By Fabrisse
Fic: Old Acquaintances, Gen, Reid and Gideon
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Characters: Spencer Reid, Jason Gideon
Genre: Character Study
Rating: FRT for one use of profanity
Prompt: 3 -- a park bench @ [info]story_lottery
Summary: At the end of a case, Reid meets Gideon.
Spoilers: Through the current point of season 5.
Warning(s): None.
Word Count: 1,200
Disclaimer: I don't own them.
cross-posted to [info]story_lottery
The BAU had been called on to the Air Force Academy campus due to a terrorist threat.
They'd found the person who'd made the threats. It wasn't someone doing it for the love of God or country. The unsub had been a twenty year old who'd been expelled from the academy for disciplinary reasons a year earlier. He'd bided his time, researching terrorist cells, in order to create a panic on the campus. They probably wouldn't find out until after they did custodial interviews a year or two down the road, whether he'd been intending to come in and save the day or whether he was planning to try to kill some of his classmates or professors at a later point.
The jet would leave this evening from the Academy air strip. Reid had about an hour to stretch his legs before he had to climb into an SUV to start the long trip home.
Stretching his legs had become more important since his injury. Sitting too long would cause the knee to lock up painfully. He was learning little tricks, like taking a walk before getting on the jet, to help himself recuperate.
At a distance he saw a figure. He blinked a couple of times, trying to focus better. The gait, the stance, everything told him it was someone he didn't want to meet.
It was too late to turn and pretend he hadn't seen. Jason Gideon was hailing him.
Reid walked over to a bench and sat. He felt a thousand years old.
Gideon came and sat beside him. "I thought the stick was an affectation until I saw you sit. What happened?"
Reid stared over the green space in the middle of the campus, thinking. Jason wanted it to be casual, so for now, he'd play along. "I was shot. It didn't look too bad, but apparently the anthrax weakened my immune system for awhile so I've been having infection issues." He could feel Gideon watching him.
"I'm sorry to hear that." He leaned back and looked out, too.
After a few minutes, Reid got up. He stopped when he felt a hand on his sleeve.
Gideon said, "Spencer, it's been nearly three years. Don't you have anything to say to me?" Reid's glare at his hand made him remove it.
Reid sat back down. "You said everything you thought was important in the letter."
"What about important things that have happened to you? To the team?"
"David Rossi came out of retirement to join us, but I'm fairly certain you asked him to."
Gideon looked at him sharply. "Did Rossi tell you that?"
"No, Jason, you just did. I'd made the assumption because Hotch was surprised, and Strauss was peeved. There was no reason for him to come back other than to fill your slot, not in the personnel sense, but in the team dynamic."
"I forgot how well you solved puzzles, especially human ones." Gideon started to pat his shoulder, but thought better of the gesture. "How's he doing?"
"Well. He intimidated Garcia at first, but I think they've reached an entente."
"And the others?" He was damned if would ask each name individually.
Reid turned to him. "Have you tried to find out? I know Garcia keeps emailing you. Your phone wasn't with your gun and badge, and Hotch still signs the chit to keep the number live, so you could talk to him. You were never very close to Emily, I know, but her name was big news when we took out a cult in Arizona. We're not hard to keep up with."
"You were part of that cult leader's demise, weren't you?"
"Emily did more, far more, than I did."
"Spencer."
Reid recognized that gentle, exasperated, fatherly tone. He was proud of himself for not just punching Gideon.
"Have you even read The Washington Post? It's available online. I'm sure you're using libraries, if you don't have a computer yourself." He didn't think he'd succeeded in keeping the frustration out of his voice.
"No, I haven't. I did my best to leave it all behind me, but that doesn't mean I haven't thought about the team, and especially you, in the meantime."
Reid's back stiffened. "Your disappearance caused Strauss to suspend Hotch. I don't know what hocus-pocus happened, but Hotch is our unit chief again. Of course, no one mentions him as a rising star in the Bureau any more. He'll get his grade and step increases. He may even get a promotion at some point, but I doubt he'll ever be allowed to leave Quantico. He worked a case on the suspension, so Haley left him."
"Reid, his marriage had been in trouble for quite awhile."
"Since we were brought back into team?" Reid thumped his cane against the pavement.
Gideon asked, "Does he still get to see Jack?"
"For awhile, he had problems seeing him. Now, though... Haley was killed by The Reaper. Hotch has sole custody."
"That old case? It was in Boston."
Reid looked away. "Hotch made a personal enemy of the unsub."
"You caught him, though."
"Jason, I heard the shots that killed Haley Hotchner. Everyone on the team did. Hotch got there before us and," Reid swallowed the gorge rising in his throat. "The Reaper was beaten to death. As I said, it was all in the Post."
Gideon put his head in his hands.
Reid stood. "I don't want to be late for the flight. I have a reputation for missing planes," he said with a half-smile.
Gideon looked up at him.
"As for me," Reid began, "I saw my father for the first time in seventeen years. He'd been living only thirty miles away. He followed my career -- told me he was proud of me. And I let him know that he had no right to be. He walked out on a ten year old boy, and the man he became might understand it, but can't forgive it."
He took a deep breath and continued, "You, on the other hand, made me the man I am today."
"You’re a good profiler, Spencer. You were before I left, and I’m sure you’ve matured into it." Gideon nodded his encouragement.
Reid said, "I'm a fucking good profiler. I love my team, but I can honestly say, 'I wish I'd never met you.'" He began to walk away. After a couple of steps, he turned back. "I'm probably going to talk to Rossi about seeing you. I won't mention it to anyone else. If you still have the FBI phone, call Hotch. He still thinks of you as a friend, and he needs someone to talk to."
Gideon nodded. "Spencer. I had to leave."
"I know. When I went to your cabin, I expected to find your body."
That got a surprised look from Gideon.
"I'm glad I didn't. But you could have left honorably with an immediate resignation. You could have called me to cancel our chess game. There was a streak of cruelty to you. I hope, with three years to think, it's gone." Reid turned back to the path.
"And if I call you?"
He stopped. "If you've called Hotch first, I'll take your call."
Reid walked across the campus, feeling the muscles in his leg stretch and strengthen. He didn't notice the tears on his face.
~
end