Title: It Hurts
By: Deathandallherfriends
Pairing: Reid/Morgan, Some Hotch/Rossi
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Reid finds out what heartache feels like, and discovers a little something about himself because of it. How will the team react when they begin to find out?

***

I wish that you would do with some talking
How else am I to know what you're thinking?
If only people would say what it really was
What it really was
What it really was that they wanted

- Garbage

Reid lay awake at three thirty in the morning staring at the white ceiling above him. His eyes kept drifting over to the L.E.D. alarm clock beside him, watching as the minutes ticked by one by one. The thoughts in the brilliant brain of his were jumbled, running over each other and stomping one another into the base of his skull. The headache this gave him kept growing, and those minutes kept ticking by. Four a.m. He would have to get up in an hour. But why another sleepless night?

Because of him: Supervisory Special Agent Derek Morgan.

That name could not flee from his head. And this was one sleepless night among the countless others that kept him awake. The team had been noticing it too. His performance had slipped at work, and everyone just thought something terrible had happened in his personal life. He supposes something must have, if a person looked at his predicament in a certain light.

The phone also sat on that nightstand. Reid felt like he should just call Morgan, no matter how early in the morning it was. The other agent would understand. Everyone knew there was something stuck on Reid's mind. It was just that nobody knew it was his co-worker. Reid's long thin hand slipped out from under his comforter and picked up the phone. For a moment he hesitated, almost putting it back down. But no matter how early in the morning it was, Reid had to be brave. He did not care whether it was the smart thing to do or not. Thus, the genius dialed Morgan's cell phone and listened to the tone until a familiar person picked up.

"Reid?" Morgan inquired, sounding groggy and irritated.

Reid spoke quickly into the phone, "I need to tell you something."

"Can't it wait till morning?"

"Actually, technically it is morning," Reid corrected him.

This conversation was taking a turn for the worse, and quickly too.

"I am such an idiot," Reid thought to himself, wishing he had never called Morgan. "I'd rather be blessed with a brilliant social IQ right now."

"Reid!" Morgan snapped.

"Yes?"

"We'll talk about this in the morning… now go to sleep," Morgan ordered.

And then he hung up.

Reid spent the time before his alarm clock rang just staring up at his ceiling. He felt hopeless, and no one was going to listen. No one would want to listen. Why should they? And after his alarm clock had gone off, Reid kept staring at the ceiling, just listening to the beeping of his alarm.

Twenty minutes before he would be late for work (ten minutes to get ready, ten minutes to get there) Reid got out of bed and shut off his infernal alarm clock. Pulling on black jeans, a light purple long-sleeve button-up shirt and a black tie, Reid did not even care to tuck his shirt in his pants as he always did. With the pace he was moving, getting dressed had taken up those ten minutes. Making scrambled eggs and eating them took up the other ten minutes. By the time he got his black sneakers on and had gotten in the car, he was late by five minutes. The commute to work took another fifteen minutes, and when he walked inside the building everyone he knew looked at him as though he were a different person. No one said good morning to him. No one even looked at him.

Only footsteps to the door, and Reid was so nervous he did not think he could walk inside. And yet, he did, only to find the team staring at him. Prentiss walked across the room with a manila folder in her hand. She motioned for him to go with her behind a desk.

"What'd you do? Just get out of bed?" Prentiss asked in a low whisper.

"I uh-"

"Your hair's a mess, your shirt's un-tucked… Reid, you look like a mess. Now there are people here who want to help you through whatever's happening to you. You have to let us help. We're your friends, Reid," Prentiss told him, her voice becoming louder until it was at a normal volume. Reid turned his head when Morgan walked in the room. Morgan strode over to his desk and sat down in his desk chair. Reid's eyes followed him all the way there, paying attention to every detail. Prentiss saw this and a slight smile crossed her lips because of an obvious realization, as she finished with, "On second thought, Morgan!"

"Yeah?" Morgan crossed the BAU until he was standing next to Reid.

Morgan glanced at Reid, and made a face as though she was trying to decide whether to say it or not, "Reid has something to tell you."

Morgan turned to Reid, and before Morgan could open his mouth to say anything, Red bolted upstairs into the presentation room. He hid in a corner, his lanky limbs coming up into the fetal position. He knew his team out there was talking about him. Now they all knew. Prentiss saw it the moment she asked what was wrong, and she must be telling everyone else. Reid wrapped his arms around his legs and tried to fight his eyes from watering. All the blinds were down in the room. They were closed against the long windowpanes, so anyone who was trying to look in would be unable to see him. The downside was that he was unable to see out there.

As the door opened, Reid hid his head behind his long legs. Clearly there was a presence in front of him. He hoped that when he looked up it would not be the devilishly handsome Morgan.

"Reid, what's goin' on with you man?" Morgan inquired.

Reid looked up. And there he was, that amazing man that had captured his heart without even realizing it. Morgan knelt in front of Reid, placing a large hand on Reid's knee. Reid stood up quickly. It was as though Morgan's touch had burned him. A look of sheer panic and nervousness crossed Reid's face.

"Reid, what's wrong?" Morgan stood up and blocked Reid's path to the closest exit.

Reid shook his head. He swallowed a lump in his throat. Those tears in his eyes had subsided, but Morgan had never seen his friend like this before.

Reid swallowed again and then looked Morgan straight in the eye. "You wouldn't like what I'd be telling you."

"Try me."

Reid bit his lip and looked away, but was shocked when Morgan's lips met his. The younger man backed into a wall from the initial shock. Morgan followed, pushing him up against the blinds that covered the view to the outside. When the older agent pulled away and turned around, his head lowered as he scratched the back of his neck. Evidently there was somewhat of a blush across Morgan's face that he did not want Reid to see.

