Title: Secret Santa Surprise

Pairing: Reid/Morgan

Summary: The BAU team does a Secret Santa, and Reid now has to figure out the perfect gift for Morgan.

Notes: For those of you who have read my profile, you know that my computer with all my ideas and plans for upcoming stories was fried. I now have a laptop, so I'm going to start work on those again, but it'll probably take me a little while to get back into the groove. However, one of the first things I plan to put up is the sequel to 'Raphael' I promised you all. I swear.

I felt almost obligated to do a Christmas themed story, and after a few days of trying to come up with something, this popped into my head as I was falling asleep. Luckily I remembered it, so here you go.

I own nothing.

Everything was Garcia's fault.

Reid loved the woman, but honestly, she meddled too much for anyone's good. It started out innocently enough, with the Christmas season starting to sneak up on them. Reid even found a miniature artificial tree on his desk, plugged in with tiny lights and a star on top. The rest of the bureau was lightly decorated, nothing over the top. Garcia's office, however, was a mass of multicoloured lights, ribboned wreaths, and miniatures of angels, reindeer, snowmen, penguins, and Santas that most agents feared to enter.

Then, when all was quiet aside from the scratch of pens writing reports and murmured conversations, she exited her brightly-lit den. Her outfit was a colourful clash of red and green and white and silver that oozed Christmas cheer with every step, and in her hands she held an upside down Santa hat. She strode right up to Hotch (who had been walking to her office to have her check something, but froze in place at the sight of her getup, the most stoic deer in the headlights any of the agents had ever seen) and thrust the hat out in front of him.

"Pick a name, sir." she chirped happily, and the man raised an eyebrow.

"Garcia, I thought we talked about this."

"You didn't make a good enough argument, sir." she said, her red lips smiling a smile that would cut down any further disagreement. Hotch looked at her, sighed, and reached his hand into the hat.

"Once you're finished," he said, his hand retreating with a small slip of paper hidden inside. "I need all the files on Harold Streemer."

"Yessir!" Garcia grinned in victory and moved on to her next victims.

Reid had just finished another report when his vision was suddenly impaired by a fuzzy red and white hat thrust under his nose. His head jerked back and he looked up at Garcia smiling down at him.

"Secret Santa!" she stated merrily, waving the hat back and forth. "Pick a name and buy that person an amazing gift. But we have to keep it under fifty dollars."

Reid frowned and blinked, then looked around. Most of his coworkers were looking at small slips of paper in their hands. JJ was even sitting on Prentiss' desk, showing the other woman her slip of paper and whispering a conversation. He looked back to Garcia and reached into the hat, knowing there was no sense in arguing.

"Did you know that the original Secret Santa is thought to be American philanthropist Larry Dean Stewart?" He felt around the hat, feeling only two slips of paper inside. He picked one and pulled his hand out of the hat. "After college, he was broke and living in his car, but he went to a diner to eat and pretended he had forgotten his wallet. The owner of the diner knew what was going on and handed him a twenty dollar bill. A year later, he found a woman who didn't have enough money to buy a coat and gave her a twenty. A cousin of his got him a good job in Kansas City and Stewart was able to make millions in the cable TV and long distance phone service industry, so he would spread his wealth around anonymously. Over twenty-six years he gave away a total of one point six million dollars."

"Uh huh," Garcia, who had stood there patiently, hummed in a tone that said she agreed with him and that it was a lovely story, but he should stop talking so much. She smiled at him. "And now we are continuing his fine legacy. Presents have to be bought and wrapped by Christmas Eve, because I am holding a delightful party in which you will all be there and we shall open said gifts. Feel free to ask for my help if you don't know what to get."

"What if it's you?" he called after her as she started walking back to her office.

"Especially if it's me!" she replied with a giggle, and Reid chuckled to himself before looking at the slip of paper in his hands. He unfolded it and read the name written in Garcia's clean, whirling handwriting.

Derek Morgan

Reid paused, trying to decide if this was a good thing or a bad thing. Surely Morgan wouldn't be that hard a person to shop for, right? He folded the piece of paper up quickly and stuffed it in his pocket, just in case the man in question came by unannounced, and returned to his reports.

