Criminal Minds Fic: Storm Clouds
Posted to bau_fic
Title: Storm Clouds
Pairing/Characters: JJ/Will, Spencer, Henry
Rating: PG13
Spoilers: Jones, Memoriam
Summary: Little Henry gets worried about his mother on the BAU plane in a storm
Notes/Warnings: Read the disclaimer on my LJ
"Hey, little man..." Will bent down to his son's bed to urge him to lay back down. "You're not supposed to be up so late." He pulled the covers back over Henry and sat down on the edge of the bed.
"There's a storm out there." Henry's voice was filled with childish worry. "What if it makes Mommy's plane crash?"
Will brushed the little boy's hair from his face with an affectionate gesture.
"Now, we talked about this. You know Mommy promised not to fly if it wasn't safe."
Wide eyes turned to the gap between the drapes where a flicker of lightning briefly illuminated the room beyond the dim glow of the plastic truck nightlight beside the bed.
"Can we call her?"
Will let out a resigned sigh. "Okay, but we can't be calling her every time you have a bad dream or something. You told Mommy you were a big boy now."
"I know..." Henry intoned, perking up when Will pulled out his cell phone and dialed.
"Hello." JJ sounded tired, but otherwise fine.
"Hey, hon. I've got a worried little boy here who's afraid his Mom's plane's in trouble. Can you promise him it isn't so he can go back to sleep?"
"Aww, again? It's just a little rainstorm, that's all."
"Not where we are. We've got the whole shebang: thunder and lightning and everything."
"Okay, put him on."
Will switched the phone to loudspeaker and handed it to his son who spoke at it from a distance.
"Hi, mommy!"
"Hi, baby! I miss you!"
"I miss you too! Is your plane okay? The storm clouds are scary tonight."
"We're just fine up here. Nothing's going to go wrong with the plane."
Just then a loud rumble erupted and Henry visibly stiffened.
"Mommy? Are you still there?"
"Yes, baby. I'm right here."
"I'm scared."
"Oh sweetie, there's nothing to be scared of."
Another voice cut in on the other end.
"Hey, can I talk to Henry? I am his godfather after all."
"Sure."
There was a pause and then the sound of Spencer's voice came over the line.
"Hey, Henry? It's Uncle Spencer."
"Hi, Uncle Spencer!"
"Sounds like you're worried about your Mom and I up in the plane."
"Yeah."
"Do you remember when we were playing around with the quarter and I taught you how to flip it and about odds?"
"You teaching my kid gambling before he's in first grade?" Will asked, humor in his tone.
"No no! Odds! Like ratios! One in two and fifty-fifty! Just math!"
"It's okay, Spence, we get it." JJ's voice was calming even over the phone.
"Well, when we flipped the coin it was heads or tails. That meant for every two times we flipped it we were likely to get heads one time, right?"
"Right."
"So if I tell you that the odds are one in twenty that a kid in your class will get the chicken pox, that means it's likely only one kid will get it, not all twenty."
"Okay."
"And if I say that it's more likely to rain frogs than for our plane to come down. Does that seem likely to happen?"
Henry broke out into boyish giggles.
"Raining frogs?"
"It can happen!" Reid exclaimed. "It's just very very very rare, like problems with good sturdy planes in a little rain. So don't worry. The odds say that your Mom is safe."
JJ took over. "So, Henry? If you hear frogs falling outside your window? Then you get to worry. Until then, go to bed and I'll make you pancakes in the morning."
"Pancakes!" Henry cried excitedly.
"Now go to bed for Daddy, okay? I love you."
"Love you, Mommy!"
"Say good night to Uncle Spencer."
"Good night, Uncle Spencer."
"Good night, Henry!"
"Thanks, you two," Will said, taking the phone off loudspeaker and returning it to his ear. "I'll see you when you get home," he added for his wife.
"Can't wait. Give him a kiss for me."
"Love you..."
"Love you too. Bye..."
They hung up and Will rose to draw the curtains shut.
"Time for sleep. No more storm clouds."
"And no frogs," Henry added with a yawn.
Will bent over to give him a kiss on the forehead.
"Get some sleep, little man."
"Night, Daddy."
Closing the door behind him, Will headed to the master bedroom to get ready for bed himself.
Raining frogs... He'd have to remember that one...
/
"Raining frogs?" JJ said, putting away her phone. "Where did you come up with that one?"
"I needed an example of something that was statistically unlikely yet entertaining to a child," Spencer explained. "And yes, it really does rain frogs, particularly in the Amazon rainforest. Not precisely rain, but more that they get caught up in an unusually strong gust of wind, get blown from the trees and then fall like rain."
"But it almost never happens, right? So I guess the analogy works."
She went back to working on her reports as lightning flashed in the plane's windows.
"Actually," Spencer muttered under his breath, watching the bright veins of electrical activity splash across the night sky. "It happens more than you might think."
