Fic: Visitors of Several Sorts, Chapter 6 (Criminal Minds, Reid / Morgan, Hotch / Chad)
Title: Visitors of Several Sorts, Chapter 6
Pair: Spencer Reid / Derek Morgan,
Aaron Hotchner / Chad Christensen
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine, etc.
Feedback: Always Welcome
Criminal Minds Main List
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
“Hey.”
Morgan waited but he didn’t get any reaction.
“Pretty boy?”
“That wasn’t there when we left.” Reid pointed to a small packet on the kitchen table.
“Stay here.” Morgan went to check the first floor windows and the backdoor. He came back few minutes later.
“The backdoor was tampered. Are you gonna open it?”
“Yeah.” The genius pulled the wrapping paper off. Inside was a worn book, wrapped into faded paper sleeve. “East of Eden, first edition. Released in September 1952.”
“Does that mean something?”
“It was….” Reid put the book on the table. His hands had started shaking. “I got it from Mark. For my birthday.”
“That came from this house?”
“No. After that break-in I couldn’t find it anywhere. He took it.”
“So why did he bring it back?”
Reid opened the title page and a photograph fell down. He scanned it’s content and gave it to Morgan.
It was a picture of Reid and Mark enjoying a sunny day in the nearby park. On the other side was a short message, written in blue ink.
Everything’s forgiven.
I love you.
I’m waiting for you.
M.
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Chad was pretty sure someone was watching him. Then someone tugged the hem of his shirt.
“Chaddy?”
He opened his eyes. Jack was looking at him with his head cocked to the side.
“Are you awake?”
“No. What are you doing here?”
“Jack wanted to come and see you. And I wanted to talk to you about something.” Hotch explained. He opened Jack’s backbag and pulled out a colouring book and some crayons. “You wanna colour your book for a while?”
“Daddy?”
“Yeah?”
“Is she sleeping?” Boy’s voice went down to a whisper. He pointed to the immobile woman on the hospital bed.
“I think she’s sleeping, so you have to be really quiet, okay?”
“She’s awake.” Ms. Christensen commented and opened her eyes. Her voice was foggy and slurring. “Who do we have here?”
“Mom, this is Jack. Aaron’s kid.” Chad explained.
“Come here.” She looked at Jack. “Well…. at least you didn’t inherit your daddies nose.”
“Jackie, can you do your colouring book for few minutes? Daddy needs to talk with Chad.”
“Okay.” Jack started to spread his book and crayons on the bedside table.
“Mom, will you be alright?” Chad asked and got a frustrated look in return.
“Chad, I can’t move from this bed and my hospital gown is open from the back. That was a really stupid question from a smart boy.”
“I’ll be right back.” Chad followed Hotch to the hallway. Hotch handed him an overnight bag.
“I brought you some fresh clothes.”
“Thanks.”
“Did you find Cain?”
“Yeah, he and Sean took a long weekend, they had a room in some tine Bed & Breakfast. They’re on their way.”
“That’s good.” Hotch paused. “I know you don’t need any more worries, but…. Do you want to hear the latest about Reid’s twin admirer?”
“Like mom just said: That’s a stupid question.”
“There’s something bizarre in the whole suicide and burial thing. I don’t know how the other brother is mixed up in it, but it’s better if everyone keeps their eyes open.”
“Has he moved on from flowers and gifts?”
“No. But his brother’s decline was very rapid, and we have consider the possibility that mental instability-”
“May run in the family. How bad was it with the first one? I wasn’t here back then.”
“Bad. He harassed Reid over the phone, followed him, broke into his apartment.”
“And then he shot himself.”
“That’s what we thought, but now I’m not so sure anymore.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but the dead lived here in Virginia, right?”
“Right.”
“So whatever he did he did it close enough to see the impact.”
“Where are you going with this?”
“Well…. Are you sure he really did go back to Texas?”
Hotch thought about it. “No. According to Morgan, all the gifts were sent from Dallas, but that doesn’t really prove anything.”
“Exactly.”
“I’ll call Garcia” Hotch pulled his phone from his pocket and scanned the speed dials. “I promise we’ll leave after that, so your mother can rest.”
“This better be good.” Garcia complained on the other end of the line. “My hood is all crooked.”
“Hood?”
“You know, the one that comes with the costume when you rent a nurse’s outfit.”
“Can you do quick check-up for me?”
“If it’s really quick, Kevin’s waiting for his enema.”
“Garcia…..”
“Too much information?”
“Yes.”
“Good, because that’s what you get when you ruin my weekend. What do you want?”
“The same guy you did a background check on. Can you figure out if he really did fly back to Dallas?”
“Gimme ten minutes.” She hung up.
“She’s on it.”
“I thought she was always on something…. By the way, you’re not supposed to use cell phone in a hospital, it can mess up the machines.” Chad commented. “And I think you’ll have to stay a while longer.”
“Why?” Hotch snapped his phone off.
“Take a look.” Chad pointed to the hospital room. Hotch peeked his head in and he had to press his lips together to keep the approaching chuckle inside.
Jack had climbed on Ms. Christensen’s hospital bed and was happily chatting about his plans to colour the sky bright red. Judging by the smile on her face, Ms. Christensen didn’t mind.
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“If you people keep treating me like this, I’ll come and give you the sponge bath from hell.” Garcia protested. “First you interrupt me in the middle of the night and then you interrupt me in the middle of my games. Penny is one angry nurse right now!”
“Mama, calm down.”
“First Hotchie asks me to dig up the dirt and then he doesn’t even answer his phone!”
“What did you dig up?”
“I’ll tell you if you promise to leave me alone for the rest of the weekend.”
“Promise.”
“Mickey Boy didn’t land.”
“What do you mean?”
“He was booked on the flight to Dallas, but he didn’t get on the plane. I checked his credit card transactions after that date: A lot of purchases, all of them here in Virginia.”
“What about the gifts?”
“Ordered from shops in Dallas. The guy is here.”
“Yeah.” Morgan agreed. “We already figured that out.”
Chapter 7