Reid stood close behind Hotch, just watching. He couldn't believe he'd gone in there. Well, actually he could believe it, he and Billy Flynn were always going to be the ones at the end. They had had a score to settle. But...he could have lost him. Again.

He shook his head. Derek Morgan was not his to lose.

He watched as Morgan held Ellie tight in his arms and he tried to hold back his tears. He felt bad for the poor girl, she was so young and now she had no one left...but that wasn't what made him want to cry. Morgan could have been shot, killed. He could have lost him. For a reason he wasn't sure of, this time felt worse, somehow more serious than when Morgan had driven the ambulance away from the hospital knowing there was a bomb ready to go off in the back of it, worse than when The Reaper had attacked him...no, it wasn't worse. It was just because when he had seen Morgan at Spicer's house with the gash on his head and the paramedic standing next to him...he had seen everything flash through his head; Morgan driving the ambulance, Morgan after been attacked by Foyet, and every other time Morgan had been hurt. That's why it was so bad this time.

Because he had realised just how much Derek Morgan meant to him.

He blinked a few times to get rid of the tears that had started to blur his vision. He looked away from Morgan and Ellie when he felt someone watching him. He found his head turning instinctively to look at Hotch, who as he thought, was watching him. He felt his cheeks heat up as he realised his boss would have probably been watching him for a while...which meant he had been caught staring at Morgan, and almost crying. He and Hotch just looked at each other, not saying anything. He licked his lips and looked away from his boss' gaze, down to the floor like a child who had been caught doing something he shouldn't be.

"Reid..." Hotch sighed. He looked over to Morgan and then back to Reid, head bowed forward. He sighed and moved closer to his youngest agent. "Spencer..."

At hearing his first name, Reid looked up at his boss, a confused and questioning look on his face.

"Spencer...I know it's against regulations and I also know that isn't the reason you haven't said anything to him yet, but I really think it's about time you told him how you feel." Hotch said gently.

Reid's cheeks heated up immediately. "I-I...I d-don't know what you're talking a-about, Hotch." He had to look away when he saw the sad and concerned look in Hotch's eyes.

"You know what I'm talking about, Spencer. So, just...at least think about saying something to him, please."

Reid looked back at Hotch and couldn't help but stare at him. He knew his boss cared about him, Hotch had always been nice to him...even when he found out about his drug problem, Hotch was nice and tried to help him. "I...H-Hotch...w-why do you care, i-if I tell him or not I mean?" He hadn't really thought before he spoke...because in that one sentence, he had admitted how he felt about Morgan to Hotch.

Hotch smiled; it was his soft, sad, rare smile. "Because Spencer, don't you think you worry about him enough? Don't you think he should know how much you worry? How much you love him?"

Reid's cheeks turned red again at Hotch's last sentence...and he noticed his boss' soft smile disappear at the same time too. "I-I-I..."

"Don't you deserve to know if he feels the same way?" Was Hotch's final question. He squeezed Reid's shoulder reassuringly before he turned and walked over to Morgan, who was still holding a now crying Ellie.

Reid watched his boss talk to Morgan for a few moments before the younger man un-wrapped his arms from around the young girl, said something to her and then smiled at her as he passed her to Emily Prentiss. He watched Morgan turn back to Hotch...and he somehow knew that Hotch was telling him how well he had done, and that he had kept his promise. He saw Morgan nod and smile tightly at Hotch...before he looked over at him.

Reid took a quick, sharp, gasped breath before he turned and started to walk towards one of the team's SUV's. He climbed into the back of one of the cars; he had come with Hotch and Morgan, who had both occupied the front seats, so he knew he would be in back again...but he hoped, god how he hoped Morgan decided to ride with Rossi and Prentiss. But, his hope faded when the right back door opened up and Morgan slid into the back seat.

"Hey kid." Morgan said quietly.

"Hey..." Reid said, just as quietly. He swallowed thickly. "You, err, you did good today."

"Yeah, Hotch was just tellin' me that...and so did Ellie."

Reid looked at Morgan, not able to keep staring out of the window at the tone of his friend's voice. "But you did."

The left side of Morgan's lips lifted up in a quick, sad, tight smile. "Thanks, kid." They both stayed silent for almost five minutes, listening to everything that was going on outside of the car. "So...what was with the reaction earlier?"

Reid turned away from the window again, frowning confusedly at Morgan. "What?"

