CM: BigBang 2011
Chapter 6
The cabin was quiet except for the hum of the engines as the jet carried them homeward. Hotch looked over the room from his seat at the end, checking on his team members. Dave was attempting to read a book while Reid and Jo had their eyes closed trying to catch some sleep.
Putting his paperwork into his briefcase and shutting it, Hotch made his way over to his old friend. Dave looked up when Hotch sat down across from him and closed his book, putting it on the table between them.
Hotch leaned forward and linked his fingers together on top of the table while looking at him intently.”Tell me about Agent Davenport.”
Dave met his gaze with steadiness and a smirk. “I dated her mother. “I met Margret two months after my first divorce… you remember the mess I was in?”
“Yes,” Hotch said and leaned back in his seat, setting one elbow on the armrest. “For a while there you were… troublesome.”
Dave snorted. “Whiskey was my best friend and so was any skirt that moved, inside and outside of the Bureau.” Hotch gave a tentative smile but didn´t interrupt “I saw Margret on and off for about three years. Jo was eight when we met. I didn´t pay any attention to her and the feeling was mutual. We stayed out of each other´s way. When I met Joan I stopped seeing Margret altogether.”
“Go on,” Hotch said when Dave fell quiet. Hotch waited patiently.
“Roughly three years later I got a letter from Jo. She asked me to look into this new gym-teacher at her high school. She even included a photo of the guy.” Dave chuckled softly. “You have to realize this was in the late eighties, the Bureau wasn´t as technically advanced as it is today. It took a couple weeks to run the name and photo, but I got a hit on the photo.” Dave looked out the window in thought, absentmindedly rubbing his thumb over his goatee.
“And?” Hotch prompted.
“The photo came back as one Damien Laurence, a wanted man in Arizona for raping a twelve year old girl. Needless to say I sent the local police to pick him up and the fingerprints confirmed. The police found things in his apartment that proved he was a pedophile.”
“And you talked to Jo after that?”
“You´re missing the point of the story,” Dave informed him.
Hotch peered his eyes at him, waiting for an explanation.
“At the age of fourteen, Jo indentified a pedophile from the way he acted around the girls in gym. She has what every profiler dreams of having when it comes to unsubs - instinct.”
“I do not have sixth sense when it comes to criminals,” Jo said with humor in her voice as she walked up the aisle toward them, making both men look up. She took a seat next to Dave. “But to answer your question, no, that case didn´t bring us together. We kept in contact, the occasional letter, and later, e-mail but… then my mother passed away.”
“I´m sorry,” Hotch said.
“Sorry about what?” Reid asked as he rubbed his eyes and took a seat next to Hotch.
Jo smiled sadly. “My mom,” Jo told him. “She lost the love of her life when I was one years old. The bottle became her best friend and with the bottle came all kinds of men,” Jo told Hotch and Reid. “When I told Dave about my mother´s death, he dropped what he was doing and drove out.” She looked down at her fingers in her lap. “He was the only one who showed up,” she said quietly.
Shaking off her sadness, she looked up. “Anyway, he hung around after that, which was weird since I´d never had any parental guidance.”
“I´m not sure I would call it parenting,” Dave huffed.
Raising an eyebrow and smirking, Jo looked at Dave. “Forcing your way into my dorm and calling me stupid and egotistical for not accepting your help with college, isn´t parenting? .” Smiling brightly, it was very obvious she was very fond of the old man. “Besides, according to Chris and Alex, they have the bestest granddad in the world.”
Dave twitched in the seat, seemingly embarrassed, about the open compliment in front of his co-workers. The small grin on his face indicated, though, how pleased he was.
Jo laid her hand affectionately on Dave´s upper arm. “He came to my graduations, he led me down the aisle when I got married and he showed up every day for weeks after the twins were born, even though he was in the middle of writing a book.”
Dave set his hand over hers. “You did good, kid,” he said with warmth.
Jo smiled softened. “Couldn´t have done it without you.”
Dave withdrew his hand and looked at Hotch. Hotch grinned knowingly before turning toward Reid. The young man met Hotch´s eyes with ease. Clearing his throat, Dave broke the spell of sentimental hovering over them.
Hotch looked at Jo. “I thought you had twin girls?”
“Yeah, Sarah Alexandra and Christina Rose, Alex and Chris,” Jo explained with laughter. “We were playing around with nick-names one night and Anna came up with those.”
“Anna?” Reid asked and looked at her.
“My wife,” Jo told him.
The surprise was evident on the young man´s face. Reid looked down, his face flushed. “Uhh, I´m sorry, I didn´t know you were… gay.”
“It´s okay, Reid, it´s not like I have a sign around my neck,” Jo said and smiled at him. She looked at her boss. “Hotch, our relationship isn´t a problem,” she said seriously, “We are not blood-related and there isn´t anything in the rule book that says we can´t work together.”
Hotch thought for a moment. This explained their behavior while on the case but Dave hadn´t voiced any concerns when they decided to send Jo undercover. “I don´t see a problem,” he said but was glad to be aware of the relationship.
