Hidden Family Secrets
1
Chapter 1: 2005
Chapter 1: 2005
It began as a normal day in the BAU. Derek Morgan wandered in at his usual time, a smile on his handsome face. He always walked in like that, like he was harbouring some huge secret which no one knew about. Emily smiled wryly at him as he passed her on the way to his desk and he grinned back at her, giving her a wink.
“What are you so chirpy about, Morgan?” she demanded to know, raising her eyebrows.
He laughed and shook his head at her.
“Nothing you need to know about, my dear Prentiss” he replied, starting to hum to himself.
They both glanced up when JJ hurried past them on her way to Hotch’s office, up top.
“What’s up, JJ?” Morgan called after her, but she just kept walking.
He looked at Emily and she shrugged, getting up to go after their normally friendly liaison. Morgan followed after her and together, they raced up the steps and hovered outside of Hotch’s office. He looked up and saw them before he stood up and walked with JJ back outside to stand in front of them.
“Round table room” he said curtly, shooing them back downstairs again.
Morgan grabbed Spencer on the way and pulled him along with them. He glanced huffily at him, but came without any verbal and lengthy complaints. They sat down around the round table, Hotch and Gideon seeming to head it up even though there were no heads or corners to the table itself. JJ took up her usual position at the opposite end of the table and started her weekly picture show. The photographs slowly placed themselves evenly across the large screen and the BAU team found their eyes soaking in the images of three young girls, only about eleven or twelve years old, lying dead in a park somewhere. JJ took in a deep breath before beginning her spiel.
“These girls are Miriam Campbell, Ramona Simmons and Olivia Templeton. They are all between the ages of ten and twelve years old and over the past three weeks, one of them has been kidnapped from their schools, one per week. The unsub keeps them for approximately six days and they are found on the seventh, the day of their death. Here’s the catch, though: they are all from Quantico, Virginia. Their homes could be near our own homes” she finished off, glancing at Hotch.
He looked grim as usual, but he alone cast a swift look at Morgan. He noticed the glance and nodded very slightly back at Hotch. He moved his hand round to rest on his belt, where his cell phone was clipped on.
“How long do we have until he kidnaps another girl?” Gideon asked, staring unnervingly at the wide screen.
JJ paused, thinking.
“About four days” she said, quickly calculating in her head. “Olivia Templeton’s body was discovered a few days ago, but the case only just reached my desk.”
Gideon nodded and stood up, gathering his file towards him with calm hands. Hotch clapped Morgan on the shoulder and followed suit, so Morgan stood up too, again dragging Spencer out of his chair. Spencer rolled his eyes and went with him. Morgan’s hand was still touching his cell phone. He left Spencer as soon as they reached their lower level office area, and walked over to a more private area by the door. Hotch watched him with dark somber eyes and waited. Morgan unclipped his cell from his belt and pressed his Number 1 on speed dial. Hotch could hear him very faintly, the words unclear and vaguely distorted over the distance between them. But then again, he wasn’t required to overhear the conversation.
Morgan pressed the phone to his ear and breathed a sigh of relief when she picked up on her end.
Garcia waltzed past him at the same moment he spoke and turned back to stare at him with widened eyes and raised eyebrows.
“Hi, baby girl. It’s good to hear your voice. I was worried about you” were his precise words.
He glanced up and saw Garcia. He smiled faintly and waved at her, pointing to the phone. She nodded hurriedly and rushed away, heading straight for JJ’s office.
“I’m fine. Why were you worried about me?” came the voice on the other end of the phone conversation.
Morgan smiled properly this time and Hotch turned away.
“Nothing for you to be concerned about, sweetheart. As long as you’re safe now, there is nothing for you to be afraid of” Morgan said calmly, relaxing his stiff posture a little.
He heard a soft sigh from she on the other end. He grinned and laughed, his eyes twinkling slightly.
“Keep your patience, bubba” he advised, imagining her face at that moment: the large brown eyes narrowed and the small nose crinkled up as she tried to make sense of his words.
“How can you keep something you’ve never had?” was her only response.
Morgan laughed out loud again. She was smart and sharp tongued; one day she would crack a whip over her own destitute subjects. He shook his head. No, she wouldn’t. She was kind as well as hard headed; she just needed a reason to bring out the rapier wit and the recipient of a scathing comment from her would cower with their tail between their legs for the rest of the day. Or perhaps the whole week. His sisters and his mother adored her. So did he.
