After we arrived back in Quantico we made a quick stop at the office to start our paperwork. Like usual, there was no rest of the wicked, which only became more apparent once Hotch called me into his office immediately after stepping out of the elevator. As I followed him up the ramp I rubbed my eyes tiredly, still feeling the affects of exhaustion despite sleeping for a good hour on the plane.
"Is this gonna take long?" I grumbled, dragging my feet against the threshold of the door.
Hotch let out a deep sigh, shaking his head at my lack of professionalism as he closed the door behind him. Afterwards, he circled around to the other side of his desk and sat down, motioning me to do the same.
I followed his order and tossed myself into the chair, leaning back lazily as I raised my brow in his direction. Without a word he produced a pair of files from his bag, tossing them my way before grabbing a third and opening it at his desk. "Strauss asked me to fill out an assessment based on your work in the field."
"Of course she has." I flashed him a fake smile and opened the file on top. "I'm assuming I have to do something similar?" I glanced back up, watching him nod.
"She did mention she wants your perspective on things, yes."
"Why?" I scrunched up my face in confusion.
"I'm not sure, to be honest."
"You think she's fishing?" I asked curiously. While my personal experience with the term was very minimal, I knew that other members of the team had their fair share of incidences.
Hotch shrugged his shoulders. "It's possible."
"Hm."
Instead of dwelling on what Strauss may or may not be doing, Hotch and I got to work. Quietly, we filled out reports, occasionally saying a few words to one another before returning back to our files.
"Alright, I'm done." I let out a heavy sigh, closing the last of my workload with a satisfied grin. Despite being away, I still found the paperwork to be fairly easy, especially when compared to what I had to do at Interpol.
"Perfect." I handed the files to Hotch who neatly set them on top of his. "Did you complete your consultant form?"
I looked at him confused, shaking my head. "Was that the form you were supposed to give me on the plane?"
He narrowed his eyes in my direction for a quick second before eventually closing them and letting out a sigh. "I'm sorry. Must've slipped my mind. I'll uh, get you to stop by the office tomorrow and we can fill them out together," he suggested.
I nodded my head and stood up to stretch. By now my body was starting to feel sore again from all the sitting. I stretched my arms to the roof of the room, letting out a loud yawn.
"You sure you're up for drinks?" Hotch asked.
"Oh yeah I'm fine," I replied with a yawn. I covered my mouth with the back of my hand, watching as Hotch merely chuckled and stood from his seat. After that we walked out of the office together, surprised to see the rest of the team still working. As we rounded the corner and moved into the desk filled area I noticed Morgan was missing. Curiously, I glanced down one of the hallways, raising my brow in confusion when he wasn't there. "Where's Morgan?" I asked.
Reid turned his chair around, offering me a shrug, while JJ shared a quick look with Garcia, both of them eventually shaking their heads. In response, I let out a heavy sigh and looked over at Hotch who seemed equally confused. I figured if he did leave it was probably because of me. After our little argument outside the Leeman house I spent the rest of our time in Jacksonville pretty much avoiding him, which I knew probably bothered him.
"What are you guys doing? We got beverages to drink." Rossi erupted through his office doorway, pulling on a dark toned jacket as shook his head in disappointment.
Without thinking twice, Garcia pumped her arms in the air and started moving towards the elevator, causing Rossi to chuckle. The rest of the team followed behind the two of them, taking a couple of moments to gather their stuff, while I moved to the edge of Reid's desk and leaned against it. As I sat down, Reid flashed me a small grin, shoving a couple of files into the front pocket of his messenger bag.
"You sure you're not too tired?" He slid his bag over his shoulder before reaching out to grab my hand. When our fingers connected, he pulled me towards the elevator, which was being held open by Rossi who was tapping his foot impatiently.
"I'll sleep when I'm dead," I retorted jokingly.
Reid rolled his eyes, holding back a smile as we quickly entered the doors and snuggled into the centre of the group. On the way down, I leaned my head against his shoulder, giving my eyes a quick rest as the confined space moved to the main floor. When the doors opened up we ushered out and split up to our own vehicles.
"Are you sure you're not too tired?" I gave him a smirk as he opened up the passenger side door. I gave him a quick kiss before sliding in, earning myself another eye roll before he shut me in.
He got inside not long after, reaching for his seatbelt before throwing on the car and pulling out of the spot.
"Hey, uh, did Morgan say anything when we left?" I glanced over at him, watching as he drove to the entrance of the parking lot and flicked on his turn signal. For a couple of seconds he sat there, narrowing his brows as he watched the traffic pass by.
"Not really," he responded. His facial features softened once he found an opening. Swiftly, he pulled into it, pressing on the gas to match the pace of the car in front of him.
