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: Yeah for getting reviews last chapter. I'm glad I was able to reach just a few people. Honestly, I'm tired of people distorting religion to suit their purposes and then using it to attack others because I feel that religion should be a personal thing. When I was in college a man came onto campus and spent an entire day ranting and raving through a megaphone, close enough to the classrooms that we all could hear him, about the evils of homosexuality and stating how they were going to die and rot in hell. That is something that will stick with me forever and is why I am always first to stand up and defend my friends even though I myself am not gay. This chapter deals a little bit with the aftermath of a hate crime, hopefully you like it.

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)

The Next Morning

SSA Aaron Hotchner often came into work to find police reports on his desk, JJ normally would ask him about a case if she was unsure and since she was normally in before him she would leave it on his desk and he would get back to her when he could. What he rarely experienced was police reports staring two of his agents, especially two that were supposed to be on vacation.

As he sat at his desk sipping coffee and reading the report his blood began to boil and he soon found himself on the phone making the first of many phone calls that morning.

**Reid/Morgan Household**

Reid awoke to a ringing that he wasn't entirely familiar with which sent little spikes of paranoia through his body. Though he had been staying with Morgan for over a week his head was never there when he woke up in the morning and hearing an unfamiliar ring made him think he was out on a case. Opening his eyes he was finally able to re-situate himself and realize he was at Morgan's house, in Morgan's bed. Smiling at the thought he carefully rolled over Clooney, grabbed the phone off the stand and put it to his ear.

"Hello," he said in a more groggy voice than he had intended.

"Reid? I'm sorry did I wake you up?" came the voice of his unit chief on the other line; all of a sudden Reid was aide awake.

"Hotch? Is everything alright? Do you have a case and need Morgan?" Reid asked rapid fire.

"Reid calm down, everything is fine. We don't have a case; we've been catching up on mountains of paperwork that has been piling up and doing phone consults all week. Wait until you see JJ's office, she actually has a very nice desk in there under all the paperwork she's normally bogged down with. How are you doing?" Hotch asked.

"I'm doing well. I have an appointment with the bureau doctor tomorrow, hopefully I'll find out when I can start PT and working on getting some range of motion back. I'll set up an appointment with the psychologist while I'm there too." Reid said, sitting up in bed and finding a comfortable spot that didn't put any strain on his arm. He had a bad feeling about his doctor appointment tomorrow, he knew that he wasn't as healed as he had hoped and he probably wouldn't be able to start his physical therapy anytime soon. To top it all off his arm was kind of sore from the accident the night before.

"That's good to hear, let me know how the appointment goes tomorrow, I want to be kept up to date with your progress," Hotch said seriously, then he paused, trying to figure out how he was going to breech the topic of what he just read in the police report. "Reid –" he began, knowing Reid would know, just like he always does, where Hotch was going with it.

"This is about last night right?" Reid interrupted. He could tell from the very beginning of the phone call that there was something off with Hotch's tone of voice, like he was uncomfortable but persistent.

"The police report was on my desk this morning but we both know that they are fairly straight forward. I would like to hear what happened from you and Morgan," Hotch said.

"We went out for dinner last night at an Italian place. We were sat by the hostess and when our waitress came over it was pretty clear she only had eyes for Morgan. She was outright flirting with him and acting like I wasn't even at the table. Even if we weren't on a date it would have been considered really rude. She took our drink order, or really she took Morgan's drink order because even though I gave her mine she blatantly ignored it. She returned with Morgan's drink and asked for our order. That's when I could tell Morgan was irritated with her; she was of course oblivious about his anger so he made a comment about my drink missing. That's when the real trouble began. Morgan accused her of sexually assaulting him with her eyes which pissed her off and caught the attention of another waiter nearby. He came over and asked what the problem was to which Morgan replied that the waitress was "eye-fucking" him, his words obviously and not mine. The waiter was dating the waitress so he automatically tried to defend her, Morgan tried to defend me, and I was just trying to get out of there. When I stood to get Morgan to leave the guy pushed me down," it was at this point in Reid's recollection that Hotch interrupted.

"Are you okay? Did you pull your stitches?" he asked quickly.

"I'm fine, a little sore, but fine. Morgan checked everything carefully at the restaurant and there was no bleeding or concerning redness," Reid replied, knowing the question had been coming as soon as he explained what happened.

"And you are pressing charges I assume?" Hotch asked.

"Well –" Reid began, knowing Hotch wouldn't like his response. Though he had given a lot of thought to the idea, the waiter was young and had his whole life ahead of him. He didn't want to slap him with a record of assaulting an FBI agent. Reid also couldn't help but think it wouldn't have even hurt if he was strong like Morgan or Hotch.

"Reid, it wasn't like this was an accident, he purposefully pushed you with the intention of trapping you in the booth. Not only that, but the incident report states that this was more than just a simple misunderstanding, it says that it was – a hate crime," Hotch said the last part quietly, not wanting anyone outside his door to overhear the conversation and hardly believing he was saying it himself.

