Don't Judge a Nerd by His Sweater Vest
By Lizzy Borg and MTLupy
A/N: So... This is the chapter where Morgan and Reid meet, and Gids has some trouble keeping them from them from killing each other. NOTE AGAIN: THIS. IS. NOT. SLASH. I wrote wrote this chapter from our roleplay and the Morgan parts, while Lupster wrote the Reid parts. We both worked on the other less important characters and Gids. It may be a little OOC, but this also takes place five years before the first season, so...
Warning: References to Extreme Agressor and Jones (we gave Ethan a last name, because he was sorely lacking one).
Disclaimer: WE DON'T OWN CRIMINAL MINDS OR ANY CHARACTERS BESIDES MEGAN COLLINS AND SETH NORRIS. WE DON'T WANT TO GO THROUGH THE WHOLE LIST OF PEOPLE WE INCLUDE. WHY? BECAUSE WE'RE LAZY! I'M SURE YOU UNDERSTAND BECAUSE YOU'RE READING THIS AND NOT DOING YOUR HOMEWORK. ^ - ^
"We can never judge the lives of others, because each person knows only their own pain and renunciation. It's one thing to feel that you are on the right path, but it's another to think that yours is the only path." - Paulo Coelho
Monday, September 18, 2000
Derek Morgan wasn't sure what the scrawny kid in the sweater vest was doing in this room, and definitely didn't know what he was doing in FBI training, of all places. He couldn't be older than 16, and was staring around like he was expecting somebody to attack him. When the guy next to him jokingly elbowed him in the ribs, the kid nearly jumped a foot in the air before scowling at his friend.
A woman with a commanding air and her hair pulled back into a bun marched into the room, her blue eyes flashing over the FBI recruits. A man with dark hair followed her. He had friendly eyes and many laugh lines. The group of about 30 people settled down and all found places to sit.
The woman cleared her throat. "All right cadets, welcome to the FBI Training Academy. I am Supervisory Special Agent, or SSA for short, Erin Strauss. Today, I will be charge of training the women in this group. The men will go with SSA Jason Gideon. Most of the rest of your training will be co-ed. Now, since you will all be living together for the next five months, you should all introduce yourselves. Let's start with you." Strauss pointed at the scrawny kid.
"Sp-Spencer Reid."
"Ethan Wojciechowski." Reid's friend said. The introductions, all very simple, went around the room until they came to Morgan.
"Morgan." He said, pitching his voice lower than normal, and then pulled off his sunglasses with a flourish. "Derek Morgan." That was met with the expected amount of female giggling. Strauss rolled her eyes.
"I'm Megan Collins." A red haired woman said with an Irish accent.
"Seth Norris." said a man with dirty blond hair said. "And yeah, I am related to Chuck Norris." This statement was followed by more laughter, and Norris smiled.
"Jennifer Jareau." She was blonde with blue eye - not a giggler.
After a few more introductions, Gideon clapped his hands together. "All right, then. Men with me, women of course stay here with SSA Strauss." He led the group down the hallway to a gym with mats on the floor. "Self-defense, men. Let's see what you're made of." He consulted a list. "Derek Morgan, Spencer Reid, you're up."
Morgan raised his eyebrow at the scrawny kid who stepped over awkwardly after being slapped on the back by his grinning friend, Ethan. Oh, this is too easy. Both men faced off.
"Go!" said Gideon.
In one quick practiced move, Morgan put Reid into a tight headlock, but Reid quickly managed to get out, gasping. "Fine," said Morgan, grinning in spite of himself, "You can get out of this one, can you get out of this?" He lifted Reid onto his back and slammed him against the wall. The crowd gasped.
On the ground, Reid shook his head a few times and blinked dazedly.
"All right, break time," said Gideon. He threw Reid an icepack, but the kid threw it back stating that he didn't need it.
Mockingly, Morgan said "How did you get into the FBI if you can't even defend yourself?"
Gideon gave Morgan 'The Look.' "Back off, Morgan." He turned to Reid. "You all right, kid?"
Reid managed to get to his feet. "Yeah, I'll be fine."
Ignoring Gideon's warning, Morgan said, "Question still stands."
Reid glared at Morgan. "Well… I do have an IQ of 187, an eidetic memory, and can read 20,000 words a minute. I also have three Ph.D.'s in Mathematics, Engineering and Chemistry. And for your information, I can defend myself. It's just a bit hard when I'm being held in the air. I'd like to see you try it."
Oh, he wants to play this game, did he? Scornfully, Morgan said, "I was a Chicago police officer, have a black belt in Judo, and teach self-defense classes. I think I can take on a toothpick like you."
"So… you both have different talents. That's good." said Gideon, trying to break up the fight.
Reid ignored Gideon. "Don't you know that it's a really bad idea to insult someone with a higher IQ than you?" Without Morgan realizing, Reid hit him in the face, and knocked his legs out from under him. Morgan fell to the ground, hitting his head hard, despite the mats.
Through the blur of pain and humiliation, Morgan could hear Gideon say, "Reid, why didn't you do that before?"
