A/N: So sorry for the wait, but I've FINALLY got a new chapter ready for you guys! I'm sorry it took so long, but I've been really stressed out over getting my university offer. But guess what? I got it today, and I got my first preference. Bachelor of Psychological Science! :) Now all the stress is gone, and I have finally finished the chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.

Chapter Five: An Old 'Friend'

"What?" Morgan gasped, looking quickly at Reid and then back at JJ. "When?"

"They found the body this morning," JJ replied. "They believe that she was dumped very late last night, and killed maybe an hour before."

"Damn…" Morgan sighed, resting a hand on the doorframe and looking back at Reid again. It looked like their twenty extra minutes before work had suddenly disappeared. And after everything they had done and talked about the night before, Morgan could've used the extra time to get back into work mode. Especially on this case. "What d'you want us to do?"

"Hotch wants you and Reid to meet Gordinski at the crime scene," JJ said, looking at Morgan cautiously. "You okay about working so closely with him? I mean, I can go to the crime scene if you want…"

"No, it's okay," Morgan said quickly. "It was going to happen some time during this case. "Besides, I saw the earlier crime scenes, and I'm assuming Prentiss isn't at this crime scene… and if I refuse to go to the crime scene just because Gordinski is there, that alone might start something with him."

"Well, okay, I guess," said JJ, sounding like she didn't really believe Morgan. "If you have any trouble with him, call us, okay?" When Morgan nodded, JJ said, "I've got to go. Hotch is waiting for me to go and talk to the victim's family." With one last look back at Morgan, JJ turned around and left.

Morgan closed the door to their room and looked back at Reid, who was studying him. "What?"

"You're surprisingly calm," Reid observed.

"What, you profiling me now?" Morgan said as he crossed the room to his gun, strapping it on to his belt along with his phone.

"No, I just know you," said Reid. "And I'm worried that the fact that you're calm now means that you're letting all your tension and anger bottle up inside you, and that it's just going to explode out of you at the worst possible moment."

"I'm calm now because I have nothing to worry about," said Morgan. "Spencer, this is a case just like any other. Believe me, I'm fine."

"You'd tell me if you weren't though, wouldn't you?" Reid asked. Morgan looked at Reid closely, sensing something was amiss. Reid's concern for Morgan was clear in his eyes, but there was something else there… fear. But it wasn't fear for Morgan, per se. It was fear that Morgan wouldn't tell Reid if things weren't okay.

"Pretty boy, of course I would," Morgan said gently, crossing the room and sitting down on the bed beside Reid. He put his hand on Reid's cheek, and the genius leaned into the touch. "Trust me; as soon as I feel or I know that I'm not handling this, you will be the first person I tell. Hell, you'll probably be the only one I tell. I don't want Hotch to take me off the case." Morgan leaned in slightly and kissed Reid gently. "I love you, baby, and you gotta know I trust you. I promise you that I would tell you. You are my boyfriend; my love. I'd be a total asshole if I didn't tell you. Not to mention a really bad boyfriend."

"You promise me that you won't not tell me just because you're trying to protect me?" said Reid.

"I promise," said Morgan with a smile. "Now come on. We've got a case to solve."

It took Morgan and Reid a mere twelve minutes to drive to the new crime scene. Once again, it was a park in a heavily trafficked area. The entire park had been roped off by crime scene tape, but cars driving past were slowing down to try and see something, and people walking down the street were gawking, trying to get a look at the body still lying on the park bench. Like all the other victims, there was no way this one could've been dumped in the daylight. She had to have been dumped the night before.

As they climbed out of the SUV, Morgan and Reid could see several people gathered around the body. The ME and his assistant were there, along with the crime scene unit and two detectives, one of which Morgan could tell was Gordinski. "Let's go, Spencer." Morgan headed across the park to the body, Reid following behind him as fast as he could go.

"Gordinski," Morgan said, coming up behind the man. He turned around, trying not to react when he saw Morgan. The other detective turned around as well; a man who looked vaguely familiar to Morgan, but he couldn't put a name to the face. "What do we have?" Morgan asked.

"Stacey Chesterton," Gordinski said. "Twenty-one year old college student, lived alone in an off-campus dorm, no boyfriend. A jogger found her in the early hours of this morning. The ME estimates she died between eight to twelve hours ago."

"So he must have killed her, then dumped her body almost straight away…" Reid concluded, his voice trailing off as he looked at the body, shifting his crutches so he was better balanced. The unknown detective looked at Reid almost… scornfully.

