The next morning, Spencer was able to leave the hospital. Derek helped him get dressed and grabbed their bags, putting them over his shoulder. His doctor had put a bandage and tape over his stitches, so he'd be able to get dressed and not have his stitches catch on anything. Derek left the room and came back a minute later, wheelchair in tow.

"What's that?" Spencer asked, sitting up.

"This crazy invention called a wheelchair. Essentially, it's a chair with wheels."

Spencer mock laughed. "For?"

"For you to sit yourself in so I can get you out of here."

He groaned. "Derek, I'm fine, I can walk."

"I don't care, it's hospital policy. Now sit."

He rested a hand on his side, walking over and sitting down. "Fine."

Derek adjusted the bags on his shoulder, before pushing him outside toward the SUV.

"Can you get out on your own?"

He nodded slightly, pushing himself up and wincing, opening the passenger side door and getting in. "I can't promise I can buckle myself in though."

Derek put the bags in the backseat and got in, buckling Spencer in before buckling himself.

Once they made it to the airstrip, Derek took their bags and walked directly behind Spencer, ready to catch him if he fell. Spencer took slow steps up the stairs and onto the jet, sitting down on the couch. JJ reached over, handing him an ice pack, which he gratefully accepted, holding it against his side. After Derek put his things into the overhead, he took the blanket out, tossing it to Spencer, who took it and laid down, easily falling asleep.

"Looks like he could really use the powernap," Emily said, motioning toward him.

Derek looked over and saw Spencer was already out. "I guess the hotel room floor and the hospital bed weren't that comfortable."

"The hotel room floor?" JJ asked, eyebrow raised.

He nodded slightly. "That's where he slept night before last. Called room service for some pillows and blankets, made himself a little bed, and stayed there."

"Even after he walked to the coroner's office, which, by the way, I should hit you for?"

Derek raised his eyebrows, exhaling. "It was his choice, not mine."

"Why would you let him walk a mile with a bad knee, and then proceed to make him sleep on the floor? What kind of sick sadist are you?"

"Sadist? That's a little harsh. He said he'd walk, I let him. He wanted to sleep on the floor, I let him."

"Wanted?" Emily asked. "Or was required to?"

"None of your business," he said. "Now, are we done?"

"For now."

When they arrived back home, Hotch told everyone to go straight home and get some rest, saying they'd get the paperwork done in the morning. Derek was happy to comply, helping Spencer up and walking him off the jet and toward the car. He pulled up to his apartment building and nudged the sleeping Spencer in the passenger seat.

"Come on, Pretty Boy."

"Can you stay the night?" Spencer mumbled, leaning his head against the window.

Derek laughed slightly. "In my own apartment?"

Spencer raised an eyebrow, waking up slightly and looking out the window. "You're going to make me walk from your apartment? Derek, that's over three miles."

He shook his head. "No, now come on." He got out, putting their bags over his shoulder and walking around, opening Spencer's door.

Spencer looked at him curiously, before unbuckling himself and getting out, walking inside.

Clooney instantly ran up to Spencer, sniffing him and spinning around at his feet.

"Do you want to take a shower before bed?"

"Bed?" he raised an eyebrow, looking at the time on the cable box. "It's 3:30 in the afternoon."

"Yeah, and yesterday you got a knife in your side, so the world would understand if you were tired."

He thought about it and nodded. First, he remembered something and looked into the bedroom. "Derek?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you give me back my things?"

Derek set down his go-bag, which he was in the process of unpacking, and sighed.

"If you don't want to tell me, it's okay. You don't need to justify yourself to me."

"Because looking at your things only made this thing ten times more painful. I wanted you to feel some of the hurt I did." He threw his dirty laundry into the hamper and cleared his throat.

"Well, it worked. And I'm sorry." He walked into the bedroom, opening his own go-bag and taking out his pajamas. "I can take the couch tonight. Or even the floor if that's what you'd prefer."

"Or you can just take the bed and stop trying to downgrade yourself. You're not back in my good graces, but I am human."

Spencer nodded slightly, grabbing his clothes and walking to the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

While Spencer was in the shower, Derek finished unpacking their go-bags, setting Spencer's things in the second drawer of his dresser and throwing in a load of laundry. Spencer's phone started ringing and Derek opened the bathroom door. "Pretty Boy, your phone's ringing."

"Can you answer it? I'll be out in a minute."

"Got it." He closed the door, walking to the bedroom and answering. "Spencer's phone."

"…Is Spencer there?"

"He will be in a minute." He sat on the bed, leaning against the headboard. "Who may I ask is calling?"

"It's um, it's Mason. He said he'd call back, but I had something to tell him. If he's not around, I can call another time, or maybe you could have him call me. I'm sorry, you are?"

