Fic: Compassionate Curiosity (1/1 Criminal Minds)

[thefrogg]

Title: Compassionate Curiosity
Series: Of Innocence and Empathy
Author: Frogg
Beta: Fireness
Rating: FRT-13, pre-slash
Disclaimer: I don't own them. Damnit.
Challenge: 50episodes – Criminal Minds, Morgan/Reid
Table: 2
Prompt: 12. Curious
Word Count: 639
Author's Note: Occurs post-Profiler, Profiled, but before Morgan and Reid become lovers. Sequel to A Waking World.

JJ scrubbed at her eyes, glaring at the open file in her lap. It refused to come into focus, her overtaxed mind more interested in her teammates on the other side of the plane than the gruesome photographs and stark reports in front of her.

Morgan was still reading, book in his left hand, right elbow draped over Reid's shoulder, hand stroking Reid's hair absentmindedly. Every so often, Morgan flipped the book over, thumb holding his place, so he could look down at the sleeper using him for a pillow.

JJ had never seen that tender look on his face before and had to wonder.

What had changed between them?

They all had nightmares; any agent worth his or her badge did, at least occasionally. Reid having one on the plane wasn't surprising.

Morgan being able to stop it - more importantly, how he was able to stop it - was.

Giving up on the files, she let them sag forgotten in her lap.

For once in her career, JJ regretted not having the training her teammates had.

'Oh, come on. You've spent years working with the best profilers in the country,' she told herself. 'This isn't rocket science.'

She sighed and rubbed her eyes. 'If I were Reid...the only reason Morgan would let me sleep like that would be if we were dating, but Morgan's straight. Except...' A tiny shiver zipped down her spine. 'What Carl did to him probably made him reject anything less than one hundred percent heterosexual. And Reid isn't exactly a threat of any sort.'

'Reid...well, I always thought he was bi, at best. Lila Archer not withstanding.' JJ spared a moment to recollect Reid's crush on the actress.

'They've been...closer, almost since Chicago,' and her mind shied away from the ugly history she'd learned while there. 'And Reid calling Hotch "Mom"...'

'If they're lovers, why would they hide it?'

Her hands closed the file folder; she stared at them dumbly, as if they belonged to someone else.

'Because they aren't...yet?'

JJ huffed a sigh and tossed the file carelessly on the seat next to her, one of the photos escaping the clip to peek out from the edge. Throat dry, she got to her feet and made her way to the tiny galley for a glass of water, then slid onto the bench seat beside Emily and eyed Gideon and Hotch across the table.

"Is there something we should know about them?" she asked quietly, knowing the roar of the plane and distance would keep Morgan from overhearing.

Gideon didn't look up from his contemplation of the chessboard. "Morgan and Reid have found a way to help each other cope."

"And?"

Hotch glanced at her from beneath raised eyebrows. "And what?"

"That's a little personal for coworkers, or even friends," JJ explained.

"Jealous?" JJ could hear Emily's smirk.

"No. I just want to know."

"Know what?" Gideon moved a knight, taking one of Emily's rooks. "Your move."

JJ grit her teeth, then forced herself to relax. “Morgan and Reid have gotten really close since...what went down in Chicago.”

“True.”

“So, are they...involved?” JJ asked, having pondered and discarded several less polite terms.

“Give them a few weeks,” Hotch answered.

JJ nodded, her suspicions confirmed. “Does Garcia know?”

Finally tearing his gaze from the chess game, Gideon looked up at her and smiled. “Garcia knew before any of us did. Maybe before they did,” he added, nodding towards the pair at the other end of the plane.

Relieved, JJ finger-combed a strand of hair out of her face and sighed. “Good, I don’t want to have to help hide any bodies.”

Emily and Hotch laughed; Gideon gave a small smile.

“What?” JJ asked, indignantly. “You know she would.”

