A Well Respected Man (Chapter 9)
If it wasn't for Miss Hanna and her amazing mind-mapping skills, you wouldn't have a Chapter 9. I've had massive writer's block.
Title: A Well Respected Man (Chapter 9)
Author: ar_poe
Rating: PG/PG-13
Pairing: Morgan/Reid
Warnings: Drug recovery, very mild slash (all fluff)
Summary: Spoilers for 'The Big Game' and 'Revelations.' What happened during Dr. Reid's group therapy and throughout his recovery.
Chapter 1 can be found here.
Chapter 2 can be found here.
Chapter 3 can be found here.
Chapter 4 can be found here.
Chapter 5 can be found here.
Chapter 6 can be found here.
Chapter 7 can be found here.
Chapter 8 can be found here.
And my accompanying picspam can be found here.
A/N: If it wasn't for Miss Hanna and her amazing brainstorming, you guys wouldn't have gotten a ninth chapter D: I've had massive writer's block, but I've figured it out, so I hope I'm not too much of a let-down!
Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.
Chapter 9
“So, Spence... in,” Derek began, looking at his watch, “four hours and.... eleven minutes... We'll have two weeks vacation!” He looked up at Spencer with a huge grin and turned his wrist so that his watch was facing Spencer, even though he was standing a good ten feet away.
“What are we gonna do?” Derek asked enthusiastically, like he had never had any time off. Well, actually, none of them ever really had time off... He couldn't remember the last time he had had a nice and relaxing vacation...
He watched Spencer as he stood behind his desk in the bullpen, shuffling papers around distractedly, looking under folders and turned rapidly to look on the floor and under the desk. “Actually, I was thinking...” Spencer began, thrusting open drawers and slamming them shut again. Spencer groaned and flopped down in his office chair, mumbling to himself.
“Looking for this?” Derek asked, holding up a Bureau folder, an eyebrow raised. Spencer frowned.
“You left it on the couch this morning.” Derek walked over to Spencer's desk and placed it down. “What were you thinking?”
Spencer stuffed the folder in his messenger bag along with about ten other folders and a few books. “I was thinking that maybe we could go to Vegas... You could meet my mother...”
Spencer began unnecessarily rearranging things in his bag to avoid Derek's expression. When he finally looked up, Derek's expression was one of excitement and not shock or fear like he had suspected. He should probably know by now that Derek Morgan wasn't nearly as predictable as he was.
“On one condition, Pretty Boy.” Spencer watched him, waiting for his lover to finish.
“We fly business class. I can't stand those small seats.” Derek winked and walked back to sit at his own desk. Spencer watched him sit down as a smile slowly formed on his face. He picked up the phone, and booked two tickets, business class, to Las Vegas, Nevada.
0-0-0
Derek and Spencer sat down in their seats on the plane and Spencer slid his bag under his seat next to the window. They both buckled their seat belts and relaxed. Derek seemed excited, but Spencer didn't really have much to say, he just looked out the window, and smiled politely when light snacks were brought down the isles.
Spencer hadn't really given this much thought. He and his mother were very close, they always have been, and other than Derek, she was the only one that he told everything to. She knew him better than anyone. He hadn't told her about the Hankel case or his addiction with Dilaudid, but she knew something was wrong when he visited her months later. He didn't know what to expect from this visit.
“We're going to have to tell the team soon, you know.” Spencer said quietly as the plane was now in motion and the emergency video finished playing.
Derek looked at Spencer with excitement still in his eyes. “Yeah, I know. We'll deal with that when we get back.” Spencer nodded absently and looked back out the window as the clouds below the plane passed by, bringing them closer and closer to Vegas.
0-0-0
“Dr. Reid, it's good to see you! Dr. Norman didn't tell us you were coming by.” One of Diana Reid's nurses greeted as Spencer and Derek stood in front of the check-in desk.
“Oh, I didn't tell him. Wanted it to be a surprise.” Spencer answered nervously, signing his name in his messy script. “Is she having a good day?”
“Yup, today's a good day. She's in there writing in her journal.” The nurse answered, smiling warmly. “Let me know if you need anything.”
