On Bended Knee

Chapter 1

"Love is madness, if thwarted it develops fast."

-Moliere

Derek kicked off his shoes before he lowered himself down onto the cheap hotel bedspread. He made the mistake of falling asleep on the plane, something he almost never did. Now there was a cramp in his neck that he couldn't get rid of. To make matters worse, the hotel they were staying at for the duration of their investigation in Manhattan was overbooked. So instead of being alone in his room, like Derek preferred, he was sharing a room with Dr. Spencer Reid.

With Rossi tied up teaching new recruits, that left only four of them to work this case. Himself, Reid, JJ, and Prentiss had two rooms to split between them. If their preferences were the only ones they had to consider, Derek would have partnered with Prentiss and let JJ and Reid share the adjoining room. But with spouses, significant others, and the rules and regulations of an entire government agency to consider, unfortunately that wasn't a viable option. On the plus side, Reid was much more focused on setting up a video chat with his wife than he was in regaling Derek with his extensive knowledge of the history of Manhattan. At least for now.

From his vantage point, Derek could see the screen of Reid's laptop. He chuckled a little to himself as he watched his coworker use the device's camera to fix his hair and straighten his tie. When he was satisfied with his appearance, Reid hit the button to connect the call. The familiar electronic ringing filled the small hotel room. Reid glanced back with a look of concern.

"If this is bothering you I can put my earbuds in…" he offered. Derek waved him off. Earbuds or not, it wouldn't stop him from listening to Reid rattle on to his wife about star trek or whatever other nerdo nonsense they were about to discuss. If Morgan had to listen, he'd rather hear the whole conversation instead of only one side of it. Plus, Elaina was funny and Morgan enjoyed her peanut gallery style commentary. There was a case not too long before where their suspect was video taping himself raping and strangling his victims. Reid asked his wife what she thought the man was doing with the videos. And after Eliana laughed herself into the next dimension, she informed her husband that the unsub was probably watching his home movies on repeat while aggressively masturbating. Morgan wasn't sure what was funnier, Eliana's bluntly honest comment or the look of shock and disgust on Reid's face when he realized she was right. Either way, Morgan laughed so hard his stomach hurt.

The electronic ringing stopped. Eliana appeared on the screen. Her arm and rounded midsection were visible first, as she hurried to connect the call before she lowered herself down into her seat. Reid hadn't even been gone a full twenty four hours yet. But that didn't seem to stop her from being excited to see him. She had a huge smile on her face.

Elaina was an attractive woman by anyone's standards. But being pregnant for the second time rounded the sharper lines of her face and body a little, leaving her looking softer and more voluptuous. It seemed cliche, but she almost seemed to have a glow about her. And the expression on her face when she looked at Reid made Morgan feel the pain of his recent divorce more keenly. He wasn't exactly jealous. Spencer deserved every bit of the happiness he found with her. But Morgan never would have pictured himself single yet again and lying on an itchy hotel bedspread while he listened to Spencer Reid make sweet talk with his gorgeous pregnant wife.

"I know it hasn't been long, but I miss you so much," Eliana cooed. "New York is only four hours away… If your investigation takes too long maybe I can drive up there to see you."

Spencer shook his head immediately, which surprised Derek a little. He sort of assumed that Spencer was completely pussy whipped and would die before telling Eliana no to anything she wanted. "You know I can't have you around while I'm working a case," Spencer chided. "It's not safe. Not for you or the baby." His voice softened a little as he added, "... and you'll distract me from my work."

"But our bed is so empty with you gone," she countered. The corners of her lips turned up into a mischievous smile. "And you do your best thinking when you're relaxed." As she spoke the last few words, Elaina pulled the front of her shirt open to reveal the lace trimmed bra she was wearing underneath.

"Hey!," Morgan hollered, slapping his hand down over his eyes before she could lose the bra too. "My eyes!"

Eliana's laughter floated through the laptop speaker as she quickly readjusted her shirt. "Sorry Morgan," she sputtered through her laughter. "I thought we were alone."

"Obviously," Derek muttered as he lifted his hand back off his eyes. It was very on brand for Reid to not bother to mention to his wife that there was someone else listening in on their call. Being married clearly had not improved upon his total lack of common sense.

Since sexy talk time had been brought to a very hasty halt, Eliana buttoned her shirt back up. Spencer's face was red all the way to the tips of his ears. He reached for a bottle of water, taking a few cold sips before he changed the topic of conversation.

