Archive of Our Own

2005

On Monday afternoon it stopped raining for the first time since they'd arrived in Atlanta. The team decided that was as good an opportunity as any to get some coffee – real coffee, not the cheap instant swill provided by the police station and the hotel lobby. Reid, somehow still "the new kid" even after several months, was volunteered to run out to the nearby café.

Hotch had to tear him away from his geographic profile by telling him for the tenth time that staring at the map wasn't going to give them enough information to finish the profile, no, not even if he stood really close to it. Once he had, though, Reid seemed downright excited about the chance to drive somewhere, and Morgan carefully contained his amusement. It had taken him a while to reconcile those different sides of Dr. Reid, the brooding genius and the kid in a candy store, but it certainly made life more interesting.

Reid was gone long enough for Morgan to get impatient; when he finally returned, Morgan was ready to demand what had taken him so long. He held his tongue when he saw Reid, struggling to carry what looked like enough cups of coffee for half of the Atlanta police force. Morgan rolled his eyes and helped the genius get to the table without incident, which earned him an embarrassed, but genuine, smile.

He wanted to ask why Reid hadn't asked for help, why he'd tried to carry everything at once, how he'd even managed as far as he had by himself, but once again he was distracted from what he was going to say, this time by the box Reid pulled out of his pocket.

Reid noticed him looking. "Want one?" he offered. He had clearly misinterpreted Morgan's glare.

"Those things taste like chalk."

Reid just shrugged. "More for me," he said, popping a candy heart into his mouth.

Maybe he was going to let the subject drop. Morgan certainly hoped so, and as they sipped their coffee in silence for a few moments, it seemed as though he had.

He should have known better.

"You know, it hadn't occurred to me what today was…"

"Reid." He looked up at hearing his name spoken so seriously. "Don't even go there, man."

"Oh. Sorry."

Morgan sighed. He'd been sharper than he'd meant to be, and it wasn't really fair to take his anger with the holiday out on Reid. "No, it's all right. Just a bit of a bruised ego."

"How so?"

He resigned himself to talking about it after all. "My girlfriend dumped me when I told her I was working out of town this week." She might have been a bit more understanding if this hadn't been the fourth time he'd cancelled on her on short notice, but he still found her anger that he would miss this particular day to be excessive.

Reid sounded surprised. "Really?"

"Crazy, right? But you know how some girls just take this whole Valentine's thing so seriously."

"Right," Reid said, sounding rather vague and looking like he now wanted to change the subject. It was enough to make Morgan curious. He knew Reid wasn't seeing anybody now, but he had to wonder if the kid had ever had someone to buy chocolates and flowers for on February 14th. He'd never heard Reid mention dating in a way that didn't pertain to a case or fictional characters.

He thought about asking, but his desire to know was less than his desire to forget about the whole thing entirely. He shook his head. "Yeah, well, it's a lame holiday."

2006

Garcia was out of control.

There had to be rules against this sort of thing, but that hadn't stopped the technical analyst from covering the bullpen, the conference room, the break room, the bathrooms, and Hotch and Gideon's offices with red, pink, purple, and white. Streamers, hearts, and little cardboard cupids dangled from the walls, the ceiling, and even Agent Anderson's back (there was a bet running on how long before he noticed).

And that was just in the main area of the office. Morgan stopped by Garcia's bunker and discovered that it was much, much worse in there. "You can't tell me this isn't the least bit distracting," he said, not quite believing his eyes.

"Distracting? To moi? Mon amour, you are clearly underestimating my skills."

"Fine, but what about all us lesser mortals who have to work around here?"

"I like to think that the cheer it brings makes up for any damage it might do to someone's concentration."

Morgan's initial reaction was to laugh; his second, to wonder how Garcia thought she was going to get away with this. When he saw Hotch trying not to smile, though, he figured she wouldn't get in too much trouble and decided to just enjoy the chaos.

Not everyone was as enthusiastic as Garcia. Elle scowled vehemently at the decorations, but was won over by the chocolate that Garcia provided. Gideon pretended not to notice, which Morgan had to admit was quite an impressive feat. Reid, walking into the office first thing in the morning, looked as though he were seriously considering running back into the elevator and leaving the building.

