Criminal MInds - Hotch/Garcia - #48 Exchange
Title: A Curious Exchange
Author: avferreira
Fandom: Criminal Minds
Characters: Aaron Hotchner; Penelope Garcia; Derek Morgan; Spencer Reid
Pairings: Hotch/Garcia; Morgan/Reid
Prompt: 048. Exchange
Word Count: 1184
Rating: T
Summary: Late at night, BAU captor Derek Morgan witnesses a curious exchange between his pets.
Other Info: SF AU: human animal hybrids
Disclaimer: None of the characters here represented are mine.
Note: Inspired by a request at the 6th round of the Criminal Minds Prompt Meme as well as prompt 48
Derek Morgan, sworn captor of the Bureau for the Attendance of the Unconstrained, used his keycard to open the door of the nook he shared with Spencer Reid, his par. Penny came rushing out of the kitchen, tail wagging and curly hair bouncing around her face, and threw her arms around him. “Hot Stuff home!”
Penny was a minimal, the first one they’d got. Morgan had been uncomfortable with the idea at first. Minimals might not be full humans, in fact, in terms of abilities and competence, they were more animal than human, but they still looked too human for him to be at ease with the idea of having one as a pet. Spencer had only convinced him to go to the local rescue centre and adopt one by telling him what was done to those who couldn’t find a new home.
From what the centre manager had told them, Penny had been owned by a couple who had gotten her as a cub as a companion for their four sons, and ended up treating her as if she were the daughter they never had. When the couple died, neither of the now grown children had shown interest in caring for her.
He hugged her back; he could understand why the old couple had come to think of her as part of the family. Even with her limited vocabulary, which was mostly parroted from what she heard the humans around her say, and her restricted intelligence, Penny was smarter and more compassionate than many full humans he came in contact with daily.
The BAU dealt with crimes committed by the fully human - the unconstrained - and it was a great promotion from his previous job at the Minimal Control Unit. Still, there were times when Morgan felt the job weighing down on him. Minimals could be brutal, especially if they’d been allowed to run wild, but there was a certain cruelty, a certain pleasure in pain, that only full humans seemed capable of.
He kissed Penny on the forehead. “Where’s Spencer, Baby Girl?”
She nuzzled him and giggled. “Pretty Boy. Message.” She pointed to the com screen where an icon was blinking. “Pretty Boy. Pretty voice.”
Morgan sighed. There was no need to hear the message, he knew what it would say, what it always said. Spencer was a searcher at the BAU, that was how the two of them had met, and he was prone to get so involved in a case that he forgot about anything else. He should be thankful he had finally gotten his par to at least call home when he was working late.
He walked into the kitchen, with Penny padding softly behind him. Their other minimal, Hotch, was curled up by the window, staring out. He looked up, and acknowledged Morgan’s presence, but didn’t approach him.
They had found Hotch on the street, or rather Penny had found him. They’d been taking a stroll through a nearby park, when Penny had suddenly raised her head, perked up her floppy ears, and ran off, disappearing under a small ornamental bridge.
He and Spencer had followed, curious about her unusual behaviour, and had found her fawning and fretting over Hotch, who was seriously injured and painfully thin, but had still found the strength to snarl at them. They had taken him to the doctor, and when Penny refused to leave his side, at the clinic, they’d decided to take him home.
Minimals had DNA from all sorts of animals, but both Penny and Hotch were canines. Reid had been excited about the possibility of Penny having cubs, but it hadn’t happened so far.
They had no idea what had happened to Hotch. He had told them his name, but nothing else. Hotch never spoke much, even for a minimal. The doctor had suspected he had been attacked by another minimal, possibly one with the DNA of a large predator, judging by the slashes across Hotch’s chest, but Morgan suspected there was more to it. Hotch was too weary of humans, and he got a look in his eyes that Morgan knew too well: he’d seen it often enough in the mirror.
Hotch rose gracefully from where he was sitting, and crossed the kitchen, pausing to lean softly against Morgan. This was as affectionate as he got. Morgan held his head, and for a second that look was there again: the uncertainty of whether the touch would turn into a caress or a beating.
“Have you two eaten?” Morgan asked in the lowest softest voice possible. Hotch nodded.
One of the advantages of minimals over traditional pets was that they could pretty much take care of themselves. Some could even be taught to perform small tasks. Penny, for instance, had learnt how to make sandwiches and renutrify shelter food.
“Sleep.” Hotch said, walking out of the kitchen. Penny kissed Morgan on the cheek before following her mate out.
Morgan made and ate dinner, and turned in. He was exhausted, but found he couldn’t fall asleep. He got up to fix himself a calming tisane, when he heard something coming from the minimals cubicle: it sounded like voices.
Minimals didn’t seem to talk much amongst them; words were something reserved for communicating with humans. Hotch and Penny seemed to vocalize even less, most of their communication being done by glances and body postures.
He approached the open archway that lead to the cubicle and froze. Judging from the sounds coming from within, Hotch and Penny were mating. He had seen minimals mate during his time at the MCU, and he knew some owners enjoyed watching, but he had always felt that was crossing a line, and taking advantage of the fact the minimals didn’t know any better.
He smiled, thinking that maybe Spencer would get those cubs after all, and was about to return to the kitchen when he heard Penny’s voice. “I love you, Aaron.”
Aaron? Who was Aaron? And since when did his silly funny Penny sound so articulate and so serious?
He walked back to the cubicle and peered cautiously in. Hotch and Penny were naked on top of the padded mats that served as their beds, illuminated by the moonlight streaming in through the small window. They were having sex, just as he had suspected, but this was like no minimal mating he had ever witnessed.
Hotch was settled between her legs, moving deliberately in and out of her, and her hands caressed his back as he kissed his way up her neck and over her face. If it weren’t for the tails and the ears, they could’ve been just about any human couple making love.
They climaxed as he was watching. He pulled back from the archway to hide his presence, and saw Hotch snuggle up against Penny and pull a blanket over themselves.
“I love you too, Penelope,” he said, to Morgan’s amazement.
She looked up at him. “I love Hot Stuff and Pretty Boy too, Aaron.”
Hotch nodded. “I know. As do I.” He kissed her hair. “We’ll protect them. When the time comes.”