Chapter 4: Split


As Morgan stood outside in the dark with his back to the porch, not wanting to stare, not wanting to draw his attention to how Reid and Michael would say goodbye… he rubbed his head and let out a loud breath. While closing his eyes, he cleared his throat with his hand still on resting on his scalp, just trying to let this moment pass by so they could leave… together. Just gotta let things run their course; he'll come back to you, Morgan told himself. If you push too hard, you're gonna push him away and ruin everything.

Once he heard the door close, Morgan turned around and smiled as Reid slowly walked up to him holding a CD. Damn, he looks good in all black. "You look a little spun, man. Come on, I got some water in the truck." He put his hand on Reid's back and they walked to the Suburban together. Reid was holding in a grin, feeling pretty good and Morgan could tell. Morgan could also see that his eyelids were heavy and his lips were a vivid, dark pink tone. The bedroom eyes could be from the alcohol, but Morgan had to sigh to himself as he tried not to let his imagination run away with reasons why the nerve endings in Reid's lips were as stimulated as they were. He opened the passenger front door for Reid and let him hop in and get buckled before he closed it.

Morgan took only two steps away and Reid opened the door again. "My satchel!" he whispered loudly. He fished keys out of his pocket and held them out into the air, waiting for Morgan to take them. Morgan had to chuckle; Pretty Boy without his satchel… that was like Halloween night without a costume. He headed over to Reid's car, purposefully not looking at Michael's perfect little house or his perfect little yard or… He did glance at the closed garage. He wondered what the hell that boy had in there. He probably drove some showy, sleek little sports car. The old, tired door hinges on Reid's old car groaned loudly, echoing down the block. Morgan glanced around, gritting his teeth before he reached behind the driver's seat for Reid's man purse. Then he made sure the car was locked and headed back to the SUV.

Once settled inside the vehicle, Morgan had to apologize again. "I'm really sorry," he told Reid as he started the rig. He turned down the radio and powered up his window.

After laying the satchel at his feet, Reid swallowed and frowned as he shook his head. "No, it's okay. I understand," Reid cleared his throat and continued, "and Michael understands too. It's okay." He cringed as he looked out the window at Michael's home, trying to rearrange his erection that hadn't bothered to go away yet. He was surprised Morgan didn't already notice it and say something.

Soft light shown into the cab from the street and Morgan took a good, long look at Reid. Something about him was different. Really different. He was so soft spoken and forgiving… Is it the alcohol? Is it him? Are you still under Michael's spell? Tell me I still have a chance. Tell me you still love me. Knowing he couldn't ask those questions aloud, he cleared his head and rubbed his eyes, trying to refocus on the case. He was about to start giving Reid the low-down when he noticed that Reid looked pretty uncomfortable. "Everything alright?"

Thank God Morgan hadn't exactly noticed anything specific. "Yeah, let's just go." Reid tried to compose his expression and he looked out the windshield, attempting to act like a man who didn't have a raging hard on. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Morgan bump his knuckles against an unopened bottle of water resting inside the cup holder to remind him to start drinking.

Reid quickly took the hint and grabbed the bottle, welcoming the distraction. Morgan pulled away from the sidewalk and began heading down the street. After a few minutes, he finally worked up the balls to ask, "Did you have a good time with Mikey?" He didn't think that question was pushing it. Anyone would have asked it.

Reid's head flooded with a two second version of the evening and his cock flexed, causing his hand to automatically gravitate toward it, but he caught himself. "Can we not... talk about him?"

Morgan loosely puckered his lips and tried to fight off his urge to be nosy. "Sure thing, man."

"So, where are we headed?" Reid cupped himself and squeezed, trying to rearrange himself again, beginning to wonder if his body would calm down before they would reach their designation.

Morgan had to make himself remember, "Uhh… A house on 3rd and Forester. Looks like a triple homicide. Third like it in five weeks. Ten mile radius."