Spencer walked towards the large common room and stopped in the doorway, digging his hands deeper in his pockets.
“Ready?” Derek asked.
Spencer nodded without looking at him. “Yeah... Yeah, come on...”
Stopping in front of the couch Diana was sitting on, Spencer put on a smile. “Hi, mom.” He said, bending slightly to look at her face without removing his hands.
Diana Reid looked up from her journal. “Spencer, baby.” She greeted happily, placing her hands over one another on top of her journal. Spencer sat down on the couch in front of his mother as she looked at Derek. “You must be his boyfriend. I remember you. When you had those agents kidnap me and bring me to that government building...” She finished the sentence while looking again at Spencer.
“What? My boy -” Spencer stammered, as he wrapped his arms around himself.
“A mother knows these things, baby.”
Derek laughed, that genuine laugh of his that made his eyes crinkle at the corners and sparkle.
“They didn't kidnap you, mom...”
Derek looked at Spencer, still smiling. “Well, that was easy...” Spencer mumbled as Diana winked at Derek.
She patted Derek's knee. “It's nice to see you again. Under much friendlier circumstances. And, you're just in time for my scheduled trip down memory lane.” She pulled out a red leather bound photo album as Spencer groaned.
“I'm going to go talk to Dr. Norman.” He mumbled as he blushed, standing up awkwardly and walking between his mother and lover as she began showing Derek Spencer's childhood photographs.
Hours passed and Spencer became more and more comfortable with the situation. His mother was always the only one who had accepted Spencer as he was, he should have known that him being gay wouldn't have been any different, and that she would have loved him all the same. He looked up and smiled at his mother and Derek sitting so closely, looking at pictures of when he was young, no matter how embarrassing they were, and at how healthy his mother looked in that moment. And he just sat and watched, legs crossed on the couch as he leaned against the arm rest.
Derek looked up and caught Spencer's eye from the opposite couch, sitting next to Spencer's mother, and winked, causing Spencer's smile to only grow. He took a sip of water from his paper cup and just watched, taking in every moment, knowing that his mother wouldn't be having as good of a day tomorrow.
Before long, it grew dark outside, and Spencer and Derek decided they should go get dinner and let Diana rest, promising they would come back to visit in the next couple of days.
“Be sure to give him a tour. And take him to our favorite Indian restaurant, okay? But, Spencer?” Diana was so excited, but she paused and looked at him sternly.
“Yeah, mom?”
“Leave out all of those libraries and book stores. He probably sees plenty of those in Virginia.” Derek and Spencer laughed, and they both kissed her cheek goodbye.
“Love you, mom.”
0-0-0
Spencer curled up against Derek, pulling the hotel blankets up to his chin and letting his hair fall back in his face, and nuzzled his face near Derek's collar bone. He couldn't get comfortable and every time he tried, he only got closer and closer to Derek, until finally, Derek got frustrated.
“You're about to push me outta the bed, kid.”
Spencer groaned, rolled back over, and tossed his head back onto his pillow. “I can't get comfortable.” He whined and Derek chuckled. After a minute of just laying there, staring at the ceiling, Spencer sighed. “She was happy today. She was excited about meeting you, I wrote about you a lot in my letters.”
Derek propped himself up on his elbow and looked at Spencer staring at the ceiling. “I really like her, she's one of a kind. A lot like you.” Derek said, with a small smile. “I see a lot of her in you.” Spencer looked at Derek then and frowned, his eyes narrowing.
“What do you mean?”
It took Derek a second to figure out why Spencer sounded so defensive. “I didn't mean the... mental illness. I just meant, she's a very intriguing woman, and she's intelligent. I see where all of your genes came from.” Spencer turned back to the ceiling and blinked slowly, yawning.
“One of a kind.” He repeated, the corners of his mouth turning up. “That she is...”
“Come here.” Derek turned off the lamp and pulled Spencer to his chest, and began running his hand through Spencer's hair. Spencer's hair was one of Derek's favorite things about him, and he also knew that this was one of the only things that relaxed Spencer and his mind. After a couple of minutes of doing this, Spencer completely relaxed against Derek and he knew he had fallen asleep.
