He was going to die.

Reid was going to kill him.

He was going to tear him apart limb by limb.

There would be nothing left of the man once Reid got his hands on him.

But standing already felt like a challenge to him.

His hands were trembling.

Chest was aching.

"Come on, Pretty Boy," said Morgan, that horribly cocky grin plastered to his face. "You have to admit it was a little funny."

Reid was still bent over panting, his knees feeling wobbly after all the running he had endured throughout the day. Garcia was slouched over next to him, her breath also coming short. Reid tilted his head up and glared at Morgan through squinted eyes, the man's bald head shining perfectly in the sunlight behind him. If he had had any strength left in his body he would have used it to tackle Morgan to the ground again.

"Funny?!" Reid repeated, straightening up and clutching onto his throbbing chest. He could feel a tight stitch in his side and a wheezy feeling in the back of his throat. "I'm wearing shorts!"

Morgan's head fell back as he laughed heartily. "I know," he said, smiling as always, "that's the funny part!" He snorted and began cackling all over again.

Garcia even made a little chuckle next to him. Reid stared at her, feeling a small sense of betrayal in his heart.

"I thought you said they didn't look bad!" he accused, glaring at the panting girl instead. Sometimes he truly hated his friends.

Garcia's eyes widened slightly in guilt and embarrassment. "They don't look bad," she argued. "They just look…" she broke off, obviously trying to find the nicest mean word to describe Reid's style.

"Ridiculous," finished Morgan.

Reid smacked him on his arm, half playfully, half with the intent to cause as much bodily pain as he was currently in. He could feel his face heating up slightly at their comments, hating getting caught in embarrassing situations such as this. Reid was fully aware of how lanky and pale he was, and his legs were like screaming advertisements to such insecurities.

Morgan, his laughter finally dying down, threw a strong arm around Reid's shoulders. He nearly collapsed under the weight.

"Come on, kid, how about I buy the two of you dinner after putting you through that?"

All Reid could do was nod, what with still trying to get his breathing and heart rate down to a normal speed. This was exactly why he hated exercise. Who had fun feeling this way?

"I'm in!" breathed Garcia, raising a weak hand above her head. "And I'll let you pay for the physical therapy I'll need after this too."

Both of the boys chuckled. "Alright, baby doll, you got it," said Morgan.

He reached down and picked up his hat the two of them had knocked off whilst throwing themselves on him. Reid and Garcia made their way to the locker rooms while Morgan waited outside. Showering quickly and getting back into his normal clothes, Reid couldn't keep the small smile off his face. Even though he could have easily used Morgan as target practice in anger of making them do all that exercise, he was always genuinely happy when he and his coworkers got to spend time not hunting down deranged murderers.

"You and your curly hair," commented Morgan, smirking as Reid shuffled out of the locker room with wet hair.

"At least it will be the last to go gray," Reid threw back, a grin appearing on his face as well. Morgan punched him lightheartedly on the shoulder, and Reid did everything in his willpower not to flinch at the slight pain it caused. Maybe he did need to work out more…

"How's your face feeling?" Morgan nodded at the cuts on Reid's cheek and eyebrow.

"Fine compared to my legs," retorted Reid truthfully. His face didn't hurt unless he touched it, but his legs were filled with this awful fiery searing that hadn't gone away since Morgan showed up.

With another smirk, Morgan said, "So I'm going to take a guess and say that all of those stretches weren't for your brain to stay…what was it again? 'Limber'?"

Reid couldn't help but shake his head, deciding to just ignore his friend as much as possible. Morgan began laughing again just as Garcia exited the girl's locker room, now wearing a bright pink skirt with a white and pink flowing blouse to match her pink high heels. It just screamed Garcia.

"Thinking about Reid's shorts?" she questioned Morgan's laughter.

Morgan doubled over, now chortling too hard to even make sound.

"Stop talking about my shorts!" Reid said indignantly, but even he couldn't contain the small upturn in the corner of his lips.

Garcia grinned and shook her head. "Come along, my beautiful boys," she declared, throwing an arm on both of their shoulders and guiding them out of the fitness center.

They met up at a small Italian restaurant (Reid refused anything Asian that involved chopsticks) and hung out there for a couple of hours. Conversation varied from gossip about other coworkers, funny anecdotes, and eventually got around to a slightly personal discussion.

Reid and Garcia had been talking about one of their favorite books they had both read until the conversation about it slowly dwindled down to a comfortable silence. Picking at the noodles on his plate, Reid couldn't help but suddenly feel a weird tingling up his spine. Looking up, he and Morgan immediately met eyes. He raised his eyebrow at Morgan, silently questioning why he had been staring at him.

"How have you been, Reid?"

Taken aback by Morgan's random question, Reid faltered slightly before responding with, "I'm fine." Reid looked at Garcia to see if she knew where the question had come from, but she was staring determinedly at her salad, her fork not even in her hand.

"Why do you ask?"

Morgan shrugged and quickly picked up his water to take a sip, not meeting Reid's eyes anymore.

With that simple gesture, Reid knew why he had asked.

Maeve.

"I'm doing better," he added softly, going back to twirling his noodles on his plate. In all honesty, he had been doing better. He wasn't shut up in his house anymore, his nightmares about Maeve were very rare nowadays, and any and all dark thoughts he had had whilst sulking in his house for weeks were gone. But even as he sat in that booth, he could feel Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's book in his messenger bag leaning against his leg.

He saw the two of them look at each other before Garcia said, "That's good to hear, sweetie."

"Yeah, kid," agreed Morgan. "We just want to know that you're doing alright."

Reid nodded, but began to feel that small weight press into his chest again. It was the same feeling he had dealt with many times since joining the FBI. Embarrassment. He knew that his team was just looking out for him, but it still made him feel weak and dependent.

"I would be a lot better if I got the feeling back in my legs."

"I second that!" Garcia said quickly, picking up on Reid's sudden change in the topic.

"You two are a bunch of pa—"

"Don't even say it!" Garcia cut Morgan off instantly, holding up her finger to silence him. "Deep down, I am still furious with you and the feeling of inflicting pain or death onto you is still present. If you value your life or your limbs, I would suggest you save the insults until I've had a three-hour long massage."

Morgan's mouth was gaping open slightly, having been caught off guard by her outburst. Reid would have thought his expression was amusing, had he not also been a little disturbed by Garcia's threat. Admittedly, he could probably say the same feeling was within him as well.

Holding his hands up in a sign of surrender, Morgan said, "You've got it, cupcake." A sweet smile crept up onto his lips, and Garcia herself also beamed at him shyly.

Reid shook his head and wondered when the two of them would just finally get married.

Did anyone else love Reid's shorts in that 'Rabid' episode? XD

Thanks again for all of the wonderful reviews you guys! You truly have no idea how happy they make me. :)