"Really?"Reid was immediately intrigued. He drank some more water from the water bottle, easily leaving it only half full. "And we're just now hearing about it?"

"Yeah and I guess fingers are pointing to the unsub bein' female."

"Really?" Reid repeated, with more interest. He was thankful for the change of subject. It was helping. He cleared his throat and glanced over at him.

Morgan responded, "We don't have a lot of details yet, but that's what Hotch was told." He gave an appropriate pause, "You, uhh… Has your head cleared up at all yet, from when I called you?" He kept his attention divided in favor of Reid more than the road.

Reid smiled and laughed just a little bit as he rested his head against the headrest. "Not really," he laughed again and rubbed his eyes. "Hotch is gonna bust me."

Morgan laughed with him, loving to see him smile. "No, he's not. Just don't step on any evidence, slur your speech or suddenly relieve yourself in a corner of the house."

That cracked Reid up and they laughed together. "I'm not drunk! I'm just-"

"Whatever, man. You're shit faced. Plastered! Hammered! Just admit it," Morgan kidded as he came to a stop at a red light.

Reid held in his laughter and soaked in the moment. He and Morgan were getting along and it felt so good... Michael who? he tried to ask himself… Then he saw Michael's smiling face and felt his warmth again… He couldn't stop the shivers that went down his side; it was as if he'd felt Michael's hand on his skin again. He wished he could split himself into two because right now, this very moment reminded him that he was so confused. He buried his face in his hands and groaned in frustration.

"What's the matter?" Morgan asked as his laughter wound down.

Reid suddenly sucked in a breath and let his body distract his mind. "I do have to urinate... badly." He giggled just a little bit.

"Right now?" Morgan pressed his foot against the gas pedal after the light turned green and started looking for a place they could stop that was still open, not really seeing anything immediately. "You care where?"

"Not really, no, I don't," Reid confessed.

Morgan made a right turn into the empty parking lot of a business that was closed down for the evening, bee lining the Suburban for the trees and bushes at the far end of the small lot. He looked around for cameras or other means of security as he drove through, not being able to see much. None of the lighting for the lot was functioning. "Is this gonna work?"

"Yeah," he began unbuckling and had his hand on the door handle, opening the door before Morgan could come to a complete stop. He crossed in front of the headlights and stood in the corner, fumbled his fly open and pulled himself out, glad his erection had gone down quite a bit. He waited the few seconds for his bladder to release and then moaned as he relieved himself against a small tree trunk.

Morgan had a good chuckle because he could hear that. "I really should get a picture," he said out loud, but then thought better of it.

As Reid was about to get back into the SUV, Morgan looked at his cell phone, checking to see if he had missed any calls. He glanced up just in time to see Reid hit his head on the top of the door opening as he was pulling himself back in and Morgan cringed… just waiting to witness Reid's reaction.

"OUCH!" Reid yelled through his teeth. "Son of a bitch, that hurt!"

Morgan tried to hold in his smile. "Jesus, Reid. Did ya leave a dent? I'm not payin' for that."

Reid held his hand against his head and kept his eyes tightly shut, intermittently wincing through the pain. "Just take me home," he begged, not really meaning it.

"Haha, fat chance," he grinned at Reid. He put the vehicle in reverse and asked, "You ready?"

"Wait a minute," Reid said softly. He leaned his head back against the headrest and closed his eyes, still holding his hand up to his head. "My head really hurts... Let me just sit here a second. Maybe it'll stop."

Morgan put the SUV in park, sat back and got comfortable, leaving the vehicle on. It was nice and warm inside and it was really quiet now. He turned his head to stare at the outlines of Reid's barely visible face. What are you thinking about? Would you care if I held your hand right now? Morgan watched as Reid powered his seat into a near reclining position. "I hope you're not plannin' to take a nap."

"I'm not," Reid whispered. "Ten minutes… Just give me ten minutes."

