Guarded Hearts and Broken Wings || S.R.

25 - Profilers

Several Weeks Ago

Morgan stood with his weight leaned onto one leg in the break room, making himself his second cup of coffee for the morning. As he watched that brown concoction pour into his cup in haphazardous spurts and streams, JJ entered the room with her brow burrowed deep into her eyes. Morgan glanced her way. He shifted to face her and raised an eyebrow. "What's up?"

    "Oh it's just," she started with a mindless tuck away of flyaway hair. "I'm worried about Spence. Have you been noticing anything off lately?"

    "Well," Morgan saw that his coffee was done and pulled his cup out from under the machine. "He has been a lot slower with the geographical profiling the past few cases." He stepped back and motioned that the machine was free for JJ to use.

    "Thanks, " she said as she slid her cup under and started the machine. "Yeah, and last week he mixed up what year Albert Camus died. If it was anyone other than Reid I would have never thought anything of it. Who else has that memorized?"

    Morgan nodded over the cup that he held up to his face.

    "You don't think," JJ glanced his way and tapped her nails against the counter in thought, "it could have anything to do with...?"

    "What? No way! He jumped into a burning building for her. There's no way she would have already thrown him out. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised - he's a little odd - but the effect of that would at least mask that for a couple months."

    JJ gave him a face that said 'now's not the time to tease him, Morgan'.

    Morgan held his hands up in defense. "Hey, I'm just being honest."

    "Maybe her recovery was a little rougher than he was letting on?"

    "Maybe she's attracted to weak men and that whole saving her business threw the deal off."

    Loud clicking of heels and friendly low chatter passed by the door, but then promptly stopped and backtracked to the doorway. Garcia and Prentiss stood at the door with curious expressions. "Okay, what is going on in here? I can smell something extra juicy in here besides you, hot stuff." Garcia's jewelry jangled as she waved one hand about and pointed at Morgan with the other.

    Morgan gave her a wink and smirked into the next sip of his drink.

    "We're trying to figure out what's going on with Reid," JJ said in a low voice.

    Prentiss gave a slow nod as she looked up in thought and crossed her arms. "I could swear that he's been reading the same book for two days, but I thought I must be misremembering."

    "Oh no," Garcia mumbled and, still standing in the hallway, she threw a glance into the bullpen. "And I've thought it was weird that he's been staying so late. Before he was rushing to get out to take care of Amelia. And," she emphasized with a point of one finger, "he has been checking his phone a normal amount again." She returned her hands to a concerned clasp together in front of her. They all nodded together and sat in silence for a moment of thought. Without a word shared between them, all women turned their eyes towards Morgan in unison.

    He looked at them in shock. "What?" He asked with a defensive shrug.

    "Well you've got to say something," Prentiss said like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

    "Why me? Why not JJ?"

    "Man-to-man stuff," JJ added. "He might hesitate to say something negative about her to one of us."