Title: The Camp in Camping, Chapter 2/2
Pair: Spencer Reid / Derek Morgan,
Aaron Hotchner / Chad Christensen
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine, etc.
Feedback: Always Welcome
Criminal Minds Main List Chapter 1/2 “Aaron, it’s getting dark soon.” Chad informed ominously. “I’m gonna start the campfire.”
“I said I’ll do it!” Hotch protested from somewhere under the tent.
“You also said you’d built the tent and that was two hours ago. Besides, I don’t want you to start any forest fires.”
“I can make a fire!”
“Believe what you want.” Chad sighed and turned to Jack. “Wanna roast some marshmallows?”
“Yeah!”
“Great, we’ll set up the campfire here. You know what you gotta remember when you`re making a campfire?”
“No.”
“It has to be little bit away from the tent, and you gotta remove the growth on that area.”
“What does that mean?”
“You pick a place and then you take away all the green stuff, so it doesn`t light up.” Chad explained and pulled a away a small patch of moss.
“Then what?”
“Well….” Chad took some of the chopped logs they had brought on the back of the pick-up Hotch had borrowed. He set them up in a pyramid-like formation. “When you put the woods right in the beginning they’ll stay that way and burn well.” He took some rocks from the ground and circled the campfire with them.
“Why’s that?”
“Because we don’t want to spread the fire to the whole forest. You wanna do the honours?”
He pulled out a lighter and gave it to Jack. The kid held the lighter and Chad held his hand, guiding it to the bottom of the pyramid. They lit the woods on the bottoms and soon the fire reached the whole pyramid.
“Good job, little man.”
“Marshmallows now?”
“Sure. Pick your stick.” Chad turned to look at the unfinished tent. “Ten more minutes and I’ll come and help you, no matter what you say.”
“I got this together yesterday!”
“Yesterday it took you four hours.”
"I`ll get it up! I don`t need help."
“Do as you want…. “ Chad picket his own stick and shoved few marshmallows to the tip of it. He and Jack sat down by the campfire.
“Chaddy?”
“Yeah?”
“Why is daddy like that?”
“Well…. You know how little boys grow up to be men and little girls grow up to be women?”
“Yeah.”
“There’s some things that people think are man-things. The kind of things that real man have to know how to do.”
“Like tenting?”
“Your daddy has a little issue with his man-thing. But here comes the real lesson.”
Jack leaned closer to listen.
“It doesn’t matter one bit whether you do man-things or woman-things as log as you do your things. Get it?”
“Yeah….” Jack crunched up his face in deep thoughts. “So how long is daddy gonna built our tent?”
“Don’t worry. If he doesn’t get it up, I’ll do it.”
“Okay.” Jack took a bite from his lukewarm marshmallow. “He’ll get better.”
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“Was that my phone?” Morgan walked out of the bathroom, wrapped into his bathrobe.
“Mine, Chad called.”
“How long did that camping trip last?”
“About six hours. They’re in the ER.” Reid explained and closed his cell phone. “Chad asked if we could take Jack for one night, he doesn’t want to leave Hotch alone in the hospital.”
“What did Hotch do this time? Not the poison ivy again….”
“No. He got wrapped up in the tent, and couldn’t see where he was going. He lost his sense of direction.”
“Down the hill again?”
“No, through the campfire. Luckily the tent covered him so he didn’t get burns.”
“So why does he need help?”
“He bumped into a tree.”
“How bad is it?”
“Not bad, he conscious and talking, but according to Chad his face looks like an overripe plum.”
“Okay, I’ll get dressed.” Morgan turned to leave, but paused. “One question.”
“What?”
“Why was he wrapped in a tent?”
“He was trying to get it up.”
“And he needs a tent for that?”
“He was trying to get the tent up. They got a child with them, what were you thinking?”
“I forgot that…. Another question: Have you ever fooled around in a sleeping bag?”
“I haven’t even slept in a sleeping bag, except in the basic training period, when we had the survival training.”
“How did it go?”
“Sleeping?”
“Survival training.”
“Pretty well. We went on for two days without food. I’m so used to forgetting regular meals that I didn’t realise I was hungry till it was all over.”
“Why doesn’t that surprise me…”
“Are you getting dressed or am I going without you?”
“I’m coming, I’m coming.” Morgan headed to the bedroom. “But it’s not gonna be any fun.”
“I thought you liked it when Jack was here.”
“I like it, but you two will just start a sci-fi marathon or something like that and you don’t even remember I’m there.”
“That’s because Jack doesn’t interrupt me when I’m talking.”
“He’s a little kid! His judgement`s not very good.”
“One more word and I’ll have to explain to Jack why uncle Morgan is sleeping on the couch.”
“Sorry.”
“Okay.”
“But you could try showing him sports too, between starships. You`re moulding him to grow up all geeky.”
“I think I’ll tell him that you have an infectious disease.”
“What?”
“And that’s why you’ll have to sleep on the couch.”
“Pretty Boy, you can’t be that cruel!”
“I can. But you can earn your way back to the bed.”
“How?”
“You’ll watch the whole Star Trek marathon with us without one negative comment, groan or eye roll.”
“You’re quite a negotiator.”
“I know where my leverage is: In bed.” Reid smirked. “Hurry up.”