The Moment They Fell In Love

Hatochiisai

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Criminal Minds, I do NOT make any profit off of writing this.

The moment Spencer Reid set his eyes on it was the moment he fell in love.

He had been surprised the day that he walked in to work and found the team hovering around the coffee machine… They all tried to be inconspicuous, watching him come in. He raised an eyebrow and watched them watch him cross the BAU to his desk. Then, his attention was captured by bright colors. He looked down. There, sitting on his desk, was a fairly large lumpy package wrapped in bright blue paper with a big yellow bow.

"… Uh oh…" Reid mumbled under his breath. He turned at movement and saw his team casually drifting over. "What's this?"

"A present." Garcia was in a slow, singsong tone. She was grinning. Morgan and JJ were smiling. Emily and Rossi were fighting to keep a straight face. Hotch had a relaxed expression that really didn't give Reid any insight into what was going on. He just looked inquisitively at Reid.

"You're supposed to open it." Hotch said, calmly.

"… I'm not sure I want to." Reid confessed, eyes darting nervously between his team mates and the package.

"Oh, just open it Spence." JJ laughed.

"Who is it from?" Reid asked.

"… The team." Rossi said, simply.

"Come on, Reid. Open it up." Emily said with a smile. Reid paused, then sighed and drooped in defeat. He turned and tugged on the end of the yellow ribbon, and the bow came undone. Reid blinked when Garcia grinned and snatched the ribbon, promptly using it to put up her blonde and hot pink curls. Reid took a deep breath and ripped off the paper.

He stared.

The team watched him eagerly. Reid was tall and thin. And sometimes, Morgan swore the kid was cold blooded. Reid was ALWAYS cold. In the Bull Pen. On the plane. In their hotel rooms. In his own HOME! But the kid refused to turn the heat on too high. Saving money was his explanation.

So when Reid stared down at the pale blue Electric Blanket, he grinned.

Yes, that was the moment he fell in love.

A case came in that evening. The team had been JUST about to leave for the night but suddenly, instead of heading home, they were headed to Wisconsin. The team left the meeting room, grabbed their Go Bags and headed out.

"WAIT!" Reid suddenly gasped, and darted out of the elevator. The team held the door and watched him make his awkward jog to his desk. He ducked under it and emerged with the blanket, still in its little plastic carrying case with the polyester rope handles. Smiling like a delighted child, he hurried back onto the elevator. Chuckling, Morgan pushed the button the doors closed.

They weren't on the plane for thirty minutes before Reid whined slightly and pouted. He squirmed a bit, then jumped up and hurried to the back of the plane. The team watched fondly as he scuttled back with his new blanket. He plugged it into the outlet they usually had the laptop plugged into, spread it out and flopped down on the couch. He pulled it up over himself and sighed. A few minutes later he made a happy, drowsy noise as he dozed off.

"Awwww… He's so cute!" Emily laughed, grinning. JJ also looked adoringly at Reid before turning her attention back to her paperwork. Morgan and Hotch met amused looks. Rossi stared at Reid. The boy was cold. So he had curled up under his electric blanket and gone to sleep. Without whining. Without complaining. Without pouting. Just… quietly got his blanket and went to sleep!

And that was the moment he fell in love.

The team was in Maine. They groaned when they found out that air traffic control wouldn't clear them for take off until the squall that had blown in passed them by. They were stuck. And an hour later, they were still stuck. Emily was pacing with a cup of coffee. She was tired. She wanted to sleep. Hell, they all did. And dammit, it was cold! She looked around. JJ was across the empty waiting area on the phone, smiling and talking to Will.

Rossi and Hotch were sitting off to the side, talking about "the good ol' days" when the Behavioral Analysis Unit consisted of FBI odd guys sharing desks in the basement. Morgan was sitting with his head in his headphones, but subtly eavesdropping on the senior agents reminiscing about old cases.

And then there was Reid. The boy was sitting by an electrical outlet. He had broken out the blanket about fifteen minutes ago, and was now sitting there curled up in it with a cup of coffee. She stared at him, noting how warm and content he seemed.

Reid felt eyes on him. He blinked and looked up. Emily was staring at him with an oddly… longing look.

"Emily?" He called, gently. She blinked and shook herself out of her little trance. "You okay?"

"I… Oh. Yeah." She said, and offered him an embarrassed smile. "I was just thinking about how… comfortable you look."

"You look tired." Reid said, smiling.

"I am."

"and cold."

"… I am." Emily confessed. Reid offered her that sweet, innocent smile that was purely his. He flipped out half of the blanket.

"More than enough for two." He said, happily. "King Sized!" Emily blinked, slightly startled. "I promise I'll conduct myself with honor and integrity." Reid promised. Emily blinked again, then grinned.

"Okay." She sat down beside Reid and he helped her adjust the blanket around herself. Within moments, she felt warm and cozy.

And that was the moment that she fell in love.

"Hi, JJ!"

The blonde smiled and stepped aside, letting Reid in. "Hey, Spence!" She responded, and blinked. Reid walked in with his messenger bag… and his electric blanket in it's own little travel bag. JJ grinned. It had been three months since they got it for him. And he took it with him EVERYWHERE they went. On EVERY case. She had even caught him taking it to and from his home, too. It was seen in his hand almost as much as the messenger bag was seen on his shoulder. And now he had brought it over to her house for his evening babysitting his Godson.

Reid shook hands with Will, and then took Henry into his arms. Will and JJ went out on their little date, to dinner and a movie. When they returned, Reid was curled up in Will's recliner, Henry sleeping on his chest. Henry was sucking his thumb and cuddled his little pale blue blanket with little green frogs on it… And Reid was nestled down under his electric blanket.