Derek kissed his head and closed his eyes. “I love you.”
“Love you, too.” Spencer said tiredly, half asleep.
0-0-0
The next morning, Derek tried to get out of bed, only to be squeezed and pulled back down.
“Nu uh.” Spencer murmured, never opening his eyes, and cuddling back up with Derek. “Not yet.”
Derek laughed and brushed Spencer's hair out of his face, kissing his cheek. “Babe. It's 11:30 in the morning. We slept half the day away.”
“It's not half the day when you stay up until 5:00 in the morning.”
“We went to bed at one.”
“Whatever.”
“Come on, babe. You owe me a Vegas tour and lunch at you and your mom's favorite Indian place.”
Spencer groaned and pulled himself up. He hung his head in his hands and rubbed his eyes. He looked over to the clock on Derek's nightstand and frowned.
“What is that?” He asked, stabbing a finger in the direction of the clock. Derek followed his finger to the clock and smiled.
“That thing propped up in front of the clock? Oh, that's a picture of you that your mom gave me, from when you were little.” Derek answered with false innocence. Spencer's frown only grew as he looked at Derek.
“You were cute.” He added, leaning over and kissing his cheek as he got up to get in the shower. Spencer picked it up and looked at it, he couldn't even remember how old he was in that picture, or where it was, or who had taken it. His hair was long and disheveled even then, and he had on those huge glasses of his...
“Come on, Spence.” Derek took the picture from his hand, as if reading his mind, and tucked it in his wallet. “Get ready so we can head out.”
Spencer stood up as Derek got in the shower and slid on a pair of dark pants and a black button up shirt, and did nothing to his hair but rake his fingers through it. When Derek returned, he was reading a book.
Spencer looked up when he heard Derek return and smiled when he found him shirtless. He always loved it when Derek didn't wear a shirt.
“You about ready to go, Pretty Boy?” He asked, slipping on a tight white t-shirt. Spencer just watched as Derek slid the shirt over his head and pulled it down, eyes moving a mile a minute. Derek smiled and winked.
Spencer closed his book and placed it back in his bag, and stood up. “Okay. Lunch first, and then the tour.”
“Sounds good to me, babe.”
0-0-0
After lunch, Derek and Spencer returned to the rental car. In the driver's seat, Spencer rummaged through his bag before pulling out a CD titled 'Poses' and popped it in the CD player, and smiled to himself when it started playing.
“What is this?” Derek asked.
“Rufus Wainwright.” Spencer answered shyly and put the car in drive.
Spencer drove a few blocks and pulled up in front of a small two story house. It looked like a little brick cottage, and the vinyl near the front door and roof was a light cream color. The bushes and flowers were well kept, and the grass had recently been cut.
“This was our house.” Spencer said lightly, opening the door to get out and walked around the car.
“You're just goin' to go in...?” Derek asked, getting out of the car as well.
“I never sold it.” Spencer answered, still walking, and looking through the keys on his key ring. He unlocked the door as Derek came up beside him on the porch, and they walked in.
Spencer stopped as he stepped through the doorway, but Derek continued walking, looking around the living room with a happy expression on his face.
“It's exactly how we left it. I just pay someone to come in and clean...” Spencer sat his bag down and looked around as well. The walls were a very light blue with cream furniture, and hundreds of books lined the empty wall space. The adjoining kitchen was white and yellow, with a small glass table for two near the marble looking counter top, and there was a small bathroom to the left of the kitchen.
“Come on.” Spencer whispered, leading the way up the small staircase. There was a bathroom at the top of the stairs, and a bedroom to the left, and a bedroom to the right next to a closet. Spencer turned to the left and walked into the open bedroom.
“This was my mother's room.” Spencer walked to the center of the room, stopping near the center of the fuzzy white rug. There was a full sized bed on the wall in front of him, covered in a white down comforter with white pillows, cherry furniture, and a small old fashioned television. Next to the bed, was a picture of Spencer and his mother together when Spencer was a teenager.
