Fic: Tangled Web, Chapter 1/3 (Criminal Minds, Reid / Morgan, Hotch / Chad)
Title: Tangled Web, Chapter 1/3
Pair: Spencer Reid / Derek Morgan,
Aaron Hotchner / Chad Christensen,
Sean Hotchner / Cain Christensen
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine, etc.
Feedback: Always Welcome
Criminal Minds Main List
Reid had unpacked his travelling bag by the time Morgan returned.
“I think Mrs. Jones is skipping her meds again.” Morgan commented and tossed a pile of mail to the nightstand. “You wouldn’t believe the speech I had to listen before she gave me our mail.”
“She picket it up for a week, let her talk.” Reid took the stack and started sorting it into two piles. “Did she talk about her grandkids spelling contest again? Spelling: S-P-E-L-”
“Stop that. She kept going on and on about how Frank Sinatra was the greatest heavy metal band of all time, I just went along with it.”
“She’s harmless. Let her keep her fantasies.”
“I did. Anything good?”
“Bills, junk mail….” Reid paused at a white envelope and grabbed his glasses from his breast pocket. He put them on and took a better look.
“What is it?”
“I’m not sure.” He flipped the envelope around between his fingers so Morgan could see it. There was a large logo at the corner of the envelope. “Cleveland Memorial Hospital.”
He ripped it open and pulled out two sheets of paper.
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Hotch snapped the lights on in the foyer. He had already seen from the outside that the house was dark, and even the driveway was empty. He pulled out his phone and checked the screen. Nine missed calls: Five from Chad, four from Sean.
He was about to dial the number when the phone rang again.
“Hotchner.”
“Where were you? I tried to call you.” Sean complained.
“We landed couple hours ago and I had some meetings after that, I couldn’t keep my phone on. What’s going on?”
“I tried to call Chad again, but he’s not answering, so I don’t know if he’s going too.”
“Going where?”
“Cleveland.”
“Sean, take a deep breath and start from the beginning. What’s going on?”
A long silence followed. Finally Sean let out a deep sigh.
“You have no idea, do you?”
“About what?”
“Well…. Cain took the afternoon flight. He called me just now, he’s at the hospital.”
“Hospital?”
“Maris called him this morning. Their mom had another stroke.”
“How bad is it?”
“What am I, a doctor? It was bad.”
“Did she call Chad too?”
“Yeah, and then I called him to tell him about the flight schedule, and he said he would try to handle his work stuff so he can go too.”
“Where’s he now?”
“I don’t know. Last time I talked to him he was still at the office, but when I tried to call again he didn’t even answer.”
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“What is it?” Morgan asked. He eyed the genius carefully.
“It was sent last week when we were away.” Reid pulled off his glasses and rubbed the ridge of his nose. “I don’t know what to make of it. I guess she wrote with her better hand, but still….”
“Who’s it from?”
“Mrs. Christensen.”
“Chad’s mom? Why is she writing you?”
“She….” Reid glanced through the lines of dark blue ink. “She’s recovering from a pneumonia. She’s still pretty weak after the stroke.”
“So why is she writing you?”
“She….” Reid folded the letter and put it back into the envelope. “She wants to settle some things.”
“That doesn’t sound good. What kinda things?”
“Read it yourself. I guess she wrote it with her better hand, but it’s pretty hard to read.”
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Chad’s office was the only one where the lights were still on. Hotch walked in and knocked on the doorframe.
“Hey.”
“Why are you still here?” Chad was leaning back in his chair, his legs lifted onto the desk. “I thought you went home.”
“You didn’t answer you phone, so I thought you’d be here.”
“And here I am.” Chad deadpanned. “And I’ll be here for a while.”
“You’re not going to Cleveland?”
Chad didn’t reply, instead his just tossed his table calendar over to Hotch.
“New recruits are coming next week, I’m not going anywhere.”
“I could make some calls-”
“I already did. I tried bribing, begging threatening and blackmailing. Didn’t help.”
“Well….” Hotch tried to come up with something comforting. “At least Cain’s there. He’ll call you if there’s any news.”
“And I’m here. Right here.” Chad slammed palm against the desk.
“Weekend’s coming up, maybe you could leave early on Friday-”
“I don’t even know if she’ll hold on till then.”
“Is it that bad?”
“She gave orders for her treatment some time ago. They can make her comfortable and give medication for pains, but they can’t put her on life support. And that means.... It`s just a question of time.”
“A lot of people do that. We should go home, you could get some rest and-”
“And I can’t go home. If I go home now I’ll end up doing something crazy, like punch that neighbour who keeps revving up his stereos in the middle of the night.”
"Okay.” Hotch stated. He pulled off his jacket and spread it over the backrest of a chair. "We’ll wait here.”
"You don’t need to stay.”
"We just got back after a nine day case. I’m too tired to argue. Where’s the nearest coffee machine?”
"Down the hall.” Chad gave him a small smile. He opened his desks rawer and pulled out a handful of quarters. "Check the other vending machines too, I haven’t had anything to eat since lunch.”
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“This is….” Morgan stammered. “I don’t even know what this is, but this is…”
“Unusual?”
“Unusual doesn’t even cover this…. I know moms love to meddle with their kid’s lives, but this is….”
“Extreme?”
“Yeah, that’s a good word.”
“You think Chad and Cain know about this?”
“I don’t think so.”
“What about her husband?”
“I don’t think he has anything to say about it.” Reid groaned. “Don’t ask me to explain, I’m too tired for that. Can we just forget this and go to bed?”
“Yeah, but don’t think I’ll forget something like that-” Morgan was interrupted by Reid’s cell phone. The genius pulled the phone from his pocket and scanned the screen.
“I think the popular phrase “The plot thickens” is appropriate for this.” Reid stated and frowned. “Do people still say that?”
“Yeah, people still say that. Who’s calling?”
Reid showed him the ringing cell phone. Morgan’s eyes reached his eyebrows.
“That can’t be a coincidence.”
“That’s what I’m thinking too.” Reid agreed. He tapped the line open and pressed the phone to his ear. “Hey, Maris.”
Chapter 2/3