“Smart aleck. Why are you so much more intelligent than any of the other normal people your age?” he demanded jokingly, checking his watch and realising he needed to end this fairly soon.
A bark of a laugh reached his ears.
“Who ever said I was normal? What person my age has a cell phone of their own? And I’m intelligent because I hang out with you all the time!” she replied, and he could hear the big smile in her voice.
“You have a cell phone so that I can reach you and you can reach me if you need me for anything” Morgan told her, tapping his foot on the floor.
He looked over and caught the tail end of Hotch’s long glance. He nodded and spoke again.
“Yes, I do believe that you are so incredibly smart ‘cause you’re with me all the time, but I need to go now. I’ve got work to do and bad guys to put down, so I’ll see you later. You remember where to go if I can’t get back in time?” he asked.
“Yeah, I know. See you later on. Love you!” she sang into his ear.
“Yeah, I love you too, baby doll” he murmured into the cell phone once more before snapping it shut and reclipping it to his black leather belt.
Morgan jogged across to Hotch who merely raised one eyebrow quizically, to which Morgan just smiled and nodded again.
“Everything all right?” Hotch inquired coolly.
“Yes, she’s fine” Morgan told him, hearing the relief in his own voice.
Hotch gave him the tiniest of smiles and turned to lead the way back into the main offices area. Morgan felt the acute stares of Emily, Spencer and Garcia on his back as he walked after Hotch, but he chose to simply ignore them all. Who he kept in his life was none of their business. Only Hotch knew about his little secret. Only the secret was growing and it wasn’t so little anymore. Morgan thought back reminiscently to when he hardly got any sleep at night; even less than he got with his demanding job. He smiled, a mixture of fondness and old sorrows in his dark brown eyes, and he sat down at his desk, pondering his life and what it had been like over the last seven and a half years. Nearly eight by now. One thing he never wanted to return to was all that dang paperwork, all the hours of sleep he missed because of it, all the long words swimming before his tired eyes, and the whole horrible process. But there he caught himself. He would never regret his choice though. His secret was perfect. The secret belonged wholly to him, and him alone.
Chapter 1: 2005
It began as a normal day in the BAU. Derek Morgan wandered in at his usual time, a smile on his handsome face. He always walked in like that, like he was harbouring some huge secret which no one knew about. Emily smiled wryly at him as he passed her on the way to his desk and he grinned back at her, giving her a wink.
“What are you so chirpy about, Morgan?” she demanded to know, raising her eyebrows.
He laughed and shook his head at her.
“Nothing you need to know about, my dear Prentiss” he replied, starting to hum to himself.
They both glanced up when JJ hurried past them on her way to Hotch’s office, up top.
“What’s up, JJ?” Morgan called after her, but she just kept walking.
He looked at Emily and she shrugged, getting up to go after their normally friendly liaison. Morgan followed after her and together, they raced up the steps and hovered outside of Hotch’s office. He looked up and saw them before he stood up and walked with JJ back outside to stand in front of them.
“Round table room” he said curtly, shooing them back downstairs again.
Morgan grabbed Spencer on the way and pulled him along with them. He glanced huffily at him, but came without any verbal and lengthy complaints. They sat down around the round table, Hotch and Gideon seeming to head it up even though there were no heads or corners to the table itself. JJ took up her usual position at the opposite end of the table and started her weekly picture show. The photographs slowly placed themselves evenly across the large screen and the BAU team found their eyes soaking in the images of three young girls, only about eleven or twelve years old, lying dead in a park somewhere. JJ took in a deep breath before beginning her spiel.
“These girls are Miriam Campbell, Ramona Simmons and Olivia Templeton. They are all between the ages of ten and twelve years old and over the past three weeks, one of them has been kidnapped from their schools, one per week. The unsub keeps them for approximately six days and they are found on the seventh, the day of their death. Here’s the catch, though: they are all from Quantico, Virginia. Their homes could be near our own homes” she finished off, glancing at Hotch.
He looked grim as usual, but he alone cast a swift look at Morgan. He noticed the glance and nodded very slightly back at Hotch. He moved his hand round to rest on his belt, where his cell phone was clipped on.
“How long do we have until he kidnaps another girl?” Gideon asked, staring unnervingly at the wide screen.