Before Spencer would agree to come back to the BAU after Elaina had their first child, he made the agency promise to provide a security detail for his family anytime he was gone on assignment. Elaina confirmed that an agent was present at their home with an irritated roll of her eyes. But she said her dad was arriving in the morning and she planned to send the agent away once he got there. She understood Spencer's intense desire to keep her and their son safe. But she didn't like having a hired bodyguard hanging around her home. Having an unfamiliar agent in the house always threw Spencer's mom for a loop. When Diana got upset, it stressed Eliana out. And that stressed their son out. The situation was still a work in progress. It comforted Derek in a way to know that their marriage wasn't always picture perfect. But Eliana and Spencer both seemed committed to figuring out a solution to their problem. And in the end, that was what really mattered.

"I almost forgot to tell you," Eliana said, her face lighting up with amusement. "You're never going to believe what your son did today."

"Did he finally use the toilet?," Spencer asked. That suggestion was met with more laughter from Eliana. Laughter that made Spencer laugh along with her.

"Absolutely not," she announced. "He's still terrified that it might flush while he's sitting on it and he'll be sucked into another dimension… But after his piano lesson, he was feeling so creatively inspired that he climbed up on the bathroom counter and picked the child locks my dad out on the cupboards. Then he got your beard trimmers out and gave himself a haircut."

Elaina leaned out of the frame. Morgan could hear her calling to their young son. Once the boy knew he was going to be able to talk to his father, he came running. Eliana lifted the boy up into her lap and adjusted the laptop so that he was visible on the screen. Spencer's son favored Eliana in looks. He had her dark eyes and slightly tanner complexion. But he had a head full of Spencer's wild blonde curls. At least until he played beautician with his father's beard trimmers. Morgan covered his mouth to stifle his laughter. The poor kid didn't just shave a chunk of hair off his head. He shaved damn near the whole top of his head. And since the rest of it was covered in fluffy curls, the giant bald patch looked even worse.

"Daddy!," the boy squealed, waving his chubby little hand like crazy at the image on the screen.

"Hey tiger!," Spencer hollered back. His voice rose higher in pitch whenever he was talking to his son. And this was no exception. "What did you do today?," Spencer asked.

"I played the PIAN-GO!," the boy chirped.

"The pian-go?," Spencer repeated, chuckling a little to himself. "What about after that? Did you give yourself a haircut?"

"Cut cut!," the boy replied. Then he repeated what his mother must have said once she saw his handiwork. "So pretty now!"

Derek laughed. He wasn't exactly an expert on childhood development. But it didn't take one to realize that Spencer's son was gifted. The kid was learning to read and play the piano while most kids were still chewing the sides of their playpens. But genius or not, he was still a toddler that did crazy toddler nonsense. With another potential super genius on the way, they were really going to have their hands full.

"You do look pretty," Spencer confirmed.

"Me pretty! And Grammie pretty too!"

Spencer nearly choked on the sip of water he was taking. "Wait! You didn't cut Grammie's hair too did you?," he asked. But it was too late. At the mention of his Gram, the boy slithered off his mother's lap and went racing off to find her. Eliana readjusted the camera as Spencer directed his question to her instead. "He didn't really cut my mom's hair did he?"

"Oh he sure did," Eliana confirmed. "Thank god she woke up before he got too far. There's just a little missing on one side. Penelope is coming over later to see if she can fix it for her." Before Eliana could elaborate further, there was a loud crash in the background. She rose from her seat. "I gotta go," she lamented. "I love you. I'll text you later." Eliana blew a few kisses towards the screen as Spencer told her that he loved and missed her. And then the image flicked back to a blank screen.

Derek watched as Spencer's hands flew across the screen. Several images popped up on the screen. The loud crash he heard must have scared him. Because he pulled up the feed from the security cameras in his house. Most were just a motionless image of an empty room. But there was movement in the kitchen. Spencer's son was trying to climb on the kitchen counter. And in the process, he pulled down a bowl full of fruit, which accounted for the loud crash they just heard. Spencer watched them for a moment longer, smiling as Eliana had their son help her pick up the fruit he spilled and put it back in the bowl.

"I can't believe he cut his hair," Spencer said, shaking his head with a smile as he clicked his laptop closed.

"If he was going to cut hair," Derek joked, "...he should've started with yours. You deserve it, for naming that poor kid Tiberius."