AN: So this is the last regular chapter. After that there is just the epilogue. It's been a long journey and I thank-you all for joining me on it! Also, this chapter has not been beta'ed - I've gone through it a couple of times but I find editing my own work to be hard(and commas and I don't get along), so please bear with me with the mistakes. If you choose to, feel free to point out any obvious typos you find. On that note, hope you enjoy the chapter!

The Shield Bar and Grill was crowded at this time of the evening, as those getting off work stopped by to grab dinner with co-workers or significant others. Others, looking to blow off steam, had stopped by for a drink or two as they shot a game of pool. The one thing they all had in common was that they were looking to escape the pressures of their jobs.

Hudson and Morgan had found a booth off to the side of the bar. From where he was, Morgan had a good view of most of the bar, including the front door. Though Nichols had chosen to go home to his kids, they weren't the only two from the BAU at the bar that night. Across the room and closer to the front door, the dark-skinned profiler had a clear view of Hotch and Gideon, the former having been joined by his wife.

"I have a feeling he's standing us up," Hudson commented, picking up his glass of cola and taking a sip. Neither of the agents was drinking that night. "Perhaps we should just order."

Morgan glanced down at his watch. It was now ten minutes past the time they had agreed to meet. However, Reid had seemed reluctant to the idea right from the start, so perhaps he had just decided not to show up. Giving everything that had taken place since Reid had joined the BAU, the profiler couldn't blame the younger agent for suddenly being leery about spending time with them.

~Perhaps he figured that not showing up would be easier than trying to talk his way out of coming, ~ Morgan thought, as he looked back toward the entrance. He was about to agree to Hudson's suggestion when he saw their newest team member come through the front door.

"Reid just showed up," Morgan said, with a nod toward the door.

Hudson turned in his seat at the comment and so both federal agents saw what transpired. As he stepped into the bar, Reid started looking around for his teammates. Instead of stopping while he did so, he took a couple more steps. Those steps took him right into the path of one of the bar's other patrons who was carrying a couple of drinks, which ended up hitting the floor with the sound of breaking glass.

Even from where they were sitting, Morgan could see Reid's face pale as well as the angry look the other guy gave him. Morgan noticed it was the same guy that Reid had managed to get mad at him when the whole team had come here after their day at Hogan's Alley. Despite the words Reid was saying, which Morgan could only guess was some sort of apology, the anger did not fade from the man's face.

~Apparently, the guy remembers Reid from the last time too, ~ Morgan thought, as he got to his feet with the intent to go bail his teammate out of whatever situation he had gotten himself into.

"That didn't take him long at all," Hudson commented as he got to his feet too.

"What didn't?"

"Reid managing to get himself into trouble."

Morgan smiled but didn't reply as he led the way through the crowd.

At his own table, Hotch had noticed Reid's arrival himself. He was surprised by it at first, not figuring Reid to be one to show up at the bar on his own. When Reid started glancing around the bar, he realized that the younger man was here to meet someone.

"You didn't invite Reid to join us, did you?" Hotch asked, letting his gaze drift from Reid to Gideon who was sitting across the table from him.

"No. I would have told you," Gideon replied.

There was a sound of glass breaking and both profilers looked in that direction. It didn't surprise them that Reid was involved in the source of that commotion. Hotch started to get to his feet, ready to go run interference for the young agent, when Gideon spoke up again.

"Hold up," Gideon said, looking back at Hotch.

"That guy doesn't look at all happy. What do you want me to do, wait until he actually hits the kid?"

"Of course not," Gideon said. "Reid's got someone else coming to his aid though," Gideon said, nodding to indicate that Hotch should look in a certain direction.

Looking past Reid and the angry bar patron, who as of right now had limited showing his displeasure to yelling, it didn't take long for Hotch to pick out who Gideon was referring too. Both Morgan and Hudson were making their way toward the altercation. Hotch wondered if they were who Reid had been looking for when he had entered the bar.

~If so, perhaps there is hope for this group yet," Hotch thought, settling back down in his seat though he kept a close eye on what was going on. If things escalated or Morgan and Hudson didn't seem to be able to diffuse the situation, the former prosecutor planned on being ready to step in.

As Morgan reached Reid and the man, the first thing he did was insert himself in between the man and his younger teammate. Reid seemed quite relieved to see Morgan, even as he took a couple of steps back. Hudson, hung off to the side, letting Morgan take the lead but making sure that the other guy was aware of his presence.

Though Hotch couldn't tell what Morgan was saying to the guy, it seemed to work. The man still seemed upset but no longer looked as if he would rather have his hands wrapped around Reid's neck more than anything else. By this time, a waiter and the bar's manager had joined the scene, clearly trying to make sure that a fight didn't break out. Not long after they appeared though, the guy started walking toward the bar with Hudson, while the waiter and manager started cleaning up the broken glass and spilled drinks. Putting one arm around Reid's shoulders, Morgan led the younger man safely through the crowd to the table that he and Hudson had been sitting at.

"Maybe we'll be okay after all," Gideon said as he turned away from the scene and leaned back against the back of the booth.

Hotch smiled. Only time would tell if the camaraderie he had just witnessed would last but he had to agree with the unit chief, the team might just be okay. Though he wouldn't have chosen for the events in Alabama to take place, it appeared as though the team had done some bonding over what had occurred. If that bonding lasted, then at least something good had come from it all.

Their waitress brought out their food, and Gideon, Hotch and Haley changed the topic of the conversation as they began to eat their dinner.

"Next time, just accept the ride when I offer it and perhaps you can keep yourself out of trouble," Morgan told Reid as he slid into the booth beside the younger agent.

