carolinecrane (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
carolinecrane) wrote2010-10-26 02:10 pm
carolinecrane) wrote2010-10-26 02:10 pm
Entry tags:
Fic: Zeroes and Ones 11/? (Criminal Minds, Morgan/Reid, NC17)
Title: Zeroes and Ones 11/?
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Pairing: Derek Morgan/Spencer Reid
Rating: NC17
Summary: AU. This diverges from canon directly after 4x01. When Derek's offered the job heading up the NYC field office, he takes it for the good of his career. He expects to leave the BAU and everyone he knew in Virginia behind, but some people are easier to let go of than others.
It took a hell of a lot of planning to make it out of the office in time to meet Spencer’s plane, but somehow Derek managed to pull it off. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d met somebody at the airport – the last time one of his sister flew in to visit, he figured – and it felt a little weird, standing outside security waiting for Spencer to file through the exit with the rest of his flight.
He’d checked his messages at least a dozen times since he left the office, but he still pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked one more time to make sure he hadn’t missed a call from Spencer, or an alert from the airport telling him Spencer’s flight had been delayed.
There were no new messages, and Derek shoved the phone back in his pocket and looked back up at the corridor all the traffic from Spencer’s flight would be funneled through. When he caught sight of long hair and a pair of narrow shoulders, a wool coat that was way too big and that damn bag he’d know anywhere, Derek grinned. Then Spencer looked up and spotted him, hand going straight to his hair to tuck it behind his ear and Derek had seen him do it enough times to know it meant Spencer was nervous.
He knew the feeling, but he couldn’t put his finger on why, exactly. It was just Reid, and they’d known each other a long time, worked side by side and spent more time in each other’s company than most people spent with their families. He knew Spencer, maybe better than most people, and Spencer knew him. Sure, things had changed a little since Derek left the BAU, but that didn’t mean they had to be weird.
“Look at you,” Derek said when Spencer finally reached him. He reached out to grip the front of Spencer’s coat, straightening his lapels and grinning at the blush staining Spencer’s cheeks. “Looking all professorial. You better be careful or one of these colleges is going to try to steal you away from the FBI someday.”
“Actually, I’ve already turned down a few offers,” Spencer said, and Derek knew it shouldn’t surprise him, because Spencer was that rare kind of genius who could hold his own in a whole bunch of different areas. He couldn't see Spencer ever wanting to leave the BAU, but sometimes he wondered if Spencer wouldn't be better off if he did. He was a genius, sure, and his profiles were invaluable to the team. But he still took so much of what he saw to heart, and Derek worried about what it was going to do to him in the long run. He could go out the way Gideon did, just check out one day and disappear off the grid. The likeliest scenario was that he'd get himself killed stepping between some kid he thought was worth saving and a bunch of local uniforms with itchy trigger fingers.
Derek wasn't sure which would be worse. All he knew was that thinking about it made him want to drag Spencer forward into a tight hug, and if he started hovering the second Spencer got to town, Spencer would make up some excuse and book himself into the first hotel he could find. He settled for reaching out to take the carry-on gripped tightly in Spencer's hand, then sliding his arm around Spencer's shoulders and steering him toward the escalator.
"You got any more luggage to pick up?"
"Why would I need more luggage?" Spencer asked, frowning like it was a pretty stupid question. And it was, Derek knew, because it hadn't been so long ago that he'd kept his own ready bag in his bedroom closet, packed with just enough clothes to get them through a week in any given town. Any longer than that and the Bureau would foot the bill for hotel dry cleaning, so they'd learned to travel light a long time ago.
"Dumb question," Derek answered, grinning again and steering Spencer toward the door that would take them to the taxi stand.
Once they slid into the back of the cab and Derek gave the driver his address he settled back in the seat, turning slightly so he could look at Spencer. "You got anywhere to be tonight?"
"No," Spencer said, shaking his head and when a curtain of hair fell across his eyes he reached up to push it back. "I don't have to be on campus until tomorrow morning."
"Good. So we'll drop your stuff at my place and head to Rockefeller Center, get you in some skates."
