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Spoiler for 'Profiler, Profiled' (Season Two)
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'A Force of Nature'
Chapter Six
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Morgan woke up the next morning with a headache. He didn't think it was particularly difficult to understand why he had a headache. In fact, after listening to Reid and Daniel argue back and forth for two hours the previous evening he would have been surprised if he didn't have one. He groaned and climbed out of the bed wondering what he had in store for him in the next few hours before Prentiss and Rossi arrived to take over the detail. He pulled on his robe and stepped into the hallway. He immediately heard Daniel and Reid's voices drift toward him.
"Spencer, I just don't get you! How can you possibly put that much sugar in your coffee? It's like you're drinking coffee with your sugar, instead of sugar with your coffee."
"Daniel, what you just said makes no sense."
"Aren't you two starting kind of early today?" Morgan grumbled as he walked into the kitchen.
"Good morning, Sunshine," Reid said.
"Whatever," Morgan replied, as he poured himself a cup of coffee. "What time is it, anyway?"
"Almost eight-thirty," Daniel replied.
Morgan groaned. "Prentiss and Rossi will be here in an hour and a half. I guess I can get myself together by then."
"It's a lot of work being Derek Morgan, hunh?" Reid laughed.
"Yeah. Just like it's a lot of work listening to you talk all the time."
Daniel laughed out loud. "He got you, Spencer!"
Reid shrugged as Morgan reached for a bowl and some cereal. "I have to let him get one once in a while."
"You have to let me? Let's get something straight here, kid…"
Daniel laughed again. "I just love you two. My mother would probably say it's like listening to my brother and me."
Morgan looked over at Reid and shrugged. "Hey, Reid's an only child, and I have two sisters. This guy's the closest thing to a brother I have. Who else can I pick on?"
"Thanks, Morgan. I think."
Morgan chuckled. "You know, Daniel, the first time my family met Reid it wasn't under the best of circumstances. The situation was a little tense. Now when I talk to my mom she asks me when I'm going to bring the kid back so she can feed him some more." He leaned forward. "You know both of my sisters actually think he's cute?"
Daniel looked over at Reid, who was now blushing and grinned. "Ah! Derek's sisters think Spencer is cute! How sweet is that?"
Reid stood up. "Um, I'm going to go take a shower. Try not to embarrass me too much while I'm gone." He rinsed out his coffee cup and headed down the hall with Morgan laughing behind him.
Thirty minutes later when Reid came back into the living room Morgan said, "Rossi called. Hotch is coming over with he and Prentiss. He has some more photos he wants to show Daniel."
"Where is Daniel?"
"Taking a shower in his bathroom," Morgan chuckled. "I think he's afraid of Hotch!"
"Seriously?"
"I am not afraid of Agent Hotchner," Daniel said as he walked down the hallway, wet hair slicked back. "I'm just, well, a little intimidated by him. That's all."
Morgan chuckled again as Reid commented, "Come on, Daniel. Hotch is okay. He just has to be stern."
"Well the way he looked at me the other night reminded me of how my dad looked at me whenever I did something wrong."
"Your dad pretty tough?" Morgan asked.
"My dad? Ha! He's a big marshmallow! The looks he used to give me and my brother were more for my mom's benefit than ours. He would give us these stern looks whenever he thought my mom was watching just to let her think he was actually disciplining us. Then he let us do pretty much whatever we wanted." He laughed. "I guess we both turned out okay."
"Your brother is a student, right?" Reid asked as Morgan headed for his turn in the bathroom.
"Yeah, he's at Arizona State University studying business."
"Hey, ASU! Big party school," Morgan laughed as he went into the bathroom.
"Why am I not surprised he knows that?" Daniel asked.
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"Who are these people, Agent Hotchner?" Daniel asked, as he looked at another series of photographs.
"I'd like you to tell me first if you think you recognize anyone; then I'll tell you who they are. I don't want to prejudice whether you think you might have seen them beforehand."
Daniel sighed. "I just don't know, Agent Hotchner." He pointed at one picture and continued, "This guy looks a little familiar. But I still don't know where I might have seen him. The rest I just don't recognize."
Hotch took the photos when Daniel handed them back to him. "The man you recognized was a porter at your hotel. The reason I showed that one to you was because we discovered he had a criminal record. We're just checking every detail we can." He stood up. "Thank you. If I have any more questions I'll be in touch."
"Do you know anything about my stalking case?"
"Not yet. DNA test results are a lot faster these days; however, they won't come back for a few more days."
"Thank you, Agent Hotchner."
"See you tonight Daniel," Reid commented as he and Morgan left with Hotch.
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"Oh, this is so much fun!" Garcia commented, as she sat with Emily watching Daniel skate.
"Nothing back at the BAU for you to do today, Penelope?" Rossi asked.
"Hotch gave me the day off," she retorted, looking over at him. She turned back to watch Daniel again and smiled. "I told him I had an appointment."
"Yes, an appointment to act silly," Emily laughed.
"Look who's talking, Miss tell everybody I was drooling over Daniel when she was doing the same thing herself!"
"I already apologized for that, Garcia!"
"Anyway, what's the harm in having a little fun?" Garcia smiled widely as she saw Daniel skating in her direction.
"How's my girl?" he asked, leaning on the wall.
"Fine," she giggled, which caused Rossi to shake his head.
"Bored yet?" Daniel teased.
"Never!"
"How about you, Emily?"
"Not yet!"
"I don't think we can say the same for Agent Rossi, though," Daniel commented.
"I'm great," Rossi responded. "Never better." He looked toward the door. "I think the reporter you are expecting is here."
