Hey. This is written for Chit Chat on Author's Corner forum topic, "The Strangness of September." I chose "Self-Improvement Month" and my two characters are Morgan and Reid. I guess you could call this pre-slash. And, season 9 starts tomorrow night, wooooooo!
I'm not sure if I totally pulled off this idea, but oh well, it was fun to write.
Disclaimer- I don't own Criminal Minds or it's characters.
Warnings- There's, like, one swear word in this.
Enjoy!
"Do we seriously have to do this?" Reid asked, his voice going slightly higher than usual in his embarrassment.
Reid and Morgan were about to go undercover... to a self-improvement convention for couples. The team presumed that the UnSub that they were hunting was going to be at said convention. Their UnSub targeted both men and women of any age group who he viewed as extremely insecure. The murders had started at the beginning of this month, Self-Improvement Month. The team supposed that this was the UnSub's end game; he was going to cause a scene if he attended this convention.
Morgan and Reid were going undercover as a gay couple as JJ and Garcia were the only two female team members and the team required both their technical analyst and media liaison.
"Reid, we're almost certain that the UnSub is going to be there," Hotch tried to reason with his agent. "It won't be a long time, anyway."
"Is it really that bad, Pretty Boy?" Morgan teased his colleague and nudged him with his elbow.
Reid just sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "We better go, the convention starts soon."
"Right." Gideon said. "Remember, Reid, you need to look and act insecure. You are going to a self-improvement convention." Gideon ignored Reid's muttered 'that shouldn't be hard', and continued speaking. "You too, Morgan. We can't have the UnSub getting suspicious or your cover being blown. Just act natural."
"I'll try," Reid said a bit sarcastically. Then, with a sigh, he said, "Let's go."
The other members of the team exchanged slightly amused glances and followed the young man.
Reid and Morgan sat in their standard issue black SUV. Garcia was back at Quantico, watching the convention from the cameras on the inside of the building. The rest of the team members were waiting outside, reading to come in whenever Reid, Morgan or Garcia said they had to.
"It's gonna be fine, Reid," Morgan said. "Don't be nervous."
"I know, I know," Reid sighed for the hundredth time that day. "It's like I should be going to this convention, anyway."
Morgan let out a small chuckle. "As awkward as this will be, we still have to act like a couple. It's our jobs."
"I know," Reid said in a slightly exasperated tone. "Let's get this over with."
Morgan gave a small smile and opened the door of the SUV and got out. Reid followed him outside.
As they walked toward the large building that the convention was being held in, Morgan took a deep breath, and reached down, taking Reid's thin hand in his own.
Reid took a nervous glance at Morgan for a second. They'd already practiced this before they'd come, but that didn't make him any less nervous. After a moment, Reid relaxed as best he could, even though he was still a little stiff.
"Here we go," Morgan whispered as they stepped through the doors of the building.
"Hello, gentlemen," An older, kind-looking man in a gray suit smiled at them as they walked into the building.
"Hey," Morgan replied quietly and his supposed "boyfriend" gave his usual little wave and a small smile.
"Enjoy the convention," The man, John, his nametag read, said as they walked into the room where the actual convention was set to be.
As Reid and Morgan walked into the spacious room, still somewhat awkwardly holding hands, they were also looking around, searching for anyone who seemed even the slightest bit suspicious.
They were almost positive that the UnSub would be here with a date. One, because this convention was for couples only. And, two, the team had profiled that the UnSub was probably married, to a wife who didn't know what he'd done.
In the room, there were 12 different round tables set up; each table sat 10 people. Morgan and Reid were guided to one of the tables near the front of the room, close to the stage, by friendly man who was working at the convention.
"Thank you," Reid said shyly as he sat on the comfy, green chair. The room was about half full at the moment, and there were two other couples already sitting at the table with them. Most of the couples attending were really keeping to themselves. The two agents had to remind themselves that they were at a convention for self-improvement.
The two profilers were so busy looking for anyone that could be their UnSub that at first they didn't notice that one of the women in front of them was sticking her hand out, trying to introduce herself.
"Elizabeth," She said, rather quietly and shyly.