Reid went silent on the other side of the line. Logically he knew it was a hate crime, the waiter had become irate after Morgan announced that Reid was his boyfriend and he had begun to use that word, "fag."

It was at that exact moment that Morgan opened the front door, back from his run. He went to peak into the bedroom, thinking he was going to see Reid still asleep and curled up with Clooney, and was shocked to see Reid looking like he saw a ghost, the phone still to his ear. He quickly moved over to the bed and sat next to Reid, gently taking the phone out of his hand.

"Who is this?" He asked, his voice alluding to the fact that he wasn't happy with whoever had upset Reid.

"Morgan it's Hotch, is Reid alright, he stopped talking in the middle of our conversation," Hotch said, wondering what the hell was going on.

"Hotch can I call you back. Reid's in shock or something. What did you say to him?" Morgan said, supporting the phone with his shoulder and gently rubbing circles on Reid's back hoping that it would help him come back.

"There was a police report on my desk when I came in this morning, it was the report from the restaurant that you and Reid were at last night. I called to hear what happened from you two and Reid answered. We were just discussing the fact that Reid should press charges and the fact that this was a hate crime and he clammed up," Hotch said quickly and efficiently.

"Alright, I'll call you back," Morgan said, hanging up the phone without waiting for a reply. He tossed the phone towards the end of the bed and carefully hugged Reid to his sweaty body. "Shh, Baby Boy. Come back to me, talk to me, tell me what's bothering you, how are you hurtin'?" Morgan whispered, running his hands up and down Reid's good arm and back whiling holding him firmly and giving him something to hold on to.

Slowly Reid began to melt into his body, his free hand clutching his shirt and his breath coming out in short, almost, panicked, gasps. Morgan didn't say anything; he just let him come to terms with whatever was bothering him, holding him tight enough to let him know he was there but not so tight as to hurt him.

Eventually Reid calmed down and both men just sat on the bed, leaning on each other for support.

"You want to tell me what brought that on?" Morgan asked.

"I guess everything became real for me – I mean when Hotch mentioned that what happened to me – I mean to say what happened to us – was a hate crime," Reid stumbled over his explanation. The fact was that he couldn't explain it; just the thought that he was the victim of a hate crime bothered him. He didn't mind when he was picked on because he was "a toothpick with eyes," or because he was an "insufferable know-it-all," or because he was a 12 year old child prodigy in a Las Vegas high school, but when it was because he had finally found someone to love, it just shook him.

Morgan didn't say anything in reply, he knew that this was something Reid had to work out on his own and that might take some time.

"It's just – why do they hate me for loving you? For finally finding someone I love and who loves me back?" Reid finally asked, a solemn tear making its way down his face.

Morgan listened and found that, for once, he had no idea how to make Reid feel better. It's not like there was a reasonable cause for homophobia, like those people's feelings of hate were justified in some way. There would always be people like that, who hate them for just being themselves and loving who felt right.

Knowing words couldn't fix this, Morgan moved into action. Leaning over he gently kissed away the traitorous tear that had made its way down Reid's face. He kissed the other side for effect, and then Reid's nose, before finally descending on his lips.

Morgan poured himself into that kiss, leaving Reid breathless when he finally pulled away. "I love you, you love me. That is what's important. Feel this," Morgan said, putting Reid's good hand to his heart, "this heart only beats like this for you. No one else makes my heart race this way. If other people can't accept our love, well, then fuck them. Our friends, our family, and us. That's what matters."

Morgan could see that Reid heard him, his eyes shining with unshed tears, but he also knew that Reid needed to see it. He needed to see acceptance. What Reid needed, more than anything else at that time, was some unconditional love, the kind of love that comes from family. Morgan knew the team would be there for them, but they didn't all know and taking comfort from Hotch and Rossi didn't seem like the best idea so that only left their biological family.

"Reid, we need to go visit our families," Morgan said simply. He knew Reid was going to protest and that he was going to be very reluctant but he needed it and just didn't know it.

"Morgan, we already discussed this," Reid said, wiping the traitorous tear that had fallen.

"Reid, we both need this right now. Our mothers, no matter what we do, no matter who we are, will always love us and we need that right now. I need it and you need it," Morgan said. He realized that Reid might have no idea what he was talking about, he might have never just taken comfort in his mother's arms and let her take all the worries of the world away.

Reid didn't say anything; sure he had taken comfort in his mother's arms when he was a kid, when she remembered to take her medication, but to do it now? Reid felt strange even considering it as a full grown adult. If anything he had been taking care of his mother for longer than she had been taking care of him.

"Reid, for once I know more about something than you. We are going to fly out to Chicago and visit with my mama and then we are going to Las Vegas to spend some time with yours. I'll take care of everything; we'll leave after your appointments as long as you're cleared to fly," Morgan said with conviction.