Morgan glanced at the digital clock on the radio and then looked at Reid's long body. It surprised him that he immediately had to start fighting back his attraction. He wished he could be holding that long body, whether it be inside of a hug or in an embrace while lying in bed… He really missed that intimacy with Reid. I can't let this moment pass by without reminding him… Morgan remained seated but stretched his right arm out and rested his palm on Reid's shoulder. Reid didn't react other than turning his head to the right, opening his left shoulder up. He heard Reid lick his lips, swallow and then sigh. Morgan began working his fingers into Reid's muscles, understanding he had permission to continue. He worked his thumb and fingers all along Reid's shoulder, up his neck and back down, up again and back down. Reid nearly moaned, but tried to mask it by clearing his throat quietly.

Morgan let his breath out so gently as he considered his options here. He turned his body to face Reid and then pulled his right hand back, replacing it with his left. He continued rubbing at Reid's shoulder, wanting to help alleviate his hurting head. Morgan actually counted the seconds until thirty had passed and he let his thumb slip to the front… onto Reid's collar bone. No reaction from Reid. Good? Bad? Indifferent? He had no idea what Reid was thinking at all. He counted another batch of seconds as his thumb caressed Reid's collar bone as affectionately as he could.

Morgan licked his own lips and tried to calm his now pounding heart as he moved his entire hand to the center of Reid's chest and held it there. He noted again that there was no verbal reaction from Reid, but once he stopped focusing on his own heartbeat, he could feel Reid's chest was rising and falling at a quicker pace than just a moment before. His hand moved to the left side of Reid's chest, squeezing ever so gently. He let his thumb find Reid's nipple and the second that happened, he could sense the energy in the air change. He heard a telling breath leave Reid's body and he closed own his eyes, feeling himself harden and letting that rush take him over.

Ah, man, I miss this feeling. The fact that they needed to be somewhere had become an extremely distant concern as he felt the heat of Reid's skin under his hand. Morgan thought back to the day in Reid's bed after that rainstorm. Reid was… nervous, but so eager… Morgan remembered his curiosity of Reid and Reid's body and the reactions Reid had under his touch. Reid was so hard, so ready… There was so much energy and desire, so much heat… That couldn't have all just gone away. Morgan flashed back and saw the soft glow of Reid's bare skin and he felt another wave of arousal. In his mind's eye, he saw Reid unload onto his own stomach, but then quickly flashed to kissing him on his neck. He started to remember being inside that restaurant bathroom, looking down at Reid as Reid swallowed him whole. Jesus, he thought as he became completely consumed with lust for the man in the seat next to him.

Morgan's hand squeezed into a fist and pulled up on the tucked in fabric of Reid's shirt. He opened his hand again and moved it further downward. He hummed out another breath and opened his eyes, seconds from putting both of his hands on Reid, entirely too focused on reaching Reid's sweet spot. As Morgan's hand began to pass over Reid's stomach, Reid grabbed Morgan's wrist so fast that it startled the ever living fuck out of Morgan. His heart leapt into his throat and he remained frozen as Reid stared at him. With only the subtle light guiding his eyes, Morgan stared back to see one of the most unreadable, straight-faced expressions on Reid he'd ever seen. What the fuck am I doing? He never intended to get so lost in the moment. He wanted to make his mouth to spit out an apology, but he couldn't get his lips to move.

Morgan looked at their hands that Reid had stopped in midair and then he looked back at Reid. His long fingered grip was so tight that it made Morgan wince. He could feel the circulation getting cut off. What? He didn't know what to do. Say something. Do something! Then the unexpected happened.

Reid started lowering Morgan's hand back down.

Morgan immediately gulped and let go of the breath he'd been holding in. Reid moved Morgan's hand downward so slowly, so deliberately, never wavering his eye contact from Morgan. Morgan had never been so intimidated and turned on at the same time in his life. Reid was clearly telling him that he didn't get to decide if and when they crossed this line. Reid did. Morgan gulped again and held his jaw tight, feeling under pressure now. Some wall had come down inside Reid and Morgan knew there was still plenty of opportunity to rebuild it in an instant. Morgan knew he could still mess this up, but he readily waited for his hand to make contact with Reid's body again because this was now Reid's choice.

