Tech Support
Title: Tech Support
Author: tafidadarling
Rating: FRT to be safe.
Fandom: Criminal Minds. CM belongs to CBS. My crazy thoughts are penniless.
Series: This is the second story set in my AU series Chaos Theory.
Pairing(s): Morgan/Garcia, Hotch/Reid
Summary: Derek's laptop breaks and he calls tech support.
Notes: What a lame title. Oh, and I apologize to whomever might have the e-mail address tankgirl79@yahool.com.
Cross posted to bau_fic, cm_slash, cm_hotch_reid and morgan_garcia.
Derek Morgan couldn't sleep the night before which is the only reason he would be up at this ungodly hour on a Saturday. As he sipped his coffee, he heard the elevator stop on his floor. Who was coming to visit someone at 8:00 AM? Derek peered through the peep hole and saw his neighbor fumbling for his keys. His hair was sticking up and he was wearing wrinkled clothing.
What was his name again? Stuart? Sam? It began with an S, Derek was sure. Looked like Stuart had spent the night at his partner's again. Derek was happy for him. That kid spent too much time with his books.
Derek sat down at the kitchen table and opened the paper to the police blotter. Even on his days off he never stopped working. He had been a cop since he graduated college. His father and his father before him had been on the force, and Derek had never seen any other future for himself. He loved his job because he loved to help people. He believed there could be no better feeling than knowing you did your part in keeping people safe.
Except maybe love. Derek's job didn't leave him much time for dating. As his mother said, he was married to the force just like his father. Derek wished he could be like his neighbor. The kid seemed to be truly happy. Derek wouldn't be surprised if he moved out of the building soon. He and his partner had been together almost a year now. Derek felt silly longing for a love like a teenage girl, but he wasn't getting any younger.
He walked over to his laptop and turned it on. 'I'll check my e-mail, go for a run and maybe go out tonight,' Derek thought. Suddenly, his laptop's screen went black.
"Come on girl. Don't quit on me now."
It was old, so Derek wasn't completely surprised. He really didn't want to call tech support right now; it would ruin his whole day. Run first, then he'd fix his computer.
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Derek was unlocking his door as his neighbor, his partner and a young boy walked out. The boy looked to Derek and said something. He couldn't hear him over the music and yanked his earbuds out.
"I'm sorry. What was that?"
"Hi! I said that Daddy and Papa are taking me for ice cream," the boy said.
"Jack," the older man said. "Sorry, sir. He's just excited."
"It's alright," Derek said.
"I don't believe we've officially met. I'm Aaron, Spencer's partner. This is Jack."
"Hi!" the young boy said again.
"Hey there little man. I'm Derek." Derek held out his hand and Jack jumped up and gave him a high five.
"If you ask me, Jack doesn't need any more sugar," Spencer said, laughing.
"You promised me ice cream, Papa," Jack said.
"I did, didn't I? What are we waiting for then? Nice seeing you," Spencer said as the group walked to the elevator.
"Same. See you around," Derek said.
"Bye!" Jack shouted and waved.
Derek smiled. "Bye little man."
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Derek sat at the table with his broken laptop in front of him and the phone in his hand. He was going to have to do this sooner or later. No point in putting it off any longer.
"Hello, you've reached Technical Support. I'm Penelope. What can I help you with today?" The woman sounded way too chipper for someone spending her Saturday morning explaining to people how to fix computers.
"Yeah, hi Penelope. I'm Derek. When I turned my laptop on this morning, the screen turned black."
"Alright. I'll see what I can do. What system are you using?"
"Um, it's a Dell," Derek said, checking.
"A Dell? What were you thinking? They're rated the worst when it comes to laptops."
"Excuse me?"
"Nevermind. I'm going to assume since you gave me the brand and not the system that you don't know much about computers."
"I really only use it to check my e-mail."
"Well, Derek, if you will let me, I can log into your system directly and fix the problem myself."
"That would be great!" Derek said. "I'm hopeless with computers."
"Aren't you all," Penelope muttered. "Okay, I think I've found it. Let me know if it's turning on," she said.
The screen turned blue, but it wasn't booting up. "Come on baby girl."
"Are you calling me or your computer 'baby girl'?" Penelope asked trying not to laugh.
"Oh, sorry. The computer."
"Darn, I was hoping it was me."
"What?" Derek almost dropped the phone. Just then, the laptop turned on. "It's working! You're amazing. Thank you."
"Any time sugar." Penelope hung up.
Derek signed in and went to check his e-mail. The first piece had no subject and was from a tankgirl79@yahoo.com. Derek checked the time and realized it was just sent. Did she... He opened it.
Derek,
You sound pretty hunky.
Wanna meet up for coffee sometime?
XOXO Penelope
Maybe calling tech support wasn't that annoying after all.