Title: Christmas Ficlet
By: carolinecrane
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Pairing: Morgan/Reid
Rating: PG

***

It was Garcia who noticed first. She wasn't an expert in human behavior like the rest of them, but she was an expert in Derek Morgan, and she knew when something was up. And something was definitely up; the first sign came when Morgan announced that he wasn't planning to go home for Christmas this year, even though he had four whole days off. Add to that the fact that Morgan had been grinning all day in spite of the amount of paperwork he'd had to do, and she knew something was going on.

But Penelope had been watching him, and after eliminating all the other possibilities, she was pretty sure she'd figured out what was going on. She was willing to bet it had something to do with work – or someone at work, rather – and she...well, she wasn't sure how she felt about that.

Her office door opened and Penelope spun in her chair as the strains of some upbeat Christmas song filtered in from down the hall. Derek was leaning in the doorway, one hand still on the doorknob and yeah, he was still wearing that dreamy smile.

"Hey, baby girl. I'm taking off, just stopped by to wish you a Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas to you too," she said, lips pursed thoughtfully as she watched him glance over his shoulder at the empty hallway behind him. "So you're running out on the party early, huh? You got a hot date or something?"

"Or something," Morgan answered, flirting as usual, and she smiled in spite of herself. "What about you?"

"Kevin's got a huge family. Tons of nieces and nephews, parents, grandparents, cousins, and a partridge in a pear tree. They'll probably make me eat Jello salad and tell me embarrassing stories about his childhood. I'm almost looking forward to it."

Morgan's smile was genuine this time, and he pushed himself off the door long enough to cross the room and plant a kiss on her cheek. "Enjoy, Garcia. You deserve it."

Before she could answer a throat cleared behind them, and when Morgan glanced at the door and saw Reid his expression shifted into something altogether different than the flirtatious smile he'd been wearing a few minutes ago. And it wasn't like she didn't expect it; she knew Morgan, after all, and even though she'd never seen him in love before, she recognized it when she did.

"Hey," Morgan said, to Reid this time, his voice dropping just a little and it was weird, but it was kind of...sweet.

"Are you ready?" Spencer asked, and when he glanced over at her she gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile.

"Born that way," Morgan answered, right back to flirting and when Spencer's face flushed even Penelope had to admit it was cute.

"Merry Christmas, Garcia," Reid called as Morgan steered him out of the room, and Penelope blew a kiss and waved them off.

She turned back to her monitors and slowly shut them down, reaching for her purse and the last of the candy canes she'd been handing out all week before she stood up. When her work station was neat and secure and she was sure she had everything she needed for a full four days away from the office she turned out the light and closed the door behind her.

She never would have predicted Morgan and Reid, she had to admit, which meant that no matter how well she thought she knew Derek, there was still more to learn. But she knew she'd never seen him quite as happy as he'd been the past couple weeks, and if Reid had done that, then she was going to have to be extra nice to him from now on.

***