Criminal Minds Imagines

daisy | spencer reid

just spence leaving flowers on your desk :)

The first time a flower's left on your desk, you don't think much of it.

It's not much of a thing—a simple daisy, really, maybe one placed by mistake—and you place it into the bin without a second thought. You weren't someone who warranted flowers, anyway. Sure, you were incredible at your job, rising to the ranks of Supervisory Special Agent and cementing your place in the BAU, but you'd never had any real admirers.

Until now, it seemed.

—

The second time a flower's left on your desk, you start to wonder.

Two flowers in one week is quite the coincidence, you note, maybe the UnSub's escalating? But that would imply more flowers to come, and you hardly believe yourself worthy of that potential. The flower joins its twin in the bin, and you stare at the two flowers for a moment, their stems carelessly intertwined.

Then Hotch calls the team together, and you forget the daisies for now.

—

The third time a flower's left on your desk, you become suspicious.

One is an incident, two is a coincidence, three's a pattern. If you thought about the flowers as victims and the giver as an UnSub, your conclusion would be a serial who would only escalate their behaviour until caught and captured. This was less serious than a serial killer hunting surrogates for his estranged ex-wife, but you couldn't get the flowers out of your mind.

Who was leaving these flowers, and why?

—

The fourth time a flower's left on your desk, the team begins to notice.

"Looks like someone's got a secret admirer," Prentiss teases.

Morgan joins in, giving your arm a nudge with a smirk.

JJ and Penelope exchange grins, happy to see the chronically single agent receiving some attention.

Rossi only raises his eyebrows, Hotch with a faint smile playing on his lips.

Reid doesn't meet your eye.

—

The fifth time a flower's left on your desk, you enlist Penelope's help to catch the culprit.

Flicking through surveillance footage from 4:00 to 5:00 to finally 6:01 a.m., she pauses the footage to reveal the person leaving flowers on your desk.

He's caught red handed, looking around cautiously before placing the flower and moving on toward his own desk. The man sits as the rest of the team fills the screen, one at a time, questioning why he's actually on time for once with knowing smiles.

His face accidentally catches the camera, but you knew him from his lanky silhouette and printed vest that doesn't quite match the colour of his shirt.

Penelope gasps, and you stare in stunned silence at the image of Dr Spencer Reid leaving a daisy on your desk.

—

The sixth time a flower's left on your desk, you've been waiting for him since 5:50 a.m.

Some might call it paranoia to wait ten minutes before the scheduled 6:01 drop off, but you wanted to be sure you wouldn't miss him. This was worth the early start. True to his schedule, Reid walks into the bullpen just as the clock ticks over to 6:01 a.m., daisy in hand.

He stops when he sees you, moving his hand behind his back in a futile attempt to hide the flower. You both know he's your UnSub. With a sigh, he holds the daisy out to you.

"You aren't supposed to be here."

"I know, but I needed to be sure it was you."

Of course you're sure, but you needed to witness it in person to be certain. Now, standing in front of you with the infamous flower, you find your theory confirmed.

"What gave it away?" He's shy when confronted, hardly able to meet your gaze. Spencer shifts his feet, placing the daisy in your hand without really looking.

"My favourite flower isn't exactly common knowledge, Spence." You find you can't meet his eye either, cheeks hot and palms sweaty in the pockets of your jeans.

"Right," he responds.

You can feel him prepare himself for rejection, to hide at his desk and never speak of this again, if that's what you wished. Can see his withdrawal into himself, the readiness to dismiss his feelings. But you can't bring yourself to stamp out the hope in his heart, the small whisper of what if?

Instead you reply, "Do you know why it's my favourite flower?"

He looks up from studying his anchor-printed socks, and finally, finally makes eye contact with those beautiful eyes of his. Hesitantly he asks, "Why?"

"The daisy was Freyja's favourite flower, and so they took on her character of motherhood, innocence, the like. When my mum died, they became a comfort." You shrug, and he finds the courage to take your hand in his. "But I'm sure you already know about Norse mythology."

"Actually, according to Celtic legend, God covered the earth with daisies whenever an infant died, in order to comfort the parents," he murmurs. "That's where its meaning comes from."

"Of course you'd know that."

He returns your smile, your hand still clasped in his. He's still holding your hand when you kiss him, him tucking the flower behind your ear. And he's still holding your hand when you join the others in the briefing room, to the response of cheers, whistles and JJ's "Finally!"