Spencer saw Derek looking at the picture and walked towards him. “That was about a month before I had her committed.”
Derek looked up to Spencer, but he continued walking out of the room before he could say anything, but he could hear the guilt in Spencer's voice. Derek placed the frame back onto the nightstand and followed Spencer.
“This was my room, until I left for CalTech, and when I came back between semesters before I turned eighteen. I didn't really come back after she left.” Derek slipped his hand in Spencer's and slightly squeezed. The bedroom was plain and resembled Spencer's office at home despite the housekeeping he hired here.
A few minutes passed before Spencer spoke again. “I want to go home.” Derek squeezed Spencer's hand again and kissed him on the cheek
“We can go home whenever you want, Spence.”
“Tomorrow?” Spencer asked hopefully, eyes wide.
Derek nodded. “I'll call and book the flight.”
Spencer lead Derek by the hand back out to the car, and let him call and book their flight back home. Spencer got back in the car and turned it on, letting the piano music wash over him as he leaned against the steering wheel and observed his childhood home. He didn't think of this as home anymore, he didn't think of Vegas as home at all. His home was in Washington D.C. with Derek Morgan and Clooney.
“What's goin' on in that head of yours?” Derek asked, watching Spencer curiously.
“Hm?” Spencer mumbled, blinking a few times as he looked at Derek. Four songs had passed already, and all Spencer had been doing was sitting and staring into space. Derek raised an eyebrow.
Spencer looked away and put the car in drive. “We can drive by my old school, and then I just want to stop and say goodbye to my mother.” Derek pushed his worries aside and nodded.
Spencer drove faster than normal. Derek couldn't tell if it was out of excitement, or out of eagerness to go home. He hoped for the first, but expected the latter. Spencer parked in the visitor parking lot of the school, but didn't get out. Derek followed Spencer's lead, but observed the old building through the windshield.
“It looks like the private school back in Chicago I always wanted to go to...”
“I hated this place.” Spencer never talked about his childhood much, and Derek didn't push it. He looked over and put a goofy smile on his face.
“Where can ya get good coffee 'round here?”
0-0-0
By the time Spencer and Derek arrived at the sanatorium, it was dark and the coffee wasn't doing anyone any good.
“How's my mother today?” Spencer had found Dr. Norman passing through the lobby as they entered, and he shoved his hands in his pockets as he waited for an answer.
“She's not having as good of a day today. She's going on and on about conspiracies, you know...”
Spencer nodded and looked into the common room. Diana Reid was sitting in front of the window, looking at the stars, and just sat unmoving with her hands in her lap.
Spencer nodded again. “Tell her that Derek and I had to leave, but I'll write her, please?”
Dr. Normal nodded and patted Spencer's arm. “Of course. Have a safe trip. It was good to see you, Dr. Reid.”
0-0-0
Spencer threw himself down on their bed and hugged his blankets. “I missed you, Bed.”
Derek laughed at Spencer as he took his shoes off and changed into his sweatpants. “Do you do this every time you come home? This weird... ritual of yours? Hugging beds and your couch and your books...?”
“I do.” Spencer said simply and innocently, closing his eyes and curling himself up even more and nuzzled his face into his pillow. He exhaled into the organic cotton pillow cases. “I forgot how soft these were.” He said, his voice muffled by the cloth.
“Move over, Pretty Boy. You're on my side.” Derek resorted to picking up Spencer and tossing him down onto his own side when he outstretched his arms across the width of the bed, ignoring Derek's request.
Spencer said nothing as Derek got into bed next to him. He moved back over to where he was and wrapped his arm around Derek and pulling him close, cuddling his face as close to Derek as he could manage.
“Vegas doesn't suit you. You're much more loving here at home.” Derek said and winked at Spencer as he reached over to turn off the lamp. “Thank you for introducing me to your mother.”
Spencer kissed Derek. “That was easy. Now it's your turn.”