It was impossible, given the state of the office, to ignore what day it was, and inevitably Morgan wound up, against his wishes, discussing the holiday with the team.

"Do you and Haley have any plans for the evening?" JJ asked Hotch. She was smiling a trifle smugly and had been all day; Morgan suspected that she'd had a hand in Garcia's scheme, although when questioned directly she'd just laughed.

This time Hotch didn't even try to hide his grin. "I had flowers sent to the house this morning, and I hired a babysitter and got reservations for Antonio's at seven. We'll probably end up stopping at home quickly after dinner to check on Jack, but then we're going dancing."

"Wow," Elle commented appreciatively. "Dancing? You're going all out."

"Well, she deserves it. And it isn't like we get a lot of chances for a nice evening out."

It was subtle, but Hotch's voice had changed. Morgan didn't really like the direction that promised to lead the conversation, so he turned to Elle and teased, "What, you mean that boyfriend of yours isn't taking you out dancing tonight?"

He didn't manage to rattle her, though, and she smirked. "Sadly no, since he only exists in your head and there aren't really any good spots for dancing in there."

Morgan winked. "Just say the word, Elle, and I'll show you a good spot for dancing."

JJ snorted. "You don't think your date would be jealous?"

"I'm a generous guy, I've got no problems with sharing."

Elle rolled her eyes. "Don't be a pig, Morgan."

He shot her his most charming smile. "Who, me? Don't know what you could possibly mean."

"Right," she said drily, and refused to make any further comments on her plans for the evening, no matter how Morgan poked and prodded.

It didn't escape Morgan's notice that Reid didn't mention his plans, either. The genius talked about Hotch and JJ and Garcia's plans but deftly avoided answering any personal questions, much as Morgan had. It made him curious, and reminded him of the previous year's musings. Reid was more or less hopeless with women, and while he might be keeping news of a date to himself because he wasn't the type to kiss and tell, Morgan thought it likely that the kid didn't have a date.

He didn't want to call Reid on it in front of the rest of the team, not if Reid didn't want them to know. That didn't stop him from approaching Reid about it at the end of the day, though, when JJ and Elle had already left and Hotch, Gideon, and Garcia were sequestered away in their respective offices.

"So what about you, kid?"

Reid frowned in confusion. "What about me?" he asked slowly, like he was trying to remember if there was something he'd forgotten.

"Noticed you didn't mention if you were doing anything special tonight."

Reid's expression changed to one of annoyance. "And that should have been an indication to you that I don't really want to talk about it."

"Come on, Reid, it's not a big deal if you're not doing anything. I'm not."

"You aren't? I thought Elle said…"

"She was just making assumptions," Morgan shrugged, "and I didn't really feel the need to correct her."

"Even if it's not a big deal?" Reid lifted an eyebrow smugly.

"Ah, shut up," Morgan groaned, getting his revenge by ruffling Reid's hair. He then gave Reid a chance to straighten it back out before mussing it up again, worse than before. "You want to be a smart ass, or you want to go out tonight?"

"What, with you?" From the way he'd asked, it sounded like he thought the idea about on par with spending the evening in a morgue.

"Hey, man, I think I should be insulted," Morgan said. "I was just asking if you wanted to go to a bar with me, see if we can meet some ladies looking for a little romance…"

Realization dawned on Reid's face, and his expression changed to one of discomfort. "Oh. I don't know. No."

"It'll be fun," Morgan cajoled.

"No, it won't," Reid assured him. "I'd wreck your 'groove.' That's not really my scene, anyway."

"Well, practice makes perfect, right?"

"Assuming one has any skills to build off of in the first place," Reid muttered darkly.

"You're not that bad."

Reid wordlessly asked who Morgan thought he was kidding.

"That cop in Detroit had a crush on you," he reminded him.

"What?"

"The blonde one." Reid still seemed puzzled. "The one you were flirting with while Hotch was interrogating the suspect?"

"I wasn't flirting," he objected, "She just expressed an interest in learning more about profiling."

Morgan winked. "Sure looked like flirting."

This thought was sufficient distraction to make Reid forget about his protests, and Morgan took advantage of the situation. "Come out with me, it'll be great."

Reid sighed, defeated but determined to get one last word. "Fine. I still think you're being completely unreasonable, but since it's so important to you, I'll go."