"Derek," Morgan shook her hand gently; he had to remind himself that he had to act a bit nervous and unconfident so that the UnSub didn't grow suspicious of him.
Reid didn't even have to try to be bashful. "Spencer," He said and didn't shake her hand, just simply gave a small wave.
"Hello, ladies and gentlemen," A voice said into a microphone. Everyone in the room turned to the man standing on the stage, at the podium. "I'm Christopher. I hope you've all head a great morning, so far."
"Now, I'm sure you all know why you've come today…"
Morgan and Reid weren't paying attention to the man who was speaking at the podium for the last hour. They were too busy trying to spot the UnSub, who was blending in perfectly well.
"Do you still think he's here?" Morgan whispered so that only Reid could hear what he was saying.
"He has to be," Was all Reid said in reply, equally quietly. Morgan nodded.
"Now, it's time for the exercise I was telling you all about earlier," The two profilers looked back at Christopher. They hadn't listened when it was being explained previously.
"To refresh your memory, I will be asking a few of you to tell me about your partner," He stated simply.
Reid tensed up. Oh, please don't ask me, the young genius prayed in his head.
Christopher went around the room, asking a few people what they thought of the person they were in a relationship with. The replies were spoken rather nervously, as to be expected.
"How about you, Derek?" They'd all said their names at the beginning of the convention. "What do you think about Spencer?"
Morgan looked up at the speaker, slightly surprised. He cleared his throat before he spoke, "Um, my boyfriend, Spencer… I think he's perfect." Morgan knew that he had to make this believable. "I think that he's beautiful… and, I, um… I think that he doesn't realize that he is." The elder agent looked over at his colleague, who was shifting nervously and avoiding eye contact.
Reid was trying not to die of embarrassment. He was already nervous to begin with. The young man was sure that his face was bright red... He couldn't stop blushing. Please, let this be over soon.
"He's wonderful, but he acts like he isn't. Spencer is shy, but he shouldn't be; anybody would want to speak to him and get to know him. He needs to know how much, um… he means to me," Morgan found it easier than it should have been to say those last few words.
"Good, good job, Derek," Christopher smiled kindly at him before moving on. "Elizabeth, what about you? How would you describe your‒"
Christopher was cut off by a loud bang. A gunshot.
Screams erupted from the room and many couples got down on the ground, covering their heads.
Reid and Morgan looked around, quickly spotting their UnSub. He was standing by a table across the room, holding a young, frightened woman to his chest as leverage; his wife was on the ground, looking up at him in shock. The two agents had seen the man earlier and hadn't suspected him. They quickly pulled out their guns and aimed them at the UnSub, whom they know knew as Thomas. Everyone in the room looked terrified.
"Everybody get down on the ground!" He shouted.
"Thomas Wells, put down your weapon," Hotch said loudly as he and Rossi entered the room.
Thomas turned around quickly, his gun still pointed at the girl's head. "You put yours down, or she dies!"
"You know we can't do that, Thomas," Rossi said reasonably.
Reid and Morgan moved closer to Thomas and their fellow team members and the UnSub took a nervous glance back at them. "Do you want me to shoot her?" He asked and the woman cried.
"Do you know what I think, Thomas?" Rossi asked. "I think that you killed and targeted all of those people because you're the one who's insecure. You're the one who's not happy with yourself. I mean, look at you‒" Rossi stopped talking as Thomas shoved the girl away. Before he could even aim his gun at Rossi, though, he was taken down my gunshot to his arm by Hotch.
Thomas fell to the ground, clutching his bleeding arm. "You shot me!" He said incredulously as handcuffs were placed around his wrists, and then locked. "That fucking hurts!"
"Good," Was all Rossi said as he and Hotch took a struggling Thomas out of the building.
Morgan and Reid looked around the room. The guests and staff were all standing now, but they were clearly shaking.
The two agents made their ways outside and let the local officers take care of the building.
Morgan leaned against the black SUV. "So, how was our first date?" He asked in a teasing voice.
Reid looked up at Morgan, his eyes serious. In a quiet voice he spoke, "Morgan, did you mean what you said in there?"
"Reid" and review, please!