Fic: Fonder In Absence, Chapter 3 (Criminal Minds, Reid / Morgan, Sean / Cain)
Title: Fonder In Absence, Chapter 3
Pair: Spencer Reid / Derek Morgan,
Sean Hotchner / Cain Christensen
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Not mine, etc
Feedback: Always Welcome.
Criminal Minds Main List
Chapter 1 Chapter 2
“Sean?”
The bed dipped and Sean forced one eye open. Cain had sat down on the edge of the, fully dressed and carrying a laptop bag. The morning sun was coming throught the blinds and the clock on the nightstand was blinking its neon green numbers.
“Seven? Where are you going?”
“I got a call from someone I used to work with. She was supposed to cover a political rally in Maryland, but she had a little accident.”
“You don’t do political stuff, do you?”
“No, but I owe her a favour. I’m gonna take my baby out for a spin, make a little road trip out of it. I’ll drive there today, do the story and I might be back tomorrow evening if everything goes well.”
“Call me when you get there, okay…?” Sean stated sleepily.
“Yeah.” Cain leaned down to finish tying the laces on his boots. “Before I leave, are you sure you’re alright?”
“Sure.”
“You were pretty shaken up last night.”
“I explained that.” Sean yanked a pillow form under his head and pulled it over his face. “It was when we were apart and I…”
“You were out of control?”
“Whatever… I met someone and it was dumb and irresponsible and I ran into him last night. That’s everything there is to tell.”
“And you’re not gonna gimme his name?”
“No.”
“Did he behave last night? Do I need to kick his ass?”
“We exchanged some words and then I left.”
“He didn’t try anything?”
“It was just talk. It’s better to just ignore it and forget it.”
“You know that if he tries to contact you-”
“I can handle it. I doubt he even knows my full name. And even if he did, it was one night. It’s history, and I don’t wanna talk about it.”
“If you’re sure.” Cain pulled the pillow away and placed a kiss on the tip of Sean’s nose. “Go back to sleep, princess.”
Sean closed his eyes and listened the faint sounds of Cain collecting his things and walking out of the apartment. He was too sleepy to resent the term of endearment and too awake to go back to sleep.
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Morgan got up from the floor and touched his head tenderly. A bump was already beginning to form under his scalp. The knocking on the door didn’t make the throbbing of his head any better. Morgan pulled on a pair of boxers and went to open the door.
Prentiss came in holding a take-away cup of coffee in front of her like a string of glass beads to calm the savages.
“Morning.”
“If I got a concussion, I’ll blame you for it.” Morgan took the cup and emptied most of it at once. “I fell off the bed.”
“Not my fault, I just knocked. We’re supposed to be packed and ready to go in two hours.”
“Where are we going?”
“Back to Quantico. We snatched the unsub last night.”
“Why the hell didn’t you call me?”
“We did, but the line was busy. Hotch send you here to rest anyway, so we went without you.”
“Yeah, I was talking to Reid and I fell asleep… How did the guy get caught?”
“She picked the wrong girl. This one happened to be a five time boxing champion on the state level. We alerted all hospitals to monitor patients, who had the right kind of injuries and we snatched our guy when he came to get help.”
“You didn’t need me?”
“There was no doors to kick in, just those cubicle curtains. Get dressed, we’re getting together for breakfast at that diner across the street.”
“Great…” Morgan picked up his phone from the mountain of covers. “If I had called Reid from my own phone, the bill would kill me…”
“Be grateful expense reports go through J.J. and Hotch. They make so many calls home that they won’t look at other people’s phone bills too carefully. I’ll wait for you outside.” She walked out and the slam of the door made Morgan wince. He dialled Reid’s number and waited until he heard the familiar voice.
“Reid.”
“Hey, kid.”
“You’re awake now?”
“I think so… I wanted to ask you something-”
“Me too. When did you fall asleep?”
“I was gonna ask the same thing.”
“I don’t know. I kinda waned away from the topic and I ended up talking about Jungian views on psychotherapy and then I heard you snore. I would like to know how long I talked to a sleeping man before that.”
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Lazing around on your day off wasn’t half as much fun alone, Sean was almost sure of that. He had eaten breakfast and crumbled dried croissant all over the couch, watched morning television and by the time the clock showed eleven AM, he was bored out of his mind.
The doorbell stopped him from throwing the remote at the perky blond, who was showing off the prizes of a game show. He got up from the couch and went to open the door. He pulled it open and the man in the hallway gave him a lopsided smirk.
“Morning. Nice to see Darla got the right address.”
“What do you want?”
“Let me in and I’ll tell you. Is Christensen home?”
“No, he left for a gig.”
“Is he coming back soon?”
“In a few days.” Sean regretted saying it as soon as the words had come out.
“Then we have some time in our hands.” Robert walking past him into the apartment. “You got time old friends, right?”
“We’ve never been friends.” Sean slammed the door shut.
“Maybe not friends. Acquaintances.”
“Not even that.”
“You have no reason to be so angry. If I wanted to blab everything to your macho man, I could have already done it.” Robert pulled a small, beautifully wrapped package from his coat pocket. “This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship. I even brought a little gift.”
“I don’t want anything from you.”
“Sure you do. You never got your copy. Last night I got nostalgic and I watched it… Brought back some wonderful memories.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Don’t you remember? Brad was always so talented with his camera. Your starring role is the real gem of my collection.”
A sharp memory hit Sean. He grabbed the packet and tore off the wrapping paper. It contained a DVD.
“You filmed it?”
“Brad always films my visitors.” Robert chuckled. “It’s a hobby of his. But not all visitors leave memories like you did… You have no idea how many times I’ve watched it.”
“You… How many people have seen it?”
“Just me and Brad. I’m normally generous with my mementos, but that one was my own little treasure.”
“How many copies is there?”
“Two. One for my own use and that one.” The man’s eyed the disc lazily. “Like I said, you left some great memories behind. That’s why I’m giving you a chance to get both copies.”
“What do you want?” Sean gritted through his teeth. His hands were shaking with pure anger. “What the hell do you want?”
“An encore. My house, tomorrow at eight.”
“No.”
“Don’t be so quick to decide. A video like that can cause a lot of damage.”
“No one cares if someone’s been on a sextape-”
“I wasn’t talking about anyone, I meant your very own ape-man. How do you think he would react if he saw that?”
“He already knows I did some dumb stuff, he won’t care.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure… He’s gone, you’re home alone… He would be pretty pissed if someone showed him this to prove what his little toyboy is up to when he’s gone.”
“He wouldn’t believe it.”
“Are you sure about that?” A smug grin returned to Robert’s face once again. “Think about it.”
“Why are you doing this?” Sean stammered, his hand clutching the disc. “Are you really so sick you get some kinda pleasure out of this?”
“No, I don’t get pleasure out of this. But I will get my pleasure out of you.”
Chapter 4