Morgan laughed. "Okay, kid, you can thank me later."

2007

Reid had rushed straight back to work. Morgan thought it was a bad idea, and he had no idea how the kid managed to convince Hotch and Gideon to allow it. Maybe he'd told them that he'd recover better there, where he had something to focus on other than his memories of Georgia.

Maybe that was even true. He didn't seem as badly off as Morgan had half-expected, but he'd also pulled back from the team enough that Morgan couldn't get an accurate judgment of his mental state. He needed to get Reid to himself, away from work, if he was going to have a chance at getting past his barriers and finding out how he was really doing.

On Wednesday, he thought he might have an opportunity to do just that.

"Morning," Morgan greeted Reid with a bright smile that was not returned. Reid was rushing, nearly dropping what he was carrying and tripping over his own feet walking to his desk, and for once Morgan had no desire to tease him about it. He'd rather pretend it hadn't happened at all, but it was getting harder to do that when Reid had been late to work every day this week.

"Morning," Reid muttered, sounding tired and not looking up at Morgan.

He might as well get to the point. "You doing anything tonight?"

"Should I?" he asked before taking a moment to think about it. In his defense, Garcia had had a cold for the last week, and the decorations were nowhere near as impressive as they had been the year before. "Sorry, I forgot what day it was."

There could be a perfectly innocent reason for that, so Morgan hid his unease. "Not a problem. Guess that means you don't have plans?"

Reid started rummaging through some papers on his desk, and every motion seemed to be asking Morgan to drop the subject. "No, I don't."

"Want to get a few drinks after work, guys' night out?"

"Not particularly."

"That's cold, man."

He just shrugged.

"Look, Garcia's not doing anything, we could ask JJ, we could all go out for Chinese or something."

"Morgan!" Reid snapped, and immediately tried to regain his composure. "You go. Have fun, really, I just – want a quiet evening at home, okay?" He didn't give Morgan a chance to object but darted off to get some coffee.

Morgan reminded himself that it could have gone worse, but he was still frustrated. If Reid honestly didn't need help, he wasn't going to force it on him, but it seemed rather unlikely that was the case – and it begged the question of whether Morgan could force Reid to accept his help at all.

He made his way to Garcia's bunker, planning on asking for her advice on the matter – she was an expert at drawing people out of themselves, after all – but instead, he ended up asking her out for drinks. He wasn't sure he'd make good company with the Reid problem on his mind, but it had been a while since the two of them had had a chance to do something together, and the alternative was brooding about it alone. Reid might be determined to spend his Valentine's Day that way, but Morgan didn't think that was any reason he had to be miserable.

2008

JJ was secretly (or so she thought) picking Will up at the airport. Hotch had custody this week and was spending the night at home with Jack. Emily had vaguely implied that she was busy that evening, so Morgan didn't bother asking Rossi. Even Garcia had stood him up, and Morgan just hoped whoever the guy was, he knew he was lucky.

That meant that Reid was the only one to accept Morgan's invitation for Thursday night, and Morgan couldn't decide if his luck was good or bad. Good, because he liked the idea of having Reid to himself. Bad, because he really liked the idea of having Reid to himself, and he knew the smartest thing to do would be to avoid as much temptation as possible.

He reminded himself of that repeatedly, but it didn't stop him from driving over to Reid's apartment to pick him up that evening.

Reid answered the door dressed as though he were heading back to work, not to a bar. Morgan knew he was in trouble when he caught himself thinking how endearing that was, but it was too late to back out now so he just smiled. "Ready?"

"Yeah, just let me grab my keys."

Reid seemed slightly nervous, fumbling with his keys as he locked the door and pushing his hair back behind his ears the way he did when he had something on his mind. Morgan nearly asked what was bothering him, but thought he'd wait to see if Reid would mention it without prodding. He wasn't disappointed, although they were in the car before Reid spoke. "I don't really want to drink too much tonight. If that's okay."

That wasn't quite what Morgan had expected to hear, and he wondered if this was something he should be worrying about. "Something up?"

Reid was looking out the window, so Morgan couldn't get a read on his facial expression, but he sounded all right as he answered, "No, I'm just trying to limit my alcohol consumption lately."