"You knew?" Reid sputtered.

Morgan turned back around to face Reid. His pupils were quivering with intense feeling. Morgan turned his head to the side. From the look on his face, Reid could tell he did not want to admit what had just happened. But they both knew. Soon everyone else would know. With those couple moments of silence, Morgan looked pointedly at Reid.

Morgan finally answered Reid's question as he stepped forward, "I had to be sure, you know?"

"No, I don't know. This thing? This thing is all new to me," Reid confessed.

Morgan took place next to Reid and placed a firm hand on the boy's shoulder, "Then I'll teach you."

"All right, how?"

"By lovin' you," Morgan grinned. "Now c'mon, we gotta get back to work. I'll come over tonight."

Morgan walked out of the presentation room, leaving Reid dumbfounded behind him. But now Reid's insides were settled. It was as if now that he found Morgan loved him too, the beast had settled because Reid's need had been fed. Who Reid was without Morgan was a mess of jumbled up thoughts, which Morgan would straighten out and iron. The weight on Reid's shoulders was lifted. Who Reid would be with Morgan was a better man, a better agent, and everything would be back to normal, except with added happiness.

Reid walked out into the BAU with a lightened step and a smile.

***

Reid practically skipped down the stairs at the Behavioral Analysis Unit. The team eyed Morgan expectantly, as if expecting him to reveal the secret of Reid's sudden recovery. However, he did not. Instead he glared at Reid, who was proving to be terrible at keeping a low profile. Colleagues were not allowed to be together at work. And what Reid and Morgan were about to hide was extraordinarily frowned upon- not to other colleagues, but to the government itself. Morgan mentally smacked his head for not telling Reid these things in the presentation room, knowing how socially inept Reid was.

Hotch walked out of his office. With his hands on the railing, he faced the rest of the BAU. Jareau had presented a case yesterday that had evidently proved to be more than Hotch and Rossi had believed it was. Hotch's eyes scanned over his team that surrounded Morgan's desk. But wait, he realized that someone was missing. Brown eyes drifted over to Reid who was happier than usual and definitely happier than he had been for the last few months. Reid was bent over a book of Sudoku and was rapidly filling in the boxes with numbers one through nine.

"We're getting on the plane in five," Hotch made the announcement with a loud and clear voice.

The team looked up at Hotch and nodded. Each member separated to their own desks and offices to retrieve their bags. Reid's eyes followed each person's path. The abnormally large and round deep brown eyes stopped at Morgan's shoes. They scanned the agent up to his eyes. Reid and Morgan connected for a few moments before Morgan got up from his chair and strode over to Reid. This agent squatted in front of Reid and looked up at him seriously. Placing a firm hand on the back of Reid's swivel chair, Morgan's look took a diagonal glance for a split second.

"Reid, look around. You need to be careful, man," Morgan whispered. His brow was furrowed, knit together in a certain concern that twisted Reid's stomach into knots. For added measure, Morgan finished with, "This thing we're doing? It's not even allowed to be happening. So if you blow it, we're both screwed."

Reid nodded. After Morgan had finished speaking, Reid realized he had been holding his breath. Taking a deep gulp of air, he took one look at Morgan and recognized how much he wanted to kiss him. But not here, obviously, or they would be sacked. Reid retrieved his bag from underneath his desk as Morgan walked back to his own seat. If only Morgan's words were not loud and clear reminders of what they should not be doing. It was the government that did not allow it, not their friends. Reid closed his eyes and blinked that thought away.

Jareau was the first one to leave the BAU for the jet. Her carry on was a rectangular suitcase carved out of fine wood and polished down for a nice sheen. Rossi carried out his half empty duffel bag next. Reid eyed Morgan, wondering why he had not left yet. The man had his backpack ready and it was already on his back, yet the agent appeared to be dawdling around his desk. The two of them watched as Prentiss rolled her small suitcase out the door with her small black handbag clutched in the same hand. Little did Morgan and Reid realize that Hotch was still watching them from the windows of the presentation room.

Morgan strode over to Reid; his orange and black backpack slung over one shoulder. He saw Reid attempt to pick up his small duffel bag, which appeared to be packed to the brim with something. While Reid looked at him, he knew Morgan suspected that most of it was books. The man shook his head and picked up Reid's duffel. Hotch narrowed his eyes from behind the blinds in his location. Morgan and Reid left the room while Hotch shortly left thereafter.

Morgan and Reid walked through the hallways of the government building until they reached the jet plane. Reid had been asking Morgan the whole way down there why Morgan would not let him carry his own bag. The genius had made a clear point: Morgan was already carrying two bags, why not let Reid share the load? Morgan only answered with the fact that Reid's bag was loaded down with books. There was no way Morgan was about to allow Reid to break his back carrying a library. The couple's ignorance allowed Hotch to recognize the bickering and what it meant. This was his next clue.

Morgan carried both bags up the steps into the jet. He plunked the duffel bag and backpack in the back of the jet with the rest of the bags. The agent let out a groan and stretched his lower back. Lightly, he touched the area as he sat down. The team watched Reid's head poke in from outside as he rose into the jet. Reid took as seat across from Morgan.

"You didn't have to carry my bag," Reid stated as he leaned slightly forward.

Morgan raised an eyebrow. He was a little taken aback seeing as he had walked that thing out here to the jet. But of course, Morgan was dealing with Reid. Things had to be dealt with differently.

""Reid, your bag was so heavy. You would've-"

"I could've taken care of it."

"You couldn't even pick it up!"

Reid made a face. "I would've figured something out."

Morgan huffed.

"Oh look," Prentiss cooed with a gleaming smile spread across her face, "Morgan and Reid are fighting like an old married couple."