I bit my thumbnail and glanced out the window. Even after some of our most heated arguments Morgan always found it in himself to show up to team outings, so what made this time different? Was there something I wasn't getting? Had I really done something so wrong that it'd trigger him to want to avoid me? Maybe he was just giving me space? I mean, I did make it obvious that I needed it.
"Did something happen between you guys?" Reid's voice pulled me out of my thoughts.
I moved my hand from my face, dropping it to my lap as I nodded my head. "I don't think he wants me back." I frowned.
"What?" Reid quickly gave me a confused look before turning his attention back to the road.
"He and I got into an argument about whether or not Sam was guilty," I began with a sigh, "at first I thought it was just Morgan being Morgan and having to be right, but then he made that comment at the house."
"The cuddling one?" Reid questioned.
I nodded my head. "Yeah." I narrowed my eyes, trying to recount the rest of our exchanges. "After we got outside and I followed him to the paramedic he, uh," I swallowed hard, suddenly feeling weird about the whole thing, "he said some things."
"Things?"
"Mean things," I responded sadly. I leaned my head back against the seat. While he hadn't confirmed his disinterest in me rejoining the team, I could tell he wasn't necessarily on board. "He said, look Isla, I know you miss this, but sometimes things happen for a reason." I rolled my eyes; annoyed at just the memory of it.
Reid let out an angry huff, furrowing his brows as he stared at the road. I could tell he was just as thrown off about the comment as I was.
"Right?" I shook my head, "he even made a big show of referring to me as a consultant and not a proper agent, which like, yeah okay I guess I am, but I've also done this before."
For the rest of the ride Reid remained silent as he listened to me rant. Part of me felt bad for just throwing all my shit onto him, while the other part knew I needed to let it out before it really got to me.
When we got to our destination, Reid shut off the car and turned to face me. With a sigh, he reached over and grabbed my thigh, giving it a light squeeze. "Sometimes Morgan believes he knows what's best for people," he said with a shrug.
I pulled off my seatbelt, listening to his words. Something about his comment really threw me for a loop, because I couldn't help, but wonder if Morgan really was right. It wasn't just me on the field anymore. Not only did I have to protect the public from danger, but also my child, which definitely made things more complicated.
I made a mental note to talk to JJ about it as we got out of the car. Right now, despite my sudden inner turmoil, I pushed away my thoughts. At this point all I really wanted to do was unwind a little and catch up with my friends.
As Reid and I entered the building we casually chatted, lacing our fingers together as we walked down the length of the bar to the team's usual booth. When we got there, I stopped in my tracks, noticing Morgan sitting on the very edge, offering me an apologetic look.
"Thought you went home?" I asked.
He shook his head and slipped out of the booth, glancing over at Reid who merely nodded and took his place. Without a word, Morgan moved his arm across the length of my shoulders, pulling me towards a set of pool tables located on the left side of the building. "I figured we should probably talk about what happened." He released me from his grasp, moving towards the far wall to grab a set of cue sticks. When he returned to my side he handed one over before prepping the table.
"Probably," I agreed. I grabbed the small square of chalk from the edge of the table and applied it to the end of the cue as I watched Morgan continue to set everything up. When he finished, he offered me to break, holding out his hand as he took a step back.
"I'm sorry if what I said came off aggressive." He watched as I bent over to adjust my shot, eyeing the cueball carefully before hitting it into the others. "I know you're an adult, but sometimes I forget."
I snorted, giving him eyebrow raise as I moved to let him shoot. "Yeah, well, I don't have the greatest track record at making adult decisions."
"No, you don't." Morgan smirked and took his shot, instantly sinking one of the solids. "Which is why when Hotch told me he wanted you back I voiced my concerns."
"To him?" I questioned.
He nodded. "Isla, you're having a baby. With Reid of all people."
I couldn't help, but laugh. "Is that weird?"
"I mean, kinda yeah."
I had to admit I sort of agreed with him. While Reid was probably the only person I could see myself having kids with, it still didn't mask the weirdness of it. I mean, things were still relatively new and even though I knew things would normalize, the whole thing still didn't necessarily feel real yet. Honestly, if it wasn't for the constant back pain and the morning sickness I'd probably forget I was pregnant all together.
"Do you really think I shouldn't come back?" I asked quietly.
Morgan glanced over at the rest of the team who were thankfully too engrossed in conversation to look over. "I mean, I'd love for you to come back, but I also don't want you getting hurt again." He let out a heavy sigh and turned to face me again, a sad look in his eye. "You've had a rough year, Isla. Are you honestly sure you're ready to come back?"
I really wasn't. As much as I wanted to admit to myself I was, I knew deep down that I was still questioning it.
