Staying Together
Disclaimer: I do not own any of characters in this story that you recognize, the ones that you don't I'll take credit for!
Notes: To my lovely reviewers here is your next awaited chapter. My devotion to you can be seen by the fact that I'm taking my 20 minute break between jobs to get this chapter out. I work from 7-3 and then get kids off the bus and take care of them until their parents come home, normally 3:30-6:30. My break is your pleasure!
Extra Note: Did anyone see last nights CM? Adorable scenes between Reid and Morgan!
Warning: Slash. Reid reminds me so much of a friend of mine who is gay that I can't ever see him as straight, even though the show has had him stumbling around two or three girls.
Summary: SLASH. Part 2 in the Together Series. As Reid journeys on his road to recovery with Morgan they are bound to hit some speed bumps along the way. (Reid/Morgan est. couple)
Morgan drove them to a little Italian place about five minutes away from his house. His original idea had been sushi but Reid had immediately turned him down due to the utensil of choice at most sushi places.
Reid was sitting in the passenger's seat, smiling. He had been smiling ever since their afternoon activity and Morgan couldn't help but love that he was responsible for putting that look on his Pretty Boy's face. On the consol their hands were tightly grasping each others as Morgan drove in silence.
After Morgan parked he moved around to the other side of the car to help Reid out, after all, his mama raised him as a gentlemen. He once again joined their hands as they walked into the restaurant. Morgan was familiar with the restaurant, he often ordered from here when they got back late from a case, the food was good and the place had a nice atmosphere.
When they reached the hostess stand Morgan politely asked for a table for two that had some privacy, all he had to do was flash a smile to get her to acquiesce. She sat them, her eyes lingering a little longer on Morgan than necessary, handed them menus, and told them that their server would be with them shortly. Morgan paid no attention to her; he only had eyes for Reid.
"So, what's good here?" Reid asked, having already read the menu and now looking for suggestions.
"Chicken parm is always good but their lasagna is my personal favorite," Morgan said, putting his menu down and reaching across their table to hold Reid's good hand. "How about I get the lasagna and you get the chicken and we'll share?"
"That sounds good to me," Reid replied, placing his useless menu on the side of the table.
When the waitress finally came over her eyes zoned in on Morgan, she smiled at him and batted her eyes before saying, "Welcome to the Italian Kitchen, can I start you out with something to drink?"
Reid watched her mentally undress his date for a moment before deciding to catch her attention with his order. "I'll have a glass of the house white please," he said as politely as he could. He didn't normally drink but since this was their first date it made the night special and Reid decided to toast off their special night with a drink.
Without even turning towards him she said, "Uh huh, and for you sir?"
"I'll take a Coors," Morgan said, trying to ignore her advances while assuring Reid that he was here with him and that she didn't stand a chance.
"Alright, I'll be right back with your drink order," she said, flashing one more smile at Morgan before almost bouncing over to the bar.
"Woman must be blind," Morgan commented as soon as she was out of earshot.
"Clearly not, she could tell how handsome you look," Reid said.
"She's still blind for missing the best lookin' thing at this table, you," Morgan replied, his voice filled with love. Reid blushed at the compliment.
"Or maybe she's blind because she missed the fact that we were holding hands and clearly here on a date?" Reid supplied.
"How about all of the above," Morgan said with a laugh which Reid soon joined it on.
Too soon the waitress returned but with only one drink, Morgan's. She placed it down on the table and said, "Are you ready to order?"
"Not until my friend here gets his drink order," Morgan said, becoming irritated with the waitress, an emotion that was clear by the tone of his voice.
"I didn't even hear him ask for a drink," she said, finally turned to look at Reid for the first time since they sat down, looking annoyed that he was holding up her interaction with Morgan. Reid watched as she rolled her eyes as if to say, 'why is a hot guy like that even gracing a runt like this guy with his presence?' Reid's self-conscious nature come forward full force and he curled in on himself as much as he possibly could with the restricting cast and sling, he even went as far as to take his hand back from Morgan's and place it under the table on his lap.
"That would be because you were too busy sexually harassing me with your eyes," Morgan said, getting louder with each word. This was not how he planned his first date with Reid to go and he was pissed beyond belief that is was ruined by a stupid waitress. His bold declaration caught the attention of a waiter at a nearby table and caused him to excuse himself from his guests to come over and see what the problem was.
Reid was glad to see another staff member come to their table; maybe he could diffuse the situation before it got any worse.
"Is there a problem here?" He asked as politely as he possibly could.
"Just a slight misunderstanding with the drink order," Reid said, trying to keep the peace.
"There was no misunderstanding Reid, she blatantly ignored you when she came to take the order!" Morgan exclaimed after hearing Reid's comment.
"It's not that big of a deal," Reid said, hoping that Morgan would just sit back down; they were starting to cause a scene.
"If he doesn't see a problem with it, why are you so worked up? So what, I forgot his drink," the waitress said, spitting out the word "he" as if Reid was some kind of virus or infectious disease.
