A/N: Sometimes stories come out of weird places. This one came from one sentence that randomly popped into my head, and the rest of the story spawned around it. Reid/Morgan slash, as always! :P Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.
Moments
When Reid and Morgan began sitting together a lot on the plane, no one on the team thought twice about it. The two of them often talked after cases, or played cards. Sometimes they just sat together and relaxed while Morgan listened to his music and Reid read- that way they knew they wouldn't have to worry or think about anything else, or be interrupted by a talkative neighbour. Whatever their reason, it wasn't unusual, so the team paid it no extra heed.
When Reid began bringing Morgan coffee every morning, the team thought it was a little unusual. In the past Reid brought Morgan coffee occasionally, when he knew Morgan would already be at the office when he arrived, but never every day. And Morgan had always made some good-natured jibe about how Reid hadn't gotten it right, that he had made it too strong or added too much sugar. But now, Morgan just smiled warmly and thanked Reid, who always smiled back. The happy expression that crossed Morgan's face whenever he took that first sip told the others that Reid had gotten Morgan's coffee exactly right. And on those mornings when Reid got to work before Morgan, the older man returned the favour and managed to get the correct amount of sugar into the genius' cup. This was strange, but not too strange, so the team let it go.
When Reid and Morgan suddenly became really awkward, the team were more than a little concerned. They were studiously ignoring each other, sending each other the briefest of glances and looking away quickly. They weren't talking unless a case required it, they sat as far apart on the plane as possible, and they'd stopped bringing each other coffee in the morning. Something had happened, this much the team knew. They were worried, and they knew that the issue needed to be addressed, but every time somebody asked them what was going on, Reid and Morgan refused to answer. They brushed it off and acted like it was nothing. So the team did nothing. But still, they worried.
When Reid walked into the BAU one morning, looking very nervous and with two coffees in his hands instead of one, the team were hopeful. They watched as he knocked tentatively on Morgan's door and entered the office, closing the door behind him. They couldn't see into the room to see what was going on; Morgan had his blinds almost closed, so only a sliver of the room could be seen. They all turned away as Reid left the room, pretending not to have been watching, but they couldn't help but see the huge grin Reid was wearing. Reid and Morgan must've made up, because they were both very happy all day. And all was right again.
When Reid and Morgan began spending a lot of time together outside of work, the team were rather suspicious. They both had rather different ways of spending their free time, usually not things the other would particularly enjoy. Morgan liked to go out to clubs and bars, and Reid liked to watch documentaries and read textbooks. Occasionally there would be a movie that they both wanted to see, but they would never hang out together this often. Something had obviously changed between them. But what?
When Reid took a case pretty hard, it was Morgan who comforted him. Reid had been on the brink of tears, having been unable to stop a schizophrenic UnSub he identified with from shooting himself. Reid had taken that to heart, and he'd been blaming himself for the young, troubled man's death. He'd sat alone on the plane, away from everyone else, making it clear that he didn't want to talk. However, Morgan had ignored that and gone and sat next to Reid even though he'd told him to go away. He'd promised Reid that he had done everything he possibly could to save the young man's life, and that this was not his fault. And even though Reid had protested, and said that he of all people should've seen the signs in time to save him, Morgan had kept talking to him, and eventually the dam had broken, and Reid had cried on Morgan's shoulder. Morgan had put his arms around Reid and held him close, murmuring things into Reid's ear and stroking his hair, and eventually Reid had cried himself out and fallen asleep. But still Morgan had held Reid and stroked his hair, and the team had watched him, their suspicions continuing to grow.
When Reid showed up to work quite late one morning, at first the team were concerned. Reid was never this late to work, without already having phoned in to Hotch to apologise. Reid looked preoccupied, and he was walking strangely, like his entire body hurt. Had something happened, maybe? But when Morgan brought Reid a few case files five minutes later, a warm smile crossed the genius's face, and the team knew that everything was okay. Whenever the team asked Reid what was going on, though, he brushed it off like it was unimportant. So did Morgan. Ideas were beginning to form in the team's minds, but they were strange ideas. Strange, but possible. So they watched, and waited, and suspected.
When Morgan had been shot in the chest by an UnSub, they had all known Reid would be upset. Hell, they all were- Morgan was badly hurt, and possibly dying. What they hadn't expected, though, was the scream that had left Reid's mouth as Morgan had hit the floor. They hadn't expected Reid to run to Morgan, desperately trying to stop the bleeding, pleading with the older man to wake up and come back to him. He'd clutched Morgan's hand, refusing to leave his side and riding with him to the hospital. When the rest of the team had arrived at the hospital, they'd found Reid sitting in the waiting room, wringing his hands, his shirt stained with Morgan's blood. They'd asked Reid how Morgan was doing, but he'd shaken his head, whispering that he didn't know. There were tears in his eyes, and the red colour in his face told them he'd been crying.
When the doctor came out and told them that Morgan was going to make it, the look of relief on Reid's face was like nothing the team had ever seen before. He still wasn't happy or smiling, but his chest wasn't being squeezed tightly by grief anymore. He asked to see Morgan, and the doctor agreed to let only him in. Without looking back at the team, Reid walked straight into Morgan's room, sat down in Morgan's chair and gripped Morgan's limp hand tightly in both of his own. The team could hear him whispering, "Please wake up, please wake up, Derek, please… I need you." Derek… they'd never heard Reid call Morgan by his first name before. Obviously they were more to each other than the team realised. Reid never left the room, and while the rest of the team wanted to see Morgan, at the same time they realised that Reid just couldn't leave Morgan's side. So they stayed outside the room, watching and waiting.