Morgan huffed. He glared at Reid with deep brown eyes and then moved to a seat at the other end of the jet. Prentiss watched Morgan as he walked away in a tight tan t-shirt and blue jeans that shaped his butt perfectly. She raised an eyebrow playfully. Reid narrowed his eyes because he now, officially, called dibs on Derek Morgan.

Prentiss tilted her head at the sight of Morgan pulling his iPod nano from his jean pocket. "Wow, he's getting sensitive."

Jareau shook her head. "No, he just doesn't like women questioning his manliness," the blond said with a slight smile on her face as she leaned forward.

Rossi made a small chuckle as Hotch climbed aboard the jet. He looked at the faces of his team and decided, as he sat down, that what he thought was true: Reid and Morgan had just become a couple.

***

Jareau placed the manila folder on the table between her and Hotch. The leader of the team flipped it open and pulled out four large pictures that had smaller shots paper-clipped onto them. These photos of the victims already showed Hotch a lot of information. He placed them back on the table. Prentiss picked them back up and flipped through them.

"Wait, so, our unsub is a transvestite?" Prentiss asked, looking at a lipstick kiss on each of the victim's cheeks.

Morgan stood up and crossed the aisle to look over her shoulder while he corrected her, "Not necessarily. The unsub could be a female."

Reid watched as Morgan shoved his hands in his jean pockets. The way the fabric rippled across that steel ass caused Reid to have to shift in his seat. He was getting extremely uncomfortable sitting in a seat at the back of the plane, alone, just watching everyone else. It was his turn to say something- just to ignore Morgan.

"Actually, ninety percent of all serial killers are male," Reid stated.

Everyone looked at their young genius.

"But what about that other ten percent?" Morgan retorted using a question.

"We can't account for gender right now. Until we know more we have to assume he's male," Hotch said.

"Hotch, I really think that's a bad idea," Morgan said, shaking his head. He gripped the top of Prentiss' seat. "Usually I'm in tune with you, but man, what if we're wrong? That could change the whole investigation."

"Right now, Morgan, I think you're in tune with something else," Hotch stated.

The team leader raised his eyebrows and leaned to the side, eying Reid. Their youngest's color had immediately drained out of him. Now he was as white as a sheet, or freshly fallen snow. Morgan swallowed and looked back at Reid who could only give a sheepish smile. The rest of the team looked at Reid again as well.

"What's he mean?" Jareau inquired hastily, looking back at Hotch. When no one answered she asked again, "What's he mean?"

Prentiss furrowed her brow and glanced up at Morgan, "Your banging Reid?"

Morgan turned his head over his shoulder and watched as Reid's long legs quickly carried him into the small bathroom. Hotch could say nothing. Usually he thought about the repercussions of his actions, but he felt as if the news was a little boy screaming for help at the bottom of a well. He desperately needed to get the little boy out of that well. However, this word vomit had led him to be hasty and temperamental.

"Morgan, I'm-"

Morgan shook his head and made his way to the bathroom to talk to Reid.

Behind him he could hear Rossi say, "Don't say sorry. The team had a right to know. They shouldn't be together anyway."

Morgan knocked on the door to the bathroom, and then realized that Reid never locked the door when he saw the green light under the doorknob. So he pulled the door open and knelt in front of Reid who was leaning on the floor against the toilet in the fetal position, his head between his knees. Morgan placed a strong hand on Reid's knee, causing him to look up. There was a sweat coating Reid's face.

"Hey man, you all right?" Morgan asked, already knowing the answer.

But Reid just ignored Morgan's question, and instead said, "You said we had to be careful… We weren't careful."

"I know man, I know. It hasn't even been a day…"

"Can I join you?" said a sweet female voice.

Morgan looked up and saw Jareau, who was eying Reid with concern. The girl sat in the middle of the small hallway that connected the rest of the airplane with the back where the cargo was with a nice cross-legged position. Jareau sat and smiled at Reid like a little kid.

"Whatever Hotch decides to do, I support you two," Jareau stated through her smile.

"I do too," another voice, clearly Prentiss', said. She continued with, "Oh and, sorry about that comment back there… that was rude of me."

"It's all right, Emily," Reid said with a regained sense of voice. "Typically things like this get frowned on by people. It's times like these where people discover their true friends. At least that's what I've heard."

Prentiss looked at Jareau and then at Reid and Morgan and said, "We'd be those true friends."

There was a moment of silence. This was when all four of them staid in their positions and thought a second. Reid was wondering how long the relationship between he and Morgan would have lasted if Hotch had not found out. Morgan pondered on how to break up with Reid without letting it end nastily. Jareau contemplated whether Hotch would let Reid and Morgan go because they were a couple, or because they were not following the rules. And Prentiss wanted to know what the other three were thinking, plus what Hotch's thought process was on opening his mouth like that.

"We'll figure out what to do after this case is over," Hotch said from beside Prentiss. "Until then you two are allowed to do as you please. I need to tell you that you have put me in a very compromising situation. This is against the FBI and it's against the law, and you know it, and I'm not sure what to do yet. If anyone besides our team finds out I could be out a job, and so could you two. But I will do what I have to… to keep everyone happy."

"How's Rossi?" Morgan asked.

"Don't worry about him. Worry about yourselves," Hotch ordered. "And Morgan? If you want to contact Garcia I suggest you do that before we need the computer."

Jareau sat next to Rossi, who had not moved since everyone got up. Prentiss slid in to the window and Hotch sat down beside her, while Reid stood up behind Prentiss' seat. Morgan retrieved the laptop from Hotch's bag and carried it to the back of the airplane where he sat down in an armchair. He flipped open the laptop and opened the server.