When Morgan's phone rang, it was an ear piercing shrill that made them both jump, completely disconnecting them on every single level. Morgan's head almost hit the headliner and Reid's body jolted in fear. "Jesus Christ," Morgan mumbled as he flipped his phone open to answer the call. "Yeah," he said. "Hey, Hotch…" Morgan and Reid stared at each other. "Yeah, we're on our way." Morgan hung up the call and immediately put the vehicle in reverse. He glanced at Reid who was powering his seatback upright again. "Sorry if your head still hurts, man. We're missed."

Reid only nodded, absentmindedly. They didn't say a word to each other the rest of the ride.


As Morgan and Reid stepped into the house, they looked for their team mates, able to find them almost instantly. Everyone, including local law enforcement, was standing in the kitchen and the living room. That's where the bodies were. Reid let his eyes vacantly pass over the scene, not letting all the blood stain his thoughts. What had almost happened with Morgan... he couldn't tell if it would have been a mistake or not. He didn't know at all how to feel about it. He wasn't experiencing any guilt and he wasn't necessarily happy about it either.

"Reid?" Hotch said a second time after his first attempt had gone unheard.

Reid's eyes shot toward Hotch instantly. "I- I'm sorry," Reid began. "I was just noticing that they all look alike. Are they brothers?"

Hotch had a careful eye on Reid, but then his attention turned to Morgan. "We're still trying to find out the identity on the third, but yes, these two are…" Hotch pointed to the two deceased young adult males on the couch. With gloved hands, he reached down and picked up a piece of paper from the coffee table. Reid was already putting his gloves on, and just in time as Hotch handed the note to him.

"What's this?" Reid wondered aloud as Morgan stepped closer to them to see what the piece of paper said. Reid flipped the note over, noting the blood on both sides. His brow narrowed and his eyes squinted as he tried to understand.

"What's 'it' and who's 'they'?" Morgan spoke in surprise. "These guys?"

"Were there any notes like this left at the other crime scenes?" Reid asked Hotch.

"We'll have the evidence to us by 8am," he replied, not having an answer for Reid.

Morgan let his eyes work the scene again and noticed Hotch walking back outside for whatever reason. "What do you think?" he heard Reid say. He had no idea if Reid was talking about the case or what but he used it to his advantage and turned his head to look at Reid who met his eyes without falter. Reid's eyes spoke of acknowledgement; he understood something almost happened that probably would have changed everything. Morgan just kept thinking, I know you feel it. Come back to me. The two continued to stare at each other's faces, not saying a word and nearly oblivious of their surroundings until Hotch walked back inside about a minute later.

Morgan finally glanced at Hotch who was beside them again, looking for a contact in his phone, but then trained his eyes on Reid again. Morgan took a second to look at Hotch and then said something to Reid that he knew Reid would understand. "I think there's a lot here we need to discuss."

As he stared at a bloodstain on the floor, Reid bit his lower lip into his mouth, knowing that statement was meant for him. He glanced back at Morgan, but then looked at Hotch and noticed Hotch was giving him and Morgan an odd look. "Let's keep focused on the case," Hotch nearly demanded as he brought his phone to his ear.

Reid's eyes widened as he took in a breath, flinching just the tiniest bit. Hotch was like a bloodhound when it came to his team. He seemed to somehow know everything. Once Hotch had stepped away again, Morgan continued, "Wouldn't you agree?"

Reid looked for a distraction. He didn't want to answer that question. "JJ!" He called as soon as he located her. Morgan sighed as Reid walked away, leaving him in the dark as to where they stood.