Jo nodded in relief and smiled at Dave. “I want it clear thought that it wasn´t Dave who told me to apply to the BAU. He was surprised when I showed up yesterday, although I´ve heard stories about all of you.”
Bewildered, Hotch thought about why she had applied to the BAU but didn´t comment on it. “Hopefully nothing too embarrassing?” he asked instead.
“No,” Jo laughed, “more like success stories and bets you made against each other.”
Hotch chuckled.
***
The jet landed at 6:30 am. Hotch watched Jo and Reid struggle with their bags. Jo as she avoided using her injured hand and Reid´s coordination was much less than usual, probable due to lack of sleep. Dave gently stepped in, and took Jo´s bag from her and carried it off the plane. At the bottom of the stairs they stopped and looked at each other.
“Reid, you want a ride? You seem too tired to drive and you can pick up your car in the morning” Hotch asked seriously.
“Yeah, thank you,” Reid said softly, and covered his mouth as he yawned.
“Jo is in your direction too, mind taking her home?” Dave asked.
“Of course not,” Hotch said and took Jo´s bag from Dave.
“Thank you,” Jo said.
“Have a good day,” Dave said and gave them a curt nod. The older man turned around and headed for his car.
“You too,” Jo and Reid mumbled as Hotch acknowledged it with a quick bow of his head. The three of them walked toward Hotch´s car and got in.
The short drive to the Davenport residence was done in silence and Reid dozed in the passenger seat when Hotch pulled up the house. The young man opened his eyes when Hotch turned the engine off, and unbuckled the seatbelt at the same time as Jo. Jo lived in a small two stories affair with a small front yard and a wide porch. Hotch quickly got out of the car so he could take Jo´s go-bag. She briefly scowled at him when he grabbed the bag of her shoulder but let him take it when he firmly stared back.
Jo had barely put the key in the keyhole when the door opened revealing a thin brunette in her early thirties. She was a bit taller than Jo and her straight, dark hair came down to just below her shoulders. She stared at Jo with large brown eyes before looking down at Jo´s hand.
“I´m fine,” Jo said before the woman had a chance to say anything. “It´s just a bad bruise.”
“What happened?” the woman said as she stepped outside and carefully took the hand into hers.
“I got kicked,” Jo said quietly and softly stared at the woman as she examined it. “They X-rayed it at the hospital and Reid took a look at the image, nothing is broken.”
The brunette looked up at the two men standing on the porch and Jo turned her head. “Anna, this is my boss, Hotch and Dr. Reid,” she said and nodded toward them. “This is my wife Dr. Anna Branton.”
Anna smiled at them. “Nice to meet you; Jo and Dave have told me about all of you,” she said shyly as she held out her hand toward Reid.
“Umm… All phalanges and metacarpal bones, along with the trapezium, trapezoid, capitate, hamate, triquetrum, lunate and scaphoid bones are intact. And there’s no fractures,” Reid told her as he quickly shook her hand and then stuck them in his pocket.
Anna stared at him in surprise. “Are you a MD?” she asked with interest.
“No,” Reid replied hesitantly and shifted with self-consciousness.
“Dr. Reid is our residential genius,” Hotch said with a smile and exchanged a handshake and a greeting with Anna before handing her Jo´s bag.
“I see,” Anna said and Jo chuckled quietly.
Hotch nodded toward Jo. “Take care of that hand.”
“I will,” Jo said.
“Have a good day,” Hotch said and headed off the porch.
“Thanks for the ride, I´ll see you on Monday,” Jo said in return and headed inside.
Hotch walked to the car but noticed Reid standing in the middle of the sidewalk, staring at something inside the house. When Hotch followed his line of vision he noticed Jo and Anna standing in the living room. Anna was carefully studying Jo´s hand before setting her arms around her wife´s shoulders. Jo rested her head on Anna´s shoulder and curled her healthy arm around her waist. Hotch looked back at Reid and instantly recognized the look of longing in Reid´s face.
A sudden feeling of guilt settled in Hotch´s chest. It was human and a natural course of life to long for companionship with someone, but people with Reid´s personality trades usually got dismissed as unwanted. People who met him for the first time labeled him as a geek and missed out on getting to know the strong, sweet, honest and kind person that hid behind the armor of intelligence. Hotch knew that man though, had been allowed a peek inside the brick wall and had been mesmerized by the busy life he´d found in there. He´d give everything to make sure it was always safe, although Reid would never know just how much he would give.
“Reid,” Hotch called in an attempt to get the young man´s attention but Reid was too deep in his thoughts to notice. “Reid!” he called a bit louder and this time Reid looked around. The young man smiled apologetically before striding toward the car.
“Sorry,” the young genius breathed when they got into the car.
Turning the engine on, Hotch looked over to Reid. “How about some pancakes?” Aaron asked and smirked when Spencer´s eyes lit up.
“Sure,” Reid replied enthusiastically.