A/N: Rufus Wainwright is one of my favorite artists (and that CD is my favorite of his), and for some reason, I always imagine Spencer listening to that type of thing. Check him out if you get a chance!
Title: A Well Respected Man (Chapter 9)
Author: ar_poe
Rating: PG/PG-13
Pairing: Morgan/Reid
Warnings: Drug recovery, very mild slash (all fluff)
Summary: Spoilers for 'The Big Game' and 'Revelations.' What happened during Dr. Reid's group therapy and throughout his recovery.
Chapter 1 can be found here.
Chapter 2 can be found here.
Chapter 3 can be found here.
Chapter 4 can be found here.
Chapter 5 can be found here.
Chapter 6 can be found here.
Chapter 7 can be found here.
Chapter 8 can be found here.
And my accompanying picspam can be found here.
A/N: If it wasn't for Miss Hanna and her amazing brainstorming, you guys wouldn't have gotten a ninth chapter D: I've had massive writer's block, but I've figured it out, so I hope I'm not too much of a let-down!
Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.
Chapter 9
“So, Spence... in,” Derek began, looking at his watch, “four hours and.... eleven minutes... We'll have two weeks vacation!” He looked up at Spencer with a huge grin and turned his wrist so that his watch was facing Spencer, even though he was standing a good ten feet away.
“What are we gonna do?” Derek asked enthusiastically, like he had never had any time off. Well, actually, none of them ever really had time off... He couldn't remember the last time he had had a nice and relaxing vacation...
He watched Spencer as he stood behind his desk in the bullpen, shuffling papers around distractedly, looking under folders and turned rapidly to look on the floor and under the desk. “Actually, I was thinking...” Spencer began, thrusting open drawers and slamming them shut again. Spencer groaned and flopped down in his office chair, mumbling to himself.
“Looking for this?” Derek asked, holding up a Bureau folder, an eyebrow raised. Spencer frowned.
“You left it on the couch this morning.” Derek walked over to Spencer's desk and placed it down. “What were you thinking?”
Spencer stuffed the folder in his messenger bag along with about ten other folders and a few books. “I was thinking that maybe we could go to Vegas... You could meet my mother...”
Spencer began unnecessarily rearranging things in his bag to avoid Derek's expression. When he finally looked up, Derek's expression was one of excitement and not shock or fear like he had suspected. He should probably know by now that Derek Morgan wasn't nearly as predictable as he was.
“On one condition, Pretty Boy.” Spencer watched him, waiting for his lover to finish.
“We fly business class. I can't stand those small seats.” Derek winked and walked back to sit at his own desk. Spencer watched him sit down as a smile slowly formed on his face. He picked up the phone, and booked two tickets, business class, to Las Vegas, Nevada.
0-0-0
Derek and Spencer sat down in their seats on the plane and Spencer slid his bag under his seat next to the window. They both buckled their seat belts and relaxed. Derek seemed excited, but Spencer didn't really have much to say, he just looked out the window, and smiled politely when light snacks were brought down the isles.
Spencer hadn't really given this much thought. He and his mother were very close, they always have been, and other than Derek, she was the only one that he told everything to. She knew him better than anyone. He hadn't told her about the Hankel case or his addiction with Dilaudid, but she knew something was wrong when he visited her months later. He didn't know what to expect from this visit.
“We're going to have to tell the team soon, you know.” Spencer said quietly as the plane was now in motion and the emergency video finished playing.
Derek looked at Spencer with excitement still in his eyes. “Yeah, I know. We'll deal with that when we get back.” Spencer nodded absently and looked back out the window as the clouds below the plane passed by, bringing them closer and closer to Vegas.
0-0-0
“Dr. Reid, it's good to see you! Dr. Norman didn't tell us you were coming by.” One of Diana Reid's nurses greeted as Spencer and Derek stood in front of the check-in desk.
“Oh, I didn't tell him. Wanted it to be a surprise.” Spencer answered nervously, signing his name in his messy script. “Is she having a good day?”
“Yup, today's a good day. She's in there writing in her journal.” The nurse answered, smiling warmly. “Let me know if you need anything.”