For the next twenty minutes Garcia watched Daniel give an interview to a reporter from a national figure skating magazine regarding his decision on whether or not to continue skating another season, and then pose for several photographs. After the interview Daniel returned to the ice for more photos and then the reporter and photographer left after assuring Daniel the article would appear in the following month's issue. Daniel then sat down next to Garcia and nudged her shoulder. "So, Penelope, what do you think?"
"Of what?"
"The pictures we took. What do you think of the poses? Will they come out okay?"
"How could they not with you as the subject?"
"Oh, you're so sweet Penelope!" He leaned over and put his arm around her. "I'm so happy you're my fan."
"Me too!"
"When are you going to put on some skates and let me take you out on the ice?"
"Uh…I don't know! I can't skate, Daniel!"
"I can't dance, but I still told you I'd go dancing with you anytime you want."
"Yes, you did, but I think me falling on my butt on the ice would be a lot less graceful than you dancing in a club."
Daniel laughed. "You've obviously never seen me try to dance off the ice, Penelope. Don't forget I love you," he said, before kissing her on the cheek and then standing up.
Garcia blushed. She looked over to see Rossi shaking his head. "Some appointment," he commented.
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"You actually gave Garcia your cell phone number?" Reid laughed.
Daniel shrugged. "Sure, why not?" He looked over at Prentiss and Rossi as they prepared to leave for the evening. "Seriously, how much harm could it do? We're just having a little fun. I think Penelope knows that."
Prentiss shrugged. "You're right. She knows. She's just having a lot of fun right now."
"Good. So am I. I think Penelope is great."
"Are you really planning to go dancing with her?" Rossi asked.
"Yes, I am. I told her I would and I will."
"See you tomorrow," Prentiss said as she and Rossi left.
After Reid locked and dead bolted the door he turned to Daniel and asked, "So, we're watching 'Schindler's List' tonight?"
"Derek said I don't have to stay in the house all the time. What if we actually go out somewhere?"
"I don't know, Daniel. I know he said that, but it might be asking for trouble. Where did you want to go?"
"We could grab something to eat, then there's this bar where I know a few people who are regulars there."
"A bar? Oh, no. Not a good idea, Daniel. I'm on duty here."
"So? Spencer, no one said you had to drink. I don't drink much myself. I seldom have more than two drinks. You can be designated driver and meet some new people while you're there."
Reid sighed. "I'm really not sure about this, Daniel."
"Come on, Spencer! Do you have any idea how bored I am? All I've been doing the last few days is skating and coming home. I haven't seen any of my friends, I haven't gone anywhere I normally would go, and I haven't worked on any new projects, nothing…"
"Okay, okay, we'll go! "
"Great! Let me go get changed."
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Before going to the bar the two men had stopped for dinner at a Chinese restaurant. Reid couldn't help grinning when Daniel picked up a fork and didn't even try to use chopsticks. Of course that meant that he didn't have to try and use them either. "What are you smiling at?" Daniel had asked him.
"The fact you aren't using chopsticks."
"Neither are you. What's your point?"
"I can't use them. However, for some reason, when I eat Chinese with my friends I feel compelled to try anyway. I usually embarrass myself in the process."
"So do I. That's why I'm not using them now." Reid laughed out loud. He and Daniel had found another thing they had in common; their inability to use chopsticks.
Now Reid stood flipping through the CDs available on the jukebox at the bar Daniel had chosen. He glanced over at the table where Daniel sat with three friends. The group was laughing at something one of them had said, and obviously having a good time. Reid shook his head and turned back to his perusal of the jukebox. He felt a tap on his right shoulder and turned to see the very attractive cocktail waitress standing there.
"Hey, you're a friend of Daniel's, right? Why aren't you sitting over there with him?"
"Just looking for some new music."
She handed him a glass. "Daniel sent this over. It's just coke. Not much fun being DD, is it?"
"DD?"
She laughed. "Designated Driver!"
"Oh, uh, yeah… I knew that!"
"Sure." She leaned against him and said, "Play A36. It's one of my favorites."
"Oh," Reid commented as he watched her walk away. He pushed the buttons and the sound of Garth Brooks singing about having friends in low places filled the bar. He couldn't help smiling. He wasn't a big country music fan, but it was hard to not like this particular song.
Twenty minutes later he was helping a very light-headed Daniel out into the car. "I can't believe how bad I feel," Daniel groaned, as he leaned back against the seat.
"What did you expect?"
"Spencer, I hardly drank at all. I had one beer and one mixed drink. Nobody gets sick on that. I think I've been poisoned or something."
"Get real, Daniel."
"Spencer, what else could it be? I hardly drank at all. I'm never eating at that damn restaurant again!"
"I'm okay," Reid commented as he started the car.
"We didn't eat the same thing." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper which he handed to Reid. "Here," he said, before closing his eyes.
"What's this?"
"Karyn's phone number. She asked me to give it to you. She said you had disappeared when she came back to talk to you."
"Karyn? The waitress?" Daniel nodded. "She's giving me her phone number?"
"Yes, genius. Can we go now, please?"
Reid pulled the vehicle out on to the street after tucking the phone number into his pocket. After only a few minutes Daniel asked him to pull over. He had to pull over three more times before they arrived back at Daniel's house. "My coach is going to kill me," Daniel moaned as Reid helped him into the house. "I'll never make it to practice tomorrow."
"You mean later today. Remember whose idea this was," Reid commented.
"Yeah, remind me I'm an idiot while I'm dying!" Daniel complained as he collapsed on to the couch.
"Well, it is your own fault!"
"Shut up, Spencer!"
"Do you need anything?" Reid asked, fighting back a grin.
Daniel kicked off his shoes. "No, just leave me to die in peace, Spencer."
After checking all the doors and windows, Reid grabbed a blanket from Daniel's room and placed it over Daniel who had already fallen asleep. He shook his head before going into the extra bedroom to get ready for bed.
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