For a Genius, You're Pretty Dumb

"Are we still on for tomorrow night?" Derek asked me as he dropped me off at my apartment building.

We were supposed to go out with Garcia and Elle.

"Of course," I said as I closed the car door.

"Bye," He called after me.

"Catch ya on the flip side!"

I walked into my building and up the stairs to my apartment. I opened the door with a sigh. I scanned the room and everything was in place. Everything except ....

"October!" I called. She didn't come.

"Kitty!" I called again looking around.

Somethings wrong. Why isn't she coming? She always greets me at the door. Every time.

"October! Kitty! Here kitty kitty kitty!"

Now I was worried. I looked in all her usual places. She's not under the bed. Not on the dirty clothes pile in the bathroom. Not in the laundry room.

"October! Sweetie, where are you?" I said walking into the kitchen. There was a gray lump of fur.

"October!" I cried as I hugged the body to my chest.

"No .... no ... no no no ... Please, Kitty! Wake up," I sobbed.

I just held her and cried.

I held her for the longest time. I just wanted to stay with her as long as I could. I cried into her soft fur until I mustered up the courage to let her go.

I set her back on the floor and put a blanket over her. It was the purple down blanket. Her favorite. My cheeks were wet with the new tears that I let fall freely as I picked up my cell phone and dialed Derek's number.

"Hello?" He asked picking up on the first ring like always.

"Derek ..." I started. My voice kept cracking and I wondered if he'd understand what I was trying to say.

"Allie? Whats wrong?"

I tried again, "Derek, I .... I need you to come .... I need you to come to my place. Oct-"

I couldn't get her name out; it hurt too much.

"The cat ... She's ... She ..."

"Oh, baby, I'm sorry," He whispered. He must have understood what I was trying to say.

"Where is she?" He asked.

I turned to look at the lump under the blanket.

"She's in the living room," I choked out.

He sighed and said, "I'm on my way."

"Okay," I whispered.

I hung the phone up and curled up on my couch waiting for Derek. There's no way she's gone. She was perfectly fine when I left. She was all I had. I can't replace her. Now I'm going to be so alone here.

"Allie, open up," Derek said while he knocked on the door.

"Coming," I muttered as I got up and let him in.

"Sweetie, I'm so sorry about your cat," He said hugging me.

I hugged him back and cried into his shoulder.

"Derek, she was fine when I left! She was playful and happy and healthy!" I told him.

"I know, Sweetie, I know," He said trying to calm me.

My thoughts were brought back to the corpse laying on my kitchen floor. I let go of Derek and sighed.

"What are we going to do with her?" I asked raking my fingers through my long blond hair.

"I guess we'll have to bury her," He said walking over to her. He crouched down and lifted the blanket exposing her head.

I turned my head and closed my eyes.

"Please, put it back down," I whispered.

"Sorry," He said standing back up.

"Where do we ... Where will she ....," I took a deep breath, "Where will she be buried?"

"I don't know. We both live in apartments so we can't bury them in our back yard. We can take her to a pet cemetery," He suggested.

I shook my head, "There isn't a close one around here and I don't want to be so far away."

"Do you know anyone with a back yard?" He asked.

"Uhm ..." I thought for a while, "Spencer does. He has a house."

"You wanna call or should I?"

"You call," I answered him as I leaned down to pick up the blanket with the cat in it and held her in my arms as if she were a baby.

"Poor kitty," I sighed as I hugged her closer to my chest.

"I'm gonna miss you so much...."

More tears rolled down my cheeks as I wrapped October up in the blanket so I didn't have to see her.

"Reid said we can bury her in his back yard," Derek told me.

"Okay."

I handed him the cat so I could put my coat on.

"Give her here," I said stretching my arms out to take the cat.

The ride to Spencer's house was quiet. When we got there, Derek got out of the car and opened my door for me then he grabbed the shovel out of the back. We walked to Spencer's door and Derek knocked.

"Hey, guys. Come on it," Spencer said as he stepped aside to let us in.

"I'm sorry about October," He said laying a hand on my shoulder. "I know how much you loved her."

I gave Spencer a weak smile and said, "Where are we .... doing this?"

