed his stiff neck and attempted to shake the stiffness out of the rest of his limbs as well. He stared longingly at the couch for a moment, he most definitely did not like the thought of spending the rest of the night on the floor, but the couch was too far from the fire for his liking.

Speaking of the fire, it required stoking. He picked his way across the room, managing not to step on any of his teammates despite the lack of light, and kneeled in front of the fireplace. He added a couple more logs, careful not to smother what little flame was left, and moved things about with the poker until the new logs caught fire. Just as he placed the poker back in its place, satisfied with his work, the tree suddenly lit up, almost making the man jump. A moment later, he heard the heater roar to life in the basement. "Typical." Rossi huffed with a laugh, shaking his head.

He glanced up at the tree and then turned around to look at his coworkers, wondering if any of them had been disturbed by the sudden source of light. What he saw almost made him laugh again. He definitely couldn't help the knowing smirk that graced his lips.

In the night, it seemed the members of the team had paired off and- to stave off the cold, Rossi was sure- snuggled up together.

Farthest right of the group of sleeping profilers laid JJ and Reid. Reid was laying full-out on the floor, his blanket covering most of him and half of JJ with his mismatched-sock-feet sticking out at the end. JJ was curled beneath both her and Reid's blankets and seemed to have decided that Reid made a good mattress, as most of her upper half was on him and not the floor. Reid didn't seem to mind much, however, judging by the way his arm draped over her shoulders.

Next over, in the middle, Morgan and Garcia were absolutely curled around each other. Rossi couldn't tell just how many blankets or pillows the couple had incorporated into their bizarre next but they looked the warmest and most comfortable out of everyone in the room. It was impossible to tell what, exactly, they were doing with their legs, but Garcia was snuggled into Morgan's side, her face buried in the crook of his neck with one of her arms draped across his chest, and both of Morgan's arms were around her waist.

To the far left, Hotch and Emily seemed to have built a wall of pillows against the coffee table and were sleeping braced against it. Hotch didn't look entirely comfortable slouched on the pillows Emily looked content with her head resting on his shoulder. Sometime in the night, the blankets had slipped down from around their shoulders and were now only up to their waists, revealing how Hotch's arm had somehow come around Emily's back and how his hand was curled slightly around her wrist.

Shaking his head, still smiling to himself, Rossi couldn't help but wonder at the likelihood of the six of them coming together on the same night. Reid could probably give him figures if he asked, but really, for once, Rossi wanted to simply take it at face value. As far as he was concerned, it could be called Christmas magic. It really was rather Christmassy, after all, in the room bathed in the glow of firelight and light reflected from the snow.

They were welcome to each other, Rossi decided as he stood up and moved back to where he'd been sleeping. The heat was back on and that meant he could have the couch to himself without freezing. He moved his blankets and pillows to the sofa and stretched out, relishing in the soft surface. He turned to face the scene before him, his eyes already starting to droop again. It really was almost picture-perfect, he thought, the three couples snuggled together in front of the fire, illuminated by the Christmas tree in the corner while snow fell outside the window. Rossi only hoped he woke up in time to see the startled looks on their faces when they woke up in each other's arms- now that would be a nice Christmas gift.

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Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.

~Norman Vincent Peale

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On the twelfth day of Christmas, the new case gave to me:

Twelve Garcia greetings,

Eleven murder victims,

Ten computers whirring,

Nine pissed-off cops,

Eight rude reporters,

Seven fast food joints,

Six hotel beds,

Five cups of coffee! (apiece)

Four calls from Strauss,

Three Morgan tackles,

Two Reid lectures,

And a psycho on a killing spree!

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A/N: Hm… perhaps not altogether related to Christmas, but it was fun to write. I hope you all enjoyed! Thank you so much, in fact, to everyone who has followed this story for the past two weeks, I hope it brought you a little holiday cheer, or at least some smiles!

Thank you, Merry (late) Christmas and Happy (early) New Year!