Playing Games by JuliaBC
A/N: I rewatched The Hunt yesterday, (and Lockdown and Hashtag) and I'm kind of ashamed of myself that I haven't managed to include Caroline (Markayla's mother) before now.
This is a tag to 11x06: Pariahville.
Kate hurried to the door, opening it wide. "Markayla!" She exclaimed, throwing her arms wide to hug the girl. "You're back from your choir trip! I heard you guys won a medal?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.
"We did," Markayla said happily as Meg came running down the stairs. "Meg!"
The two girls embraced. "Oh, and Kate?" Markayla said as Meg started to tug her up the stairs. "My mom wanted to talk to you for a few minutes. She's in the car."
"Sure!" Kate exclaimed. "Keep an eye on Jamie for a second?"
"Gladly!" Markayla replied and Kate carefully locked the door behind her when she stepped outside, hurrying to Caroline's car parked at the curb.
"Hey, Kate," Caroline said, rolling down the passenger window.
"I'll just get it, it's cold out here," Kate said and Caroline chuckled, unlocking the door so Kate could climb in.
"What's up?" Kate asked brightly of the older woman.
Caroline sighed. "Markayla has been doing really well," she prefaced. "Less nightmares, but more sleep. She's been going to be her therapist regularly and she really likes Dr. Nancy. But I'm still worried...letting her go on this trip gave me nightmares every day."
"I know the feeling," Kate said. "And Meg told me that Markayla was afraid of going, too. It's good that you pushed through it."
"I know," Caroline said. "But I've upgraded to unlimited texting and data because I'm texting Markayla almost every hour."
"I know that feeling too," Kate said quietly.
"What troubles me is that it doesn't even bother her," Caroline said quietly. "Markayla always hated me being so overprotective and now it's like she welcomes it."
"Of course she does," Kate said. "After an experience like that, she's keeping you closer, making sure you're in the loop."
"I know," Caroline said. "And Meg?"
Kate sighed. "I think the nightmares went away with Jamie's birth," she said. "He's been keeping both of us up at night."
The two women laughed at the thought.
"I never thought I'd welcome a baby keeping me up, but I do, because Meg comes in sometimes and we just have these conversations," Kate said. "About her parents. About what happened to Meg. About cases that I have been burying, because it's too painful to talk about."
Caroline nodded seriously.
"But she had a nightmare last week," Kate finished and Caroline's face darkened. "I woke up to her screaming but Chris had already gone to her. It was the one night of the week he didn't have the night shift."
"Ah," Caroline said. "That was lucky, then."
"Yeah," Kate said, throat tight. "But it made me feel guilty that I wasn't there first."
Caroline reached out to clasp Kate's hand. "You are a lot younger than me," she said. "And you are a new mother in many ways. I just want to say...there are going to be a lot of times that you aren't there first."
"I know," Kate said.
Caroline sighed. "I should be getting on. There are groceries to buy. Thanks for having Markayla over."
"Hey, I'm just happy that the two are still friends after everything that happened," Kate said. "It can go two ways, you know. Either they're closer than ever or they separate entirely."
"Yeah," Caroline agreed.
"Caroline?" Kate asked. "I'm not sure I've ever said this but thank you."
"For what?"
"For sticking by us after everything," Kate said. "Even though it was because of me that the girls got kidnapped."
Caroline made a choked sound. "Oh, god, Kate. It was because of you that they came home, too."
"Tara might be leaving us?" Reid asked Hotch as Hotch walked across the bullpen and the Unit Chief paused.
"Yes," Hotch said. "She's been offered a position heading an interview committee."
Reid nodded. "What do you think she'll do?" He asked, standing to follow Hotch as the man began to walk again.
"I'm going to try to keep her," Hotch said. "I'm going to make her an offer she can't refuse."
They both laughed to hear Hotch saying those words. "What kind of offer?"
"One that I should have made each time someone tried to leave the BAU," Hotch said soberly.
Reid's eyebrows hiked up, at the realization that Hotch was showing his feelings so honestly. Yes, of course Hotch missed them too, but he rarely said it.
"I hope she says yes, then," Reid said.
Hotch nodded. "I do, too."
The Bennington Sanitarium called Reid that afternoon, a call that Reid had been expecting, and dreading, for weeks now. He knew what they were going to say; he just didn't want to hear it. He'd tried so hard, with the chess, with everything, to keep his mother with him.
It just wasn't going to work, though. If anything, he'd have to go to Vegas himself. But how on earth could he do that?
He tried to put the call out of his mind as he drove to the vet, Poe on the front seat next to him and behaving himself surprisingly well.
"It's time to get you checked out," he said, pulling up in front of the buildings and getting out. Poe didn't wait for him to go around to the dog's side; he dived after Reid out of the driver's door.
"Do you recognize where we are?" Reid asked, as Poe showed visible signs of excitement, and then surprised Reid by barking.
Loud and clear, little yips that made Reid's heart sing. Poe had been so silent recently.
"Hey, little guy!" A voice came out of the dark evening, and Travis was walking up to them, obviously having just gotten off of his shift. "It's Poe! And Dr. Reid!"
The look of obvious delight on Travis's face made Reid's heart sing even more.
"What are you guys doing back here?" Travis asked, crouching down to let Poe lick his face all over.
"Poe hasn't been barking much lately," Reid said. "I've been trying to research it but I can't find that many cases where dogs bark for the first few months of their life and then just stop. I've found a lot of cases where dogs simply don't bark at all, but Poe was very vocal for the first few months I had him."