One week later, and Reid was starting to panic. He couldn't decide what to get for Morgan's present. He had liked the man for a while now, and so was hoping he could come up with a great present idea that would be under fifty dollars and show off how much he knew and appreciated him. He wasn't planning any dramatic confessions of love, since it would be a nightmare if he was rejected at Christmastime, of all times, but he hoped to give enough hints that someone who liked him back would pick up on.

There were only a few days left before Christmas Eve, and Reid was resigned to calling up Garcia to see if she had any ideas for movie or book titles that the man might like. The phone rang two times before Garcia's chipper voice rang in his ears.

"Hey baby, how's your festive favour coming along?"

Reid sighed and leaned back in his couch. "Not so good. I come up with ideas but I keep shooting them down because they don't sound right or are too expensive."

"And you call seeking guidance from this shining star?"

"Yeah."

"Then tell unto me the name of your lucky recipient, and I shall bestow wisdom."

Reid chuckled for a second at her choice in words, then sobered up. "It's Morgan."

Garcia squealed with delight, and Reid had to take the phone away from his ear to prevent going temporarily deaf. After a couple of seconds, her voice died down and Reid returned the device to his ear, catching her rambling voice just in time. "You are in luck, my fabulous friend, because it just so happens that I was talking with Angel Cheeks yesterday and he mentioned how he wasn't able to go down and visit his family this year and how that was too bad because his mother bakes the most wonderful of cakes."

"Garcia," Reid began slowly. "Are you implying I should bake a cake for Morgan's present?"

"I am not implying," she said, her voice gleeful, and Reid could hear her shuffling papers around in the background. "I am stating that you should bake Morgan a very specific kind of cake to remind him of his wonderful family. Here," she said, and the shuffling sound stopped. "I am going to give you the number of his family, and you will call her and get the recipe and bake a delicious cake for our Lover Boy."

"I don't think I'm experienced enough in baking to replicate a specific recipe."

He could practically hear Garcia rolling her eyes as she spoke. "I'll help you, of course. We can bake it on Christmas Eve, before the party, so it's nice and fresh. When can you be over?"

"Um, how about noon?" Reid asked, now looking for a pen and a piece of paper so he could write down Fran Morgan's number. It did sound like a great gift idea, as long as he was able to pull it off. He was sure he could do it with Garcia's help, remembering the delicious looking cookies she had forbidden him from eating after Hotch had been attacked by The Reaper.

Garcia agreed with the time frame and gave him the number, wishing him good luck. He had called Fran Morgan seconds after, and she agreed to send him a detailed email with a step by step process, and even the certain brands of ingredients he should use. Reid thanked her repeatedly and spent the rest of the day checking his email every ten minutes until the recipe showed up in his inbox.

The next day he had to restock his fridge anyway, so Reid took the recipe with him to the supermarket and spent the next hour and a half scouring the aisles for the exact ingredients. He even picked out a small decorative plate he saw, nothing fancy, just a cute round plate that would be large enough to set a cake on top of the jolly snowman decorating the middle.

At noon sharp on Christmas Eve, Reid showed up at Garcia's doorstop with the bags of ingredients he had purchased and the recipe tucked securely into his jacket pocket. She answered the door with an apron already on and ushered him inside. He got a short tour to take in the sights of wreaths and garlands, ceramic snow-topped houses, nutcrackers, and various other holiday symbols filling up the space not filled by the tree.

The kitchen was freshly cleaned and tidy, and Garcia had gotten Reid an apron that he put on after taking off his jacket and rolling up his sleeves, while she unpacked his groceries and arranged them in the least space-consuming array. He whipped the recipe out of his pocket and they began going over it, assigning tasks for each of them to make better use of their time and making sure they completely understood each task they were going to do before Garcia would let Reid even touch a spoon.

Reid preheated the oven and began greasing and flouring the cake pans while Garcia began separating the yolk from the white of three eggs. She mixed the whites with the buttermilk, vegetable oil and white cake mix while Reid grabbed another bowl and started on his half of the batter, working it until it turned a brilliant red.

Once the two batters had become thoroughly mixed, they poured them into the pans and swirled the batter into an artistic marbled pattern. Garcia put the pans into the now-hot oven while Reid got another bowl and began making the cream cheese peppermint frosting. They had been lulled into a calm state of working with soft Christmas carols playing in the background, and so Reid felt no qualms about his back being completely exposed to a Garcia with full access to leftover cake batter.