"We can put her under the tree in my back yard," He said as he started walking through the house to the back door. Derek and I followed.

Spencer's yard wasn't well kept. But it wasn't atrocious, either. He had a large black oak tree. We were burying October right under tree. Derek dug the hole while I stood holding October. Spencer was next to me with his arm around my shoulder.

"Think this is deep enough?" Derek asked wiping sweat off of his forehead.

"It should be," Spencer said. "There aren't many animals around here to dig her up."

I gasped and looked at Spencer, my eyes wide.

"Spencer, do you really think animals will dig her up?" I asked with tears forming in my eyes. I held October to my chest tighter.

"No," He said quickly, "They won't ... I mean I don't think .... She'll be fine. I promise."

I took a deep breath and handed October to Derek. He crouched down and placed her in the hole. By now, I was sobbing into my hands.

"Hey, it'll be okay," Spencer whispered as he put his arms around me and held me to him.

"No, it's not gonna be okay," I said still crying. "She's gone. Dead. I'll never see her again."

"I can take you to the Humane Society tomorrow and we can get you another cat. Or a puppy," Derek cut in.

"I can't replace her like that. It's rude."

I can't even think of replacing her ...

"I'm sorry," He said for the millionth time today.

I sighed and said, "I just wanna go home."

"Alright, let's go," He replied putting his arm around me and directing me through the house and to the car.

"Derek," I started, "I don't want to be alone. October used to sleep with me and keep me company. Now there's no one."

He stared straight ahead and didn't take his eyes off the road, but he answered me a second after I spoke, "Then you're staying with me."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Of course," He said as if the answer were obvious.

When we got to my building Derek dropped me off and said he'd be back in a half hour to pick me up. I reluctantly opened the door of my apartment and looked around. The house was empty. Lonely. I closed the door and locked it with my shaky hands. I sighed and headed for my room to grab my duffel bag. I grabbed everything that I thought I'd need and threw it in the bag. I was almost done packing when Derek started knocking on the door.

"Coming," I said, my voice barely audible, as I let him in.

He looked down at my open duffel bag on the coffee table.

"You done packin'?" He asked.

"No, I just need to get a few more things," I replied slowly.

"Damn girl whats takin' you so long?" He asked.

"Sorry," I mumbled and picked my bag up. I walked into my bed room and threw in some pajamas then went to the bathroom for my tooth brush.

"Here, I'll carry this," He said taking my bag and slinging it over his shoulder.

I sighed and thanked him.

"You ready," He asked me.

"Yes."

It was quiet in the car. I was too depressed to say anything and Derek knew it would be best to leave me in my silence. We drove for fifteen minutes when I noticed that we weren't taking the route to his house.

"Derek, where are we going?"

"You'll see," He said grinning.

About ten minutes later Derek pulled into the parking lot of the mall.

"Really, Derek? The mall? Honestly? I'm not in the mood to shop," I said crossing my arms.

"Oh, just get out of the car, Allie," He said unbuckling his seat belt and getting out of the car.

"I don't want to," I said glaring out the window.

He sighed and walked around to my side of the car.

"Allie, come on. You had a bad day and I'm trying to cheer you up. Please?"

Okay. That softened me up a bit. Derek Morgan does have a way with words.

"Ughh, fine!" I said unbuckling my seat belt. Derek opened the door for me and helped me out of the car.

"Derek, we JUST got back from California, aren't you tired? I just want to go to your place and sleep," I said yawning.

"After we're done here," He said taking my hand and pulling me to the doors.

"Derek," I whined, "My little legs can't walk as fast as yours! Slow down!"

He sighed and slowed down just a little.

"Where are we goin, anyway?" I said looking around at all the stores. If we were here to just shop and look around then we wouldn't be walking so fast. And Derek wouldn't have a determined look on his face.

He didn't answer. Instead, he just pulled me into a store.

I looked around. We must be in the wrong store.

"Derek ... I think you brought me to the wrong store."

"Nope."

"Build a Bear? Are you kidding me? What am I? Five?"

He laughed and called over one of the workers.

"Hello, welcome to Build a Bear! How may I help you?" She asked in an annoyingly cheery voice.