In a moment everyone could hear Garcia say, "Hello sweet thing!"

"Hey darlin', I've got something to tell you," Morgan told her.

"If it has anything to do with you and Reid being a potential couple, then I'm all for it!"

Everyone could practically hear Garcia grinning.

"How did Garcia know?" Reid chirped in from surprise.

"Well, sweet pea, the day you went haywire was the day I knew Dr. Morgan would have to fix it. And then you come in all happy today and I was positively sure that you two were to soon become a couple. Ah, my boys are growing up!" Garcia gushed.

"Garcia, after your talk with Morgan, can you tell us about the victims?" Hotch called over from his seat.

"Oh, yes sir," Garcia's voice floated up from the laptop, which caused her voice to sound tinny. Morgan picked up the computer and carried it over to the table at which his fellow profilers were sitting at. Placing it towards the window, facing out towards the rest of the plane, the profilers all glanced at Garcia. Well, all except for Hotch, who was still looking at the photographs. "Well, the victims are as followed: Mitchell Oliver, Corey Thomson, and Tim Hart. The connections between them include that they were all football stars in high school and died by choking on Italian sausage links. From the pictures you can see that the unsub kissed them on the cheek either before or after they died in bright red lipstick. Other than that, sir, I really can't tell you much else."

"Can you tell us who found them?" Prentiss inquired.

"Their girlfriends, actually. They woke up with them there… a dead body… right next to them," Garcia said, clearly allowing the case to get to her.

"Thanks goddess, call you if we need anything," Morgan said with a grin and closed the top of the laptop with an okay from Hotch.

"There's not much else we can do till we land," Jareau said.

Hotch replied with, "No, but I can keep looking at what evidence we do have."

And so for the next two hours Hotch kept looking through the pictures and thinking about what Garcia had told him. The girls read through their respective magazines. And Morgan and Reid played a card game. However, Rossi said nothing and went straight to sleep.

***

Hello mother,
Some news for you
I'm really not that crazy.
Hello father,
I'm curious?
Why you think there's something wrong with me.

Once the team got off the plane the headed straight for the local police station. Ithaca, New York proved to be a small city surrounded by even smaller towns and villages. Jareau realized that with this kind of small population it would be difficult to keep the case private from the locals. However when she glanced at Reid and Morgan after they got out of the SUV she knew the case would be okay and she would do her job fine. There is something about knowing that family also doubles as teammates that makes the job a little less mind wracking. When she eyed Rossi, she wished he could understand that. Family was family.

The team set up their station behind a half wall that cut off their small rectangular area from the rest of the department. Hotch was somewhere talking to the sheriff, Jareau was pinning the evidence they had onto the large corkboard that stood on a frame taking up a wall, Reid was pinpointing each victim's location on a map, and Rossi, well Rossi had his own plans. Morgan carried in a box of evidence from the evidence room. He placed it on the fold-up table Rossi, Jareau, and Reid surrounded.

"Morgan, I need to talk to you," Rossi said slowly and precisely.

Morgan nodded and pulled out a chair. He turned it around and sat down, straddling the back of it. Folding his arms on the metal back he nodded, furrowing his brow. He knew what this was going to be about, but no one was around except for Reid and Jareau.

"All right, Rossi," Morgan replied, with a slight twitch from his left eyebrow.

Rossi looked around. "Not here."

"No we're gonna do this here or we're not doing this at all," Morgan stated firmly, poking his pointer finger on the cold table. "Reid and JJ are here. I'd like witnesses for whatever you're about to say."

There was a moment of silence between what Morgan said and what Rossi wanted to say. Rossi leaned forward. He leaned forward on his overlapping arms and looked out the window for a mere moment. It was clear he did not want to talk about this topic here. Morgan realized that Rossi was right, and that this should be done elsewhere, but there was nothing Rossi could say that Reid and Jareau could not hear.

Rossi began talking in a low voice so only the four of them, including himself, could hear what he was saying, "Do you care about him?"

"What?" Morgan asked, taken aback by the inquiry. He thought this would be more of an apology sort of thing about the plane ride here. "Yeah, of course I care about him. Why?"

"After three ex-wives you kind of learn to realize that you should try to find love anywhere," Rossi said as he leaned back in his chair, knitting his fingers over his stomach.

Morgan furrowed his brow. "What made you change your mind?"

"You two," Rossi said as he sat up again, nodding toward Reid whose mouth was half open. "Now let me talk to Hotch- buy him a drink or something. I'm an old colleague. He'll listen to me."

"Listen to you about what?" Prentiss inquired as she entered their puny area. She squeezed behind Rossi and sat in a chair across from Morgan, right in front of the window. "Oh, I get it. You've finally grown balls. Good for you, Rossi."

Jareau, Reid, and Morgan all let out a small breath of a laugh while Prentiss got a pointed glare from Rossi. They could be light-hearted about this now. It was a good feeling to have with friends throughout all the bad they saw together. Hotch was the only threat to everyone's happiness. Not only did Morgan and Reid's joy rest in the palm of his pale length hand, but so did everyone else's joviality- including Hotch's. Without the two members of the team, not only would people be angry at Hotch, but they would no longer be a strong family.

"Rossi grew balls? That's a good thing to know," Hotch said in his sardonic voice. He raised an eyebrow at the unopened box of evidence on the table and the map that had nothing on it. "You've all be sitting here for how long and you've got what accomplished?"

He squeezed passed Prentiss and sat to the right of her since all the other chairs, except for the one nearest Jareau, were taken. He placed an ankle on his other knee and sat there stoically, with his hands over the armrests. Everyone stared at him for a moment, unable to comprehend what to say next.

