Fic: Fonder In Absence, Chapter 2 (Criminal Minds, Reid / Morgan, Sean / Cain)
Title: Fonder In Absence, Chapter 2
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
Chapter 1
“Doctor Reid?” One of the nurses waved at the man passing the nurses station. “Don’t forget your phone!”
“Sorry, I forgot…” Reid came back and took the phone she was offering. “You’ll call me if there’s some change?”
“And we got the number to your motel too.” She assured. “She’ll probably be out of it the whole night, so you should try to get some sleep too.”
“Yeah. I got some sleep in her room when she was asleep, but that chair is awful for my back.”
“That’s what everyone says.”
“I’ll be back in the morning.”
“Good night.”
“Good night.” Reid turned and headed to the front door. He walked past the night-watchman, who was just signing in for his shift and stepped outside. The yard was bathing in the last of the daylight. He tilted his head back to enjoy few rays before he took a look at his phone. Reid scanned through the list of eight unanswered calls and then dialled Morgan’s number.
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Sean looked tried focus on the small leaflet he had received at the door, but the constant bustling of people around them made reading practically impossible. Cain’s arm was still wrapped around Sean’s waist, and for a passing minute Sean considered making some half-hearted complaint about it. In the end he ditched the idea and leaned against the solid body.
“Why is yours bigger than mine?”
“Generous genes.”
“Ha ha, really funny. I mean these.” Sean waved his leaflet. “Why did you get a whole folder?”
“You got the normal show listing, I got the press package. Where do you wanna start?”
“The bar.” Sean got his first good look at the waitresses manoeuvring in the crowd. “Cain?”
“Yeah?”
“Why are all the waitresses drag queens?”
“I think it’s part of the exhibition’s theme.” Cain flipped the folder open. “The exhibit is named: Something old, something new. A celebration of renewal.”
“What does that have to do with a bodybuilder dressed up like Tina Turner?”
“He’s moving on to something new, but kept his old parts? I don’t know.”
“Maybe I should ask the artist herself. Would that topic be arty enough?”
“She’s got a good sense of humour, she`s probably had a good laugh at all the questions about them.”
“Can you see her?”
“Nope, but she’ll show up.” Cain predicted and his expression turned slightly sour. “And so will her dad.”
“What’s with the tone?”
“Nothing, the guy’s just creepy. Got into sex, drugs and rock`n roll in the seventies and never got out. Now it’s more like truckloads of Viagra, and young girls and guys, who wanna party with a rich geezer who pays the tab.”
“Then how did he get so successful?”
“In the art world being dazed, confused and horny is practically mandatory for artists. They think it’s one form of artistic liberty. He hasn’t actually done anything worth mentioning in decades, but he’s got a good business manager. His galleries stay up because of his old fame and he doesn’t even need to paint anymore.”
“What kinda paintings did he do?”
“Imagine an old hippie, who was drugged up to his gills. What do you think?”
“Psychedelic?”
“That’s a very polite way to say it, but some people think that crap is serious art.”
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“Morgan.”
“Hey, it’s me.”
“Why haven’t you answered your phone?”
“I left it to the nurses station when I went in. They don’t want cellphones in the ward, they can upset patients.”
“How’s your mom?”
“Better, they returned her to the normal ward. But the pneumonia was bad, she lost more weight than she should have.”
“Now that you’ve mentioned weight, have you been eating?”
“Morgan, I’m a grown man.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“I eat when I’m hungry.”
“Unless you forget.”
“I’ve had this and that. And this morning I got pancakes.”
“You went to some diner?”
“No, the women at the sanatorium gave me some when they were making breakfast rounds.”
“They just gave you food?”
“Mom’s been here for years, I know all the nurses by name.”
“Did you do that eye thing again?”
“What thing?”
“You know what I mean. The puppy eye thingy.”
“You think I would use that to get free pancakes?”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t even ask! They smelled good and I may have looked at that food cart and Martha said I looked so sad and lonely I needed some cheering up.”
“Was she that grey-haired one, who has seven grandkids?”
“Yeah.”
“Tell me honestly: Did you go stand next to the cart and do the sad puppy eye trick?”
“What do you mean trick?”
“So you did… I’ve told you to get control of those eyes, they’re like lethal weapons. You can’t just point them at people.”
“I have to look at people when I’m talking to them!”
“Then wear sunglasses.” Morgan groaned and pressed his head against his pillow, cradling the phone between the pillow and his ear. “I should be sleeping.”
“Are you still having problems?”
“There’s no one to sneak into my room in the middle of the night. Prentiss suggested I should ask you to babble me to sleep.”
