Title: Stay with Me

Author: Ashley

Fandom: Criminal Minds

Rating: T

Ship: Reid/Morgan, Hotch/Prentiss

Summary: After Reid is assaulted, can Morgan help him put his life back together, or will this send Reid over the edge, for good?

Warning: No warnings for this chapter!

Chapter Summary: Reid's first day back at work, Bitch of the universe makes her first (and oh God I wish I could say final) appearance in my story. I finally stopped with the filler fluff, and am moving on to real action.

Author's notes: So, I think I have bitten off a little bit more than I can chew. I have… Three requests that I am working on, (hopefully all three of those will be up soon) and this story, and one that's finished, but can't go up yet because it's the third in a series, and then the second one in the series I'm stuck on. I'm worn out, but I can promise you an update on this story by Sunday night. (It's already all planned out thank God.)

Four weeks later

I was nervous as I walked into the bullpen, I didn't quite know why though. Maybe because it had been so long since I had been to work. Derek stood faithfully by me, his arm wrapped around my waist.

"Baby are you sure you want to do this now? It can always wait a little while longer, this is a lot to take-" I lifted my hand to press a finger to his lips.

"Derek, I am going stir crazy cooped up in the house with Clooney, and I think that if you have to go away on one more case, Garcia is going to kill me personally." I smiled a little bit at his deep chuckle. "Really, I'm fine Derek. I want to be back at work." I leaned smiled and twisted out of Derek's grasp, swatting him playfully on the chest.

"Love you." Derek headed toward his desk, and started working on case files.

"Love you too," I smiled at him, and headed toward Hotch's office to pick up my new credentials and side arm.

I knocked on the door frame and stepped inside his office. "Hey Reid, they are right there on the file cabinet." I nodded and grabbed them, fastening the new holster onto my hip.

"No new cases?" I sat down opposite from my superior as he poured over case files.

"Nothing JJ deems necessary for the BAU to handle, I think we'll be good for at least today." I nodded slightly.

"Do you think that Strauss is going to give me and Derek a hard time?" Hotch looked up at me like I had lost my mind.

"Not with me, Gideon, and Rossi behind you. I know that the two of you can handle the job professionally, just as Emily and I have done."

"Thank you."

"Anytime Reid." Standing up to leave I was quite shocked to see Emily standing in the door way.

"We're all going to the club tonight, to celebrate your first day back."

"Don't I get a say?" Emily shook her head and motioned for me to follow her.

"You're coming too right Hotch?" Hotch looked up at his girlfriend and heaved a huge sigh of agitation.

"If I must Emily." Emily smiled and clapped her hands. We walked out toward the bullpen, where JJ and Derek were talking about which club they wanted to go too.

"Is Rossi coming too?" JJ smiled as I walked over and pulled me into a hug.

"Yes he is, if I have to drag him. We're all going to meet outside the HotSpot at nine." I nodded and walked over to my desk. Everything quieted for a moment, and I started looking over the backlogged paper work in my inbox. JJ walked away, after telling Emily she was going to tell Rossi that he was going out with them.

"Who's crazy idea is this anyways?" Derek chuckled and balled up a sheet of paper, before lobbing it at Rossi's head as he walked into the bullpen, clearly agitated.

"Who's idea do you think it was, Rossi?" I was looking at Rossi like he was an idiot.

"Garcia," he groaned, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

The day went by slowly, numerous people stopped by to welcome me back. It was a very tedious day, for all of us, and some of us took to hiding in Penelope's office for thirty to forty minutes at a time, playing computer games with her.

It was thirty minutes to shift end when the day finally got interesting.

"Dr. Reid!" I looked up and winced as I saw Erin Strauss at the doors to the bullpen. I picked up a case file and buried my nose in it. Hotch was standing by Emily's desk, taking her completed case reports from her when he heard Strauss. He whistled loudly before coming to stand in front of my desk as Strauss headed toward me. Strauss hadn't even made it half way to my desk when Rossi and Gideon were standing shoulder to shoulder on either side of Hotch.

"Agent Hotchner, I assume you are aware of the intra team fraternization policy?" Hotch fixed her with his most rigid glare and nodded. His arms were crossed across his chest, Gideon was a mirror image, and Rossi had his hands on his hips underneath his suit jacket.

"I am." If looks could kill, then the look Strauss gave me most certainly would have sent me to the mortuary.

"I'm reassigning Dr. Reid, effective immediately." Gideon took a menacing step forward.

"I don't think so Strauss." I stood up, going to stand behind and between Rossi and Hotch's shoulders while Gideon defended me.

"Well I do think so." Strauss took a step back from Gideon.

"I don't think so. Reid is not going anywhere." Strauss drew herself up.

"Then Agent Morgan will be reassigned."

"Hey! I'm not goin' nowhere, and if you have somethin' to say, then I suggest you say it." Derek came through the bullpen from Penelope's office, his voice raised loud enough for Strauss to hear him clearly. I grabbed his arm as he walked by and pulled him behind Rossi and Hotch, knowing that if Strauss really pissed my boyfriend off, then Rossi, Hotch, and I would be able to hold him back.

"I don't have anything to say to you that can't go through your supervisor's first Agent."

"Reid and I aren't-" Rossi held a hand up, cutting Derek off.