“Good. I just need to call Jack and see if he has time,” Aaron replied and picked up his phone. Sure enough, Jack was ready to have some pancakes at home, and Jessica offered to drop him off if Hotch would take him to school. Hotch eagerly agreed and headed toward his home.
When they got there, Aaron put Spencer to work on setting the table while he mixed the batter and started making the pancakes. Spencer insisted on making coffee and was on his second cup when there was a knock on the door. Asking Spencer to finish making the pancakes, Aaron rushed to the door and crouched down to hug his son.
“Daddy, did you catch the bad guy?” Jack asked.
Aaron chuckled. “We did,” Aaron replied and stood up as Jack ran inside the apartment.
“I made his snack,” Jess told him brightly.
“Thank you,” Aaron said and accepted Jack´s backpack from her hand. “You want to come in and have some pancakes and coffee?”
“No. I´m going to head to work. Will you pick him up?” she asked, smiling.
“Yes,” Aaron said just as Jack came running back and hid behind Aaron´s leg.
Aaron looked down at the young boy. “What is it, buddy?” he asked and crouched back down.
“There’s someone in the kitchen,” Jack said quietly.
Aaron´s stomach fell. Jack was still wary of people he didn´t know and clearly didn´t remember meeting Spencer before. “That is Dr. Reid, he works with me and you´ve met him before,” Aaron told him patiently.
“Call me if you need me to take him,” Jess interrupted before smiling at Jack. “Hey Jack, have a good weekend.”
“Bye, Aunt Jess,” Jack said quietly without looking at her. Instead he stared at the kitchen.
Aaron curled his lips sadly and rose. Jess really was an amazing person. “Thank you, Jess. You know I couldn´t do this without you.”
Jess left with a small wave and Aaron closed the door. He looked down at his hesitant son and offered him his hand. “Let´s go and say hello to Dr. Reid,” Aaron told him and led him to the kitchen.
Aaron gave Jack a gentle nudge to greet Spencer.
“Hello, my name is Jack,” Jack said and stared up at Spencer without letting go of his father´s hand.
“Hi, Jack,” Spencer replied and looked at Aaron. Spencer seemed uncertain but turned his gaze back to Jack. “You can call me Spencer.”
“How old are you? I´m six,” Jack said and took a step closer and let go of Aaron.
“Umm, I´m thirty,” Spencer replied.
“You´re old,” Jack told him.
“Actually, I´ve lived approximately one - “
“I think the pancakes are ready,” Aaron said interrupted before Spencer started on one of his coping mechanism.
“Okay,” Jack exclaimed and ran out of the kitchen to wash his hands, his fear forgotten.
“Walk, please,” Aaron said sternly after him.
Spencer looked at him embarrassed. “I´m sorry, it´s the Reid-affect.”
Aaron stared at him blankly. The word sounded vaguely familiar but he couldn´t place it. Spencer looked awkwardly into his mug. “I´m not very good with children,” he explained.
“You just need practice,” Aaron told him as he moved the plate, full of warm pancakes, to the kitchen table.
Jack came walking back and sat at the table. Aaron put two pancakes on Jack´s plate and helped him pour syrup on top. He felt Spencer´s eyes watch him before the young man took his own seat and Aaron pushed the plate of pancakes toward him.
“Dad, I read four words for Aunty Jess,” Jack said excitedly over the table with his mouth half full of pancakes.
“That´s really good, buddy,” Aaron told his son proudly and briefly set his hand on Jack´s shoulder. “Now, swallow before talking.”
“Were they big words or small words?” Spencer asked and put a big bite into his mouth and sighed quietly as he chewed.
“Big words,” Jack said with a smile. Aaron sighed quietly. His son was learning so fast.
“And what did they mean?” Spencer asked this time turning toward Jack with interest.
Jack became serious as he met Spencer´s gaze. “I don´t know,” he said defeated.
Spencer glanced at Hotch, who met his eyes with a small smile, hoping it would encourage him to explain to Jack. He was ready though to jump in if Spencer became too technical.
“That´s alright,” Spencer said in a low voice muttered and turned back to Jack. “You can look them up in a dictionary.”
“What´s that?” Jack stared at Spencer with interest as he chewed.
Spencer looked at Jack, almost baffled. “Umm, it´s a book that describes what the words we don´t understand mean.”
“Oh, okay,” Jack said. “Do I have a dictory?” he asked his father.
“It´s called dictionary,” Aaron corrected gently, “and I think I have one in the bookcase. I can show it to you after school.” Jack beamed at his father and Aaron couldn´t hold back his own smile. He felt Spencer´s eyes on him but when he turned his head, Spencer looked down at his plate and hid his expression.
Aaron drove Jack to school before driving Spencer to his apartment. Spencer thanked him for the breakfast and got out of the car.
“See you Monday,” Spencer said as he stood awkwardly and held the car door open.
“Yeah, have good weekend,” Aaron replied.
“You too.” Spencer shut the door. Aaron watched him make his way up to the second level of the apartment building before heading home. It had been a good morning, but he was dead tired.
***
Ch: 7