Three Weeks Later - Friday Morning:

There was only a short line of people waiting to board the plane when Derek Morgan approached the gate for his nonstop flight to Las Vegas. It was how he had planned it, wanting to board the flight once most of the passengers had already found their seats, especially one in particular. He could just see Reid refusing to board the plane if he realized that Morgan had a ticket for the same flight. Remembering the younger agent's reaction to finding out that Dr. Kimura had asked him to keep an eye on him when Reid had returned to work, Morgan could envision him tagging along to Vegas would not go over well - hence the reason he hadn't bothered telling Reid his plans.

Still, Morgan didn't like the idea of Reid flying out to Vegas alone. It wasn't that he didn't think the younger man could take care of himself. He knew Reid had been looking out for himself since he was young, younger than would have actually been legal, but as his mother had often suffered from schizophrenic breaks, it had been necessary. Plus, the kid had grown up in Vegas. He certainly would know his way around the city unlike if he was going to some place like say Chicago. Reid would know what areas of the city to avoid.

However, what Morgan didn't want to happen was for Reid to get back to his hometown and not have any emotional support. Despite how independent Reid strived to make himself look, Morgan knew that he craved human companionship just as much as the next person. Just because he didn't know how to express that need, didn't mean it wasn't there and as Morgan felt he had played a big part in convincing Reid to go to his high school reunion, he felt responsible to make sure the kid had that support if needed. Given what he knew about Reid's past, Morgan knew that facing his former schoolmates were going to be hard, even if it was something the younger man had to do in order for him to move past those experiences. No, Reid wouldn't forget what had happened on that football field, but Morgan knew he had to face the people who had done that to him in order to move beyond it. To put it in his past and stop it from affecting who he was today.

As he handed the airline attendant his ticket, Morgan thought of his own ordeal he'd had to face a couple of years ago. Facing Carl Buford had finally let Morgan put that experience behind him. No, he wouldn't forget but it no longer affected his life in the same way. Knowing that he had put a stop to the effects the man would have on others peoples lives had helped but even more than that, it was knowing that Buford no longer had any control over his life either. The former youth center leader may have influenced his childhood and the decisions he had made that led him away from Chicago, but none of that mattered now. Morgan knew that he had gotten to where he was on his own. He owed nothing to anyone - well except maybe to his parents for the support and unconditional love that had always been shown.

~I hope things go well. That Reid walks into that reunion and shows everyone what he has accomplished with his life. Sees that none of them are any better than him despite what they tried to make him think back then and has a good time, ~ Morgan thought as he walked down the jet bridge to the waiting aircraft. ~However, if that doesn't happen, if things go wrong, then I need to know he isn't out there alone.~

Stepping onto the plane, Morgan started up the aisle to his seat. Though most people would have guessed he was looking at the row identifications, the dark-skinned profiler was actually scanning the passengers looking for a familiar lanky form. Not only had Garcia managed to find out what flight Reid had booked passage on and get Morgan a ticket for the flight, but the vivacious technical analyst had managed to get her Chocolate God the seat right next to her Junior G-man.

It wasn't long before Morgan spotted him. Reid was sitting next to the window, his ever present messenger bag wedge in between himself and the arm rest closest the window. He was opening a decent size hardcovered book which Morgan couldn't see the title of though chances are it wouldn't interest him. Stopping in the aisle next to the row of seats that Reid occupied Morgan spoke to make his presence known

"So that will occupy what, ten minutes of the flight?"

Reid looked up from the book at the sound of Morgan's voice. The older man did not miss the look of surprise that was on the younger agent's face.

"Morgan? What are you doing here?"

"Flying to Vegas like everyone else on this plane," Morgan commented casually as he put his bag into the overhead compartment. Closing the door, he sat down in the seat next to Reid, sliding the smaller duffel bag he had with him underneath the seat.

"That's not what I meant."

"I took a couple of days off and I figure what better place to spend a long weekend then in Las Vegas."

Reid looked skeptically at his friend. Gazing over at him, Morgan could tell the genius wasn't buying it.

"Look Reid, I figured as I sort of pressured you . . ."

"Sort of?"

