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carolinecraneTitle: Zeroes and Ones 12/?
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.
"So what's this conference you're presenting at about, anyway?"
They were sitting in a booth at the back of Derek's favorite Chinese place, sharing orders of Kung Pao Chicken and Sweet and Sour Pork. Spencer had already eaten more than his share of the eggrolls, but Derek wasn't about to call him on it. Truth was, he kind of liked watching Spencer eat. He liked watching Spencer enjoy himself, anyway, and he couldn't deny that they were pretty good eggrolls.
"Biosocial criminology," Spencer answered around a mouthful of pork. "I'm presenting a paper on behavioral genetics and serial killers."
"See, you find the time to write all those papers," Derek said, gesturing toward Spencer with his chopsticks, "but you don't get how I have the time to swing a hammer. Seems to me what you do takes a lot more focus."
Spencer shrugged and reached for the last eggroll, and when he glanced up Derek laughed and let him have it. "You can't really compare the two. I study serial killers for a living, and I can work on papers on the plane or in hotels. All my case studies come from the BAU's files. Renovating a house requires you to actually be there. What I don't understand is how you had the time to work on your house when you were working for the BAU."
"Houses," Derek said, and the only hint he got that Spencer was surprised by that news was a slight widening of his eyes. "Stress relief, kid. I bought old houses and fixed them up. Still collecting rent on a few properties down there. It pays the mortgage on my new place, anyway."
"So if you still own them, does that mean you're planning to come back?"
"Spencer, come on, man, you know Hotch wouldn't take me back even if I wanted to go," Derek answered, frowning at Spencer as he tried to work out whether or not he really expected Derek to come back like nothing had ever happened. "Parnell can't be all that bad."
"I know that." Spencer huffed out an impatient breath, fixing Derek with the look that meant sometimes he really was just as stupid as Spencer made him feel. "But you own property there; you have to visit sometimes, right?"
Derek shrugged and leaned back in the booth as he realized what Spencer was asking. He didn't know what it meant; it might not mean anything at all, but there was a part of him that wanted it to. "Well, my property manager takes care of the day-to-day stuff, but yeah, I'll probably make it down there every so often, put in an appearance."
"You could stay with me if you wanted," Spencer said, gaze fixed on his dinner like all of a sudden it was the most interesting thing he'd ever seen. It didn't do much to hide his blush, though, and Derek's heart did a weird little tap dance in his chest when Spencer ventured a glance up at him. "I could give you my key in case we're called away on a case."
He'd known for years that Spencer didn't have all that much practice in dealing with other people; he almost always managed to say the wrong thing, and even when he was trying he never could read other people's signals. So Derek wasn't really surprised that Spencer would skip ahead at least eight steps in whatever this thing was between them, but he wasn't going to point out that technically Spencer probably shouldn't hand over his key until they were sleeping together. Because as far as he knew, sex had never even entered the equation for Spencer. As far as Derek could tell, Spencer was here because he missed having someone around who made him feel safe, and he was trying to hold onto that connection. The last thing Derek was going to do was ruin what relationship they did have by asking for more than Spencer was ready to give.
Hell, Derek wasn't even sure he wanted to take things with Spencer in that direction, especially now that they had three hundred miles between them. Long-distance relationships were a pain in the ass and they never led to anything but heartache. Sure, there was J.J.'s thing with Will, which seemed to be working out okay, or at least it would if J.J. would stop being so uptight and just let the guy in. But they were having a kid together now, and chances were that motherhood would mellow her some. Derek hoped so, because they could all see how happy she was ever since New Orleans, and if anybody deserved to hang on to that, it was her.
Then again, he knew better than anyone what a rough road Spencer had been dealt in life. So maybe he deserved to be happy even more than J.J.; it would be a change from the twitchy, awkward genius routine, anyway, seeing Spencer relaxed and smiling for awhile. And Derek could help with the relaxed part, that much he was sure of. The part he didn't know if he could deliver was the 'happily ever after'.
He thought about telling Spencer that there was no way he'd ever hear the end of it if he showed his face in Virginia and didn't stay with Garcia. It was an easy excuse, one he knew Spencer would buy. It would wipe that shy, expectant look right off his face, though, and Derek could handle a lot of things, but disappointing Spencer Reid had never been one of them.
"I'll keep it in mind," he said, grinning to show he meant it, and when Spencer smiled back at him Derek figured it was worth a cold shower every now and then to keep Spencer in his life.
