That First Spark – S01E06 L.D.S.K

Reid had always been the bean pole. The tall, pale, geeky kid who sometimes really didn't know when to shut it. The know-it-all, the genius, and while Morgan wouldn't say he couldn't stand him, there had always been a…block. And he figured it was probably because they were so different. Reid was timid. He couldn't talk to strangers, especially not teenagers, while Morgan was the one who questioned suspects, talked to detectives, dealt with teens and adults all the same. Just as well, where he was the guy who busted down doors and tackled the bad guys, Reid couldn't fight at all. He couldn't even shoot a gun properly, and it wasn't an odd occurrence to see Morgan picking on the younger for it.

So maybe it had been the headshot. Maybe it had been the dangerous situation, or seeing Reid sitting at the entrance of the ambulance. But when that spark hit, that feeling that had him looking after his teammate and maybe something fluttered somewhere inside him…well, Morgan chocked it up to the backbone behind the silent jab. Finally.

He clutched the whistle and grinned. "Touché kid."

Jump-Start – S01E09 Derailed

No.

It was the only thing that went through his mind before Morgan was on his feet. There no way he was letting Reid get on the same train as that armed psychotic, and he said as much. He wasn't even entirely sure why the thought of Reid becoming a hostage made him feel the way he did (bar being friends and coworkers), but it didn't matter, because Morgan wasn't going to let it happen. Gideon could go, Hotch could go. Hell, he would go, if only the kid would teach him the stupid magic trick.

But there was no talking Reid out of it. And in the end, he was really the only one who could do it; they didn't have any other options. They couldn't negotiate with the guy, and no one else would be able to pull off the sleight of hand needed to get the 'removal' done properly. So fine. If he couldn't go, Morgan was going to make damn sure Reid was as prepared as possible. And maybe he jumped the gun on answering the favour the kid wanted, but if it was one more thing he could do then he'd do it.

Light the Fuse – S01E10 The Popular Kids

Why again? It had only been a week. One week since the last time Reid had been in trouble, and now here they were, and the kid was almost literally staring down the barrel of a gun.

There had been a reason he'd sent the genius out to check for the deputy. If he was going to confront Cory, Morgan needed to be sure that he was in control of the situation. Even being the smart guy, Reid hadn't seemed to have figured it out yet, and he just couldn't take that risk. Look how well that had turned out.

'Think straight, think straight. Negotiate with him.' How? He said they could fix it but that wasn't exactly an option considering Cory had killed two people and was threatening an FBI agent. There was no remorse for what he'd done to the quarterback, and that glint that was there as he threatened to shoot…his boy? His boy. Fine. Reid was his boy if it only got the stupid teenager to put the gun down…

And then it was over. Cory was caught, they were both okay, and Morgan couldn't even be angry at 'his boy' for the less than grateful comment…Okay, miffed, but it was the backbone that had grabbed his attention in the first place, so…good enough.

New Feeling – S01E12 What Fresh Hell? / S01E17 A Real Rain

The case was over, and the whole team was feeling pretty good. They'd found the girl alive, gotten her back to her family, arrested a pedophile…it had been a good day. And it was on the plane ride home, while they were playing poker that Morgan noticed.

He was comfortable. More specifically, he was comfortable with Reid. The kid was still being his usual self, albeit in a different way, but it was still something a bit foreign. The genius seemed to be made of social awkwardness, even radiated it, and it was normal for Morgan to feel tense around the younger profiler. But here he was poking harmlessly (not even mockingly) at the kid's 'talent' with poker. He was laughing and smiling and enjoying himself.

And it was something that persisted. The jabs that he took at Reid were no longer mean-spirited. Even his incredulity that the genius had never been to New York, or the laughter that came when he discovered Reid couldn't use chopsticks, were kinder. Morgan felt like he could relax. Heck, most of the time he was around the younger man, and those little tidbits were things he was enjoying finding out about.

It was nice. Just…nice.

Protection – S01E18 Somebody's Watching

Morgan didn't have a problem with Lila Archer. He didn't. She was a nice, pretty girl, who seemed pretty good at handling Reid's awkwardness. On top of that, despite having a stalker willing to kill for her, she wasn't abandoning her career, though whether that was stupid or brave he wasn't entirely sure.

No, Lila wasn't the problem. The problem was that by interacting with Reid, she'd made him a target. Finding those pictures of him, in that paparazzo's house, scared something in Morgan. Lila was a good girl, but if she got Reid hurt…he knew it wasn't rational to blame her if something happened. And that was a big if; the creep wasn't getting anywhere near the kid if he had anything to say about it.

By the end of the case, Morgan didn't know what to think about his reactions. He was actually telling Reid he was kidding when he was, almost like an apology. The genius was already hard enough on himself. Regardless of what he felt though, he meant every word he said; the kid was a hero, and Morgan was proud of him. He just hoped that Reid could see that too.

Discovery – S01E22/S02E01 The Fisher King Part 1 & 2

Morgan knew he had feelings for Reid. Actual feelings. How strong those were, he didn't really know, but they were there, and he was sure the kid knew about them. Socially awkward yeah, but he was also a genius, and a profiler. Not that it took a genius to hear how easily the nickname 'Pretty Boy' slipped from his lips before Morgan even had a chance to think about what he was saying. It had just happened. But he didn't regret saying it.

Trying to convince Reid to come to the beach with him and Elle was another clue. He wanted to see the kid relax, have fun, enjoy himself outside of work, away from cases and victims and unsubs. Maybe it wasn't something the young profiler was comfortable with, but Morgan wanted him to try.

And Reid knew, there was no two ways about it. They hadn't said anything to each other, but Reid knew. Maybe he felt the same. Maybe that was why he'd sounded so nervous when introducing his mother.

His mother. The final clue. Because Morgan had been nervous. Yes, it was the kid's mom, the woman who raised him, who took care of him. But it wasn't just the fact that it was Reid's mother, it was the fact that it was Reid's mother. Too many 'meet the parents' scenarios swept through Morgan's mind; first impressions, proving commitment and loyalty, trying to seem like the person that was wanted or needed. He was meeting Reid's mom and he was nervous and he definitely had feelings for her son. And the son knew. Morgan thought he'd done a pretty good job anyways.

And then of course, when the genius was putting himself on the line again, making Morgan's heart pound in his chest, he found out who Mrs. Reid was. The paranoid schizophrenic. What did that mean for the kid? He tried not to think about that mommy comment he'd made on Reid's birthday, when JJ had told him about the fake candles. And what a way to find out too, hearing it yelled at Randall Garner like an accusation. They had a hell of a lot to talk about when they got back. When they got back, the both of them. Morgan was just glad the bomb hadn't done any serious damage to Reid, even if he was pissed off about not being told aboutit. It was just one more thing he had to yell at the genius about, along with the train, the stalker, Cory, the hospital…

Later on, when they talked about it, Morgan would laugh and call it their first lover's spat, the few quick jabs about the bomb. And then Reid would laugh and comment that they'd had some before that, but the older profiler would say that they didn't count, because he hadn't known then like he had when the kid had saved Rebecca's life.

-Sable