Fic: Visitors of Several Sorts, Chapter 2 (Criminal Minds, Reid / Morgan, Hotch / Chad)
Title: Visitors of Several Sorts, Chapter 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
“We’re here!” Chad yelled from the door and walked in carrying several suitcases.
Hotch followed the voice to the foyer and spotted a tiny, elderly woman standing next to Chad. She was watching him like a veterinarian who is just looking for a reason to terminate a dog.
“Mom, this is Aaron. Aaron, my mom.”
“Nice to meet you Ms. Christensen.” Hotch offered his hand but the lady didn’t take it.
“We have to skip handshaking, I had a little accident last week.”
“Something serious?”
“No, I just bumped my arm somewhere. I try not to use it.” She paused to take another look at Hotch. “Couldn’t you find someone your own age?”
“Ms. Christensen-”
“I know what men are like when they get to that age. They start running after young women.”
“Mom.” Chad interrupted.
“Sorry sweetie. I mean young men.”
“I’m not that much younger. And we`re all getting older.”
“Yes, but this one is a divorced man who has a child.”
“Dad was divorced when he married you.”
“That is different. That woman was a drug crazed hippie.”
“Mom, I think you’re confusing things. Eve Christensen was the secretary of the senior citizen’s club. She lived across the street from us, remember?”
“No, I remember perfectly well that-” She paused, looking slightly lost. “You’re right, sweetie. I think I should rest a little bit. That was flight was just awful.”
“I’ll show you the guest room.” Chad picked up the bags. “You can rest for two hours and then we’ll have dinner. We invited Spencer like you asked.”
“You did? Good, he was always such a lovely boy.” Ms. Christensen continued her comments all the way up the stairs. She didn’t notice the apologetic glance Chad send to Hotch over her shoulder.
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“Doctor Reid?”
“No, he’s in the shower.” Morgan stated and pulled his bathrobe tighter around himself. “But I can sign that for you.”
“Thanks.” The courier handed over the form and Morgan signed it. He gave it back and got a small packet in return.
“Who is it?” Reid came down the stairs, drying his hair on a towel.
“Delivery guy.” Morgan closed the door and gave the packet to Reid. “It’s for you.”
“Send from Dallas.”
“Not that guy again….”
“Morgan.”
“He’s been sending you stuff for four days. He’s not just saying “it was nice to meet you”, this means something totally different.”
“You want me to send this back? Whatever this is.”
“I want you to make it clear that you’re not interested.” Morgan eyed the box suspiciously. “Are you gonna open that?”
Reid tore the wrapping paper away. Inside was a small wooden box. He opened it and showed the content to Morgan.
“A watch? That’s it, you’re sending it back.”
“Calm down-”
“That thing is pricey and it just proves what I’ve been telling you. He wants something and I would say that something is you.”
“I’ll send it back, okay? I’ll write him a note too and ask him to stop.”
“No letters or notes. That’s how this thing started. And then you took him out for lunch!”
Reid froze. His expression went from patient to annoyed.
“Let’s see if I understood that poorly constructed argument correctly. Are you saying I encouraged him to believe that I might be interested?”
“Well he got that impression from somewhere!”
“I don’t flirt with strangers! That’s what you do.”
“Don’t try to turn this to me.”
“Do you seriously think I would intentionally flirt with him or mislead him?” Reid’s voice was going softer and softer, anger dissipating and leaving a disappointed tone behind.
“No.” Morgan said. “And don’t look like that, you make me feel like a guilty bastard for making you look like that. I don’t think you would lead anyone on or that it would even occur to you to do something behind my back.” He took a deep breath. “But I do think that guy can be a lot of trouble.”
“Okay.” Reid sighed. He took a step closer and rested his head on Morgan’s shoulder. “We’ll talk about this later, we need to get ready. Hotch said six thirty.”
“You know…. Our boss never invited me to his place for dinner before you recycled your ex to him.” Morgan grinned, attempting a light tone. “I’m moving up. Thanks to you, Pretty Boy.”
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“She’s asleep.” Chad reported when he appeared to the kitchen. “Sorry about that.”
“It wasn’t that bad.” Hotch peeked into the oven. “Are you sure the temperature is right? And the time. It’s been there for hours.”
“Yeah. I put it there before I went to the airport.”
“And it’s supposed to be there that long?”
“Have I given you any reason to doubt my culinary skills?”
“No.”
“Then stop doubting and start cutting tomatoes.”
“For what?”
“Salad. You didn’t think we were gonna eat just lamb?”
“I didn’t really think about it. What’s that green goo on top of it?”
“That`s the herb crust. It looks disgusting, but it will taste great when it’s ready.”
“I think I’ve gained at least five pounds since you moved in….”
“It looks good on you. Tomatoes.”
“Yes, boss.” Hotch started slicing tomatoes while Chad chopped the lettuce. “Something wrong?” Hotch frowned at the increasing pace of Chad’s chopping.
“What do you mean?”
“You look…. stressed.”
“No.” He placed the knife on the table and leaned back against the fridge. “Not stressed, but…. I don’t know. Did my mom seem normal to you?”
“Hard to say, that was the first time I met her.”
“When I was driving back from the airport we talked about old times, and she kept messing things up. Names and faces, and when I corrected her, she got all quiet for a while.”
“Maybe it’s just age.”
“No, she’s always been mouthy and sometimes pushy, but her memory is always right. She remembers every little thing about my childhood, what colour curtains our neighbours had, all of it. She always remembers.”
“Maybe there’s…. medical reasons for that.” Hotch suggested carefully.
“Maybe. Did I tell you that my dad had the same poker group for over thirty years. One of them died last year. Arthur, he used to work with my dad. She talked about how he had been their close friend for decades and how they had asked him to be Maris’s godfather.” Chad snatched a tomato from the cutting board and squeezed it like a stress toy. “She called him Alan. They knew the guy for thirty years and she doesn’t remember his name?”
“What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know.” Chad pulled his hand into a tight fist and tomato juice sloshed to the counter. “I have no idea.”
Chapter 3