It was almost 2am before Reid and Morgan left the scene, both already committed to only getting a few hours of sleep before the start of the next day. Reid sat in silence, still not ready to speak to Morgan about what happened, what might happen, what about Michael and what it all meant. He still felt so confused. He knew he had a chance to re-start his romance with Morgan, but just couldn't bring himself to do it. He didn't know if that had everything to do with Michael because the timing sure was curious, but he thought it could maybe be something more. Before, Morgan was willing to toss it all aside and he did it so easily. Or at least it seemed. If he was in love with me, why did he let me go? Why didn't he fight for me then? Reid sighed because he knew he was partly the reason. Even though Morgan called it off first, he knew he pushed Morgan into agreeing to end it... completely. Why don't you hate me? he thought to himself, wishing he could just let the words pass from his lips. Why did you ever forgive me?

On the other hand, Michael was a force to be reckoned with. He seemed to be one of those good people that made the world a better place. He was fun, spontaneous and Reid found himself really attracted to the young man's confidence. Aside from the physical attraction Reid felt toward him, he really just enjoyed being in his company. Michael had a wonderful energy surrounding him that Reid just couldn't ignore; it was inviting. Reid felt he would be lying if he said he didn't feel a slight attachment to him already. But something was off there too and it nagged at Reid a little bit. He tried to relax as he let another heavy breath out.

Reid peeked over at Morgan and Morgan began to turn his head, feeling Reid's attention, but then stopped himself from actually glancing at him. "You, uhh… you sure you're okay to drive home?" He paused as he stopped at a 4-way stop to look both directions. Reid's window was down and the sound of the tires against the wet pavement filled the cab alongside the drone of the V8 engine. "I'll take you home. I got no problem picking you up in a few hours."

Reid's eyes glazed over, glancing at all the scenery as it passed him by. Can I get away with pretending to not hear him?

When it was clear Reid wasn't going to answer him, Morgan tightened his lips together and beat his thumb against the steering wheel. He couldn't help but feel like he'd really screwed up somehow. Only a few minutes later, he pulled up to Michael's. He purposely stopped abruptly and didn't even put the vehicle into park. He left the engine running and sat in his seat, so deliberately still, fighting the urge to tell Reid to 'get out'. He was tired and grumpy now and knew he wasn't gonna sleep well tonight. He decided he didn't need Reid's silence clouding his evening any longer.

As Reid lifted the strap of his satchel around his neck, he made a sound like he was thinking aloud before he said, "Thanks for picking me up."

"Yep," Morgan said, not even looking at him.

Reid ignored Morgan's shortness and started feeling around against the pockets of his clothing. "My keys…" he breathed. He opened the door after he unbuckled and got out, still feeling around. Morgan rolled his eyes and sighed, fishing the keys from his coat pocket. He dangled them over Reid's seat, making a clinking noise that caught Reid's attention.

Reid looked up at the keys with a sideways grin. The look on Morgan's face actually amused him a little bit. He reached his hand out and Morgan laid the keys down onto Reid's palm. Morgan made sure to press his skin against Reid's so that they were nearly holding hands for just a second. Reid gave Morgan a perceptive look, as if to say I know what you're doing.

Morgan took advantage of this moment and of Reid's unexpected smile, giving into his curiosity. "Hey, are you gonna talk to me?"

"I don't know what I want," Reid said softly. He seemed to be distancing from his own words and yet he offered no further explanation.

Morgan sighed from his nose as he pressed his lips together. Now Reid was avoiding looking at him and he was sorry he asked. "Close the door, Pretty Boy. I gotta go and try to get some sleep." With that, Reid finished rearranging the contents of his satchel so that it wasn't bulky. He closed the door and walked away from the SUV. Morgan waited until Reid was in his vehicle with the engine running before he drove away.


I am sooo sorry this took so long to post. My editor and I took our sweet time and I'm so busy at work. I'm surprised that I ever have time to write anything ever. I'm almost have chapter 5 done, but I may spend more time working on my other stories to get something continued on them! We'll see how it goes! Send me some love!

As far as Reid and Morgan go, do you guys see some hope in the future? LOL