A Well Respected Man (Chapter 13)
Title: A Well Respected Man (Chapter 13)
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.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 9b, 10, 11, 12, and my accompanying picspam.
A/N: Here's chapter 13, hope you enjoy! P.S. I don't know what the hell is up with LJ's HTML tonight...
Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.
Chapter 13
Derek Morgan's eyes slowly fluttered open as dim light found its way into his and Spencer's bedroom. He hadn't felt Spencer stir all night, and when he looked over to him, he noticed that he was still in the same position as when he had fallen asleep the previous night. Spencer was lying on his right side with his left arm wrapped protectively over his chest, and curled into himself underneath the blankets.
Derek leaned over Spencer, placing a hand on either side of his thin body and peered down at him, taking in the shadows and highlights that the light displayed on the young man's face, and just stared. He was wearing one of Derek's t-shirts and the large neck of the shirt left Spencer's neck and collar bone exposed. Finally, he gently brushed the hair from Spencer's face and whispered his name.
“Hm?” Spencer hummed sleepily, never opening his eyes.
“Get ready. I wanna take you out.” Derek said, keeping his voice calm and soothing. Spencer opened his eyes, maintaining a straight face, and looked Derek in the eye, questioning his motives. He can't act like everything is okay, Spencer thought. I hate myself for this, why is he acting like everything is okay... Spencer still felt faint traces of his bad reaction to the Vicodin, nothing much except extreme fatigue, but he felt like he should be punished, that Derek should do... something. Something should be done for doing this to himself and to Derek, and everything else he had worked so hard for.
“Why?” Derek could hear the guilt in Spencer's small voice, the first word he had spoken since last evening, and he could feel him ashamedly sinking into the bed.
“Because you deserve it, Spence.”
Spencer frowned at that. “I'm really tired, Derek...”
“You've been sleeping for almost fifteen hours. You're pretty enough.” Derek moved back to his side of the bed then, adding “come on” quickly and grabbing Spencer's hand as he got himself up from bed. Spencer sighed, more out of exhaustion rather than exasperation, and forced himself to get up.
When Spencer stood, he steadied himself and opened his eyes to see Derek standing in front of him. He wrapped him up in a hug and kissed Spencer's cheek. “You don't have to beat yourself up, Spence. You've been through a lot, and no one blames you for anything. We can get through this.”
Spencer nuzzled his face in Derek's neck and sighed, this time out of relief. “You shouldn't treat me like this.”
“Treat you like what?”
“Like I didn't do anything wrong.” Spencer tightened his embrace, expecting Derek to scold him, but he said nothing. Instead, Derek just lightly pushed Spencer away and held his shoulders, looking him in his big, light brown eyes, and kissed him.
“I love you. Go get ready. We'll take a small road trip somewhere. How about the mountains? We can make a day trip out of the mountains...”
0-0-0
Derek wasn't really sure why he had offered to go to the mountains, the thought hadn't even crossed his mind until the words were coming out of his mouth, but Spencer liked the mountains, so that was reason enough for him. Derek stole a glance at Spencer, who was sitting in the passenger seat, slouched down with a book opened in his lap.
“Put a CD in or somethin', man. It's too quiet.” Derek said, breaking the silence as he rearranged his hands over the steering wheel.
Spencer looked up when Derek spoke and looked at the CD player that was in between the two of them in the dashboard.
He frowned at it, realizing what Derek had said. “What do you want to listen to?”
“Just pick somethin'.”
Spencer pulled out one of his mixed CD's from within his bag, opened the case and popped the CD in, immediately returning to his book, flipping page after page.
Derek was now content. Spencer seemed relatively normal again and he wasn't picking up too much negativity from him that wasn't expected, and he always loved to have Spencer pick the music. He always loved to learn something new about Spence...
The light and mellow music began playing, the slow acoustic beat began to fill the car, and a small smile formed on Spencer's lips when Jackie Greene's voice began to sing...
I don't live in a dream.
I don't live in a dream.
I don't live inside a land forgotten.
I don't live in a dream...
Spencer closed his book with finality and shoved it back in his bag. He sat himself up in the seat, sighed, and looked out the window at the scenery. He always loved to observe the dramatic changes as you drive out of the city and towards the mountains of Virginia - it was almost like you reached a well-defined line outside of D.C., and all of a sudden, you have nothing but trees and rolling hills.
Spencer closed his eyes as Derek headed West, allowing the sun to penetrate every cell in his body. The sun hadn't been out in days, typical weather in Virginia in the middle of winter, and he was grateful for the sun's presence today.
