Endgame | ᴍᴏʀᴇɪᴅ

That's My Boy

"Where are we going?" Spencer asked as they entered the briefing room.

"Arizona," Hotch answered, everyone staring at the two that had just walked in.

"What's going on?" Morgan asked as they sat down around the table.

"Abduction of a 12-year-old girl and we're already 10 hours in," Garcia added as she stood at the front with the remote in her hands.

"We'll brief on the jet, wheels up in 10," Hotch grabbed the files and marched out the door, everyone following behind.

"Nice bruise, Reid," Emily smirked, pulling his scarf up higher. Spencer's eyes widened and he tied it tighter around his neck. Morgan looked at him with a frown and Reid gave him the 'tell you later look'. He nodded and they all got into the elevator.

--

"Prentiss knows, doesn't she?" Derek asked as he drove to the victim's home.

"Well she came up to me the other day said 'I know about you and Morgan' and smirked at me. Doesn't take a profiler to figure that out," Spencer informed him.

"How could she know? I get we're profilers, figuring out secrets is what we do but there is no way she could've known about us," Morgan frowned as he stopped at a red light.

"It could do with what Garcia told me two months and four days ago," Spencer shrugged.

"Which is?"

"That you undress me with your eyes," Spencer blushed at the thought. "But you don't do that, do you? I know I asked you about it that but then you said we'd talk about it later and then we didn't because you forgot and I got distracted."

"Well can you blame me?" he chuckled as he made the turn into the neighborhood.

"Shut up."

"Well one thing is for sure," he said. "I don't think anyone else knows otherwise I doubt Hotch would've stayed quiet for this long. JJ would've bombarded you with questions, and Rossi would've thrown a party," they both laughed at the last one.

"Let's hope it stays that way. I don't want to be transferred or have you transfer either," Spencer looked down at his fingers.

"Hey, don't worry about that," his fingers tucked underneath Spencer's chin as he stopped in front of the home. "Everything's gonna be okay, baby," Derek gave him a reassuring smile that made Spencer's stomach fill with butterflies even though that was physically impossible.

"Okay," he nodded. Derek caressed his cheek softly.

"That's my boy," he praised. "Now let's go talk to those parents."

The door opened revealing a worn-out looking mother, her eyes bloodshot, her hair messy and a tissue crumpled in her fist tightly.

"Mrs. Lee, Agent Derek Morgan, and Dr. Spencer Reid," they pulled out their badges. "We're with the FBI. We understand you've already been questioned by the police but we'd like to ask you a few more to further the investigation and cover things the police may have missed," Morgan spoke smoothly.

"Oh, alright. Come in," she opened the door wider and let them in. She led then to the living room. "Please sit," she offered as she sat next to her husband who immediately began to stroke her shoulder.

"When was the last time you saw Kelly exactly?" Spencer began.

"She was playing in the yard. I was outside working on my car. I watched her the whole time but--" Mr. Lee's voice cracked as he gulped, maintaining eye contact. "But I went inside for 5 minutes. Five minutes because I wanted to go get some water. Five measly minutes and our daughter was taken," his voice broke as he finished his sentence, blinking repeatedly. Spencer looked over at Morgan who shared the same look.

They continued their questioning before thanking them and heading back to the car.

"You notice how guilty he sounded?" Spencer asked him as Derek began the drive to the police station.

"Well of course he feels guilty. He as taking care of her until he had left her side for five minutes. Naturally, he blames himself," Morgan pointed out.

"No, I know, but--" Spencer pursed his lips as he kept thinking about his expressions, his word choice, and the sound of his voice during the questionnaire.

"What is it?"

"He sounded guilty, but guilty for a different reason," Spencer explained to him his theory and why he thought it applied and made sense.

"And that pretty boy, is why we keep you around," Derek teased, patting his head.

"I'm not a violent person, but I feel like smacking you for that one," Spencer informed him. Derek laughed loudly.

"I think we've been spending too much time together, Reid," Spencer frowned, suddenly the playfulness disappearing.

"You really think we've been spending too much time together?" the younger asked quietly. "Because if you do we can stop hanging out that often. I know I must get annoying because I never shut up and I can't control my mouth whenever I start spilling out facts and begin to ramble and--"

"Sweetheart, I didn't mean it like that," Derek reached over and placed his hand on Spencer's thigh, giving him a reassuring squeeze. "I just meant that I'm rubbing off on you," he explained. Reid inwardly sighed in relief.

"So you like spending time with me?"

"I love spending time with you and if I could I'd do it way more often," Derek smiled at him.

"Me too," the brunette reached to trace the veins on Derek's hand but he turned his hand and instead of holding Spencer's thigh, he interlaced their fingers. Spencer blushed at the small gesture and pressed his fingertips to Derek's knuckles. Derek kept his eyes on the road as he lifted their hands and brought them closer to him, pressing a kiss to the back of Spencer's hand. Reid grinned and bit his lip, looking down.

"You can't bite your lip like that when we're working a case, Reid," he stated. The doctor furrowed his brows.

"Why not?"

"Because it wouldn't be right to pull over just so I could kiss the shit out of you," he shrugged nonchalantly.

"Derek!" Reid exclaimed, shaking his head. He chuckled and gave his hand a squeeze. They rode quietly after that, their hands resting over the console.

"You guys get anything new?" Hotch asked as they walked into the conference room where the team had set up.

"I think the father is guilty but not because he left his daughter alone outside for a few minutes. I think he had something to do with her disappearance."

"Clarence? Having to do with his daughter's kidnapping? No, you're wrong. he wouldn't do something like that," the officer shook his head. "You don't know what you're talking about. Clarence would never do such thing."

"He knows exactly what he's talking about," Morgan snapped, folding his arms over his chest and staring down the officer. Spencer kept his expression neutral as everyone turned to look at the two of them expectantly.

"Hear him out, officer. I assure you both Agents Reid and Morgan are experienced profilers and know what to look for when asking questions. If Dr. Reid believes this he has a reason to do so," Hotch stepped in when the officer looked like he ready to hit Morgan.