Father!Gideon and Autistic!Son | Criminal Minds
Summary: Six times the team pokes around about Gideon's son
A lady once asked Gideon why he didn't carry a photo of his son with him. He didn't know how to explain to her that you hated getting your picture taken. That, and you always refused to let him carry around a picture of you in such a horribly textured wallet. That never stopped him from keeping photos of you in his office though.
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i. Elle mentioned it first, finding it odd to see a photo of a possible son when there had been so many offhand comments by younger agents about how lonely her coworker was. She had figured someone would've corrected them if they were wrong at the very least. Yet, when she had asked if the boy in the photo was his son it was obvious. Gideon smiled immediately, a brighter air coming into the room. She couldn't hold back the smile when he started talking about you, explaining your passion for your major and all the work you had and have been putting into finishing school. Elle hadn't met you and wouldn't for a while but she'd decided you were definitely someone she wanted to meet, going off the way Gideon talked about you.
ii. Reid recognized the person in the photo the first time he saw it on Gideon’s desk. He picked the frame up, something that would typically have Gideon swatting hands, but due to the person doing the action, it only caused a smile to spread. You had met Reid multiple times, kicking it off swiftly. The first meeting happened by chance. Gideon had been on a lunch break with you, getting called back early, leading to a very annoyed Gideon followed by a confused teenager. No one knew who you were but that didn’t stop Reid from starting a conversation. Once it became apparent you knew more trivia than the average person Reid didn’t care why you had followed Gideon in, entirely focused on the conversation you two were having. Since that meeting it was common for Reid to drop by your campus, helping when needed with work but mainly spending hours chatting and watching old movies.
iii. Hotch was a pretty quiet man, claiming it was easier to get a read on someone if they don’t notice you. Gideon liked to introduce himself, reading people as he went, which made the two a perfect team. They commonly worked as a pair, normally ending the day by working on paperwork in Hotch’s office. But, today Hotch had insisted to work in the older’s office, claiming his office was too stuffy. Gideon didn’t care. This wasn’t the first time Hotch had been in Gideon's office but it felt different. It took Hotch half an hour to figure it out. There was a newer photo in one frame. The photo was you standing next to a piece of art, which seemed to be at a gallery of some sort. Hotch saw Gideon look up at him out of the corner of his eye, a soft smile appearing on the man’s face. It was the same smile Hotch gets when he looks at his own son.
iv. Derek rarely went into Gideon’s office, if Gideon wanted something he normally just went to Morgan or called him. Yet, there are still times when Derek is in his office. It was the day before Christmas Eve and everyone was running around, finishing up reports and such to get home faster. Derek had walked into the office to confirm something with the older agent only to find it empty, Gideon having ran off somewhere. Before the man could turn around to go find the man the decoration on a photo frame caught his eye. It was the same photo Hotch had picked up, except on top of the frame sat a little Santa hat. Amused, Derek started looking around at the other photos, expecting more hats, yet found none. Before he could poke around more, Gideon walked in, taking the paperwork Derek had brought up right out of his hands. Before Derek could get started Gideon had already cut him off, claiming he needed to get home in time to see the boy in the photo, the one he added, that Derek was so interested in. There was a schedule for his afternoon, one he needed to keep in order to keep you, he joked.
v. JJ and Penelope spent most of their time in their respective offices or in the briefing room, so it was strange for them to be in anyone’s office, but they just needed to see the photo the boys kept talking about. It also didn’t help that Elle said you were cute, that just sparked their interest more. Unfortunately, there had been no cases recently and Gideon had been in his office all the time, leaving little room for them to snoop. After weeks of waiting they finally got a chance, rushing up the stairs to the office labeled as Jason Gideon, ignoring all the strange looks from coworkers. There was no Santa hat on the frame like Derek had claimed and you weren’t sat next to a piece of art as Hotch had mentioned but instead, you were in a costume of sorts, most likely for a theatre performance. They turned around the frame and all, looking for any information on who you could be, not trusting the idea that Gideon had a son, but only finding the date on which the photo was taken.
vi. Emily didn’t really spend much time with Gideon and when they were together it was always work talk. That didn’t stop her interest from peaking when the rest of the team mentioned a mystery son, as Morgan put it. Every time she happened to be in his office she would always keep an eye out for the photo, Penelope even tried to find it for her once when they were both in the room together, but it seemed Gideon had gotten rid of it. That was the running idea, up until the photo reappeared, this time in a new frame. Emily’s eyes zoned in on the new addition immediately, causing the owner of the office to laugh. The worry of a fallout between father and son washed away with an explanation that he had knocked the photo off once, causing the glass to break, making him get a new frame and copy of the photo.