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carolinecraneTitle: Zeroes and Ones 6/?
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.
Derek still had a month left on his sublet when the sale of his house was finalized, so he'd taken his time moving in. It gave him a chance to get a little work done without having to sleep in the mess, anyway, and by the time his lease was up he'd replaced the sketchiest looking pipes and made sure there was at least one reliable shower in the place. By the time Garcia showed up he'd been staying there for about a week, but between work and moving stuff out of his storage unit and into the upstairs bedrooms he hadn't had time to make it look all that welcoming. Still, there was a couch and a TV, a working fridge and a guest bed with clean sheets, and Garcia didn't need much more than that. She kept sending him lists of things she wanted to do in the city, anyway, so he figured they wouldn't even be there all that much.
He left work a little early for once, catching the subway to Penn Station just in time to meet Garcia's train. And he should have known better than to think she could pack like a normal person for a weekend trip, but when he caught sight of her hauling a suitcase and a giant bag across the station, he shook his head and picked up his pace to intercept her before she hurt herself. As soon as she saw him she squealed and dropped her luggage, and before he had time to brace himself Derek found his arms full of squealing computer geek. She squeezed him until he was pretty sure she'd broken a rib or two, then she shoved him away so she could look him up and down.
"Ooh, FBI chic. Mama likes."
Derek laughed and leaned in to press a kiss to her cheek before he reached around her to pick up her luggage. "Good to see you too, baby girl."
"Well, I know how much you miss me, I could hardly deprive you of my company," Garcia said. She slid her arm through Derek's and leaned into him, bumping his bicep with her shoulder. "Of course, I don't rate text messages like some people, but I suppose I should be grateful you manage to e-mail me back once in awhile."
"What?" He hadn't mentioned anything to Garcia about any text messages, so if she'd heard about that it was from Reid himself. Not that there was anything to tell; there hadn't even been all that many texts, but judging by the look on Garcia's face, she thought it was a big deal.
"There I was, minding my own business, and one Special Agent Spencer Reid storms into my office and demands to know when I'm coming to visit you. So I told him, because I thought he might want to pass along a message or something. Maybe send another gift, which reminds me that you have avoided the question every single time I've asked what he gave you before you left."
Derek raised his eyebrows and avoided the question again, steering her out of the station and onto the sidewalk to hail a cab. When the driver popped the trunk he loaded her luggage in and slid into the cab beside her, then rattled off his address before he looked at Garcia again.
"So he asked when you were coming to visit. What's wrong with that?"
"Still avoiding," she said, shaking her head and letting out a put-upon sigh. "Fine, keep your secrets."
"It was a book," Derek said, and when she narrowed her eyes at him he couldn't help laughing. "Hand to God, it was."
She shook her head, blond curls flying around her face and sticking to her lipstick. Derek reached over and pulled a few strands of hair away from her mouth, and just like that her smile was back in full force. "So I told him when I was coming to visit, and do you know what the little..." She paused and took a deep breath, teeth clenched to grind out the rest of her sentence, "...what the little genius said? 'That doesn't work for me.' He was trying to horn in on my trip without even asking! Then he pulled out his phone and started punching keys without so much as a thank you."
"Yeah, well, I might have suggested he tag along with you the first time up," Derek admitted. Garcia's eyes narrowed again and he ducked out of reach before she took a swing at him. "I told you, Garcia, I was worried about him. I figured it might be good for him, you know, get his head out of that cloud he's always walking around in for awhile."
"What about me? I was heartbroken when you left. It's so depressing around there now, no eye candy in sight. I was counting on this weekend filling my eye candy quota for the next few months, and now I find out you miss Reid more than me."
"You know that's not true," he said, but the thing was, she was kind of right. It wasn't that he missed Reid more, exactly, it was just...different. He knew there was no way he could say it that she'd understand -- he wasn't even sure he understood it -- so he swallowed a surge of guilt and forced a casual grin.
She was still pouting when they pulled up outside his building, but she got out of the cab anyway and waited while Derek paid the driver and retrieved her luggage. He carried her bags up the stoop, stopping at the front door and turning to look at her. "So how did you hear about the text messages?"
"You have your secrets, I have mine," she answered, chin poked out in that way that told him he wasn't getting her to spill any time soon.
He shook his head and opened the front door, standing aside to let her brush past him before he followed her in. "It's not much to look at yet," he said, "but once I get the carpets out and strip all the paint off the woodwork it'll start to shape up."
For a minute she just stood in the middle of the living room, looking around at the holes in the drywall from where he'd checked to make sure the walls he wanted to knock down weren't load-bearing. She took in the ugly carpet, still pulled up in one corner of the room, and the row of tools he'd lined up along one side of the room. "And the secrets just keep coming," she said, finally turning to look at him. "Gorgeous and good with your hands? I feel like I'm in one of my better dreams."
Derek laughed at that, shaking his head and nodding toward the stairs. "Come on, I'll show you where you're staying. Then I'll get out of this suit and we can go paint the town."
Once he'd gotten Garcia and her luggage settled in the guest room he headed up to the third floor, changing into a pair of jeans and a comfortable t-shirt. He listened to her baby-talking to Clooney on the floor below him as he tucked his wallet into his jeans and reached for his cell phone. And he knew better than to think there would be a message from Reid, but he checked anyway, telling himself he wasn't disappointed when he didn't find one. There was no reason to be, because this thing with Reid was just about making sure Reid was dealing with the latest shake-up on the team now that Derek wasn't there to talk him through it.
Looking out for Reid had been his job, at least once Gideon was gone, so mostly it was just habit. He told himself he believed that and went back downstairs in search of Garcia.
