characters: spencer (lee), emily (ler) (jj, rossi, and hotch in the background but not actively involved)
warnings: tickle fic, MAJOR SPOILERS for late s6/s7e1-2, cursing, very brief mentions of death and torture
a/n: hooo boy it has been a HOT minute since i've written anything here,, anyways ler!emily my beloved, wreck that funky little brain boy.
"Spence, please, just listen to me!"
"I've heard enough from you, Jennifer, just let me talk to her myself!"
Emily stifled a surprised laugh at the bickering between her two friends as they both entered the bullpen, a certain lanky doctor making a beeline right towards her desk. "Damn, he's pulling out the full first name and everything? What did you do now, Jaje?" Emily laughed, looking over to the younger woman, who was standing a few meters back.
"He's still... frustrated. I tried to explain it to him again but he refuses to listen. Says he wants to hear an explanation straight from you." Emily looked up at the boy in question, who was looking back at her with a serious expression on his face.
Emily let out a patient sigh, pulling out a chair at the desk next to her as an invitation for Spencer to sit. "You... you understand why we had to do this. I know you do. If Doyle would have found out I was still alive, he wouldn't have stopped until he saw my corpse for himself."
Spencer sat down with a sigh. "I know, but... how could you keep it from us?" He spoke softly, his tone genuinely sad. "We all... We-" Spencer stopped, choking on a sob.
Emily put a reassuring hand on his knee. "I know. I am so sorry that I had to put you all through that. I missed you all so much, I nearly would have preferred being dead than spend another day away from you guys." She gave Spencer a soft smile as he wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his sweater.
J.J. came up behind Emily, resting a hand comfortably on her shoulder. "Spence, every day that went by I wanted to tell you more and more. But putting Emily at risk... I just couldn't."
"I... I understand," Spencer sighed softly, brushing his curly hair out of his face. "I just don't know how to move past this. I wish things could go back to the way they were before..."
Emily frowned, giving Spencer's knee a comforting squeeze. Well... It was supposed to be comforting. But when the stoic Doctor Spencer Reid squeaked, well.... Emily had an idea.
"Hey, Spencer...?" Emily asked, looking to J.J. to see if she was thinking the same thing. J.J. nodded, a mischievous grin spreading across her face. "Can I give you a hug?" Emily stood up, extending her arms to the younger man.
"I..." Spencer hesitated for a moment before standing up. "Yes, I would like that actually," He wrapped his arms tightly around his friend's shoulders.
"I think I'll leave you two alone for now," J.J. said nonchalantly, leaving the bullpen. "Take your time," She grinned back at Emily, winking.
"Thanks, Jaje," Emily called back, now grinning as well. She wrapped her arms around Spencer in return as he squeezed her protectively. "Jeez, you're nearly crushing me, kid... You been working out?"
"God, I wish," He muttered under his breath, smiling despite himself. "I'm built like a chopstick."
Emily barked out a surprised laugh, looking up to see his face. "Don't be so hard on yourself! You gotta learn to lighten up, y'know?" She gave a soft poke to his side, chuckling as he yelped and jumped away.
"Woahwoahwoah, ha-hang on a second," Spencer protested, backing away and trying to wipe that stupid grin off his face. "Noho need to do anything drastic..."
"You sure? Been a while since I heard you laugh~" Emily held up her hands into faux claws, wiggling her fingers.
"I-I've never exactly been the laugh-out-loud type, Emily... Y-You know that...."
"Oh, is that so? Maybe it's time we change that, dontcha think, Spence?" Emily examined her hands, still curled into claws, before flashing Spencer another teasey grin.
"Sihince when do you call me 'Spence' now too?" A few anxious giggles slipped through in between his words as he continued backing away, face going pale as he felt his back hit the wall.
"You're changing the subject? You really think that'll work on a profiler?" Emily grinned, inching closer with every passing moment.
"Fihigured you might be a little out of practice... I've never seen a dead person profile before...." He flashed Emily a cheeky grin.
"Oh? Well let me show you how a corpse does it then!"
