(10) The Popular Kids
Season 1 Episode 10
Morgan is teasing Reid.
And it’s not like Reid is not used to it. He is. He really is.
Or he was.
Until he started having these stupid, stupid nightmares and he started sleeping less and less. Now every little thing gets to him. It was bad not knowing where Z was and if they were okay since they disappeared somewhere in a war zone territory. And that's fiine. Not the first time and probably not the last one. Unfortunately for his good ol’ little worrying heart. But they did disappear in the territory that has turned into a war zone since the date of their disappearance. And it’s not like he doesn’t know that there was always a possibility that Z will once go on a job and not come back. He was prepared. Ready for that. Z and Reid talked about that many times.
What he didn’t prepare for though, were nightmares.
And he is not talking about the same old nightmares you had sometimes or like that.
No, of course they weren’t.
And Dray has been living with him for a week now and Reid knows his days are numbered just by the looks he gets whenever Dray finds him in the living room surrounded by the books, wide awake.
… at four in the morning.
… or five-thirty.
… or, on that one chance, at 2 in the morning.
So when Morgan catches him in the breakroom one day putting so much sugar in his coffee that could make you a diabetic just by smelling it, he, obviously, and rightfully, is concerned.
MORGAN: Easy there, tough guy. Have some coffee with your sugar.
REID: I need something to wake me up.
MORGAN: Late night?
REID: Very.
MORGAN (smirks and is proudly shocked): My man.
REID: Not that kind of late night.
MORGAN: Okay, so tell me, what does keep young Dr Reid awake at night? Wait, let me guess. Memorising some obscure textbook? No, no, no. Working on cold fusion. No, I got it, I got, I got it. Watching Star Trek and laughing at the physics mistakes.
REID: Actually, there aren't that many scientific errors in Star Trek. Especially considering
how long ago it was made. There are certain improbabilities, but not that many outright errors.
MORGAN: Right…
REID: Hey, Morgan? Do you ever have dreams?
MORGAN: I'm sorry?
REID: I guess nightmares would be a more accurate description.
MORGAN: Is that what's keeping you up?
REID: Yeah…
MORGAN: What are they about?
REID: Stuff… Just, things that happened recently but my brain makes them the worst possible scenarios. Do you have nightmares?
MORGAN (hesitantly): Reid, I'm not sure if I'm the right person for you to talk to about this.
REID: Why not?
MORGAN: It's just, uh… Did you ask Gideon about it?
REID: No…?
MORGAN: You should.
ELLE (shows up just then and just to quickly grab Spencer and Morgan for the newest case): Hey. Hotch wants everyone in the Round Table room.
ELLE (looks at Reid’s vulnerable and hurt expression and at Morgan’s closed-off one): Something up with you two?
MORGAN (turns to leave): No.
Reid is left standing awkwardly in the break room with Elle, coffee in hand and not knowing what to say. There goes his wishful thinking about having a best friend on the team. He really hoped that Morgan would like to be his friend and they have been getting closer the past few weeks but apparently not if the hardened refusal to help or talk to Spencer about what’s bothering him is anything to go by. And now he told Morgan about his nightmares and Morgan probably sees him even weaker than before, Elle is looking at him weirdly and he is just standing there looking like someone pissed in his coffee. He sighs and motions with his coffee towards the door and he and Elle leave for the meeting room.
Great. Just great. He wishes Z comes back soon. He doesn’t know if he can continue running on fumes of coffee and Dray’s hopes anymore.
When the whole team meets at the Sheriff’s department after Elle finds the message, Reid finds out that Morgan is a snitch.
He is re-reading his notes with Hotch when he jawns. He is tired, yes, but in his defense he also usually takes a power nap during the plane ride over before they start working the case but since this time it was just a half an hour flight, they barely had time to review the case let alone for him to have his nap.
HOTCH: Tired?
REID: I'm fine.
HOTCH: We all get them sometimes.
REID (playing stupid but still having hope that Morgan didn’t snitch): Get what?
HOTCH: Nightmares.
(Reid eyes Morgan on the other side of the room talking with Garcia on the phone.)
REID: It's not that bad.
