Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds in any way.

Because I felt like posting again, damn it.

On We March
#33: Sunrise

Word: Sunrise
Season: Any
Length: 800

"Morgan…Morgan, wake up." Morgan made a noncommittal noise back because, honestly, it was too early for human words. "Wake up." The soft tone was enough to get one eye to open blearily. Reid snickered.

"Wassup?" Morgan slurred back. On some subconscious profiler level he noted Reid's relaxed features and let himself acknowledge there was no threat.

Grinning Reid replied, "Get up, I want to show you something."

"Can't it wait until later? 's like three in the morning."

"It's quarter to six, Morgan," Reid said, unable to keep the faint laugh out of his voice. Honestly.

"Still too early for a weekend," Morgan argued even though he knew he'd already succumbed to the puppy dog eyes Reid was unintentionally sending him. The things he did for this kid… "I'm up, I'm up," he said as Reid began to make impatient noises.

"We're going to run out of time…" That piqued Morgan's interest.

"What is this magical thing?" Reid just rolled his eyes and shoved shoes at Morgan. He felt silly putting on sneakers with his cotton t-shirt and pants, but Reid, who was also in his pajamas, was apparently in a hurry. Reid all but dragged him towards the door. He may be skinny, but Morgan was mentally still asleep in bed.

"Where are we going?" Morgan asked as Reid shut his apartment door behind him. Reid just shushed him. It wasn't for several minutes climbing stairs did Morgan realize where they were going.

"Are we even allowed up here?" he asked as Reid rammed his shoulder into the old door to get it to budge.

"Probably not," Reid conceded as he stepped out into the early morning air. There was nothing spectacular about the rooftop as far as Morgan could tell (it was still dark after all) and he couldn't for the life of him figure out what Reid intended to do up here.

"Reid, what are we doing up here? The sun's not even up yet, man. Normal people aren't supposed to be up before the sun." Reid rolled his eyes and walked towards the edge, making Morgan's heart beat faster. "Be careful," he cautioned, earning another eye roll. But, to his relief, Reid didn't go all the way to the edge and instead sat down on the large metal air duct jutting out of the gravel covered roof.

"Come on," Reid called. Reid's shape was barely visible, the light from the open doorway stopping a few feet short of him.

"What is this about?" Morgan asked as he sat down next to the skinny genius on the freezing metal.

"Just watch," Reid whispered. He shifted and leaned up against Morgan, who in turn wrapped an arm around the younger man and pressed a kiss to his hair. Feeling substantially better with Reid pressed against him, Morgan took a relaxing breath, rested his head on Reid's, and watched.

He didn't get it at first. But when he did get it, he really got it.

It was…amazing.

Pinks and oranges the color of tropical fruit began to wash over the bland city sky line. From their high vantage point they could watch as the sunlight crept forward, over taking the shadows and chasing the dark line back. Then the colors swept in like a faint brush stroke to illuminate the nooks and crannies with pale yet vibrant colors. The warmth began to prickle along his skin and it tugged a smile from him.

The world they lived in was so dark and so bad, yet here this was. Entirely untainted. The sunrise that happened every day, every morning without fail, starting each and every day with a pure beauty Morgan had never seen before. Never like this, anyway. It was warm and gentle like soft beach sand with a light tide or the feeling of the position in bed you found once every few weeks that was just so comfortable you couldn't even conceive to get up. It was sleeping in or breakfast in bed. Ice cream in the park or kissing in the rain. It was everything wonderful.

Morgan caught Reid watching him out of the corner of his eye with a knowing smile on his face.

"Well?"

"It was worth getting up for," Morgan agreed. A quick kiss then he pulled Reid back next to him so he could bury his nose in the sweet smelling hair and soak all the warmth in.

He had seen the sunrise many times before, albeit never from such a height, but he had never felt such immense enjoyment, such immense awe at it before. So, logically, he had to conclude, it was not seeing the sunrise that made him feel this way.

It was seeing the honest and true peaceful happiness on the face of the man he loved as he pulled them even closer together to bask in the beauty and warmth.