Playing Games by JuliaBC
A/N: The chapter title shouldn't be taken at face value. Neither should the wedding.
I want to add that I find Shemar Moore's actions extremely inspiring and beautiful. He left because he wanted to, even though he loved the show. Even though he had no prospects. He just needed to leave.
Kate stared at the program in her hands. Groom: Derek Morgan. Bride: Savannah Hayes. Best Man: Spencer Reid. Maid of Honor: Leticia Summers.
They didn't have any other attendants. Savannah didn't have that many close female friends and no sisters, so she'd decided to go with just a maid of honor. Leticia was engaged herself, she remembered from the bridal shower that Garcia had thrown for Savannah. She was a short, curvy woman, who was obviously a little intimidated by all of the FBI agents crowding the small church, and it almost looked like she was looking to make sure that none of them had worn their guns.
Kate grinned, feeling her handbag heavy on her lap. She looked at Rossi, just wondering for a moment. He wouldn't have...or maybe he would. She began to notice even more familiar faces and sobered up somewhat. Yes, there were guns here. The wedding was being heavily guarded; the guests were being kept track of very carefully.
She was seated on the groom's side (which was noticeably fuller than the brides, since Savannah didn't have a large family and being a busy doctor didn't conduce to having many friends, though there were a few patients she'd kept in touch with over the years) and Meg was next to her, dressed in a lavender sheath dress, and holding Jamie. Chris was on Kate's other side and he was making a valiant effort to stay awake; something made difficult because he'd been called out at 3 a.m. today and he hadn't been able to take a nap before the ceremony either.
The ceremony was beautiful. Everyone was in tears by the end. Derek and Savannah had written their own vows, and there wasn't a dry eye in the church as they read them out.
"I solemnly swear," Derek began. "To love you every day. To be there whenever I can. To think of you when I'm not. To be the best possible father to our child that there ever was. I swear that I'll make dinner whenever I'm home and that I'll pay for takeout whenever I'm not. I know that my life changed when you walked into it. I promise that I'll let you to continue to change it, however you want to."
Savannah's chin was ducked, as if fighting back tears. "I do vow, Derek, to be the best wife possible. To love you and be a good mother. To never try to make us dinner again. To do your laundry when you're gone. You changed my life more than you can realize. I was so lonely before you came in. I worked sixteen hour days. Now I still work sixteen hour days, but you're there when I get home."
Kate bit back a teary laugh, reaching to grab Chris's hand. "Do you remember our wedding?" She whispered, as the minister pronounced Derek and Savannah to be man and wife.
"Yeah, it wasn't anything like this," Chris said softly.
Kate nodded, letting herself remember as Derek and Savannah's kiss went on just long enough for the minister to start looking uncomfortable.
It was the year Meg turned three. Kate was trying to get her signed up at a daycare, because her parents were moving back home and wouldn't be available to babysit anymore. Chris's schedule was, as always, completely insane, and while he'd be there sometimes he wasn't there all the time.
And Kate had been asked to go undercover.
She was the best woman for the job, her supervisor explained. She was needed to help bring down a rapist.
Kate had jumped at the chance. She still wasn't sure why, but after hearing about what the man had done to his female victims, all brunette, all similar in coloring to Liz, she'd thirsted for the chance to bring him down.
There were some problems. She needed to arrange for childcare. It became a bit hard to say yes to her mission, but then the rapist had killed again.
She'd heard the media coverage and it had almost sent her mind whirling back to 9/11. More horrific news playing out via radio, TV and newspaper.
She was Meg's only guardian. Chris hadn't been named in Liz and Joe's Will.
She'd seen a lawyer previously about adopting Meg but it had never seemed necessary. And then suddenly it was.
She looked at Chris beside her, remembering the day he'd asked her to marry him.
"I want to be a true father to Meg, and a permanent partner for you. I want to be with you. It's as simple as that. We can make this work."
They'd gotten a marriage license that weekend. The church they were currently attending had, a bit reluctantly, performed the ceremony and the very next week Kate went in to see a lawyer about adopting Meg.
And then she went undercover, for the first time. The mission had been a success. The adoption went through without a hitch.
She looked up to see Savannah and Derek coming down the aisle, being congratulated and cheered on by all sides. Everyone was excited and happy, standing to applaud the bride and groom as they progressed down the aisle.
"All I'm saying it, I can't believe you did it," Alex Blake was telling Derek. "Savannah, you're a lucky girl. Derek will treat you well."
"I know," Savannah said, leaning into him.
"You feeling tired, honey?" Derek asked Savannah, his brow crinkling.
"Just a bit," she answered.
Kate watched in amusement as her urged her to sit down, before walking over to talk to them. The reception was just beginning, and Derek and Savannah were still greeting everyone.