Morgan decided he was just going to have to trust Reid on that; and if he did have some sort of problem, at least he was doing something about it, even if he wouldn't talk about it. "You know, we don't have to go to a bar if you don't want to."

"It's fine," Reid shrugged.

"No, really," Morgan insisted. "I don't want you to do anything you don't want to."

"Who wouldn't want to drink non-alcoholic beverages and watch you pick up women?" Reid replied dryly.

Morgan laughed at that, but probably not for the reason Reid intended; he couldn't help but think how recently, when he'd gone out with the team, he'd spent far more time talking to Reid than to any of the women who noticed him. An evening spent in a setting where they could actually talk uninterrupted sounded more appealing to him. "Okay, so you want to get something to eat?"

Reid looked back at him skeptically, but he didn't he say no, he just observed, "Valentine's Day is the second most popular holiday in America for eating out."

"Yeah, and?"

"And, it's going to be crowded. Everywhere."

"I don't know; it's kind of late," Morgan observed. "Maybe we missed the rush."

Reid frowned. "I doubt it."

"So you don't want to get something to eat."

He chewed his lip for a second, thinking. "No, I'm hungry," he decided after a moment. "But there's going to be a wait."

Morgan was inclined to believe him as he drove to a little Italian place nearby that was terminally vacant; if any place was likely to have missed the crowds, that was it. When they arrived, the hostess told them there was a twenty-minute wait for a table. That didn't seem too bad, so Morgan put his name in and they decided to wait outside where it was less noisy.

It wasn't that cold, for the middle of February, and Reid was fussing with his scarf in a way that captured far too much of Morgan's interest. He shoved his hands into his pockets, because the alternative was grabbing that scarf, and the person it was wrapped around. Fortunately, Reid was still thinking about restaurant statistics for the fourteenth of February and launched into a lecture on the subject, which distracted Morgan from his inconvenient thoughts. It must also have kept Reid too preoccupied for whatever demons had been plaguing him earlier in the evening, because he was smiling warmly and standing perhaps a little closer than he realized.

Morgan was always glad to see Reid looking so cheerful and untroubled, but it occurred to him to wonder how they might look to an outsider when his name was called and the hostess gave them a scrutinizing look.

He pretended not to notice, because there was no reason to spook Reid over one person's over-active imagination, but the thoughts he'd been trying to suppress had been put back in the forefront of his mind and he couldn't quite shake it. Did they seem like a couple? More importantly, did Reid think they seemed like a couple? He didn't seem overly concerned, which could be a good thing or a bad thing. There wasn't much he could do at the moment to determine which it was; he just needed to let it go. He must really have it bad if one odd look from a complete stranger had him this worked up.

Morgan glanced at the menu, but just for a moment. "You know, they have good pizza here," he hinted.

Reid didn't even look up from his menu. "Turning your nose up at respectable Italian dishes? Rossi would be horrified."

"Guess it's just as well he's out with Prentiss and it's just us."

"I don't know about that," Reid mused. "She's probably getting treated to a very nice dinner tonight. Going out with Rossi might not be such a bad thing."

The idea sent a wave of jealousy through Morgan that was unpleasant, but not entirely unexpected. Reid was joking, though, so he replied in kind. "No, I bet you anything he's a stingy bastard. You're much better off with me."

"You and your pizza," Reid laughed. "It depends on what toppings you want."

"I could just order and surprise you," Morgan suggested.

"Ah, no."

"You don't trust me?"

"With my life, yes. With my food, no."

"Come on, Reid, have a little fun."

"I can think of other surprises that would be more fun," Reid said, far too casually to mean anything by it, but Morgan was intrigued and wanted to press the issue. Before he got the chance, their waiter interrupted to take their drink orders, and Morgan mentally cut five percent off his tip. By the time he was gone, whatever Reid might have been saying had passed and the conversation turned back to arguing over pizza toppings.

They managed to reach an agreement, but Morgan still got the chance to surprise Reid when they ordered by getting appetizers. "See? Calamari's nice."

Reid conceded the point, deciding to bring up a more serious concern. "You don't think it's a problem, Rossi and Prentiss dating?"

Morgan was not in a position to judge them for breaking the fraternization rules. "No, not really. I don't get what she sees in him," although to be honest, Rossi had grown on him considerably since those strained first weeks of their acquaintance, "but I don't think there's anything wrong with it."