"Morgan, shut up for a minute and let us handle this, all you are going to do is make the situation worse."

"Good advice Agent Morgan, you should take it." I grabbed Derek's arm at the same time Hotch threw his arm out, hitting Derek's chest as he pushed passed Rossi.

Our entire team was gathering by my desk now, brought in by Derek's raised voice. Penelope came to stand beside me, her hand on my arm. Emily stood on Derek's other side, slightly behind Rossi and grabbed Derek's other arm. JJ was the last to come in, and there was fire burning in her eyes that I had very rarely seen there.

"Excuse me, but I think I heard you wrong," JJ fumed, causing Strauss to stumble back. "But, just in case I wasn't let me clarify: You want to separate this team?"

"Yes," Strauss regained her composure quickly, "I do."

"Jennifer, don't-"

"Stuff it Rossi." JJ fixed him with the same glare she had just used on Strauss. Rossi shut his mouth quickly and smirked, waving his hand as if to tell her to go ahead. Turning back toward Strauss, she stepped in front of Hotch.

If I wasn't worried about loosing my job, or the love of my life, the sight of the petite blond standing in front of a well built SSA staring down Strauss down would have been hysterically funny. "You want to break up the most successful BAU in the country?"

"I-"

"No, this is my turn to speak, Ma'am," JJ crossed her arms in front of her chest. "We have the highest success rate in the country, and in case you don't know what that means, we have put away the most killers, rapists, and every other horrible thing you can be, in the entire country. And that success rate started a year after this team started working together."

"Agent Jareau, I don't think you are in a position,-" JJ's glare cut her off once again, and I pulled away from Derek and Penelope to jump forward and clamp my hand over her mouth before she could do more harm than good. I wrapped my arm around JJ's chest and kept my hand over her mouth.

"That's why you-" Derek moved behind me and covered Penelope's mouth with his hand before she could finish speaking, we could all see how pissed off she was, if the tears running off her face weren't already a good indication. I could hear the muffled word's 'fucking bitch,' coming from behind Derek's hand, but they were muffled enough by Morgan's hand that Strauss didn't hear.

Derek wrapped an arm around her much the same way I had grabbed JJ, before bending his head down and whispering in her ear, just loud enough that I could hear. "Baby Girl, think before you open that beautiful mouth of yours. Push her too much and we could all loose our jobs." Penelope nodded slowly and Derek uncovered her mouth and moved his arm. I had already dropped JJ, and Derek slowly laced our fingers together. I slipped my hand into JJ's and smiled softly as I saw that Derek had already grabbed Penelope's hand and was holding it tightly.

"Agent Jareau has a point, you break up this team, and you risk the success rate of this unit dropping. Each member of this team brings something essential to the success of this unit." Hotch finally spoke, his composure never wavering. "Our team is like a family-"

"And that is exactly why I think this team should be-"

Hotch dropped his arms from across his chest and rose his voice to speak over her, "And that gives us a capacity to work together like no other team before us, the closer we are, the more we can accomplish. It's easier to think as a unit when you as are close as we all are."

"Nobody in this unit thinks as an individual when we are out on in the field. That is what makes us successful." Gideon spoke for the first time, stepping forward to put a cautioning hand on Hotch's arm, we could all see the anger rising in his face.

"That still does not excuse the fact that a Bureau policy has been broken, and disciplinary action must be taken." Strauss looked exceptionally happy with herself as she finished her statement. Emily stepped forward and put her hands on her hips.

"Ma'am, I have avoided joining in this conversation, because I believed you would see reason and redeem yourself." Strauss opened her mouth to protest, but Emily held a hand up calmly. "I can see that is not going to happen. I know that I have no authority what so ever, but since you seem to have pissed off all three of my supervisors beyond words I think I speak for them." Taking a menacing step toward Strauss, Emily glanced back at me and smiled softly.

"If you continue to try and break up this team, the rest of the team and I will go over your head, and believe me, it won't be pretty." Emily straightened up to her full height and turned so she was facing me. Looking over her shoulder, she addressed the director again, "Now, until you have a real reason to break up the team you despise, we have work we have to do." Smiling, she grabbed my arm, and Derek's arm and dragged us back, away from the rest of the team, they got the message and followed, leaving Strauss standing there looking like she got punched in the face.

We waited until we got into the conference room to look at each other and laugh. I wrapped my arms around Emily and JJ at the same time, while Penelope laughed and pulled Rossi into a surprising hug. Once all the laughter had stopped, and everyone quieted down, I looked around the room, before wrapping my arms around everyone in turn.

The fact that everyone of them went up to bat for Derek and I showed how close we really were, not statistics, or facts. It was evident in everything we did.

"Thank you," I muttered, "For keeping this family together."


Okay, so sue me, I couldn't resist just a little bit of fluff.

Does every body seem pretty much in character? I mean, this is pretty much AU, so it doesn't bother me if they are a little bit off, but if they are like horribly off, please let me know.

(Oh, and take into account, that they are alot closer after Spencer's attack. And that as time goes on you will realize that if anybody outside of the team gets near Spencer he gets a little... Twitchy. He's only comfortable around the team, because they are the only people that never hurt him. Besides Gideon, but I'm not even gonna GO there.)