"You only forgot it because you were too busy eye-fucking me," Morgan said, his anger reaching the boiling point. First of all she ruined their date, then she put Reid down and made him feel worthless, and finally she wasn't even sorry!
"Hey watch what you're saying, that's my girlfriend you're talking about," the waiter, who Reid thought would make peace, said with a dangerous kind of calm to his voice.
"And that's my boyfriend she was talking about," Morgan replied right back. Reid blushed at the title but the reaction from the waitstaff was entirely different. Whereas before the waitress looked as if she was going to give Morgan her number, now she looked like he was worth less than whatever could be found on the bottom of her shoe and the waiter just looked flat out disgusted.
"You're a fag? You're both fags?" the waiter exclaimed, spitting out the word with as much distain as humanly possible. Morgan saw Reid cringe at the word. He himself was not fond of it but it wasn't the first time he had heard the word and he knew it wouldn't be the last time either. He didn't care what people decided to call him, but he did have a problem when they were calling Reid that word.
"I'd watch what I was saying if I were you," Morgan said in the same tone of voice that he used when talking to Unsubs.
"Morgan let's just leave. They're not worth it," Reid said, standing up with the full intention to leave. Unfortunately the waitress and waiter had a different plan.
"Sit back down you pathetic faggot," the waiter said, pushing Reid back into the seat. When he hit the seat his whole body propelled backwards his back landed hard against the seat. Reid's good hand went to his injured arm and he let out an agonizing scream.
Morgan's whole body went into agent mode and he had the guy's hands behind his back before he could blink. It was at that moment that the manager came around the corner, having been alerted because of a noise disturbance.
"Get your hands off my waiter," he demanded at once, not quite sure what was going on but immediately not liking it.
"No can do sir, he assaulted a federal agent," Morgan said, trying to keep his composure when Reid was still writhing in pain on the plastic booth seat.
"I didn't touch him. Sarah will vouch for me. Call the cops Marty," the waiter said.
Marty, the manager, turned towards Sarah and asked, "What happened here?" Clearly he did not believe the waiter.
"Well – you see sir," she began but Marty could tell by her tone of voice that she had done something wrong and that the two of them are more than likely the cause of this mess.
"Annie, call the cops," he called back to the hostess who immediately picked up the phone to make the call. Then he turned to Morgan, "if you would please let him go. Let us let the cops take care of this," he stated, not wanting the man to get in any more trouble than necessary.
"Not until they arrive, the guys planning on running as soon as I let him go," Morgan said tightening his grip, "and you might want to keep an eye on his girlfriend as well."
"Sit, you don't want to be in any more trouble then you already are," Marty instructed Sarah, pointing to a booth opposite from where Morgan and Reid had been sitting. Once she was seated and secured Morgan pushed the guy in after her and the manager moved himself so that he should be able to stop them if they try to leave.
As soon as he was no longer responsible for holding onto the waiter Morgan was at Reid's side, helping him into a sitting position and letting him lean on him for support.
"Are you alright, how bad does it hurt?" Morgan asked, wishing he could do something to ease Reid's pain. Reid had his eyes screwed shut and was inhaling through his teeth in short pained gasps. "Reid, answer me please," Morgan begged, holding Reid firmly against his chest.
"I'll – be fine – I'm okay," Reid gasped out, tears streaming down his face in response to the pain overload he was experiencing.
"Okay Reid, it's all going to be okay. I want you to focus on my breathing and try to match it," Morgan said, holding Reid to his chest and breathing deeply, slowly Reid began to mimic Morgan's breathing. Just as he was getting himself under control sirens could be heard and lights could be seen, moments later two police men came walking into the restaurant and were directed to their section by the hostess, Annie.
"What is going on here?" Asked the first officer, seeing two teens being detained in a booth and one man holding another, who seemed to be hurt, in another booth.
Just as Marty was about to explain the situation, to the best of his knowledge, Morgan spoke up. "SSA Derek Morgan and this is SSA Dr. Spencer Reid, we're part of the FBI's Behavior Analysis Unit based in Quantico. My teammate was assaulted by the gentlemen in the booth," he said pulling out his badge from his back pocket and flipping it over so the officer could see his credentials.
"Holy shit, I didn't know the guy was a fed!" the waiter exclaimed, the color draining from his face.
"Assaulting anyone is a crime, it's just a little worse if they carry a badge," the first officer said, lifting the guy out of the seat and cuffing him. As he walked him out the door his partner called in for another car to meet them at the location, they were going to need a couple officers to take statements while they took the guy in to be processed.
When that was done he turned towards Reid and Morgan, "Agents, my name is Officer Damien Monroe, Dr. Reid are you alright? Do you need me to call for medical assistance?"
"No!"
"Yes!"
The officer looked between the two men, wondering if he should listen to one over the other. He could tell the men were becoming irritated with each other as they glared.
"He was shot less than two weeks ago," Morgan supplied, making Officer Monroe think that he should call for medical back-up just in case.
"I am fine, I'm wearing the cast for a reason Morgan. I promise I am alright," Reid said, speaking more to Morgan than to Officer Monroe.
