A/N

I know, I know, I should sit the eff down and finish the several things I've already started. Actually, I am in the middle of finishing a lot of unfinished works, original and fanfics, and had to take a break from them all. Unfortunately, I do so by starting another. What can I say? I personally needed this.

*grumbles under her breath* Blake needed this, too.

"I can't, Garcia, you know Will is allergic to cats," JJ said.

"But I don't know who else to ask," the tech analyst said, sounding quite worked up. "I can't bring Sergio with me to England; as much as Emily would probably love to see him he'd be terrified from the travelling and I can't put him through that. And Morgan is coming with me, so I can't ask him either."

JJ sighed.

"What about Hotch? Jack has a soft spot for animals…"

"Yes and I tried to use my persuasion skills on Boss Man, which you know isn't easy, but if anyone can do it I can, but guess what? He and Jack are spending Christmas at Beth's in New York. And Reid is going to see his mom in Vegas. And Rossi has a dog!"

"But are you sure Sergio is afraid of Rusty?" JJ asked.

"Rusty is terrified of Sergio!" Garcia said and they both burst out laughing. "I'm serious, though. Rossi is never taking in Sergio again after last time, so the problem? Still unsolved."

Blake stood next to them, refilling her coffee mug, and waited for the inevitable. But either her presence had passed the other women by, or she simply wasn't considered for the task. It hurt her feelings a little, even as she was well aware that she was never the one considered for babysitting or, apparently, petsitting.

"Then I don't know, Penelope," JJ said. "Kevin?" she tried, but she could tell from Garcia's face alone that wasn't an option.

"Kevin can't even keep a cactus alive!"

"Aren't there any, you know, like cat hotels?"

"Yes, I might have to resort to that, but they're so expensive, and over Christmas and all…"

"I can take him," Blake suddenly heard herself say. JJ and Garcia turned and looked at her as if they saw her for the first time. They both looked somewhat sceptical, so she quickly added;

"It would actually be nice to have some company."

"You're sitting alone on Christmas?" Garcia said, her concern redirected from Sergio's care to Blake's social life, or lack thereof.

"That was the plan," Blake replied, sounding casual. She hadn't actually seen James in person since their divorce four months earlier, and while he had invited her to spend Christmas with him at his parents' place in Boston like most years during their marriage, she couldn't think of anything less peaceful. It was a gentlemanly gesture, but it was probably made more out of guilt than an honest wish to spend time with her, and so she had very gently declined. She had a feeling he was grateful she had. As for family… no, she wasn't ready to see either her father or brother yet. Scott had nagged on her until she almost lost her patience, but her father had read her reluctance correctly. It wasn't no, I don't want to see you. It was Not yet. I need more time to figure myself out. Then I'll be back. That had been her approach to emotionally difficult situations her entire life, and family tended to equal emotionally difficult situations, at least in her world. But although she was a linguist, she didn't think she'd be able to put those feelings into words and explain this to Garcia and JJ, and so she didn't even try.

"I'm so sorry," Garcia said, her voice full of sympathy. Blake smiled.

"Thank you, but it's my own choice. It's going to be nice to spend one Christmas without drama," she said, and she found to her relief that the words were completely honest. "Either way, I'll be home all Christmas and I don't have plans other than eating too much and catching up on some reading, so I'll be happy to take him if you don't find anyone else," she finished and went back to her work station to leave the decision to Garcia. The younger woman hurried over to her before she had even put her coffee down.

"Would you? I didn't want to ask you because, uh, well… he sheds. And he scratches."

Blake gave her a confused glance as she sat down.

"Of course he does, he's a cat."

"It's just that you're always so… put together. And I bet your home is too. I mean, if he destroys anything I'll pay for it," Garcia assured her, and Blake just shook her head.

"It's fine, Garcia. Don't worry. I grew up with dogs, and trust me, they definitely know how to destroy things. Particularly shoes, for some reason," she added mostly to herself and grinned when Garcia shuddered. "So, I'll just put away the things I'm careful with, and then I'm good. Really. When do you want me to take him?"

"Thursday…?" Garcia asked hesitantly. She wasn't leaving until Friday, but she could use some time to pack without risking that a certain feline decided to hide in the bags.

"Great, Thursday it is, then," Blake said, and that was that. She smiled to herself as she went back to work. She had been completely honest when she said that it would be nice with some company. Some company that didn't feel compelled to complain about her life choices, that was.

Sergio was not impressed with his new living accommodations, although this was a much bigger place than the one he shared with Garcia. But then again, like any cat, he was not impressed by anything. He glared at the brunette he was obviously in the care of at the moment, and when he was sure she looked back at him, he yawned as if telling her just how unimpressed he was.

"Oh, so you think I'm boring, huh?" she said as she looked up from the novel she was reading. "This is supposed to be my week off, I do apologise that 'vacation' doesn't equal skydiving to me," she said, not feeling the slightest weird for talking to an animal. After all, the only ones who knew was she and the animal in question. Sergio seemed to almost roll his eyes at her, and Blake laughed out loud.

"Come on, Serge," she said and patted her lap. "I may not be the most creative person you've ever known, but I do a pretty good behind-the-ear-scratch if you're interested."

Sergio appeared to consider, then jumped up and made himself comfortable between Blake's face and the book she was reading, taking the opportunity to shove the entire bouquet of whiskers into her face.

"Yeah, those are fine whiskers, you may keep them to yourself now," she said, put the book on the table and used both hands to scratch Sergio behind the ears, running her fingers down his neck. The cat closed his eyes in bliss and purred loudly, all the while his sleek body almost floated out to become longer than before.

Eventually, he fell asleep with his chin resting against her cleavage. At that point, Blake was almost asleep too. The weight and warmth of the furry company was more relaxing than any novel - even her guilty pleasure novels.

"I may need to get a cat," she said out loud. Sergio opened his eyes and gave her a look that said of course you do, everybody does.

"But you're not sleeping in my bed," she continued. "Sorry, but that's where I draw the line when it comes to pets."

Sergio almost seemed to raise an eyebrow at this.

"I'm serious, kitty. You don't get into bed with me. You have your cat bed, you sleep in that one."

Sergio kept staring at her.

"Or you can sleep on the couch," she suggested. "Oh don't look at me like that, just because Garcia probably lets you sleep in bed doesn't mean I will. I don't want your fur on my sheets."

With a huge sigh, he seemed to relent to the facts.

Seemed to.

Then again, he was a cat, and cats rarely play by the rules.