Morgan woke the next morning with all the warm heaviness of a man who had been thoroughly laid. He sat up and nearly bumped his head on an overhead shelf. Spencer's bedroom was tiny, the paint peeling off the walls in certain places and graying in others. The door was half open, revealing a tiny hall with three tiny rooms for Spencer to bathe in, eat in and read in – since that was pretty much all he did in his living room.

It was a dingy, airless place. Morgan could see why Spencer was so excited to leave it.

Derek's boyfriend always woke up before he did, and Spencer appeared in the doorway a moment later. "Hey, I took a shower. The hot water's going to be gone for about an hour, so we should probably eat breakfast before you get in, okay?"

"Yeah," Derek said. Spencer didn't meet his eyes. "You okay, pretty boy?"

"I'm fine," Reid said, but his voice was higher than usual, and his gaze shifted to the side. Lying. Derek grunted in displeasure, "Look, I'm really fine. I'm just a little…"

"Disappointed?"

"Yeah."

Derek sighed, "It isn't your fault, Spencer."

"I know that logically," Spencer said, "But it's just… I don't get it. I mean, two days ago you ask me to move in with you. I know you, Derek. You think about decisions like that from every angle. You just wouldn't change your mind unless... something big happened."

"It's nothing."

"I'm going to figure it out."

"Okay, okay." But Derek was smiling. He knew that Spencer would try, and he loved that about his boyfriend. Spencer's stubbornness was one of Derek's favorite things about him. "Look, there's something I have to take care of. It doesn't have anything to do with you, and I don't want it to, but until it's resolved, I can't risk you being too close to me."

Spencer nodded, a small grin in the corner of his mouth. "That's too bad."

"What? What's the matter, baby boy?"

"Well," Spencer said, "You see, I was kind of hoping that we'd be getting really close this morning."

"Yeah?" Derek beamed. The sex seemed to have cheered Spencer up; it certainly helped Derek feel better. There was something about being with Spencer. About being with a person who was an equal, who relied on him, who tried to protect him. "Well, I guess I can provide that."

He walked over to Spencer and pulled the boy into his arms. Their lips met, Spencer moaning a little when Derek moved to deepen the kiss. Derek walked backward until his knees hit the edge of the bed. He laid back, pulling Spencer on top of him. His boyfriend's wet hair caressed the side of his face.

It was then that their phones rang.

Spencer reached his first, "Hotch." His voice was cold. "Yeah….. Yeah. No, I can let him know. I'm with Morgan now. Because I'm dating him, Hotch, I'm still allowed to date him, aren't I? ... Okay. Okay, we'll be in the office in about twenty minutes." Spencer snapped his phone shut, "We have to go in."

They drove to the office together, their go bags in the back seat. Spencer was smiling, the early morning sunrise lighting up the side of his face. His honey brown eyes were warm, pink lips drawn up in a smile. Derek jokes and flirted, trying to keep the smile on his boy's face. They walked in together, the backs of their hands touching each other. Derek flirted with the idea of intertwining their fingers, but he couldn't afford that level of intimacy in public. So he shifted his go bag to the other hand as they walked up to their office.

"Morgan."

Hotch called his name the second he and Spencer walked into the bullpen. Spencer tensed, but didn't say anything. Derek followed Hotch silently into his office, letting Reid walk to the conference room without him.

"What's going on, Hotch?" Morgan asked.

"He's in Quantico," Hotch said, "He dumped his car just outside the city."

Derek took a deep breath. His heart clenched tight, but his face stayed blank. "What does that matter? We're going to be out of town on a case; that's why you called Spencer and I in, right?" Derek barely noticed the way his fists clenched and unclenched, but he noticed when Hotch's eyes darted down to them.

"True," Hotch said, "But we'll be back in a few days. I need you to promise me that you won't do something foolish?"

"Foolish?"

"Yes, foolish. Like trying to track down Buford by yourself."

Morgan's jaw tightened. "Why would I do that?"

"We both know how he operates, Morgan," Hotch said. His dark brown eyes burned into Morgan's. "He makes sure that there's a lot to lose." Hotch tilted his head towards the conference room. "I know how much you care about him, Morgan. Buford might try to manipulate that to get under your skin."

"He isn't going to lay a finger on Reid," Morgan said fiercely. Hotch's eyebrows rose. "Look, I know how he operates even better than you do. He never saw Spencer and I together."

"You were in love with him at the time," Hotch said, "It wasn't hard to see that."

"The locals will probably have him on an armored car back to Chicago before we get back," Morgan said, "But even if they don't, I can protect my own."

"I know," Hotch said, "That's what I'm worried about."

"You don't have to be worried," Morgan said, "Look, I'm not gonna lie. I'm pissed that he's out, I'm pissed that he's still in my life. I'm pissed that I can't move in with my own boyfriend because of him. But I'm not going to be stupid. That's what he wants."

Hotch nodded without a smile, "That's good. Alright, then, time to go out to briefing. Oh, and by the way… Is Reid mad at me? He seemed upset on the phone."

"He's fine," Morgan said, "I'm just happy to be getting him out of the city. Buford's not going to touch him."

"But if he does…"

"I'm going to let the police do their job," Morgan said.

I'll kill him with my bare hands, Morgan thought.