NO SLASH (unless you want it to be) it's just reaaaaally fluffy

Season : Around 6-7 (mainly for Spencer's short hair... which I adore X3 if you don't like it, then you can of course imagine it as another season ^^ whatever works for you)
Featuring (in order of appearance) : SSA Aaron Hotchner, SSA Doctor Spencer Reid, SSA Derek Morgan, Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia, and Clooney the dog.
Disclaimer : as much as it pains me, the wondrous glory that is Criminal Minds does not belong to me. And never will *sigh* but that's what fanfiction is for ahaha!
Warning : Rather unhealthily injected with fluff and the warped mind of a Criminal Minds fan O_e and first CM story, be warned.
No one's POV.

I hope you like it! *wrings hands nervously* Well, what are you doing still reading this? Go on, read the story! You know you want to~ (and please review :3)

"The case is closed. You're all free to go home," said Aaron Hotchner to his teammates.

Everyone visibly relaxed at those words. The end of a case was often like passing an exam, if only just. No one really thought about it as they piled into their respective modes of transport and sped off, back to their simpler lives.

It had been a very tiring case, somewhere along the lines of 'genius UnSub' and 'ten dead children'. Hotch himself had had little sleep during the five days, but that was nothing compared to Spencer Reid, who'd done nothing but drink coffee and work on the case, practically solving it single-handedly. You could see the large collection of empty cups on the young man's desk, and around all of his working areas, and flooding the garbage cans. Derek Morgan, on the other hand, had been doing rather well, knowing when to go home and when to keep working. He wasn't quite as tired as the others.

Morgan stood beside Reid as he looked around for a full cup of coffee. He found one and grinned lopsidedly at it, and then Morgan swept it out of his hands and dumped the liquid into a nearby garbage can, earning puppy-like big sad brown eyes filled with confusion from the young doctor. That look made most people melt, but Derek was immune to it, having been subjected to it more than once before.

"You don't need any more coffee, Reid." Reid pouted and resumed his search, shuffling about, not having listened. Derek rolled his eyes and went back over to his own desk.

Penelope Garcia fell into step beside Morgan, who was calmly packing up his stuff.

"Hey, Garcia," he said, "aren't you heading home?"

"Oh yeah, definitely," she nodded, her curly hair bouncing a little, "I was just waiting for you, my Chocolate Thunder."

"Why?" asked Derek, laughing slightly.

"Oh, you know," she continued softly, "you're my main man, my Chocolate Adonis, I need to make sure you're all right after such a case." Morgan laughed.

"Baby Girl, you know I'll always be alright," he said. Garcia smiled.

"Yeah, I know," she said seductively. There was a pause in which the two remained in companionable silence. Then, "I was also wondering if you'd check on my junior G-man over there," she said, motioning with her head to Spencer, who was swaying slightly with fatigue.

"I'll take care of the kid, don't worry," he said, glancing over and shaking his head at the kid in question's pathetic display of tiredness as he leaned on his desk and shoved things blindly into a bag. Garcia nodded, beaming.

"Thanks, Hot Stuff."

"No need to thank me, Baby Girl. Get home safe."

"Be safe, my love," she said, and then she was out the glass door and into the outside world.

Morgan looked around for a second. The only people left in the building were himself, Hotch, and Reid, who seemed dead on his feet, and had started nodding. He caught Hotch looking at the young genius too, and they exchanged a glance. Hotch nodded.

"Reid, Morgan, I'll take you home," he called, trying to sound nonchalantly stoic as oppose to caring. He knew he had a reputation, after all. Reid lifted his head and opened his mouth to voice a protest, but Derek beat him to it.

"Thanks, Hotch," he said, and walked over to Reid. "Come on, Pretty Boy, let's get home." Reid nodded slowly, not really taking in his words. When finally he'd managed to stuff all of his papers into the bag, Morgan placed a hand on his back and steered him to where Hotchner was waiting. Derek nodded at him.

"Let's go."


It didn't take long to get into the car, since they were all anxious to be finally going home. Hotch drove, it being his car, while Morgan stayed with Spencer in the back seat. Only when Aaron had already started the car did Reid realize where he was and started to protest.

"Um, Hotch, I really don't want to cause you any trouble-" he began.

"It's all right, Reid," his boss said softly.

"It may be, but-"

"Reid?" intercepted Morgan. Spencer turned his head to face him.

"Mm?"

