I am cutting #7 down because it was basically the start of a short story. I hope you enjoy. And I hope that I am writing what an angry twelve-year-old sounds like properly.
Chapter Twenty:
"You don't get me at all!"
Reid pushed the thought aside as he opened his door for office hours.
"Even you're yelling at me you doesn't sound normal. None of those parenting books apply here Dad!"
He picked up a paper from his Criminology 315 class and started to underline spelling errors.
"You're so clueless. I wish Mom were here!"
He didn't keep a photo of Jane in this office anymore. It lead to too many awkward questions. He even stopped wearing his wedding ring. The tan line was still there though.
"Hey Professor Pretty-Boy!"
Reid looked up to see Morgan dressed in a sharp suit. He stood up from his chair and smiled.
"Morgan! I didn't know you were in town."
"There is a regional conference this week. I thought I'd drop by and say hello. How's Jenny Jen?"
"She's good," Reid said. "How are Hank and Joshua?"
"They're good," Morgan said. "Now tell me how Jen is really doing. You know you can't lie to profiler or a friend."
Reid sat down and Morgan sat is his chair reserved for students. He sighed.
"Jen got in a fight during a soccer match. We had a bigger argument at home."
"Girls are tough I hear," Morgan said. "I consider myself lucky to have boys."
"Girls mature at a different rate and it usually involves—"
Morgan raised his hand. "I get it. So how did you punish her?"
"She's grounded for a month and the coach gets to decide what to do about her position on the team."
"Sounds fair."
"She didn't think so. I had to order her to her room," Reid said and suddenly felt extremely tired. He rubbed his ring finger.
"How am I going to do this without her Morgan?"
Morgan patted him on the back.
"You'll find a way buddy. You always have."
…
Morgan was growing bored at the cocktail hour hosted by a conference head. People liked to talk to him because of his department's case closure rate. All he wanted to do was go hang out with Reid and find out more about what happened to his sweet god daughter.
"I swear she was like an animal," he heard a woman say loudly. "She acted more like she was at a wrestling match than a soccer game."
Fights and soccer. An odd coincidence, Morgan thought and decided to move closer.
"And the father. The father acted like he'd never seen his daughter like that. That man is in some serious trouble."
Morgan approached the woman. "I'm Derek Morgan, head of the New York BAU office."
"I know who you are Mr. Morgan," she said and offered her hand. "I've read your casefiles. I'm Dr. Addison Rayburn. Deputy Director of recruitment for the FBI."
"So your daughter plays in the middle school Division II?"
"And how do you know that?" she said guardedly.
"Because the girl your daughter was fighting is my god daughter."
The people who Rayburn was speaking with stared at them.
She didn't blink. "I don't see how this concerns you Mr. Morgan."
"I don't see how this would be of interest to anybody. That father isn't here to defend himself or his daughter."
A woman with a pixie cut moved next to Rayburn. "Addison is my best friend I haven't seen her in a long time," she said evenly. "The safety of her daughter interests me."
"I highly doubt Dr. Rayburn's daughter was in any serious danger as there were coaches and refs there."
"You didn't see the look in the girl's eyes," Rayburn said. "It was dangerous."
Morgan wanted to strangle the woman. A man with a thick beard butted in. "So Sophia what can you tell about the latest biological threats?"
The conversation quickly changed and Morgan drifted away. Rayburn followed him.
"That girl started it," she said angrily.
"She was provoked by your daughter," Morgan said. "I spoke with the father at lunch."
"So you consider yourself unbiased opinion?"
"Ma'am I was just sticking up for my friend. You would have done the same."
"I would have minded my own business," Rayburn said.
"Then why did you tell all those people about your personal life?" Morgan said with annoyance.
"Mel is a good friend of mine, I wasn't expecting a crowd to gather."
Morgan was tired of talking to this woman. "Fine, have a good evening Dr. Rayburn."
Rayburn simply turned away without acknowledging him.
…
The next day Morgan met Hotch for lunch.
"So I hear you got in a fight with Addison Rayburn," Hotch said conversationally.
"How do you know about that?"
"Because Rayburn was complaining to my secretary about how the rude New York head was before our meeting. The director wants us both to do some joint recruiting."
"Why are you being asked to do it? The deputy director of the entire agency!"
"It's only for Georgetown and a few other top-tier schools," Hotch said.
"Reid will be happy to see you but Rayburn, that woman is a shrew," Morgan said shaking his head.
"Who happens to be very good at her job. Her employment initiatives have contributed significantly to a rise in our enrollment of high quality candidates."
"Reid is having a hard time with Jen these days."
"I hadn't heard that," Hotch said. "I haven't been able to stay in touch with Reid as much as I'd like to. J.J. is also very busy with her new position as section chief."
"Is the budget getting any looser so that she isn't doing the job of two section heads?"
Hotch shook his head. "I'm afraid not. The same goes for Garcia. I don't think she enjoys doing her technical work from the NSA headquarters."
Then it hit Morgan. "So no one has really had time to look in on Reid."
"He did shut us out in some ways Morgan. Her death was so sudden," Hotch said.
"I know, he told me he switched grocery stores after she died."
They didn't speak for a few minutes.
"I'm going to invite him and Jen over for dinner next week."
"I'm inviting them to see me in New York during Jen's next break. No boring museums this time for Reid."