Playing Games by JuliaBC

Second tag to 11x16: Derek. Partial tag to 11x17: The Sandman because I still haven't decided how I'm going to do the time skip.

Meg was holding Jamie, itching to go. "Mom!" She called. "We have to go soon. There's not going to be time before the recital."

"I know," Kate said, hurrying down the stairs. "Damn it, I just wish that Chris wasn't on duty."

"He had to be, he's got lives to save," Meg said, parroting something that Kate had said over the years. It warmed her heart to see her daughter so readily imitating her.

"And I also wish that the time wasn't so narrow," Kate said. "But I want to see Derek before tomorrow. I need to." She looked to Meg. "We need to."

Meg nodded. "So let's go!"

They hurried out to the car. Kate marveled at how tall her daughter was getting; how different she was from when Kate had first held her almost fifteen years ago, when she was named godmother.

And now. Look how life had changed.

Meg deftly placed Jamie in his car seat and readily sat in the back next to him, instead of coming up front. Kate smiled at this too. Babies were so important. So precious. So unbelievably heart stretching.

She was so glad she'd taken this time off. So glad.

Derek Morgan was bored out of his skull. Savannah had gone home to change her clothes finally, after a lot of weedling, and the team had gone back to work. Now he was sitting in a hospital bed, remembering why he didn't like them. It was hard to wait, and hospitals seemed to multiply waiting time by the thousands.

Or at least double it.

He groaned, trying to get comfortable, trying to get sleepy. Should he pretend to be feeling bad and get a drug to help him sleep?

And then there was a cough. He straightened, only to see some of his very favorite people entering the room. They were lower down the list, but damn it, this couldn't be better.

"Kate, Meg!" He exclaimed. "Hotch said you'd be coming but I didn't think it'd be this soon!"

Meg was standing there shyly, and Kate was holding the baby carrier.

"We couldn't wait any longer," Kate blurted. "We've got a recital to get to, but I called Hotch and he gave us the all clear signal so I just couldn't wait."

She brought the baby carrier forward, placed it carefully on a chair and then leaned in to give Derek a hug. "I miss you," she whispered. "I was so scared. Reid was at my house when he got the call and it was like hell, Derek. Waiting..."

"I know," he said, squeezing her back. "I know."

"You deserve to live longer," she continued. "That's what I kept thinking. You were so good to me, Derek."

"Well, I tried to be," he said. "You're a great person."

"You saved my daughter," Kate finished. "You did. You brought her back to me."

Derek's eyes met hers, and he wondered if she could see his news yet. She's a profiler; or she was. She'll be able to read it off of him.

"Hey, Meg, come here," he said, as Kate pulled away from the hug.

"I, uh, brought you some stuff," Meg said, walking forward hesitantly.

"One of your things better be a hug," he said, reaching his arms wide and she stepped into them.

He remembered how she felt when he rescued her. She felt fragile, brittle, like one step wrong, one hug too tight, would ruin everything.

Now, she feels strong. Derek holds her tight and feels her breathe and she's doing well. He can tell. She's doing really well.

"I remember that night, and your face," Meg told him. "I remember you helping me. I didn't want you to get hurt."

"Well, I'll get better," Derek said comfortingly. "I'm strong. I'll take time off, watch the grass grow, before I get my feet wet again."

"Good," Kate said, smiling. "I'm glad to hear that."

He smiled at her over Meg, and then Meg pulled away, handing him a gift bag.

"Kate said that you were good at puzzles; well, that the whole BAU was good at puzzles. I didn't want your brain going to mush," Meg said. "I want to make sure it gets exercised correctly."

"Have you been talking to Reid?" Derek asked quizzically as he pulled the tissue paper wrapped package from the bag. "Oh, Meg. Logic puzzles?"

She giggled. "I mean, you look like a musclehead," she said. "But I think you're smarter than that, and like to be, so I think you'll have no problem with these."

He laughed, long and hard. It felt good. "You are such a rascal," he said, messing her hair up. "Just like your mom."

