Fic: Zeroes and Ones 9/? (Criminal Minds, Morgan/Reid, NC17)
Title: Zeroes and Ones 9/?
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.
A/N: Short chapter is short. Sorry.
Derek spent the rest of the day putting out fires, juggling reports on their suspected terrorist cell and running interference between his staff and the higher-ups who were breathing down their necks for results. He was so busy that he didn't have time to worry about what Reid thought of his gift until long after his work day should have ended, and by the time he left the building and headed toward the subway he'd resigned himself to the fact that he wasn't going to hear from Reid today.
It didn't necessarily mean anything. Maybe they'd gotten hit with a big case and he hadn't had a chance to get in touch. Maybe they'd left so suddenly Garcia hadn't even gotten a chance to give him the book. Maybe he just thought it was kind of dumb to give a comic book to a guy who'd memorized the Bible at age eight.
Derek blew out a frustrated breath and slid through the closing doors onto a mostly empty subway car, groaning when he realized just how late it was. The commuters were long gone, and Clooney was probably climbing the walls by now. He swallowed a rush of guilt and scrubbed a hand over his face. He'd just have to skip finishing the carpet tear-out tonight and take Clooney for a long walk. Maybe he'd go for a run; it would probably do them both some good, and maybe it would even take his mind off work for a little while.
His phone buzzed in his pocket and Derek groaned. For a second he considered ignoring it, but he was in charge now, and he knew he didn't have that luxury. He fished his cell out of his pocket and glanced at the screen, expecting to see the name of one of his agents, or maybe even the head office. When he saw Reid's name instead he grinned, then he pressed the talk button and lifted the phone to his ear.
"Hey, Pretty Boy. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Objectively speaking, most people would consider you more attractive than me. Which technically makes you the pretty one."
Derek grinned and relaxed against the seat, stretching his legs out in front of him as he pictured Reid frowning on the other end of the line. "Nah. Nobody's prettier than you."
And okay, so technically he was flirting. He was flirting with a colleague, one he knew maybe better than pretty much anyone else in the FBI except Garcia. But Reid was all the way down in Virginia, so Derek figured it couldn't hurt to give the kid a little ego boost now and then. If it had the added benefit of ruffling his feathers, well, that was probably good for him too.
For a few beats Reid didn't answer, and in the silence that stretched out Derek could picture his blush, see the little wrinkles between his eyes as he tried to work out whether Derek meant it or not. It wasn't really fair, knocking Reid off balance like that just because he knew how. But Reid was the genius, and he was a few steps ahead of Derek in pretty much everything else, so it was kind of nice to be the one who knew which end was up every once in awhile.
"January 12th," Reid finally said, like that was supposed to mean something Derek.
"What about it?"
"I've been invited to speak at a symposium at Columbia. I'll be in the city January 12th through the 17th. I thought if your offer was still open I could visit at the same time."
Derek's heart skipped a beat when Reid's words sank in, and he grinned and leaned forward to check that he hadn't gotten distracted enough to miss his stop. "So now you're using me to avoid New York hotel rates?"
"Actually, the school offered to pay for my lodging. It's part of the guest lecturer package. I can contact the Dean..."
"You better not," Derek interrupted before Reid had a chance to talk himself right back out of visiting. "You taking the train?"
"Flying. Once you factor in security and the wait for boarding, it still saves almost an hour of travel time," Reid answered, and Derek laughed, because it just figured Reid would do the math.
"Send me your arrival information and I'll pick you up."
"I'm sure I can just catch..."
"Reid," Derek interrupted for the second time, voice low and warmer now and he was pretty sure even a clueless genius like Reid could pick up on it. "Quit being a pain in the ass and just forward me your confirmation e-mail."
He didn't answer, but Derek could hear him moving around, then a deep, deliberate intake of breath. "Done."
A second later Derek's phone beeped to let him know he had a new message, and he grinned and stood up as the train rolled into his station.
"Good. So I'll see you next month."
"Morgan," Reid said, and when Derek's heart did that thing again he told himself it was just from taking the subway stairs two at a time.
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for the book."
"You can thank me when you get here by telling me what you thought of it. That is, if you're going to have any time for me between lectures."
There was a slight pause on the other end of the line, and Derek held his breath while he waited for Reid to tell him that he really was pretty booked up, and the most he could promise was a dinner or two. He wanted more; more of Reid's time, more of his company, more useless facts and frustrating logic and mostly he just wanted to see that Reid was doing okay, that he was back to confusing everyone around him with the power of his brain instead of crawling back into whatever dark place he'd been stuck in for so long after the Henkel case.
"I should have some time," Reid finally said, and Derek breathed out a relieved sigh. "I'll have to be at the university during the day, but my evenings are free."
"Good. I'm holding you to that, Pretty Boy."
