Hey everyone, here's another One Shot from me. Reid and Morgan are a couple in this so if this isn't to your liking don't read it. I am taking a break from my other long stories; I'm adding some detail that I think will make the story better. Please be patient, it may be a while because I work so much now. I'd love to hear your input, hope you all like this.
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Grabbing his bag and finished files, Reid storms up the steps to Hotch's office, giving him the files and racing out of the office so fast everyone is stunned. However, no one is more stunned than Morgan, who had planned on talking to Reid once they were heading home together. He knew he messed up, messed up badly, and he knew Reid was pissed but Morgan never thought he would take off without talking to him first. Morgan knew it wasn't going to be a pleasant night at home; it would probably result with him sleeping on the couch and Clooney claiming his spot on the bed with Reid. No, it wouldn't be a good night home.
He watches the elevator door close with his boyfriend inside and sighs deeply. Just as he was about to head back to his office, he feels a hand on his arm that drags him away from everyone in the bullpen. He's not surprised when he sees it's Garcia who is dragging him away and stays quiet, mentally preparing himself to be chewed out by his Baby Girl. Once the door to her lair opens she shoves him inside and when Morgan turns around, he faces a very mad Garcia, arms across her chest.
"What did you do to our Baby Boy?" she asks angrily. "I have never seen him so angry before, especially at you. What did you do?"
Morgan sighs and takes a sits on the edge of the desk in the office. He really doesn't want to share the story with anyone; he feels it's only between himself and Reid and what they were fighting about would make Morgan look like a jackass. But, if he was honest with himself, he would rather have to tell Garcia than any of the other women on their team, especially JJ.
"Since we've started dating 4 months ago, we've kept the relationship very casual. Nights in, dinners at restaurants, outings with the team, stuff like that. After we finished the case last night, we found out we couldn't leave until the morning so we all did our own thing. Reid wanted to spend the night in, but I wanted to go out. Eventually I convinced him to come out with me and we hit up a bar. We were having a good time, just talking…and that's when things went wrong." As Morgan tells Garcia what happened, he relives it inside his head. He would never forget the day he felt like such an ass to someone he cares for so much.
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Morgan and Reid had managed to find a table at the crowded bar they found not too far away from the hotel they were staying in. The rest of the team had stayed back, wanting to sleep and just relax before they flew home in the morning. They just sat for a while, talking about anything that came to mind and enjoying each other's company. Since they had started dating, they hadn't had much time to spend one-on-one with each other; besides the many cases they had, Reid had spent a week in Vegas visiting his mother and then Morgan went home for his mother's birthday for a few days. Even though they were in public, it felt nice alone and away from the team.
After about 2 hours, Reid had gotten up to use the bathroom after the many cups of soda he had consumed. Unless they were at Morgan's apartment, Reid would never drink alcohol in a bar, too worried about someone spiking his drink or embarrass himself or even injure himself. Once Reid was out of view, Morgan took out his phone and looked through all the photos of Reid he had managed to take without him knowing: some were of him staring at case files, some at the office, the many outings the team took together, but his favorites were of Reid sleeping. There was one that was Morgan's favorite. Reid had fallen asleep on the couch, his left hand dangling off the side of the couch, his right hand on top of the book that was on his chest and Clooney was by his feet asleep as well. That photo always managed to make Morgan laugh.
However, what good time Morgan and Reid were having at the bar would soon be over.
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"Reid was still in the bathroom when I heard someone yelling not too far from where we were sitting," Morgan continues telling Garcia. "I looked behind and saw a woman trying to leave a table and a guy was holding her arm, not letting her go. At first I ignored them, until I heard the guy slap her and her gasp out in pain. After that I got up from where I was sitting, went over to him and demanded he let her go. At first he refused to let her go, that is until I flashed my badge at him and threatened to arrest him for assault. After that he left and the she was grateful."
"OK, while that's sweet of you, I still don't see how this affects you and Reid and why Reid left so pissed off," Garcia says when Morgan doesn't continue. She sees the emotion in Morgan's eyes and gives him the time he needs.
Eventually Morgan speaks, looking down at the ground. "When the man she was with left, she couldn't stop thanking me, clinging to my arm like it was life or death. I saw Spencer coming back and tried to leave…but she wouldn't let me go. Try as I might she wouldn't let me go. She leaned in and kissed me, and I was so shocked she did that I didn't pull away right away. It probably only lasted five seconds maybe but Reid saw and he stormed off. The woman was a little drunk, I didn't even find out her name."
