Playing Games by JuliaBC

A/N: Tag to 11x15: A Badge and A Gun.

I would have had this up yesterday but carpal tunnel syndrome. Enough said.

He showed up in search of Poe, looking tall and a tad sleep deprived. Kate welcomed him with a hug, holding the agent tight.

"I am hereby issuing you a dinner invitation," she told him.

"Oh, I don't want to intrude," Reid protested.

"No intrusion at all; Meg would love it if you were here and Chris got called in on a car accident just ten minutes ago, so I'd appreciate some extra company," Kate explained.

Reid shook his head. "I don't know how you did it and JJ still does it," he wondered, stepping into the house and Kate shut the door behind him with an inaudible cheer.

"Do what, Spencer?" She asked, taking his coat.

"Come home to partners with jobs just as, if not more, demanding than you have yourself, with the knowledge that they might not even be there," Reid said.

"Well, I wouldn't want them waiting around on me either," Kate joked, before becoming a bit more serious. "i think it's a passion thing. JJ and I are both attracted to motivated men and, yes, it would be easier if they were passionate about things that kept them closer to home. But that's not what we signed up for."

Reid glanced at her. "I know that JJ always knew it would be hard, but did you know what you'd signed up for? In the beginning?"

Kate shrugged. "The terms of our unsaid marital contract shifted, I guess," she said simply. "And we were both okay with that. We adjusted."

Reid nodded. "I want a roommate," he announced. "That's where this is coming from. I want someone to come home to, to look after Poe. Yes, I know you're glad to take him, but you can't guarantee always being there."

Kate's face fell when he said that. "At that, you might be right, as much as I hate to admit it."

Reid folded his arms. "Life's inconstancy is the only constant."

"I know," she said. "So, male or female?"

"Does it matter? I have a two bedroom apartment," Reid said.

"So you just want to put an advertisement in the paper telling every Tom, Dick and Harry to stop by? That doesn't sound like you," Kate commented.

"I was hoping for more of a 'friend of a friend' situation," Reid admitted. "But I asked around at the BAU too, and no one offered me any leads." He considered that for a moment. "Which is surprising."

"Considering how involved everyone is at the BAU? Yes, that is weird," Kate agreed.

"You say involved like it's a bad thing," Reid teased.

"It's a very good thing, don't get me wrong," Kate corrected herself, before meeting his gaze. "Except when it isn't."

"Very well said," Reid chuckled, and they both laughed and it was the sound of their laughter that brought Meg downstairs, Penny on her shoulder.

"Hi, Dr...Spencer," she greeted.

Poe, perking up at the sight of Penny, jerked to attention, getting up from where he had been lolling at Reid's feet to raise up on his hind legs to try and sniff at Penny.

Penny's reply was a resounding hiss; she jumped from Meg's shoulder and bounded up the stairs. Reid was already reaching down to grab Poe's collar when he realized that the pup wasn't pursuing Penny.

"Hey, Meg, how are you?" Reid asked. "In all honesty, now."

"Frazzled," Meg said, after thinking it over, but her tone was cheerful. "Has Kate told you yet about the situation that's Penny vs. Poe?"

"I don't think so," Reid said. "Is it a problem?"

"Not yet, so go ahead," Kate said to Meg, just as Jamie began to fuss in the next room and she darted away to grab him.

"At first, Poe was kind of intimidated by Penny," Meg explained, crouching down to give Poe a belly rub. "And that was a good thing because when Poe was here and Penny came down, he'd keep his distance." She laughed, and it was good to see and hear. "It was funny to watch. She's so tiny and, although still a puppy, he was huge compared to her so it was just hilarious to see him hiding from her, maybe his nose peeking out. So Penny would occasionally even curl up with him, strictly on her terms. He'd be sleeping and she would come over and curl up next to him, always leaving before he woke up or got active. But, in just the past week, Poe must have decided that he isn't scared of Penny anymore and now he's initiating things and Penny doesn't like it one bit," Meg finished. "But it serves her right. She's a little bit of a snob."

"I have heard that Penny only likes you," Reid said, amused.

"That's an understatement; she won't even let Chris pet her and if Kate tries to pick her up, she gets very growly," Meg sighed. "But she's really sweet and friendly and purrs all the time with me, so I have to love her."

"I didn't realize Poe was such a rascal," Reid said, leaning to pet the dog himself. "Is this going to be a problem?"

"No, we can handle it, and it keeps Kate busy," Meg replied.

"So you're happy," Reid stated.

Meg lowered her eyes. "I can fake it," she said. "But sometimes I even fool myself, I think. Maybe."

Reid considered the words before replying, troubled as he was over her answer. "So one of these days it might actually be real, your happy emotions?"

"That's how I think of it," Meg said, folding her arms rather protectively. "You get it. That's nice."

He nodded.

"It's a good system. Anyway, wanna play a game before dinner? Oh, are you staying? Kate made lasagna," Meg said, all in a rush.

"Yeah, I think I am," Reid said.

"Do you want to play Trivial Pursuit?" Meg asked. "Kate has talked about your unbeatableness at strategy games so I'm not challenging you there."