“I hope you didn’t tell her-”
“That it turns me on when you babble? When I’m awake enough to get turned on. And the topic isn’t something totally boring.”
“Like what?”
“What was that book you were reading in the plane couple weeks ago? The one you tried to explain to me?”
“Molar Mass Distribution?”
“Yeah, that. Can you recite some of that for me? I think that might do the trick.”
“Are you all tucked in?” Reid stepped into his rental car and put the call on the speakers.
“Yeah.”
“The most common technique for measuring molecular weight used in modern times is a variant of high pressure liquid chromatography, known by the interchangeable terms of size exclusion chromatography and gel permeation chromatography. These techniques involve forcing a polymer solution through a matrix of cross-linked polymer particles-"
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“Save me.” Sean had spotted Cain on the other side of the room and latched on to him. “Is she still following me?”
“Who?”
“Cher.”
“Cher?”
“A waiter dressed up like Cher. I took one glass of wine from his tray and he’s followed me ever since, offering to turn back time in the backroom.”
“Which one?”
“Circa 1988. Big hair, leather and a chains.”
“Can’t see him.” Cain quickly checked the crowd. “Only Cher I can see is more sixties than eighties.”
“Hey!” A bubbly blond dived out of the mass of people pulling a man in her wake. She flicked her hair off her face and gave Cain a quick hug. “The doorman said you were here, but I couldn’t find you.”
“We’ve been going around, checking the exhibition.”
“So what do you think?”
“They’re definitely your style.”
“Thanks.” She turned to Sean and grabbed his hand for a squeezing handshake. “Hey, I’m Darla. You must be Shawn.”
“Sean.”
“Sorry, they sound so alike. And this…” She pulled her companion closer to greet the men. “This is my father, Robert.”
“It’s been a while, sir.” Cain offered him a quick handshake and a smile that didn’t go anywhere near his eyes. “But I’ve read the latest from the gossip columns.”
“Don’t believe a word they say, artists always screw around. That’s how we keep the creative juices flowing.” He noticed Sean and a quick flash of recognition made a brief appearance on his face, then vanished again. “Nice to meet you, Shawn.”
“Sean.” He corrected faintly. Sean was having troubles keeping his face neutral. The instinctive urge to grab Cain and run out began to feel more and more tempting. “Cain just told me about your old works.”
“You should come and see my new works.” Robert’s eyes went up and down Sean’s body, and finally returned to his meet his eyes. “I’m trying new mediums.”
“Look!” Darla shrieked and pointed across the room. “I didn’t even think she was gonna come. You know Lauren from New York Review?”
“Yeah, I met her last year.” Cain twisted his neck to see the plump women wolfing down the cheese balls. “You do know she writes her reviews based on the snacks?”
“She looks happy so far. Come on, you gotta introduce us.” She pulled Cain’s hand and dragged him into the crowd, re-surfacing a minute later on the other side of the room.
“They’ll be busy for a while.” Robert picked a wineglass from on of the passing trays and gave Sean a predatory smile. “And I got some very fond memories of our last encounter.”
“Last? There’s been only one.” Sean kept his voice low, trying not to attract attention.
“We can fix that anytime you want. Too bad the rest of the merry men aren’t here.”
“That wasn’t merry, that was drunk.”
“Not that drunk if I remember correctly. If you’re like that after few drinks, I would love to see what you’re like when you’re really drunk.”
“Keep imagining that, because it’s not gonna happen.”
“You protest just a little bit too much… Does Christensen know what he’s dealing with? If you want I could offer both of you a good time. The gang’s getting together after this shindig-”
“Count me out and stay away from Cain.” Sean clenched his teeth. “We’re not interested.”
“Aren’t you? I remember what you’re like. Couldn’t settle for one man, you had to have them all.” He watched as Sean pressed his lips together and his smirk turned even wider. “Anyway they wanted… all night. That wasn’t about alcohol, that was all you.”
“It wasn’t.” Sean took a step back. “Anyway, it’s ancient history.”
“History has a funny way of repeating itself.”
“Not gonna happen.” He pushed past the man and found a temporary refuge from the sea of people jostling around in the limited space. Sean headed to the direction where he had last seen Cain and Darla, and soon located them in a remote corner, chatting with an elderly woman, who had was practically bursting out of her dress. He grabbed Cain by his arm and pulled him away from the women.
“Can we go now?”
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, can we just go?”
“Sean-”
“I ran into someone I really don’t wanna see again.”
Cain looked him in the eye, recognising the barely covered panic, and nodded.
“Okay. I’ll say goodbye and then we can go.”
“Thanks.”
“But when we get home I wanna know what this is about.”
“I told you, I-”
“The whole story.”
Chapter 3