Garcia, wide eyed with her mouth gaped opened, couldn't think of anything to say. Before she found her voice Morgan spoke again. "I ripped my arm off of the woman and changed after Reid, determined to explain myself. He got away from me so I jumped in the car and tried to find him; eventually did three blocks later. He jumped in the car but refused to talk to me, even when we got back to the hotel. He still won't talk to me. I don't know what to do, Garcia. How do I fix this when he won't talk to me?"
Garcia takes a seat in the only chair in the room and looks at Morgan directly in the eyes. "At this point in time, talking to him won't do much. He's still made even though he doesn't know the full story; from his point of view, he saw you with someone else and not only is he pissed at you, even though he shouldn't be, he feels like he's in competition with everyone out there. You know how hard it was for him to tell you how he felt, and he is very insecure about himself. Give him some more time and then try talking to him, whether your place or his, just not in public. He needs to know what happened and that it didn't mean anything and that he still matters to you and that you love him. It's going to be ok", she says as she gets up and hugs her Chocolate God.
Morgan leans into the hug and sighs into Garcia's shoulder. Her words had calmed him down greatly, and hopefully her advice would work. It was killing Morgan that Reid was ignoring him; he wanted to fix this now and hold Reid in his arms again. Last night when they had returned to their hotel room Reid had slept on the couch in the room, completely ignoring Morgan as he tried to talk to him. The same had happened on the jet ride home as well. Morgan only hoped this advice would work.
"Thanks, Baby Girl. I better get back to work, finish up the paperwork so I can fix this." Morgan gives Garcia a quick peck on the cheek and leaves her lair, heading back to his office. A half hour later, his paperwork was finished, handed into Hotch and Morgan was leaving the building, heading back to his apartment where he hoped Reid would be waiting for him.
To Morgan's dismay, when he arrived him back at his apartment only Clooney was waiting for him. The apartment looked exactly the same as it was left in when he and Reid had left only a few days ago. Walking into the bedroom he walked into the walk in closet and saw all of Reid's clothes were still there. He never even came by after he left work, Morgan thinks to himself as he heads back to the kitchen to feed Clooney and himself. Morgan would give Reid some time, like Garcia had suggested, before going to his apartment to talk to him. He was determined to fix this tonight, no matter what. Morgan settled down on the couch, beer in hand and turned on the TV to ESPN, wanting time to go faster than it was.
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Reid wasn't sure where he was going as he left work that day. He thought about going back to Morgan's apartment, like he had every day after work, but it just didn't feel right. Everyone else was still working and it wasn't like he could go and visit his mother, so he went to the one place he very rarely went to anymore: his own apartment. When he and Morgan had first started dating they would spend so many days at each other's apartments, but that eventually changed to Reid spending more time at Morgan's place than his own. Reid knew once Morgan left for the day and he found Reid wasn't there he would come by his place, but right now Reid just didn't care. He needed a place of privacy and his own apartment was the only place right now.
After getting off the Metro he walks the familiar route to his complex. It had been some time since he had been there, almost two weeks, but when he walked in it looked just the same. The dark green walls, the multiple piles of books on chairs and tables, the many lights in the room only dimly lighting the room. Some would say it was a depressing setting, but to Reid it brought comfort and he felt safe.
Placing his bag down on the couch, he heads into the kitchen to grab himself a drink and something to eat, his mind going in a thousand different directions. He was pissed at Morgan, there was no doubting that, but what Reid couldn't figure out was if his anger was rational. Reid knew Morgan loved him, but he couldn't think of any reason why he would catch Morgan kissing someone else, a woman none the less. Then again, he had been gone for about five minutes and anything can happen in that short amount of time anywhere, bars especially. He probably has a good explanation, Reid thinks to himself as he heads to sit on the couch. You've just been too stubborn to let him explain and listen.
Deciding then and there that once Morgan either called or came over he would let him talk and he would listen. For the meantime, Reid would kill time like he used to before he started dating Morgan: reading. He took the book from his bag, a new one he picked up from a local bookstore before their last case, opened it up and started reading at his 'normal' pace. As time moved on, Reid found himself relaxing for the first time since before the bar incident, his body becoming less tense after spending last night on the uncomfortable hotel couch.Eventually he felt his eyes slip shut, the book he held falling to the ground as he lost consciousness.
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Reid woke up suddenly when a loud beeping noise blasted in his apartment. He ignored it at first, thinking it was his phone alarm going off, until he started coughing and couldn't stop. He slowly opened his eyes to dimly see smoke in the room. The beeping continued and as Reid became more aware he realized it wasn't his alarm going off, but the fire alarm in the room and the apartment complex. The apartment complex was on fire! This sudden realization brought Reid to his feet quickly, the motion making him become slightly dizzy and his coughing became more intense. Feeling his way around he manages to find the front door, placing the back of his hand on the door to see if it as hot. Feeling safe the fire wasn't right outside he opens the door.