HOTCH: If you want to talk about it, you know where I am.
REID: You know I do, I just…
JJ (comes in from the other room, eyes Reid talkin to Hotch and interrupts them): They're ready.
HOTCH: Okay.
REID: I’ll talk to you later.
They give out the profile.
Back at the old Jensen house, Reid and Morgan are keeping watch. After a cop agrees to bring Reid some coffee and Morgan makes an unnecessary comment, Reid decides to confront him about snitching to Hotch about nightmares.
“Morgan. You knew I didn’t want you to tell Hotch about my nightmares.”
Morgan exhaled, turning to face him. “Reid, that’s something they need to know about.”
Reid’s brows furrowed. “‘They?” he echoed, suspicion creeping into his voice.
Morgan hesitated for half a second, then admitted like it was not Reid’s end of the world, “Hotch and Gideon.”
Reid’s stomach dropped. “You told Gideon, too?”
“Yeah.” Morgan held his ground, his expression steady, hands out like Reid was some sort of a scared animal. “And it’s okay, kid.”
And that just pissed Reid off more. His fingers clenched into fists at his sides. “What if they think I can’t do my job?” His voice rose slightly, a rare edge of panic in it. “What if they want to pull me off the team?” This team is all he has now that he has no idea where Z is.
“They won’t,” Morgan said firmly.
Reid scoffed. “Oh, yeah? How do you know that?”
Morgan sighed. Reid knows that Morgan didn’t see how this could be a problem for him. He just knew that Morgan didn’t understand.
“I just do.”
Reid let out a bitter laugh, shaking his head. “You had no right, man. I confided in you.” His voice was raw, hurt. “You know, this is exactly what I get when I trust someone. It gets thrown back in my face.” Happened enough times in my life to not be surprised by it happening again.
Morgan closed his eyes briefly. Oh, so now he feels guilty.
“Mine started six months after I got into the BAU,” he said, his voice quieter now, the weight of old memories pressing down on him.
Reid frowned. “What?”
Morgan didn’t look at him. Instead, he leaned against the car, staring past Reid, lost look in his eyes.
“We were working a strangler case in Montana. Four victims.” He let out a dry chuckle, shaking his head. “I was still pretty young at the time. I was feeling myself—cocky, arrogant.”
Reid remained silent, listening. Still angry but wanting to hear where the story was going.
“The locals didn’t have anything,” Morgan continued, his voice distant. “So I stepped up. Told them, ‘I can nail down a profile for you just as soon as I get what I need.’”
Reid’s stomach twisted. “More victims.”
Morgan nodded. “Yeah.” His jaw tightened. “She was found the next day.”
There was a heavy pause before he continued.
“So I went down to the scene to do my thing. And as I was looking over the body… that’s when I saw them.” His expression darkened. “Her eyes, Reid.”
“They were wide open,” Morgan said, voice barely above a whisper. “And there was something different about them. Like… like they were looking right at me. Like she knew.”
Morgan exhaled slowly. “I asked for a victim,” he said bitterly. “Well, there she was.”
A silence settled between them, heavy and suffocating.
Morgan rubbed a hand over his face. “That’s when they started for me,” he admitted. “Night after night, I’d fall asleep and I’d see those eyes. Dead eyes. Accusing eyes.” His fingers twitched at his sides. “And it got to the point where it was happening even when I wasn’t asleep.”
Morgan let out a shaky breath. “Everywhere I went, I saw those eyes.”
“What did you do?” he asked quietly.
Morgan gave a tired smile, one filled with old pain. “Gideon.”
Reid blinked.
“He knew,” Morgan said. “I didn’t tell him. I was like you—I didn’t want anybody to know. But he just… he knew.”
Reid’s heart pounded in his chest. Morgan was not like him at all. Morgan was being haunted by his memories, not a mistake per se. Spencer was being haunted for being a concerned friend who knows way too much about the dangers of the friend’s job even when not told details.
Morgan gave a small shrug. “He sat me down. Talked me through it.”
Reid swallowed, his voice barely above a whisper. “And?”
Morgan’s expression softened. “I still have the nightmares,” he admitted. “Just not nearly as often. But when they come back… I know how to handle them better.”