“You okay, Spence?”
“Mhm.” Spencer replied, keeping his eyes closed. Derek smiled and returned his focus to the road ahead.
“Where do you find all of this music you listen to?”
Spencer turned to Derek when he had spoken. “You don't like it?”
“No, I do. I was just wondering. It suits you.” Spencer smiled lightly again and looked to the CD player. He thought for a minute, remembering old memories.
“Ethan gives me most of it, things he thinks I'd like. He's usually right.”
“Ethan, your friend in New Orleans?" Spencer nodded.
Derek thought back to that time they were in New Orleans for a case, not too long after everything that happened with Hankel, and when Spence intentionally skipped the flight for the case and ignored everyone's phone calls. Gideon had suspected he'd be at that jazz club in New Orleans with his friend, whom he now knew as Ethan. He didn't know much about him then, and he suspected Gideon hadn't either. All Derek knew was that they had gone to school and the FBI Academy together...
“Did you two ever, you know... date?”
Spencer laughed then, a genuine laugh, and looked back out the window. “No, no. He was my only good friend in college, and we started the FBI Academy together, but he dropped out after the first day to play jazz, and settled down in New Orleans.”
“So he's like a born-again hippie, huh?”
Spencer laughed again. “Yeah, something like that, I suppose.” Spencer looked back at Derek then with a serious and proud expression.
“He was talking about coming up to Virginia soon for a few days. I'd like for you to meet him.” There was an innocent twinkle in his eye that made Derek smile.
“Yeah, okay.” Derek smiled again when Spencer smiled, and focused his attention back to driving.
0-0-0
Spencer Reid was absolutely breathtaking.
Derek had decided to go to Lurray, a small town in Western Virginia known for its caverns and spectacular landscapes, and as soon as Spencer saw the sign saying 'Welcome to Lurray!' Derek felt his entire mood shift as his eyes grew wide and puppy-like as he examined his surroundings. It was beautiful even in the winter.
As they were walking aimlessly around the side of the mountain trail where Derek had parked, it was about all Derek could do to not grab Spencer right there and wrap his arms around him and hold him as closely as possible. Spencer was wearing his usual slacks and dress shirt, only this time without a tie with the top buttons unbuttoned, with a black pea coat and his purple scarf. He walked slowly next to Derek, hands in his pockets, as the slight breeze blew Spencer's long and curly hair about his face.
Derek had to remind himself several times to pay attention and walk, and to breath every once in awhile.
“Hey, uhm...” Spencer stopped abruptly and his face fell as he stared ahead, lost in thought.
“Spence?” Derek asked, stopping as well and looking at Spencer intently, surprised at the sudden change.
“Hm?” Spencer blinked rapidly for a second, focusing on Derek, and looking confused.
“Oh yeah, I uh... I have something for you...” Spencer patted his coat and pants pockets absently, and then reached inside his coat for the inside pocket.
“I know the box is a little ridiculous and over the top....” Spencer began to mumble, deep in thought, as he finally displayed a small velvet black box. Derek hitched an eyebrow and looked at Spencer with so many emotions on his face - love, awe, confusion...
Derek took the small box from Spencer's hand and opened it. Within the box was a thick and basic silver band. Derek lifted it out of it's velvet container and eyed it in his palm, a small smile on his face. As it glinted in the sunlight, he noticed something etched inside of the ring, and he held it up to examine it further. In bold script, it read “I've made the most important discovery of my life. It's only in the mysterious equation of love that any logical reasons can be found.” And then Spencer was written right after the quote.
“That's one of my favorite quotes. It was in the movie A Beautiful Mind.” Spencer explained as Derek finished reading it.
Derek looked up at Spencer with a huge smile on his face. “It sounds just like you.” He said, pure happiness emanating from his eyes. He slipped it on his right middle finger and made his way closer to Spencer, who was beaming over the fact that Derek liked it.
“Thank you, Spence.” He said, his voice now soft and gentle, and he wrapped his arms around the young man and kissed his cheek.
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.” Spencer answered, squeezing Derek just a little tighter.
“You got me my necklace, I wanted you to have something, too. I've had it in my pocket for a couple weeks now...”
Derek laughed and pulled back. “Shy Doctor Reid...” he teased with a playful smirk. Spencer laughed, embarrassed, and followed Derek's lead, who had wrapped his arm around Spencer's shoulders and was leading him in the direction they had come.
“Come on, Pretty Boy. The sun's going down soon, we should get somethin' to eat and head home.”
