Part of the CM Weekly Prompts Forum for Monday, September 3rd
Open Character Prompt: Your character is watching TV late at night when there is a knock on the door
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The team had just gotten back from another brutal case. To Reid it seemed that each case was worse than the last. Usually to unwind and forget the horrors of the day, if only until he closed his eyes, he read a book or wrote to his mother, sometimes he even focused on papers or took a long relaxing bath. This time none of it would work, he just couldn't concentrate on anything. That's how he came to find himself watching the mind-numbing programme; Family Guy. He just didn't understand it, dogs don't talk and nor do two year olds, or at least not as sophisticatedly as Stewie. He found it ridiculous and not funny; at all. Not even a little. Partly because he didn't quite understand it and partly because he read into things far too much and only found the inconsistencies or impossibilities of the show. The team tended not to watch things with him because he had a tenancy to point stuff like this out and although it wasn't intentional and although they didn't say anything, he knew that it annoyed them.
A knock on the door interrupted his reverie and so he forced himself up and shuffled to the door. Without checking to see who it was he opened the door to find one Derek Morgan standing behind the threshold. Silently, Reid moved away from the door and sat back down, the door left open for his best friend to enter. For once he just didn't feel like talking, he had no idea what to say. The guest closed the door and took a seat next to his friend, staring at him for a long moment.
"What d'yah want Morgan?" Spencer didn't mean for it to sound so whiney but it did reflect his deflated and tired mood. Restless was an understatement and the fact that the last victim had died in his arms did nothing to help him. Her name was Hannah Charles, seven years old and stabbed. He found her on the bedroom floor and held her, talked to her and comforted her. He tried so hard to save her, shouting for the paramedics and praying to a God he didn't believe in to let her live but the paramedics weren't fast enough. She died in his arms and it still took the paramedics a further two minutes to enter the room to try, unsuccessfully, to resuscitate her. The parents were waiting outside once he'd left with the girl's blood on his clothes, his hands, everywhere. Spencer was the one that informed them and it made him appreciate JJ that little bit more – she had to do that regularly and he'd never realised how difficult it was until that moment.
"I wanted to spend some time with you." Morgan stated simply. At the dubious look he received, he added, "and to see if you were ok." He'd been worried about the kid. On the plane ride home he sat there, silently staring out of the window. He didn't stay behind and complete the paperwork like he usually did and he didn't take his satchel home. Luckily, Derek had brought it back but Reid clearly hadn't noticed.
"I'm not in the mood to talk about it Morgan. I don't want to talk about it." Sighing, he ran his fingers roughly through his hair before deciding to de-stress himself with a cup of extra strong coffee. Of course, being a decent host, he made his co-worker one too and set it down on the oak wood coffee table.
"Thanks." The pair sat there in an awkward silence for a while, neither daring to make eye contact with one another, they didn't move either. "Maybe we could just sit and, I don't know, watch Star Trek or Star Wars. Even Doctor Who cos that actually isn't that bad." Derek considered it a personal victory in that he'd managed to get a smile out of the genius.
"I wouldn't want to torture you by making you watch Star Wars or Star Trek. I do have the first couple of seasons of Doctor Who though. Knock yourself out and put one in, whatever you want." Before moving, Spencer received a raised eyebrow. "No pun intended."
"You know kid, I don't care what we watch, I'm just here to spend some quality time with you. This case was hard on and I don't know if we tell you enough but we're all here for you. And yes we know you like to 'internalise' things and deal with them yourself but your problems are our problems too." He wasn't sure whether his words had gotten through to the younger man but he hoped he'd at least listened. Morgan moved and put a random disk from season three into the DVD player before re-claiming his seat on the sofa. "And anyway, we missed our Friday Night Bonding Time last week so we have some lost time to make up for."
"I wonder what the team would think if they found out how much of a geek you actually are." Reid smiled at his best friend at the offended look on his face. Never in Derek's life had he been called a geek.
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Thanks for reading this :-)
Not sure how it turned out but this is what I came up with …
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