"Special Agent Hotchner," Jareau said, her voice a little weak at first from nervousness of what she was about to say, but the fact that he used part of his formal address caught everybody's attention. "Rossi was just apologizing for being rude on the plane… and I think everyone would like it if you did the same thing. Hotch, if you go back and tell the head of the board, you won't just be hurting them… you'll be hurting us too. And as much as some of you would like to deny it, mostly you, Hotch, we are a family. We will always be a family- that's why we work so well together. I have a family at home- a husband and a son- but I get the same kind of love and support with you guys as I do there. Hotch, show them the same sort of support you would want."

Jareau tacked up the last set of pictures on the corkboard. There was a long drawn out silence. This was one of those days where nothing anyone could say or do would make anything better. The team recognized that. However, it did not mean they could not try.

After this long period of nothing but the phones ringing and police talking in the background, Hotch opened his mouth to speak, "I'm sorry JJ, but I can't break the rules."

"Oh, bull. We've broken plenty of rules!" Prentiss exclaimed as quietly as she could, leaning forward in her seat. She looked around at everybody with huge eyes and continued, "Hotch, nobody needs to know. Do you really want to take away their careers because of this?"

"I don't but-"

"Then don't," Prentiss finished simply.

Another long silence.

"JJ, what do you have for us?" Morgan stated with a slight smile.

***

"Why'd you ask me here?" Hotch asked as he glanced up at the glittering night sky and the large luminescent crescent moon, which was so vast it looked as though a person could touch it from where they stood.

Rossi looked out over the smooth surface of Cayuga Lake and said, "Because you need to hear what I'm about to tell you. As far as everyone's concerned, you need a reality check."

The water seemed to glitter against the reflections of the stars. Immense amounts of light spread across the top of the water. Hotch stood barefoot in the large grains of rock, his feet touching the cold water. Rossi stood a couple inches from the edge in his black shoes. Both of them had discarded their black suit jackets over the edge of a fallen tree trunk.

Hotch picked up a few flat stones from a couple feet away and returned to his spot, all the while asking, "Are you going to tell me how to do my job, Dave?"

Rossi laughed. "Hell no, I don't want your job! What I want is for you to bring respect back to the table. After how you acted today- on the plane, in the station- I say you need to treat your agents better. The four of them, they're probably all at a diner somewhere enjoying each other's company while working on the case. Don't be mad just because they're not scared to do what we are!"

"Don't bring that up," Hotch stated solemnly, more solemn than usual. He squatted and skipped the first of the stones he was holding. It went three paces and then landed in the water. "It's against the rules."

"It's the same old dance and tune with you, isn't it? Y'know, you convinced me it's all about the rules, but you know who follows the rules? People who can't think for themselves. I listened to you and I bitched them out, that was wrong. I get it now. You can't tell me you don't understand. It's inevitable, Aaron. Sooner or later you'll get it. You can't tell me you don't want that night a couple weeks back to happen again."

Hotch tossed the two other rocks he was holding into the lake. He sat on the sane and wiped off his feet with his socks, which he then slipped on. Rossi could only watch him numbly. Hotch put on his shoes and tied them quickly and tightly, leaving big loops on the bows. He stood and began walking to get his jacket. All the while, Rossi watched him. Typically he would say something- put Hotch in his place- but now he could only stare. His boss pulled on his jacket and adjusted his tie, and kept walking.

Rossi irrevocably escaped from his trance, practically dashing to block Hotch's path. He pulled his jacket back on in the chilly breeze. For a couple moments Hotch and Rossi merely had a staring contest- Hotch's wish to be passive and Rossi's need to do something about it. There were a couple of times where Hotch tried to get around Rossi, but Rossi would not allow it.

"Let me pass," Hotch ordered.

However, this was not about to work.

"Howabout this: I'll let you pass if you leave Reid and Morgan alone- and maybe think about us while you're at it," Rossi offered, even though Hotch had no choice in the matter.

"Hotch nodded his head. "Fine."

"Just imagine what they're doing right now," Rossi suggested, "They're probably out doing the case while you and I are out talking."

"Let's hope you're right. We barely got anywhere today," Hotch replied.

"Okay, so let's recap," Morgan suggested as he dipped a French fry in a puddle of ketchup and stuck it in his mouth.

Jareau flipped through the pad of notes she had been carrying- neatening them up for further inspection. She stopped on a page labeled "Victims and Their Girlfriends".

Jareau began listing facts that they knew, "The victims are Mitchell Oliver, Corey Thompson, and Tim Hart. Britney Dunn dated Oliver, Tammy Block dated Thompson and Michelle Foote dated Tim Hart. All the guys were football stars while all the girlfriends were cheerleaders-"

"Looks like our unsub's going for the popular couple's bit. Everyone knows that the football star and his cheerleader are on the top of the world in high school," Prentiss suggested, stealing a fry off of Morgan's plate. "And they're typically assholes to everyone around them, so that could be a motive. The teased getting revenge."

Reid sat there with his hands in his lap. Morgan was practically taking up their whole bench. But Reid just looked at his hands, as though there were nothing more exciting to do. He wrung his hands, unable to look up at Morgan or Prentiss or Jareau. It was as if someone was pushing his head down onto his chest, causing him to look at his hands because if he looked up at everyone else he might not be able to control what would be said. The team hated when he shouted out random statistics and with a case that had to do with high school bullying he felt like he should stay out of it- no matter how many statistics screamed in his head.

"Reid, man, you all right?" Morgan inquired, watching Reid play with his reddening hands.

"Yeah, fine," Reid said shortly, quickly, forced.

Morgan raised an eyebrow and placed his hand on Reid's hands, causing him to stop as he said, "Look up at me then."

