Chapter Text
Morgan entered Hotch's office, closing the door behind him. He shuffled nervously, sitting in the seat across from his boss.
"You wanted to see me, sir?" He asked, clasping his hands in front of him. He had no idea what this was about. It couldn't be good, though, because Hotch had a stack of files sitting in front of him.
Hotch nodded, putting down his pen and closing a case he was working on.
"We need to talk about your excessive use of force in the field… Not against people, but against doors," Hotch began carefully, and Morgan frowned.
"… You were in S.W.A.T. too, Hotch, you know that sometimes-" Morgan began, but Hotch raised his hand, cutting him off.
"It's not that," Hotch said. "I get having to break down a door when entering an Unsub's house. I'm talking about the other doors, the one's you didn't need to break down."
Morgan leaned back in his chair. He ran through the last couple of cases they had been on, but was drawing a blank.
"Are you talking about that really fancy one from the case in Des Moines? With the glass mosaic?"
Hotch shook his head.
"No, although a buddy on the S.W.A.T.'s legal team told me it was hell to replace.."
Hotch sighed, and gestured to 4 different case files on his desk.
"These were a few situations I could think of."
Morgan grabbed one, turning the paper over and reading carefully.
"Mark Kennedy…"
1. A Locker Door
Morgan, Reid, and JJ walked through the halls of the town's local high school, keeping an eye on one specific student. Him and two other classmates had received death threats a few days prior, and alongside having a protective detail, the members of the BAU kept tabs on the students when they were at school.
The bell signaling the start of 6th period was yet to ring, and the student they were keeping tabs of, Mark Kennedy, returned to his locker. He had been carrying a huge tri-fold, and didn't seem keen on bringing the project with him to his gym class.
They arrived at the boy's locker, and he entered the combination to his lock. Then, he tried to open the door.
Nothing happened.
"You alright?" Morgan asked, crossing his arms across his chest. He didn't like when the other agents and him had to stand this close to the boy for so long. It drew unwanted attention, and the kids class was starting soon.
Mark looked his locker up and down, nodding at Morgan's question.
"It does this all the time. Crappy school lockers… it wasn't enough that they made them so small, they also had to make them difficult to open…"
Mark grabbed a small part on his locker where his fingers could find a good grip, and he pulled, hard. The door didn't budge, and he stumbled back, defeated.
"I'm pretty sure I just gotta try harder," he said through huffs, trying to keep his breathing even.
Reid raised his eyebrows.
"You know, we can call a teacher over. They'd probably know what to do."
Mark waved his hand dismissively.
"Nah, it's alright. I got this."
The three watched as the kid tried over and over to wrench open his locker. He pulled with ever amount of force that he could, but by the end, his face was red and sweaty, and the door remained shut. The bell had rung a few minutes ago, but a group of kids gathered around the locker to watch the chaos.
"Everyone, get to you classes, there's nothing to see here," JJ said, shooing away a group of girls. As the students snickered, slowly walking away, she turned to Morgan and sighed.
"We have to do something."
Morgan nodded. He stepped forward, putting his hand out.
"Everyone, move out of the way."
The crowd beside the locker stayed put, and Morgan raised his voice.
"Out of the way, now!"
Everyone shuffled a few steps back, and Morgan took a few steps away from the locker, before running up to it and kicking with as much force as he could. The door slammed open, latch mechanic breaking off the locker completely. The group of kids let out a large cheer as Morgan backed away from the door, smiling. Reid rolled his eyes, turning to him.
"Show off," he said. Morgan only grinned in response.
…
"In my defense, the kid needed his locker open," Morgan said.
"You could've called a teacher, or a janitor," Hotch replied, crossing his arms. Morgan scoffed.
"Hotch-"
"You were trying to show off!"
Morgan rolled his eyes.
"What, and you don't?"
Hotch's face turned pink, and Morgan was sure he was going to get yelled at. However, Hotch didn't get mad, just crossed his arms over his chest.
"The school tried to sue us for it," he responded, defensively.
Morgan raised his eyebrow, and Hotch sighed.
"… and like all the other lawsuits against this unit for broken doors, it was quickly discarded."
Morgan frowned.
"How many other lawsuits have we gotten??"
Hotch hesitated, answering carefully.
"A… few. I don't want any politics impeding your ability to work so I refrain from telling the team about them."
"But it's getting out of hand, so now you're telling me," Morgan said, finally understanding. Hotch nodded.
"It's gotten so bad that the Judge at the court knows me by name," he admitted. "She's even started giving me life advice: 'Oh Aaron, you really should take more time off work!!' No, Stacy, I can't, not when I have to be here to put out fires I hadn't even known were possible to start."
Morgan nodded awkwardly, shifting in his chair. It was at this point he realized Hotch wasn't exactly here as his boss; he was here as a friend telling him to, very bluntly, get his act together.
"Still," Morgan replied defensively, "I can't have broken that much property."
Hotch shook his head.
"Morgan, even other FBI units have considered suing us."
"W-wait, is this because of the time I accidentally broke Anderson's desk phone? Because I was trying to take apart REID'S phone, but I got them mixed up-" Morgan started.
"No, but it is now!" Hotch said.
Morgan shook his head, and waved his hand.
"Never mind that. What have I done that's caused another unit to want to sue us??"
Hotch slid another file to Morgan.