Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed. They are much appreciated!!! On to Chapter 3, then. I foresee that this story will have 5 chapters.

The next day was Monday, and there were no active cases that the team was involved in. Morgan just sat at his desk, grudgingly doing his paperwork for the last month. He paused for a while, sighing and biting the tip of his pen lightly. Why does paperwork pile up till it became a hulking monster in the middle of the day? Because you keep procrastinating till the last minute, bozo, a small voice whispered in his mind.

He risked a glance up at Reid, who was writing at a rapid pace, his eyes flitting around the page. At the rate he was going, Reid would probably finish his work in the next one hour, while Morgan would probably take four hours. Damn his little genius! Atleast his mind was taken, not occupied with the nameless worry that stalked him at night and during the day.

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The optimism of the day had turned into pessimism as the night deepened. Morgan should have been in a romantic mood - the settings all denoted that. The moon was full in the sky, the air was balmy and he was curled around his pretty boy on the couch watching a movie based on a graphic novel.

His heart couldn't be silent though. He ached slightly inside, his fingers shaking a little as he carded them through Reid's silky hair. When would his lover ever get a break from the workings of that genius mind? That eidetic memory was a blessing in disguise as well as a cloaked curse. He remembered every word and action with precise clarity, and it seemed like he couldn't put away the images brutally presented to him through his daily nightmares.

For Reid, isolation had become a way of life. He sought to be alone, a fortress where he could guard himself against the hurts and pains the world threw at him. Still, he let in a few people into that fortress - the BAU members and specially, Derek Morgan.

Morgan still remembered what Reid had replied when the BAU were discussing about isolation, a primary trait for most Unsubs. Reid's eyes had darkened considerably, and he had replied, "Mankind lives isolated. From others and from themselves. There is something about isolation as well as the promise of company that draws us, calls to us. They are two sides of the same coin, one we secretly flip every time, embracing the idea of one choice and mourning the demise of the other."

After the meeting, Morgan had cornered Reid at the coffee machine. "So, Pretty Boy, who said that and in which book?"

Reid had a strange look on his face when he replied. "Nobody. It should have been said, though."

Now, looking down at Reid's face half covered by his hair, Morgan felt the urge to broach the subject again. He tried to without alarming Reid. Before he opened his mouth, though, Reid flipped up, his puppy dog eyes staring straight at Morgan.

"Morgan?"

"Hmmm?"

"Do you love me?"

Morgan felt like he was being crushed by something unnamed. More than the words itself, the uncertainty and fear in the golden eyes arrested him.

"Pretty boy, you know I do. I love you more than anything, anything at all. You mean the world to me. You know that. Why are you asking me this now?"

Reid looked relieved and afraid at the same time. "Nothing. I just want you to know that I love you, too. More than anything, more than anyone. You're everything to me, and I don't want to lose you, ever." His look turned desperate, and he clutched at Morgan's wrist. "Please promise me that you'll never leave me, Morgan. Ever. I'll die without you."

And suddenly, Morgan was hugging him, his eyes burning with unshed tears. "Reid, I love you, you silly nutcase. Nothing's gonna separate us, alright? Nothing at all!"

And as suddenly, Reid was crying, his tears soaking Morgan's shirt as he dug his fingers into his shoulders, trying to shield himself with Morgan, almost crawling into him. And Morgan held him through it all, wondering what in the wide world Reid had seen in his nightmares that would even imply that Morgan would leave him.

Damn those nightmares. They were pulling Reid down, bring back all his fears of abandonment and loneliness. This had gone on too long, and Morgan was about to put a stop to it.