AN: I want to thank peanutmeg for not only betaing this chapter but also more or less writing the first section of this chapter which I couldn't nail down. You rock! Thanks to everyone who is following this story. Hope you still keep reading although Christmas is over.


Morgan sat on the sofa, hands wrapped around a mug of coffee as he fought to stay patient and not get up and corner Reid in his room. The silence from the direction of the apartment's bedroom did nothing to help his patience. On the coffee table next to him, in front of an annoyingly empty couch, sat a mug of cooling coffee. Having decided he'd waited long enough, Morgan started to place his own mug on the coffee table and get to his feet when the sound of approaching footsteps finally reached his ears.

"I was just about to come looking for you, Kid." Reid offered a slight smile in return to Morgan's comment and took a seat next to him, grimacing when he took a sip of the room-temp coffee. "You want me to heat that up for you?"

"It's fine Morgan. Still better than what's in the break room."

"That's not saying much, Reid."

Reid shrugged, taking a sip of the drink. "The need for caffeine outweighs the taste. Did you know that caffeine is one of the most addictive stimulants?"

Morgan just gazed at Reid, "I'm here to listen to whatever you want to talk about, Reid – you know that. But the addictiveness of legal drugs wasn't what I was thinking about when I made my offer earlier." Reid picked up his mug and gazed into it, seemingly entranced by the whirls in his coffee.

"Reid." Getting no reaction from his friend, Morgan sighed. "C'mon Kid, look at me."

Reluctantly, the younger agent met the gaze of his co-worker. "It's me Reid. It's Morgan. Talk to me. What's going on? What happened tonight?"

"Nothing happened, Morgan. Will and JJ needed an evening for themselves so Garcia and I spent some time with our godson. Henry loved seeing the Christmas lights. I never knew chaperoning a three year old would be so tiring, though." Reid knew the information wasn't what Morgan was hoping for, but he couldn't bring himself to admit to Morgan what he was feeling. Not yet.

Morgan gave a small smile, hiding his disappointment that Reid was avoiding the main problem. But Morgan would take what he could for now; at least Reid was talking. "Kids have a never-ending supply of energy," he commented.

"Humans can't have an endless supply of energy, Morgan. It's not possible."

"It's a figure of speech, Reid. Kids are tiring; they can wear you out. They just keep going," Morgan paused, considering his next words, "They're kind of like Garcia that way, don't you think?"

Reid took a long sip from his mug, obviously delaying having to respond to Morgan.

"Honestly, I hadn't thought about it. The 'Reid Effect' tends to ensure I don't spend much time with children so I don't observe their habits."

"I guess so, Reid. But you spent time with Henry and Garcia today. Think about it for a minute; I know you're smart enough to make connections. But don't you dare tell Baby Girl that I'm comparing her to an overgrown child, even if it is only the good parts like her desire to help others and her kind heart."

Reid abruptly stood, "I need more coffee. Do you need a fresh cup too, Morgan? Yours has to be cold by now, and there's no point in drinking coffee only slightly better than that in the break room when there's a perfectly good coffee pot and fresh beans a room away."

Recognizing Reid's need for a break Morgan nodded, "Sure Kid, I could use a fresh cup. But Reid, you don't need an excuse to take a break. I'm not leaving, I meant that."

In the midst of gathering coffee cups and heading for the kitchen, Reid was able to avoid eye-contact. "I – I really do need more coffee Morgan."

Morgan sighed and leaned back against the couch as the sounds of Reid making coffee floated through the small room, only raising his head when Reid re-entered the room and sat back down.

"It's brewing now. Should be done soon."

An awkward silence filled the room as Morgan debated restarting the conversation and Reid stared at the doorway to kitchen. When the silence grew from awkward to stifling, Morgan spoke, "Reid, you know Garcia. No matter what happened tonight, you have to know that she won't blame you. Hell, Kid, I don't think she's capable. And she's worried about you Reid."

Reid kept his gaze toward the kitchen, and spoke so softly that Morgan had to lean forward to hear him, despite his close proximity to his friend, "She shouldn't be. It wasn't her fault. I overreacted. It was me." Reid paused and slowly got to his feet, "The coffee's done. I'll bring the mugs in."

When Reid hadn't returned by the time Morgan had sent three texts assuring Garcia that the BAU's resident genius was okay, Morgan glanced toward the kitchen. Though part of that area of the apartment could be seen through the open space above the counter, Reid wasn't in sight. Morgan rose to his feet and entered the kitchen, where he found Reid standing by the counter, in front of the coffee pot and two steaming mugs of fresh coffee.