"How are you feeling?" Kate wondered, sitting down next to Savannah.
"I want some champagne," Savannah said honestly and they both laughed. "I'm not saying I'm stressed but a little mood relaxer would be very welcome right about now."
"I get what you're saying," Kate agreed.
The two women sat, quiet, as they watched Derek interacting with the rest of his guests; Ashley Seaver and Andi Swann were currently commanding his attention.
"You worked with those two, right?" Savannah asked, brow crinkling as she tried to place the two women.
"I did," Kate nodded. "They're both great people."
"I believe that," Savannah said. "Ashley sent the sweetest gift for my bridal shower. She couldn't make it, but she picked out this beautiful art print. I've never been much for art, I never really understood the point of spending all your money just to hang a picture on a wall, but the one she sent was just beautiful. It's this couple, standing hand in hand, and water is swirling around them, and they just don't notice it. And the note accompanying it..." Savannah shook her head. "It made me a little teary. Then again, what doesn't right now?" She said, laughing at herself and looking down at her burgeoning stomach. "Pregnancy is wonderful, but it's a trip."
"Agreed," Kate said, laughing again.
"So...Emily Prentiss didn't make it to the wedding," Savannah said. She seemed to realize that her words could be loaded, that Kate was perhaps one of the few people who'd understand being nervous to talk about the woman, legendary and irreplaceable in the BAU team as she was.
"I think Spencer said she's trying to track down an international killer and couldn't get away," Kate offered.
"I'm relieved," Savannah said. "She intimidates me. Just from hearing people talk about her, the fondness in their voices." She shook her head. "I know it means that she's an incredible woman and I know that she'd only be wonderful to me and Derek, but sometimes..." She shrugged.
"I get it," Kate said. "My first week on the job, I could just feel people internally comparing me to my predecessors. It was a bit tough going, so I made extra sure to, I don't know, carve out my own place in the team."
"I had to do that a lot," Savannah said, a smile softening her face. "With Derek, in the beginning. He was so one minded. The BAU was paramount and that was never going to change for him. That was fine. I wasn't trying to take its place of importance in Derek's life. I just wanted my own place."
"Savannah was the first person who talked to me my first week of college," Leticia began. "She was funny, and that made me like her. I was a terrified freshman and she was a worldly sophomore. She taught me the ins and outs of college. She was career oriented and I wouldn't have finished my degree if she hadn't been there at my side, encouraging me." Leticia cleared her throat. "That's what Savannah always is. She leads by example. She supports. She never lets you down, never. I know that she will be the best wife possible, the most supportive and most loving. And from what I've seen with her and Derek, their love is...um...their love is powerful and can withstand anything. I won't be sad to lose my best single friend if she's going to be married to him."
Leticia then burst into tears as the people watching applauded, and Savannah leaned to embrace her friend.
"Thank you," Derek said, hugging Leticia too.
Kate looked at the other people at her table; Chris, Meg, Jamie, Andi and Ashley. Kate had wanted to sit with the team, but their tables were all full and she didn't want to leave Meg and Chris.
As she watched the crowd, she saw them all tensing a little.
And then she realized why. It was time for Reid's best man speech.
She straightened in her seat, as he stood up, looking tall and handsome in his tuxedo.
"When I first met Derek Morgan, the first thought in my mind was that I'd made a mistake in joining the FBI," Reid began. A mild wave of laughter swept the room. "He was everything that I was not. He was everything that I'd learned to fear in my years of school." The laughter abruptly stopped. "My first week working with him, all of that changed. He was strong, but he never used that strength for ill. He never teased me. There was a little hazing, but I got him back for it so good that he still has the scar."
Derek rubbed his elbow, a rueful grin on his face.
"Bodily injury wasn't intentional, but let's just say that when Derek's scared, he overreacts," Reid said, and Derek laughed out loud. "We've worked together for eleven years. In that time, I have come to see Derek as more than a coworker...more than a friend. Right now, he's my brother. Right now, I'm giving my brother away, to a woman who I know he loves, and to a woman who loves him."
Reid was quiet for a moment. The room quieted with him, waiting.
"There's not a lot more that I can say," Reid said. "Without getting into details and things that don't matter when you see that our friendship has survived. I just want to add...Derek Morgan saw more in me, had more confidence in me, than I myself did at the time. He pushed me. And I know that that quality is exactly why he's going to be make a good husband...and father." He looked at his seated friend, and Kate wondered if she could see tears in his eyes. "You're lucky, Savannah. You've won the lottery in Derek Morgan." He then grinned, looking out at the crowd. "And considering that you're more likely to be struck by lightning four times than to win the lottery, that's saying something."
