FroggTales

I've been plowing through all (and I mean ALL) of matociquala 's Criminal Minds-related posts, and idly going over the plot bunnies currently fighting for supremecy in my brain. The Bear, while being brilliantly twisty and mindbendingly awesome, has pointed out a flaw in the OI&E universe. Well, one that smacked me in the face as (I think) needing to be addressed.

In 2x15 Revelations, Reid has a tonic-clonic seizure brought on by a variety of causes (presumably repeated head injury, drugs, dehydration, etc.). Enough to hint at possible brain injury (heck, the head traumas alone are enough to make that possible). So a CAT scan is definitely called for.

In the post-Revelations arc To Rescue Innocence, A World Off Balance, and Trusting Logic, Morgan completely glosses over the head injury in order to let Reid regain at least a semblance of control over his situation. Reid needs that time when it's just him and his team - people he trusts, people he doesn't have to hide just how completely messed up he is from (except, let's face it, he's hiding a hell of a lot and I'm not even talking about what I've got going on in this storyline.) - as a buffer.

Hotch lets him, because he realizes that buffer is probably going to mean the difference between Reid recovering and Reid...well...not.

Mind you, yes, it is a case of mental health vs. physical health - the ambulance isn't going to have a CAT scanner on board, and if they weren't pretty certain the immediate danger was minimal at worst, I don't think Reid would have walked out of the cemetary. They would have brought in a gurney. The road was a pretty fair hike from where Reid was (and in OI&E he had a broken foot and still walked out.).

We've already established that yes, Hotch sending the ambulance away and driving Morgan and Reid to the hospital himself is against the rules. The question is...

Is this a point where the risk to Reid's physical health outweighs the need to cater to Reid's decidedly fragile mental health at the moment? When does keeping him alive so he can have a chance to deal mentally/emotionally become more important than trying to see that focusing on keeping Reid physically alive now allows actions that may well push him to break later, either by following Elle on her road to destruction, or by swallowing a bullet either actively or passively in some fashion?

In other words, should I go back and rewrite this arc? Do I actually need to take Reid back to the hospital in the ambulance, thereby stripping him of yet more control over his physical shell and cutting him off from those he looks to for support? Should I have the ambulance stay behind and follow Hotch, just in case? Or should I just leave it as-is, with the understanding that yes, one of the things Reid's going to be subjected to in the hospital is a CAT scan?

Le sigh.

~~~

A few posts ago I mentioned that Elle has demanded a say in OI&E.

She's also demanding her two defining emotional/intellectual qualities for titling purposes. Which...becomes somewhat problematic. The major characters can't overlap, so if anyone wants to suggest anything that's NOT on the character list in the notes, please do!

These are used and are not available: wisdom, intuition, logic, self control, worldliness, empathy, knowledge, perceived innocence, resourcefulness, earnestness, compassion, pride, protectiveness, adaptability, connectivity, and generosity

While I'm here, I might as well ask for Ambassador Prentiss's (other than diplomacy, because..well...duh.).

~~~

We now return you to your regularly scheduled plotbunny war.

This is where I break down and say "Someone else take some of these!" and hold out huge bunnies with big floppy ears.

Or at least do me the favor of PICKING ONE.

1) The other side of A Dark World Dreaming, from the point where Derek and Spencer are in the bathroom. Title unknown, POV unknown (see title); Haley makes an appearance.

2) The way way way WAY prequel to OI&E between Hotch and Haley re: Hotch/Gideon; the establishment of the rules referred to in Protective Wisdom.

3) An as-of-yet-untitled scene where Hotch calls Elle, post-To Logical Conclusions.

4) This Wicked World: Five Things that Never Happened to Tobias Henkel. Morgan goes back to Marshall Parish.

5) Another untitled fic, after Morgan testifies in Buford's trial. The team helps him try and recover in a very public setting.

6) Yet another untitled fic (are you sensing a theme here?), Hotch POV. Or maybe Morgan's. The discussion between Hotch and Morgan at the hospital post-Revelations Hotch mentioned in Confession of Logic.

7) The non-series fic I've had trying to get written for the last couple months: Hotch/Morgan, Morgan trying to deal with Hotch's subconscious, changing attitude towards him post-Profiler, Profiled. If I'm lucky this will be the ONLY fic I will ever have to write with Rossi (in the background).

Yeah right.

8) The end of Shattered Reflections fic(s), where A) Hotch wakes up in the jury-rigged interrogation room, and/or B) he and Reid replay the oh-so-very-FUCKED scene in that-timeline's version of To Salve the Psyche.

9) The discussion-slash-bitchfest between Haley and Reid in In Search of Peace.

10) The other non-series Hotch/Morgan fic I've been teased by - the immediate follow-up to...uh. wtf. I can't remember which ep it is. Hang on.

Oh. Duh. The tag to 3x03 Scared to Death I've had floating around since then.

I think I'll stop there.

~~~

One other thing before I forget.

In regards to the OI&E timeline, specifically to the fallout from 2x15 Revelations with Reid and what the rest of the team has been discovering, and the hints and such I've been putting in the fics, would anyone be interested in a post where you can comment with things you think have to do with the Big Four Issues (tm) and make an 'official' list?