A/N: Well, this is the chapter where Reid and Morgan continue to bicker over... well, everything. Will they learn to live with each other, or will the rooming situation continue to deteriorate? (Hopefully you know what the answer is if you've seen the show.) And yes, we realize that they share a room. But again, THIS IS NOT SLASH. As this is told by Reid, MTLupy wrote it. And edited it. And edited it again. (She's a perfectonist.) ((And she may or may not have broken into Lizzy's account to fix typos she found... ^ ^))

Warning: References to The Instincts, Memoriam and Profiler, Profiled.

Disclaimer: We do not own Criminal Minds, any characters within the shows, of the FBI. That is the job of CBS and the American government.

Tuesday, September 19, 2000

"Hello?" Spencer Reid called out with a slight hint of fear in his voice as he walked around the seemingly abandoned house. "Is anyone home?"

He should've known where he was, but for some reason couldn't remember. That wasn't like him. He continued to wander the house calling out, hoping someone would hear him. He came across a certain door and he suddenly felt compelled to open it. He walked down the stairs and found himself in a very familiar basement. Anxiety crept into his mind as he neared the washing machine and dryer. There was a little boy over there…a dead little boy… Oh God…!

Reid jumped awake and yelped as a loud horn played, the wakeup call at the FBI Training Academy. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself and shook the nightmare off. It was just a dream, he told himself. Just a dream.

Morgan groaned and pulled his pillow over his head. "You were sleep talking all night."

Reid felt his cheeks burn and got up to grab his contacts. When he discovered they weren't on the desk where he'd put them the night before, he glared angrily at his new roommate.

"Real mature, Morgan."

Morgan pulled the pillow off his head and stared at him. "What?

"Where did you put them?"

"Put what?"

"Quit playing dumb," sneered Reid. "My contacts!"

"You wear contacts?" Morgan asked, confused.

Reid groaned in exasperation. "Well, obviously!"

"I thought you were the reading glasses type... I didn't see them, obviously."

"Just tell me where you put them!"

"I didn't put them anywhere! Did you lose them, or something?"

Reid was getting sick of this game. He'd thought that he'd left the bullies behind in high school. "I didn't lose them! You took them!"

"Read my lips Smart Ass: I. Didn't. Take. Your. Contacts," Morgan said, getting out of bed and started to get dressed. "I didn't even know that you had them!"

Reid balled his hands into fist. He hated being called a smart ass. "That would be the reason why I had my contact case with me!"

"And when was I supposed to see this supposéd contact case?"

"Last night. When I put them on the desk."

"I was in the bathroom," Morgan said as if Reid were an imbecile. "Did they fall off the desk, maybe?"

"Gee. If only I'd thought of that!"

"Hey, there's no need to take that tone with me, Brain Boy. Look, I didn't move them. If I were going to prank you it would have been with something less…amateur."

"I see someone has an inferiority complex..." Reid said under his breath.

Morgan pulled his shoes out from under his bed and began to put them on. "I. DIDN'T. TAKE. YOUR. DAMN. CONTACTS. You must have lost them."

"You're a coward," Reid said coldly, his voice full of contempt.

Morgan stopped what he was doing and slowly looked up at Reid. "What did you just call me?"

Reid stood up and imitated what Morgan had said earlier: "Read my lips Smart Ass: You. Are. A. Coward."

Morgan got to his feet. "Don't. You. EVER. Call. Me. That!" he said. His voice trembled with cold anger. "You may have been beat up during high school, but adults must have loved you. Mr. Brilliant, Child Prodigy. Well, I never had anybody treat me like that. Nobody could afford that in the neighborhood I grew up in. I saw my father die in front of me when I was ten, so don't dare you go calling me a coward! I bet you never had to escape from a gang with nothing but a switchblade! You know how to read, how to do math problems. But you don't know how to live when you're not special!"

Reid shook his head and laughed bitterly. "Yeah, I have so much love. My mother could barely take care of herself, let alone a child, and my father," he scoffed and hatred filled his voice, "my father abandoned us when I was ten. I was never treated "special" because of my brain. Teachers might've favored me because I was the brightest student, but not once did they ask me about how I was doing outside of class! Practically everyday after school the bullies would come after me. Sure, I probably couldn't've of fought my way from a gang that was armed, but I sure as hell could run. When I couldn't get away, I'd take whatever they'd throw at me. You don't know how much it hurts to have broken ribs and not be able to get to a doctor, so you just have to suffer through it! So yeah, I was treated like a prodigy all right, I was treated as a freak!"

He knew he had shared too much, but it felt so good to yell at this man he was being forced to live with and look of shock on Morgan's face was great. He was tried of people thinking his life had been perfect because he was a genius. It never had been and it never would be.

After a moment Morgan pointed behind him. "Found your contacts."

As Reid turned around to saw them lying half under the bed, Morgan left the room and slammed the door.

Reid sighed and followed him out the door. "Derek!"

Already halfway down the hallway, Morgan stopped and turned around. "What do you want?"

Reid, still in his pajamas, caught up to his roommate. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have flipped out like that..."

"I didn't take your contacts."

Reid bent his head in shame. "I know. I'm sorry. I must've dropped them when I was putting my pajamas on."

"I don't like being called a coward."

"I-I didn't m-mean it. S-sometimes my m-mind just moves s-so fast that I-I can't always pr-process what I say, usually wh-when I'm angry. I c-can't help it. I'm s-sorry," Reid said, his voice trembling.

"I understand."

Reid looked up, half-smiled and extended his hand. "L-let's start over, all r-right?"

Morgan took the hand slightly begrudgingly and shook it. "Okay."

Jason Gideon looked over from the end of the hallway to catch the two men who had quarreled yesterday shaking hands, obviously making nice. He had to smile. Cadets were never hard to profile.