Title: Garland

Author: rogueandkurt

Rating: K+

This was supposed to be one of last year's Christmas fics. It was also supposed to be longer... Procrastination at work, ladies and gentlemen.

A small collection of unrelated holiday vignettes. Minor spoilers up through season four. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Still don't own 'em.

Garland: 5 Holiday Tales

1. Snow

The snow was falling swiftly by the time they touched down in Virginia, each of them bundling up as they exited the plane to meet the cool winter wind - a stark contrast to the warm Florida weather they'd previously been enjoying. Nevertheless, the first snowfall of the year had its desired effect, each of them taking a short moment to stare in silent wonder, even as they dreaded the drive home.

The impact of the snowball came unexpected to Reid, who'd been casually explaining Las Vegas' average precipitation records to a half-listening Morgan. The prodigy whipped around quickly, only to be pelted in the face by another ball of snow, Prentiss and JJ barely able to contain their laughter at his stunned reaction.

Beside the sputtering genius, Derek grabbed a handful of snow and quickly hurled it towards the culprits, the women squealing as they ducked out of the way.

"Morgan! Whose side are you on?" JJ yelled playfully from across the cotton-covered tarmac.

"Well, someone's gotta defend Boy Genius, here," Morgan called back to them, whipping another snowy projectile in their direction. "Come on, Reid - you gonna let them get away with that?"

Reid shook from his stupor, following the older profiler's actions. The airstrip had rapidly been reduced to a makeshift battleground, globs of the white stuff shooting across the air along with taunts from either side.

Hotch grimaced as he felt a crushed ball of snow and ice hit the back of his neck, the melted pieces sliding uncomfortably down the inside of his coat. Turning, he saw an amused Morgan and horrified Reid staring back at him, the remnants of a snowball on Reid's mittened hand. All action had halted on the tarmac, the four agents watching their superior for any sign of movement.

"I am so sorry, Hotch," Reid started, raising his hands in a gesture of penitence.

Aaron's eyes narrowed dangerously. He glared silently at the pair before stooping down to gather a ball of the crunchy packing snow.

"Of course, you realize this means 'war'."

2. Presents

Emily frowned in her chair, fussing with the ribbons again. It looked too poofy - one of the flaps was uneven - nothing like the perfectly-wrapped gifts that had sat beneath her mother's Christmas tree each year. She pulled the knot tighter, arranging the tag just so, rolling her eyes at her own actions. Even after all these years, she was still judging herself by her mother's standards. She glanced up as the rest of the team began to file in, hurriedly stashing the wrapped box in her bottom drawer.

By the time Morgan and Reid wandered over, she was hard at work finishing a consult for a serial rapist case in Dallas.

"Round table room in three minutes," JJ remarked as she hurried past their desks, a pile of folders in her arms. The three of them nodded, Emily straightening the papers in front of her as she prepared to stand.

"Oh, I almost forgot," she said casually, reaching for the bottom drawer as if by second thought. She pulled the carefully-wrapped gift out, handing it to the young genius in the desk across from her. "I thought you might like this," she explained, her tone laid back in spite of the sudden racing of her pulse. They hadn't actually agreed to exchange gifts this year, and the others had only received thoughtful but relatively inexpensive cards and gift certificates from her - a fact she was certain would not escape the notice of Morgan, who had, unfortunately, stopped halfway to the briefing room to watch the two of them with growing interest.

Reid's face was an adorable mixture of surprise and confusion as he hesitantly accepted the present. "You didn't have to--"

"It's not a big deal," Prentiss deflected with a shrug of her shoulders, forcing herself to look at her desk as she gathered her papers into one neat pile. "I had a friend who came across it by accident, and it seemed like something you'd enjoy."

His smile pulled to the side thoughtfully and impossibly-long fingers tore gently at the flaps, careful not to rip the wrapping. There was a moment of silence as he regarded the book, his head bowed. She worried her lip nervously, hoping she hadn't made a mistake - hoping she hadn't stepped too far over the unspoken line between them.

She pulled the strap of her bag over her shoulder, preparing to make her apology when he looked up at her with a confusing display of emotions on his face, gratitude and disbelief floating most prominently to the surface. She let out the breath she'd been holding.

"Thank you," Spencer said earnestly, still looking thrown by the gesture.

She smiled, sweaty palms holding the bag in place as she made to follow after their team.

"Merry Christmas, Reid."

3. Skating

"Hey, Prentiss - Race you!"

Morgan took off like a shot down the ice, Emily in fast pursuit - years of skating lessons showing their worth as she managed to surpass the bigger agent.

Others took things at a slower pace, JJ and Garcia skating in small circles near the lake's edge where they'd left their shoes and bags. It was a cloudy day, and they had the place all to themselves.

"Sweetie, you're never going to learn anything sitting all the way over there," Garcia clucked, gliding towards Spencer, who was still sitting on the log they'd used to tie their skates, pretending not to exist.

Reid eyed the frozen pond with distrust, absentmindedly pulling his scarf tighter around his neck. "Did you know there are an average of two reported incidents each day of people falling through the ice in North America? That's to say nothing of the incidents that aren't reported. In temperatures of 32.5 Fahrenheit, loss of dexterity can occur in under 2 minutes."

JJ sighed good-naturedly, skating closer as well. "This ice is eight inches thick, Spence. Just stay clear of the reeds and you'll be fine."

Beside her, Garcia grinned, "Now, stop stalling and start skating. I want to see that cute butt of yours gliding across this ice pronto."

Reid blushed at the description, but stood nonetheless, his fear of the two women in front of him far outweighing his reluctance to set foot on the ice. A childhood in Las Vegas hadn't afforded him many opportunities to perfect his ice skating skills, and he was quite certain his performance would not be improved by the pair of oversized skates he'd borrowed from Morgan.