When Morgan let out a small moan, and began to move slightly, Reid whispered his name hopefully and the team leapt to their feet. When Morgan's eyelids flickered open, his eyes immediately sought Reid's face. Reid broke into a relieved smile, and Morgan whispered, "Hey, Spencer." What had happened next was what stunned the team: Reid leaned forward and pressed his lips to Morgan's, like it was something he did every day. And when Reid whispered, "Don't you ever do that to me again. I can't live without you," the team realised that it was something he did every day. That's what had been going on between them. They were in a relationship. They were in love. When the team thought about it, they weren't really that surprised. Reid and Morgan may have been very different, but they complemented each other perfectly. Reid was the yin to Morgan's yang. And so when Reid came out of the room, a smile on his face, to tell the others that one of them could see Morgan, they all smiled at him, letting him know they knew. None of them said anything, though; Garcia hugged Reid before moving past him into Morgan's room, and JJ squeezed Reid's hand tightly. They didn't say anything, but they were all happy for them. They deserved the love they could give each other.
When Morgan was finally released from the hospital, the team were not surprised when Reid insisted he stayed with Morgan to look after him. Reid wasn't going anywhere until Morgan was healed, and nobody expected him to. For the first week of Morgan's leave, Reid was off of work too. It was his turn to look after Morgan, he insisted, instead of the other way around. The team visited Morgan over his leave, and they could see how Reid was with him- patient and gentle, kind and loving. Morgan was getting the best of care from Reid, this much the team knew. Garcia was Morgan's most frequent visitor, and whenever she came over she saw Reid gently stroke Morgan's face, and treat the older man's wound with the utmost care. Reid had never cared for anyone the way he cared for Morgan. The love Reid felt for Morgan, and vice versa, was easy for the team to see.
When Morgan finally returned to work, Reid was right by his side, which was no less than the team had expected. He watched Morgan's office from his own desk in the bullpen the entire day, to the point where Hotch told him to go and work in Morgan's office so he wouldn't be distracted. So Reid worked and kept a close eye on Morgan at the same time, not letting the man leave his chair for anything. When Reid was questioned about it while fetching Morgan coffee, he said, "I don't want him to hurt himself again. I couldn't stand it if he hurt himself again." He didn't have to voice it, but the team knew that he was also saying "I love him too much to see him in pain." And the team didn't blame him. They would've each been the same with the one they loved the most.
When Reid and Morgan walked into the BAU in the morning, side by side, for two weeks straight, the team had to ask what was up. Reid was a little hesitant and nervous with his answer, but soon they came clean- Morgan had asked Reid to move in with him, and Reid had of course said yes. The team happily congratulated the pair; they couldn't be more delighted for them. Reid had a joyous spark in his eyes that the team couldn't remember ever seeing before Morgan, and Morgan himself looked happier than he'd ever been. They were so good for each other. And they both deserved a love like that.
When the BAU's annual leave finally rolled around, nobody was really surprised when Morgan and Reid went away together without telling anybody exactly where they were going. They'd been together exactly a year, and they needed the time away together to celebrate. Annual leave couldn't have come at a better time. The couple ordered the rest of the team to not call them for anything, and headed off to the airport without a backwards glance.
When the team all returned from their holidays, the day before they returned to the office, they thought it was very strange when both Morgan and Reid refused to tell them any details of what they'd done on their vacation. The team knew it wasn't anything bad; both men sounded far too happy for anything disastrous to have happened to them. And they'd known Reid to be this evasive in the past, but Morgan too? It was definitely weird. They'd pressed and they'd pressed for details, but all either of them would say was that the team would find out at work the next day. They knew they would get anything more out of the couple. And so they waited.
When Reid showed up to work the next day with a silver band around the fourth finger of his left hand, no one questioned it. They all congratulated them, and watched Reid walk around all day happier than they'd ever seen him, smiling whenever he played with his engagement ring. They now knew what Reid and Morgan had done on their vacation: Morgan had proposed. They were getting married. The team couldn't be happier for them, especially in seeing how happy the couple were themselves.
When Morgan and Reid got married three months later, after Reid had another very narrow brush with death, only the team and their families were in attendance. Garcia had, of course, brought Kevin; JJ had brought Will and Henry; and Hotch had brought Jack and an initially apprehensive but happy-to-be-there Beth. Morgan's mother Fran and sisters Sarah and Desiree had flown in for the event, and the team- and Reid, for that matter- were very surprised when Diana Reid showed up with two of her doctors. The woman was terrified of flying, but Morgan had arranged for her to get to DC for her son's big day. Reid had almost started crying right then, but he'd managed to hold the tears in until the ceremony, when Morgan had started reading his vows. The team had started crying too, even Hotch and Rossi, though they tried to hide it- the way Morgan and Reid spoke about each other could come from nothing less than love. And when the priest finally announced they were married, and Morgan and Reid shared their first kiss as husbands, their gathered loved ones couldn't help but cheer. This was a couple that was meant to be. And after seeing the significant moments between the couple unfold before their eyes, the team knew Reid and Morgan would be together until they took their very last breath.
A/N: So... didja like it? Thought I might try a little something different... and of course throw in shameless Reid/Morgan fluff! Oh, and for anyone reading Chicago, it's coming, I swear! I've just been so stressed and focused on getting into my university course lately... but guess what? I got in! Bachelor of Psychological Science, here I come! :D
Reviews would be greatly appreciated!