Look, Reid is glad that Morgan got help that he needed from Gideon and that he is doing better and all that, but there was still an existing issue.
“I don’t want to sound like I don’t care Morgan, because I do, I’m glad that worked out for you and I know that you don’t share with people easily so I’m grateful for the trust, but neither do I Derek, and you breached that trust. I came to you as my friend, as you call yourself often, and you gave me a back off-ish stance and then told two of my superiors about something I told you in confidence. We both know that nobody would’ve known if I hadn’t said anything because it’s not affecting my performance at work so let’s just not pretend like it was a must for you to tell them. So, if you don’t want to act like a friend then don’t, but then also stop calling yourself that.”
“I thought you and Hotch had a better relationship than him being your superior,” Morgan said as if Reid was the one that breached his trust and told half of the team about something confidential.
Reid laughed at himself, and that’s when Morgan knew he fucked up. “We do. But I wanted to believe that you were concerned for me this morning as a friend and would at least talk through it with me.”
Morgan was quiet for a minute and couldn’t look at Spencer in fear of facing the disappointment on his face. Just as he was about to say something that could be the beginning of an apology, a car drove into the driveway of Jensen house.
On the flight back when nearly everyone is asleep, Reid is idly staring at the wall. Gideon opens his wallet and shows him Deborah, a 13 year old who was abducted and they rescued. He reminds him that it’s important to think about the people you save, because that is what can help you push on.
Reid closes his eyes as he sees Morgan stand up from the other end of the plane and looks like is about to head towards him. Spencer really doesn’t want to talk to him right now so closes his eyes and relaxes into his chair. He wouldn’t fall asleep, that he knows, but will instead think of happy times with Z and their family when life was easier. He hears Morgan sigh and back down and head back to his seat. Spencer knows that he will be going home with Hotch to detox from work with him and little Jack and they will be having a talk in the morning but he also knows that Hotch won't let go of what Morgan did and will let Spencer deal with it how he wants to.
The ‘going to Hotch’s house’ thing never came to as Reid saw that Hotch seemed pretty tired so he decided to just go home to Dray.
Spencer fumbled with the key in his apartment door, exhaustion weighing heavy on his shoulders. It had been a long, draining day—physically, mentally, emotionally. His mind buzzed with everything that had happened: the case, Morgan’s story, the gnawing ache of missing Z, and the ever-present uncertainty of what had happened to her.
With a quiet click , the lock turned, and Spencer pushed the door open, stepping inside the dimly lit apartment. The familiar scent of tea and parchment—Draco’s influence, undoubtedly—greeted him. He barely had the energy to kick off his shoes before closing the door behind him.
From the couch, Draco looked up from his book, immediately catching sight of Spencer’s slumped posture, the dark circles under his eyes. He set his book aside, expression softening.
“Long day?” he asked, voice carrying that familiar drawl, though it had lost much of its earlier sharpness over the years.
Spencer exhaled heavily, running a hand through his hair before nodding. “Yeah.”
Draco’s eyes flickered with understanding. “Shower,” he ordered, already getting to his feet. “You look dead on your feet. I’ll make tea.”
Spencer wanted to protest—he was too tired, didn’t want to move—but Draco had that look on his face, the one that meant don’t even try arguing with me . So, with a resigned sigh, Spencer trudged toward the bathroom.
By the time he emerged, hair still damp, wearing an old t-shirt and loose sweatpants, the warm scent of tea filled the apartment. Draco was curled up on the couch, two steaming mugs sitting on the coffee table in front of him. He handed one to Spencer as soon as he sat down.
They sat in comfortable silence for a while, Spencer letting the heat from the tea seep into his hands, grounding him. Eventually, he exhaled, tilting his head back against the couch.
“Morgan told Hotch and Gideon about my nightmares,” he muttered.
Draco hummed, taking a sip of his tea. “Not surprised.”
Spencer huffed. “I am . I told him not to.”
Draco arched an eyebrow. “Morgan did what he thought you needed. It’s not like he knows that you do have people to talk his shit you constantly go through with. He wasn’t going to sit by and pretend nothing was happening.”
