Disclaimer: Criminal Minds and its affiliated characters do not belong to me. I mean no copyright infringement.
Criminal Minds Weekly Prompts – Week 10/Prompt 2: Clooney had a little too much fun while Morgan was away on a case. This is also a Reid birthday fic for michi1210 who had a birthday last week and for United Profilers who has a birthday later this month!
Clooney's Adventure
"Uh, Morgan? Did you just…" Reid gave one of his infamous odd facial expressions. "Did you just leave a message for Clooney on your home answering machine?"
"Let it go, kid."
Reid just smirked and went back to reading across the isle from Morgan who was once again listening to his iPod ® and scrolling through something on his phone. When it looked to Reid that Morgan had fallen asleep, he moved to the table where Rossi, Hotch and JJ were sitting and pulled out his phone.
"Hey, Clooney, if you can hear and understand me, there's something I want you to do. I want you to play with all of the clothes you can get to, like the ones in the baskets, and just play with them. You can play in any room in the house! Have fun!" Reid put his phone away looking smug.
"You can't seriously think that prank is going to work," declared Rossi.
"I don't know, but it's worth a try."
"So the prank wars are still going on?" JJ asked while shaking her head.
"I prefer to think of it as scientific inquiry," Reid challenged.
Hotch finally spoke up. "Reid, don't you have to have more than one subject to conduct an experiment?"
"You could always try it on Mudgie," JJ excitedly offered.
"Oh no, you don't!" barked Rossi at which Hotch's lips twitched slightly.
"But I thought you said it wouldn't work," said Hotch.
"I'm not taking any chances. Try it out on Emily's cat," suggested Rossi as the group looked behind him to see that Emily was sleeping in the place that Reid once sat.
"Sergio," chuckled Hotch.
"Emily named her cat, Sergio?" laughed Rossi.
"I'm surprised you didn't already know that," claimed Hotch.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Only that you two have been joined at the hip these last few weeks." Hotch explained.
Not wanting to know anything the two best friends were about to discuss, Reid quickly and awkwardly stepped into the isle. "That's my cue to leave," he announced more to himself than to anyone sitting at the table.
Since Emily had stretched out on the long bench seat they were sharing, Reid decided to scrunch up his legs and use a blanket as a pillow against the wall on Morgan's side of the isle. With all his wiggling around, he stirred Morgan awake.
"Kid, are you going to get comfortable soon?"
"Ah, sorry. Just give me one more moment to make this blanket into something resembling a pillow."
"That's not going to work. You're skin and bones. You'll be shivering when you wake up."
"That's quite normal given that our body temperature drops during sleep."
"And it still means you'll be cold. Turn around and use my leg for a pillow and you can use the blanket the way it's supposed to be used."
"That's… I'm fine this way."
"No, you're not, Reid. Now get over here."
He looked skeptical for a few moments but gave in like he always did to Morgan. "Fine." When he was all situated, Reid mumbled into the blanket he had hovered up to his chin. "You may not be so nice to me in a few hours."
"What was that?" asked Morgan.
"Nothing."
~oOo~
The plane arrived back at Quantico an hour later and Morgan had to shake Reid awake before they landed so he could use a seatbelt. Reid was instantly embarrassed when he realized where he was, how he got there and then realized he must have turned to his other side facing Morgan. He did his best to look unaffected by the event and noticed that no one else on the plane, including Morgan, seemed disturbed by it.
"Who's ready to eat when we land?" asked Reid.
It was late and a bunch of excuses filtered through the air.
"I could eat, but I gotta check on Clooney first. Maybe we could just order some take out and chill," answered Morgan.
"Stay in and eat? Uh, why not," replied Reid nervously. Rossi chuckled while Hotch and JJ tried to hide their smiles.
~oOo~
By the time they reached Morgan's house, it was pouring rain.
"God, I hope Clooney had the sense to stay inside after it started raining."
"Does he usually like to play in the rain?"
"Only if he's trying to get my attention."
He unlocked the door and switched on the hallway lights before walking in behind Reid.
"Maybe he was upset you were gone too long?" asked Reid.
Morgan looked in the direction Reid was and groaned. There were muddy paw prints from the doggy door all the way down the hall and into laundry room. "Well at least he didn't run into any carpeted rooms."
Morgan flipped on another light and threw his go bag on a bench in the laundry room. "What happened in here?" growled Morgan. "Clooney?" he yelled. Reid's gulp and panicked expression went unnoticed.
Surprisingly, Clooney made a quick appearance. He looked at his master with sad puppy dog eyes and whimpered.
"Oh no, you don't," warned Morgan. "You are not getting away with this."