"My friend would like to make a stuffed animal," He said pushing me in front of the woman.

"What? No I don't!"

Her smile faltered.

"Well .... um ... If you need anything I'm here," She said walking away quickly to help a little girl.

"Derek! The jokes over! Let's go home," I said walking away.

"Wait, Allie," He said grabbing my arm.

"What?"

"We're making you an animal," He said looking at all of the animals on the rack.

"I don't want one," I said as I rolled my eyes and turned around so my back was facing him.

"Hmm ... We'll pick ... This one!"

Curiosity got the better of me as I turned around to see what he picked.

"Derek ..." I whispered and my eyes teared up.

He picked a cat that was light grey with dark grey spots that resembled an Egyptian Mau.

"We can call her October," He said grinning and handing me the unstudied animal.

"Awe, Derek! You're the best!" I said with a toothy grin.

I threw my arms around him and kissed his cheek.

He chuckled and waved a worker over to us. After we stuffed the animal and put the little felt heart in I dragged Derek with me to the clothes racks.

"What should we put her in, Derek? Oh! This is cute," I exclaimed as I showed him the little black sequined dress.

He laughed and picked up a pair of little silver shoes.

"What about these?" He asked. "She'll look just like you."

I smiled and took the shoes.

"Excuse me, miss?" I said waving another worker over.

"Yes? How can I help you today?" She said smiling at me.

"Well, I wanted to make my little cat look just like me."

She nodded as I went on to ask, "I was wondering if you guys had a little bottle of Jack that I can attach to her paw."

"Oh, no you didn't!" Derek said laughing.

The sales woman looked confused and stuttered.

I grinned.

"I - I um ... I don't think we ..."

I interrupted her, "Oh, it's okay. I'm just Joshin' you."

"Oh .. Uhm .." She gave a nervous laugh and walked away.

"Oh my God, she was so uncomfortable! I thought she was gonna cry," Derek said laughing.

I giggled.

"Can I buy her an outfit for every day of the week?" I asked Derek.

"I don't care. It's your money," He said as he examined a little T shirt and made a face.

"Um, excuse me?" I asked as I stamped my foot.

"What?"

"Who's money? If I recall, it was your idea to come here. Not mine. I didn't even want to come. It was your idea to buy a stuffed kitty and dammit YOUR paying for it!"

"Damn, girl. Quiet down," He said looking around at everyone who was staring at us.

"Don't you tell me to quiet down, Derek Morgan! I'll quiet down when I'm good and ready! WHEN I'M GOOD AND READY!"

"Come on, Allie. They're gonna kick us out," He said quietly as he tried pulling me to the cash register. "I'll pay for it just quiet down."

"That's what I thought," I said and smiled.

"Mommy, that lady's scary."

I turned around and saw a little chubby boy with brown hair pulling on who I assumed was his mother's hand and pointing at me.

"Got something to say?" I asked the boy in the bitchiest voice I could muster.

He made an 'O' with his mouth and shook his head "no."

"I didn't think so," I said turning back around.

"Will that be all?" The woman at the cash register asked.

"Yes, please," I said with a smile.

"Okay, that will be .... Thirty two fifty," She said in a bright, cheery voice.

"What? For a stuffed animal?" Derek exclaimed.

"Just give the nice lady you're magic card and let's go," I said in a sweet voice.

He sighed as the woman swiped his Visa card and handed me the cardboard box.

"Alright, My Love, lets go home," I said grabbing his hand and skipping out of the store.

When we got back to his apartment I kicked my shoes off, walked straight into his bedroom, and plopped onto his king size bed.

"Oh my Gooooooood," I mumbled into his pillows.

Derek walked in and chuckled. "Alright, hot stuff. Up. We're watching movies."

I sat up and looked at him. "Derek, your bed is soooo comfy! No wonder you get laid so much!"

He laughed an said, "Not as much as you'd think."

"What do you mean," I asked as I cocked my head to the side.

He shrugged and said, "Everyone thinks I'm always gettin' some. I'm not, really. Not all the time. Every once in a while."