JJ paused, thinking.
“About four days” she said, quickly calculating in her head. “Olivia Templeton’s body was discovered a few days ago, but the case only just reached my desk.”
Gideon nodded and stood up, gathering his file towards him with calm hands. Hotch clapped Morgan on the shoulder and followed suit, so Morgan stood up too, again dragging Spencer out of his chair. Spencer rolled his eyes and went with him. Morgan’s hand was still touching his cell phone. He left Spencer as soon as they reached their lower level office area, and walked over to a more private area by the door. Hotch watched him with dark somber eyes and waited. Morgan unclipped his cell from his belt and pressed his Number 1 on speed dial. Hotch could hear him very faintly, the words unclear and vaguely distorted over the distance between them. But then again, he wasn’t required to overhear the conversation.
Morgan pressed the phone to his ear and breathed a sigh of relief when she picked up on her end.
Garcia waltzed past him at the same moment he spoke and turned back to stare at him with widened eyes and raised eyebrows.
“Hi, baby girl. It’s good to hear your voice. I was worried about you” were his precise words.
He glanced up and saw Garcia. He smiled faintly and waved at her, pointing to the phone. She nodded hurriedly and rushed away, heading straight for JJ’s office.
“I’m fine. Why were you worried about me?” came the voice on the other end of the phone conversation.
Morgan smiled properly this time and Hotch turned away.
“Nothing for you to be concerned about, sweetheart. As long as you’re safe now, there is nothing for you to be afraid of” Morgan said calmly, relaxing his stiff posture a little.
He heard a soft sigh from she on the other end. He grinned and laughed, his eyes twinkling slightly.
“Keep your patience, bubba” he advised, imagining her face at that moment: the large brown eyes narrowed and the small nose crinkled up as she tried to make sense of his words.
“How can you keep something you’ve never had?” was her only response.
Morgan laughed out loud again. She was smart and sharp tongued; one day she would crack a whip over her own destitute subjects. He shook his head. No, she wouldn’t. She was kind as well as hard headed; she just needed a reason to bring out the rapier wit and the recipient of a scathing comment from her would cower with their tail between their legs for the rest of the day. Or perhaps the whole week. His sisters and his mother adored her. So did he.
“Smart aleck. Why are you so much more intelligent than any of the other normal people your age?” he demanded jokingly, checking his watch and realising he needed to end this fairly soon.
A bark of a laugh reached his ears.
“Who ever said I was normal? What person my age has a cell phone of their own? And I’m intelligent because I hang out with you all the time!” she replied, and he could hear the big smile in her voice.
“You have a cell phone so that I can reach you and you can reach me if you need me for anything” Morgan told her, tapping his foot on the floor.
He looked over and caught the tail end of Hotch’s long glance. He nodded and spoke again.
“Yes, I do believe that you are so incredibly smart ‘cause you’re with me all the time, but I need to go now. I’ve got work to do and bad guys to put down, so I’ll see you later. You remember where to go if I can’t get back in time?” he asked.
“Yeah, I know. See you later on. Love you!” she sang into his ear.
“Yeah, I love you too, baby doll” he murmured into the cell phone once more before snapping it shut and reclipping it to his black leather belt.
Morgan jogged across to Hotch who merely raised one eyebrow quizically, to which Morgan just smiled and nodded again.
“Everything all right?” Hotch inquired coolly.
“Yes, she’s fine” Morgan told him, hearing the relief in his own voice.
Hotch gave him the tiniest of smiles and turned to lead the way back into the main offices area. Morgan felt the acute stares of Emily, Spencer and Garcia on his back as he walked after Hotch, but he chose to simply ignore them all. Who he kept in his life was none of their business. Only Hotch knew about his little secret. Only the secret was growing and it wasn’t so little anymore. Morgan thought back reminiscently to when he hardly got any sleep at night; even less than he got with his demanding job. He smiled, a mixture of fondness and old sorrows in his dark brown eyes, and he sat down at his desk, pondering his life and what it had been like over the last seven and a half years. Nearly eight by now. One thing he never wanted to return to was all that dang paperwork, all the hours of sleep he missed because of it, all the long words swimming before his tired eyes, and the whole horrible process. But there he caught himself. He would never regret his choice though. His secret was perfect. The secret belonged wholly to him, and him alone.