Reid couldn't get any closer to the body or bend down to examine it, so that's what Morgan did, pulling on gloves as he did so. "Same stab wounds as the previous victims," Morgan observed.

"There's eleven of them," said Reid from behind Morgan, causing the nameless detective and Gordinski to stare at him and Morgan to shake his head, chuckling.

"Is that the same number as there were on the other victims?" Morgan asked Reid.

"Mhmm. Her clothes appear to have been ripped as well."

"Was that because he was angry at her, or did he do it in his drive to get some?" the nameless detective asked.

Morgan rose to his feet and looked at the detective, scrutinising him. "It could be both," Morgan said. "Sorry, but who are you?"

"I'm surprised you don't recognise me, Agent Morgan," the detective said. "We were on the same high school football team, after all. I was the starting centre."

"Patrick Masters," Morgan realised. "Since when were you a cop?"

"I was in San Diego originally," Masters said. "Just transferred back here last year."

"And we're lucky to have him," Gordinski said. "He's a damn good cop. Knows how to get the job done."

"I don't doubt that," Morgan muttered under his breath.

"Sorry?"

"It's nothing, Gordinski," said Morgan. He turned to face the ME. "Are there any signs of sexual assault?"

"I won't know for sure until I get her back to the morgue, but all the signs point that way," the man said. The area appears to be red and inflamed, and there also appears to be vaginal tearing. Like I said, I don't know for sure until I do some tests, but I think we can at least say he tried to rape her."

"Thanks, doctor."

"No problem. We're going to take her back to the morgue now."

"Sorry, doctor, can you give me a sec?" Reid asked. The ME looked at Reid, slightly annoyed. "I just want to get a proper look at the way he's arranged the body."

"Oh, of course," said the ME, stepping away from the dead woman again. Masters' eyes had shifted to Reid again, fixing them on him with an almost disdainful stare. Morgan was busy watching Reid as well, and didn't notice.

"It looks like he laid her out here like this to make people think that she was just sitting here normally; that she wasn't dead," Reid observed. "But he didn't do it properly. She isn't neat. This was done purely so she wouldn't be found to quickly. If he cared about her, he would've laid her out neatly; almost like she was sleeping where she sat. He doesn't care for these women at all."

"We need to go back at look at the photos of the previous victims, see if they were also laid out like this," said Morgan. He looked away from Reid, to see Masters' watching the both of them. "Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing," said Masters, shaking his head.

Morgan looked at him sceptically, but said nothing, except for, "C'mon. Let's head back to the precinct and meet up with the others."

The rest of the team were already back at the precinct by the time Morgan and Reid arrived with the two detectives. "What did you find out?" Hotch asked when he saw them.

"The dump site was the same as all the others," Morgan said. "A park in a heavily trafficked area. There is no way he could've dumped her in the daylight hours without being seen. He had to have dumped her last night."

"The victim has the exact same stab wounds as all the others, as well," Reid added. "Eleven of them in total. She was laid out on the park bench, like the UnSub wanted it to appear like she was just sitting there or sleeping, but he didn't do it very neatly. Like he didn't really care about her at all."

"So he's a sexual sadist," Prentiss realised.

"Definitely," Reid agreed. He winced suddenly, his face screwing up in pain.

"Spencer?" Morgan said worriedly. "Are you okay?"

"My knee hurts…" Spencer hissed through his teeth. "Can you get me a chair, please?"

Morgan was already occupied holding Reid up, so JJ (who was closest) grabbed a chair for Reid and put it next to him. Morgan eased Reid into the chair, watching him very closely for any further signs of distress. "Are you okay, man?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Reid said after he'd sat down. "I just need to rest for a minute. I probably shouldn't have stood for so long at the crime scene."

"Maybe you shouldn't have come to the crime scene at all," Masters said.

The team all turned to look at Masters, while Morgan narrowed his eyes at the man. "Sorry, I didn't mean to sound… insensitive, or mean, or anything like that. I apologise." The rest of the team were appeased, but Morgan could hear the underlying tone in Masters' voice. Morgan looked at Reid for a moment before looking back at the whole team again.

"I never know when my knee's going to start hurting," Reid said. "It could just have easily have started hurting if I'd just been sitting here in the precinct the whole time."

Hotch, realising that Morgan was starting to get angry, fixed his agent with one of his stern glares. "Reid, if you need anything else or you feel that you need to pull out of this case, let me know," he said.

"I'm fine. I'm okay," Reid insisted. "It'll stop hurting in a few minutes. Let's just get back to the case. Having something else to focus on will help with the pain."