Spencer shook his head, staring into his cup. “I just… I trusted him, you know? And then it felt like—like it got thrown back in my face.”
Draco’s lips pressed together in thought before he said, “Did he throw it back in your face, or did he do what he thought was best for you?”
Spencer let out a humorless chuckle. “That’s exactly what Morgan said. And I think that’s what’s bothering me the most. That he did it and didn’t even seem to think about it before.”
Draco hufs.
They fell into a comfortable quiet, the only sound was the occasional clink of ceramic against the table when one of them set their cup down. The weight in Spencer’s chest hadn’t disappeared, but it was lighter now, the burden of carrying the day’s events slightly less heavy in the presence of someone who understood .
Then, softly, Spencer said to the room, “I miss Z.”
Draco stilled. A heavy sigh escaped him. “Yeah.”
Spencer turned his head slightly, watching Draco, who was staring into his tea, fingers tight around the handle. It was then that he noticed the faint glisten in Draco’s eyes, the unshed tears threatening to spill over.
Spencer felt his own sting at the back of his throat. He swallowed.
Draco cleared his throat. “Did you ever tell her? Before they got lost on this last mission I mean.”
Spencer frowned. “Tell her what?”
Draco looked at him then, eyes searching. “That you love her.”
For a second, Spencer was caught off guard. Then, he let out a soft chuckle, shaking his head. “Z has always known I love her.” He smiled slightly, eyes distant. “And I always knew from her, too. Just… not in the way everyone else thinks.”
Draco blinked, slightly startled by that answer. “What do you mean?”
Spencer laughed under his breath, setting his cup down. “What Z and I have—it’s great. But it’s in no way what you and Harry have.”
Draco’s entire body went still.
Then, ever so slowly, a deep blush spread across his face. He glanced down at his lap, fingers tightening around his cup.
Spencer watched in amusement as Draco’s lips parted slightly, hesitation flickering across his face before he mumbled, “How’d you know about Harry and me?”
Spencer smirked. “Z told me.”
Draco’s head snapped up.
Spencer grinned, a rare thing after the past few weeks of sorrow. “She said everyone knew you and Harry had the hots for each other since you basically met . That true?”
Draco’s ears turned red. “Yeah. We just weren’t ready to admit it until recently actually…” He trailed off, flustered.
Spencer finished for him. “We knew you got together. If that’s what you are getting at. We’ve known since it happened, basically.”
Draco gaped at him. “How?”
Spencer shrugged. “I noticed. And when I brought it up to Z, she just said, ‘Oh, yeah, I’ve known for weeks.’”
Draco groaned, dropping his head back against the couch. “Of course she did.”
Spencer chuckled.
Draco rubbed a hand over his face, still blushing. “She always knows everything before anyone else.”
They sat there for a moment, both lost in thoughts of Z—her knowing smirk, her effortless ability to understand things before anyone even said a word and keeping it quiet until the person was ready to come forward with whatever it was.
Then, Draco sighed overly dramatic. “Maybe I should check the family books when I go back to the UK. See if there were any Seers in the family.”
Spencer laughed. “Wouldn’t be surprised.”
Draco huffed, shaking his head with amusement before finishing his tea. Silence settled between them again, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. Just… filled with memories.
Finally, Draco stretched, standing up. “I’m off to bed.” He glanced down at Spencer. “And you should go too, no matter if you’re off tomorrow.”
Spencer rolled his eyes but nodded.
Draco hesitated for just a second before saying, softly, “Z and Harry will be back.”
Spencer met his gaze. “I know.”
Draco gave him a small nod, then turned toward the hallway. Just as he reached the doorway, he glanced over his shoulder.
“Oh, Zabini called today.”
Spencer raised an eyebrow.
Draco smirked. “He said he’s taking both of us out tomorrow ‘cause he’s ‘tired of us sulking inside like two wallflowers’ whatever that meant, so be ready for that.”
Spencer groaned, already regretting whatever Blaise had planned but quite excited, too.
Draco just chuckled, disappearing into his room, shaking his head.
And for the first time in weeks, Spencer felt just a little bit lighter.