"Even though they work together?"

He just shrugged. "I don't know. Yeah, it makes things complicated, but they're adults, they're smart. They can work it out."

Reid considered this and seemed satisfied with the answer. "I think you're right about that. I hope they do, anyway."

"Yeah, good luck to them."

With a shared smile, they fell back into silence. Morgan alternated between guessing what Reid was thinking about and simply appreciating his company – and the view. Pizza had been a good choice, he decided, watching the careful way that Reid's hands lifted the food to his mouth. Morgan tried to be subtle, but Reid noticed the attention. To cover, Morgan asked his opinion about a case that had been in the news lately, the murder of a rich businessman.

They were still debating it when the check arrived. Morgan reached for it a second before Reid, and he tried not to jump as Reid's hand brushed against his. "I got it."

"Let me pay half," Reid insisted, and Morgan was too distracted by Reid's hand, resting lightly on his, to put up a fight.

"Fine. But let the record show that I was trying to be chivalrous."

Reid laughed, sounding a bit preoccupied, but that might have just been because he was busy counting out cash from his wallet. They paid – Morgan resentfully giving the waiter a better tip than he'd planned – and left the restaurant without further discussion. This time, though, the silence felt uneasy, and worried that whatever had been troubling Reid before had returned, Morgan tugged gently on Reid's hair and asked, "What's going on in that pretty head of yours?"

They walked in silence for a moment; and when Reid spoke, he didn't exactly answer the question. "It's been a long year." He shook his head as though to clear it, and seemed a little less lost as he said, "You know, I think we might be cursed."

Morgan raised an eyebrow in inquiry, and Reid clarified, "it seems like we're always alone this day."

"That's not such a bad thing," Morgan slung an arm around Reid's shoulders. "You know you like spending time with me."

"I do," Reid grinned, "but you could have at least brought me chocolate." He cleared his throat and looked away, as though he wasn't sure he should have said that, so Morgan thought he'd play along to make it seem like no big deal.

"I can make it up to you," he murmured in Reid's ear, immediately realizing that this was getting out of hand. It didn't feel like joking around anymore.

Reid must have noticed, too, because he stopped walking and slid out from under Morgan's arm. "Is this a date?" he blurted out.

His straightforward question caught Morgan off guard, and the only reply he could manage was, "What?"

Reid blushed but carried on. "I, ah, I know we've done things like this before – just hanging out, and it doesn't mean anything – but this is the second time you've taken me out on Valentine's and, well, you've been flirting with me quite a lot lately, and I have to consider the possibility that this isn't just going out because neither of us has a better alternative…what – what's with that look."

Morgan knew he was staring incredulously, but he couldn't help it. "You talk so damn fast when you're nervous."

The corners of Reid's mouth quirked upward in a faint smile. "Right."

"Reid…" he started, but realized he didn't know what came next. When Reid looked back at him, there was a cautious hope in his eyes that encouraged Morgan to reach out and caress Reid's cheek, noting how his breath caught for a moment, then lean forward to press his lips to Reid's.

He'd meant it to be a brief kiss, but Reid pulled him closer, deepening the kiss, and Morgan quickly lost himself to the warmth of Reid's body pressing against him and Reid's arms around him and Reid's mouth on his. He played with Reid's hair with one hand while the other ran down his spine, stopping to rest on the small of his back. Reid moaned at the contact, and it occurred to Morgan that there were some things they probably needed to say before this went any farther.

He pulled away reluctantly. Reid looked slightly miffed about that, so Morgan kissed the side of his neck to make up for it. "Reid." That sounded too formal, given the circumstances, so he tried again. "Spencer." That was going to take some getting used to; quite a lot of getting used to, if Reid's laugh was any indication.

"Yes, Derek?"

It was very tempting for Morgan to do something about that smirk, but he told himself there would be time for that later. He was busy at the moment trying to remember what had seemed so important before, because all he could think of to say now was, "Are you sure?"

Reid looked surprised for a moment before he nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure." He kissed Morgan again, and Morgan knew he could get used to that very quickly.

2009

Morgan had his hands full in the kitchen and didn't hear Reid let himself into the house. He wasn't even aware of his boyfriend's presence until he heard choked off laughter and turned around to see him standing in the doorway.

