Friendship Worth Risking

Chapter Five

They board the flight to find that everyone else is already on the jet. Reid sits down and immediately pulls out his book. He's been trying to read it for the past week, but things kept getting in the way. Morgan sits next to him and chats with their teammates. Maybe ten minutes go by and Morgan calls to him.

"Reid!" Morgan's tone indicate that he has been calling for a few tries, now.

He looks up to Morgan and finds that he is blurry. "Yeah?"

"Are you ok?" The concern in his voice is palpable, but his voice is soft.

"What do you mean?" He deflects.

"You've been staring at the same page for maybe half an hour. I don't even read that slow."

Reid checks his watch. "It's been over an hour." He presses the book closed and sets it beside him. His head is pounding. He presses the heels of his palms into his eyes. He exhales slowly. He lowers his voice to a whisper. "I've got a headache. Please, don't mention it to the others."

Morgan doesn't understand why it would matter if they knew about his headache, but he nods and agrees to secrecy. "Ok. Maybe just rest. Close your eyes and lay down." Reid nods and twists his body to lay across the bench. He squishes up into an almost fetal position with his feet just barely not touching Morgan. Morgan puts his headphones back on and leans his head back, closing his eyes.

Not three songs later he feels movement beside him. He opens his eyes to find Reid twitching in his sleep. Morgan recognizes it immediately. Nightmare. He reaches out his hand to Reid's calf. The touch seems to soothe him. He gently pulls Reid's legs over his lap and wraps a hand around his shin. Reid stops twitching and seems to genuinely relax.

"Is he ok?" Hotch's voice is low and concerned.

"Yeah. Just tired. We worked him hard on this case." It was true. Reid had spent hours reading through the UnSub's journals to see where he would have taken the girl. Most of the writing was dark and descriptive of horrible thoughts. "And we got in pretty late last night."

"How about you?" Morgan raises an eyebrow. "The personal matter?"

"It's taken care of." He gently squeezes Reid's calf, subconsciously. "He didn't mean to snap at you; I irritated him."

"I'm not mad at him. Only concerned. He rarely loses his temper."

Morgan nods. Reid shivers in his sleep. "Can you grab him a blanket? I don't wanna uproot him."

Hotch reaches up and takes one out of the storage bin. He carefully covers Reid and Morgan's lap. Morgan uses the privacy to rub circles on Reid's leg with his thumb. Hotch goes and sits down.

The rest of the flight is uneventful. Reid sleeps until the wheels touch the ground. He wakes with a bit of a start, but he mostly starts at the hand on his leg. He looks over to Morgan who is smiling at him. "Good morning, Pretty Boy. Enjoy your beauty sleep?"

Reid blushes. "Yeah. Sorry I invaded your space."

Morgan's smile turns into a grin. "Wasn't an invasion. Just wanted you to be comfortable." Reid's blush deepens.

"I want everyone to take today off. This was a long week and we can get everything else done on Monday." Hotchner's voice penetrates all other conversation.

Everyone gathers their things and rushes off the jet just as soon as it is safe.

Reid starts to head to the station, like he always does to get home, when Morgan calls to him. "Hey, Spencer! Wait up." He runs over to him and throws an arm around his shoulders. "Can I drive you home?"