Emily patted her on the shoulder, commiserating. “I’ll help you hide the bodies, JJ.”

~~~the end~~~

Previous:  A Waking World
Next:      Empathic Adaptations

Comments

[empathy-apathy.livejournal.com]

Hahah. Oh, the ladies of BAU. I like your J.J., she's very... balanced, is the best way to phrase it, I suppose? Which is essentially J.J., now that I think about it. *laughs*

Nice work, as always. :D

[thefrogg.livejournal.com]

Thanks. JJ (and Emily) are my weakest voices thus far, so...yeah.

And what is up with you and Fireness using my LJ as a messaging service?!::flail::

[thefrogg.livejournal.com]

You do realize I'm going to delete them all when you're done.

It is *so* annoying to get all these LJ comment notices in my mail only to find that they're just you and Empathy hijacking my LJ.

[empathy-apathy.livejournal.com]

*nod nod* And we love you too! =D

[thefrogg.livejournal.com]

THe both of you have your own LJs. Go use them!

[jalabert.livejournal.com]

Okay, now this one left me with plenty to say. As I read this I found myself questioning JJ's reasoning process, which just doesn't seem to add up, although people do often put two and seven together and get six when they're looking for six. And since JJ's not a profiler, she's basically a mere mortal trying to confirm her suspicions. I also have to wonder why she would go to the others and ask about Morgan and Reid. In the real world (and especially in law enforcement), some people are less than receptive to same sex relationships, so it would be very impolitic to draw attention to one--especially to her supervisor (Morgan's and Reid's as well) without thinking about how he might react. She could shine unwanted attention and possibly very bad consequences on people who are completely innocent of anything more than being supportive of one another. The fact that Hotch and Gideon already know the score is convenient, but she never contemplated the risks associated with outing her friends.

Most importantly, why would she ask the others, anyway? What right does she have to demand an answer? And why demand it of them, rather than the men involved? If I were Morgan and got wind of this little chat, I'd haul JJ into a quiet corner for a little talk. Being the public information officer doesn't give JJ the right to publicize a private matter.

That said, I think the notion of viewing the pair from another perspective is very cool. And the reason why this works for me--flaws and all--is that people do just what JJ did; come to conclusions on scant evidence or perceptions that may, in fact, not be based on fact.

[thefrogg.livejournal.com]

Woo, lots of comments! I'm gonna try and answer as much as I can, so this might be a long comment...o_O

As I've pointed out before, JJ and Emily are my weakest voices, so yeah, I'm neither confident nor comfortable writing them yet. I think this piece is pretty evident of it.

You're right, JJ isn't a profiler. But she's not quite not a profiler, either - after years working with the rest of the team, I'm sure she's picked up quite a bit, and she always has things to add on any given case. She's not looking for six, she's looking for the two and the five behind seven she's already got - why are Morgan and Reid so comfortable in each other's personal space all of a sudden? Why since Chicago? Why is Reid comfortable playing pranks on Hotch, of all people, just to make Morgan laugh?

As for the not-a-profiler bit...at the end of North Mammon, Hotch asks her why she doesn't take the training, and she says she likes her role. It seemed really kind of odd to me, since she'd just explained that she'd used soccer - something that put pressure on her that he hated - to get to college and ultimately the BAU. It seemed a little like she was using her role as the media liaison to be the family and media profiler, instead of the profiler-under-pressure. Media liaison may be her title and official role, but I don't really think it's the only role she plays, or one that entirely fits anymore. It's one she plays consistently because she's the only one on the team with the training to do the job.

On bringing it to Hotch's attention...::tries to figure out how to explain:: You’re entirely right about the prejudice against same-sex relationships. People may be tolerant of homosexuality in theory, or a gay or lesbian friend, but only when they’re single. Being confronted with someone in a homosexual relationship is a completely different ballgame. That said, the FBI investigates hate crimes. Particularly in the BAU - remember Fear and Loathing? They’d have to screen pretty thoroughly for tolerance, otherwise those cases would be compromised.

Plus, Hotch and Gideon, in particular, profile the people around them automatically. It’s not something they’d be able to turn off. And if JJ could figure out as much as she did from a few minutes’ thought, she’d know that she wasn’t the first one to notice. Since Hotch and Gideon hadn’t put an end to it - as far back as when Reid called Hotch “Mom” even - they probably weren’t going to object.

As for asking the others, and what right she has to, she doesn’t. But she also doesn’t want to say or do something that might be insulting to them, or cause problems - one reason why she doesn’t confront them. She doesn’t know if they are lovers or not, or just not at that point yet, and with Morgan’s background with Carl, and conceivably Reid’s with being bullied in school, perceived accusations homosexuality is not really something she wants to put between them. Going to a third party, one whose understanding of the situation is much better than her own, is really the only choice she has. If she doesn’t confirm what she thinks is the truth, she’d probably end up watching them like a hawk trying to figure it out, and make them uncomfortable in the process, if not leading to the aforementioned perceived accusations.

