Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds

A/N: Well, here's chapter two! Thank you for all the lovely reviews, and alerts. And, thank you to the-vampire-act, for the road trip idea. Still having troubles switching to the whole Hotch/Reid thing, but I'm doing my best. Sorry I didn't get this up sooner, internet issues.

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Reid rolled over, sometime in the morning before the sun had come up, and fell off of the couch, groaning as he hit the ground. A quick glance at the clock on the wall revealed the time to be 4:12 in the morning. Pushing his hair out of his face with one hand, Reid pushed himself up off of the ground, and then stood, rubbing his face with his hands. He shuffled into the kitchen, dragging his feet across the carpet as he walked, and set the timer on the coffee pot, before going into the bathroom, and taking a quick shower, mainly to wake himself up. By the time he'd gotten around fully, it was almost six, so he grabbed his bag off of the tea-table, removing the books from the bag, and headed to work, taking his car in this time.

As he walked into the empty office, he left the overhead lights off, and went straight to the break room for a second cup of coffee, before heading to his desk. Getting situated, Reid turned on his desk lamp, and hunched over, pulling a couple case files out. After a couple minutes, enjoying the rare quiet of the bullpen, Reid leaned back in his chair, getting comfortable as he absent-mindedly flipped through the files, making occasional marks when necessary. At some point, he must have gotten too comfortable in the mostly dark, warm, silent room, and nodded off, dropping his file onto the floor. However, when he woke up, it was too an entirely different scene, lights on, people moving around the crowded bullpen, noise emanating from every corner of the room. Reid started, his neck popping as he groggily sat up straight, his head having lolled to his chest at a funny angle.

Morgan, who was sitting at his desk, noticed Reid waking up. "Well, good morning, sunshine. Late night?" Morgan asked, the usual grin on his face. Suddenly, the grin faltered, and he took on an apologetic tone. "Not that…it's any of my business, what you were doing up late…"

Reid blinked and looked around, a little disoriented by the sudden change in his surroundings. He put a hand up to mask a yawn before answering off-handedly, "I was watching an old Sci-Fi program…Lost in Space…It was originally called 'Space Family Robinson'…." He recognized the disinterested look on Morgan's face, and stopped before he could think of another piece of useless trivia from the show. Rubbing his stiff neck with one hand, Reid reached down to pick up the file that had fallen onto the floor. "Why didn't you wake me up?" Reid asked grumpily as he sorted out the pages. Morgan shrugged, and turned back to his desk.

"I figured I'd let you get some sleep."

Resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Reid got up from his desk and went to the break room to get another cup of coffee. As he fussed with the coffee maker, Rossi came in, taking a sip off of his own cup.

"You and Hotch have two consults to do this week, and it sounds like you two are going on a road trip," Rossi commented dryly. Reid frowned, turning slightly as he pushed 'on' on the coffee maker.

"You're kidding, right?"

"Nope."

"I didn't know about any consults…where are they?"

"The first one's in Baltimore, and the second is in Philadelphia."

"Why aren't you going?" Reid asked, suspiciously. He still didn't want to deal with Hotch, let alone spend a couple days on the road with him, especially after last night.

"Because I don't want to go," Rossi answered, as if it were the most obvious thing ever. Instead of arguing, Reid just let out a heavy sigh, and finished making his coffee, stirring in sugar and creamer in silence. He made his way back into the bullpen, deciding not to approach Hotch about the consults just yet. However, soon enough, Hotch approached him, briefcase in hand.

"Do you have your go-bag?" Hotch asked shortly. Reid pressed his lips together tightly and swallowed, but nodded slightly. "Good, grab it and meet me in the parking garage, we have some consults to go to. One is in Baltimore, and the other in Philadelphia, so we'll be gone for at least a week. We're leaving in ten minutes." Without another word, Hotch turned and left, leaving Reid to glare at the spot he had vacated.

"Oooh, consults. Sounds fun," Morgan joked. Reid rolled his eyes, packing his files into his bag.

"Yeah, a week with Hotch," Reid groaned, rubbing his face with his hand.

"Well, mom's just worried about you, kid," Morgan's tone was still light, and joking, but there was a hint of concern under it all. Reid couldn't help but smile lightly, because if anything, the light teasing and joking was Morgan's way of showing that he still accepted him.

"Don't let him hear you call him that," Reid warned, turning back to his computer to shut it down. Morgan snorted, leaning back in his chair. Reid noticed with mild amusement that Morgan hadn't quite started working yet, his file folders not yet taken out.

"What'll he do? Turn into the Hulk and chuck me across the room?" Reid's overactive mind immediately picked up and formed an image of Morgan's statement, and Reid had to press his lips together tightly to keep from laughing.

"That is soo not funny," Reid muttered, standing up and slinging his bag over his shoulder. Morgan just grinned, taking out some folders, and pretending to look through them.