He laughed at the face Spencer made and stopped himself from reaching over to touch. When they were on the same team touching always felt natural, whether it was a hand on Spencer's shoulder during a rough case or just tousling the kid's hair to rile him up. Sometimes it was the only way Derek had to communicate what he was thinking in front of a victim's family or an unfriendly local cop, and somehow Spencer always knew what he was thinking just from a touch on his shoulder or his arm.
Spencer never touched back, but it never mattered, because at the time it was just part of being teammates. It was about keeping the kid safe -- keeping him sane -- because Gideon was gone and nobody else was picking up the slack. Now that they weren't on the same team anymore, touching Spencer meant something different, and Derek wasn't sure either of them was ready to ask themselves what.
Derek managed to keep his hands to himself all the way back to his place, and when the cab pulled up in front of his house he distracted himself with paying the driver and carrying Spencer's bag inside.
"There's a lot left to do," Derek said as he led Spencer into the living room. "I haven't done much on this floor yet, but I'm planning to take out a couple of these walls, open the place up a little."
Spencer walked into the room and set his bag down on the couch, then he shook off his coat and draped it over the couch next to the bag. The coat was new; Derek didn't remember ever seeing it before, anyway, and he was pretty sure he'd remember something that managed to make Spencer look even more like a little kid than usual. It didn't help that the thing was way too big for him, and Derek pictured Spencer buying the first thing he saw on the rack without even bothering to check a mirror first.
He grinned at the image as he watched Spencer look around his place, bright eyes taking in the holes in the drywall and the spots where Derek had stripped paint away from original woodwork.
"How do you have time for all this?"
Derek shrugged and slid his own coat off. "Now that I'm not traveling so much I've got a little more time on my hands. Anyway, you can find the time if you want to. I always found the time in Virginia, too."
For a minute Spencer just stared at him, but before Derek could ask what was on his mind, Clooney came padding down the stairs. Derek glanced over at the dog, then back at Spencer. "Let me just let him out and feed him, then we can see about feeding ourselves. The guest room's upstairs, first door on the right, if you want to toss your bag in there."
He turned toward the kitchen and the back door, leaving Spencer standing in the middle of his living room. It was kind of strange, having Spencer in his place, stranger even than Garcia and all her energy filling up the room. He couldn't put his finger on why, exactly, but he figured he had a whole week to figure it out before Spencer went home again.
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Pairing: Derek Morgan/Spencer Reid
Rating: NC17
Summary: AU. This diverges from canon directly after 4x01. When Derek's offered the job heading up the NYC field office, he takes it for the good of his career. He expects to leave the BAU and everyone he knew in Virginia behind, but some people are easier to let go of than others.
It took a hell of a lot of planning to make it out of the office in time to meet Spencer’s plane, but somehow Derek managed to pull it off. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d met somebody at the airport – the last time one of his sister flew in to visit, he figured – and it felt a little weird, standing outside security waiting for Spencer to file through the exit with the rest of his flight.
He’d checked his messages at least a dozen times since he left the office, but he still pulled his phone out of his pocket and checked one more time to make sure he hadn’t missed a call from Spencer, or an alert from the airport telling him Spencer’s flight had been delayed.
There were no new messages, and Derek shoved the phone back in his pocket and looked back up at the corridor all the traffic from Spencer’s flight would be funneled through. When he caught sight of long hair and a pair of narrow shoulders, a wool coat that was way too big and that damn bag he’d know anywhere, Derek grinned. Then Spencer looked up and spotted him, hand going straight to his hair to tuck it behind his ear and Derek had seen him do it enough times to know it meant Spencer was nervous.
He knew the feeling, but he couldn’t put his finger on why, exactly. It was just Reid, and they’d known each other a long time, worked side by side and spent more time in each other’s company than most people spent with their families. He knew Spencer, maybe better than most people, and Spencer knew him. Sure, things had changed a little since Derek left the BAU, but that didn’t mean they had to be weird.
“Look at you,” Derek said when Spencer finally reached him. He reached out to grip the front of Spencer’s coat, straightening his lapels and grinning at the blush staining Spencer’s cheeks. “Looking all professorial. You better be careful or one of these colleges is going to try to steal you away from the FBI someday.”
