By Any Other Name

Garcia eyed Reid as he walked into the bullpen Monday morning with a steaming cup of coffee, ten or so minutes early. It would have been completely ordinary, save for the particularly telling limp her baby genius was sporting.

"Reid, honey, are you alright?"

He nodded distractedly, setting his cup on his desk and booting up his computer. "Yeah, I was just busy this weekend. Spent most of it riding my Morgan and didn't get back until really late last night."

Garcia froze in place where she was hovering over his shoulder. That couldn't possibly have been what it sounded like… could it? "What?" And since when was Morgan 'his' Morgan?

Reid grimaced. "It wasn't exactly the best thing to do with work the next morning, I know," he replied, absently rubbing his lower back. "It's just… I haven't been able to take him out recently," he confessed. "He really needed a good workout, so I gave him one. I ended up staying the whole weekend." Shaking his head in mild irritation he added, just a touch defensively "I should have known I'd feel so sore today, but I was having too much fun, he certainly had the energy, and it's not like I had much else to do."

Emily, from her own desk where she'd been not-so-subtly eavesdropping, stared slack-jawed at the pair.

Morgan chose that moment to walk in, and both Garcia and Emily locked their gazes on him. He cocked an eyebrow in their direction. "What?" Seeing no answer forthcoming, he headed towards his office.

Garcia deliberately turned back toward Reid. This could be fun, she thought, now that the shock had worn off slightly. She cleared her throat. Loudly, she asked, with a rather pointed glance at her, well, Reid's now, she supposed, Chocolate God, "So how big is he?"

Rossi, walking past them to the stairs, cast her an odd look and hovered between satisfying his curiosity and continuing on his way.

Reid took no notice of any of this, frowning slightly as he pulled up his e-mail. "A bit too big, actually."

Rossi choked, a mortified expression crossing his face. Emily let out a slightly strangled noise and looked anywhere but at Morgan who, thankfully, was already out of ear-shot.

Garcia was stunned. Sometimes Reid could be almost disturbingly honest. He wasn't even blushing!

"It's okay, though. I've gotten him trained well enough by now that he doesn't throw me off anymore."

Sucking in a deep breath, Rossi choked out. "Reid, stop! We don't need to hear any more!"

The genius tilted his head, confused at whatever social faux pas he was committing now. "Okay…? I thought you, at least, Garcia, would want to see pictures."

Reid was not insulting her on purpose. Reid was definitely not insinuating that she was some kind of… of… pervert.

Before anyone could stop him, the genius pulled a photograph out of his wallet and held it up to her. Despite herself, she looked. And blinked. She wasn't sure if she should be disappointed or not.

Peering out of the photograph was Reid, seated atop a dark bay horse with a proud, elegant stance.

"You… named your horse Morgan?" she asked, confused. Rossi and Emily exchanged a glance before edging closer, taking a look for themselves.

Reid shook his head impatiently. "Morgan is the name of his breed." A mildly sour expression crossed his face, switching abruptly to fond exasperation. "He's a bit large for his breed, and was difficult to handle at first. I've got some friends at the stable I rent for him though, and they've been helping me train him and take care of him while we're on cases," he explained. "I just thought you might like to know that I'm not a complete recluse on my free time," he added, casting a pointed look at Garcia.

JJ swept out of her office, empty coffee mug signaling the reason for her venture. Slowing to a stop in the bullpen, she eyed the four of them oddly, noticing three had decidedly bemused expressions on their faces.

"What did I miss?"

Emily groaned. Rossi shook his head and walked off to find Hotch.

Garcia grinned wickedly. "Just ask Reid what he did this weekend, JJ. I'm sure he'll be glad to tell you all about it." She cast a considering glance up the stairs. "Oh Morgaaan," she sang, racing up the stairs in a cloud of bright color.

Reid smiled to himself, putting the photo of Chocolate Thunder away as JJ watched him expectantly. Next week was his other Morgan's turn for a ride. Taking a long sip of his coffee he thought with amusement how impatient that one was for his own weekend workout.

Oh well, he'd just have to wait. Reid had him pretty well-trained too.

A/N: Take the ending as you will. And no, I don't think Chocolate Thunder is an odd name for a horse, considering "Absolute Bullet Proof," "Champagne on Deck," and "Chocolate Covered Marshmallows" are actual names I've found for horses. Yeah, the whole concept of Reid owning a horse is a bit backward, OOC, whatever, I realize, but I couldn't resist.