"I know how much you love this job. Believe me, I do, but have you ever stopped to ask yourself if it's the right thing to do?"
I bit my lip and looked at the floor as I tightened my grip on the cue stick. At this point was there really a wrong and a right? For so long I'd lived my life thinking every decision I ever made was one of two sides. Now though, it somehow felt like there was this potential third option. One where I got everything I wanted. One where I somehow managed to balance the stress of having basically two jobs, a boyfriend, and a baby on the way.
To say it was realistic would be a lie. Normal people didn't put that much stress on themselves unless it was necessary. While I liked the idea of keeping busy, I knew in the end I probably couldn't do it. Growing a baby was hard enough, so adding basically two full time jobs on top of that would most likely send me into a downward spiral in no time.
I blew some air from my nose in frustration and closed my eyes, feeling the tension in my back grow as I leaned against the table.
"I'm sure the whole pregnancy thing is hard enough as it is without my ass getting in the way." Morgan joked. He moved his body next to mine and wrapped his arm around me, pulling me lovingly into his chest.
I wrapped my arms around his torso, snuggling into his warm body as I let out a sigh. "I hate when you're right," I mumbled grumpily.
He let out a small laugh, giving my arm a rough rub before clapping his hand on my shoulder and pushing me away. "Most people do, kid. Now c'mon, let's get this game over with. Loser buys drinks."
About thirty minutes later I sunk my the eight ball, throwing my hand into the air triumphantly as I grinned in Morgan's direction. "You got lucky," he said. He took the cue stick from my other hand aggressively, giving me a narrow eyed look before putting them away.
"No, you got cocky," I retorted.
Together we walked back over to the rest of the group who smiled warmly as they made room in the booth of us. I slid in next to Reid, snuggling up to his side, while Morgan took the spot next to Hotch.
"Who won?" Rossi glanced between us.
I raised my hand in the air and smiled, wiggling excitedly in my seat as Morgan rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. "Loser buys drinks," I stated.
"Yeah, yeah, shut up." Morgan smirked in my direction and slid out of the booth, making his way towards the bar, which had begun to fill up since we arrived.
As he left I let out a small chuckle, moving my face to the crook of Reid's neck. I placed a discreet kiss against it, before resting my cheek down and wrapping my arms around his middle. He looked over at me, a small smile pulling at the corner of his lips as he moved his hand to the base of my back, giving it a soft rub. "You guys all good?" He asked quietly.
"Yeah, we're good."
He nodded his head before turning his attention back to the rest of the team. Like always, Garcia was talking up a storm, her hands waving wildly in front of her as she went on and on about something nobody really understood. Most of the time, after she'd had a couple of drinks, she'd go on these weird rants about internet culture, often referring to these niche topics nobody, but JJ really understood. Even though it was usually confusing, I kind of enjoyed them.
Morgan returned not long after, gripping a pitcher of beer, along with a fruit cocktail, complete with curly straw and tiny umbrella. As he slid into the booth he passed it over to me, bowing his head dramatically. "Your beverage."
I sat upright, smiling at the drink as I yanked it off the table. "Thank-you, good sir."
Instead of asking the rest of the table for seconds, Morgan merely filled up everyone's empty glasses, nodding excitedly to himself once he filled up his own.
"We should probably talk about the elephant in the room." Rossi gave me a sly look, raising his brow as he took a sip of his drink.
"What elephant?" I asked as I took a sip of mine. When the liquid touched my tongue, I scrunched up my face, licking my lips in confusion as I examined the glass. It tasted kind of like pineapple, but slightly sweeter.
"Your elephant," Rossi replied, pointing to my stomach.
I placed one of my hands across my belly button and narrowed my eyes. "Are you calling my baby an elephant?" Rossi rolled his eyes and took another sip, causing me to laugh. "Sorry, I'm being a brat again."
"You're always a brat," Morgan added.
"I feel bad for you Spence," JJ chuckled.
"Why?" He looked around the table, confused.
"What if you get another Isla?" She responded.
Reid looked down at me wide eyed, causing me to laugh even harder than before. While I knew how annoying I was, I could only imagine the characteristics I'd manage to pass down. If the kid were anything like me I knew for a fact we'd be in for it eventually. I wasn't exactly a golden child.
I reached to grab Reid's cheek, giving it a light squeeze. "Let's hope it takes after you, doc."
"I don't know," Hotch shook his head, "you really want another genius running around?"
I looked over at him and shrugged. "That doesn't seem so bad."
"Until you get into an argument with them and they're proving you wrong," Morgan retorted with a smirk.
I cringed at the thought as I took a sip.