Hotch looked at Reid for a moment, but he could tell the younger man wasn't going to waver. "Okay then. JJ and I talked to Stacey Chesterton's parents. They're from Miami originally; the two of them and Stacey were the only ones here in Chicago. The two of them moved here so they could be near Stacey, but she was independent. She wanted to live on her own."

"She did see them every so often," JJ said. "Maybe once or twice a fortnight."

"Did they know if anyone new had come into their daughter's life? Boyfriends, someone she was scared of?" Rossi asked.

"No. And they did know of anyone following her or watching her, either," JJ replied.

"Well, Rossi and I did a canvas of the neighbourhood," Prentiss said. "No one really knew Stacey that well, although a few of them remembered seeing a beat-up white sedan parked a few doors down from Stacey's place several times over the past few weeks."

"That's the same vehicle that was seen outside Carlie Grant's house," Gordinski realised.

"Yep. So if we didn't know for sure that this was the same killer, we know now," said Rossi.

Suddenly, Morgan's phone began to ring, and he answered it instantly. "Yeah, Agent Morgan." He listened for a moment, as whoever was on the other end spoke to him. "Just like we thought," he sighed heavily. "Okay, thank you." He hung up, and then turned to the team and the two detectives. "That was the ME. Stacey Chesterton was definitely sexually assaulted prior to her death."

"Was there a DNA match?" Hotch asked.

"It was definitely the same DNA as was found in the other victims, but they couldn't find a match in the system," Morgan answered. "Not that I expected there to be. It's never that easy for us."

"So in reality, we are no closer to catching this guy than we were before Stacey Chesterton was killed," Gordinski spat.

"Not in the way of physical evidence, no," said Prentiss. "But everything we've got will help us with our profile."

"No offence, but I'm still a little bit sceptical about this whole profiling thing," Masters said, wearing a sheepish grin. "I mean, can't the profile lead to the wrong person?" He looked at Morgan when he said this last part, and the agent realised that Masters knew what had happened the last time the team had been in Chicago.

"It can lead to suspects who didn't actually commit the crime, yes," Morgan said slowly. "But the person who did commit the crimes will fit the profile. But the whole point of profiling is to narrow down suspects. Sometimes, we get lucky, and the profile only points to one person. More often than not, though, there are a number of people it could be. That's where good old-fashioned police work comes in."

"Uh huh." Masters nodded, as if he was taking all of this in. Morgan, however, suspected otherwise. He knew what Masters had been like in high school, and by the looks of things so far he hadn't changed much.

"Were you and Detective Masters friends?" Reid asked Morgan.

"I'm sorry, what?" said Morgan, having been lost in his own thoughts. He and Reid were alone in the room; JJ had had a press conference, and now the rest of the team and the detectives were out chasing leads and manning the tip line.

"Were you and Detective Masters friends when you were younger?" Reid asked again. "I heard him say that you were on the same football team in high school."

"I wouldn't say we were friends," said Morgan with a dry laugh. "I wasn't exactly the type of person Masters got along well with."

"What do you mean?"

"He's racist, Spencer," Morgan said with a sigh. "He never liked me, because I'm half black. And he hated me because I was so good at football, and I got all the praise he felt he deserved. He loved to antagonise me."

"Do you think he's changed much?" Reid asked.

"I don't know," said Morgan. "I don't know whether he's still as racist as he was- although I don't know if he is the type that could grow out of it. But he was still trying to push my buttons."

"He certainly did seem to be trying to… annoy you, when he said he was sceptical about profiling," Reid said slowly. "And, well… when he said that a profile can lead to the wrong person, did he mean you?"

Morgan nodded. "Yeah, he meant me. Gordinski must've told him what happened."

Reid reached out with his hand, as if he meant to take Morgan's, but thought twice about it and dropped it on to the table. "Just so you know, I never, ever thought you did it. You know, kill those boys. I know you couldn't do something like that."

Morgan couldn't help but smile. "Thanks, Spence," he said. "I never thought you doubted me, though. It was just…" Morgan trailed off as he looked up, realising Hotch, Prentiss and Gordinski were heading back to the room. "Can we talk back at the hotel?"

Reid barely had time to mutter a quick "Of course" before Hotch, Prentiss and Gordinski entered the room. "Anything good?" Reid asked them.

"A few more reported sightings of the vehicle that was seen near Carlie Grant's and Stacey Chesterton's places that seem credible," Prentiss said. "Heaps of fake calls, obviously."

"Did Garcia get back to you about running the car, see if anyone came up?" Morgan asked.

"Yeah, she didn't find anything," said Hotch. "Well- technically she did find matches, but since the description we've gotten of the car sounds pretty common, she found too many matches to just sort through."

