Title: Analogy of Light and Dark
By: Rini1031
Pairing: Gideon/Reid
Rating: PG-13
Permissonto archive: Yes
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Genre: slash
Disclaimer: Not mine, CBS owns them.
Summary: A lost story brings together it's real life characters.

***

He spent his days in Darkness; A darkness so absolute that he was consumed by it. He had to constantly fight to stop IT from absorbing him. This was his life, devoured by a constant battle against the dark world he despised so much. For so many years he had lived like this: battling the Darkness so that, perhaps, there would be some innocent people left in the light. He hadn't seen the Light in years, not until HE came along.

This man, this boy really, belonged to the Light. This boy wasn't ready for the darkness of his world. That was why he kept shoving the boy away. A child of Light and Innocense will never be truly happy with a man trapped in the world of darkness. At least, that's what they both kept telling themselves.

However, despite their differences, the two seemed to be drawn together. It was as if Fate herself had decreed that they belonged to each other; that the younger would be the Light lost in the older's Darkness. And, despite the older's token complaints, he all too quickly gave in to his newfound Light.

A gentle knock on the door of his office brought Jason back into his present place and time. Another knock lent him the presence of mind to invite the young doctor, the only person who ever knocked on an office door more than once, into his domain. Exactly ten seconds later the frazzled young manhad both entered the room and shut the door tightly behind him.

"Is everything alright?" Jason posed his question delicately, as if he didn't want to startle the younger man; he had a good reason to be careful. Spencer looked distracted, obviously upset by something-or someone.

"Was Morgan teasing you again?" Again Jason gently tried to urge Spencer into answering his questions. Whatever,or whoever, had upset the doctor had done a thorough job. The poor boy look something like a scared, wet, cat, and Jason had to do his best not to laugh at his own analogy.

"Spencer?" Okay, now Jason was really worried. Spencer rarely got so worked up that he forgot how to speak. Normally, an upset Doctor Spencer Reid would babble; fact after fact after fact would fall from his lips while he would make elaborate gestures with his long, elegant fingers. Today he was silent and his hands were fisted at his sides.

"Spencer? Please say something." Now he was pleading for something, anything, to let him know what happened, to let him know what was going on in his genius's head. Jason was about to try again, anything to break through Spencer's strong shields, when he heard the single word whispered by his friend.

"Why" A start for sure, but Jason definitely needed more then that to help Spencer this time.

"Why what? There are a lot of questions in this world Spencer, and most of them start with why." Jason delivered the words softly enough, but he still saw the younger man flinch at his answer.

"Why am I here? Why did you hire me? Why do you protect me?" Fear and uncertainty clouded Spencer's eyes as he spoke; his voice became even softer with each new why until Jason had to strain to hear it, even thought they were secluded in a small office.

Smiling softly Jason put down the papers he had been reading and stood up; stretching smoothly, he walked around his desk and moved to stand in front of the upset doctor. Slowly, gently he reached up and rested a hand on the younger man's shoulder. Wincing, internally, as Spencer trembled under his soft touch, Jason figured that it was time to do some well-needed damage control.

"Spencer, look at me." The soft command was almost immediately obeyed as Spencer lifted his head to look into his mentor's eyes; eyes in which their owner's every feeling was revealed for the young man to see.

All the acceptance, trust, and love that Jason felt for Spencer was clearly written in those orbs for his beloved student to see. Knowing this, Jason began to express to Spencer everything that he felt for the younger man, hoping that it was enough to break down the shields that surrounded him.

"First of all, I don't know why you're here; I just thank God every day that you are. As to why I hired you, I would like to think that that is obvious.

"I know that you don't believe in labeling things like intelligence, but you are, put in the simplest terms, a genius. We need you here; I suppose that could also be an answer to your first question as well.

"And, as for your third question, I protect you because you are my Light. I need you too, so much. You give me a spark of Light, light which has been absent in my life for so long."

