Fic: Protective Wisdom (1/1 Criminal Minds)

[thefrogg]

Title: Protective Wisdom
Series: Of Innocence and Empathy
Author: Frogg
Beta: Nilandia
Rating: Mentions past child abuse. I hate looking the ratings up now.
Disclaimer: I don't own them. Damnit.
Pairings: Hotch/Haley, Hotch/Gideon
Word Count: 294
Author's Note: This is 8-12 months past the current run of OI&E, i.e., the whole fiasco with the end of The Evolution of Frank has been resolved (in some fashion). Gideon has been at his 'new'-since-The Fisher King cabin in Montana for a while.
Author's Other Note: This is an experiment in writing form (dialog only); please feel free to comment (love it, hate it, indifferent, go back to the old style you jerk, etc.). I may post a normal format version.

"Hotch?"

"Jason, it, it's--"

"Haley."

"..."

"Did something happen to Aaron?"

"He needs you."

"Haley--"

"I can feel him, Jason. I know about his father."

"Haley--"

"He never told me. He never had to. I can feel his need to control, and what it takes for him to not take it."

"..."

"It was bad enough after you left, but you had to take care of yourself first. But I, we, have Jack now, and I can't take us both away from Aaron right now. It would break him. I have to ask."

"Are you afraid of him?"

"No, God no, Jason, I don't even know how you can ask me that."

"Haley."

"Not yet, at least."

"When?"

"If I knew when you were going to be back, when you and Aaron would be back in the field...but..."

"But?"

"He needs you. He needs you now, whatever it is that you give him, because I can't. He needs me and Jack, too, but it's different. He's missing something I can't give him."

"Haley, Aaron told me the rules years--"

"The rules mean jack shit when it comes to Aaron's sanity, Jason."

"..."

"Jason, please. I made the rules, I'm repealing them. He needs it."

"It's that bad."

"Bad enough that I bought him a ticket to Helena tomorrow."

"You really think that--"

"I really think that we both love him, and that we both want what's best for him, and that this is the only way either of us is going to be able to live with ourselves."

"Does he know?"

"He's not so far gone that I can't push his buttons, Jason, he'll be on that plane."

"You're sure about this."

"Yes."

"What time's his flight get in?"

~~~the end~~~

Previous:  Controlling Compassion
Next:      An Inking of Empathy

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I liked the writing style; it took me 2 readings (it's late and I'm tired!), but once I figured out who was speaking I decided I liked not having details told to me but "hearing" them spoken. I don't know if I'd like many stories in this style, but it was a nice change. It seems to fit an emotionally charged story, like this one. Too many explained details would distract from the the conversation (and the angst!).

And I liked the theme also. The interaction between Haley and Gideon was natural and believable.

[thefrogg.livejournal.com]

Oh, the angst!

As if I don't write enough of it!

Glad the format worked for you. Even moreso that the interaction came across naturally - I seem to struggle a lot more with Gideon when he's reacting to something/someone, instead of driving the conversation.

[reid-lady.livejournal.com]

I like the style for straight conversation. It works as long as there's a limited number of people, (I've done it with four) and you remember to give enough 'clues/identifiers' to who's talking. (Which you did.)

Instead of "..." you might try what's called an audible pause "um, uh, ah," they have no meaning but show the person is trying to think of something to say. I tend to use "I --.", "But --." or "You --."

Oh, I like the story, too.

[thefrogg.livejournal.com]

I've only read a handful of dialog-only stories, and in most of those with more than two people, there aren't enough clues to keep track of who's saying what.

I was a little squicky about using "...", but it wouldn't have worked with noncommittal noises. When I was writing it, those pauses were more changes in breathing pattern you'd hear across the phoneline, but aside from putting "hhhh."...I couldn't get it across without resorting to non-dialog. Thus, "..."

Glad you like the story!

[panijeziora.livejournal.com]

"I really think that we both love him, and that we both want what's best for him, and that this is the only way either of us is going to be able to live with ourselves."

i'm still not likinf haley, but you made me dislike her a little less :)

[thefrogg.livejournal.com]

::claps::

There are characters I like and those I ...like less in CM, but my personal goal, in hind sight, is to make them all essential to the OI&E storyline while still keeping them believable within the canon I've got to work with.

Or something like that.

I still think we (too) rarely get to see Haley when she doesn't have an excuse to be bitchy about Hotch's job.

[panijeziora.livejournal.com]

you are sadly right abouth haley. i think she can;t be really THAT horrible bitch person, becouse [come on!] hotch married her for a reason, right? propably she didn;t really realize how much aaron will be away from home....so i fell pretty sad for her [and all cops wives]

[thefrogg.livejournal.com]

I think it's probably that Hotch and Haley got married while he was a lawyer, before he joined the FBI and BAU. And you can plan and talk and whatever, but you won't really know what it's like until you get there, so now Haley has to deal with Hotch's job and it's probably not exactly what she expected (and a whole lot more).

[panijeziora.livejournal.com]

i think that if they showed her more on the show, she would have been showed it slight different light, as it is now, we hardly know anything abouth her [her thoughts or/and feelings and all that...]

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

I like it. I'm curious as to what exactly Gideon does from Hotch--does he just give him a place where he doesn't need to repress his dark side? Or is it more complicated than that?

I'm also wild to know how they resolved the Strauss situation.

[thefrogg.livejournal.com]

Thanks! There was supposed to be more [explanation] from Haley's side, according to what was running through my head while I was at work, but when I sat down to write it, it refused to be written down in a way I was willing to print. Hopefully it'll appear in the next one or two. I will say this: It is more complicated than Gideon giving Hotch's dark side space.

As for the Strauss Situation (tm), I have some end-point consequences figured out, but I'm still planning how I'm going to get there. It'll probably take a while, as I've got...uh. three different places in the storyline I'm working on, and Five Things That Never Happened to Tobias Hankel stuck in my head at the moment.

[sirkate.livejournal.com]

I think the dialogue only works for this section of the story, because it's a phone call-- dialogue only allows for switching viewpoints without any cognitive dissonance. However, as a general rule, I don't like dialogue only fiction. It doesn't involve me, doesn't make me connect.

[hangebokhan.livejournal.com]

Overall I liked the series, especially the reference to the 213 list (a fave of mine). I think I would have preferred to read this when it was more fleshed out as I am missing a good chunk of what would make this more of a story and less a bunch of interconnected drabbles but it is well edited and that alone puts it in my good books.