Reid's laugh was the last thing he heard before he hung up the phone.
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.
A/N: Short chapter is short. Sorry.
Derek spent the rest of the day putting out fires, juggling reports on their suspected terrorist cell and running interference between his staff and the higher-ups who were breathing down their necks for results. He was so busy that he didn't have time to worry about what Reid thought of his gift until long after his work day should have ended, and by the time he left the building and headed toward the subway he'd resigned himself to the fact that he wasn't going to hear from Reid today.
It didn't necessarily mean anything. Maybe they'd gotten hit with a big case and he hadn't had a chance to get in touch. Maybe they'd left so suddenly Garcia hadn't even gotten a chance to give him the book. Maybe he just thought it was kind of dumb to give a comic book to a guy who'd memorized the Bible at age eight.
Derek blew out a frustrated breath and slid through the closing doors onto a mostly empty subway car, groaning when he realized just how late it was. The commuters were long gone, and Clooney was probably climbing the walls by now. He swallowed a rush of guilt and scrubbed a hand over his face. He'd just have to skip finishing the carpet tear-out tonight and take Clooney for a long walk. Maybe he'd go for a run; it would probably do them both some good, and maybe it would even take his mind off work for a little while.
His phone buzzed in his pocket and Derek groaned. For a second he considered ignoring it, but he was in charge now, and he knew he didn't have that luxury. He fished his cell out of his pocket and glanced at the screen, expecting to see the name of one of his agents, or maybe even the head office. When he saw Reid's name instead he grinned, then he pressed the talk button and lifted the phone to his ear.
"Hey, Pretty Boy. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Objectively speaking, most people would consider you more attractive than me. Which technically makes you the pretty one."
Derek grinned and relaxed against the seat, stretching his legs out in front of him as he pictured Reid frowning on the other end of the line. "Nah. Nobody's prettier than you."
And okay, so technically he was flirting. He was flirting with a colleague, one he knew maybe better than pretty much anyone else in the FBI except Garcia. But Reid was all the way down in Virginia, so Derek figured it couldn't hurt to give the kid a little ego boost now and then. If it had the added benefit of ruffling his feathers, well, that was probably good for him too.
For a few beats Reid didn't answer, and in the silence that stretched out Derek could picture his blush, see the little wrinkles between his eyes as he tried to work out whether Derek meant it or not. It wasn't really fair, knocking Reid off balance like that just because he knew how. But Reid was the genius, and he was a few steps ahead of Derek in pretty much everything else, so it was kind of nice to be the one who knew which end was up every once in awhile.
"January 12th," Reid finally said, like that was supposed to mean something Derek.
"What about it?"
"I've been invited to speak at a symposium at Columbia. I'll be in the city January 12th through the 17th. I thought if your offer was still open I could visit at the same time."
Derek's heart skipped a beat when Reid's words sank in, and he grinned and leaned forward to check that he hadn't gotten distracted enough to miss his stop. "So now you're using me to avoid New York hotel rates?"
"Actually, the school offered to pay for my lodging. It's part of the guest lecturer package. I can contact the Dean..."
"You better not," Derek interrupted before Reid had a chance to talk himself right back out of visiting. "You taking the train?"
"Flying. Once you factor in security and the wait for boarding, it still saves almost an hour of travel time," Reid answered, and Derek laughed, because it just figured Reid would do the math.
"Send me your arrival information and I'll pick you up."
"I'm sure I can just catch..."
"Reid," Derek interrupted for the second time, voice low and warmer now and he was pretty sure even a clueless genius like Reid could pick up on it. "Quit being a pain in the ass and just forward me your confirmation e-mail."
He didn't answer, but Derek could hear him moving around, then a deep, deliberate intake of breath. "Done."
A second later Derek's phone beeped to let him know he had a new message, and he grinned and stood up as the train rolled into his station.
"Good. So I'll see you next month."
"Morgan," Reid said, and when Derek's heart did that thing again he told himself it was just from taking the subway stairs two at a time.
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for the book."
"You can thank me when you get here by telling me what you thought of it. That is, if you're going to have any time for me between lectures."
There was a slight pause on the other end of the line, and Derek held his breath while he waited for Reid to tell him that he really was pretty booked up, and the most he could promise was a dinner or two. He wanted more; more of Reid's time, more of his company, more useless facts and frustrating logic and mostly he just wanted to see that Reid was doing okay, that he was back to confusing everyone around him with the power of his brain instead of crawling back into whatever dark place he'd been stuck in for so long after the Henkel case.
"I should have some time," Reid finally said, and Derek breathed out a relieved sigh. "I'll have to be at the university during the day, but my evenings are free."
"Good. I'm holding you to that, Pretty Boy."
Reid's laugh was the last thing he heard before he hung up the phone.