His coughing only worsened as he stepped out of his room, making Reid lower himself to the floor on his hand and knees. He started going to his right, towards his elderly neighbors room, determined to see if she was home and get her out safely if she was. It took more time than Reid would have liked but he made it and knocked on her door.
"Ms. Jenkins?" Reid calls as loud as he can. He knocks and yells again and when he hears no response, he becomes worried. The one downfall to not being home on a regular bases; he didn't know if she would normally be home or out. Determined not to leave her behind if she was home, Reid stands up and tries to open her door, only to find it locked. Backing up he attempts to kick down her door, remembering how Morgan did it when they were on cases. It takes two tries but he gets her door open and he's inside.
Coughing the whole time Reid is looking through her apartment, he eventually finds that Ms. Jenkins must have been out for the night because she wasn't there. Finding it getting harder to breath Reid starts to go towards the window in Ms. Jenkins's apartment, but stops suddenly when he remembers there's something he needs in his apartment. By now Reid can barely stand or breath, so he quickly crawls back into his apartment into his bedroom and quickly finds what he was looking for. He grabs it, places it in his pocket and starts to head towards the windows in his apartment, ready to get out of there.
At this point Reid can feel himself growing weaker, all the smoke he's inhaled finally becoming too much for him to handle. He can see the fire creeping up the stairwell leading up to his door and knows he's running out of time and fast. As quickly as he can he goes towards the window, reaching his hand up to open them but at that moment his body gives out on him. His arms turn to jello and they collapse on him, making him fall just short of reaching the window. His breathing becomes shallow and Reid can feel himself losing consciousness. Just before his eyes close, Reid has one final though: I love you Morgan, and I forgive you.
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Morgan looked at the digital clock on the TV and saw it had been a few hours since work had ended, and he figured it was a good time to try calling Reid. While he had been watching ESPN he hadn't been paying any attention to what was being said; all his thoughts were focused on how he was going to talk to Reid about what had happened. He had just grabbed his phone, intending to call Reid, when it starts going off playing the ringtone he had assigned to one particular person. He answers as he starts to put his shoes on, placing the call on speaker phone.
"Hey, Baby Girl," he says. "What's cooking?"
"Hey is Reid with you?" she asks without flirting back. Her voice sounds kind of panicky, making Morgan stop putting on his shoes.
"No, I was just about call and head over to his apartment. He didn't stop here when he left work so I'm assuming he went back to his place." Hearing Garcia gasp softly, Morgan becomes only more panicked. "Why, what's going on Garcia?"
It takes a few moments for Garcia to answer but when she does Morgan's heart stops. "A 911 phone call just came through saying an apartment complex is on fire. Morgan, it's Reid's complex and I can't get a hold of him."
"I'm on my way Garcia; I'll keep you updated," he says as he rushes out of his own apartment, not complaining when he sees Clooney following him out to his car. They both get in and rush to Reid's complex. Morgan can only hope he isn't too late.
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As Morgan reaches Reid's complex, he's amazed at how big the fire is. The complex is small compared to others in the city, only two stories, but all of the first floor is consumed by the flames. He sees some people standing on the sidewalks around the building, keeping a safe distance, but none of those people are his boyfriend. Morgan locates the windows that are apart of Reid's room and he's relieved to not see flames in there; that alone provides Morgan some relief that he isn't too late. No fire trucks have arrived yet and Morgan fears if he waits for them he may be too late to save his Pretty Boy. Making his decision he heads over to the fire escape and climbs up, determined to save the man he loves.
Clooney barking at Morgan gets the attention of some of the bystanders and they watch him closely. Garcia, not wanting to wait for Morgan to update her, had rushed to the scene after alerting everyone else and was watching him make his way towards the windows leading to Reid's room. She runs towards Clooney and drags him away from the ladder, praying Reid would be ok.
As Morgan got to the top of the fire escape, he looks in the windows to see if he can see his Pretty Boy before sending shards of glass inside. Looking as hard as he can against the darkness outside and the smoke inside, he can't see anything right away until he looks to his right and sees Reid on the ground by the other window in the room. Morgan sees he's not moving and he can't tell if he's breathing or not. Morgan know also sees the flames have reached the top of the steps and he knows it's now or never. He takes out the flashlight he had in his pocket, stands up and kicks the glass a few times until in cracks, gaining him entrance.
