the perfect genius of our hands and mouths [criminal minds - poly bau]
It's not a surprise when it happens. They're at Penelope's watching movies and eating ice cream and getting drunk. They flirt, all the time. Sometimes they go far with it. When they kiss for the first time is soft and lovely. Derek knew this was coming and even if it's a HR nightmare, he still does it. It's Penelope that says the words but Derek has been thinking about it for a long time. Way before he and Pen make it real.
"It's called polyamorous, you know? You can go after him. They'll all join in eventually anyway." It's what the hacker says with a smile. She knows it deep in her heart to be true, she's just been waiting for them to realize. Derek seems to think she's being to hopeful, that this is something he's only allowed to dream about.
By him, of course, she meant Spencer. Despite his social awkwardness Spencer is one of the first people to understand that whatever Garcia and Morgan have has changed. That their relationship has changed.
He is happy, he truly is. There's also a second feeling there. Jealousy, he understands. Of whom? He's not certain. It doesn't help that Penelope keeps asking him to hang out with Derek and her.
It takes a specially hard case for Spencer to accept the invite. He figures that alone will be worse than being a third-wheel to their whatever it is that they have. He's quiet, unsure of how to act with them at first. A few minutes in he realizes his anxiety was unfounded as he laughs harder than he had in some time. With them he doesn't have to worry that he'll say the wrong thing, he just needs to be himself.
At some point he notices Derek's hand high on his tight. It makes him nervous, of course it does, but he's more excited than nervous and he's talking about something and then Penelope is smiling and Derek is smiling and he gets distracted, forgetting all about whatever he was talking about. He's not sure who makes the first move, who kisses who, he only knows that between Penelope and Derek he feels safe.
It doesn't take a profiler to know something is different about Spencer. He'd always have a jovial happiness about him, less so in recent years, although it tended to show up sometimes. But it's clear he's happy, happier than he'd been in some time, and whoever is making Spence happy deserves a kiss in JJ's humble opinion.
It doesn't hit her that she knows who's making him happy until he sees them at the bar. A rare early Friday for them. Spence sits between Penelope and Derek and whatever they are saying to him is making him blush beautifully. Emily sees what JJ sees. She keeps quiet when she learns about Penelope and Morgan (Penelope, it seems, knows how to keep a secret, because she learns it from Morgan, not that he knows it). But Reid? She learns at the bar. At the same time as JJ.
"They've got the right idea, those three." is what she says to JJ. She says it like she's unaffected by it. As if it doesn't make her legs tremble and it sends fire between her legs.
"They do." is what JJ says. Later, when they are at Emily's, kissing hungrily, they talk about what it might be like to watch Spence, Penelope and Derek together. They bring each other to climax over and over again as they imagine what it must be to be with them.
Next girl's night ends with Penelope calling in her boys, as she kisses Emily and JJ. She doesn't explain, knowing well enough that they'll both be very pleased to learn they'll finally managed to get the women into their polycule.
Rossi is the reason many of the FBI's regulations exists in the first place, so he's not judging whatever is going on between the younger members of (his) the team. He's not a stranger to bedding a co-worker or two, but he had never seen anything like... them. He watches them for afar trying to figure it out. He also makes sure they keep their minds sharp during cases. He protects them from possible rumors (really, for a team of profilers they should know how to hide it better than they do).
It's Emily that sends him a link on polyamory. Forward of her; he thinks maybe, but he just acts like nothing. She might just be answering his questions, more aware than the rest of the team about his attention to them. He reads her link. He searches by himself too. It makes so much sense. If he's honest the BAU has always worked a bit like that. It's not easy living a day-to-day life with profilers; having so much of you be exposed to your co-workers. This is a team that has always been more close than others. And if he's honest with himself, it makes his heart beat a bit faster knowing that his team has found happiness in each other.
But Rossi also knows he's old. Or, older than them. He's happy that they're happy. And he will continue to try and protect them. He knows Hotch is not a part of them yet, but he also knows it's a matter of time. But he can't stop himself to think about it, and hope about it.
Hotch knows right from the beginning. He watches as one by one his team joins in on Penelope and Derek. He's happy and he's jealous.
In the end is Spencer that brings him home. Spencer that march into his office and demands he stops working for at least one Friday night. They have a weekend, and Spencer is not spending another one without Aaron. It makes Aaron blush a little, even though he would never admit it, when Spencer says it like that. They leave together.
Rossi watches as Hotch leaves with Spencer one day. It takes him about two seconds for him to know that they finally got Aaron to join in. It's Penelope that approaches him. Smiling as she watches Aaron and Spencer. "You know, it's only you left. And it's ok if you're not ready for us. But I think you should know that we want you." There's a confidence in her that he's seen only in specific moments (usually behind a computer screen, hacking into systems she shouldn't be hacking). It's enticing, and sexy, and ok, maybe he still needs a lesson or two in how to be a team player. And who's better than his team to teach him?