Chapter 3: Reid's POV

Almost a week later, the BAU was boarding the jet, flying back from a case. It had been difficult to stomach, like most of their cases. The unsub had targeted women through a dating website, and forced his victims to be his girlfriends for a week before he killed them. Reid boarded the plane with his go-bag. He was the last to enter the passenger area, and he was unsure of where to sit.

Making a last minute decision, he sat in the empty seat across from Hotch, the nearest person to him. Rossi was also sitting by himself on the other side of the plane, reading a book. Prentiss, Morgan, and JJ were sitting together, having a conversation. Reid wanted to join them, but he needed to talk to Hotch first.

"Hey Hotch," he said nervously, "Can I ask you something?" Hotch looked up from the report he was writing, his expression impossible to read. He said nothing, and Reid took that as a signal to continue. "I need some vacation time," he said. "A week long, two weeks from now." Hotch raised an eyebrow.

"You've never asked for vacation time before," he said. "Not that it's my business, but what are your plans?"

"Well, um," stammered Reid. "Paige is visiting her family in Maine, and I suggested I go with her." Hotch looked intently at Reid, his eyes not moving from his face.

"Okay," said Hotch. His face seemed to soften. "You know, Reid, you should ask for vacation time more often."

"Um, thank you," said Reid, confused. He got up and joined the trio at the back of the plane. He smiled to himself, thinking that they were like the kids that sat at the back of the bus in grade school. He took a seat, earning him a smile from JJ.

"Well I can sort of understand those women," Prentiss was saying. "It seems like there are no good men around. It makes sense that they would look online."

"What do you mean?" asked Morgan, pretending to be shocked. "I'm sitting right here." Prentiss scoffed.

"I said good men, Morgan," she said. Morgan put a hand over his heart.

"That hurt Prentiss," he said dramatically. "That cut me real deep." Prentiss and JJ laughed, and Reid smiled.

"Well at least JJ snatched up a man," said Prentiss. "How are things with Will since you guys had a baby?" JJ smiled.

"Well we're both exhausted all the time," said JJ. "Between work and taking care of Henry, it seems like we don't get to spend much time alone. I can't remember the last time we went on a real date."

"Jeez tell me about it," said Prentiss. "I haven't been on a date in forever! What about you Morgan?" Morgan shrugged.

"It's been awhile," he admitted. Everyone stared. He looked around at the disbelieving faces. "Oh, c'mon," he said exasperatedly. "I could go on a date if I wanted to. I just haven't met anyone I liked lately," he said. Reid noticed that Morgan was deliberately not looking at him. Did Morgan's lack of dates have something to do with him? Or was it that Morgan still liked Paige?

"What about you Reid?" asked JJ. "How are you and Paige doing?" Reid smiled.

"We're doing great," he said, unable to hide his pride. "We might be moving in together soon."

"Wow, that's a big step," commented Prentiss. "Are you sure you two are ready for that?" Reid shrugged.

"We're practically living together now," he said. "So it wouldn't be that big of a change." JJ shook her head.

"Moving in together is different," she said. "You get to see all the little things about each other that you didn't know. Living with someone is a real test of a relationship. You guys haven't been together that long...why the sudden decision?" Reid tried not to resent JJ questioning his motives. He knew she meant well and that she cared about him.

"Her internship is ending," he said. "She's going to find a new job, but in the meantime she's going to stay with me."

"Oh yeah, her internship," said Prentiss. "I think I saw a couple of her articles in the paper. They're pretty good. Maybe the paper will beg her to stay and keep her on full time." Reid shrugged.

"She's a good journalist," he said. "I'm sure she can get a job anywhere she wants. It's convincing her that she can that's the problem."

"Hey, JJ," said Morgan, "Weren't you looking for an assistant Press Liaison? You were telling me the other day that you were thinking of having someone else deal with the press while you focus on finding us more cases? You were saying it would mean you could spend more time at home. Maybe Paige could do that." Reid felt a flare of annoyance. What gave Morgan the right to interfere on Paige's behalf? JJ seemed to think about it.

"She'd be good at writing press releases," she said, thinking out loud. "She'd have to be trained extensively of course..."

"I don't think it's a good idea," said Reid. Everyone looked at him.

"Why not?" asked Morgan. He seemed defensive.

"For a few reasons," said Reid. "I wouldn't want JJ to feel obligated to hire her because she's my girlfriend. Hotch has already complained once because she's affected work. He may not want her to be in the unit. And also she'd have to go on cases with us, and I don't think she could handle it. She's still not completely recovered from her abduction."

"She's not?" asked Prentiss, looking concerned.

"She has nightmares sometimes," Reid admitted. "Our cases are dangerous. I don't want her to be in arm's reach of the people we have to work with. I care about her, I want her to be safe. " Everyone around nodded, except for Morgan, who just shrugged. Reid's temper, which was usually well hidden and slow to spark, flared.

"You shouldn't make suggestions for her," he said. "If she wanted to get a job here she would."

"Hey Reid, I'm sorry," said Morgan, exasperatedly. "I wasn't trying to..."

"Just drop it," said Reid. Prentiss and JJ looked at each other, obviously shocked.

To Reid's relief, the conversation moved on to other topics. He didn't understand Morgan's problem. The only explanation he could think of was that Morgan still cared about Paige, and he didn't want to think about that very much.

When Paige had first arrived in Washington, she'd gone to the same party as Morgan by coincidence, and they'd left together. Reid didn't know the details, but he did know that they'd kissed at least once, and that Morgan had asked her to give him a chance if things didn't work out between Paige and Reid. Both agents hadn't been able to have a civil conversation for a couple days, before Hotch had told them both to stop seeing Paige, or lose their jobs. Fortunately, Paige had gone to Hotch and bargained for her right to see Reid, showing who she preferred.

Eventually the passengers lapsed into silence. Prentiss joined Rossi in reading a book. Morgan put his headphones on and stared out the window like he usually did. JJ came over and sat by Reid.

"Hey," she said. "Everything all right?"

"Yeah," he said, surprised. "Everything's great. Why do you ask?"

"You were a bit harsh earlier with Morgan." Reid shrugged and said nothing. "Are you still jealous?" she asked.

"No, I just don't think he should interfere for Paige."

"He was trying to help," she said soothingly. "It's not like you to jump down his throat like that."

"I know," said Reid, swiping a hand over his eyes. "I don't know why I did that."

"Jealousy makes us do strange things," said JJ. "Maybe you should apologize."

"I will," he said. Eventually, he thought.