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.
"So what's this conference you're presenting at about, anyway?"
They were sitting in a booth at the back of Derek's favorite Chinese place, sharing orders of Kung Pao Chicken and Sweet and Sour Pork. Spencer had already eaten more than his share of the eggrolls, but Derek wasn't about to call him on it. Truth was, he kind of liked watching Spencer eat. He liked watching Spencer enjoy himself, anyway, and he couldn't deny that they were pretty good eggrolls.
"Biosocial criminology," Spencer answered around a mouthful of pork. "I'm presenting a paper on behavioral genetics and serial killers."
"See, you find the time to write all those papers," Derek said, gesturing toward Spencer with his chopsticks, "but you don't get how I have the time to swing a hammer. Seems to me what you do takes a lot more focus."
Spencer shrugged and reached for the last eggroll, and when he glanced up Derek laughed and let him have it. "You can't really compare the two. I study serial killers for a living, and I can work on papers on the plane or in hotels. All my case studies come from the BAU's files. Renovating a house requires you to actually be there. What I don't understand is how you had the time to work on your house when you were working for the BAU."
"Houses," Derek said, and the only hint he got that Spencer was surprised by that news was a slight widening of his eyes. "Stress relief, kid. I bought old houses and fixed them up. Still collecting rent on a few properties down there. It pays the mortgage on my new place, anyway."
"So if you still own them, does that mean you're planning to come back?"
"Spencer, come on, man, you know Hotch wouldn't take me back even if I wanted to go," Derek answered, frowning at Spencer as he tried to work out whether or not he really expected Derek to come back like nothing had ever happened. "Parnell can't be all that bad."
"I know that." Spencer huffed out an impatient breath, fixing Derek with the look that meant sometimes he really was just as stupid as Spencer made him feel. "But you own property there; you have to visit sometimes, right?"
Derek shrugged and leaned back in the booth as he realized what Spencer was asking. He didn't know what it meant; it might not mean anything at all, but there was a part of him that wanted it to. "Well, my property manager takes care of the day-to-day stuff, but yeah, I'll probably make it down there every so often, put in an appearance."
"You could stay with me if you wanted," Spencer said, gaze fixed on his dinner like all of a sudden it was the most interesting thing he'd ever seen. It didn't do much to hide his blush, though, and Derek's heart did a weird little tap dance in his chest when Spencer ventured a glance up at him. "I could give you my key in case we're called away on a case."
He'd known for years that Spencer didn't have all that much practice in dealing with other people; he almost always managed to say the wrong thing, and even when he was trying he never could read other people's signals. So Derek wasn't really surprised that Spencer would skip ahead at least eight steps in whatever this thing was between them, but he wasn't going to point out that technically Spencer probably shouldn't hand over his key until they were sleeping together. Because as far as he knew, sex had never even entered the equation for Spencer. As far as Derek could tell, Spencer was here because he missed having someone around who made him feel safe, and he was trying to hold onto that connection. The last thing Derek was going to do was ruin what relationship they did have by asking for more than Spencer was ready to give.
Hell, Derek wasn't even sure he wanted to take things with Spencer in that direction, especially now that they had three hundred miles between them. Long-distance relationships were a pain in the ass and they never led to anything but heartache. Sure, there was J.J.'s thing with Will, which seemed to be working out okay, or at least it would if J.J. would stop being so uptight and just let the guy in. But they were having a kid together now, and chances were that motherhood would mellow her some. Derek hoped so, because they could all see how happy she was ever since New Orleans, and if anybody deserved to hang on to that, it was her.
Then again, he knew better than anyone what a rough road Spencer had been dealt in life. So maybe he deserved to be happy even more than J.J.; it would be a change from the twitchy, awkward genius routine, anyway, seeing Spencer relaxed and smiling for awhile. And Derek could help with the relaxed part, that much he was sure of. The part he didn't know if he could deliver was the 'happily ever after'.
He thought about telling Spencer that there was no way he'd ever hear the end of it if he showed his face in Virginia and didn't stay with Garcia. It was an easy excuse, one he knew Spencer would buy. It would wipe that shy, expectant look right off his face, though, and Derek could handle a lot of things, but disappointing Spencer Reid had never been one of them.
"I'll keep it in mind," he said, grinning to show he meant it, and when Spencer smiled back at him Derek figured it was worth a cold shower every now and then to keep Spencer in his life.