"As I sort of pressured you into going to your reunion I thought the least I could do is be on hand if you needed some moral support out while in Vegas."

"Morgan I don't need you to appoint yourself my baby-sitter," Reid replied, the annoyance evident in his voice. He hated people fussing over him, and Morgan tending to fuss more than anyone else. "I can handle myself."

"I know you can, Kid."

"You could have fooled me," Reid muttered, looking away from his friend and out the window, looking at the ground crews that were going about their business. He contemplated trying to leave the plane and not go, but somehow he didn't think it would be that easy. His next thought was to just ignore Morgan for the duration of the flight, but that plan came to an end as he continued to think about the situation. "You're the one that convinced me to go! And now you think I need protection?" Reid asked, turning to look at Morgan again.

Morgan held up his hands, "Whoa, Kid, slow down. That's not it at all." Reid glared. "Okay, maybe it is a little bit of the reason. They gave you hell, Reid, and I'm not about to forget that. If you should need my help I want to be close enough to be able to give it, not stuck all the way across the country."

Reid turned back toward the window unsure of how to reply to Morgan's statement.

"Look, best case you have a great time at the reunion, head home glad that you went and I have an enjoyable four day weekend away from work, and have some fun in Sin City. Worst case, and I hope it doesn't come to that, you don't have to deal with whatever happens alone."

Reid remained quiet and Morgan didn't press him for a response. Things had gone about how he had anticipated and he figured the best thing to do was to give Reid some space for the time being. Looking around the airplane, Morgan had to smile at the irony of that sentiment. There wasn't exactly a lot of space to be had.

As the plane began to taxi toward the runway, a flight attendant began the pre-flight safety speech. Though he had heard it plenty of times, Morgan paid attention as she went through the emergency procedures. It wasn't long before the plane was ascending into the air. Reid had reopened his book which told Morgan that for now at least, his friend was done discussing the mater. Retrieving his MP3 player and headphones from the bag beneath his seat, Morgan settled back in his seat to kill some time listening to music.

The plane wasn't full, and there was an empty seat between Morgan and the guy sitting in the aisle seat. The guy was dressed in a suit, and the vacationing profiler found himself trying to guess what the man did for living and why he was heading for Vegas. From the dress, Morgan figured the man was not taking a pleasure trip. ~Probably going to Vegas for a convention, ~ Morgan thought as he watched the business man pull some files out of a briefcase. ~If I had to venture a guess, I'd say the guy was a lawyer, ~ Morgan thought before letting his gaze drift elsewhere before he got caught staring.

After he got tired of looking around the cabin, Morgan settled his head back against the seat. Listening to the soothing sounds of his favorite songs, he felt the tension start to leave his body. He was looking forward to the next few days away from the horrors that they saw at work every day. It was relief to know that if his phone rang it wouldn't be JJ or Hotch telling him that there was a case and he needed to report to work. A few weeks ago he had been telling Reid that the younger agent needed to take some vacation time and as he sat here on the plane, Morgan realized that advice had indeed applied to him too. Even if Reid stayed mad at him, and avoided him while he was in Vegas, Morgan planned on enjoying himself this weekend. Probably lose some money in the casino and take in a show.

He was mentally making tentative plans, eyes closed, when Morgan got the feeling he was being watched. Opening his eyes, the profiler glanced around looking for the source of the feeling. He didn't have to look far, as upon looking to his left he found Reid looking at him, his book sitting in his lap closed.

Reaching up, Morgan removed his head phones, as his finger found the stop button on the music player. "What is it, Kid?" he asked, relieved that Reid had stopped trying to ignore him.

"I don't get you, Morgan," Reid replied, his gaze not leaving his friend. "You're the one that told me to go to this reunion so I can face my past and now you're tagging along - for what reason? If you were worried what might happen, why tell me to go in the first place?"

"Just because I want you to deal with what happened when you were younger, doesn't necessarily mean I think you should be doing that alone," Morgan told him. "You're my friend kid, one of my best friends to be exact, and I'll do absolutely anything for you." ~I love you, Kid, ~ his mind added silently though he restrained from saying those words. As he had told Garcia more than once, he was sure those words would freak the younger man out and he couldn't imagine not having Reid in his life.