Covering his nose and mouth as best he can, Morgan rushes to Reid's side and feels for a pulse; relief rushing through him when he finds one, even if it is weak. Scooping Reid up off the floor Morgan is about to rush out when he hears something fall from Reid's pocket right by his feet. He picks it up carefully, not even looking at it, and quickly but carefully gets Reid out of the burning building, coughing slightly. As he reaches the ladder, he carefully places Reid over his shoulder and carefully climbs down, Garcia and Clooney meeting him when he reaches the bottom.
As soon as Morgan reaches the ground he yells "I NEED A MEDIC NOW!" and gently places Reid on the cold ground. His face is pale and slightly dirty from the smoke and to Morgan's horror he notices that Reid isn't breathing. "HE'S GOT A PULSE BUT NOT BREATHING! I NEED A MEDIC NOW!" he yells, tears flowing down his face.
Medics arrive quickly and Morgan, Garcia and Clooney can only watch as the EMS give Reid ventilations as an AED is placed onto his chest. Garcia is clinging to Morgan's arm as they watch the medic provide a breath every five seconds and listen to the medics talk back and forth to each other. Garcia has tears flowing quietly down her face and Clooney is whining softly and pulling against Morgan holding him, but Morgan remains quiet. In his head he's doing something he hadn't done in a very long time: he's praying. God, or whomever you are, please don't take him. He's too young; he has so much to do still. I need more time with him, we just started dating. I haven't told him how much he really means to me, how I've loved him since I've known him. It's not his time, please don't take him, Please, I'm begging you. Please don't take him.
Suddenly Clooney gets loose from Morgan's grip and he runs to Reid's still figure, and he starts to lick Reid's fingers. The paramedics seemed annoyed but Morgan knows what Clooney is doing. It was something Clooney would do when Morgan would try to wake Reid up in the morning and Reid wouldn't wake up for him; Clooney would lick Reid's fingers until he was awake. Silently, Morgan was encouraging Clooney to keep going, praying that it would work like it always had.
"His chest is rising, he's breathing", one of the paramedics scream and Morgan started crying, running to Clooney, dragging him away from Reid and petting him. "Good boy, Clooney," Morgan said silently, the tears he had been holding back now running free. He could see Garcia had taken a seat on the sidewalk, crying harder but relief showing on her face.
They watched as they placed an oxygen mask on Reid's face and load him onto a stretcher, heading towards the waiting ambulance. At this point Garcia grabs Clooney from Morgan's hand and nods her head towards the ambulance. "Go," she says to him. "I'll let the team know and drop Clooney back off at your place. Be with him."
Morgan shakes his head in understanding and thanks and rushes off to the ambulance. He met some reluctant medics but once he explains they're both FBI agents they allow him to ride with them. As the ambulance drives away from the building, Morgan takes one last look and sees the whole complex is up in flames, fire trucks now just arriving. He sighs with relief, knowing he made the right choice in rushing in and saving his boy.
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Morgan sits in an uncomfortable chair by Reid's beside, watching him closely. He's still unconsciousness four hours after being brought in but the doctor's have reassured everyone that he had only suffered severe smoke inhalation and would be ok. The team had met him in the waiting room hours before, getting the story from him and anxiously waiting to hear any news. After the doctor gave his diagnosis, the team had been allowed to see him but only one could stay; no one argued when Morgan said he'd be the one staying by Reid's side. They had left hours ago, making Morgan promise to let them know when he was awake.
Morgan grabs Reid's hand and gently brushes his thumb up and down, trying to think of what to say. He want Reid to wake up now; it's killing him that he hasn't woken up yet. With his other hand he brushes some of his hair out of his face and continues to run his fingers through, trying not to disturb the mask over his face helping him breath. After about five minutes of this he's about to stop when he feels Reid's head turn slightly and he hears a soft moan come from the young genius's mouth.
"Spencer?" Morgan says quietly. He looks down at Reid's face and he sees his eyes moving underneath closed eyelids. "Come on, Spencer, wake up. It's Morgan, come on baby, wake up." He continues to encourage him until eventually Reid's eyes flutter open, unfocused at first until his vision clears. It's then that he sees Morgan above him, the biggest smile on his face, his eyes clearly showing excitement.
"Morgan," he tries to say but a bout of coughing stops from making it coherent. Once it stops Reid's chest feels like it's on fire. A hand goes to his cheek and he sees Morgan again.
"Slow deep breaths, Spencer. Take it nice and slow," he encourages and Reid looks him in the eye and does just that, matching his breathing to Morgan's. After some time his breathing is back to normal.