Spencer walked towards the large common room and stopped in the doorway, digging his hands deeper in his pockets.
“Ready?” Derek asked.
Spencer nodded without looking at him. “Yeah... Yeah, come on...”
Stopping in front of the couch Diana was sitting on, Spencer put on a smile. “Hi, mom.” He said, bending slightly to look at her face without removing his hands.
Diana Reid looked up from her journal. “Spencer, baby.” She greeted happily, placing her hands over one another on top of her journal. Spencer sat down on the couch in front of his mother as she looked at Derek. “You must be his boyfriend. I remember you. When you had those agents kidnap me and bring me to that government building...” She finished the sentence while looking again at Spencer.
“What? My boy -” Spencer stammered, as he wrapped his arms around himself.
“A mother knows these things, baby.”
Derek laughed, that genuine laugh of his that made his eyes crinkle at the corners and sparkle.
“They didn't kidnap you, mom...”
Derek looked at Spencer, still smiling. “Well, that was easy...” Spencer mumbled as Diana winked at Derek.
She patted Derek's knee. “It's nice to see you again. Under much friendlier circumstances. And, you're just in time for my scheduled trip down memory lane.” She pulled out a red leather bound photo album as Spencer groaned.
“I'm going to go talk to Dr. Norman.” He mumbled as he blushed, standing up awkwardly and walking between his mother and lover as she began showing Derek Spencer's childhood photographs.
Hours passed and Spencer became more and more comfortable with the situation. His mother was always the only one who had accepted Spencer as he was, he should have known that him being gay wouldn't have been any different, and that she would have loved him all the same. He looked up and smiled at his mother and Derek sitting so closely, looking at pictures of when he was young, no matter how embarrassing they were, and at how healthy his mother looked in that moment. And he just sat and watched, legs crossed on the couch as he leaned against the arm rest.
Derek looked up and caught Spencer's eye from the opposite couch, sitting next to Spencer's mother, and winked, causing Spencer's smile to only grow. He took a sip of water from his paper cup and just watched, taking in every moment, knowing that his mother wouldn't be having as good of a day tomorrow.
Before long, it grew dark outside, and Spencer and Derek decided they should go get dinner and let Diana rest, promising they would come back to visit in the next couple of days.
“Be sure to give him a tour. And take him to our favorite Indian restaurant, okay? But, Spencer?” Diana was so excited, but she paused and looked at him sternly.
“Yeah, mom?”
“Leave out all of those libraries and book stores. He probably sees plenty of those in Virginia.” Derek and Spencer laughed, and they both kissed her cheek goodbye.
“Love you, mom.”
0-0-0
Spencer curled up against Derek, pulling the hotel blankets up to his chin and letting his hair fall back in his face, and nuzzled his face near Derek's collar bone. He couldn't get comfortable and every time he tried, he only got closer and closer to Derek, until finally, Derek got frustrated.
“You're about to push me outta the bed, kid.”
Spencer groaned, rolled back over, and tossed his head back onto his pillow. “I can't get comfortable.” He whined and Derek chuckled. After a minute of just laying there, staring at the ceiling, Spencer sighed. “She was happy today. She was excited about meeting you, I wrote about you a lot in my letters.”
Derek propped himself up on his elbow and looked at Spencer staring at the ceiling. “I really like her, she's one of a kind. A lot like you.” Derek said, with a small smile. “I see a lot of her in you.” Spencer looked at Derek then and frowned, his eyes narrowing.
“What do you mean?”
It took Derek a second to figure out why Spencer sounded so defensive. “I didn't mean the... mental illness. I just meant, she's a very intriguing woman, and she's intelligent. I see where all of your genes came from.” Spencer turned back to the ceiling and blinked slowly, yawning.
“One of a kind.” He repeated, the corners of his mouth turning up. “That she is...”
“Come here.” Derek turned off the lamp and pulled Spencer to his chest, and began running his hand through Spencer's hair. Spencer's hair was one of Derek's favorite things about him, and he also knew that this was one of the only things that relaxed Spencer and his mind. After a couple of minutes of doing this, Spencer completely relaxed against Derek and he knew he had fallen asleep.