"He was a pretty quiet puppy before that," Travis said, looking up at Reid as Poe continued to lick the young volunteer's face.
"He is showing you a lot of affection considering how long it's been since he's seen you," Reid said. "That's unusual for dogs."
"I was kind of like his mom," Travis said, not blushing at how the words sounded. "His own mother wasn't that close with Poe. Sometimes that's how it happens with larger litters."
"I understand that," Reid said, finally giving up on Poe ever stopping to greet Travis and crouching down with the volunteer so the conversation could go better. "But why did he stop barking now?"
"He didn't," Travis said, giving him a crooked smile. "He's barking right now, isn't he?"
Reid gave up, standing up again. Travis picked up Poe; an interesting task since Poe had grown. "Oof," Travis said. "He's been eating, right?"
"Mostly," Reid said. "I recently changed his food; he went up an age group in formulas."
"Gotcha," Travis said. "Food changes can always affect a pet." He scratched Poe's head and Poe nuzzled Travis. "Maybe it was from his cold," Travis said. "It might be that it didn't quite go away. Is this the first time you've been to the vet's?"
"Yeah," Reid said, a bit ashamed of the fact. "I was busy and I didn't want to ask my friend, and last time, you said letting him get over it alone was the better choice."
Travis did blush now. "I'm not a doctor," he said simply. "I'd kind of like to be, but I'm not even studying for that right now."
"What courses are you taking?" Reid asked, interested.
"Just general education things, the core requirements of the community college," Travis muttered, uninterested in talking about this. "It could have been a sore throat," he said abruptly. "His cold could have turned into a sore throat and that's why he wasn't barking."
He carefully handed over the dog to Reid but Poe immediately scrambled down from his master's arms.
"Okay, he's going to get the wrong idea about me if I stick around here too long," Travis said. "And you probably have an appointment to keep with the vet."
"I got here early," Reid corrected. "I've still got time."
Travis looked startled. "I've got class," he said, backing away. "But thank you."
The vet prescribed an antibiotic for Poe, agreeing with Travis's diagnosis of a long lasting cold.
"He needs to be given this twice a day for a week," the vet cautioned. "It might be a little nasty for him at first, but it will help him in the long run."
"I'll give it to him if it's the only thing," Reid said.
The vet sighed. "Are you one of the anti-drug people?" She asked and Reid shrugged.
"I do prefer to avoid them," he said.
"Well, you could let Poe get over it on his own," she answered. "But dogs take infections differently than we humans, especially at his young age. If he doesn't take the antibiotic, you don't know how it will affect him in the long run."
"Do you know how taking the antibiotic will affect him in the long run?" Reid challenged.
"It will make him better, and he will start barking again," the vet said, narrowing her eyes.
"You'd give it to your own dog?" Reid asked.
"I would," she said. "Though I've got cats."
Reid decided to give Poe the antibiotic after all, and after convincing Poe to eat the kibble it was hidden in, he approached his book shelf, looking for something to read to take his edge off.
His phone rang and he picked up.
"Reid, it's JJ," she greeted.
"Hey, how's the mother of my godsons?" Reid asked, immediately cheering up.
"It's been almost twelve weeks," JJ said.
"You've been counting?" Reid said. "I know I have, but you've got so much to occupy yourself with."
"I couldn't help it," JJ said. "Hey, are you okay? You sound a little off."
"I had to give Poe an antibiotic," Reid said, avoiding any larger topics at hand.
"Ah," JJ said. "That would make you quieter than usual."
Reid smiled, though she couldn't see him.
"I was wondering about something," JJ said. "You were so helpful last time and Will is out."
"Hmm?" Reid asked, tuning in.
"Michael's colicky again," JJ said. "I was wondering if you'd like to come over and spend some time with Henry? I think he's been feeling left out of the loop lately."
"Of course," Reid immediately agreed.
"You can sleep on the couch," JJ offered.
"Of course," Reid repeated. "And I'm sure that Henry would love to see Poe."
"Oh, could you drop Poe at Kate's?" JJ asked. "I don't think barking and Michael are a good combination right now. Anything sets him off."
"Definitely," Reid agreed.
Kate took Poe with alacrity. "Where are you headed?" She asked.
"To JJ's," Reid said. "Henry needs company."
He spent a very enjoyable evening doing magic tricks for Henry, teaching him how to pull a dime out from behind a now-quiet Michael's ear.
"You have to teach this one to Michael, you know," Reid said. "As soon as he's old enough."
"Okay," Henry agreed. "Do you want to play a game now?"
"I'd love to," Reid said. "Which one?"
"Hungry Hungry Hippos," Henry said, and Reid watched as Henry ran to get it.
They had been playing for a few minutes when JJ came back into the living room.
"Did you hear about Tara?" JJ said. "She took the new job."
"Really?" Reid asked, disappointed.
JJ grinned. "Well, yes and no," she said. "Hotch finally learned his lesson. He offered her an option of heading the committee and staying with the BAU to consult when she could. By the way, that must have been a tough case for Tara, going to the town that she helped create guidelines for."
"She handled it well," Reid said. "She handles everything well."
"I win!" Henry announced, applauding his efforts.
Reid glanced to the board and saw that Henry had, indeed, captured all of the marbles. "Good job," he said.
"You too," JJ said softly.
"What?" He asked, turning to face her.
"You're also doing a good job."
A/N: I'm doing a Christmas story titled Under the Mistletoe. It's about various BAU pairings, centered around kisses under the mistletoe. I'd love it if you checked it out, I'm doing tons of different pairings...you might even find your favorite! (And if you can't, I just probably haven't done it yet.)