"Uh-huh, whatever you say. You have fun in…Baltimore and Philly with Mom-Hotch." There was enough sarcasm in Morgan's voice to make Reid groan aloud.

"Sure. I'll see you when we get back." Reid then headed out, grabbing his go-bag from the closet he kept it in before leaving the building. As he entered the parking garage, he turned to where the Bureau SUVs were, and found Hotch waiting for him, staring impatiently at his watch while standing next to the vehicle. Reid didn't wait for him to say anything before hopping into the passenger seat, tossing his bag between the front seats into the back, before putting on his seat belt. Hotch got into the passenger seat, and turned on the engine. For the first few minutes of the trip, neither of them spoke, and Hotch seemed content to let the silence between them hang. However, once they had left town, and Reid still hadn't spoken, Hotch let out a slow sigh.

"Are you not going to talk to me for the entire trip? It'll make the consults more difficult than they need to be, and I'm sure one of the police officers notice something if you continue to give me the silent treatment." Reid shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"It's not that I'm not talking to you, I just choose to talk to you as little as possible," Reid answered, before turning in his seat, almost curling up in it as he stared out of his window.

"I don't see why you're so mad at me." Hotch's voice was controlled and authoritative, as always, but there was a hint of underlying anger in his tone. When Reid spoke, his voice was harsh, even though he tried to keep it calm.

"You made a bet with Rossi about me!" A good way to start a calm conversation is to begin it by yelling. "We're not supposed to profile each other, yet its okay to muse over one of your agent's gender preferences?" Reid had turned in his seat to look at Hotch as he spoke, and noticed Hotch's eyebrows draw inwards slightly as it sunk in. "You really don't see how that would make me uncomfortable? What the hell else were you discussing while talking about me?"

"I realize that it was a…lapse in judgment and professionalism, and I'm sorry for that," Hotch sounded slightly unsure about his words as he spoke, something Reid wasn't used to. "I wouldn't have said anything, but right after Dave joined, he approached me on the subject. I simply said that I didn't think you were gay, and he bet me twenty dollars you were…I really didn't think anything would become of the bet. I'm sorry."

"Why would he even bring something like that up with you?" Reid asked, not quite hysterical, but obviously rather upset.

"God, I don't know…why don't you ask him?" Hotch asked, exasperated. Reid frowned, and then muttered something coherent, turning back around to stare out the window. "Reid, this conversation isn't over yet, so if you're done with dwelling on the bet, there are still some things I'd like to talk to you about."

Reid groaned, and Hotch heard a dull thud as Reid smacked his forehead against the SUV's window. "Okay, fine, what else did you want to talk about?" Reid asked, not bothering to turn around.

"I'd like you to talk to me about your ex-boyfriend, Shawn."

"Is it normal for an SAC to interview his agents about their ex's?" Reid asked, annoyed.

"No, not unless their ex comes into the FBI building to cause a scene in the office."

"That wasn't my fault! How was I supposed to know he had the security clearance to make it into the bullpen?" Reid asked, turning around again. As he spoke, he gesticulated widely, violently hitting his hand on the door, but not seeming to notice. Hotch's jaw got tense, and Reid knew he was beginning to get on Hotch's nerves, so he calmed down a little. "I'm sorry; I just didn't know he'd had a previous job with the FBI. I promise it won't happen again."

"Reid, that's not…I just want to make sure he isn't going to be bugging you anymore, at work, or otherwise."

"That's none of your business."

"How'd the relationship end?" Hotch pushed, determined.

"I broke up with him."

"Why?"

"He was pushy, and controlling. I decided to break it off before it got any worse."

"Did he ever hurt you?"

"Stop interrogating me!" Reid snapped, his frustration evident in his voice. "No, he didn't hurt me, okay?" Reid stared at the dashboard with a look of contempt on his face.

"So the abusive behavior didn't start until after you dumped him?"

"Abusive be….Hotch, stop profiling my ex!" Reid exclaimed, staring at Hotch in disbelief. "He was obsessive in the relationship, when I dumped him, he got mad, okay? I'm not sure what Rossi told you, but it really wasn't a very big deal. He was just pissed off."

"What do you mean by, 'pushy, controlling and obsessive'?" Hotch asked, undeterred by the growing annoyance in Reid's voice.

"None of your business! Now drop it, or…I'm going to report you for a lack of professionalism."

"Reid…" Hotch began, obviously ready to continue.

"I'm serious, so drop it." Reid's tone held a sense of finality, and he turned away again, looking out of his window and curling up in the passenger seat, managing to get his knees up onto the uncomfortable seat. It wasn't late, but after a couple of hours of driving, Reid fell soundly asleep, leaving Hotch to his own thoughts.

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TBC….

A/N: Well, what do you think? Reviews are appreciated, and fuel my writing.