Just as Emily was about to pounce, they were interrupted by a familiar voice.
"Hey, guys, I was just wondering if you had seen Hotch-?" Rossi stopped dead in his tracks as he processed the scene he had walked in on. "Um.... Maybe I'll go ask Morgan..."
And with that he was gone.
Spencer let out a sigh of relief as Emily laughed, looking back to the target of her mischief. "Right. Where was I? Oh, I remember!"
She then pounced, easily wrestling the younger boy onto the ground with minimal effort and sitting on top of him. "How does a dead person profile? Well, your minimal attempt to escape once you realized what was about to happen, especially when I was briefly distracted by Rossi, proves that you aren't opposed to what's about to happen."
"Shush, I'm not finished. You also changed the subject as soon as you realized my intentions, which is usually a sign of discomfort, but your body language told the opposite story. Smiling, giggling, standing with open posture, almost inviting me to continue."
Spencer opened his mouth to protest again, but was interrupted by his own small squeak as Emily pinched his side.
"Still not done. Then, after I called you out on changing the subject, you had the audacity to pull out that classic Doctor Spencer Reid sass that I've missed so much, and combined with that goofy little shit-eating grin of yours, I think we both know that was your way of saying 'try me'."
Spencer looked up at Emily, completely stunned. His cheeks flushed a deep shade of pink as she smirked down at him, clearly very pleased with her assessment. "Now that I've proven myself, not that I really had to..." She chuckled, walking two fingers up the flustered doctor's side. "Let's have some fun, hm?"
Spencer pressed both of his hands over his face, letting out a flustered groan that was quickly interrupted by his own frantic giggles as Emily began to pinch up and down both of his sides. "Ehehemilyhehehe-!"
"What was that thing you said before? 'Not exactly the laugh out loud type'?" Emily laughed along with Spencer, slipping her hands under his sweater to target his tummy.
"Shuhut UHUHUP- SHIHIHIT!" Spencer's frantic giggling transformed into loud belly laughs as Emily began kneading into his belly, almost like a cat.
"You're really not in any position to be telling me to shut up, y'know... not when you're laughing loud enough for the entire department to hear." Emily giggled as Spencer's face flushed a deeper shade of pink.
Suddenly, another unexpected interruption "Prentiss, would you care to explain what's going on?"
Emily looked up, shocked to see Hotch standing at the door. "Sir! I uh... Reid was feeling down... Just wanted to cheer him up, is all. Seems to be working, no?"
Hotch glanced down at the boy in question, giggling breathlessly under Emily's fingers. He suppressed a fond smile. "I suppose it does appear that way... All right. Do continue."
"Thank you, sir." Emily smiled, returning her attention to her giggly friend.
"Oh, and Prentiss?" Hotch called out again.
Hotch, no longer suppressing his smile, looked back to his fellow agents. "Try his ribs."
Hotch grinned, a hint of mischief gleaming in his eye.
"Whatever you say, sir," Emily laughed, pinching up and down Spencer's ribs as he writhed beneath her
"NO. Emily, do not- EMILY NOHOHO-"
Hotch huffed out a fond laugh and left, the sound of the youngest member of the BAU's laughter echoing through the halls.
"MEHEHERCY PLEHEHEASE-" Spencer cried out, tears forming in his eyes.
Emily immediately complied, not wanting to overdo it. Spencer was already far too familiar with the feeling of torture, and she certainly didn't want to subject him to that.
"Thahahat... Was mehehean...." Spencer laid breathlessly on the floor, residual giggles still spilling from his mouth.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm the worst, et cetera, et cetera. Don't think I didn't notice you never told me to stop, giggles~"
Groaning at the nickname, Spencer sat up. "Hey can I ask you something?"
"Sure, Spence, anything."
"Well, you said that you hadn't heard me laugh in a long time, which is true, but I can also say the same thing about you."
"That's not a question, Spencer."
"Right, well let me ask you this then: Are you ticklish?"
Emily couldn't remember a time when she ever ran so fast
waa this took so long i hope yall like it!! i am so tired fjsjdhs