"Just go with it," he said simply. Reid was about to respond, then thought better of it and closed his mouth. He turned to look out the window. He yawned widely, politely covering his mouth with a hand while he did so. The other two team members figured he was finally going to be quiet, but he wasn't done yet.

"Hotch?" he said quietly.

"Yes, Reid?" Spencer hesitated.

"Thank you," he ended up saying. Hotch smiled into the rearview mirror.

"You're welcome, Spencer," he said. The young genius was too tired to acknowledge the use of his fist name.

They rode off in silence, the occasional passing car the only sound. Derek noted that Reid was looking more and more tired as the drive wore on, his entire upright being swaying with every turn. His eyelids were slowly drooping and he was nodding, but every time his chin came close to his chest, his head would snap up, only to repeat the process.

"Kid," Derek said softly. The doctor didn't seem to hear him. Derek shook him slightly, causing his head to jerk up and to whip around to look at him. Once Derek was sure he was listening, he began again, "Kid, you know that you can go to sleep if you want to, right?" Reid frowned and blushed slightly.

Spencer wanted more than anything else to be able to go to sleep, but he was in his boss' car, in Hotch's car, with Morgan, his co-worker, next to him. He just found it too embarrassing. But Morgan had just told him that he could... well, he'd known all along that he could, he just didn't want to be humiliated. Reid turned back to the window, taking in the blurring lights and bluish darkness that was the night. The lights began to blur some more, and Spencer decided that they were prettier that way. He then realized that he was falling asleep. Not now, he told himself, you can sleep for a week in your apartment. If you go to sleep now, you won't be able to later. That last statement wasn't exactly true, since he might not even be able to wake up to get into his apartment...

... and with a sigh, his eyelids fluttered shut and the young man's head dropped onto Morgan's shoulder. Morgan had been expecting him to drop off sooner or later, just not on him. Derek just smiled, accepting the situation, and put an arm around the sleeping doctor's shoulders, steadying him. His longish hair tickled Morgan's neck-though he was grateful that he'd cut it, since it would otherwise have been too much to bear, going all over the place. Spencer nuzzled further into his neck when he felt an arm around him. Morgan unconsciously started stroking his hair.

Hotch glanced into the rearview mirror and smiled. It reminded him of his own son, falling asleep in the car. He almost wished Garcia were here, just to see her reaction.

Then again, Garcia would probably squeal and ruin the moment, as was her special way.


The trio soon arrived at Reid's apartment building, but Reid wouldn't get up.

"Reid," said Morgan, shaking him slightly, "we're at your apartment, it's time to go." Reid did not stir. Derek shook him a bit harder.

"Hmmmmmm," Spencer said sleepily, making no move to get up, only nuzzling further into his teammate's shoulder. Morgan sighed, and stepped out of the car, gently laying Reid down on the seat. He turned to Hotch.

"We could carry him inside," he suggested, shrugging. Hotch frowned and looked at his sleeping agent.

"You want to carry him up all those stairs? What do you think he'll do when he wakes up?" A stray note of concern sneaked into his voice, diminishing his tone of authority. "Someone should look after him." In all honesty, the young man could probably take care of himself just fine, but Derek and Aaron were not willing to just dump him and leave; it seemed dangerous somehow, even if it really wasn't. There was just something about Doctor Spencer Reid that activated people's motherly instincts. Or fatherly. "I'll take him," suggested Hotch.

"Nah, it's okay Hotch, you take care of Jack. I can take care of him for a day or so."

"You sure?" asked Hotch. Derek laughed.

"I might need to buy more sugar for him to put in his coffee, but I think I can handle the kid." Hotch gave a small smile and nodded.

"Okay. Back in the car."

Morgan gently lifted Reid back into a semi-upright position, and sat down beside him. Instead of leaning Spencer against his shoulder again, he picked up his head and rested it on his lap, onto which he had placed his rolled-up jacket, creating a makeshift pillow. Reid didn't stir throughout the whole process, which would've been worrying if it wasn't known that he hadn't had much of any sleep in five days, running only on coffee. Morgan was slightly amazed that he had lasted as long as he had without simply dropping to the floor in the bullpen. Exactly how much sugar did the kid put in his coffee?
In the car, this close to Reid, Derek took in how tired he really looked. The dark circles under his eyes were far more protruding than normal, and he was a little paler than he usually was. He looked a lot younger when he was asleep. Snapping out of his musings, Morgan resumed petting his friend. Spencer mumbled something incoherently and curled up on the seat, snuggling further into Derek's lap. Morgan smiled for the umpteenth time that car ride.
The trio rode off, peacefully spurred by the soft breathing of their youngest agent.