Clooney just whimpered again. Morgan rolled his eyes as the dog rubbed up against his leg looking for affection. Reid smiled.
"Not you, too," Morgan glared at Reid.
"What? What did I do?" Reid asked as he hoped he didn't sound guilty.
"Don't pretend to be on his side and butter me up."
"It's better than listening to you growl," Reid attempted to deflect any attention onto himself.
"Some people love to listen to me growl," teased Morgan.
Reid's eyebrows narrowed in confusion for a few moments before the suggestive meaning dawned on him. His eyes grew wide and he blushed slightly.
"Well, I don't see any of those people here," he answered awkwardly. "People?" Reid thought to himself. "As in men and women?"
"I'll just help clean this place up. Some hot soapy water will clean up the mud and we can easily throw these clothes in the machine," Reid hurried on in his uncomfortable state.
"Why are these clothes on the floor instead of in the laundry basket?" asked Morgan finally noticing what else didn't look right in the room. He lifted up a blanket that was laying over one of the baskets.
Both men looked in shock with their jaws dropped and questioning eyes. Morgan was the first to speak.
"Whoa!"
Clooney squeezed himself between the legs of the two men and whimpered again. He nudged one of the kittens and it squirmed.
"Maybe Clooney is a hero," realized Reid. "He got them warm. I don't think they've been fed though." Reid carefully inspected all four kittens. "I think we got here in time. They're all still alive."
"But very weak. How are we supposed to feed them?" asked Morgan who was now kneeling down looking closely at the kittens with Reid and Clooney.
"Do you think it's too late for a Pet Star to be open? They would have bottles with milk that has the appropriate nutrition for newborns."
Morgan let out a big sigh. This certainly wasn't anything he could have imagined for his evening back at home. "Okay, I'll go to the pet store. Clooney is almost out of food, too. Why don't you stay here? The pizza should be delivered soon."
"Sure! Clooney and I can hold down the fort." He smiled widely at Clooney and scratched him behind the ears earning him a lick.
So it wasn't what he expected, but it wasn't going to be a lonely night. He shook his head at the sight and grabbed his keys to head back out into the monsoon.
~oOo~
It was midnight when Morgan and Reid were sitting on the couch feeding the kittens their bottles for the third time. Clooney watched attentively at their feet.
"I think we're getting good at this. We can feed two kittens at once," said Reid proudly.
"Don't get too attached, Reid. Tomorrow, we start finding these little guys new homes."
"You don't want to keep at least one?"
"They're kittens… kittens that grow up to be snobby cats. I'm not a cat person."
"If Clooney, who is actually a dog, can care for a cat, so can you."
"You don't know that. These are kittens, not cats."
"I think this one looks like she should be named Chloe."
"Chloe?" asked Morgan incredulously. "Chloe is a human name. I have a niece named Chloe."
"Actually, Chloe is in the top ten lists for female cat names."
"How do you even know that? Do you even like cats?"
"I like them just fine. I just don't want to have to worry about a pet when I'm out of town."
"Well, then I'll say it again, don't get attached."
"Okay, okay. I hear you. I'll just be back around…"
"Oh, no, you don't! Who's going to help me feed them every two to three hours?"
~oOo~
"You're not sleeping here, Reid. You're too long," Morgan said referring to the couch. "Come on. Clooney will leave you some room on the bed."
A few minutes later, Reid looked skeptical as he eyed the narrow strip of bed left when Clooney moved closely to Morgan in the middle of the bed.
"Just don't roll over," he chuckled.
"Right," mumbled Reid
A couple of hours later, Reid woke up on the floor with a thud. Clooney barked and licked the side of Reid's head he was rubbing. Morgan laughed.
"How'd you get down there?"
"Shut up."
Morgan stood and held out a hand. "Come on, Grouch. It's about time for feeding. Let's make this quick. I'm tired."
"I don't think I like kittens anymore," whined Reid.
"You help me and I'll make sure you don't roll off the bed again."
~oOo~
"Hey, kid," Morgan whispered and tapped Reid on the shoulder. "You're going to squish the kitten."
"What?" he asked groggily.
"Get up. The kittens are done eating. Let's go to bed."
Before he followed Morgan back to his bedroom, he took a picture of Clooney and the basket of kittens and sent a text to Rossi. "This isn't what I bargained for when I left the message for Clooney. I'll be calling you tomorrow to convince you that Mudgie wants a kitten." He clicked send and laid his phone table.
"Let's go, Clooney. No pushing me off the bed this time."
Clooney barked.
"Yeah, I know what you did. I get the middle this time."
Author's Notes: Please let me know what you think. Writing Morgan and Reid is still new for me and I have a multi-chapter romantic story in the works.