"Is the coffee for drinking or contemplating?"

Reid gave a small jump and turned at Morgan's voice, "Morgan. What are you – the coffee. Sorry. I – I got distracted."

Morgan held his hands up, catching Reid's gaze and giving a small smile "Hey, no problem, Reid. But it must be some pretty serious stuff to keep you from your coffee."

Reid lowered his eyes and gave a small laugh, "I just have a lot on my mind. Seems to be a common occurrence, lately."

"It does, Kid. So talk to me. What happened with Garcia tonight?"

"I already told you. I overreacted." Reid turned back and began pouring sugar into one of the mugs.

"That's not an answer, Reid. Don't try to play me."

At that Reid slammed the sugar on the counter and spun around causing Morgan to jump slightly at the suddenness of the action.

"God Morgan, I snapped at her! Is that what you wanted to hear? I snapped because I thought she was trying to pressure me into forgiving JJ and Prentiss! Because that's my life, Morgan. I open up to people and they lie to me to get me to do what they want. And you know Garcia. You know that she sees the team as a family above anything else, so I thought – I thought that she must be lying to me, using me too, to get what she wanted: to get her family back. Because if Hotch and JJ and Prentiss could manipulate me for months, what's stopping Garcia, Morgan?" Reid took a breath, and began pacing in front of the counter, "And logically, logically, I know that Garcia wouldn't do that. That she couldn't. But everyone else has, don't you see? And afterwards, afterwards they leave. It's just a matter of time. But you know what's worse? In spite of all the evidence I have that people can't be trusted, I thought that the team was different. But it's not. This team is not a family, no matter what Garcia thinks. Or, maybe it is, Morgan, but everyone got tips from William Reid and Jason Gideon." Seemingly spent from his verbal assault, Reid sagged against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest.

Silence filled the room as a shocked Morgan replayed Reid's words, and understanding dawned as Morgan recalled Reid saying 'everyone' getting tips from Gideon and his father. At that moment, taking in the shattered, lost look on his co-worker's face and his defensive posture, and knowing what fears Reid was now harboring, Morgan felt an overwhelming anger toward Hotch, JJ, and Prentiss. They all knew about Reid's past, and yet they'd still gone through with their plan. Unclenching fists he'd absently tightened in anger, Morgan began taking slow steps toward his hurting friend.

"So you're just waiting for me to leave, too? Waiting for me to follow the pattern?" Morgan's words were a cross between a question and a statement, but a flickered glance from Reid told him he had guessed correctly. "I won't, Reid. I swear I won't. I'll break the damn pattern. But Kid, I need you to look at me." Hesitantly, cautiously, Reid raised his eyes to meet Morgan's, "Okay. What they did wasn't right, Reid. They can rationalize it all they want, but it wasn't right. They hurt this team. And I understand you being pissed at them; I am too. More than I've let show, actually. And Hell, Kid, once Garcia's moved on from feeling relief, I'm sure the anger will come. And I'm not sure I want to be around once Baby Girl starts showing that." The two shared a small smile. "But right now, Reid, she's not feeling that. She's worried about you. Because you're her friend. And she cares for her friends. You said that you thought the team was different. JJ, Hotch, Prentiss…Kid, they're part of the team, but not the entirety. They messed up Reid, they really messed up, and I can understand that you'll need time to forgive them, if you ever can. That's your decision and I won't pressure you." Now directly in front of Reid, Morgan placed a hand on his arm, "Reid, I can only speak for myself, but I promise you that I'm not leaving. I'm not like them, Kid. I may have a different office but we're still partners. I'm not leaving Kid; I won't. You're spending Christmas with my family, remember?" Morgan gave a small smile, "And I'll help you through this, I'll prove to you that you don't need those vials, you're better than that. Trust me, Reid."

At that, Reid's façade crumbled, and he stumbled forward into the welcoming hug of his friend.

Two days later, Morgan parked his SUV in Rossi's driveway. Surveying the cars as he got out of vehicle, Morgan could tell that everyone else had already arrived for the team's Christmas party.

Morgan grabbed two bags from the back seat and then walked around the vehicle to join Garcia. The blonde tech had a bag of gifts hanging from one arm and a batch of homemade cookies in her hands. Morgan draped the arm that wasn't carrying the team's gifts from both himself and Reid across her shoulders and began to lead her toward the house.