Reid raised his head to look Morgan in those big brown eyes and immediately, as a nervous habit, he said, "People bullied at age eight are three times more likely to have committed a crime and have been convicted of it by age thirty. They're also six times more likely to be arrested and more likely to abuse a spouse or children."

"What?" Prentiss asked.

Clearly she thought this had nothing to do with anything. But when Morgan glanced at them, she knew she was mistaken and understood immediately. With such a brilliant mind as Reid's not many people would understand. Plus, he always did get sensitive when people would treat others with disrespect just because of their intelligence, or some other ridiculous reason like that. Already this case brought back horrible memories for him, and he hated that- Morgan saw that.

"I'm sorry, Reid…"

Everyone looked at Prentiss, who had uttered those words.

"Can we get back to the case? I'm feeling miraculously better now," Reid replied, looking around at his two friends and Morgan (who had his own category, of course).

"Sure we can," Jareau said gently. "I talked to the victim's girlfriends today while you two were going through the evidence box and Reid was making the map. They all said their boyfriends kept seeing this girl following them around before they died- said she would not leave them alone."

"Did they say if there was an event that sparked her following them?" Morgan asked. "And I gotta tell Hotch it's a chick. I love it when I'm right."

"Yes Morgan, you were right," Jareau said slowly in a mocking tone.

Reid opened his mouth and stated, "A little over three hundred seventy thousand men are stalked annually in the United States."

"Thanks Reid, that's comforting," Prentiss joked.

"The girlfriends said they all met her in the same place, which is why I brought you here," Jareau whispered proudly, so the other customers did not accidentally overhear that a murdering stalker was in their midst.

Everyone raised their eyebrows, especially Morgan. Jareau had led them straight to the place that must have helped start all of this. Each agent, including Jareau, knew that this place must be extremely important to her unsub in order for her to meet all these men here. However, that was extremely unlikely that she had not seen her anywhere else and that three football stars had decided to come to the same diner where she found them. There was a missing link in here somewhere, and it was their job to find it.

"You know how unlikely it is that they all met her here," Morgan asked in statement form.

"Yes, but it's all we've got. Until we find that missing link I'm afraid all we've discovered today is that our unsub's a girl and that there is something extremely important about this diner," Jareau said.

They sat there for a few minutes. All four of them were lost in their own thoughts. For all they found out it sure took them a long time. Hopefully the case will start pulling together soon. That was all they needed- maybe all they needed to know was what was so special about this diner. Morgan paid for his fries and gave the waiter an adequate tip. They stood from the table, Morgan letting the girls go first and allowing Reid out of the booth. He was the last in the line of them to leave the building. When he was about to let the door drop, he pulled it open all of the way. A beautiful girl with loose black ringlets and a pixie nose left the diner, swaying her hips back and forth.

"Thank you mister…" she began.

The girl turned to look at him as he let the door drop. She must have been five foot six, although her three-inch heels would leave her to be five foot three. Those curves could poke somebody's eye out if they were not well proportioned enough to be extremely sexy. Her cropped British flag T-shirt showed her flat abs that were carved generously into her torso. Her Cupid's bow lips were glossed with a crimson red lipstick. She was stunning, absolutely stunning.

At first Morgan stood there stupidly, but then eventually words escaped from his mouth, "Uh… Special Agent Derek Morgan. I'm with the FBI."

She smiled flirtatiously and winked. Then she walked away with her butt wagging back and forth, it was mesmerizing. However, Morgan thought nothing of it. He caught up to the rest of the gang, feeling a tad guilty. Reid was attractive, but he was adorable- he was not irritably sexy, make Morgan stiff in the pants sexy. But that woman… there was something about that woman that really captivated Morgan.

After Reid climbed into the front passenger seat of the black SUV, everyone could tell he sensed something. It bothered him- niggled at his very being. The way he saw Morgan look at her, as if in total awe. Morgan never looked at him that way. No, he looked at Reid as though he were a little kid- just someone to fool around with. He hated it, but he really liked Morgan.

"Reid, is something the matter?" Jareau asked from the back seat.

Reid ignored her and instead questioned Morgan, "So, who was that she?"

Morgan could not say anything.

He really wished he could answer that question because there was just something weird about her- something Morgan just could not place.

***

Morgan was occupying himself in Reid's hotel room with a magazine. Reid had flicked on the television and was watching something on the History channel about the apocalypse being on December 12 of 2011. The young genius was pretty invested in it. His long lanky frame was sitting up on the bed with his legs stretched out in front of him- blue and white unmatched socks pocking out from under his loose khaki colored pants. His arms were crossed over his chest while a bit of hair was tucked behind his right ear. Morgan decided Reid was beautiful at that moment- unconventionally beautiful.

Morgan put the magazine down on the table, open to the spot he was reading. The man crossed the room to Reid, whose brow was furrowed in concentration at the documentary. Morgan sat on the side of the bed, placing his hand on Reid's shin. However, no matter how beautiful Reid looked, Morgan could still tell there was something wrong. Just the fact that this wonderful magician had to stare intently at the television to comprehend what was going on told him there were other things happening in Reid's brain. Ever since Morgan saw that mysterious girl down at the diner, Reid had been acting quite strange.

"Hey beautiful," Morgan said in a low voice. His tone was slightly gruff. He added, "Scootch over."

Reid did as he was told. He still had not looked at Morgan- not once. That was not very comforting. Morgan moved onto the bed beside him, putting himself in the same position- sitting on the bed with his legs stretched out in front of him. He placed an arm around Reid and tugged him towards him, but Reid barely complied.

"What's wrong, man?" Morgan inquired, pulling his arm out from around Reid.

