Fic: Copycats, Chapter 7 (Criminal Minds, Reid / Morgan, Hotch / Chad)
Title: Copycats, Chapter 7
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
Chapter 6
“Pretty Boy?”
Reid snapped out of his thoughts. He had been staring at the window the entire time they had been driving.
“Did you say something? And where are we going?”
“To Laredo’s. I wanna celebrate.”
“Can we just go home? I don’t really feel like celebrating.”
“I asked you when we left the hospital and you just hummed. Besides, we’re almost there.”
“I got a lot of things on my mind.” Reid turned to observe Morgan more carefully. “Not that you don’t, I mean-”
“I know what you mean.”
“I’m relieved. And happy. And angry. And resentful. And bitter.”
“Bitter?”
“To that woman.” He leaned back against the padded headrest. “One part of me would like to take your test results and shove them down her throat. And the other part keeps saying that she has enough to bear without me going after her. She has to face her condition every day. Medications, check-ups, eternal fear of…..”
“Of what?”
“That one day the downhill will start and after that there’s nothing else left besides the slow suffering.”
“That’s her life. You have no responsibility to worry about her.”
“I’m not worrying about her, I…. I’m trying to see the situation from her angle, but I can’t. No matter how hard I try, I can’t feel any sympathy for her.”
“Baby-”
“No, this is odd. I know that from purely humane point of view I should feel bad for her. That’s one basic block of homo sapiens collective groupings. We are pre-set to feel empathy for those who are in danger or otherwise vulnerable. Why can’t I feel it?”
“Because there’s been a lot of things to digest at once. You’ll get there when you’ve had time to process it.”
“I hope so.” Reid tapped the dashboard with his long fingers. “You know…. A lot of people have called me a computer and robot and whatever because of my brains. And I’ve always thought that despite my social inhibitions and limitations I’m still capable of all the normal functions that are included in the concept of a human psyche and behaviour.” He took a long breath and pulled his hand back to his lap. “I hope you’re right.”
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“I think I found out why I like it when you take Jack out to play football.” Hotch mused. “When you two come back he’s always too exhausted to run or scream.”
“So what does that make you? A soccer mom?” Chad grinned and leaned closer to sniff at the concoction on the stove. “And don’t call it football, it’s soccer. Two different games.”
“Anyway, it’s nice when he’s quiet for a while. Is he upstairs?”
“Living room. Reading those books I found from Cleveland.”
“How exactly did you find them? I asked all the bookstores around here and they said they were sold out.”
“Maybe people in Cleveland have a different taste in kids books.”
“Maybe, or you were just trying to upstage me. He’ll probably want you to read him his bedtime story. Again.” Hotch gave his cooking a light stir and placed the wooden spoon on the counter.
“That’s your fault, you don’t do the voices right.”
“Don’t get cocky just because you can imitate a goose.”
“Nope, I got other reasons to be cocky.”
“Like what?”
“Like my culinary skills that say you should take that off the stove pretty soon or you’ll burn it.”
“Right.” Hotch pulled the pan away from the stove and checked the well-cooked risotto. “It’s…. still edible, right?”
“Almost….. But I won`t taste that until you’ve tried it.”
“Why not?”
“I just want to see if you’ll survive it.”
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“This is good.” Morgan mumbled through a mouthful of pasta. “You wanna try?”
“No, thanks.” Reid kept fiddling with his fork and finally speared a piece of tuna fish. “This is good too.”
“Are you still thinking about it?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s none of your business. I called her about my results and we don’t need to meet her ever again.”
“That’s not the point.” Reid swallowed a piece of his fish. “Remember Pinocchio?”
“The movie?”
“I meant the book, but that’s close enough. Remember how he wanted to be a real boy?”
“I have no idea where you’re going with this.”
“Is this normal? From instinctual perspective.”
“Is it normal that you resent the fact that she turned our lives upside down for a while, and that you’re not wanting to hold her hand because she’s sick? That’s totally normal.”
“Is it?”
“It is, and for a genius you’re pretty dumb about it. People don’t need to like all people. You can be selective. If you don’t feel any sympathy for her, it doesn’t mean anything. You don’t feel sympathy for our unsubs, do you?”
“You can’t compare-”
“I didn’t mean it like that. Things can happen to people and you don’t need to worry about that. You feel bad for them if you feel bad for them. If you don’t, it doesn’t mean anything and it has nothing to do with humanity.”
“Morgan-”
“I know you better than you think. You feel sympathy for more people than I do, and I love that about you. You have a big heart. But you don’t need to feel for everyone who’s down on his luck. It has nothing to do with you and your nature. No matter how good human being you are, you can’t always take the noble way out.”
“You really think so?”
“Yeah. Now eat up, your food’s getting cold.”
Chapter 8