Derek kissed his head and closed his eyes. “I love you.”
“Love you, too.” Spencer said tiredly, half asleep.
0-0-0
The next morning, Derek tried to get out of bed, only to be squeezed and pulled back down.
“Nu uh.” Spencer murmured, never opening his eyes, and cuddling back up with Derek. “Not yet.”
Derek laughed and brushed Spencer's hair out of his face, kissing his cheek. “Babe. It's 11:30 in the morning. We slept half the day away.”
“It's not half the day when you stay up until 5:00 in the morning.”
“We went to bed at one.”
“Whatever.”
“Come on, babe. You owe me a Vegas tour and lunch at you and your mom's favorite Indian place.”
Spencer groaned and pulled himself up. He hung his head in his hands and rubbed his eyes. He looked over to the clock on Derek's nightstand and frowned.
“What is that?” He asked, stabbing a finger in the direction of the clock. Derek followed his finger to the clock and smiled.
“That thing propped up in front of the clock? Oh, that's a picture of you that your mom gave me, from when you were little.” Derek answered with false innocence. Spencer's frown only grew as he looked at Derek.
“You were cute.” He added, leaning over and kissing his cheek as he got up to get in the shower. Spencer picked it up and looked at it, he couldn't even remember how old he was in that picture, or where it was, or who had taken it. His hair was long and disheveled even then, and he had on those huge glasses of his...
“Come on, Spence.” Derek took the picture from his hand, as if reading his mind, and tucked it in his wallet. “Get ready so we can head out.”
Spencer stood up as Derek got in the shower and slid on a pair of dark pants and a black button up shirt, and did nothing to his hair but rake his fingers through it. When Derek returned, he was reading a book.
Spencer looked up when he heard Derek return and smiled when he found him shirtless. He always loved it when Derek didn't wear a shirt.
“You about ready to go, Pretty Boy?” He asked, slipping on a tight white t-shirt. Spencer just watched as Derek slid the shirt over his head and pulled it down, eyes moving a mile a minute. Derek smiled and winked.
Spencer closed his book and placed it back in his bag, and stood up. “Okay. Lunch first, and then the tour.”
“Sounds good to me, babe.”
0-0-0
After lunch, Derek and Spencer returned to the rental car. In the driver's seat, Spencer rummaged through his bag before pulling out a CD titled 'Poses' and popped it in the CD player, and smiled to himself when it started playing.
“What is this?” Derek asked.
“Rufus Wainwright.” Spencer answered shyly and put the car in drive.
Spencer drove a few blocks and pulled up in front of a small two story house. It looked like a little brick cottage, and the vinyl near the front door and roof was a light cream color. The bushes and flowers were well kept, and the grass had recently been cut.
“This was our house.” Spencer said lightly, opening the door to get out and walked around the car.
“You're just goin' to go in...?” Derek asked, getting out of the car as well.
“I never sold it.” Spencer answered, still walking, and looking through the keys on his key ring. He unlocked the door as Derek came up beside him on the porch, and they walked in.
Spencer stopped as he stepped through the doorway, but Derek continued walking, looking around the living room with a happy expression on his face.
“It's exactly how we left it. I just pay someone to come in and clean...” Spencer sat his bag down and looked around as well. The walls were a very light blue with cream furniture, and hundreds of books lined the empty wall space. The adjoining kitchen was white and yellow, with a small glass table for two near the marble looking counter top, and there was a small bathroom to the left of the kitchen.
“Come on.” Spencer whispered, leading the way up the small staircase. There was a bathroom at the top of the stairs, and a bedroom to the left, and a bedroom to the right next to a closet. Spencer turned to the left and walked into the open bedroom.
“This was my mother's room.” Spencer walked to the center of the room, stopping near the center of the fuzzy white rug. There was a full sized bed on the wall in front of him, covered in a white down comforter with white pillows, cherry furniture, and a small old fashioned television. Next to the bed, was a picture of Spencer and his mother together when Spencer was a teenager.