"I guess I'm used to defending myself after being attacked first." Reid said turning towards Gideon.
Morgan used the distraction of Reid's conversation to kick him hard in the back of the knee, causing him to fall to the floor. But Reid managed to take Morgan down with him.
"Cadets, that's enough!" said Gideon, but was ignored. Again.
Morgan stood up, dragging Reid up by the front of his sweater vest, and punched him in the face. Reid retaliated by kneeing him in the gut. Morgan grunted, but tried to punch Reid again when Gideon intercepted his fist, and had two other students drag them apart.
"You two!" The formerly easy-going agent looked furious. "Sit. Now! That is an order! I will talk to you later." After the two men when sat on the bench that Gideon had pointed at, he had the other students wrestle, allowing Morgan and Reid to simmer.
It was humiliating to listen to the laughs and whispers of the other men as they filed out. Gideon waited until Ethan had winked at Reid and left before he closed the door and came to stand before the two.
"What was that about?" He asked, arms crossed. "When I tell you to stop, you stop." Morgan clenched his teeth and glared at Gideon's feet, resentful and silent.
But of course Reid had to answer. "Technically speaking, he started it. So don't look at me."
Morgan groaned and had to speak up. "I thought I was supposed to beat him up."
"That doesn't mean slam me into a wall! And we were supposed to be practicing self defense."
"I was helping you practice self-defense."
"Still, that was a bit overdone, don't you think?"
"Have you ever been slammed into a wall before?"
"Yes. Repeatedly." Reid said bluntly. "You think I don't have any real world experience? You think Chicago is hard? Try being twelve-years-old in a Las Vegas public high school!"
"What, you think I was a bully?"
"I bet you totally beat up kids like me back in school." Reid said. Morgan couldn't figure out what to say - it was true, after he got onto the varsity football team, he had bullied dorks just like any other high school athlete. "Let's just face it - I'm smarter than you."
Ouch.
"You have book smarts. I have street smarts. Let's just face it - I'm stronger than you."
"I can think of 100 more options than you."
"You can't act them out though! I can, which is way better than any of that strategic shit you can come up with." Morgan said, enjoying seeing Reid rise, his face flushed and his hands clenched into fists.
Gideon put his hand on Reid's shoulder. "Just sit down, kid." he said. "Relax."
Morgan couldn't resist jabbing a little harder. "Yeah, kid."
Gideon ignored the comment. "Look, we have the both of you in mind for the same unit. You're going to need to learn how to work together. Your lives very well may depend on it some day."
Both young men looked scornful.
"Ha!" Reid said wryly. "I'd like to see that!"
Morgan secretly seconded that emotion, but of course he wasn't going to tell anybody that. "Why would you stick me in a unit with a brainiacs? Or him with a bunch of tough guys?"
"All brawn, no brain." said Reid, turning on Morgan again. "You wouldn't last a day in the BSU."
Ouch.
"All brain, no brawn." Morgan responded hotly, provoked by the attack on his intelligence. "You wouldn't last a day… anywhere. If we end up working together, you won't see this brawn working too hard to save your ass."
Gideon sighed, rolled his eyes, and left the room.
There was an awkward period of silence as they wondered where Gideon had gone. Then Morgan remembered something confusing that Reid had said.
"What is the BSU?" he blurted out.
Reid laughed, obviously caught off guard. "Are you joking?"
Irritated by his condescension, Morgan said, "Excuse me if I don't know everything."
Reid began reciting, speeding up as he talked. "The BSU stands for Behavioral Science Unit of the FBI. It's part of the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime, or NCAVC, and uses behavior sciences to assist in criminal investigations, most notably profiling. The mission of the NCAVC and the BSU is to provide behavioral based investigative and/or operational support by applying case experience, research, and training to complex and time-sensitive crimes, typically involving acts or threats of violence…" He trailed off, noticing Morgan's slightly shocked expression.
Morgan recovered quickly enough to come up with a comeback. "You really need to get out more."
Reid scowled. "At least I actually use my brain."
Again with the all brawn, no brain crap.
"I use my brain. I was on the bomb squad. Idiots aren't trusted with explosives."
Reid laughed wryly again. "That's debatable."
Morgan was stung. "I bet you just got out of college, kid."
Reid leapt up again. "For your information…" He was cut off by Gideon entering the room with a determined expression and another clipboard. He handed Morgan and Reid each a piece of paper.
"Those are your room assignments. Your things should already be in your rooms." Morgan glanced at Reid's, hoping that the rooms would be very, very far apart. He was very disappointed.
"Rooms? You mean room!" He said. Reid grabbed Morgan's paper out of his hand and stared at the number, as if willing it to change. Gideon winced slightly.
"What?" said Reid.
"You did this on purpose!" Morgan accused.
Calmly, Gideon said. "You two need to cooperate. This is the only way I can make it happen."
The two young men glared at each other, their frustration with Gideon forgotten. The long-time profiler prayed that he wasn't wrong this time. "Please let this end well… Please let me be right…"