Love Is Biology

Note-Mick Rawson was introduced in season five, episode eighteen which was titled The Fight. He works on another team in the BAU.

Part One

May 2010

Dr. Spencer Reid is very analytical. He can see everything for what it is in stark scientific terms- even emotions such as love, hate, anger, bitterness, regret and jealousy. They are all caused by certain innate psychological and physiological factors.

He has been jealous before and knows what it feels like. Knows the burning in his chest and the bitterness on his tongue. The way his face gets hot and he gets completely silent.

He understands all this is simply his biological response to the feeling of jealousy-which is different but similar to envy (he could go on for hours on the subtle differences between the two). What he does not understand is why he is feeling it in this particular situation.

Why seeing SSA Mick Rawson hanging out every damn day at Emily's desk is provoking this unwanted emotion in him. The only logical answer he can find for it is that his good friend, SSA Derek Morgan (who sits just a desk away right now smirking over this whole frustrating and uncomfortable situation) has infiltrated Spencer's subconscious with his stupid and idiotic joke a few months back.

"Hey," Derek said, looping his arm over Reid's shoulder as they walked away from the jet after coming home from a case. Putting his mouth near Reid's ear he said "I think Prentiss has a thing for you."

Reid had made a sound that meant: Yeah, right! You're crazy!

"No, I'm serious, pretty boy." Derek moved away from him and started to walk backwards in front of Reid. "That star puzzle thing....that was all about you."

"That was a myth that makes no sense. How could that be about me? And in what universe would Emily have a thing for me?"

The idea was ridiculous. It had taken them a year just to become friends. Now two years after that had somehow managed to happen she suddenly got hot for his body? Unlikely. Very far to the edge of the realm of possibilities, as Reid saw the world, at least.

"Hey, who am I? I'm Derek Morgan and I know these things. Remember when you thought she had a crush on me? Now that was way off base. But this....this is smack dab center bullseye. She wants to get with my boy. Mark my words. Just think about it, man. Prentiss is all sorts of hot, right?"

"By standard beauty definitions, yes, she is clinically attractive."

"Come on, man!"

"Fine, yeah, she's hot, Morgan."

"Yeah, she is," he said in a total piggish way that he never would dare let the women on the team hear him say about Emily or JJ. "So....?"

"So?" Reid asked as they made it to his car.

"Would you ever wanna get with her?"

Reid just shot Derek a look that said: You disgust me with the way you talk about our good friend. I am so much above you because I can see pass sex.

Derek laughed and said "Oh, yeah, you'd get with her, kid, given the chance. And I'm telling you," he flashed a big smile before he headed for his own car "you got a chance! Go for it! He shoots. He scores! The crowd goes wild! Think about it, kid! Prentiss might snap out of this soon. You better strike while the iron's hot."

Reid looked across the military airfield parking lot to see the rest of the team far away getting in their vehicles. Thank God no one had heard Derek carrying on. Because he was completely over exaggerating the significance of Emily's behavior on the jet today. Reid could not see how that star puzzle had anything to do with himself in any sort of way whatsoever. Morgan always had sex on the brain and always claimed women were hot for Reid when they so very obviously were not. Morgan had talked Reid into pursuing women before and the results were never satisfactory in the long term. This time Reid just brushed off what Morgan said because he discounted the veracity of his statements.

At least he told himself to brush it off. Of course the mind does what it does and Reid's mind squirreled away that conversation so that when Mick Rawson started coming around all the thoughts Derek had planted in Reid's mind months before rose to the surface again making Reid see red.

Or green, as the case may be.

Mick flirted with Emily "So, luv, you will change before we meet at the bar tonight, right?"

She rolled her eyes. "Um, no! What's wrong with what I'm wearing anyway?"

He rolled his eyes. "I can see none of your sexy thighs," he answered, because she had on black pants. "And that just won't do."

If Reid had to sit through one more afternoon of these daily chat sessions that dripped with sexual innuendo he was not going to be responsible for what happened next to SSA Rawson. Reid's jaw ticked as he tried to concentrate on his paperwork and cursed himself for forgetting his ipod that day- which he had been using for the last week to drown out Mick's voice whenever he came by.