"I really wish Reid would have come with us," Garcia commented. Although Reid had apologized to her for walking out on Wednesday night, the genius had refused to talk about the incident. Always looking for ways to keep the peace, the tech hadn't pressed the issue even though she felt bad knowing that her friend was hurting. "I really wanted the whole team to be here for this celebration."

"I know you did, Baby Girl," Morgan said, giving her a squeeze with the arm he had draped across her shoulders. Letting his thoughts drift back to the conversation he had with Reid on Wednesday, Morgan silently admitted that he understood Reid's decision to not attend the party. Although, like Garcia, Morgan still wished Reid had come, even if he'd avoided certain members of the team; Morgan knew he would be associating with certain people more than others tonight. "He's dealing with a lot of things right now and he's afraid of ruining the party because of that. Maybe he does need a break from all the holiday festivities you've been putting him through, too."

"I just want to see him happy," Garcia said.

"I know, but one night alone isn't going to hurt him. We'll get his gifts from the team and give them to him when you both come over tomorrow night for our Christmas special marathon."

"If he doesn't bail on that too."

"He won't. I just think the whole team together is too much for him right now," Morgan told her as they walked up the steps to the front door. Taking his hand from across Garcia's shoulders he reached out and rang the doorbell.

It wasn't long before Rossi was opening the door and ushering them inside.

"You can put your presents under the tree until we do the gift exchange," Rossi told them, motioning toward the living room as he turned to hang up their coats which he had taken.

"I thought you didn't put up Christmas trees?"

Rossi shrugged. "I figured this year would be a good time to start doing it again. Putting it up made me realize how much I missed them. Now, if I could just keep Mudgie out from underneath it."

Both Morgan and Garcia laughed at the comment.

"Kevin didn't come?" Rossi asked, realizing that Garcia's long term boyfriend wasn't with his two co-workers.

"He wanted to, but Taylor's team is in Wisconsin on a case and he's working late gathering information for him," Garcia replied as the trio started walking toward the living room. More greetings were shouted and made as the two entered the living room where the others had gathered. Jack had made himself comfortable on the couch next to Prentiss who was reading a book to the young boy. Henry had plopped himself down in the middle of the floor and crossed his arms, his face in a decided pout.

"Uh-oh, someone doesn't look happy," Morgan commented.

"I know," Garcia said, sympathetically looking at her unhappy Godson. "Can you take my gifts over?" she asked.

"Sure thing, Mama," Morgan replied, taking her bag and heading for the tree.

Garcia found her way into the kitchen and added her cookies to the rest of the food spread out on the counter before returning to the living room. She made a beeline for Henry, sitting down on the floor in front of him.

"Hey, why so gloomy, Tiger?" Garcia asked.

"Uncle Spence isn't coming and I had a gift for him."

"Well, Derek is going to get all of Uncle Spence's gifts to take to him, so he'll still get your present Henry."

"But I want to give it to him." Henry told her. "Why isn't Uncle Spence coming? Is he sick?"

"No he isn't sick," Garcia told him, even as she thought of what excuse to give Henry for why Reid wasn't coming tonight. The little boy would never be able to comprehend everything that was going on right now between Reid, JJ, Prentiss, and Hotch.

"Mama said he just wasn't in the mood to party," Henry supplied.

Garcia smiled. She bet JJ had struggled with explaining things to Henry herself. "Well, your mother is probably right." The blonde told him. Not sure what Reid's reaction would be to what she was about to suggest, Garcia decided to go through with it anyway. She couldn't stand seeing Henry unhappy. "Would you like to ask him to come join us yourself?" Garcia asked, knowing that Reid wouldn't be able to tell the little boy no.

"Could I?"

Garcia nodded as she opened her purse to retrieve her cell phone. Pulling the device out she quickly found Reid's number in the contact list and placed the call. She listened to it ring, hoping Reid would answer the phone. Just when she thought he was going to get his voice mail she heard him answer.

"Hello."

"Hi, Reid. I've got someone with me who wants to talk to you," she told him. Not giving the young genius time to reply she handed the phone to Henry.

"Hi Uncle Spence!" Henry said excitedly into the phone.

"Hey, Henry," Reid said, surprised to hear the voice of his Godson over the phone. When Garcia had said there was someone who had wanted to talk to him he had been expecting it to be Prentiss or JJ.

"I've got a present for you! You've got to come!"

"Just give it to Derek, Henry. I'll get it."

"I want to give it to you," Henry pleaded.