"Morgan, wake up," said Hotch. Morgan snapped to awareness, having fallen asleep on the ride home. Hotch was leaning in through the open door, shaking him. He smiled slightly when Morgan frowned at him, looking slightly oppressed. "Somebody's tired," he chuckled. The fog cleared out of Derek's eyes, and the frown lessened.

"Oh, sorry Hotch," he said sheepishly. He, like Spencer, found the idea of falling asleep in his boss' car embarrassing.

"Don't worry about it." Hotch helped him out of the vehicle, stepping aside as Morgan lifted Reid out as if he weighed nothing, one arm under his knees and the other around his shoulders. Hotch grinned all the while. "Besides, I already took pictures," he added impishly as Derek reached the stairs. The agent in question froze immediately, slowly circling to face his superior.

"You what?" he asked dangerously. He blinked as a click and a flash went off, eventually fading to reveal a still-grinning Hotch, holding up his cell phone.

"I have another one now," he said. He smiled wider still as he admired the small image on the screen. "I bet Garcia would love this. You look very protective," he chuckled. Morgan glared daggers at him.

"Do you realize what my Baby Girl could do to those pictures with PhotoShop?" he asked, a hint of a smile in his voice.

"You're right," said Aaron, his tone back to serious authority. "I'm going to send them now," he continued, still very serious.

"Hotch..." sighed Derek. He really didn't want those pictures floating around the internet, and knowing Garcia, she would make it happen.

"Sending..."

"Hotch!" exclaimed Derek, panicked that his boss was serious. Then Hotch put his phone back in his pocket.

"Sent." He walked back to his car, then stopped at the door, turning around. "I'll send you the pictures when Garcia's done with them," he said, still entirely serious, but Morgan could see the smile in his eyes.

Derek chuckled, shaking his head. "There's another side to you, Hotch." He turned around and unlocked his front door, careful of not bumping his teammate into the walls on the way in.

Aaron Hotchner glanced one last time at his subordinates before closing the car door, driving away in the dark. He imagined Penelope's neighbours waking up in confusion from the sounds of her squeals as she saw the pictures. He smiled at the thought. He half wondered-half dreaded what the technical analyst would do to the pictures.

And to those thoughts, he parked into his driveway, ready to greet his son Jack, who was probably waiting for him.


"Well, welcome to my place, Pretty Boy," Morgan mumbled, more to himself than to his sleeping compatriote. He set Reid into a seated position on the couch, head lolling forwards, for a moment, as he shut the door. Then he ran upstairs to get a pillow and a blanket, and made the couch a respectable place to sleep on. He laid his friend down and tucked him in, not bothering to hide the fact that he was being a mother hen.

He was about to head upstairs himself, when he heard the scuffling and clicking noise of dog paws and claws on the hard wooden floor. Clooney.

He grinned tiredly as his dog trotted over and sat in front of him, staring up at his master with his tongue lolling out. "Hey Clooney," he murmured, rubbing his dog's head tenderly. Clooney panted contently. The dog then promptly pattered over to the couch and hauled himself onto it, snuggling into the sleeping young man's chest. Morgan frowned in bemusement and stepped forwards to get his dog off his friend. But Clooney looked up and stared at him with his big puppy eyes. Morgan found it hard not to melt under that gaze. He sighed.

"Clooney," he warned. The look intensified and Clooney whimpered pitifully. "Fine," he huffed in surrender, "but just for tonight, okay? And if he wakes up, you get off." The dog panted happily for a moment before he rubbed his chin against Spencer's head and closed his eyes. Derek chuckled softly, rather amused at the sight, before bidding them a quiet 'good night' and plodded up the stairs, more than ready to collapse into his bed.

And that is exactly what he did, snuggling into the covers and feeling like he was melting into the mattress. They would all be okay, he realized.

No matter how bad the case was, they would always get through it, together.

That's what families do.

Well! There you go, a hugemongous plot bunny just exploded in your face... sorry. I hope you liked the fluff! And I hope I did well 6_9 I got attacked by the writer's block soooo often... T'IS EVIL, MY FRIENDS.

Please review! Reviewers get imaginary pie!
Thank you~! ^^