Reid didn't say anything; he just stayed in Morgan's strong arms breathing in his unique scent until he fell back asleep. Morgan gently laid him back on the bed and ordered Clooney to stay with him before moving into the den area so he could call Hotch back. Clooney didn't have to be told twice, he quickly jumped on the bed and shimmied up to Reid, eventually nestling himself on Reid's good side.

"Hotchner," came the answer on the other end.

"Hotch, it's Morgan," he said, staying quiet because he had left the door open in case Reid needed anything.

"What just happened?" Hotch asked, his tone held an air of seriousness yet there was an underlining concern.

"I think Reid just realized that what happened to us last night, happened because we were an 'us,'" Morgan said, sighing.

"I'm not sure I follow," Hotch said.

"Reid's been picked on his whole life, from school age to even now. I think he experiences what we experienced last night more often then I'd like to think about and when you mentioned that it was a hate crime something clicked for Reid. It clicked that we were treated like that because we were a couple, our only crime being that we love each other. He is fine with thinking that it's because he's geeky or nerdy but this, this bothered him," Morgan said, finally verbalizing what he thought was wrong with Reid.

"That makes sense," Hotch agreed. "Reid avoids all social situations if possible; he doesn't like to go out with the team when we go to dinner and especially if we go to a bar. He associates those places with rejection and verbal abuse. We should have seen this sooner."

"Reid's good at hiding things, especially around profilers," Morgan said.

"Where is he now?" Hotch asked, trying to move away from the topic.

"He exhausted himself so he's sleeping in my bedroom," Morgan said without thinking about what exactly was coming out of his mouth.

"Morgan, you know I have the upmost respect for you right?" Hotch said, allowing Morgan to answer before saying, "then please understand that I don't want to know anything about your bedroom."

Morgan snorted in an attempt to cover his laughter but understood where his boss was coming from; he wouldn't have wanted to hear about Hotch's bedtime adventures with Hayley so why would Hotch want the image of what he and pretty boy might be doing in bed?

"Hotch, I'm thinking about taking him away, to visit our families," Morgan said, knowing that he still needed some form of approval if he was going to take off to Chicago, even on his vacation time.

"I think that would be a good idea, get both of your minds off of everything," Hotch said in agreement.

"If only I could get Reid to see it that way. I kind of didn't give him an option, I told him that we were flying out next week after his appointments," Morgan said, looking for some sort of confirmation that he was doing the right thing.

"Reid told me once why he doesn't like visiting his mom, do you know why?" Hotch asked, wording his question carefully.

"He's told me that he feels guilty for putting her there and every time he's there it reminds him that she's only there because he's forcing her to be," Morgan answered, thinking that was the reason Reid didn't visit as often as he could.

"While that is all true, he told me the main reason was because he sees himself in her. He sees everything he is afraid of becoming and he feels that visiting her shows him a glimpse of who he might be in the future," Hotch explained.

Morgan had no reply, he knew that Reid feared the fact that he might have the genes for schizophrenia but to associate that feeling with seeing his mother, it would be like erasing all the good feelings that should come from visiting loved ones.

"Morgan?" Hotch questioned when Morgan stopped talking on the other end. He was beginning to fear he caused some kind of epiphany for Morgan as well and the man had become unresponsive on him just like Reid had.

"I'm here, just thinking about what you said. I have to ask, with what you just told me, do you really think it is a good idea for me to drag him to see his mother?" Morgan asked.

"Yes, he might be afraid to do it but if you back out now he might take it as you saying that you can't handle schizophrenia and possibly him. Take him to show that you can handle it, if you can handle it I mean," Hotch said, uneasiness coming out in the last part of his statement.

"Hotch!" Morgan exclaimed, expressing his shock. "I love Reid, I don't care if he grows another head and it plays non-stop facts that no one knows or ever would want to know, it's not going to change how I feel."

Morgan raised his hand in exasperation that his boss would even think that about him and turned towards the kitchen in order to not project his voice into the bedroom.

"I didn't mean to offend you Morgan," Hotch said.

"I know Hotch, I just don't like anyone doubting how devoted I am to that kid, how much I love him" Morgan said, taking a deep breath to calm down. He lowered his hands to his side and sighed before jumping because someone wrapping their arms around him from behind.

Reid felt Morgan's body tense at the contact and immediately knew to identify himself, "it's me," he said softly. He had woken up during Morgan's conversation with Hotch and felt the need to be near Morgan.

The tension drained out of Morgan's body at the sound of Reid's soft voice. "Hey Hotch, Reid's awake. I'm going to make breakfast so I'll talk to you later," Morgan said before hanging up the phone and turning so Reid's body was safely tucked away in his arms.

I kind of touched upon one of the reasons that I think Reid avoids visiting his mom. Hope everyone enjoyed. Remember to review and let me know about your thoughts or just about anything.