"Something funny, pretty boy?"

"No, not at all," Reid answered, grinning widely at the sight of Morgan messing with a cake pan. "Do you want some help with that?"

"I got it. Come over here anyway."

Reid walked close enough that Morgan could pull him in for a kiss, though he looked both amused and disgruntled when Morgan released him. "You got flour on my shirt," he complained.

"Take it off if it bothers you that much," Morgan winked.

"And you wonder why I don't dress more carefully," Reid muttered, brushing off the powder. "It's because whenever I do, something like this happens."

"Someone else has been covering you with flour?" Morgan asked. "Who do I have to intimidate into behaving themselves around you?"

Reid rolled his eyes. "You're the only person messing up my clothes, Derek."

"Good."

"Messing up the kitchen, too, I see," Reid observed drily.

"I was going to have it cleaned up before you got back," Morgan explained. "You're early, by the way."

"Is that a problem?"

"Of course not. You can help me clean up."

Reid looked skeptically at the batter. "Are you sure you don't want my help with the cake?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." Morgan was determined to finish it by himself, even if it would no longer be a surprise. "Your consult must have gone well if you're back so soon."

Reid made a face. "Yes and no," he replied. "We put together a profile with no trouble, but if they'd just sent us all the information they had, we could have done it from Quantico and spared ourselves an hour travel time each way."

"Rossi drove you crazy?" Morgan guessed.

"He was fairly bad-tempered," Reid admitted. "It isn't like he was the only one who had to work today. Although I didn't mind too much when he chewed out the head detective."

"I would've liked to have seen that."

Reid shared Morgan's smile for a second before his expression faded to something more contemplative. "I think Hotch planned it this way."

"What do you mean?"

"He sent Dave and me on a consult out of town on Valentine's. Not the two of us, not Emily and Dave. It's like he's trying to mess up our plans."

"Why would he do that?"

"To remind us not to let it get in the way of the job?" Reid speculated.

Morgan thought Hotch respected them more than that; while he would be lying if he said he'd never let his relationship with Reid interfere with his work, those occasions were rare, and he was pretty sure Hotch knew that. "I think you're reading too much into this," he said. "But I'm glad you're back now."

"Oh?" Reid asked jokingly, "What happened to 'Valentine's Day is a lame holiday'?"

Morgan frowned. "I didn't say that."

Reid just raised an eyebrow. Morgan knew better than to argue with that look. "Okay, when did I say that?"

"Four years ago," he answered promptly.

"Yeah, well, I seem to remember you being less than thrilled at the idea of going out with me."

Reid explained sheepishly, "I thought you were making fun of me."

"Would I do something like that?" His question was met with a half-hearted glare. "Fine, but I wasn't."

"I know that now. A lot of things have changed since then."

"Sure…like your hair, for one thing."

Reid sighed in exasperation. "Just admit it, you're obsessed with my hair."

"Isn't everyone?" Morgan answered flippantly. "Although if you think I'm joking about throwing out your hair gel, you're wrong."

"You do, and I'll get Garcia to block the ESPN website on your computer."

"My girl wouldn't do that to me."

Reid smirked. "I think she would if I asked her. She did offer her services if I ever needed assistance, ah, 'keeping the studmuffin in line.'"

Morgan stared. "She did not."

"She did, and she sounded much too excited about the idea. It was mortifying."

"Spencer, promise me something."

"What?"

"Promise me you and Garcia aren't going to go scheming against me behind my back, because that is a scary thought."

He'd meant it as a joke, but Reid sounded perfectly somber when he replied, "Promise me I won't need to."

"Spencer…" Morgan sighed, seeing the flicker of doubt and fear on Reid's face and hating that there was nothing he could do to remove it completely. "I promise," he said, hoping that one day all the promises and declarations would be enough.

Reid looked down guilty as he said, "Sorry."

"Don't apologize about that, okay?"

He smiled slightly. "Sorry?"

Morgan sighed exaggeratedly and wrapped his arms around Reid, which made Reid laugh and squirm. "You drive me crazy," and it sounded as much like a compliment as an accusation.

"And that's a good thing?"

"Always."

"Hm. Always," Reid repeated thoughtfully. "I like the sound of that."