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Part 6 of Of Innocence and Empathy
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Peja's Wonderful World of Makebelieve Import
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2020-11-05
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Of Innocence and Empathy: To Honor Wisdom

Summary:

Series: Of Innocence and Empathy
Beta: Fireness
Rating: FRT-13, non-explicit slash
Disclaimer: I don't own them. Damnit.
Challenge: 50episodes – Criminal Minds, Morgan/Reid
Table: 2
Prompt: 47. Years
Author's Note: Sequel to An Innocent Secret;runs concurrently to Heart Connection
Submitted through CriminalMinds_slash

Work Text:

 

Of Innocence and Empathy: To Honor Wisdom
by Frogg

 

Gideon found Reid in the hotel courtyard, tossing bits of mangled bagel to the ducks clamoring noisily at him from the pond. To a stranger, Reid probably looked peaceful, but there was something forlorn in the hunch of shoulders, the slow, methodical way he tore each crumb and tossed it, the forced ignorance of the handful of other hotel guests using the paths through the gardens.

"Mind if I join you?" Gideon asked, earning a momentary glance and a vague gesture at the mostly-empty bench. Sliding into the polished wood seat, Gideon sighed, studying his companion.

Reid appeared tired, defeated. Lines of worry were written across his profile. There was a distant look in the eye Gideon could see, and he doubted Reid was seeing the ducks squabbling over the bagel crumbs, or the sunlight glinting off the water, or any of a dozen other things in the direction he was staring.

Hoping Reid would break the silence between them, Gideon waited, watching as the bagel was finally demolished completely, then as Reid pulled an English muffin from the paper bag beside him.

Tension slowly mounted in Reid's body, but he seemed determined to keep the silence, if uncomfortable.

"That was a good thing you did at breakfast," Gideon finally said, taking pity.

Reid's response was slow, as he visibly drew himself back to the here-and-now. "Is, is Hotch mad?"

"Of course not," Gideon said, smiling indulgently. "You were obviously sharing a private joke with Morgan and trying to make him feel better." Gideon paused, noting how Reid flinched at Morgan's name. "And it worked. I'm impressed. And I'm proud of you."

Reid turned a painful shade of red, curling over on himself even as some of the tension flowed from his shoulders.

"You probably shouldn't make a habit of it, though," Gideon continued, trying to allay some of Reid's discomfort.

Still refusing to meet Gideon's eyes, Reid shook his head, swallowing hard.

Resigned to a mostly one-sided conversation, Gideon kept trying. "You were quoting from the Skippy list."

Reid glanced up, swallowing again.

"The 213 things Skippy is no longer allowed to do in the U.S. Army?"

Reid got that distant look in his eyes again. "Number eighty-eight: Must not refer to First Sergeant as 'Mom'."

Gideon nodded slowly. "What was the other thing Morgan didn't want you to say?"

Blushing painfully again, Reid shrank in upon himself. "Calling Hotch 'Mom' was a joke," he whispered after a long, squirming pause.

Number 89 on the list was "Must not refer to the Commander as "Dad"; Gideon had looked it up after breakfast, when Reid had vanished as soon as he'd been able. If calling Hotch "Mom" was a joke for Reid, then calling Gideon "Dad" wasn't. It was the only reason Reid would be at all uncomfortable about it.

Gideon smiled to himself, heart full and warm. He'd long thought himself a failure as a father to Stephen, and was only slowly building a relationship with his son. And while Reid's father was still alive, his abandonment of Reid's mother had forever tainted that relationship.

"I'm honored," Gideon said softly, reaching out to rest a gentle hand on Reid's shoulder.

Shivering, Reid looked up in surprise, breath catching in his throat. "You...you don't...you don't m-mind?" he asked in a tiny, meek voice.

"Why would I mind?" Gideon frowned in honest confusion.

Reid swallowed hard. "I...Elle...I mean...you always seemed so..." He broke off and turned away, unable to finish.

Gideon had to pause, cursing himself silently. How many times had he or the others hurt Reid unintentionally, simply by rebuffing each other? How many times had they pushed him away, if only by making him afraid to get closer? In painfully real terms, they were all the family Reid had. "Elle isn't you, Reid."

It wasn't enough.

Carefully burying his anger with himself, Gideon offered his own vulnerability. "Any decent man would be proud to have you as a son. And to be brutally honest, I've thought of you as mine for a long time." His voice rumbled quietly across the gulf between them. "I'm..." He searched for words. "I'm sorry I haven't made that clear to you before now."

A shudder rippled through Reid's frame.

After what seemed an eternity, Gideon felt a trembling hand slide tentatively over his.

end

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