He felt a glob of something moist smack his neck and whirled around, his hand flying to his neck. "Garcia!" he cried out, shocked but a little amused at the juvenile act. Garcia just grinned and used her clean hand to grab a scoop of icing sugar and flick it at his hair.

"What?" She giggled as she watched him try to comb the powder out of his hair while keeping it away from the frosting. "No cake baking session is complete without an obligatory food fight."

Reid huffed and moved the finished frosting off to the side, away from any more projectiles. Garcia took this opportunity to smear her whole hand in white batter, sneak up behind Reid and wipe it off on his cheek. He gave a little yelp, but chose to play her game, and grabbed a small handful of icing sugar, flinging it into her face as he turned, making her squeak and giggle in surprise.

They continued for a while, but after they were both covered in red and white batter and choking on their laughter, they decided to end on a truce. Reid began calming his laughter, but it was hard knowing the sight he made. He had icing sugar dusting his hair a snow-tipped white, and white cake batter smeared across his cheek and chin, all over his arms and his neck, and Garcia had gotten a hold of his red cake batter and smeared some of that on his nose. Not to mention the tint it had given his fingers.

A flash brightened his vision for a second and he looked over to Garcia, who had her camera out and a devilish grin. "You look good enough to eat, sugar." she teased. Reid laughed and rolled his eyes, then wiped his hands on his apron so he could hold the camera and take Garcia's picture.

They checked on the cake and Garcia decreed it to be perfect, so they took the pans out and turned off the oven. Reid washed his hands in the sink, trying to get the red tint off but failing. He managed to wipe off at least most of the frosting smeared over his body, though, so he counted it a victory. Garcia took the sink next and suggested they watch some television and eat some batter while they waited for the cakes to cool.

They ended up watching the entire classic 'Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer' with Reid spouting off random trivia about it's making and the statistics pertaining to stop motion animation before they decided the cake would be cool enough to decorate. They managed to avoid another food fight and covered the red velvet cake with a thick layer of peppermint cream cheese frosting. As Reid frosted the top, Garcia took some of the candy canes he had bought and began crushing them into smaller segments. They pressed the segments and slivers into the side of the cake and Garcia decided it was likely the most amazing thing that would ever be baked in her kitchen ever ("Unless Johnny Depp pops in for a visit and smokes a joint.").

The party would start in a couple of hours, so Garcia told Reid that he could use her shower to clean up while she found a box that could fit the cake. He scrubbed his hair and skin clean in the hot water and did a quick inspection in the mirror to make sure he didn't miss any batter, then returned to his dark grey pants, green shirt and burgundy jacket. He was very thankful that Garcia had not gotten anything on his clothes, save for a small amount of sugar that was easily brushed off.

When he returned to the kitchen, the cake and the plate it was seated upon was snugly tucked into a simple cardboard box resting on the counter top. Garcia had placed various wrappings materials next to it, so he busied himself with wrapping it with a pretty red paper dusted with white snowflakes, then stuck the largest gold bow he could find in order to disguise most of the overlapping seams that came with not being able to turn his present upside down. He put it under Garcia's tree and joined her on the sofa. After a while she decided she could do with a shower herself and left Reid in control of the remote. She came back to see him watching 'Miracle On 34th Street' and the two of them spent the rest of their time before the party watching the movie and chatting.

It wasn't long until people started showing up and more presents started filling up Garcia's tree. Eggnog was produced along with a plate of cookies and various other treats that Garcia had apparently made and bought the day before. Merry conversation nearly drowned out the Christmas jingles playing from the stereo, and the television channel had been switched over to the Yule log crackling madly.

Then Garcia clapped her hands and said that it was time for the Secret Santa. She reached under the tree and pulled out a rectangular box wrapped in snowman-printed wrapping paper and a mass of twirled ribbons that had Hotch raising his eyebrows as it was handed to him. Reid watched as, one by one, everybody picked out their gifts and handed them to their recipient. JJ walked over and handed Reid a bag with a jolly Santa printed on it.

He removed the tissue paper obscuring his view of the gift and reached in and pulled out the boxed set of 'Twilight' books. He could hear giggles and chuckles from behind him as he held the gift up and tilted his head at them. JJ herself was stifling giggles.

