Welcome! This fic was based on a thought I had, about how all the Morgan/Reid fics involved Reid being rescued from his demons by Morgan and they fall in love blah,blah,blah. But doesn't Morgan have some equally compelling demons to fight? Why does Reid always have to be the 'damsel in distress?' Anyway, I love Morgan/Reid, but I wanted to try something on a different path.

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds. If I did, Morgan and Reid would be going home together a lot more, and there would be a substantial amount of torture for my favorite BAU teammates :)

Warnings: There will be slash. This is rated M for a reason. Spoilers for Elephant's Memory, Profile Profiled, and maybe some others.

Season: somewhere in the middle of the 4th

Enjoy!

Chapter 1: Ladies and Gentlemen...

Morality is not properly the doctrine of how we may make ourselves happy, but how we may make ourselves worthy of happiness.

Immanuel Kant

Dr. Spencer Reid was lying across the comfy black leather sofa, a large book being flipped through with consistency, while a large Doberman sat on his mismatched socked feet. Normally Spencer didn't like animals, but Clooney was the exception. The dog had become so accustomed to Reid's presence that he no longer jumped on him when he walked in the door to Derek Morgan's house. Morgan was lounging in his leather recliner with a beer bottle in hand while an old Mel Brooks flick played on the big screen TV.

This was what their friendship had become.

It had happened after a case that had taken the team over a week to solve. Tired, weary and forlorn, the team had gotten off the jet with the promise of doing the paperwork in the bullpen the next day. Before putting on his motorcycle helmet, Morgan had spoken to his genius coworker.

"Hey, kid, want to come watch a movie tonight, have a few beers? We could both use a little R&R after that case." Translation: I'm shaken up and I don't want to be alone tonight, and I know you're just as freaked as I am.

And so, the "Morgan and Reid Movie Nights" began. It was their way of healing from their worst cases. They watched comedies and family movies; anything without violence, fighting and bloodshed. In short, they avoided anything that would remind them of their unique and trying job. If the movie ended before they were ready to call it a night, they stayed up and talked for a few hours. Sometimes they didn't even watch movies. One night at Reid's apartment, he began reading while Morgan watched television. Derek didn't mind. He knew that it wasn't the movies that made them come together, but the companionship. He just wanted to have someone in his home who understood the mental anguish his job had put him in, and who wouldn't mind his emotional distance. It wasn't easy to open up to others when you were part of the Behavioral Analysis Unit, but their feelings became unspoken because they both understood each other so well.

On this particular movie night, the fifth or sixth one they'd had in three months, they were recovering from a case involving a serial killer who raped his victims before killing them, who did not distinguish between the race, age, religion, or even gender of his victims. It had thrown the team off and had made him hard to profile, but they had caught him in the end.

Morgan's home phone rang. And rang. And rang.

"Are you going to get that?" Spencer asked without looking up from his book. Clooney rolled over onto his side.

"I'm screening it," was Derek's reply, and finally the phone went to voicemail. A woman's voice interjected into the air around them. Every word she said sounded as if she was trying to be as seductive as possible.

"Hey, Derek, it's Sylvia," she said, and Reid took the opportunity to shoot a look at Morgan. "I was just thinking that I haven't seen you in a few weeks. You never called me after we… hung out at the bar. I was really hoping we could see each other again. Call me?" The machine shut off, and its owner reached over and hit the delete button. Spencer shut his book, looking confused.

"You aren't going to call her back?" he asked. He had never received such a suggestive call before. Derek shook his head.

"I don't do second dates, man. Second dates mean I have time for a relationship, which I don't," he smiled as he saw the raised eyebrows and smirk on Spencer's face. "Call me a dog all you want, but we're married to this job. I don't see you going out with girls every week, either." Spencer rolled his eyes and opened his book, intending to resume his reading.

"Yeah, well people aren't exactly banging on my door for that elusive second date," the doctor retorted.

