OBLIGATORY DISCLAIMER: I don't own Criminal Minds, or any of its associated characters, plots, scripts or episodes.

AN: Goes with "Alaskan Conversations"


Thanksgivings Past

Spencer always found this time of year depressing. November and December, with their bookends of Thanksgiving and New Years and the associated family get together never failed to bring home just how alone he was. The only family he was willing to claim was his mom and he couldn't face the thought of visiting Bennington. Oh they did their best to make it as cheerful as possible for the residents but he could never visit on the holidays without the truckload of guilt around how he institutionalised his mother to pursue his own selfish dreams.

What did he have to show for it? A job with the hated government, no family of his own, no friends he could count on and a drug addiction. Oh yes he'd really made a success of his life. No, visiting wasn't on the list of things to do this Thanksgiving. Thanks to Hankel he'd already died this year and relived the fateful day he destroyed his own mother. How could he sit there and smile when he was so worthless?

Spencer wished he could say that the depression was only a side effect of coming off the drugs, his one success, but knew that this was just the annual revisiting of the guilt. Although this year he had to be careful not to let it drive him back to the oblivion of the dilaudid. Tobias had used it to take away the pain but this pain was deserved. Nothing he had done warranted the oblivion.

He was unsure what plans the rest of the team had for the long weekend. Gideon had bullied Hotch into letting everyone take all the time off, even bringing some pressure to bear on Strauss to sign off on it; so there wasn't even that respite from the season. If he was honest, Spencer wasn't certain that everyone being off was a good idea, given that the last time it had happened Elle was stabbed nearly died and ended up leaving the team.

The replacement of Elle with Emily wasn't easy. Spencer had known that Elle would be there to get his back; that she would have been there for him after his abduction. She was the one who'd treated him like he was more than just his speed reading and data retention skills. The rest of the team wouldn't admit to it but that was how it felt at times.

The knock on the door was early. Morgan had decreed the night before that he was going to pick Reid up, it was unlikely to be anyone else at seven in the morning. Spencer knew that he was going to get grief about where he was living before he opened the door.

"Reid you need to move to some place more secure." Morgan didn't disappoint, as he pushed through to the living area. "The front door was open again and I could just walk straight in. Then you just open the door without checking who it was first. What if I was some drug crazed psycho?" He stood there, clearly expecting an answer.

Reid sighed. "I like living here. The rent is cheap; the neighbours are nice; and if you'd turned out to be a 'drug crazed psycho', who by the way are all in bed asleep, I'd call for Mrs Klein to chase you away." He thought it was funny that Morgan was terrified of his octogenarian neighbour. "Why are you here this early anyway?" He changed the subject at Morgan's shudder.

"I've made a decision and you aren't going to spend Thanksgiving holed up in here reading." He'd already sized up a couple of piles of books. "You need to pack a bag because we are going to party like you've never partied before. Go. Pack." He pushed Reid towards the bedroom before heading to the kitchen and starting to go through Reid's woefully empty fridge.

The offer of someplace to go, to escape the apartment and the problems in his life it encapsulated was too much. Three days at some beach resort would be a break, with no questions from everyone else who was there running away from their own demons. Reid could watch Morgan attract his usual bevy of beauties, then wait until he'd made his choice before looking for company for himself or retiring alone.

Used to packing quickly, repacking his go bag as soon as he got back from their latest case while half dead from the workload gave plenty of practice, it took less than five minutes to collect everything he would need.

Morgan hadn't wasted the little time he'd been gifted. Reid's fridge was emptied of the items that would perish while they were away. From the pile on the table it looked like only the condiments would be left!

"Bin liner?" Reid pointed towards a drawer at the question. "When you move you also need to stock your fridge better, no wonder you're so skinny if that's all you are eating. Take out doesn't make for a balanced diet."

"It does, however, make for an easy to grab meal when you arrive back from a case late at night. Look, just leave it alone." Exasperated by the renewed nagging about his diet, Reid pushed past Morgan to grab the bag; then quickly dumped the dated food into it before thrusting the bag into the other man's arms; if Morgan was that interested in the trash then he could take it out.

Grabbing his bag and keys Spencer moved to the door, he might be prepared to go along with Morgan's usurpation of his long weekend but he didn't have to stand around and be lectured as well. As Morgan was standing there he did use both of the locks on the door, including the one that Morgan had fitted while ranting about the neighbourhood, which got a small huff of approval from the other man. The front door to the building was standing open, as it usually did, which earned a raised eyebrow 'told you so' from the other man.

Trash dumped into the bin and bag stowed safely in the back of Morgan's SUV the two agents finally started on their way into the work.