"I figured you should get caught up on some pop culture," she said, grinning at him. "I got them used, but they're still in good condition."

"Thank you, JJ." Reid said, smiling sincerely. He had noticed that everyone else had given each other their gifts, so he got off the couch and picked up his gift for Morgan. He hefted it up and placed it in the man's lap. "Don't turn it over," he warned. "It's fragile."

Intrigued, Morgan carefully tore away the bow and wrapping paper, and opened up the box inside. Reid shifted on the balls of his feet, anxiously hoping that Morgan would like the gift as much as Garcia promised he would. Morgan looked inside the box, the wafting air of peppermint already hinting what it was. Then Reid saw his eyebrows lift and the corners of his mouth twitch up.

"'You're my favourite flavour, baby'?" he said, the tone of voice making it obvious he was reading the words.

"What?" Reid squeaked, and looked into the box himself. In red gel frosting, those words had been written across the top of the cake, with a little heart at the bottom. His face flushed a deep red and he spun around. "Garcia!"

The woman in question burst into giggles and ducked behind Prentiss, who wouldn't be of much protection when she herself was barely containing her own laughter.

"I didn't know you were so bold, Reid." Rossi drawled out and Reid flushed even darker.

"I-I didn't! I was baking it with Penelope, an-and she-" He could barely finish the sentence and chose to end with an embarrassed groan.

"I take it my Baby Girl had something to with this, too?" Morgan was holding a photo and Reid didn't even have to look at it to know it was the photo Garcia had taken earlier while they were baking.

"What is it?" JJ leaned over the back of the couch.

"Let me see." Prentiss joined her, but Morgan pressed the photo against his chest.

"Nuh-uh. It's my present." he said lightly, tucking the photo into his shirt pocket. "Now let's try some of this cake."

It turned out the cake was delicious for everyone, and Morgan did seem to have a bit of a wistful look on his face as he chewed his first bite. Light conversation picked up again and Reid felt his cheeks return to their normal temperature as he finished his slice of cake. He picked up his plate and took it to the sink, where Morgan was. The two of them exchanged smiles and Reid placed his plate in the sink.

"You know," Morgan slid closer, until his arm was pressed lightly against Reid's. "The way I see it, that was more Penelope's gift than yours."

Reid flushed a light pink and looked at him out of the corner of his eyes. "Really?"

"But we can fix that." Morgan added, flashing Reid a brilliant smile. "You just gotta pay for Christmas dinner."

A small grin slowly made its way onto Reid's face. "I don't have any plans."

"Pick you up at six?"

"Sounds good."

"Cool." Morgan smiled, pressing himself a little closer to Reid. "Cause I'd be willing to bet that you're my favourite flavour, too."

"Really?" His voice was almost a whisper now, and he couldn't keep his eyes off Morgan's lips. He didn't even notice how he was turning his body and leaning just a little bit closer.

Morgan grinned, those entrancing lips parting. "Yeah." he said, and closed the gap between them. He slid his lips over Reid's, who gave a small moan at the contact and pressed his chest flat against Morgan's, deepening the kiss. Morgan wrapped one arm around Reid's back, his hand pressed against the small of his back while the other cupped his neck and curled around strands of brown hair. Reid tilted his mouth at the motion, parting his lips and closing his teeth gently around the corner of Morgan's top lip. He felt the rumble in the other man's chest that was a bit of laughter and pressed his hands against his hips, his fingers curling in as he went back to massaging Morgan's lips with his own.

A bright flash assaulted both their vision, and they parted from each other, turning around in unison to the entrance to the kitchen, where Garcia was standing with her camera and a huge grin on her face.

"My kitchen, my right to photograph cute boys making out." she said before fleeing to inform the rest of the team of the adorable hookup she had just witnessed. Reid sighed, knowing they would be teased as soon as they took a step out of the kitchen.

"She better send me a copy." Morgan chuckled beside Reid, who glanced at him and smiled.

"Even if you said you didn't want one, she'd send it."

Morgan laughed. "Yeah, you're right."

Reid wasn't in any hurry to leave the kitchen, so he leaned against Morgan's side, his head tilted against the other man's shoulder. "Merry Christmas, Derek." Morgan smiled and wrapped his arm around Reid's shoulder. He leaned his head down and pressed a kiss to the crown of his head.

"Merry Christmas, Spencer."

END