He realized he was just as nervous with conversation as Spencer, and knew that he couldn't be to blame for what happened. "This is Derek."

"Derek as in… Derek? Wow, I just… I just want you to know that I'm sorry. I know I didn't do anything personally to you, and if I'd known, I wouldn't have reacted the way I did-"

"Don't worry about it." He heard the water turn off in the shower. "Can I ask what this call is about?"

"He… he said I could call when I got the results of my dissertation, but if you want me to call back another time or not at all, I understand?"

Spencer walked in, wearing a pair of pajama pants and holding out the gauze and tape to Derek. "Help?"

He nodded, holding out the phone to him. "Mason is on the phone."

Spencer's eyes widened, unsure of what to do. He knew Derek wanted to fully trust him again, and he couldn't do that if he was having private conversations with Mason. He sat beside Derek, putting the phone on speaker.

"What are you doing?"

Spencer set the gauze and medical tape down. "Not keeping any secrets. Mason?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry if this is a bad time-"

"It's fine, except for the fact I have a stitched up hole in my side that Derek's nursing as we speak." He winced, hissing as Derek inspected the stitches. "Ow!"

"Well I didn't tell you to get yourself stabbed, did I?" Derek said with a smirk, putting the gauze on and unwrapping the tape.

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Don't be, I did it for somebody on my team that matters." He cautiously reached out, running a hand over Derek's head. "You'll learn that's how a team functions in the BAU."

"Thanks for the pointer. And um, thanks for your help on my dissertation. I heard back from my professor and I ended up getting a perfect score, thanks to your examples."

Spencer laid on his side, setting the phone between them. "You're giving me too much credit and yourself not enough."

"Listen, I don't want to be between the two of you. I just wanted to say thank you."

Spencer muted his side, looking at Derek. "Do you mind if I still take him out to coffee? I promise, it's nothing more than that. It's just what I need to do to forgive myself, or at least start to."

"One condition."

"Anything."

"You're not going alone."

He nodded slightly, taking the phone off mute. "Mason?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I still buy you that coffee tomorrow? Both as an 'I'm sorry for being a total douchebag' and a 'congratulations on your dissertation'?"

"Um, sure, what time?"

"Derek and I need to be at work tomorrow morning at 9. So does 8 work for you?"

"That works if it works for you. I'll be there."

Spencer hung up, exhaling and looking at Derek. "Thank you."

"Mhm." He kissed the top of Spencer's head. "Can I get you anything else?"

He shook his head slightly, fighting to keep his eyes open. "I'm fine."

"Get some sleep."

He nodded, instinctively moving closer to Derek and falling asleep.

Not long after, Derek's phone started ringing. He quickly reached over, silencing the ringer and answering. "Hello?" he whispered.

"How is he? Is he okay? How bad is it?"

He smirked. "He's fine, Baby Girl. Sleeping it off as we speak. There's twelve stitches in his side and he lost a lot of blood, but he's got it back and he's fighting that he's fine, as always."

"He needs to stop getting himself hurt on the job. I can't take this anymore."

"He took the hit for me."

"…He what?!"

"The unsub was going to get me, and he shoved me out of the way."

"Jesus, Spencer Reid, you little badass. Are you two okay?"

"We're… better. Thanks."

"Well, let him get some sleep and I'll see you two in the morning?"

"Will do. I'd better go before he wakes up and starts arguing with me that he doesn't need sleep."

"Gotcha. Sleep tight."

"You too, Baby Girl." He hung up, leaning over and plugging his phone in to charge. He couldn't help but smile when Spencer whined in his sleep, desperate for more contact with him. They definitely weren't back where they were before, and wouldn't be for a while, but something about starting over from a certain place felt right.

Spencer ended up sleeping most of the night, and only woke up to get some Tylenol in his system. He was careful not to wake Derek when he did and crawled right back into bed, curling up beside him. The morning came much earlier than he would've liked, and he sighed, burying his head in the pillow and groaning.

"Always the morning person, aren't you?" Derek asked as he got dressed.

He sighed. "Shouldn't I be allowed a day off after getting a knife in my side?"

"Should you? Yes. Could you? Yes. Are you going to? No, because sitting at home with the injury is going to drive you crazy, which in turn, means you're going to drive me crazy by calling me every hour on the hour to ask for updates about the work day. Now, get up."

When Spencer still didn't move, he shook his head, grabbing the blanket and pulling it off of him.

After Spencer had his first cup of coffee, Derek sat out in the living room while he got dressed.

"Don't even think of a belt today. Or tucking in your shirt," Derek called back to him.

"So you want me to look uncivilized?"