"Yeah, like push a handcuffed prisoner up against the wall and threaten his life during a custodial," Reid ventured, thinking of their experience up in Attica, New York a few weeks ago.

"You think I was just going to sit there and let him talk about you like that," Morgan said, recalling how Cabanna had started talking about what he and his fellow inmates would do to Reid if they were able to get their hands on him. Morgan had tried twice to redirect the interview back to the convict's previous crimes but when Cabanna had made the comment that Reid would enjoy it, the dark-skinned profiler had lost it, quickly moving around the table and dragging the guy from the chair and pushing him against the wall. Cabanna's whispered 'what? You want your turn at him,' had been had elicited the threat Reid had mentioned.

"It was just idle talk. Cabanna was trying to get an emotional response from us in order to feel like he was in charge of the interview."

"So that makes it okay?"

"Well, no but by showing the reaction you did, you gave him exactly what he wanted. I'm not surprised he wasn't willing to continue the interview after that."

"I really didn't care if he did or not. We had already found out his motive behind the killings - that he was avenging the destroyed career of the uncle who had raised him, who though he had been cleared of the charges of inappropriate relations with a female student had lost his job and credibility in the process. Cabanna chose to take justice into his own hand and kill college students that represented the one he felt had ruined his uncles life. The guy deserves to be behind bars."

"I won't argue that but there was more we could have learned. He might have told us how he was finding out about the accusations - some of which hadn't been made official yet. He killed students from several different schools. Also, we still don't know why he chose to set fires as the way to kill his victims. Was it because he couldn't actually kill his victims himself or did fire have some deeper meaning?"

"Okay, so I screwed up. I get it but can we let it drop," Morgan said, having already heard a lecture from Hotch about his behavior at the custodial. A lecture that had been less severe than Morgan would have anticipated but he hadn't questioned it, feeling like he had dodged a bullet.

"I wasn't trying to scold you for making a mistake," Reid said, his voice having dropped lowering and sounding apologetic now. "It's just that . . . well you seem to make rash decisions when you think I'm in danger."

"I'm protective of everyone on the team, Kid. I just hate to see the people I care about hurt."

Morgan thought he saw a hint of disappointment on Reid's face as he nodded in acknowledgment of the answer, causing Morgan to wonder if the younger man had been hoping for a different answer. In a moment it was gone though, and the dark-skinned agent started to believe he had imagined it.

"I do appreciate you willing to tag along, Morgan. You just took me by surprise."

"And if I hadn't surprised you, would you have agreed to me coming?"

"Probably not," Reid conceded. "So, just how did you get the seat next to me on this flight."

"A certain blonde computer analyst we both know," Morgan admitted.

"I figured that. Did she get you the hotel room next to mine too?"

"No. She wasn't able to manage that as the hotel was getting close to being fully booked. I'm on the floor below you."

"Good, so I won't have to worry about you breaking down the door and trying to give me a heart attack this time around."

"You're not going to let me live that down, are you?"

Reid allowed a small smile to come to his face. "Not for a while, no."

Reid deposited his bags in the trunk of the car he and Morgan had rented and then made his way to the passenger seat. As he opened the door, Morgan slammed the trunk shut behind him. Climbing into the car, the Las Vegas native had to admit he was glad Morgan had tagged along. The older man's presence was reassuring in a way that Reid didn't completely understand.

"So are we heading to the hotel first?" Morgan asked as he slid in behind the wheel, and put the keys into the ignition.

"Did you have any plans?" Reid asked, having another destination in mind but not wanting to inconvenience his friend.

"None at all, Kid. I wasn't sure how you were going to react to my presence so I figured I'd wing it when I got out here. What did you have in mind?" Morgan asked, knowing the younger man had to have a reason for asking the question.

"Well, I'm not meeting Ethan until six tonight, so I thought I might stop by Bennington and visit with my mother a bit. I haven't seen her since I was here back in November."

"Just give me the directions, Kid," Morgan said, turning the key and bringing the motor of the car to life.

Reid nodded, as he pulled the seatbelt across him and settled back in the seat. Beside him, Morgan clicked his own seatbelt in place before pulling the car away from the curb.