"I'm good at trivia, too," Reid laughed, glancing at Kate as she came back into the front hall, Jamie tucked close.

"Not at this trivia," Meg said smugly.

"What trivia?" Reid said, feeling a bit of deja vu: a memory of Kate hustling him twice at Othello.

"Disney," Meg said.

Reid quickly backtracked over what disney movies he'd seen; it was a short list.

"Oh, you have to," Kate egged him on, suddenly in on it. "That would be hilarious."

"Why are you ganging up on me?" Reid mock complained, even as Meg grabbed his arm to tug him into the kitchen and Kate fetched the game box.

The questions ranged from hard to extremely easy, but Reid found himself struggling with a lot of them, even as Meg effortlessly answered that Dumbo was the only Disney lead to never speak.

He'd seen a handful of Disney movies, mainly from his time spent babysitting Henry. But his mother wasn't a Disney fan, and though Penelope loved Disney, it had just never been a topic they'd gotten into.

"What name did Aurora use while she was living in the cottage with the fairies?" Kate questioned.

"Briar Rose," he answered instantly, and Kate's eyebrows rose.

"That was quick," she said.

"I've seen Sleeping Beauty," he said.

After that, he managed to dredge up obscure memories of Disney movies playing in waiting rooms or on airplanes. He ended up not too far behind Kate, but leagues after Meg.

"I basically grew up on Disney, so don't feel too bad," Meg explained.

Reid had lost miserably, but the journey had been so good that he just didn't care. Beyond that, he was finding a strange satisfaction in the fact that he'd found another subject that he didn't know everything about, and could still learn.

"Do you have a Harry Potter trivial pursuit?" Reid wondered, as the game wound to a close.

"We do," Meg said. "You've read Harry Potter?"

"Just recently," Reid said, taking a bite of lasagna. "Believe me when I say that you are going so far down you won't even be able to see light anymore."

"Don't count on that," Meg warned. "I'm a serious Potterhead."

"Not as much as I am," Reid said smugly. "I've read everything J.K. Rowling has said since the books ended, and I've read the books about...twelve times now."

"Mom's good at Harry Potter trivia too," Meg countered. "We read them together. Here, I'll go get it."

Reid turned to Kate after Meg had dashed away, mouthing the word: mom?

There were tears in Kate's eyes. "Yeah," she whispered back.

He reached to squeeze her hand. "I'm happy. It's so good to hear."

She nodded, unable to speak.

Meg had returned with the box and they were setting up when they heard the front door open and Chris was soon inside the kitchen. "Hey, it's my man, Spencer," he exclaimed, clapping Reid on the back. "How goes it in your shark infested waters? Need any dragon slaying? In all seriousness, how are you, man?"

"Well," Reid said as Chris kissed Kate hello.

"Listen, I have to shower, but stick around," Chris requested, clapping Reid's back again. "I saw Meg getting the Harry Potter Trivial Pursuit, so Spencer?"

"Yeah?" Reid asked, no idea what to anticipate Chris saying.

"You're on my team."

"Name three of the seven horcruxes," Kate said. "This is for Chris. No help allowed."

Reid hadn't remembered laughing so hard in his life as he'd laughed at Chris's answers, most of which ranged from clueless to absurd.

"First, there's Harry's pinky toe," Chris said. "That was a hormox. And a lock of Peter Weasley's hair."

"There's no such person as Peter Weasley!" Meg protested, shrieking with laughter.

It was then that Reid's phone rang. Everyone froze; everyone knew what that could mean.

Reid slipped his phone from his pocket. "It's Hotch," he said simply, and hurried to his feet and into the next room.

The words, the call, the impact...it chilled him to the bone. The phone slid from his hands, clattering to the floor after Hotch hung up. He couldn't breathe, he barely made it back into the living room.

Kate had already stood up. "What's up, Spencer?"

"It's Morgan."

"Oh, hell, no," Chris said, clapping a hand to his mouth as he and Meg exchanged glances, both remembering Derek's role in bringing Meg home.

"What happened?" Meg asked, voice cracking. Kate couldn't even find wors.

"He was on the phone," Reid said. "With Savannah. He was kidnapped, attacked, oh, god, Hotch just called everyone in," Reid said. "Can you guys watch Poe? I have to go."

"Of course," Kate said, running after him as he left the room, one thought in his mind.

She picked up his cell phone off of the floor and grabbed his coat, barely convincing him to stop so that she could help him into it. "Spencer. Bring him home." Her throat worked. "I know you can."

"I don't," he said, meeting her brown eyes for as long a moment as he dared. "I don't know that, Kate."

He found himself in her arms, on the receiving end of a tight hug.

"You'll bring him home anyway," she said fiercely.

A/N: Oh, goodness, this won Best Characterization of Kate Callahan and Best Reid/Kate in the Profiler's Choice Awards 2015. Thank you so much to those who nominated it and who voted. It meant a lot to win for those categories. And I'm quite happy with the prize I got (my new cover image!) because I never was completely satisfied with that shot of Kate on the plane.

And now my hands hurt again. Ouch.

Can any of you guys name three horcruxes off the top of your head?