"Okaaaay. Every once in a while being .... how often? Three times a week?"

"More like once a month," He said laying down.

"No way! Derek 'The Ladies Man' Morgan only gettin' ass once a month?" I asked.

"If that," He replied.

"No way," I said again, shaking my head. "I don't believe you."

"Then don't believe me," He said getting up.

I got up and followed him into the living room.

"What about those chicks that are always all over you at the bar or in the club? You're telling me you don't take any of them home?"

He looked me right in the eyes and said, "Yes, I'm telling you I don't take any of them home."

"You're really serious." It wasn't a question.

"Yes."

"Wow. This is news," I said sitting on the couch.

"Did you think I was a man whore?"

I laughed and said, "I always wondered why you always carry so many one dollar bills."

"Trust me, if I was a whore, I'd be a high class whore."

"Oh yeah?" I asked giggling.

"Yeah," He said flexing his muscles. "Only the richest bitches could hit this."

"Actually," I started, "There would probably be more men than women interested in paying for sex with you. Old men like Mr. Rogers from that old tv show."

"On second thought, I'll stick to working for the BAU," He said scrunching his nose.

"Good," I said laughing. "So what are we watching?"

"First we're watching Halloween 2. Then Gamer. Then you can pick a movie," He said putting the first movie in the DVD player.

"Gamer? Whats that about? I never saw that one," I said as I got up from the couch and walked into his bedroom.

"It's set in the future and there's like this game and you play real people. It's a good movie," He said in a loud voice so I could hear him.

"Uh huh, sounds great," I said taking my snuggie out of my bag.

I went to the kitchen for something to drink and grabbed a bottle of Blue Wave vodka.

"Drinking already?" He asked when I sat on the couch and put the bottle on the table.

"What? It's only six o'clock. That's a socially acceptable time to begin drinking," I said defensively.

He laughed and sat next to me.

"I wish we had one of those snuggies for two people," He said eying my snuggie.

"Oh, baby, just get in my snuggie," I said in a sexy voice then giggled.

"You want Reid in your snuggie," He said laughing.

"So?"

"So it's true?" He said with a raised eyebrow.

"Whats true?" I asked.

"You had sex with Reid," He said.

I sighed and said, "No, Derek. We did not have sex. Drunken or otherwise. Why do you keep insisting we fucked?"

"Well I did see you come out of his hotel room in your little short shorts and tank top," He replied.

"That doesn't mean I had sex with him. Are you calling me a whore?" I asked him accusingly.

"No, I'm not saying that," He said calmly.

"You don't need to know why I was there. It wasn't sex related," I said.

"Okay then. Let's watch this movie," He said pressing the 'play' button on the remote.

Four and a half hours later we were fighting over what movie to watch next. I wanted to watch The Hangover but he said we watched it too many times and insisted we watch some stupid action movie.

"Okay, since you don't wanna watch The Hangover and you said that I get to pick the next movie, then why don't we just watch Zombieland?"

Derek sighed and agreed.

"Okay," I said happily. "Why don't you go make us some more popcorn?"

After Derek left the room to make popcorn, I took The Hangover out of the case and put it in the DVD player. I pulled out the case for Zombieland and put the DVD in the case for The Hangover and put it back on the DVD shelf then I set the case for Zombieland on the coffee table.

"Is the popcorn done yet, Derek?"

"Not yet," He answered.

"Kay."

I went to the menu and pressed 'play' then paused it while the screen was still black so Derek couldn't see what the movie was.

"Hurry up, Dark Chocolate!"

"I'm coming," He said laughing as he sat down next to me with the bowl of popcorn in his lap.

I picked up the remote and grinned as I pressed 'play.'

As soon as the opening scene came on Derek sighed and said, "Allie, I thought we agreed on Zombieland. We've seen this movie a million times."

"Do you want me to take it out and put Zombieland in?" I asked with a cute pout.

"No, it's okay. We'll watch this again," He said. No one, especially Derek, could deny The Pout.

It didn't matter what we watched, because I fell asleep during the first half hour of the movie anyway. For the second night in a row, I didn't have a nightmare. Derek's arm around my shoulders kept me feeling warm and safe all night.