JJ took one of his mittened hands, Garcia grabbing the other. Slowly, they led the genius out onto the ice, stopping every few seconds for Reid to regain his balance.

"Lookin' good, kid," Morgan called from across the ice, where he and Emily were busy deciding who was the best at skating backwards.

The young genius looked up at the compliment, fairly certain it was unwarranted as he currently resembled a newborn colt - all legs and no grace.

A good-humoured shout of disagreement sounded from where the two agents were competing, Prentiss apparently taking issue with Morgan's declaration of himself as winner. "Garcia! We need a judge!"

Garcia gave a long-suffering sigh. "A goddess' work is never done, it seems. Take care, my young Padawan. I leave you in good hands."

The pair were left alone, Reid still clutching the arm of the media liaison as he attempted not to fall with the loss of one support. They stared at each other for a moment, uncertain.

A devious smirk overtook JJ's face. "Hey, Spence, have you ever played 'crack the whip'?"

4. Egg Nog

The Bureau Christmas party was in full-swing, with dozens of agents gathered around the sparsely-decorated bullpen, the cheesy holiday songs trilling from a radio on someone's desk all-but drowned out by the sounds of conversation and laughter.

"Happy holidays, Sir," Agent Anderson offered cheerily, raising his glass. Hotch nodded in acknowledgement, even as his eyes were drawn to a growing commotion in the centre of the room.

While most of the party-goers were talking in small circles, some of the agents had decided to designate a small dance space, cutting loose to the warbled tune of 'Jingle Bell Rock'. While bad dancing was not exactly unheard of at a holiday office party, what caught his eye was the tall, skinny agent in the middle of it all, hopelessly gyrating off-beat in a bizarre combination of the two-step and the moonwalk. The other agents gave him a wide berth, wary of flailing limbs as the chorus picked up again.

Hotch raised an eyebrow at his youngest subordinate before making his way over to where most of his team had congregated.

"Morgan," he intoned drily without preamble. "You didn't happen to spike the egg nog again, did you?"

"Hey, it's tradition!" the handsome agent replied with a grin. "It's not my fault Genius Boy keeps falling for it."

Reid, for his part, seemed blissfully unaware of the attention he'd gained, the big-eared elf hat Garcia had given him askance atop his head as he bobbed to the music.

"I think he's gotten better at dancing since last year," Elle commented, taking a sip of her own tainted egg nog - hey, it was the holidays. "He hasn't spilled his drink or poked anyone in the eye yet."

"And let's not forget the great toe-stepping incident of '03," Morgan supplied jokingly, toasting Elle with his glass. "Agent Smecker was about ready to hit him after that fourth time."

"Well, I'm not going to be the one driving him home this year," Hotch said, mockingly stern even as a small smile twitched on his lips at Reid's ill-fated attempts to break-dance. "Haley just got the car reupholstered."

"No sweat, Boss Man," Garcia assured him with a small salute, her glittering Christmas ornament earrings swinging at the action. "I already volunteered for the annual drunk genius duty. I'll see he makes it safely back to casa d'el Reid."

"You just want to take embarrassing pictures of him when he's drunk so you can blackmail him later," Elle laughed, starting to feel the effects of her spiked drink.

Garcia's eyes twinkled as she clinked glasses with Elle. "Like my sugarplum said - why mess with tradition?"

5. Fireplace

"Spence, hey."

JJ smiled warmly as she pulled the door open, letting Reid step inside. The house was tastefully decorated for the season, and the party was already in full swing, old-time holiday classics softly warbling from the record player in the corner that had once belonged to Will's father.

They walked through the foyer to the living room where the rest of the team was gathered, Morgan and Garcia talking animatedly over their glasses of rum and eggnog. Beside them, Hotch was showing off the newest Christmas photos of Jack, a rarely-seen smile on his face as Emily cooed appropriately over the pictures.

'...everybody knows a turkey and some mistletoe will help to make the season bright...'

"Hey, there, Spencer," Will greeted with a friendly nod as JJ disappeared into the family room. "Glad you could make it. Can I get you somethin' to drink?"

"Just water would be fine, thanks," Reid answered, shoving his hands in the pockets of his slacks as he looked around the room. Rossi stood next to the brightly-lit Christmas tree, a bit apart from the others. He toasted Reid briefly with his small tumbler of scotch before turning back to inspect the family photos on the fireplace mantel.

'...and so, I'm offering this simple phrase, for kids from one to ninety-two...'

"Someone's been waiting to see you," JJ informed him, walking back into the room, a sleepy-looking Henry in her arms. Garcia's head immediately perked up, though she'd already spent a considerable amount of time gushing over the young boy that evening.

Reid's smile widened at the sight of his godson, who was wearing a red-and-white striped jumper and a matching Santa Claus hat. "Hey, Henry," he said in a soft voice, awkwardly accepting the boy from his mother and bouncing him slightly on his hip as he'd seen JJ do. "Wow, look at you."

JJ grinned. "Auntie Penelope thought he should be in-theme with the season," she commented. "It's a bit past his bedtime, but I thought you'd want to see him before I got him settled. He adores the book you got him - Will and I have been reading it to him every night. I was hoping you might want to read it to him - he loves listening to your voice."

If possible, Reid's smile brightened further as he nodded his agreement. "Sure, I'd love to."

She beckoned him towards the comfy cream-colored couch, helping him to get settled against the cushions with Henry in his lap. Will handed him the small book, setting a glass of water on the table beside him. Reid quirked a smile of thanks as he opened the book to the first page, several of the others pausing in their conversations and turning slightly to listen.

"'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house...'"

Fin.

That's all from me, folks. Happy holidays! :)

Keep Smiling! ;)

rogueandkurt