"Hey," Kate protested, but she was smiling. "Do you want to say hello to Jamie before we go?"

"I would," Derek said. "Can I hold him for a bit? I want to see what they're like at that age."

It's that moment. Kate's head snapped up as she pulled Jamie from the carrier, and there's a look of shock in her eyes. "Oh my god," she whispered, and Meg stared at her mother, wondering if something bad had just happened.

"You're going to be a daddy," Kate continued, and Meg's eyes widened too, as Kate slowly passed Jamie off to Derek.

Derek held the child close. He looked down at the sleeping baby, warm and soft in his arms. "What stage is he at? Is he sitting up, walking, talking?"

"He's crawling," Kate said. "It's kind of terrifying to see how fast he can go now. And he's talking, almost. He can say Meg but somehow he hasn't grasped Mom or Dad yet."

"Sounds like one of your kids, for sure," Derek cracked and she smiled even wider.

"He's finding it easier to pick up toys," Kate related, leaning on the bed. "It amazes me to watch him."

Derek nodded. "You're right, Kate. Savannah's pregnant."

She sighed, a wistful look in her eyes. "You were so happy for me," she said. "The third person who knew."

"Third?" Derek asked, startled. "You only told Hotch."

Kate blinked, as she took Jamie back. "Oh, well, it was after the prison thing," she said. "I went to the hospital to get further checked out."

Meg looked at them, eyes serious, as if wondering what they're talking about.

Derek met Kate's eyes. "God, I never even considered that."

His mind went back to a terrible day in January, to a fight, to another moment of desperate feelings and desperate measures, and nothing being enough.

She was there. He remembers that now, all too keenly.

"I asked Spencer to go with me," Kate said, carefully strapping Jamie back into the carrier, and taking her time to meet his gaze again. "And...yeah."

"He was a good choice," Derek said, exhaling. "I guess you have to go."

"Can we stop by again?" Kate said. "There's so much more to say."

Her eyes translated more. She wanted to talk about more serious things, but Meg stood right there, and she'd already gone so still.

Derek nodded. "Please," he requests. "We're going to have so much in common, Kate."

"Yeah," she said, taking his hand for another brief moment. "And our kids will be so close in age. Just think, if it's a girl, they could fall in love."

"Mom, if it's a boy, they could too," Meg protested.

"True," Kate said. "Sorry." She leaned to press a kiss to Derek's cheek. "I'll see you," she told him.

"Soon," he requested, and she grinned.

"Yeah," she said. Meg stepped forward, and he took her hand for a quick moment.

"Stay strong, Meg," Derek instructed. "I'll do all of the logic puzzles, just to show you up."

"I hope you do," Meg said. "They can be fun."

"Something Reid told you?" Derek asked, but Meg laughs the comment off, as they leave the hospital room.

Derek opened the book in the middle.

"A terrible crime has been committed and the police round up the usual suspects. During the interrogation of the four men the following accusations and statements are made:

Anderson said "Brimmers did it."

Brimmers said "Dodge did it."

Carter said "I didn't do it."

Dodge said "Brimmers lied when he said I did it."

If only one of the four men was lying, which man committed the crime?"

He almost closed the book then and there, rolling his eyes at the silly question. And then it intrigued him. He couldn't profile it, not the normal way, and yet...

His mind started to work, even without him wanting it to. He had the feeling that even if he closed the book right now, the question would stay in his mind for far too long. Maybe Meg was right. They would keep his brain sharp.

He remembered another dark moment; he remembered not knowing why and how he still didn't know why.

Yeah, Meg was definitely right. He had to keep working.

A/N: Brimmers is the guilty man.

Next time? Just Dance, as per a request.

I want to take a chapter during the time skip, so while I hope to get that done soon, I'm still behind on the episodes and I darn well know it.

Oh, and shoutout to KateNStuff. She was so enthusiastic, she brought my review count over 300! And that's just a good feeling. :) Thanks to everyone who reviewed before her, too. You guys all rock.