"Let's compromise. We'll go into the bathroom and I'll check the incision site. If anything looks out of place you're going to the hospital," Morgan said, taking Reid's hand to show how serious he was, he hated seeing Reid in pain and he wasn't going to let him bluff his way out of this place if he was hurt.
Reid looked like he wanted to protest but ended up just nodding his head. Morgan helped him up and steadied him before walking him into the restaurant's bathroom. Morgan locked the door behind them, knowing Reid wouldn't like anyone to walk in on them while he was doing this. He lifted Reid onto the counter which caused him to protest.
"Morgan, these counters are disgusting, on average –" he said, trying to push off but having no luck and Morgan interrupted him.
"Reid, please let me just check you out and then I promise I'll get you off of there. Please let me make sure you're okay," Morgan said. Reid was able to pick up an undertone of pleading in the tone of his voice; Morgan was almost begging him to let him check him over. Reid decided to sit still and allow Morgan to check in peace.
Morgan unhooked the sling and carefully moved Reid's arm to a secure place as he put in on the counter. He worked quietly and methodically, his mind full of the fact that he sat back and watched that guy push Reid, he watched Reid get hurt, again.
Reid bit his bottom lip as Morgan lifted his shirt, leaving him sitting shirtless on the bathroom counter. Morgan carefully released the latch that held the case together. He gently moved the cast down with one hand and held the arm in place with his other hand. Once the cast was safely with the sling he switched his hands and used the free one peel back the bandage that covered the stitches. Morgan was happy to see that there was some additional redness but no bleeding, nothing was there he wasn't used to seeing every night when he changed the bandages.
"Well?" Reid asked, choosing to not look at the wound he was too used to seeing.
"Looks a little pulled but there is no bleeding so I think you'll be fine," Morgan said, carefully inspecting the area in case he missed something. "Just promise me that you'll speak up if anything hurts, if anything feels different than usual," Morgan said, fitting the bandage back over and securing the cast.
**Back in the Restaurant Dining Room**
Jenny sat with her mother and father, eating her chicken fingers, when two police officers came in the door. Two different officers had come in earlier and taken one man away. When she had asked her dad about it he told her to mind her own business but she couldn't so she watched carefully while continuing to eat. She heard the woman who had been waiting on the two men lying to the police officer; she knew you should never lie to a police officer!
Seeing that her parents were ignoring her in favor of eating their food and talking about their day, she quickly slid off her seat and hurried over to the police officer that wasn't talking to the liar.
"Mr. Policeman, Mr. Policeman!" she said, patting his leg to get his attention. He turned to her and immediately kneeled down so that they were on the same level.
"And what's your name little lady?" he asked.
"I'm Jenny," she said.
"Nice to meet you Jenny, I'm Officer Zen. Is everything alright?" he asked.
"NO! That lady is lying!" Jenny said, sounding as if she was announcing something scandalous.
"Now that's a big accusation, why do you say that?" Officer Zen asked.
"Because I saw it! I saw what happened and that's not what happened!" She said, sounding sure of herself.
"Alright, why don't you show me where your parents are and then you can tell me what you saw," he said, feeling like she wasn't lying but knowing that he couldn't take her statement without her legal guardians present.
She grabbed his hand and all but dragged him over to the table where her parents were still eating; not having noticed that she was gone. They did, however, notice as soon as an officer was at their table.
"Good evening, sorry to bother you but I was wondering if I could ask you and your daughter some questions about what happened here earlier this evening," Officer Zen said watching as Jenny re-took her seat.
"Of course officer, how can we help?" the woman asked, putting her fork down and turning her attention to the man in the uniform.
"Did you see the confrontation that occurred over at that table tonight?" he asked, taking out his notepad in order to catch anything of importance that she might say.
"Oh course, it was hard to miss it. In fact our waiter had just brought our food out to the table when he excused himself to try and diffuse the situation. In fact, I haven't seen him recently," she said, having dove straight into her meal as soon as it was delivered she missed most of the confrontation.
"Is that all Miss?" he asked. When she nodded he turned to Jenny. "What about you dear, what did you see?" he asked.
"I saw our waiter push the tall man! And he called him – well he called him –" she said, getting worked up but not wanting to say a word that she knew was considered a bad word.
Her parents clearly understood her dilemma and said, "It's alright honey, if you have something to tell the officer then you can tell him."
"He called them fags!" she exclaimed, a little louder than necessary. Officer Zen made a face at the word and wrote it down on the report. The charges against the young man seemed pretty straight forward; it was unfortunate that so much hate still existed in this world.
"Thank you for all your help," Officer Zen said having heard enough. If the two agents in the bathroom confirmed what the young lady said then the waitress would have to be taken in for further questioning because her story was nothing like this one.
He just hoped the news reporters would stay away from here until he had everything under control, the last thing he wanted to see on tomorrow's headline was, "Homosexual Hate Crime against Two Male Federal Agents."
Unfortunately there are some people out there, just like that young waiter, who feel they have a right to push their opinion and feelings on others. A shout out to anyone who has had to face this sort of treatment before, for any reason: stand tall and proud because there is nothing wrong with you, you're perfect just the way you are.