“Actually, I’ve already turned down a few offers,” Spencer said, and Derek knew it shouldn’t surprise him, because Spencer was that rare kind of genius who could hold his own in a whole bunch of different areas. He couldn't see Spencer ever wanting to leave the BAU, but sometimes he wondered if Spencer wouldn't be better off if he did. He was a genius, sure, and his profiles were invaluable to the team. But he still took so much of what he saw to heart, and Derek worried about what it was going to do to him in the long run. He could go out the way Gideon did, just check out one day and disappear off the grid. The likeliest scenario was that he'd get himself killed stepping between some kid he thought was worth saving and a bunch of local uniforms with itchy trigger fingers.
Derek wasn't sure which would be worse. All he knew was that thinking about it made him want to drag Spencer forward into a tight hug, and if he started hovering the second Spencer got to town, Spencer would make up some excuse and book himself into the first hotel he could find. He settled for reaching out to take the carry-on gripped tightly in Spencer's hand, then sliding his arm around Spencer's shoulders and steering him toward the escalator.
"You got any more luggage to pick up?"
"Why would I need more luggage?" Spencer asked, frowning like it was a pretty stupid question. And it was, Derek knew, because it hadn't been so long ago that he'd kept his own ready bag in his bedroom closet, packed with just enough clothes to get them through a week in any given town. Any longer than that and the Bureau would foot the bill for hotel dry cleaning, so they'd learned to travel light a long time ago.
"Dumb question," Derek answered, grinning again and steering Spencer toward the door that would take them to the taxi stand.
Once they slid into the back of the cab and Derek gave the driver his address he settled back in the seat, turning slightly so he could look at Spencer. "You got anywhere to be tonight?"
"No," Spencer said, shaking his head and when a curtain of hair fell across his eyes he reached up to push it back. "I don't have to be on campus until tomorrow morning."
"Good. So we'll drop your stuff at my place and head to Rockefeller Center, get you in some skates."
He laughed at the face Spencer made and stopped himself from reaching over to touch. When they were on the same team touching always felt natural, whether it was a hand on Spencer's shoulder during a rough case or just tousling the kid's hair to rile him up. Sometimes it was the only way Derek had to communicate what he was thinking in front of a victim's family or an unfriendly local cop, and somehow Spencer always knew what he was thinking just from a touch on his shoulder or his arm.
Spencer never touched back, but it never mattered, because at the time it was just part of being teammates. It was about keeping the kid safe -- keeping him sane -- because Gideon was gone and nobody else was picking up the slack. Now that they weren't on the same team anymore, touching Spencer meant something different, and Derek wasn't sure either of them was ready to ask themselves what.
Derek managed to keep his hands to himself all the way back to his place, and when the cab pulled up in front of his house he distracted himself with paying the driver and carrying Spencer's bag inside.
"There's a lot left to do," Derek said as he led Spencer into the living room. "I haven't done much on this floor yet, but I'm planning to take out a couple of these walls, open the place up a little."
Spencer walked into the room and set his bag down on the couch, then he shook off his coat and draped it over the couch next to the bag. The coat was new; Derek didn't remember ever seeing it before, anyway, and he was pretty sure he'd remember something that managed to make Spencer look even more like a little kid than usual. It didn't help that the thing was way too big for him, and Derek pictured Spencer buying the first thing he saw on the rack without even bothering to check a mirror first.
He grinned at the image as he watched Spencer look around his place, bright eyes taking in the holes in the drywall and the spots where Derek had stripped paint away from original woodwork.
"How do you have time for all this?"
Derek shrugged and slid his own coat off. "Now that I'm not traveling so much I've got a little more time on my hands. Anyway, you can find the time if you want to. I always found the time in Virginia, too."
For a minute Spencer just stared at him, but before Derek could ask what was on his mind, Clooney came padding down the stairs. Derek glanced over at the dog, then back at Spencer. "Let me just let him out and feed him, then we can see about feeding ourselves. The guest room's upstairs, first door on the right, if you want to toss your bag in there."
He turned toward the kitchen and the back door, leaving Spencer standing in the middle of his living room. It was kind of strange, having Spencer in his place, stranger even than Garcia and all her energy filling up the room. He couldn't put his finger on why, exactly, but he figured he had a whole week to figure it out before Spencer went home again.