"While children obviously inherit their parents' physical attributes, it's less common knowledge on whether or not they also inherit their personality," Reid responded, "so it's entirely possible our child takes after neither of us."
"That might be best case scenario," I joked.
Not long after throwing out a couple more facts about the inheritance of children, both Reid and I grew tired. Thankfully, the rest of the team noticed immediately and gave of us their blessing to let the two of us leave first. Without argument we nodded our heads and flashed them apologetic smiles as we said our goodbyes. On our way out, I let out a loud yawn, cupping my hand over my mouth as Reid pushed open the door and followed behind me.
As we walked out to the car I rubbed my eyes, letting out another yawn, which caused Reid to laugh and pull me into his side. "We should've left sooner. I'm so tired."
"I was gonna say something, but you were too busy talking about genetics to interrupt." I shot him a narrow eyed look and elbowed his side before quickening my pace to the car. When I got to the passenger side I ripped it open and hopped in. The second my butt hit the seat I let out a deep sigh and reached to grab my seatbelt.
Reid slipped in not long after, buckling himself in almost immediately. "Sorry, I just get excited sometimes."
I leaned over and planted a kiss on his cheek, lingering against his side as he slowly turned to face me; a smile plastered on his lips. As his full face came into view I couldn't help, but take it in. His angled nose stuck out in just the right spots, while his high, chiseled cheekbones were so pronounced they looked like they could cut glass. I ran my fingers long along the side of his face, stopping to lightly grip the end of chin, which was rough due to small amount of hair he'd been growing.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" His smile became more nervous as he scanned the length of my face, searching for some sort of answer.
"I hope our kid looks like you," I responded with a laugh, "they'd be the cutest kid on the planet."
He gave me an over exaggerated eye roll and pulled me in for a kiss. Unlike the other ones from today, this one was longer and more desperate. Reid inched to the edge of his seat, wrapping his hands around either side of my face as he ran his tongue along my lower lip, eventually pushing his way in. When he did I felt a moan bubble at the back of my throat, which caused him to smile against me. Out of habit I smiled back, moving my hands to the base of his tie to pull him closer. As I did, he let out a surprised giggle and pulled away. I frowned and tried to pull him back, watching sadly as he shook his head and swatted my hand away. "Spencer..." I wined.
He shook his head again. "Wait until we get home."
I tossed myself dramatically back into the centre of my seat, crossing my arms over my chest as I eyed him grumpily. "You're no fun."
"I'm fun," he argued with a laugh. He turned on the car and glanced out the window, making sure he was free to move forward into the road. "I'm just more patient than you are."
"Patience is for bitches," I grumbled.
He let out a loud laugh and reached across the centre console to grab my thigh. "I promise when we get home I'll do whatever you want." He quickly glanced in my direction and smirked.
I bit my lip and wiggled my brows. "Whatever I want?" I questioned.
He scoffed and shook his head. "Within reason, obviously."
I grabbed his hand from my thigh, pulling it inwards. Almost immediately I saw his face turn red as he ran his fingers along the inner seam of pants; an area I'm sure he wanted to avoid until we got home. "Maybe tonight I'll try out some of that dom energy you and Prentiss always like to joke about?"
He swallowed hard, his eyes darting between the road and his now dangerously hot hand. The desperation in his face made me chuckle. For someone who carried himself so confidently on the field, with situations like this, I knew for a fact I'd always outshine him. Sure, he had his moments (like the first night he came on to me) where he could push aside his anxieties, but deep down I knew how nervous he constantly was.
I went to move his hand again, flashing him a seductive look. Before I could though, he ripped it away and moved his fingers to my hair, gripping the root tightly. I gasped in shock at the contact, widening my eyes as he pulled me towards him. "I said wait," he commanded.
"Uh, o-okay." At that point I'd almost completely stopped breathing. His sudden aggression towards me, while surprising, was still most definitely a turn on. It wasn't often that Reid would get outwardly physical when it came to the bedroom, but when it happened I absolutely loved it.
For a second he tried to hold a straight face, his brow furrowing in my direction as he looked back the road. Slowly, he pulled up behind a line of cars, letting out a loud snort as he loosened his grip on my hair and retracted his hand. Nervously, he let out a chuckle and shook his head, moving his palm towards the top of the steering wheel. "It's hard to keep a straight face while doing that," he said.
I rubbed my scalp, which was now tingling from the sudden release of pressure. "I know you're not the most comfortable with the whole dom thing, but fuck, you really had me going there."
"Really?" He seemed surprised.
I nodded. "Yeah. You're getting good. Maybe you can choke me this time?" I nudged his elbow with mine, holding back a smile as I watched him roll his eyes and pull the car forward.