Yay. I really like writing these pieces. Views from the outside. And JJ is human - she wants to figure out the puzzles in front of her, and turns to her friends and colleagues to help.

Thanks always for the comments!

[jalabert.livejournal.com]

I'm going to respectfully disagree here (although, as I said, my disagreement doesn't detract from my enjoyment of the series). I don't have any issues with your read of JJ's character. The thing that still grates is when she takes her suspicions to the others.

The FBI and other law enforcement officers investigate hate crimes because they are required to do so, just as they're required to investigate rapes, murders, and kidnappings. Investigating hate crimes is their job; they don't have to agree with the laws but they do have to enforce them. Profilers may be screened for tolerance, but that doesn't mean that a same-sex relationship among the team would be welcome. (Nor, for that matter, would a heterosexual relationship necessarily be welcomed.) Hotch and Gideon might have been deliberately turning a blind eye to Reid and Morgan, hoping that it would go away. They might have been in complete denial. They may not have noticed anything or they might have noticed and been planning to have a private word with the pair and tell them to quash their budding relationship or be thrown off the team. Any way you slice it, JJ's actions presented a risk and she took it with a rather callous diregard for the potential consequences.

Professional profilers aren't omniscient, they're not pefectly adjusted human beings and they're not infallible. I think that Gideon and Hotch are as capable of being surprised or uncomfortable or as disapproving as anyone else. I'd love to see that in a fic, for once. But I have a better challenge for you: write that scene I described. Have Morgan pull JJ aside for a little chat. He can put the fear of God into her, he can confess his undying love for Reid--totally your call. But I want to see him make her account for her lack of discretion, particularly if (I can't tell anymore--I'm too confused and sleep deprived) Morgan hasn't yet outed himself to Hotch or Gideon.

[thefrogg.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Gauntlet thrown.

I'll see what I can do when my muse stops beating me over the head with the other side of the cliffhanger I hit you with in World Wise.

And I must be going crazy - I only just now realized I mis-titled it.

[(Anonymous)]

I find it very likely that JJ would ask the others. Gideon tried to get her and Reid together (Redskins anyone) so obviously nobody's against relationships in the team, and she's been with the team long enough to know whether Hotch and Gideon would be upset by homosexuals. Possibly KNOW that they do (or don't) have homosexual friends. I think Emily would actually be riskier as far as her opinions, but she doesn't have power in this situation, and JJ sees her socially (girls' nights out) so would be more likely to know about her views. And obviously everyone is watching Reid sleep with his head on Morgan's lap and aren't fazed by it, so it's not that big a risk.
The team sees so much evil and violene and hatred, I can't see them being upset by a healthy relationship no matter who's involved.

That said - sometimes I can't stop myself - I'm loving this series. Keep up the good work.

LoraLee

[thefrogg.livejournal.com]

...thank you for giving me another plotbunny. Like I needed more...::sigh:: I really need to update the table of contents and world of...pages, cause I have another dozen or so stories to add to both.::whine::

That said, you've basically read my mind in terms of why I thought JJ would do something like this. No, we can't see it in terms of the background in this story, but it's there in the show - she's been working with the team for years, she knows her friends and colleagues both on- and off-duty well enough to realize that they aren't going to be homophobic either in theoretic or practical terms and know that they wouldn't have a problem with a relationship among team members (I had totally forgotten about the Redskins game!!!). Plus, yeah, they see so much ugliness they aren't going to deny each other whatever solace/comfort/happiness they can find...

Thank you! I'm working on it. Hope you liked Empathic Adaptations, World Wise and Innocence Won as much. (If you haven't read them yet, please do!)

[emperessclaudia.livejournal.com]

After reading this and all the awesome comments I have to say that I love this. I love the idea of JJ being jealous and not knowing she's jealous but as soon as she opens her mouth it's like "RAWR MY REID, NOT YOUR REID" and for that I smile like a dork.

The way she tries to pawn it off on Garcia is just haha so nice because again it shows just how transparent she's being even while trying to hide her feelings.

And what jalabert said about shining unwanted attention seemed kind of obvious that maybe she wanted them to disapprove but then she noticed that everyone seemed okay with it she just kinda fizzles out.

Either way you are fucking awesome. I love it. Don't stop writing it I'd be a very sad puppy.

[thefrogg.livejournal.com]

Hee! It's kind of interesting reading your interpretation of this particular chapter, especially knowing what the next chapter is.

The whole Garcia thing was because there's the whole canon deal with Morgan and Garcia flirting like mad.

In any case, it is really gratifying to actually know my readers are actually thinking about this stuff. Thank you!

[emperessclaudia.livejournal.com]

Oh no I totally get what you were going for after I continued on in the series but my brain has all kinds of fun on it's own so yeah.

I get your JJ totally and think she's pretty bad ass and well who doesn't love Garcia.