Fic: Protecting Empathy (1/1 Criminal Minds)

[thefrogg]

Title: Protecting Empathy
Author: Frogg
Beta: Nilandia
Series: Of Innocence & Empathy
Rating: FRT-13
Disclaimer: I don't own them. Damnit.

Stilted conversation ground to a halt as the door to the garage opened, Jack toddling in and turning to watch as Haley slipped through, juggling several bags.

"You're home early," Aaron said unnecessarily.

Haley shrugged. "Debra and I got in an argument, and I didn't really think it wise to stay." Shooing Jack into the kitchen, she set the bags down and came closer. "Am I interrupting anything?" She frowned at Derek. "I mean, you're welcome to come over, you know that, but--"

"Nah, it's all good."

"Unca Mohgan!"

Derek flinched at Jack's surprised, gleeful outburst. "Just needed some space." The clenching of his jaw betrayed the truth.

"Unca Mohgan?"

Unable to hide a smile, Derek slid off the stool and stepped to the end of the counter. "Over here, little man." There was too much pain in his voice to be entirely masked by warmth.

"Hugs?" Jack held out his arms, chubby legs churning as he closed the distance.

Derek bent down and swept Jack up in his arms, tucking the toddler securely against his shoulder. "Hugs, my man, lots and lots of hugs." He kissed Jack just above one ear, wispy blond hair clinging briefly to his lips.

Haley shook her head in sad amazement, sharing a brief glance of understanding with her husband. A small smile crossed her lips as she saw the cellphone in Aaron's hand, pointed at Derek and Jack.

The aire of torment and muted anger Derek had been radiating slowly subsided, swept away by tiny arms wrapped around his neck and the loud, smacking "Mmmwa!" of a sloppy kiss to his cheek.

"If you'll excuse me," Aaron said, quietly so as not to disturb, "I need to call JJ." 'Keep an eye on him,' his eyes asked.

Haley nodded, her hand covering Aaron's on her shoulder in solidarity.

Aaron cast one last concerned look at Derek before leaving the room, footsteps silent on the carpet and linoleum.

Crossing the kitchen to pour herself a cup of coffee, Haley watched silently as Derek carried her son to the family room, settling on the couch.

JJ was more right than she knew, she thought to herself. As much as she wanted to find out what was going on, Derek was more important, and there was no mistaking how badly he needed Jack's company. Too many times Derek had offered - had begged, Haley's conscience whispered - to watch Jack after a rough case for her to interrupt now.

Quiet murmurs drifted into the kitchen, a story meant for Jack's ears and Derek's bleeding heart.

Haley leaned over the counter, mug clutched in both hands, wondering, listening to sleepy, childish giggles and deep laughter. It never ceased to amaze her - amaze anyone, really - how close Derek got to any child in his sphere of influence, how much power children had over Derek's emotional state.

Not for the first time, she was confronted by the differences between Aaron and Derek, and suppressed the idle wish that Aaron be just a little more...

It didn't matter.

As long as she could get Aaron to agree, it wouldn't matter.

And even if he didn't, she knew better to think that Derek Morgan would ever turn his back on a child.

Now if she could only get him to realize that...

~~~the end~~~

Previous:  A Limit to Generosity
Next:      Uncertain Logic

Comments

[nahzee.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

[thefrogg.livejournal.com]

o_O You're welcome?

[nahzee.livejournal.com]

Well, given the fact that above comment was written -way- too late at night, I had figured "thank you" would sound better than "yay happy sounds!" >.> Tis my way of saying "keep writing or I will hunt you down and tie you to a pen."

[thefrogg.livejournal.com]

I love happy sounds.

And I hate writing with a pen.:( .3mm lead mechanical pencils for the win. I carry one in my hair, just above my ponytail. (And yes, my teachers go blind trying to read my papers.)

Thank you!

[ztivokreb.livejournal.com]

I always feel a little excited when I see you've posted a new chapter of this series. :-)

[thefrogg.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

61 chapters and going.

::stare::

[xbittersweet89x.livejournal.com]

I spent the whole afternoon reading all the stories you've posted so far on these series, and I love every single one.

This one is no exception. Keep up the great work. :)

[thefrogg.livejournal.com]

Squee!

You know, you wouldn't think it'd take that long to read the whole series, given that most of the chapters are under a thousand words.

Then I have to go back and read them all to keep them straight in my head, and there goes my free afternoon, or I look up and it's 3 am...>.<

Thank you! I try.

[raphael0877.livejournal.com]

I loved watching (?) tough-guy Morgan interact with Jack. Very sweet, and very in character at least for me. Some of the gruffest, toughest people I know have a huge soft spot for kids and I think Morgan is one of them. AAWW. But it's so much more than that; Jack will probably help Morgan more than anyone else right now because Morgan can simply "turn off" the profiler, be himself and relax. Thanks for a very touching chapter.

[thefrogg.livejournal.com]

Yeah, he may prefer to 'practice' rather than have his own, but given how he treated the kids in Profiler, Profiled and Children of the Dark (among others)... I really think he'd be the go-to person on the team for any kid. He just has this very...open, casual sense of comfort about him, and his tough-guy persona is very overtly protective in nature. Kids would definitely feel safe with him.

There's nothing in the world like the unconditional love of a child. And Morgan knows it. And reaches out for it for a bunch of reasons I'm so not going into here.

Thank you! I really appreciate it.

[jalabert.livejournal.com]

Wow! It's been a long time since I've read anything on LJ. (Long story...) I've missed your little glimpses into the team at the BAU. As usual, I'm lost as to the context, but I liked the elements:

the healing power of an innocent child
Hotch holding his people together
Haley behaving like an empathetic human being
and Derek holding a baby--as someone said in regard to another hottie (other hotties, actually: Warrick Brown, Eric Delko, Nick Stokes, Tony DiNozzo)--is enough to make a woman's ovaries explode. ;)

Good stuff.

[thefrogg.livejournal.com]

I'd wondered where you'd gotten off to. I won't ask.

So are you catching up?::grins:: You've missed quite a bit. In stuff that's happened, if not actual number of stories.

Oh, yeah, Jack's up front and center in terms of Derek keeping himself sane at this point in time.
We'll see how long Hotch lasts keeping his team together.
I read the intro to the CM fandom linked on bau_fic and was kinda...struck by the obviousness pointed out about Haley - that she basically shows up to bring more tension into Hotch's life. But I've been saying all along that we don't see enough of her to make a balanced judgment, and I choose to make her human.
!!! I always wanted to 'make a woman's ovaries explode.' Well, not me personally, but...you get the idea.;>

Thank you!

[sirkate.livejournal.com]

Hey, there, this is the one that's linked funny. The previous bit (A Limit to Generosity) links directly to the next bit (Uncertain Logic), skipping over this one.

Which is awful, because this is really cute.

[thefrogg.livejournal.com]

All fixed! And thanks!

(What's really weird is I can't stand small children myself.*shudders*)

[sirkate.livejournal.com]

lol. I like cute, well-behaved ones. And no more than 2 at a time. They're excellent for naps-- even better than kitties.