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.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 9b, 10, 11, 12, and my accompanying picspam.
A/N: Here's chapter 13, hope you enjoy! P.S. I don't know what the hell is up with LJ's HTML tonight...
Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.
Chapter 13
Derek Morgan's eyes slowly fluttered open as dim light found its way into his and Spencer's bedroom. He hadn't felt Spencer stir all night, and when he looked over to him, he noticed that he was still in the same position as when he had fallen asleep the previous night. Spencer was lying on his right side with his left arm wrapped protectively over his chest, and curled into himself underneath the blankets.
Derek leaned over Spencer, placing a hand on either side of his thin body and peered down at him, taking in the shadows and highlights that the light displayed on the young man's face, and just stared. He was wearing one of Derek's t-shirts and the large neck of the shirt left Spencer's neck and collar bone exposed. Finally, he gently brushed the hair from Spencer's face and whispered his name.
“Hm?” Spencer hummed sleepily, never opening his eyes.
“Get ready. I wanna take you out.” Derek said, keeping his voice calm and soothing. Spencer opened his eyes, maintaining a straight face, and looked Derek in the eye, questioning his motives. He can't act like everything is okay, Spencer thought. I hate myself for this, why is he acting like everything is okay... Spencer still felt faint traces of his bad reaction to the Vicodin, nothing much except extreme fatigue, but he felt like he should be punished, that Derek should do... something. Something should be done for doing this to himself and to Derek, and everything else he had worked so hard for.
“Why?” Derek could hear the guilt in Spencer's small voice, the first word he had spoken since last evening, and he could feel him ashamedly sinking into the bed.
“Because you deserve it, Spence.”
Spencer frowned at that. “I'm really tired, Derek...”
“You've been sleeping for almost fifteen hours. You're pretty enough.” Derek moved back to his side of the bed then, adding “come on” quickly and grabbing Spencer's hand as he got himself up from bed. Spencer sighed, more out of exhaustion rather than exasperation, and forced himself to get up.
When Spencer stood, he steadied himself and opened his eyes to see Derek standing in front of him. He wrapped him up in a hug and kissed Spencer's cheek. “You don't have to beat yourself up, Spence. You've been through a lot, and no one blames you for anything. We can get through this.”
Spencer nuzzled his face in Derek's neck and sighed, this time out of relief. “You shouldn't treat me like this.”
“Treat you like what?”
“Like I didn't do anything wrong.” Spencer tightened his embrace, expecting Derek to scold him, but he said nothing. Instead, Derek just lightly pushed Spencer away and held his shoulders, looking him in his big, light brown eyes, and kissed him.
“I love you. Go get ready. We'll take a small road trip somewhere. How about the mountains? We can make a day trip out of the mountains...”
0-0-0
Derek wasn't really sure why he had offered to go to the mountains, the thought hadn't even crossed his mind until the words were coming out of his mouth, but Spencer liked the mountains, so that was reason enough for him. Derek stole a glance at Spencer, who was sitting in the passenger seat, slouched down with a book opened in his lap.
“Put a CD in or somethin', man. It's too quiet.” Derek said, breaking the silence as he rearranged his hands over the steering wheel.
Spencer looked up when Derek spoke and looked at the CD player that was in between the two of them in the dashboard.
He frowned at it, realizing what Derek had said. “What do you want to listen to?”
“Just pick somethin'.”
Spencer pulled out one of his mixed CD's from within his bag, opened the case and popped the CD in, immediately returning to his book, flipping page after page.
Derek was now content. Spencer seemed relatively normal again and he wasn't picking up too much negativity from him that wasn't expected, and he always loved to have Spencer pick the music. He always loved to learn something new about Spence...
The light and mellow music began playing, the slow acoustic beat began to fill the car, and a small smile formed on Spencer's lips when Jackie Greene's voice began to sing...
I don't live in a dream.
I don't live in a dream.
I don't live inside a land forgotten.
I don't live in a dream...
Spencer closed his book with finality and shoved it back in his bag. He sat himself up in the seat, sighed, and looked out the window at the scenery. He always loved to observe the dramatic changes as you drive out of the city and towards the mountains of Virginia - it was almost like you reached a well-defined line outside of D.C., and all of a sudden, you have nothing but trees and rolling hills.
Spencer closed his eyes as Derek headed West, allowing the sun to penetrate every cell in his body. The sun hadn't been out in days, typical weather in Virginia in the middle of winter, and he was grateful for the sun's presence today.