Spencer's eyes widened at the familiar words; he had written those words in his...his story. Suddenly it hit him, and, as if a pile of bricks fell against his body, Spencer collapsed. Jason caught him, wrapping the wiry frame tightly in his arms.

"An interesting analogy, Spencer." Jason murmured softly into the young author's ear. "And I enjoyed the passion the writer had for the subjects of the story."

"I...I never meant for anyone to ever see that..." Spencer managed to gasp out. Jason chuckled softly as Spencer's face began to redden.

"I know. It fell out of you bag last night as you were leaving. I didn't realize what it was, so I read it. It's good." If possible, Spencer's face reddened even more at the unsolicited complement.

He had put everything he had into that story; it contained his hopes, his dreams, his fantasies. He suddenly went pale. His fantasies, he had put all of them into the story. He fervently prayed that Jason had only read the first page. All of his fantasies included this man, the one who was holding him right now.

Unconsciously Spencer found his body starting to react to the closeness of the other man; the man who he had written so passionately about. Quickly he twisted, trying to escape the heavenly prison that Jason's arms made. Jason had other plans however; he pulled Spencer closer, changing the angle of their embrace so that the entire front of their bodies were meshed together.

Their closeness had equally affected Jason and Spencer could feel their bodies reaction to the other was the same. The knowledge that he affected Jason as much as he was affected by him helped Spencer to once again relax into the arms still holding him tightly.

"Not to complain but, Spencer, what brought this on?" Jason once again murmured into the younger man's ear.

"Special Agent Lee; he was flirting with JJ in the break room. I heard him tell her that he was twice the agent and three times the man that I was. He said that she should dump the, quote 'worthless freak, and experience a real man'. He never knew that I was standing right there."

Jason's arms tightened painfully as Spencer began to cry silently. Agent Lee had callously hurt one of the most important people in his life just to impress a girl that he had no intention of having anything with other then sex.

"What did JJ say?" Jason asked tersely. His fury at Lee was barely concealed by his deceptively calm face.

"That we weren't dating, and even if we were, that she wouldn't break up with the kindest man she'd ever met for a crude, ignorant, fool like him." Spencer dutifully replied, shivering slightly as Jason pulled away gently.

"But what he said was enough to hurt your self confidence and make you doubt your place here?" Jason accurately surmised.

"Yes." Spencer murmured as he allowed his head to drop towards the floor. Jason smiled as he moved one of his hands to lift Spencer's face up to meet his in a tender, chaste, first kiss.

"Do you feel better now?" Jason asked indulgently, as if he was talking to a five-year-old who had fallen and scraped his knee.

"Yes, much. Thank you, Jason." The smile alone that had bloomed on Spencer's face after Jason's kiss was enough of a reward for the older man.

"Your welcome, but we had better get back to work. Tell me, do you have plans for dinner tonight?" Jason asked as he separated their bodies.

"No, none," Spencer said. Not able to resist, he added a playful, "Why?"

"Why what?" Jason countered, leaning over to place a gentle kiss on Spencer's lips.

"Why do you ask?" He clarified obediently

"I know a great seafood place." Jason smiled as he spoke. They would go out to dinner, talk, and, eventually, find themselves finishing the conversation on another date, and another, and another.

Matching Jason's smile, Spencer realized that tonight would be the first night of what promised to be a strong relationship. One that would begin tonight, but wouldn't end for, hopefully, many years to come.

"Fine by me." Then, reaching over, Spencer placed one last chaste kiss on Jason's lips. As he turned to exit the office, he called over his shoulder: "Come get me whenever you're ready to go."

Once Spencer left the office, Jason returned to the story whose author he so tenderly loved. He quickly scanned the page before turning it and skipping to the last paragraph.

"You are my Light. I need you too, so much. You give me a spark of Light, light which has been absent in my life for so long."

"And you help to protect me from that same light. Light much too pure for one person to face alone. You are my Darkness; I can not live without you."

***