"How you feeling Pretty Boy?" Morgan asks, clasping their hands together once again. He sees Reid reaching with his other hand towards the mask and he stops him. "Hey leave that on ok? Your oxygen levels aren't back to where they need to be yet. It's helping you breath. Leave it on."
Reid stops trying to take it off and responds to Morgan's question by saying "like crap" before he coughs again. Morgan runs his hand up and down Reid's arm to help him calm down. Eventually, when the coughing stops, Morgan says, "Ok, let me do the talking ok? Try not to speak, I hate seeing you struggle to breath." When Reid nods his head in understanding Morgan continues to talk.
"Your apartment complex caught fire. Garcia called me and I raced down there with Clooney. I looked around and I couldn't find you, so I climbed up the fire escape and got into your apartment and got you out. You had a pulse but weren't breathing, which you better believe scared the shit out of me, but the medics were able to bring you back. They raced you here, and you only suffered severe smoke inhalation. You'll be here for the next day or so, until the doctor feels you're ready to leave, but you're going to be ok. Blink once for yes and twice for no if you understood what I just said." A smile crept on his face when Reid blinked once. He sighed and leaned in closer to Reid.
"Listen to me Pretty Boy and listen carefully. What happened at the bar the other day was a complete misunderstanding." When he saw Reid about to talk he put his finger up and glared at him, knowing that would stop him. When it did he continued. "I know you probably already figured it out but just let me explain ok. While you were in the bathroom the woman got in a fight with the man she was with and he wouldn't let her go. I interfered and she was grateful, but also drunk. I tried to leave her when I saw you coming but she wouldn't let me go and she kissed me. I'm sorry you had to see that Spencer, but know that you are the one I want, you are the one I choose. I've never loved anyone like I love you and I don't plan on ever letting you go. You mean the world to me Spencer Reid, and never forget that. Do you understand?"
Reid blinks his eyes once and quickly uses one hand to push off the face mask and uses the other to pull Morgan closer and kiss him. He intended to have it last longer but he could feel himself struggling slightly to breath. Morgan senses this too, for he breaks contact and places the mask back over Reid's face. Laughing slightly Morgan says, "While I loved that, can you please wait until you can properly breath before we do that again? I hate seeing you struggle." Morgan smiles when Reid blinks once again, letting Morgan know he understands.
Seeing Reid's eyes begin to droop shut Morgan brushes his fingers through his hair again, knowing it calms him down. "Go back to sleep, baby. I'll be right here; I'm not leaving you."
Just before Reid falls back to sleep he gets out a quick "I love you" and he hears Morgan respond back with an "I love you, too" before he loses consciousness.
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Spencer spent another day and a half in the hospital and when he was discharged with orders to relax and do nothing strenuous, Morgan made sure he did just that. The only thing Reid did was move from the bed to the couch or the bed to the bathroom as Morgan did everything for him: brought him food, the newspaper, placed in DVD's for him, brought him water, even help him bathe sometimes. It was hard for Reid to depend on someone so much but he was happy to have Morgan by his side, along with Clooney. Morgan had told him about Clooney licking his fingers while the medics were trying to get him to breath but Reid couldn't remember that at all.
One day while Reid was sitting on the couch Morgan remembered the something that fell out of Spencer's pocket the day of the fire and he quickly went to retrieve it from the place he kept it. "Hey Reid" he says coming out of his room into the living room. "This fell out of your pants pocket that night." Placing it in Reid's waiting hand he looks at it closely for the first time. It appears to be a small necklace in the shape of a heart. "It must have meaning to you if you had it with you."
"That's because it does," Spencer says quietly. He sits up straighter and looks at Morgan. "This necklace I bought not too long ago. It was in a nice case but I could care less about that; this holds more meaning than anything. I wasn't going to give it to you for another week, but since it's out in the open, happy early five month anniversary Derek." Reid opens up the middle and on the inside Morgan can see a photograph of him and Reid just looking at each other, but the love they share for each other clear in their eyes. It was a photo Garcia had taken when they went to the park on day, the day they came out to her that they were together. It was their favorite photo and know Morgan would have that around his neck and near his heart always.
Tears in his eyes, Morgan looks back at Reid and says "thank you" and then kisses him passionately. They continue kissing like that for some time until Clooney decides it's his time for attention and licks Reid's face. Reid yells at Clooney as Morgan laughs and they spend the rest of their time cuddling with each other, remembering how grateful they are to have each other. Nothing would tear them apart. They meant too much to each other to ever let go.