Title: If I Could Go Back (Part One of Four)
Author: lilalanor and ce_jour_la
Fandom: Criminal Minds with a touch of CSI: New York
Rating: PG-13/M
Pairing/Characters: David Rossi/Aaron Hotchner, Jason Gideon, ensemble, Mac Taylor, Stella Bonasera
Summary: It’s the day of Derek’s high school graduation, and Jason Gideon is standing at the bottom of the porch steps, trying not to hope.
Notes: This is not a terribly Gideon-friendly piece. It can be called an analysis of his motivations--both for leaving and for returning--but it does not extend him any undue favours.
Timeline & "Spoilers": This is set in the CM Kid-Verse future, roughly seven years after Gideon left. General spoilers for the rewrite of all five seasons of Criminal Minds and some for the S5 rewrite in particular.
Warnings: Language, themes (references to violence, abandonment, general trauma)
Disclaimer: Criminal Minds (the concept and otherwise) belong to Bernero and company. We own nothing, make no profit and do this for the fun of the enterprise.

( He and Jason sit in silence, in which he watches the other man pointedly not toy with the handle of his coffee cup. )