Morgan turned to face Reid, whose face was expressionless, except when he moved his chin and lip up a little bit. That was the adorable face he made whenever he was trying to decide what to say.

In the end Reid blatantly lied, and Morgan knew he did when Reid said, "Nothing's wrong. I'm just enjoying my program. I've seen this about three times, it's quite interesting."

This was when Morgan straddled Reid's legs and looked him right in the eye.

Reid looked away.

"C'mon, don't lie to me. I love you, you know that, and I don't like it when you lie to me- or when you're hurting," Morgan told him. He added, "Man, I especially don't like it when you're hurting."

For the first time since the diner, Reid looked up at Morgan's face. Their eyes locked for a moment. Reid felt sadness because he felt as though he was not enough for Morgan. Morgan was the agent that was larger than life- that everyone always wanted. And he was a hero. All Reid was, was the odd man out. And not Morgan was telling him he loved him. All of this was going way to fast. Reid had yet to figure out why exactly Morgan loved him. After the pain of the past few months, Reid knew he loved Morgan more than anything in his body… but how could he believe Morgan when he had always been the player?

"We haven't even been dating a day, and you're telling me you love me?" Reid questioned, narrowing his eyes. Morgan just gave Reid a look that was supposed to mean 'yes'. But Reid would not take that and he said, "Guys like you tell boys like me you love them just to get what you want. How do I really know you love me- especially after how you looked at that girl earlier? You never looked at me that way."

And that all hit Morgan like a ton of bricks building a wall between of them. All Morgan wanted to do was take a sledgehammer to that wall of bricks- take them down one at a time. Morgan had no idea how he could answer Reid's question. They had not even been dating a day and Morgan had gone against Reid's logic. Reid thought he saw through all of Morgan's bull, but really it was not bull at all. Morgan shamelessly loved Reid and did not care anymore who knew it. All those years- the four years he had been making fun of the kid was really a façade because he was scared. Morgan was not scared anymore.

"Kid, you know how I made fun of you the first couple of years you were in the Bureau?" Morgan inquired.

He leaned down and gave Reid a kiss on the lips, then pulled back and waited for Reid's answer.

"Yeah. It wasn't just those couple of years-"

"The point is, it was all a façade. It was all fake. I was makin' fun of you because I was scared. But I'm not scared anymore. That's why I confronted you in the conference room this morning. I didn't want to run anymore and I couldn't watch you be like that sweetheart. I just couldn't do it," Morgan confessed.

Reid surprised Morgan with a kiss.

"I've loved you for years, and I just couldn't tell you," Morgan confessed.

He leaned over Reid, his hands on either side of the boy. They kissed, silently. Their tongues moving in and out of each other's mouths. They switched positions so Morgan was practically laying on top of Reid- the two brushing against each other harmoniously. Morgan moved Reid's hair out of the way. They kissed and melded together, their hearts beating simultaneously. The heat kept rising in the room. Just from a kiss- a beautiful kiss that they hoped would never end.

And then there was a knock at the door.

Morgan ignored it for a couple seconds and kept kissing Reid. However, the knocking was persistent. He got up and opened the door. Standing before him was Jareau, fully clothed in one of her business suits.

"I could only guess what you two have been doing," Jareau smiled.

Morgan turned around. Reid's hair was a mess- sticking up in different places. Their clothes were ruffled. Reid grinned sheepishly.

Jareau said, "We've found another body. We're heading out now."

***

I'm falling apart, I'm barely breathing
With a broken heart that's still beating
In the pain, there is healing
In your name I find meaning
So I'm holdin' on, I'm holdin' on, I'm holdin' on
I'm barely holdin' on to you

Jareau got out of the black SUV that Hotch was driving and walked over to the female police officer that was talking to the victim's girlfriend. It was eight o'clock and most everyone there just wanted to go to bed. The blonde FBI agent introduced the team to her and the other two cops that were standing there. One of the cops was holding a roll of "CRIME SCENE: DO NOT CROSS" tape, as he had just finished decorating the perimeter with it.

"I'm going inside," Prentiss told whoever was listening as she crossed the yellow tape.

She jogged to the porch and up the front steps into the house. Prentiss pulled open the screen door and entered into the house. The linoleum floor sounded funny underneath her boots. Beside the front door was a box of latex gloves. She grabbed a pair and snapped them on. For a while she walked around the house, trying to find anything that would set this couple apart from the other three. So far the two appeared to be the typical couple in their mid-twenties. Prentiss headed upstairs to the bedroom.

The walls were a nice blue and the comforter on the bed a complimenting dark purple. On top of the comforter was the victim, wearing only silk black boxers with a red lipstick kiss on his cheek beside his lip. Next to that body was Reid, who had his head dangerously close to the victim's corpse, and seemed to be sniffing it.

"What're you doing?" Prentiss blinked in disbelief.

Reid looked up at her and stood up straight. "Smelling the body. There's a particular odor that covets him- something like a, uh, feminine perfume."

Prentiss nodded, her mouth half open. "Oh. Then here, let me smell. I probably have more experience than you in the whole female perfume department."

She crossed the room and squatted a little bit next to the body, taking in the scent, "Is that Calvin Klein? Wait… no, that's Britney Spears."

"We have a name," Jareau said as she came into the room. Standing by the doorway she made a face and then let out a slight laugh. "What're you doing?"

Prentiss stood up, a little embarrassed to be caught sniffing in the stench of a corpse, "Oh, ah, JJ-"

"There's a particular smell of this corpse much like perfume. It most likely rubbed off onto the body during some sexual contact," Reid said with raised eyebrows, giving Jareau an even bigger inclination to think Reid knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Well, that won't do us much good if we already have a name," Jareau stated with a soft smile.