"No, I just don't want to hear you whining that you're in pain all day because your belt is digging into your stitches since you wear it so high, or your shirt got caught in it because it's too tight against your skin."

Spencer left his shirt untucked and slipped his shoes on, grabbing his satchel and walking out of the bedroom. "I feel like an idiot."

"But you look comfortable?" He got up, putting his wallet into his pocket, along with his credentials and his phone. He grabbed his keys off the hook and looked at him. "Ready?"

"Why?"

"…You may have been out of it yesterday because you were so tired, but you made plans to meet your friend at the coffee house before work."

"I don't have any friends," Spencer tried to reason, following him out of the apartment.

"But you do have a Mason," Derek said, locking the door.

Spencer looked up at him. "I didn't."

"You did."

The drive to the coffeehouse was quiet, and Spencer got out, chewing on his cheek. He walked inside with Derek, getting their usual orders and sitting down at a table. He thought to himself that maybe Mason wouldn't show up, knowing that Derek would be there as well, and he could save himself some embarrassment. This thought process didn't go on too long, as he saw Mason walking in a few minutes later. He swallowed, walking up to the counter and ordering Mason a coffee, grabbing it and walking over to the table, bringing over an extra chair.

Mason walked over awkwardly, waving slightly and taking the seat.

"Derek Morgan, Mason Adams. Mason Adams, Derek Morgan," Spencer said, introducing the two of them.

Derek held out his hand, shaking Mason's. "Spencer tells me you're coming to the FBI soon," he said, crossing his arms.

"Well, yeah. I finished my dissertation to hold me over until I could join, and I'll be there in a few months, though in what department, I haven't really decided. I was thinking about the BAU, but considering how many injuries there are… speaking of, how are you, Spencer?"

"I'm fine," he said quickly, taking a sip of his coffee. He eyed Derek before clearing his throat, knowing he had to get to the point. "Mason," he started, chewing on his cheek. "I am so incredibly sorry for what I did to you." He saw Mason ready to interrupt and shook his head. "Let me finish. Derek had made me angry quite a few times, and we had a few heated arguments on the subject. When I met you, it wasn't my intention to do what we did, and it just seemed to happen with the chain of events. I genuinely wanted to get to know you and talk and share ideas, but my jealousy took over, and that was wrong of me. I love Derek, more than anything, and the fact that I hurt both of you in the process of hurting him was wrong. He didn't deserve me being spiteful, and you didn't deserve being used as a pawn to hurt him. I sincerely apologize for my behavior, and I hope you can forgive me for it."

Mason seemed to consider it, looking over at them. Spencer gripped Derek's arm, as if willing him to stay. He eyed Derek, "I swear, I didn't know what was going to happen, and if I'd known he was in a relationship-"

"I know," Derek said, nodding slightly. "And I really appreciate that."

"So you two are back together?" he asked, pointing between them.

Spencer bit his lip, shaking his head slightly. "We're not technically back together, but we're not hating each other like we did, if that makes any sense? What I did to him was disgusting, and a rather stupid form of revenge. If I hadn't taken the bullet, or in this case, the knife for him, I don't think this would be where it is."

"…You mean to tell me you took a stabbing for somebody on your team?"

"That's how teams work, just like a family. You'd do anything for them, and anything to protect them. That's what I had to do in the moment, and I don't regret it, despite everything." He chanced a look at Derek before looking across the table at Mason. "I just hope that you can forgive me, because despite everything that happened, I really would appreciate your friendship, though I understand completely if you want to tell me to screw off."

"Well, I don't have it in myself to do that… but I suppose having a conversation with someone on my intellectual level every once in a while wouldn't be so bad?"

Spencer smiled slightly, looking at Derek. "Is this okay with you?"

Derek nodded. "You'll call me during and after?"

"Promise." He saw Mason looking confused. "Part of me earning his forgiveness, and in turn his trust, is me checking in with him. It'll go away eventually, but at this point in time, it's here to stay."

"Ah." He sipped his coffee, checking his watch. "I have to get going for a meeting with my advisor, really, I'm not trying to cut out of here early." He reached out a hand to Derek. "It was great to meet you, SSA Morgan."

Derek shook his hand and Mason gave a quick wave to Spencer before picking up his coffee, taking off.

"You slept with him?" Derek asked, turning to him. "The kid looks scared of his own shadow."

He shrugged. "He sort of reminded me of myself when I was his age. A constant need to prove himself with his genius, the nerves, and paranoia over his grades. I wanted to take him under my wing or something, but it just sort of escalated."

"Oh, really?" Derek said sarcastically.

Spencer bit down on his lip, unsure if that answer was joking or spiteful. He knew he had to walk on eggshells around Derek for a while, but if it meant earning his trust back, he'd do anything.