A/N: Hey there, beloved readers. I have a good excuse for it having been so long since I last posted. I was in a detention center on this moon-sized super laser/space station until this wannabe Jedi and his obnoxious buddy rescued me, along with this walking carpet. We barely made it out and then the bad guys followed us back… long story short, the big evil dude's dead.

Reference is made to Jones, guess why!

Disclaimer: We do not own Criminal Minds(unfortunately) or Star Wars(even more unfortunate).

As soon as SSA Strauss when back to breakfast, Ethan groaned and slumped down in the bench. They resembled two little boys waiting in the principal's office, except the principal was an FBI agent who carried a gun.

"Not my fault." said Morgan.

"Not my fault." Ethan snapped back.

Morgan flared right back up. "You were being an idiot!" He ignored Ethan's dirty look and plunged on, "How can you say that you're his friend?"

"Have you asked him about it?" Ethan asked. "You weren't there in school."

"I've asked him," admitted Morgan, "but he won't answer my questions."

Ethan laughed smugly. "Of course not."

"Don't do that high-and-mighty act with me."

"What!" Ethan protested. "I'm just saying, he's not very…open…"

Unable to control the impulse to find out more about his mysterious roommate, Morgan blurted, "What's up with his mom?"

"What do you care?" said Ethan defensively. "It's none of your business!"
"It is too!" Morgan said instinctively, but then had to grasp for a reason why it was his business. "Agent Gideon wants to assign us both to the BSU."

"Your point?"

"That if we work together, I need to know how he's affected by things." Morgan said.

"He's a strong kid, he's been through a lot," Ethan said stubbornly, "But don't let his appearance fool you."

Morgan gave him a searching look. Reid didn't seem that strong to him after that outburst this morning. "You aren't going to be a profiler, are you?" he asked.

Ethan snorted. "Who cares?"

"I don't wa-" Morgan began to say when Strauss marched into the office. The two men shut up immediately.

"All right," she said wearily. "In my office." Both cadets followed her.

Morgan felt he had to fill the awkward silence while she stared them both down. "Ma'am, I do have a good reason for that. " he said.

She glared at him. "Cadet Morgan is it?" he nodded. "I believe SSA Gideon had some trouble with you yesterday as well."

"Yes." Morgan said.

"So you already have one mark against you." she said. Morgan's jaw tightened. "Just tell me what happened." She said, and Ethan opened his mouth. "Not you, Wojciechowski."

"Which time?" Morgan asked.

"Let's go both, for good measure."

Tightly, Morgan gave his side of the story. "The first time was just… a self-defense attempt taken a little out of control. It's been taken care of. This time, Ethan yelled at Spencer Reid, causing him to fall off of his chair. I disagree with Ethan's statement that Reid is his friend."

"But he is my friend!" Ethan protested. "I've known him for years!"

"There's a difference." Morgan said.

"With what?" said Ethan.

"There's a difference between knowing somebody and being their friend."

"Do you know how many times I stood up for that kid?" Ethan demanded.

"No."

"He wouldn't be here right now if I didn't help him."

Strauss held up one finger and picked up her phone. "This is SSA Strauss. Hello, Jenny. Yes. Yes. Could you page Cadet Spencer Reid for me? Thank you dear. Yes. Okay, bye." Ethan snorted with laughter, and Strauss glared.

After a few awkward minutes, Reid came into the office, his eyes slightly red, like he'd been crying. "Yes?" he said.

Strauss wasted no time with pleasantries. "Please tell me why there was a… disturbance in the cafeteria between these two cadets earlier."

Reid blushed. "I fell down."

"Why?"

Reid looked down at his clasped hands, trying not to look at Ethan or Morgan. "Ethan startled me."

Strauss turned to Ethan. "Why?"

Ethan floundered for a reason. "Because…?"

"That's not good enough, Ethan." Strauss said. Morgan wondered briefly why she wasn't calling him Cadet like she did to Reid and Morgan.

"What do you want me to say? That I pushed him over?" Ethan demanded. "Is that what you want from me, Ms. Strauss?"

"Somebody who says "because" when asked for an answer has something to hide." Strauss.

Ethan glanced down and quietly said, "I don't know. I just thought… I don't know."

"I thought better of you, Ethan." Strauss said. Morgan was confused, they knew each other from outside of the FBI?

Ethan glared at Strauss. "I can't tease my friend? We used to tease each other all the time! Is that illegal now?" He half rose, his face flushing with anger.

"Don't make this worse for yourself, Ethan…" Reid said quietly.

"Shut up Reid!" Ethan snapped. Reid flinched, looking hurt and confused from the lash from his old friend.

"You aren't a child anymore, Ethan." Strauss said, getting caught up in the wave of tension sweeping through the room.

Reid stood up to get the room's attention. He turned to Strauss pleadingly. "SSA Strauss, it really doesn't matter… I'm fine…"

Strauss looked dubiously at him but nodded. "If you say so… Cadets Morgan and Reid, dismissed. Ethan… I need to talk to you."

"What the hell?" Ethan blurted.

Reid and Morgan left the office and wandered back to the Academy through the BSU. There was an awkward silence as Morgan wondered what Ethan and Strauss had in common, and what she had to talk to him about. "Where now?" Morgan finally asked.

Reid rubbed his eyes tiredly. "We have a break for a bit. Didn't you read the itinerary?"

"No," Morgan said bluntly, "I think I put my gum in it."

Reid smacked his forehead. "Why would you do that?"

"It was the only piece of paper I had!" Morgan said defensively.

Reid shook his head. "You are… disgusting…"

Morgan shrugged. "Hey, look at it this way. I didn't litter."

"How do I know that?" Reid demanded. "You could have easily thrown it on the ground afterward. That's a federal offense you know-"

Morgan rolled his eyes, trying to cut off Reid's rant. "I didn't. Point is I don't have it."

"We'll try to get you a new one later then."

"Or… you could give me yours." Morgan said. "I bet you've already memorized it."

"If you go to the office you could flirt with the secretaries."

"True… OK, maybe your idea's better."

"My ideas are always better." Reid said smugly.

Morgan patted Reid's shoulder. "If you say so." He walked away, leaving Reid looking confused.