JJ grinned in adoration. It took Reid over twenty five years, but he finally had something that every child had at one point… Henry's Godfather had a Blankie.

That was the moment she fell in love.

Garcia grinned as she clicked through her growing collection of photos that Morgan and JJ had been taking for her over the past four months. Photos of Reid curled up under his blanket on the jet… at his desk in the BAU. In his chair at various police stations and FBI Field Offices… Hotch had even given her a couple shots of Reid curled up under his blanket in bed at the hotels. He refused to sleep under the hotel comforters, unable to stand how unsanitary they were. And of course that only left him with a linen sheet and a thin polyester blanket. And those were NEVER warm enough.

Garcia's favorite shot was of Reid standing before a large evidence board, coloring in a map… bundled up in his blanket. When she saw that picture she squealed in delight at how cute Reid looked.

"Look at him, he's so SWEET!" She told Morgan, who grinned.

"I know, baby. I knew you would think so, that's why I put it there."

Suddenly Garcia cocked her head, an odd little smile on her face. "You know who he reminds me of?"

"Who?" Morgan asked.

"Come on, gorgeous. Look at him." Garcia scoffed. Morgan frowned and studied the picture.

"… Who?"

"Look at him. Walking around carrying a light blue blanket with him?" Garcia encouraged. Morgan shrugged and Garcia grinned. "Linus!!!" Morgan blinked, then burst out laughing.

"Oh my God." He exclaimed, looking delighted. A couple of hours later, the pair were heading out for the night. As they cut through the Bull Pen to grab something from Morgan's desk, they found Reid backing up with his blanket draped over his shoulder. Garcia cooed at how precious he looked. Morgan chuckled.

"Goodnight, Linus." He called. Reid blinked and looked up at them, a baffled look on his face. And how funny! He was wearing black cords and a red striped sweater today. He stared at them, clutching his blanket up on his shoulder. Garcia pulled out her camera and snapped her new favorite picture of Reid, the perfect image of Linus.

And in that moment, she fell in love.

Morgan, JJ, Emily and Garcia had all taken to calling Reid 'Linus' whenever he carried his blanket around. And poor Reid had no idea what they were talking about. When Morgan realized this, he decided that something had to be done. He made Reid come over to his place one night. They had pizza and Morgan had beer. Reid stuck with soda and coffee. Morgan relaxed in his La*Z*Boy with Clooney by his side, and Reid was curled up under his blanket, which Morgan had told him to bring.

And Morgan put on 'Merry Christmas Charlie Brown!'. When Reid first saw Linus, he looked confused. He wasn't sure what he had in common with Linus. But it wasn't long before he slowly looked down at his blanket. Then he looked at Morgan and held the thing up.

"Yep." Morgan told him with a grin. "Exactly." Reid groaned and moved to pull the blanket over his head. But in that moment, Linus did just that. Reid froze, eyes wide, and slowly put the blanket down. Morgan roared with laughter and Reid pouted. But as the show continued, Reid pouted less and less. And then came the scene where Linus walked out onto the stage and recited by heart a passage from the Bible. And then Reid looked… amazed. He stared at the little cartoon boy, cocking his head slightly.

Morgan watched Reid watch Linus. As the boy finished his little speech, Reid slowly smiled and clutched his blanket closer. Morgan somehow had a feeling that Reid now felt a connection with Linus… a kindred spirit in more ways than just a blanket. But now Reid seemed to hold onto that blanket just a bit tighter. Morgan could tell that Reid would accept the little nickname… Hell, he seemed proud of it! It made Morgan smile.

And that was the moment when he fell in love.

Hotch gave a frustrated sigh, squinting and trying to see through the torrential rain. Beside him, Reid echoed his sigh, closing the file on the serial killer they had just finished interviewing before his execution.

"Hotch… we can't keep driving." The young profiler announced. "It's too dangerous. These conditions are hazardous and you're too tired. You need to sleep."

"Reid, check the GPS." Hotch groaned. "There is NOTHING near us. Nowhere for us to stop."

"… there's a rest stop." Reid pointed out. "Five miles ahead."

"Reid, there's nothing there." Hotch groaned, but pulled off of the interstate when they reached the rest stop. He sighed and leaned back, putting the car in park and rubbing his eyes. "You want to drive for a while?"

"Not in these conditions, no. And I'm tired, too. We need to rest."

"… Reid!" Hotch practically laughed. "It's a rest stop!"

"We'll fold down the seats!" Reid announced, jabbing his thumb over his shoulder at the back seat. Hotch just stared at him. Reid grinned, then freed himself from the seatbelt and scrambled back. Hotch turned and watched him fold the seats down. From the emergency kit in the very back that all FBI vehicles came equipped with, he pulled out a blanket and spread it out across the floor of the car.

"Reid…" Hotch sighed. "It's cold out." Reid looked at Hotch and grinned. He dove into his messenger bag and dug around, then pulled out a power adapter that they used for the laptop on long car trips. He plugged it into the car, then reached into the trunk compartment of the SUV. And then, Hotch's heart leapt. Reid pulled out his electric blanket. Within five minutes, the pair had removed their belts, shoes and side arms and were making themselves comfortable under the electric blanket, resting their heads on some rolled up clothes from their Go Bags..

Hotch listened to the rain beating down on the car, and to Reid breathing softly beside him. His eyes quickly fell closed. He was SO tired. And it was so cold. But under this blanket, he was so warm.

And in that moment, he fell in love.

~*A Warm and Cozy End*~