///
Title: Storm Clouds
Pairing/Characters: JJ/Will, Spencer, Henry
Rating: PG13
Spoilers: Jones, Memoriam
Summary: Little Henry gets worried about his mother on the BAU plane in a storm
Notes/Warnings: Read the disclaimer on my LJ
"Hey, little man..." Will bent down to his son's bed to urge him to lay back down. "You're not supposed to be up so late." He pulled the covers back over Henry and sat down on the edge of the bed.
"There's a storm out there." Henry's voice was filled with childish worry. "What if it makes Mommy's plane crash?"
Will brushed the little boy's hair from his face with an affectionate gesture.
"Now, we talked about this. You know Mommy promised not to fly if it wasn't safe."
Wide eyes turned to the gap between the drapes where a flicker of lightning briefly illuminated the room beyond the dim glow of the plastic truck nightlight beside the bed.
"Can we call her?"
Will let out a resigned sigh. "Okay, but we can't be calling her every time you have a bad dream or something. You told Mommy you were a big boy now."
"I know..." Henry intoned, perking up when Will pulled out his cell phone and dialed.
"Hello." JJ sounded tired, but otherwise fine.
"Hey, hon. I've got a worried little boy here who's afraid his Mom's plane's in trouble. Can you promise him it isn't so he can go back to sleep?"
"Aww, again? It's just a little rainstorm, that's all."
"Not where we are. We've got the whole shebang: thunder and lightning and everything."
"Okay, put him on."
Will switched the phone to loudspeaker and handed it to his son who spoke at it from a distance.
"Hi, mommy!"
"Hi, baby! I miss you!"
"I miss you too! Is your plane okay? The storm clouds are scary tonight."
"We're just fine up here. Nothing's going to go wrong with the plane."
Just then a loud rumble erupted and Henry visibly stiffened.
"Mommy? Are you still there?"
"Yes, baby. I'm right here."
"I'm scared."
"Oh sweetie, there's nothing to be scared of."
Another voice cut in on the other end.
"Hey, can I talk to Henry? I am his godfather after all."
"Sure."
There was a pause and then the sound of Spencer's voice came over the line.
"Hey, Henry? It's Uncle Spencer."
"Hi, Uncle Spencer!"
"Sounds like you're worried about your Mom and I up in the plane."
"Yeah."
"Do you remember when we were playing around with the quarter and I taught you how to flip it and about odds?"
"You teaching my kid gambling before he's in first grade?" Will asked, humor in his tone.
"No no! Odds! Like ratios! One in two and fifty-fifty! Just math!"
"It's okay, Spence, we get it." JJ's voice was calming even over the phone.
"Well, when we flipped the coin it was heads or tails. That meant for every two times we flipped it we were likely to get heads one time, right?"
"Right."
"So if I tell you that the odds are one in twenty that a kid in your class will get the chicken pox, that means it's likely only one kid will get it, not all twenty."
"Okay."
"And if I say that it's more likely to rain frogs than for our plane to come down. Does that seem likely to happen?"
Henry broke out into boyish giggles.
"Raining frogs?"
"It can happen!" Reid exclaimed. "It's just very very very rare, like problems with good sturdy planes in a little rain. So don't worry. The odds say that your Mom is safe."
JJ took over. "So, Henry? If you hear frogs falling outside your window? Then you get to worry. Until then, go to bed and I'll make you pancakes in the morning."
"Pancakes!" Henry cried excitedly.
"Now go to bed for Daddy, okay? I love you."
"Love you, Mommy!"
"Say good night to Uncle Spencer."
"Good night, Uncle Spencer."
"Good night, Henry!"
"Thanks, you two," Will said, taking the phone off loudspeaker and returning it to his ear. "I'll see you when you get home," he added for his wife.
"Can't wait. Give him a kiss for me."
"Love you..."
"Love you too. Bye..."
They hung up and Will rose to draw the curtains shut.
"Time for sleep. No more storm clouds."
"And no frogs," Henry added with a yawn.
Will bent over to give him a kiss on the forehead.
"Get some sleep, little man."
"Night, Daddy."
Closing the door behind him, Will headed to the master bedroom to get ready for bed himself.
Raining frogs... He'd have to remember that one...
/
"Raining frogs?" JJ said, putting away her phone. "Where did you come up with that one?"
"I needed an example of something that was statistically unlikely yet entertaining to a child," Spencer explained. "And yes, it really does rain frogs, particularly in the Amazon rainforest. Not precisely rain, but more that they get caught up in an unusually strong gust of wind, get blown from the trees and then fall like rain."
"But it almost never happens, right? So I guess the analogy works."
She went back to working on her reports as lightning flashed in the plane's windows.
"Actually," Spencer muttered under his breath, watching the bright veins of electrical activity splash across the night sky. "It happens more than you might think."
///