Spencer saw Derek looking at the picture and walked towards him. “That was about a month before I had her committed.”
Derek looked up to Spencer, but he continued walking out of the room before he could say anything, but he could hear the guilt in Spencer's voice. Derek placed the frame back onto the nightstand and followed Spencer.
“This was my room, until I left for CalTech, and when I came back between semesters before I turned eighteen. I didn't really come back after she left.” Derek slipped his hand in Spencer's and slightly squeezed. The bedroom was plain and resembled Spencer's office at home despite the housekeeping he hired here.
A few minutes passed before Spencer spoke again. “I want to go home.” Derek squeezed Spencer's hand again and kissed him on the cheek
“We can go home whenever you want, Spence.”
“Tomorrow?” Spencer asked hopefully, eyes wide.
Derek nodded. “I'll call and book the flight.”
Spencer lead Derek by the hand back out to the car, and let him call and book their flight back home. Spencer got back in the car and turned it on, letting the piano music wash over him as he leaned against the steering wheel and observed his childhood home. He didn't think of this as home anymore, he didn't think of Vegas as home at all. His home was in Washington D.C. with Derek Morgan and Clooney.
“What's goin' on in that head of yours?” Derek asked, watching Spencer curiously.
“Hm?” Spencer mumbled, blinking a few times as he looked at Derek. Four songs had passed already, and all Spencer had been doing was sitting and staring into space. Derek raised an eyebrow.
Spencer looked away and put the car in drive. “We can drive by my old school, and then I just want to stop and say goodbye to my mother.” Derek pushed his worries aside and nodded.
Spencer drove faster than normal. Derek couldn't tell if it was out of excitement, or out of eagerness to go home. He hoped for the first, but expected the latter. Spencer parked in the visitor parking lot of the school, but didn't get out. Derek followed Spencer's lead, but observed the old building through the windshield.
“It looks like the private school back in Chicago I always wanted to go to...”
“I hated this place.” Spencer never talked about his childhood much, and Derek didn't push it. He looked over and put a goofy smile on his face.
“Where can ya get good coffee 'round here?”
0-0-0
By the time Spencer and Derek arrived at the sanatorium, it was dark and the coffee wasn't doing anyone any good.
“How's my mother today?” Spencer had found Dr. Norman passing through the lobby as they entered, and he shoved his hands in his pockets as he waited for an answer.
“She's not having as good of a day today. She's going on and on about conspiracies, you know...”
Spencer nodded and looked into the common room. Diana Reid was sitting in front of the window, looking at the stars, and just sat unmoving with her hands in her lap.
Spencer nodded again. “Tell her that Derek and I had to leave, but I'll write her, please?”
Dr. Normal nodded and patted Spencer's arm. “Of course. Have a safe trip. It was good to see you, Dr. Reid.”
0-0-0
Spencer threw himself down on their bed and hugged his blankets. “I missed you, Bed.”
Derek laughed at Spencer as he took his shoes off and changed into his sweatpants. “Do you do this every time you come home? This weird... ritual of yours? Hugging beds and your couch and your books...?”
“I do.” Spencer said simply and innocently, closing his eyes and curling himself up even more and nuzzled his face into his pillow. He exhaled into the organic cotton pillow cases. “I forgot how soft these were.” He said, his voice muffled by the cloth.
“Move over, Pretty Boy. You're on my side.” Derek resorted to picking up Spencer and tossing him down onto his own side when he outstretched his arms across the width of the bed, ignoring Derek's request.
Spencer said nothing as Derek got into bed next to him. He moved back over to where he was and wrapped his arm around Derek and pulling him close, cuddling his face as close to Derek as he could manage.
“Vegas doesn't suit you. You're much more loving here at home.” Derek said and winked at Spencer as he reached over to turn off the lamp. “Thank you for introducing me to your mother.”
Spencer kissed Derek. “That was easy. Now it's your turn.”
A/N: Rufus Wainwright is one of my favorite artists (and that CD is my favorite of his), and for some reason, I always imagine Spencer listening to that type of thing. Check him out if you get a chance!