Fic: Uncertainty, Chapter 3 (Criminal Minds, Spencer Reid / Derek Morgan, Aaron Hotchner / Chad)
Title: Uncertainty, Chapter 3
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Pair: Spencer Reid / Derek Morgan,
Aaron Hotchner / Chad Christensen,
Sean Hotchner / Cain Christensen
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine, etc.
Feedback: Always Welcome
Criminal Minds Main List
Uncertainty, Prologue
Uncertainty, Chapter 1
Uncertainty, Chapter 2
“Probably after seven. Okay, bye.” Hotch closed his phone and leaned back against the backrest. After a sleepless night in Seattle, all the team members were fast asleep as comfortably as the jet seats allowed. Hotch gathered all the case files into one pile on the table and closed his eyes for a minute.
Then he felt a light tap on his shoulder. Reid, who was sitting on the other side of the aisle was now looking at him.
“I thought you were asleep.”
“I was just resting my eyes.” Reid shrugged. He tried to keep his voice down. “Was that about Cain? Is he coming back soon?”
“Yeah, today. Chad’s picking him up from the Norfolk airport. They had someone escorting him to the plane in Washington.”
“Where is he staying?”
“In our guest room. His official address is his mother’s house in Cleveland, because he’s been constantly travelling. It obviously didn’t make much sense to get a place of his own if he’s never there.”
“Makes sense.” Reid nodded. “Any particular reason why he’s not staying with his mom while he recuperates?”
“I knew you would ask that….” Hotch chuckled. “Every time you get tired you get over-Freudian.”
“I haven’t even mentioned anything about penis envy or ugly goatees.” Reid grinned with a tired sigh. “And I’m too tired to think about either one of them.”
“That’s good.” Hotch agreed. “And we thought it would be better if he stayed with us because, according to Chad, their mother would make him crazy under one week.”
“I can believe that.”
“You’ve met her?”
“Once. She’s a really nice woman, but little bit… overbearing.” Reid’s tone made it obvious that he didn’t hold it against her. “Anyway, is Sean staying at your place too?”
“I don’t know.” Hotch pulled a water bottle from his bag and took a long swig. “You’re closer to his age, so maybe you can explain this to me. When Morgan had that leg injury on the job, you were there all the time while they were treating him, right?”
“Yeah.”
“And when he hurt his back.”
“Right….” Reid blushed. “But that wasn’t a job related injury.”
“I don’t want to know. But you were there. And Morgan was there when you were in a hospital.”
“So?”
“It’s been three days, and I haven’t seen him once. He doesn’t even answer my calls.”
“Well… it’s really not my place to comment-”
“Go ahead and comment.”
“Okay…. Well…. Based on what Chad’s told me about them, Cain has been the alpha male, even thought I hate that particular phrase, due to it’s inaccurate use in several-”
“Reid.”
“Sorry. But he sets the pace, defines boundaries, disciplines him when needed. When the Status Quo has temporarily changed, Sean is unsure of his own role in relation to Cain’s weakened status as the leading male.”
“You sound like you’re talking about dogs.”
“It’s pretty much the same principle. If you take a dog away from its master, it doesn’t know how to react. And if they have defined the relationship as something other than steady, he may not be sure of his role in the recovery process. Participating in the actual healing may be considered to be a step towards more serious tone and a higher level of intimacy. Wait a minute…..”
“What?”
“I think I got that dog comparison from Chad…..” Reid pressed his palm on his mouth to keep his laughter in. His giggles turned into a surprised yelp when Morgan turned in his sleep, and his head slumping down against Reid’s shoulder.
Hotch pulled his case files back to his lap and continued reading, giving Reid and Morgan one final glance.
-------------------------------------------
“Bed or food?” Morgan asked when he and Reid finally arrived home. He was still half asleep after dozing off in the car. “And by the way, I hope you enjoyed driving, because you wont get to do that again for a long time. It was like being in a car with an eight-something grandma.”
“How would you know? You slept the whole time.” Reid left his bag on the floor and headed to the kitchen. “We got old Chinese.”
“How old?”
“Too old. Frozen pizza?”
“Sounds good.”
Reid snapped the oven on. “And while I’m handling the pizza, you can go get Clooney from the neighbours.”
“Slave driver….”
“Now that you mentioned it, I was thinking about something.”
“What?”
“Do you think we have pre-conceived or comfort-zone-based gender roles in a single gender relationship?”
“What?”
“But we have Clooney, so we can’t really compare this to dogs since we have an actual canine here.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Me neither.” Reid rubbed his eyes sleepily. “I think we’ll go straight to bed and eat later.”
-------------------------------------------
Hotch locked the door of his office, scanning the empty bullpen. He pulled out his cell phone and dialled a familiar number.
“Hey, it’s me, you know who if you called me." Sean`s voice greeted. "Leave a message after the beep-ede-beep.”
“Sean, I know you’re avoiding me, so listen carefully. You`re always complaining how I don’t treat you like an adult. Well, right now you’re definitely not acting like a grown-up. You’ll either end the whole thing or take the leap. If you’re not at my house at eight, I’ll come and drag you out.”
TBC