“You okay, Spence?”
“Mhm.” Spencer replied, keeping his eyes closed. Derek smiled and returned his focus to the road ahead.
“Where do you find all of this music you listen to?”
Spencer turned to Derek when he had spoken. “You don't like it?”
“No, I do. I was just wondering. It suits you.” Spencer smiled lightly again and looked to the CD player. He thought for a minute, remembering old memories.
“Ethan gives me most of it, things he thinks I'd like. He's usually right.”
“Ethan, your friend in New Orleans?" Spencer nodded.
Derek thought back to that time they were in New Orleans for a case, not too long after everything that happened with Hankel, and when Spence intentionally skipped the flight for the case and ignored everyone's phone calls. Gideon had suspected he'd be at that jazz club in New Orleans with his friend, whom he now knew as Ethan. He didn't know much about him then, and he suspected Gideon hadn't either. All Derek knew was that they had gone to school and the FBI Academy together...
“Did you two ever, you know... date?”
Spencer laughed then, a genuine laugh, and looked back out the window. “No, no. He was my only good friend in college, and we started the FBI Academy together, but he dropped out after the first day to play jazz, and settled down in New Orleans.”
“So he's like a born-again hippie, huh?”
Spencer laughed again. “Yeah, something like that, I suppose.” Spencer looked back at Derek then with a serious and proud expression.
“He was talking about coming up to Virginia soon for a few days. I'd like for you to meet him.” There was an innocent twinkle in his eye that made Derek smile.
“Yeah, okay.” Derek smiled again when Spencer smiled, and focused his attention back to driving.
0-0-0
Spencer Reid was absolutely breathtaking.
Derek had decided to go to Lurray, a small town in Western Virginia known for its caverns and spectacular landscapes, and as soon as Spencer saw the sign saying 'Welcome to Lurray!' Derek felt his entire mood shift as his eyes grew wide and puppy-like as he examined his surroundings. It was beautiful even in the winter.
As they were walking aimlessly around the side of the mountain trail where Derek had parked, it was about all Derek could do to not grab Spencer right there and wrap his arms around him and hold him as closely as possible. Spencer was wearing his usual slacks and dress shirt, only this time without a tie with the top buttons unbuttoned, with a black pea coat and his purple scarf. He walked slowly next to Derek, hands in his pockets, as the slight breeze blew Spencer's long and curly hair about his face.
Derek had to remind himself several times to pay attention and walk, and to breath every once in awhile.
“Hey, uhm...” Spencer stopped abruptly and his face fell as he stared ahead, lost in thought.
“Spence?” Derek asked, stopping as well and looking at Spencer intently, surprised at the sudden change.
“Hm?” Spencer blinked rapidly for a second, focusing on Derek, and looking confused.
“Oh yeah, I uh... I have something for you...” Spencer patted his coat and pants pockets absently, and then reached inside his coat for the inside pocket.
“I know the box is a little ridiculous and over the top....” Spencer began to mumble, deep in thought, as he finally displayed a small velvet black box. Derek hitched an eyebrow and looked at Spencer with so many emotions on his face - love, awe, confusion...
Derek took the small box from Spencer's hand and opened it. Within the box was a thick and basic silver band. Derek lifted it out of it's velvet container and eyed it in his palm, a small smile on his face. As it glinted in the sunlight, he noticed something etched inside of the ring, and he held it up to examine it further. In bold script, it read “I've made the most important discovery of my life. It's only in the mysterious equation of love that any logical reasons can be found.” And then Spencer was written right after the quote.
“That's one of my favorite quotes. It was in the movie A Beautiful Mind.” Spencer explained as Derek finished reading it.
Derek looked up at Spencer with a huge smile on his face. “It sounds just like you.” He said, pure happiness emanating from his eyes. He slipped it on his right middle finger and made his way closer to Spencer, who was beaming over the fact that Derek liked it.
“Thank you, Spence.” He said, his voice now soft and gentle, and he wrapped his arms around the young man and kissed his cheek.
“I love you.”
“I love you, too.” Spencer answered, squeezing Derek just a little tighter.
“You got me my necklace, I wanted you to have something, too. I've had it in my pocket for a couple weeks now...”
Derek laughed and pulled back. “Shy Doctor Reid...” he teased with a playful smirk. Spencer laughed, embarrassed, and followed Derek's lead, who had wrapped his arm around Spencer's shoulders and was leading him in the direction they had come.
“Come on, Pretty Boy. The sun's going down soon, we should get somethin' to eat and head home.”