Fic: Copycats, Chapter 12 (Criminal Minds, Reid / Morgan, Hotch / Chad)
Title: Copycats, Chapter 12
Pair: Spencer Reid / Derek Morgan,
Aaron Hotchner / Chad Christensen
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine, etc.
Feedback: Always Welcome
Criminal Minds Main List
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Thursday 19:49
-----
Hotch`s house
"I’m home.” Hotch announced from the front door. He left his bags to the foyer and walked into the kitchen. “Anybody here?”
“I’m here.”
Hotch followed the voice to the study. Chad was sitting behind the desk, fiddling with a folded piece of paper.
“Sorry, it took so long, I had to-”
“You had a visitor.” Chad interrupted. “Remember Seymour?”
“Sure. Why was he here?”
“He wanted to know how a hit and run victim had your card in his pocket.” Chad handed the photocopy to Hotch. “Look familiar?”
“Of course, I give these to people all the time.”
“You told me about your one time experiment before we got together.” The tone made it clear that Chad was trying to keep his voice under control. “With a hooker.”
“Why do you want to talk about that?”
“This kid was arrested several times for prostitution.” Chad turned his laptop so that Hotch could see the DMV record on the screen. “Is this the same guy?”
Hotch looked at the photo. His thoughts were running up the walls, but he managed to keep his face blank.
“Yes. That’s the same guy.”
“You know what….” Chad pushed the lid of the laptop down. “I’m not even gonna mention how much that kid looks like Spencer. It’s creepy, but that was before us. I’m not gonna talk about that.”
“Did Seymour say why that kid was here?”
“No. They didn’t really have any clues except your card.”
“Well…. Maybe he snatched it from my wallet or my bag.”
“When you two…. Handled your business transactions?”
“Yeah. There’s no other possibilities.”
“Really?”
“I haven’t seen him since, so that’s the only possible explanation.”
Chad looked at him, and didn’t say anything for a while.
“Do you think I’m stupid?”
“What? Of course not-”
“I’m not up there in the Reid level, but I’m far away from dumb. You ordered a batch a of new cards three weeks ago when you changed your cell phone number. You’ve met this guy within the last two weeks.”
Hotch was too stunned to say anything. He just stared at Chad.
“Don’t do that stoic mute thing. You already lied to me during this conversation, so I’m not exactly on my best mood right now.”
“I didn’t lie to you. I mean, I didn’t see him the same way I-”
“So you didn’t pay him this time?”
“I met him by accident and he followed me to the motel.”
“And?”
“And…..” A quick flash of the encounter flashed before Hotch`s eyes. His own hand on the kid’s throat, the horrified look on his face. His mouth was still open, but he couldn’t get a word out.
“Aaron.” Chad stood up behind the desk. “Explain this to me.”
The silence turned longer and longer. Chad looked at Hotch, and Hotch looked right back. He could get his thoughts in order to say anything.
“I think that says enough.” Chad walked past him and out of the study.
When Hotch followed him upstairs ten minutes later, the door to the guestroom was shut and locked.
-----------------------------------------
Morgan`s house
“What are you doing?”
“I got this weird text message from Garcia….” Morgan tapped the keys of his cell phone.
“I thought all her messages are weird.”
“Not this weird. Listen: Totemmmm give in wrttn in hurrrrry save meeeee baaaaaaalll gaaaaagggg.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
“I can’t get thought to her phone, I’ll try Kevin’s next.” He dialled the number. “Hey, it’s me. I was just wondering if….. Oh…. Right…… I see….. Okay, carry on.”
“What was that?” Reid asked when Morgan had finished his call.
“Perfectly logical explanation.”
“With Garcia? Really?”
“Apparently Baby Girl’s role-plays got a bit out of control when they were visiting the Wild West theme park, and finally Kevin just snapped.”
“What happened?”
“He tied her to a totem, so he can get some rest. Garcia was driving the poor guy to total exhaustion.”
“Is he going to-”
“Yeah, yeah, he’ll let her off when he’s not so sleep deprived.”
-----------------------------------------
Friday 08:03
-----
Hotch`s house
Hotch listened carefully. He could hear faint footsteps from the hallway. He got up the bed and waited few minutes. When he came downstairs, he found the other man in the kitchen.
The scene itself seemed to be a warning sign. Chad was leaning against the counter and waiting for the coffee to brew, but he hadn’t pulled out anything from the fridge. Normally he would wolf down half a horse for breakfast.
“Chad?” He approached carefully.
“Stop whispering, I could hear your moves all the way from the stairs.” Chad didn’t even turn to look at him. He just grabbed a mug and filled it from the half full pot.
“Can we talk?”
“If I remember correctly I tried that last nigh and it didn’t help much. I gotta go to work.”
“I was too shocked, I didn’t know what to say.”
“But you know now?”
“I was up the whole night, I couldn’t sleep. Please, just listen.”
“Are you actually gonna say something this time?”
Hotch gave him a shaky nod.
Chad took his cell phone and dialled a number.
“Hey, it’s me. I’m not feeling too good, I think I got some bug. Can you tell Morrison to handle my classes? I didn’t have that much else to do today anyway. Yeah, I’ll handle my paperwork from home. Have a nice weekend, bye.” He hung up. “Talk.”
“We were interviewing people at a strip club. He was there, dancing, and he spotted me. I panicked and I left. He followed me to the motel.”
Hotch paused to look at Chad’s reaction. His face was completely unreadable.
“I gave him some money and I told him to leave on the next bus. And I told him to stay away from Virginia.”
“And that was it?”
“That was it! Morgan saw the whole thing, he can vouch for me. There was nothing else.”
“Why was he here with your card?”
“I don’t know. I honestly don’t know. I guess he could have taken the card from my room when my back was turned. I can’t come up with any other scenarios, and I’ve spent half the night thinking about it.”
“You gave him some money and he left?”
“Yes. I gave him money and he left. I didn’t hear from him again until you told me about that hit`n run. You can call Morgan, he’ll tell you the same story.”
Chad emptied his mug. He turned to fill it up again.
“Chad?”
“I didn’t get much sleep either.” He filled another mug and offered it to Hotch. “That mattress in the guestroom is meant for torture chambers.” He wrapped his arm around Hotch`s shoulder and pulled him close. Hotch pressed his face against the crook of the man’s neck and breathed in deeply.
Chapter 13/14