A/N: So here's the next prompt guys! Apparently my beta died of fluff overload while she read this, so I guess that means she liked it! :P Guess you guys should read on and see what you think!

Rating: K+

Genre: Friendship, Hurt/Comfort

Characters: Reid and Morgan, AU.

Prompt: Reid can't do an advanced maths equation. Morgan, however, can.

Eleven-year-old Spencer Reid flung his pencil down on the table with an exasperated moan. "I can't do this!" he yelled.

The teenager sitting opposite him, nineteen years old, almost twenty, laughed. "I never thought I'd hear those words come out of your mouth," Derek Morgan admitted, a smile lighting up his face.

"It's not funny, Derek!" Spencer exclaimed. "Normally math is so easy for me, but this- I can't do it!"

Derek's expression softened, but there was still a smile on his face. "Maybe I can help," he suggested. "It's what I'm here for."

"Yeah, for athletics and… social interactions, things like that," Spencer sighed, a slightly uncomfortable tone to his voice. "Helping me fit in. Not this."

"Hey, Spencer, I'm here to help you," Derek said softly. "No matter what it is that you need help with."

Spencer let out another long sigh, and Derek could tell he was incredibly frustrated. With his genius brain, Spencer was incredibly good at math. He loved it, too; it took his mind off everything he'd been through: The bullying; His father leaving; His mother's schizophrenia. The answers normally came so easy for Spencer. Not being able to solve the problem, especially at his young age, was hard for him.

"Come on, kid," said Derek, crossing the room and sitting down next to Spencer. "What is it you always say to me? That our brain isn't fully developed until we're in our mid-twenties? So it makes perfect sense that you could come up against a math problem you cannot do."

"Yes, that is true…" Spencer mused. He then looked up at Derek, shocked. "Wait. You remember me telling you that?"

"Of course I do," said Derek. "I think your facts are interesting, Spencer."

"Really?" Spencer gasped. "You do?"

"I'm your friend, aren't I?" Derek pointed out. Reid fell silent, looking down at the sheet of paper in front of him again. "I think it's amazing that you know everything that you know. I wouldn't be here if I didn't."

"I'm sorry," Spencer mumbled into his paper. "I've just never really heard anyone say that to me before."

"Spencer…"

"It's true. You know what the other kids say to me. What they do to me." Spencer was deliberately not making eye contact with Derek, but the teenager could see the tears in his young friend's eyes.

Derek moved his chair closer to Spencer's, resting a hand on the boy's shoulder. "You don't need to worry about those other kids. You've got me to protect you." Spencer looked up at him with red eyes and tear-stained cheeks, and Derek pulled the boy into a hug. "I'm here no matter what, okay?"

Spencer nodded against Derek's chest. "Thanks, Derek." After a while he pulled away, his eyes drifting to the math problem still sitting in front of him. "That still doesn't help me with this, though."

"Are you sure you don't want me to help you?" said Derek.

"I thought you hated doing math," Spencer pointed out.

"That doesn't mean that I can't help you." Derek pulled the paper and pencil towards him, staring at the problem with a furrowed brow. Suddenly his face lit up, and he put pencil to paper, writing furiously. Spencer bent over the paper too, watching what his friend was writing. After several minutes Derek set the pencil back down on the table, a satisfied smile on his face. "There. That should be it."

"You solved it?" Spencer snatched the paper up, eyes running along the page frantically. "Wow… how did you do that?"

"It's like I said, my brain is more developed than yours is, considering I'm eight years older than you," said Derek. When Spencer frowned at him, Derek added, "Actually, I've learnt from you."

"You have? Really?"

"What? You expect me to have learnt squat from you?" Derek laughed. "Trust me, Spencer; I've learnt just as much from you as you have from me."

Spencer beamed at his friend. "And I've learnt quite a lot from you, Derek," he admitted. "Stuff about sports, how to interact better with people… how to survive." His expression become serious for a moment, but then he smiled again. "I'm glad you came to Las Vegas, Derek."

"Me too," Derek agreed. "I'm really glad I met you. You're like a little brother to me, kid."

"And I wish I had a big brother like you," Spencer sighed. "Or at least that my father was like you. Then maybe he would've stayed."

Derek put his hand on Spencer's shoulder again, a comforting gesture. "Hey. Listen to me," he said. "You don't need him, Spencer. You've got me."

"And what happens when you leave?" Spencer asked. "Because you're going to leave eventually, when you finish college and leave for the FBI Academy."

"You'll still have me when I leave, Spencer, I promise you that," said Derek. "Whenever you need help, whenever you feel like it is too much, you just call me, okay? I'll have time to listen to you, no matter what."

Spencer stifled a small sniffle. "Thanks," he said softly.

"And you know what you do after that?" said Derek. Spencer shook his head, confused. "You finish college, however many times you want, then you sign up for the FBI Academy and join me in Quantico."

"Really?" said Spencer, slightly sceptically. "You really think I could be an FBI agent?"

"Of course you could, kid," Derek assured him. "With your brain, you could be anything you wanted to be."

Spencer had never admitted it to Derek, but ever since the older boy had told him his dream, he had fantasised about being in the FBI as well. How amazing it sounded, to be able to put criminals away. He never thought he'd be able to get there, though. But if Derek though he could, maybe, just maybe… there was hope.

Then, Spencer did something that surprised Derek; he threw his arms around the older boy, hugging him. Derek knew that Spencer wasn't big on physical contact, so if he was hugging someone, it was for a pretty big reason. "Thank you, Derek," he said. "Don't be surprised if you see me at the FBI Academy one day."

Derek smiled. "I wouldn't be surprised at all, kid," he said. He gestured towards the page of math problems still sitting on the table in front of Spencer. "Now are you going to finish these, or am I going to have to do the rest for you as well?"

A/N: He he he, so was that fluffy enough for you? Review and let me know what you thought! Oh, and for anyone that's reading Reunion, it is coming! This chapter is a really tricky one- I need to get it exactly right! Plus my internet has hit its cap, it takes almost literally half an hour just to load the login page!

Oh and by the way, I was thinking of setting up either a Twitter or Tumblr account connected to my account (or both, if people want them!), on which I would post when I update my stories and when I post new ones. I also would invite people to send me prompts, with the pairings/characters involved in the prompt, which I would then turn into drabbles. If you'd like me to do this, just let me know in a review! :)

Note from Diamond Cobra: *dies* (see, she did die of fluff overload. Now I have to go and revive her...)