That had helped matters marginally.

The only problem was that the noise in his ears didn't affect Reid's eyesight and he could still see Emily smiling and laughing over the bad come on lines that were being volleyed at her relentlessly. The only upside was she acted as if she did not want to get with Rawson. But then again she did hang out with him. Maybe she was just saying no as part of a cat- and-mouse game. Maybe in private she said yes, yes, yes....Reid snapped a pencil in two.

Morgan laughed. Prentiss and Rawson looked at Reid.

Emily joked "Hey, go easy on that poor thing. What did it ever do to you?"

"I need coffee," Reid said, as he rose and headed away from them with quick long steps.

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Emily threw Derek a raised eyebrow look. "What is up with Reid lately?"

Derek shrugged, wearing this annoying smirk that said: I know something you don't know.

Emily shook her head at him and turned back to Mick, who was perched on her desk, "Could you..." she motioned for him to move and he did. "I have paperwork up to my eyeballs to do so...be gone."

Mick laughed. "You always tell me to leave but you always watch me walk away."

"You wish."

"I know." With a smile on his lips he headed out of the bullpen. But called back. "A skirt, darlin. With lots of thigh."

"Keep dreaming!" she shot back.

He had been gone just a minute, and she was finally getting back into her paperwork after being distracted, when Derek asked "So what's the deal with you two?"

Looking up she gave him a blank look. "Who? Me and Rawson?"

"Yeah. You two together now or something?"

She laughed. "Yeah, something."

"Oh yeah?"

"No! Don't be ridiculous. He's not my type."

"Looks like he's interested."

"Good for him. We're kinda friends and that is all its ever gonna be. I told him that. He'll get it through his head eventually and if he wants to be friends, cool, and if not then that's fine too."

"So you're hanging out with him even though you know he's playing at this friend thing just to try and get with you?"

She shrugged. "What can I say? He amuses me." She chuckled and got back down to work.

Soon Reid came back, looking flustered and stuck deep in his thoughts, Emily gave Derek another raised eyebrow look but Derek, as usual, only gave her a look back that said he knew everything that was going on but she just didn't see it. As if it was completely obvious.

Not to her. She hated to think she was missing whatever it was that was upsetting Reid lately. That he might need someone to reach out to him and she wasn't paying attention enough to figure it out.

Later that day, when they were alone in the break room, she asked him "Hey.....you doing okay?"

"What would make you think I'm not? Do I not seem to be okay to you?"

She held up her hands. "Whoa, defensive much?"

"There is nothing abnormal about me lately, Prentiss," he said and walked away.

She stood there feeling deflated and blown off by him once again, which was nothing new. Sometimes he did that to her. But never did he realize how much it hurt her. He just didn't see her that way- as someone who had deep feelings for him- and it seemed no amount of trying to get closer to him would ever make him look at her different. For the longest time she had tried- so long that its embarrassing to think about now- while also dating losers who didn't measure up to her sexy, genius co-worker.

Now she had stopped trying. He would never get it. It was about time to get over him. The only problem with that was as much as the analytical side of her brain told her to give up her hopeless unrequited love for him the emotional part of her brain said that was a lot easier said than done and reminded her that, after all this time, she hadn't pulled that trick off yet.

Still she was trying. Now she was trying to move on instead of trying to get him to want to be more with her. Even to just be a closer friend.

Not that Spencer had a clue what she was doing. No, he seemed as clueless as ever- adorably yet frustratingly clueless.

She let out a long sigh as she watched him walk out of the break room, staring at him till he disappeared from sight, then she turned back to the coffee machine and poured himself a cup. She needed a break from her desk and from the guys who got on her nerves in the BAU.

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To say she was shocked when Reid walked up to her at the bar that night would be putting it lightly. She could have been knocked over with a feather to see him there and know he came there with the express purpose of seeing her.

Emily was sitting on a bar stool while Mick was leaning on the bar, beer in hand, chatting her up. They were both smiling and joking. That is until, out of nowhere, Reid was standing next to them, looking intensely serious.

"Reid!" she cried "Hey?!"

Looking around him she didn't see the rest of the team or anyone he could be there with. He said "You're right. Something is bothering me lately."