Reid sighed. Telling JJ and the others he wasn't coming to the team party was one thing. Telling Henry no was something else entirely.

"Okay, Henry. I'll come for a little while, okay?"

"Yay. An' I wanna sing. Bring your baby piano, Uncle Spence!"

Reid sighed again. "Okay, I'll see you in a little while. Bye Henry."

"Bye, Uncle Spence!" Henry said, excitedly before giving the phone to Garcia. "He's coming, Aunt Penny!"

"Great!" Garcia said, taking the phone from Henry before giving the little boy a hug.

After hugging Garcia Henry got quickly to his feet. Turning to spread his good news, the little boy ran into Morgan who was coming over to join them. Reaching down to steady the little boy, Morgan addressed him.

"Whoa there, Henry. What's the rush?"

"Uncle Spence is coming, Mr. De'k," Henry exclaimed excitedly, glancing up at Morgan. "I need to tell, Mommy!"

With that said, Henry went running to JJ, who was now leaning against the back of the couch where Prentiss was reading to Jack. Morgan glanced only briefly at the excited toddler before looking at Garcia. The blonde tech was still sitting on the floor, a bit of a guilty look on her face as she looked up at Morgan.

"What did you do, Momma?"

"Henry was so sad, and he wanted Reid to come so he could give Reid the present he made in person."

"So you had Henry ask Reid to come?" Morgan asked, even though he really didn't need an answer.

Garcia nodded. "He's going to be mad, isn't he?" she asked, referring to Reid.

Morgan thought of Reid storming into his office the other day with the Christmas card. The genius had been upset with him thinking that he was manipulating the situation. Garcia could begin to pretend that she hadn't known Reid wouldn't be able to say no to Henry still, but hopefully as long as things went okay tonight things may not be too bad. At the very least, Morgan knew the younger agent wouldn't cause a scene in front of Henry or Jack.

"He's coming because Henry wanted to see him. As long as he's with Henry you'll be safe tonight and if things go well, I think Reid will forgive you."

"And if things don't go well?"

"Then believe me, Baby Girl, you're on your own tomorrow night when the two of you come over. I've already faced an angry genius once this week and don't intend to repeat that experience."

"Thanks a lot," Garcia said glumly.

Morgan grinned as he held out his hand to her. "Come on, we're at a party. Enjoy yourself. If Reid has a good time tonight you'll have nothing to worry about."

"Why do I feel like that's a long shot?" Garcia asked, grasping Morgan's hand and allowing herself to be helped to her feet.

Morgan didn't say anything as the two headed in Hotch's direction to greet the Unit Chief. It was almost an hour later before the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" Henry screeched, bolting for the door. Will quickly hurried after the toddler calling after his son that they needed to make sure they knew who was at the door before opening it.

Garcia searched the room for Morgan, wanting some silent reassurance that things were going to go okay. However, the Chicago native was busy entertaining Jack and didn't look up as the blonde computer tech gazed in his direction. A hand on her shoulder caused Garcia to jump.

"I think Henry is just what Spence needs right now," JJ commented as Garcia looked in her direction.

Garcia smiled and nodded. The words were just the extra little boost she needed to feel better about the situation. After all she had let Henry talk to Reid in an effort to make both of them happier. She couldn't be faulted for that could she?

"Uncle Spence is here!" Henry announced as he came back into the room, one hand grasping Reid's hand as he 'pulled' the young doctor into the spacious living room. Reid had his keyboard tucked under his other arm. "Can we open presents now?"

"Yeah! Can we?" Jack chimed in.

"Presents - the meaning of Christmas in the eyes of youth," Rossi commented, even as the other adults chuckled softly at the children's enthusiastic inquiry.

"What do you say guys? Time for the presents?" Hotch asked, looking around at his co-workers.

"I don't know," Morgan said slowly. "It's still kind of early."

"No it's not. Daddy would be making me get in my pajamas if I was at home," Jack argued.

Morgan smiled at the boy. "Well, in that case perhaps we should open presents."

Both kids cheered again. Still tugging on Reid's hand, Henry headed for the tree. Reid allowed himself to be led into the living room and toward the tree. The genius ended up taking a seat in a nearby easy chair, placing the keyboard on the floor beside him as Henry sat on the floor in front of him. JJ, Prentiss, and Garcia were on the floor in front of the tree poised to start handing out gifts to their appropriate recipients, as the others, with the exception of Rossi, found seats. Rossi had headed to the kitchen to get Reid a drink, seeing as it didn't seem as though Henry was going to let Reid go anywhere any time soon.