"Earlier, when Hotch came over to me, I looked at you and...huh," Morgan huffed a laugh. "I don't know if you looked pissed at me, or upset at me." He half-smirked at Reid, knowing the younger man could tell it wasn't his usual self-assured, self-confident smirk.

"I...I-I wasn't pissed at you. Why would I be pissed at you?"

Morgan made a noise somewhere between a huff and a scoff. "Why would you be upset at me?"

Reid stared at Morgan for a moment before breathing out slowly, unsurely and looking back out of the window. "Maybe because you put yourself in danger, yet again."

Morgan frowned. "What?"

Reid took a deep breath and turned to look his colleague. "You put yourself in danger again. You didn't have to...just like all the other times you haven't had to put yourself in danger, but you did!"

Morgan's frown deepened. "What the hell're you talkin' about Reid?"

"You...you don't even...urgh, just...n-never mind. I'm sorry I said anything, just forget it." Reid said and quickly turned to look out of the window, swallowing thickly; what the hell was he doing? He couldn't tell Morgan he was in love with him! He was his colleague; it was against the rules, the regulations. He...he couldn't. It wasn't even the rules that mattered...it was the fact that there was no way Derek Morgan would like him like that, never mind actually be in love with him. He shook his head as he felt tears prickle at his eyes. Stupid Hotch. He never would have thought about confessing to Morgan if his boss hadn't have brought it up. Not that he had even thought about confessing, because he hadn't...he was just about ready to spill.

"Wait...Reid, were you pissed because...you were worried about me?" Morgan asked, and Reid could hear the slight hint of amusement in his voice.

Again, Reid didn't think. He spun around to face Morgan, tears in his eyes. "So what if I was!"

Morgan's eyes widened. "You...you really were worried, weren't you?"

Reid wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand and bit his top lip. He nodded. He couldn't believe how he was acting...all he could think was how pathetic Morgan must think he was and looked. His body stiffened and he looked down quickly as soon as Morgan moved forward...for some strange reason he thought his friend was going to hit him for worrying about him.

His eyes widened when he felt Morgan's hand in his hair. He didn't know what his friend was doing and he didn't want to look up...but when he felt something warm against his fringe, he couldn't help but look up. Morgan...Derek Morgan had kissed his forehead.

"Thank-you for worrying about me, kid." Morgan said softly. "But...don't flinch away from me."

"W-wha-? I-I...I'm sorry." Reid said. He watched Morgan smile lightly and lean forward, closer to him...he realised the older man was about to kiss him. He pulled away quickly. "What're you..." He started but faded off.

Morgan pulled back slightly, his hand still in Reid's hair. "I thought you...you do like me, right?"

Reid's eyes widened and he saw Morgan's smile widen. "I-I-I...I-I...well..." He breathed in deeply and did his best not to think about what was happening. "Yes..." He barely whispered.

Morgan's smile widened even further and he moved closer to Reid, his lips almost touching the younger's. "I like you too, kid." He pressed his lips to Reid's gently. He didn't keep them there long though, he heard the front door of the car click open and he pulled away from Reid, moving back over to his seat just as Hotch climbed into the car.

Hotch looked in the rear-view mirror and frowned deeply; Morgan was looking out of the window, his hand pressed against his face with his elbow near the handle, and Reid...he was in his seat, but his upper body was angled slightly towards Morgan, his eyes slightly wide, his lips parted as if in shock and one side of his hair was mussed. He had a pretty good idea what had happened while he had been sorting things out outside of the car...but something didn't feel right to him. "You two okay?"

"Yeah." Morgan answered quietly.

Hotch waited for Reid to answer...but he didn't. He turned in his seat and looked at Reid. "Spencer. You okay?"

Reid jerked slightly as he heard Hotch talking to him. He looked at his boss and his cheeks heated up immediately. "Y-y-yeah. Sorry." He twisted his body and looked out of the window.

Hotch turned back around and started the car, before he set off he looked in the mirror and he could see the smile on Morgan's lips. So he had been right.

They were almost at the airport when Reid felt something tugging on his hand. He looked down at the same moment he realised what was happening...Morgan had grabbed hold of his hand and was holding it tightly. He smiled, even though the older man was still looking out of the window.

The End!

Thanks for reading. I actually wrote this after watching the first ep back in Septemeber when it premired in america, but it premired over here in the UK last night and thought I'd post it as a oneshot...it was going to be a multi-chapter but...I quite like it on its own. :)