"I got all the news stations on TV and on radio playing Agent Jareau's press conference on the hour, like you said," Gordinski said. "Are you sure that will help?"

"Again, it may get some people who are calling in with fake sightings or information, or even some people who just want to annoy us or waylay us, but it could get us some very important information." Hotch glanced down at his watch, and then back up at the others. "It's getting late. We should head back to the hotel and rest, and then get stuck back into this in the morning."

Morgan nodded and got to his feet, picking up Reid's crutches and holding them out for him. Reid smiled at him gratefully, getting to his feet and following the others out of the precinct.

Morgan and Reid drove back to the hotel in a separate car to Hotch and Prentiss. The two had already left the car park and headed up to their respective rooms by the time Morgan and Reid arrived. They decided to take the elevator up to their room this time, even though it was only one floor. Well, Morgan decided- Reid had been in pain that day, and he wasn't going to take no for an answer. Reid didn't want to argue the point; it was stupid, and Reid didn't want Morgan to get in a bad mood and not talk to him because of it.

Reid let out a huge sigh of relief as he sat down on the bed, slowly moving his knee backwards and forwards. "I don't know why it hurt so much today," he admitted.

"You don't think it had something to do with messing around last night, do you?" Morgan asked.

"No, I don't think so," said Reid. "My doctor did say that some days would be worse than others. And I don't really think 'messing around' is the right term. I don't like it."

"Why not?" said Morgan, genuinely curious.

"I don't know… I just don't think it fits what we are," said Reid. "I mean, this isn't just messing around for me."

"It isn't for me, either," said Morgan quickly.

"No, I know that," Reid assured him. "It's just that… saying that doesn't feel right."

"Than what would you say it was, then?" Morgan asked.

"I don't know," Reid admitted. "Showing you how much I love you, maybe?"

Morgan chuckled. "I like that. Do you wanna talk now?"

Reid nodded. "What were you going to say, before the others walking in back at the precinct?"

"I was going to say, that I didn't want people to know why Carl Buford killed those boys, and why he framed me for it," Morgan said. "I never wanted anyone to know about what he did to me. I never wanted anyone to think any less of me because of it."

"I don't think any less of you," said Reid softly. "I never have."

"I know, pretty boy. I know," Morgan said, taking Reid's hand in his own and squeezing it gently before releasing it again. "You wanna lie down?"

Reid opened his mouth as if to say no, but changed his mind. "Yeah, I think that's a good idea." Morgan moved over so Reid could swing his legs onto the bed. As soon as Reid was lying down, Morgan moved close again and lifted Reid's feet into his lap, pulling off his shoes and socks. "What are you doing?" Reid asked, shocked.

"Giving you a foot massage," Morgan replied matter-of-factly, as if this was something he did every day. He began gently pressing on Reid's feet with his fingers, rubbing them up and down.

"Mmm, that's good," Reid sighed, leaning back into his pillow and closing his eyes.

"Well, I do give good massages, if I do say so myself," Morgan laughed.

"Don't tell Garcia that," said Reid, his eyes still closed. "She'll demand you give her one. And I don't want to share."

"Don't worry, baby boy," said Morgan. "You won't have to."

"Should we be worried about Masters?" Reid asked, after a few minutes of nothing but silence and Morgan massaging.

"I don't think so," said Morgan slowly. "Yeah, he's going to try to antagonise me, but I'm not going to let him."

"Good." Reid yawned, and Morgan could tell that the younger man was beginning to drift off. "You… you'll tell me if there is something to worry about?"

"Of course I will," said Morgan, his fingers still slowly caressing Reid's feet.

"Good." Reid didn't say anything else, and as he watching the genius's chest rise and fall, Morgan knew that Reid had fallen asleep.

Morgan didn't move for a while; he just sat in the same spot, holding Reid's feet in his now still hands. He had told Reid that he didn't think Masters would be a problem. But he knew Masters. He knew what kind of a person he was. Morgan just sincerely hoped that when he saw they had nothing to worry about, he wasn't lying.

A/N: Okay, I'm going to tell you guys this, right now- Patrick Masters will be trouble. He doesn't like Morgan very much, you can bet on that! :P I have no idea how long it's going to be until I post the next chapter, because I'm going to the beach for 4 or 5 days, but I'll try to get it up as soon as I can!

But guess what, guys? This will be the last unbeta-ed chapter, as Diamond Cobra is currently on a plane back to Australia! So I guess that the rest of the chapters in this story are going to be much better quality than the rest :P

So, reviews? I'll give you virtual cookies and hugs! :P