Prentiss and Reid looked at each other inquisitively. Earlier it seemed like they had nothing at all on this case, but now the team had one of the most important aspects- the name of a prime suspect. However, Jareau had not told them any of the news yet. Prentiss eyed her attentively as if to say, "Well, tell us already."

"Her name is Veronica Jennings. Sally told us that she and Owen went to high school with Veronica. Sally confessed she was quite popular in high school while Owen was on the football team. The only differences between the couples is the fact that Sally worked hard in school, got good grades, went to Cornell and refused to have sex in high school. So it looks like Veronica is changing her MO, spreading her qualifications like that," Jareau told them, folding her arms across her chest.

Prentiss nodded. She looked towards the ceiling for a second. There were a few questions she wanted to ask. Reid seemed a bit surprised at what Jareau had told them, but not contradictory. He wondered what made Veronica change her ideals. He supposed that by the end of the case he would know everything about Veronica and why exactly she chose the victims she did.

"So it looks like the other victims' girlfriends withheld information," Prentiss noted aloud. Then she asked Jareau the questions that were burning in her mind, "Did the victim meet with Veronica before his death? Do we know the significance of the diner? Why does Sally think it's Veronica?"

Jareau began listing answers, "Owen and Veronica met on Facebook. They agreed to have lunch at the diner. Apparently the diner was a big hang-out spot during high school. And Sally thinks it Veronica because apparently Veronica called her three days before Owen disappeared telling her she'll be missing him for a couple of days. I don't know, but that seems like a thread to me."

Morgan's deep fine grain sandpaper-like voice floated in the air in the hallway, "Hey, beautiful."

"Hey," Jareau said, and grinned sheepishly when she realized he was not talking to her.

Morgan poked his head into the large room and looked at Reid with big, brown, doe-like eyes. The two connected for a moment, letting their emotions hang heavily in the thin air. Then Morgan's eyes drifted to the body on the bed. He crossed to the body.

"I thought you only saved those greetings for Garcia," Reid asked with the question hidden in his statement.

Morgan furrowed his brow as he knelt beside the body. "I save them for whoever I wanna save 'em for."

"I'd like that," Reid insinuated.

A few seconds later Morgan stated, with his nose only centimeters away from the body, "This smells like-"

"Either a Calvin Klein or Britney Spears scent, yeah, we got that," Prentiss told him.

"Hotch wants everyone downstairs. Says he wants us awake for tomorrow, which means he wants us in bed," Morgan stated. "Forensics are on their way to bag the body up, and we're supposed to be out of here so they can do that."

The other three profilers nodded. They all headed towards the door. Going single file in the narrow hallway, all four of them made it down the stairs. Hotch stood there talking to Sally, who seemed more mad than woeful. She had herself planted firmly on the ground as she waved her hands around as if to emphasize her point. Rossi nodded his head up and down, slowly, as if he was listening, but mostly his head was on all the information they were quickly discovering.

"Thank you for your time, Sally," Hotch said as he and Rossi turned away from her.

"Call if you need anything. I want to see this bitch behind bars," Sally said, wiping her eyes with her right hand.

Reid saw that she had been crying because of the streaks of mascara down her cheeks. He felt bad for her. He had no idea what he would do without his newly found love- or 'like' seeing as he did not want it to go too fast. The team all piled into the SUV, with Rossi driving this time.

"What else did you learn?" Jareau inquired.

"That we need to have an information compiling session tomorrow, before we do any more investigative work," Hotch replied.

Rossi turned the key in the ignition and heard the SUV roar to life. The hotel was five minutes away, even though it took eight minutes to get there because of an unbelievable amount of traffic for eight forty-five at night. When the team pulled in to the hotel's parking lot, nobody saw a black-haired girl standing outside the elevators smoking a cigarette. And when the team piled out of the SUV, nobody but Morgan saw her standing there with a smirk on her face in her white wife beater, blue skinny jeans, and tall black combat boots.

Morgan stood outside the black SUV for a few moments, trying to determine what he should do. A part of him felt his intuition taking over. He should go talk to her. In fact, that was exactly what he was going to do. Morgan made up his mind. He told Reid to go ahead and go to bed. Once everyone was safely inside the hotel, Morgan walked up to her.

"Hey, are you following me?" Morgan inquired, annoyed, and with a furrowed brow.

"Of course not," she said, puffing out a swirl of smoke. Her head shook back and forth. "Of course not. I mean, that'd be ridiculous. I'm just standing here, smoking a cigarette."

"What's your name?" Morgan asked, feeling as though he would know the answer to this question.

That was when she smiled and dropped her rolled-up tobacco to the ground, stomping on it to make it go out. She adjusted her left hand. Morgan tried to look, but whatever was in her hand was behind her back.

With that sly grin still on her face, she said, "It's your lucky day, man."

And with that, she held up the tire iron, the grin on her face never wavering.

When Morgan saw it, all he could think about was how Reid would react. It did not matter what he thought or what happened to him. All that mattered was how Reid would be without him there. He had the utmost faith in his team. But now a part of him, and a part of Reid would be broken, and the piece would only be glued back on when they found Morgan- however they found him.

So holding it like a baseball bat, she clocked Morgan twice in the head with it, watching him fall to the floor. With everyone safe in their rooms, far away from the scene of the crime, she dragged Morgan to her car and threw him in the back. She put a pair of handcuffs on him, pulling half of the handcuffs over a pole she installed running through half of the truck, so that her captives could not use their hands if they awoke. Of course, Morgan would not awake. And then she drove away in her white van, knowing the screen would hold and that the handcuffs were perfect. All of this really was a full proof plan. And she would set him up in her basement, where he could not get out. It was perfect.

Perfect.

***

Next part of story - It Hurts.