"I didn't want to come in the first place, remember," Reid said defensively. He immediately regretted the choice of words as he felt it made him sound ungrateful for Morgan's help. He had been sure that the guy was going to take a swing at him. "But thanks for bailing me out back there," he added quickly.

"It's what teammates are for," Morgan told him.

Reid smiled and nodded. Those simple words told him that he had finally achieved what he had been striving for since he had joined the BAU. He had finally gotten the acceptance of his teammates. He wasn't naive enough to think it was going to be smooth sailing from this point on. He knew he had a lot to learn. More than likely he was going to unknowingly annoy one of them from time to time. They weren't always going to see things the same way and he had seen from the interaction of the rest of them that there was going to be some good-natured teasing in the future. However, when things got rough, he knew they were going to have his back despite any of that. They had proven that to him in Alabama and again tonight.

Before either of them could say anything else, Hudson rejoined them. "If I've got to keep bailing you out, you're going to be the death of me," he said, directing the comment toward Reid as he slid into the seat across from his two teammates. "By the way, you owe me six bucks," he added in a casual, offhanded manner, the right side of his mouth lifting into a half-smile.

Taking him seriously, Reid reached for his wallet, ready to hand over the money. He was just grateful to both Morgan and Hudson for coming to his rescue with the guy, as his apologies had been getting him nowhere. Morgan had finally been able to get the guy to back off by offering to buy him replacement drinks. The guy, probably due to the fact that he was by that time outnumbered and they had attracted the attention of the manager, had accepted the offer and Hudson had gone with him to the bar to make the purchase.

"I was joking," Hudson said, waving his had in Reid's direction. "I got it covered."

"You sure?"

"Yes," Hudson told him. Grinning now, he changed his gaze to Morgan. "We're definitely going to have to teach him not to take things so seriously."

"I think we're going to have our work cut out for us in that area," Morgan replied, his grin matching Hudson's.

Reid felt his cheeks grow warm as he concentrated on the menu he was holding. It wasn't long before a waitress showed up asking if they were ready to order. The three agents placed their orders. As the waitress left their table, Hudson spoke up.

"Well, Reid here is lesson number one in knowing when not to take things seriously. Listen to the way that somebody speaks the words. If they're joking around you will be able to hear the voice in the inflection of their voice."

"I think you mean intonation," Reid replied casually.

"Excuse me?" Hudson asked.

"If you're referring to the tone in which somebody says something, linguists consider that the intonation. Languages use intonation for emphasis, to convey surprise, to pose a question. Actually, intonation is most easily identified in declarative questions because there is usually a rising intonation that the listener can easily hear. In contrast, inflection refers to the modification of a word to express different grammatical categories such as tense, grammatical mood, person, number, or gender." Reid paused for a moment, "Although, sometimes the term vocal inflection is used to refer to the intonations of the voice, so I guess you could use the term inflection. But, you're still really referring to the intonation of the voice."

"Um, yeah, okay," Hudson said, hesitantly, not at all sure he completely understood what the younger man had just said. He glanced at Morgan, who was busy trying to hide his smile behind his hand. "In any case, you can often hear when someone is joking around by listening to how they say the words."

"I understood the concept you were tying to express," Reid said casually, as the waitress came back with his ginger ale.

"You're right, we're going to have our work cut out for us," Hudson said, looking across the table at Morgan.

Beside the dark-skin profiler, Reid pushed the straw out of its wrapper and placed it in his glass. He then proceeded to start folding the paper, concentrating on it, instead of looking at either of his co-workers. He had a feeling he had just done something wrong again, though he wasn't sure what.

Seeing that Reid was uncomfortable with the situation, Morgan chose to change the subject. Trying to choose a subject they might all be able to join in on the conversation, Morgan steered the conversation in the direction of current events. The dark-skinned agent didn't miss the fact that most of the conversation was between him and Hudson, but he wasn't sure how to get Reid more involved without being too obvious. The last thing he wanted to do was make the younger man even more nervous.

By the time the waitress had returned with their food, the conversation had found its way to NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Mission. The first rover, Spirit, had landed on Mars on January 3. The second Rover, Opportunity, was expected to be landing on the Mars surface at the end of the month. As the waitress walked away, Reid started stating statistics relating to the lack of success of past unmanned missions to Mars. Morgan dropped the fork and knife he was about to stick into his steak, and reaching around Reid, clamped one hand over the younger man's mouth.

"Didn't I tell you to leave the statistics back at the office tonight, Kid?" Morgan asked.

Unable to speak due to the hand clamped over his mouth, Reid nodded in agreement.

"So if I remove my hand you promise not to finish rattling off whatever statistics you were about to give us?"

Morgan's question got another nod of agreement. Morgan removed his hand and picked up his silverware again.

"So exactly what is this rover mission supposed to accomplish?" Hudson asked, grateful to have avoided the statistics, but honestly curious about the mission itself.

Hesitantly, Reid started answering the question. As he spoke, he gained confidence as he realized his two teammates were actually interested in what he was saying, though he tried to keep clear of going into the little details that he often found interesting.

As Morgan cut his steak and listened to his teammate, he realized that having Dr. Spencer Reid in his life was going to prove to be quite an interesting experience. Though he would have never struck up a friendship with Reid on his own, somewhere during the last few months the younger agent had grown on him.

Morgan thought about his first impression of Reid. ~He sure has managed to prove that first impression wrong in many ways, although I'd still be afraid to practice hand-to-hand with him. I'd still be afraid of hurting him.~