Maybe it was the nature of the case they had been working that day, or maybe he was just in his profiler mode, but Derek Morgan found himself analyzing Reid's word choice. "People?" he asked pointedly. Reid looked uncomfortable. "Pretty boy," he winced – that might have been a bad word choice, "you know you can tell me anything, right? You're my best friend. And you know I'd never tell a secret you didn't want told." Reid blushed slightly and stammered a bit before launching into what Morgan usually referred to as 'genius mode.'

"I-I guess I've never really been attracted to people's appearances, it's more of their character and intellect that attracts me. And when it comes to personality and brains, one gender is the same as the next. When you think about it, a woman's breasts and curves are really just fat. I don't see what's so fantastic about it. It's no better than a guy's muscles. I guess in the colloquial lexicon, you'd call me a bisexual, though actually if we want to get scientific about it, I'd probably be asexual or biromantic. On a Kinsey scale I'd say I'm a 3. And I know what you're going to say, that having a sexuality is irrelevant if you aren't having sex. Well you can tease all you want cause I'm okay with who I am." He spoke quickly, staring down at his book. As far as he was concerned, it was like rambling off a statistic about how fast grass grows, while Derek tried to mask his astonishment with a bemused look. Never had the young doctor admitted so much to him, at least not since the Owen Savage case.

"I wouldn't joke around about that, kid. How long have you known?" Morgan asked, pushing the recliner's footrest in and turning to face him. Even Clooney seemed to turn his ears in Spencer's direction. Spencer looked confused, and began to speak slower.

"Known? Well it wasn't like an epiphany, or some kind of alethia, my mom just raised me to think of everyone as the same. Anais Nin, Herman Melville, Hans Christian Anderson, they were all writers who were considered bisexual. Even Shakespeare was speculated to have romantic feelings for men. It just wasn't that big of a deal in my house. It's probably why I got made fun of so much in high school," he took a deep breath. "But I guess to answer your question, when I was 18 going to CalTech, Avery Anderson kissed me after our engineering class. He was my T.A. When summer came we dated for awhile, but I was young and he…wasn't. I had one other real relationship, a girl at CalTech when I was 20. I really haven't been in a relationship since then." Spencer finished his story, grinning sheepishly at his best friend. In his head he was running scenarios around his genius brain, whether Morgan would accept him or not, and if not, what would happen at work?

Derek Morgan looked stunned.

"Spencer Reid… Dating a Teacher's Assistant?" he said, pretending to faint from surprise. He chuckled and got up from his chair, grabbing two new beers from the fridge and opening them with his refrigerator magnet bottle opener. After opening the door for Clooney to go outside, and leaving it cracked despite the cold wind, he sat back down on his comfy chair, handing a beer to Reid. Spencer took it and took a drink, looking confused.

"Aren't you supposed to be more shocked about my 'coming out,' as they call it these days?"

Derek laughed. "If it doesn't matter to you, it doesn't matter to me," he said, and clinked beers with his best friend. Reid took a sip and set it on the table with a smile. "I am glad that you trusted me with it, though. No one should have to go it alone." Spencer felt an immense relief wash over him and as Derek grinned back at him.

"Thanks, Derek. You're the best. But I'll have to take a rain check on this beer. It's already 2 and we have work tomorrow," Spencer said, standing up and grabbing his coat and throwing his book into his messenger bag. Derek got a brief glimpse of it; Critique of Practical Reason. Reid was still working on that Philosophy degree in his spare time.

"No problem, kid, I'll see you tomorrow." Derek said, also standing to give Reid one of those rare hugs that men give to other men they care about when no one is watching. After Spencer Reid had left and Clooney had pushed his way back into the house, Morgan downed both his and Spencer's beers and went to get some sleep before the next day. Another day, another case, another killer, another victim.

Thanks for reading! This is my first Criminal Minds fic, so give me some feedback. I know it's corny, but 'Reid' and Review!

Next chapter may delve into some deeper subjects... and to those who were hoping for more slash, I'm letting the sexual tension build!