Finding the gifts that Henry had made for his godparents, JJ handed them to her son. Prentiss started distributing the other gifts that had been placed under the tree while Henry proudly presented his gifts to Aunt Penny and Uncle Spence. Opening them together, Reid and Garcia found homemade Christmas ornaments. Though it was clear that an adult had helped put them together, the ornament consisted of a paper wreath with a red bow on it. The circle of the wreath served as a frame for a photo - each showing Henry with his respective godparent.

"Mommy let me pick out the picture," Henry announced proudly.

"It's lovely. You picked just the right photo," Garcia said, holding at her arms to the little boy. Henry quickly hurried over to her and gave Garcia a hug before turning back to Reid.

"Do you like it, Uncle Spence?" Henry asked as he stood beside Reid's knee and looked up expectantly at his Godfather.

Reid swallowed hard, not about to cry in front of his teammates although the gift his Godson had just giving him was creating the feeling of wanting to do just that. "Yes, Henry. I do like it. Thank-you," he managed to get out, his voice wavering with the emotions he was feeling but not breaking. He could feel the heat rising in his cheeks though as he knew all of his teammates could read him like a book - it was second nature to them.

Rossi entered the living room at that point, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen over the room.

"Here you go," Rossi said, holding a wine glass of sparkling cider out to the younger man.

"Thanks," Reid said, taking the glass from the older man as the women went about distributing gifts. Henry had climbed up with Reid, squeezing in between the genius and the arm of the chair.

"Do you want something to eat? It doesn't look like Henry's going to let you out of his sight anytime soon," Rossi said, smiling. A flash going off told the elder profiler that he wasn't the only one that thought the scene was endearing.

Reid shook his head. "I'm fine. Thanks."

Rossi nodded and walked over to the couch, sitting down next to Hotch as Prentiss handed him a present. Glancing down at the tag Rossi commented, "I think I'm a little scared to open this," he said, trying to judge what might be in the thin package.

"It doesn't bite!" Garcia told him, recognizing the wrapping paper she had used, even as she handed Morgan a gift from Prentiss.

The little exchange elicited soft laughter from most of the adults in the room as Rossi pulled the wrapping from the package to reveal a black and white framed photo. As he gazed at the group of people in the photograph a familiar looking face stood out, even as he gazed at a small card that had been included with the photograph. He recognized the two names, David and Isabella Rossi, on the card as his great-grandparents. He only remembered them through stories, his great-grandfather having died shortly after his own father was born and his great-grandmother had passed away when he was four.

"Where did you get this?" Rossi asked, his voice wavering a bit from the emotions he felt of gazing at his heritage.

"Never doubt the power of the Internet. It took a little research, but I was able to find that photo of your great-grandparents that was taken before they left Italy for America. It was kind of hard to think of something to get the man who could buy anything," Garcia said, gesturing at the huge home they were all gathered in, "so I thought a piece of family history would be a nice gift. Do you like it?"

Rossi swallowed hard before speaking. "Yes, Kitten. I like it. Thank-you."

"You're welcome," Garcia said, beaming.

At that point, a startled yell from Prentiss broke through the serious mood that had fallen over the group. Everyone looked in the raven-haired agent's direction to see her holding a box that fake snakes had popped out of. From his seat, Morgan was chuckling softly.

"Morgan!" Prentiss exclaimed getting over her surprise.

"What? You claimed there was no way I could scare you after you snuck up and startled me at the gym a couple of weeks. I told you I'd find a way."

"This wasn't playing fair," Prentiss said, picking up the fake snakes.

"All's fair in love and war, Princess," Morgan told her, grinning from ear to ear. "Are you going to look at your gift," he told her, gesturing to the box that was still sitting in her lap.

A bit cautious now, Prentiss looked into the box. A smile spread across her face as she saw what was in the box. "Kurt Vonnegut novels," she said, pulling several books out of the book.

"You said you hadn't been able to find those three so I hunted them down for you, with a bit of help of course," Morgan said, glancing in Garcia's direction.

"Thanks. I appreciate it, fake snakes aside," Prentiss said.

The opening of gifts continued, everyone watching with interest to see what everyone had gotten one another. Before long electronic beeps and alarms mingled with voices as Jack and Henry started playing with toys they had gotten. By the time all the gifts were open, Reid was on the floor with Jack and Henry as the three played with Jack's new Hungry, Hungry, Hippos game.