~
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.
Derek still had a month left on his sublet when the sale of his house was finalized, so he'd taken his time moving in. It gave him a chance to get a little work done without having to sleep in the mess, anyway, and by the time his lease was up he'd replaced the sketchiest looking pipes and made sure there was at least one reliable shower in the place. By the time Garcia showed up he'd been staying there for about a week, but between work and moving stuff out of his storage unit and into the upstairs bedrooms he hadn't had time to make it look all that welcoming. Still, there was a couch and a TV, a working fridge and a guest bed with clean sheets, and Garcia didn't need much more than that. She kept sending him lists of things she wanted to do in the city, anyway, so he figured they wouldn't even be there all that much.
He left work a little early for once, catching the subway to Penn Station just in time to meet Garcia's train. And he should have known better than to think she could pack like a normal person for a weekend trip, but when he caught sight of her hauling a suitcase and a giant bag across the station, he shook his head and picked up his pace to intercept her before she hurt herself. As soon as she saw him she squealed and dropped her luggage, and before he had time to brace himself Derek found his arms full of squealing computer geek. She squeezed him until he was pretty sure she'd broken a rib or two, then she shoved him away so she could look him up and down.
"Ooh, FBI chic. Mama likes."
Derek laughed and leaned in to press a kiss to her cheek before he reached around her to pick up her luggage. "Good to see you too, baby girl."
"Well, I know how much you miss me, I could hardly deprive you of my company," Garcia said. She slid her arm through Derek's and leaned into him, bumping his bicep with her shoulder. "Of course, I don't rate text messages like some people, but I suppose I should be grateful you manage to e-mail me back once in awhile."
"What?" He hadn't mentioned anything to Garcia about any text messages, so if she'd heard about that it was from Reid himself. Not that there was anything to tell; there hadn't even been all that many texts, but judging by the look on Garcia's face, she thought it was a big deal.
"There I was, minding my own business, and one Special Agent Spencer Reid storms into my office and demands to know when I'm coming to visit you. So I told him, because I thought he might want to pass along a message or something. Maybe send another gift, which reminds me that you have avoided the question every single time I've asked what he gave you before you left."
Derek raised his eyebrows and avoided the question again, steering her out of the station and onto the sidewalk to hail a cab. When the driver popped the trunk he loaded her luggage in and slid into the cab beside her, then rattled off his address before he looked at Garcia again.
"So he asked when you were coming to visit. What's wrong with that?"
"Still avoiding," she said, shaking her head and letting out a put-upon sigh. "Fine, keep your secrets."
"It was a book," Derek said, and when she narrowed her eyes at him he couldn't help laughing. "Hand to God, it was."
She shook her head, blond curls flying around her face and sticking to her lipstick. Derek reached over and pulled a few strands of hair away from her mouth, and just like that her smile was back in full force. "So I told him when I was coming to visit, and do you know what the little..." She paused and took a deep breath, teeth clenched to grind out the rest of her sentence, "...what the little genius said? 'That doesn't work for me.' He was trying to horn in on my trip without even asking! Then he pulled out his phone and started punching keys without so much as a thank you."
"Yeah, well, I might have suggested he tag along with you the first time up," Derek admitted. Garcia's eyes narrowed again and he ducked out of reach before she took a swing at him. "I told you, Garcia, I was worried about him. I figured it might be good for him, you know, get his head out of that cloud he's always walking around in for awhile."
"What about me? I was heartbroken when you left. It's so depressing around there now, no eye candy in sight. I was counting on this weekend filling my eye candy quota for the next few months, and now I find out you miss Reid more than me."
"You know that's not true," he said, but the thing was, she was kind of right. It wasn't that he missed Reid more, exactly, it was just...different. He knew there was no way he could say it that she'd understand -- he wasn't even sure he understood it -- so he swallowed a surge of guilt and forced a casual grin.
She was still pouting when they pulled up outside his building, but she got out of the cab anyway and waited while Derek paid the driver and retrieved her luggage. He carried her bags up the stoop, stopping at the front door and turning to look at her. "So how did you hear about the text messages?"
"You have your secrets, I have mine," she answered, chin poked out in that way that told him he wasn't getting her to spill any time soon.
He shook his head and opened the front door, standing aside to let her brush past him before he followed her in. "It's not much to look at yet," he said, "but once I get the carpets out and strip all the paint off the woodwork it'll start to shape up."
For a minute she just stood in the middle of the living room, looking around at the holes in the drywall from where he'd checked to make sure the walls he wanted to knock down weren't load-bearing. She took in the ugly carpet, still pulled up in one corner of the room, and the row of tools he'd lined up along one side of the room. "And the secrets just keep coming," she said, finally turning to look at him. "Gorgeous and good with your hands? I feel like I'm in one of my better dreams."
Derek laughed at that, shaking his head and nodding toward the stairs. "Come on, I'll show you where you're staying. Then I'll get out of this suit and we can go paint the town."
Once he'd gotten Garcia and her luggage settled in the guest room he headed up to the third floor, changing into a pair of jeans and a comfortable t-shirt. He listened to her baby-talking to Clooney on the floor below him as he tucked his wallet into his jeans and reached for his cell phone. And he knew better than to think there would be a message from Reid, but he checked anyway, telling himself he wasn't disappointed when he didn't find one. There was no reason to be, because this thing with Reid was just about making sure Reid was dealing with the latest shake-up on the team now that Derek wasn't there to talk him through it.
Looking out for Reid had been his job, at least once Gideon was gone, so mostly it was just habit. He told himself he believed that and went back downstairs in search of Garcia.
~