The evening was winding down. Derek and Savannah had just finished dancing, and he was escorting her to a seat; she was looking tired again. Kate and Chris had shared a dance, one that brought back memories, and now he was dancing with Meg; Meg had danced with Reid and with Rossi earlier in the evening.
Kate was feeling content, if a little misty eyed. Weddings were such funny things. As beautiful as they were, they still signalled an end.
JJ and Will were dancing, close in each other's arms. Kate felt a funny feeling when she looked up and saw Derek asking Garcia to dance. The tech was dressed in a light pink dress, and she was clinging to Derek as they danced.
"It should have been Penelope," Hotch said, and Kate, startled, looked up to find her former Unit Chief standing next to her. "May I?" He asked, gesturing to the seat beside her, and she nodded. "Savannah is wonderful. She and Derek are so good together." He looked out over the dance floor. "But it should have been Garcia."
"You're being surprisingly candid," Kate said. Hotch smiled.
"Weddings make me soften a little," he admitted. "I haven't glared all evening."
She laughed, and he joined in with her.
"Reid's speech was true," he began. "Morgan's confidence in Reid was a huge stepping stone to Reid being confident in himself. I remember the first case Morgan put his life in Reid's hands. It changed things in the Unit."
"What happened?" Kate asked.
"That's classified," Hotch joked, and she nodded, taking it in stride. "You aren't coming back, are you?"
Surprised by him yet again, she looked up to see him watching her.
"I can't answer that question yet," she replied, the words coming faster than she would have thought possible.
"Fair enough," he answered, standing up. "You're one of the only persons not dancing that I trust to not step on my feet."
She slowly took his hand, and stood up. The song was lively, and they were soon getting into it; the awkwardness ceased to be as Kate clapped her hands to the beat of the song.
"How did you know I could dance?" She finally asked, as the song wound to an end.
"I remember you at the Benjamin," he answered.
He released her, and Rossi was there, grabbing her hand. "Let's switch partners. Hotch, dance with Alex."
Hotch nodded, going across the floor to Blake in the next moment, not hesitating.
Kate let Rossi guide her into a rumba, letting him lead her. "It's like this," he said, showing the steps. "Come on, you danced much better with Hotch just now. Don't put your dancing shoes away."
"It's been a long time since I rumbaed," she excused herself, letting him spin her.
"Well, you should try to do it more often," he joked.
"Dancing is a good way to exercise," she admitted.
"You haven't talked with Reid all evening," Rossi said.
"You've been watching," Kate shot back. "There wasn't ever a good time."
"The right time is now," Rossi said.
Reid and JJ were dancing; JJ was teaching him a new step and Reid was picking up on it very quickly. Kate and Rossi watched in awe as the genius soon performed the step with ease.
The song ended and Rossi pushed her forward.
"Hey, Spencer," she greeted. He smiled delightedly at her, looking a little out of breath.
"Hey," he replied. "Do you want to dance? I took some very good couples dance lessons over the past few weeks. Garcia was my partner."
"I didn't hear about that," she said, stepping forward to take his hand.
"We were keeping it a secret," Reid said. "I told people that I was taking lessons alone but then I realized that it wouldn't help unless I had a live partner." He grinned. "Lucky me, Garcia was happy to oblige."
He showed off his new area of expertise by performing a very complicated step, and spinning Kate at the end.
"You're amazing, Dr. Reid," Kate said. "In dancing and in everything else."
"I wish I'd picked it up before now. It's all math," Reid said.
"Everything you love can be translated to math," Kate said. "Isn't that right?"
"It's very right," Reid agreed.
As they danced, Kate saw, out of the corner of her eye, someone leaving the reception early. "Oh, no," she whispered.
"What?" Reid asked.
"Garcia left," Kate said.
His face fell too, looking out over the crowd. "I thought she'd stay until the bitter end," he murmured. "She said she would."
He pulled Kate a bit closer, and she realized it was because they'd almost bumped into another couple but it still made her a bit happy to see Reid so at ease with touching people. Touching people and pulling them close.
"It sucks," Reid finally said. "Derek...loves Savannah so much."
"And Garcia..." Kate trailed off.
"Do you mind if I follow her?" Reid asked.
"I want you to," Kate admitted.
He left the hall, and Kate turned around to see Chris standing in front of her. "Can I finish this dance?" He asked.
"We didn't dance at our wedding," Kate reflected, as they moved in each other's arms.
"I know, so we need to make up for it at every chance we get," he replied.
A/N: It's been way too long since I updated. Um. The wedding just went all over the place. I'm not sure why. Maybe part of the reason why is because all of the weddings I've attended have been disjointed, at least in my view. Each person attending gets such a different view. If you're just a guest, you don't get to see as much.