Peace Of Mind (Spencer Reid)

Chapter Three - Words Exchanged

     I look at the pictures of the kids, instantly recognizing all three of them. "Carmen," I point to the young girl. "Kaleb, Nick." I point to each of the boys.

     "You knew them?" I look back up at the African-American man and nod.

     "Yeah, I did. Agent...." I trail off, hoping he'd supply his name.

     "Derek Morgan." I nod again and look back down at the pictures.

     "When I heard that they'd been murdered, I didn't think...." I let out a huff of air. "This is horrific." 

     "We were hoping you'd be able to help us." The older gentleman.      

     "A small town like this? They don't like to reveal secrets to outsiders. Let alone Government officials." I shrug.

     "Yeah. Well, what do you expect?" I ask. "People here like to keep to themselves. And looking at these," I point to one of the pictures. 

      "I don't really blame them."

     "Would you be willing to come down to the police station and help us talk to some of the families? Maybe give us some information?" The tall man with short dark hair asks me. I can tell he definitely doesn't like me. Not that I can blame him. Well. That, or he is just really grumpy. I place the pictures back down in the folder and close it.

     "I guess I might as well. I've got nothing else to do today." I stand up. "Just give me a second to change." As I walk out, I notice that Reid is looking at all of the books on my bookshelves, taking in everything that I had read and done. I had changed since we had last met. I had walled up to keep me safe now, and I wasn't going to let him in again.

     I quickly go upstairs to my room and change into something more professional, throwing my long, blond hair up into a tight bun. I grab my phone and my dark purple shoulder bag before slipping my feet into a pair of flats and heading back downstairs. This was honestly the last thing I wanted to do, helping Spencer Reid out, but I didn't want any more kids to get hurt. My morality won out over my distaste for Reid.

     When I get back downstairs, I'm greeted with the sight of the BAU team deep in conversation. I checked the time, making sure I hadn't taken forever. 

     "Reid. How do you know her? What was she talking about?" The woman with black hair was asking. Oh. They were only just talking about me. Not rude at all.

     "We knew each other in college." He says.

     "She threatened to shoot you." Spencer is quiet.

     "I'm honestly surprised she didn't." That got a few odd looks.

     "What do you mean? She said you destroyed her life." The man I assumed was in charge asks. I might as well step in.

     "As much as I enjoy listening to people talk about me behind my back," I say loudly, making them all quickly look in my direction, startled. "I'm ready to go when you guys are. The 'How Spencer Reid destroyed my life' story takes a while, and rather not get behind on making sure another kid doesn't die."

     They all get up and head towards the door out to their cars. I follow after them, locking my house up and posting a sticky note on the door saying that I would be out for a while in case anyone came by. I walked down my stone front path, and when I saw Spencer getting in the first one of their cars, I immediately veered towards the other. I climbed into the back of the car that had the two women in it. It was when the car had started that I realized it.

     "You know, I just climbed into a car with two women I don't know." I muse. That got a smile out of the blond one.

     "I'm Jennifer Jareau, but everyone calls me JJ." She says. I nod and give a small smile.

     "I'm Emily Prentiss." The other says. 

     "Well, it's nice to meet you both." I say. "Despite the circumstances. Solving Murder cases must not be the best way to meet people." JJ gives a laugh and I finally get a small smile out of Prentiss. I didn't want these people to hate me just because of what had happened between Reid and me.

     "Your tune changed pretty fast." Prentiss points out. A sad smile crosses my lips.

     "I'm more relaxed without Reid here." I say quietly. "Not seeing him for six years after what happened, and having him just show up on my doorstep out of the blue kind of shocks you." It goes quiet in the car.

      "Would it be of any use to ask what happened between you two?" JJ asks.

     "I think that he should be the one to tell you." I say. "You've known him for these past years, and you all seem to act like one family. Which he needs seeing what happened with his dad and Diana. Thank goodness she's been doing well lately but I do feel slightly bad about not seeing her for the past year. I really need to take another trip down there. I just need to find the time and...." I realize I had started to ramble in my nervousness. "Yeah... he should be the one to tell you." I quickly repeat.

     "You know his mother?" I look up to see JJ practically staring at me from the passenger seat. 

     "Of course. She's such a sweet woman." I answer. JJ pauses before starting to turn back into her seat, still glancing back at me curiously. I settle back and try to ignore the silence. I hated silence. I always had something making noise, whether it be my IPod or someone talking or listening to an audiobook while I cleaned or painted.

     We finally get to the police station, and I clamber out of the car, the men getting out of the car in front of us. I quickly walk up the steps to see the sheriff standing there. "Jake!" I greet him, giving him a hug. He was one of my closest friends here. He laughs when I let go.

     "So are you the one being arrested?" He asks playfully, poking me in the stomach.

      "Totally. Murdering children is exactly what I do to fill my free time." I say sarcastically. "No. But seriously. Are you doing okay with all of this?" He purses his lips before shaking his head. 

     "I can't sleep. Knowing that some sicko is in my town and is carving these children up..." He shook his head sadly and I placed a hand on his shoulder. "So why did the FBI bring you back with them?" He asks.

     "They wanted help." I say with a shrug. "Speaking of which, I better head in. They in the conference room?" He nods. "Alright. Tell Grace I said hi." I say before walking into the station. On the way to the room, I stop into their break room to steal a cup of coffee. I grab a random mug from the cabinet as the coffee starts to brew and grab a spoon from the drawer, along with four packets of sugar.

     "I thought you didn't like coffee." I jump and turn to see Spencer standing in the doorway. My defences instantly go up.

     "Well, people change." I say in a not so nice tone. "After staying up for nights on end trying to get my next PHD online, I developed a taste for it." He stays silent but takes a few tentative steps forward, keeping his distance. I dump the sugar in my coffee before stirring it and taking a sip.

     "I didn't think you would have a boyfriend." Spencer says quietly. I choke on my coffee, almost spraying it everywhere.

     "Excuse me?" I get out after a coughing fit.

     "You and the sheriff?" He asks, and I roll my eyes.

     "Things haven't changed that much." I say. "And if I did, why would I tell you of all people?" I ask in a harsh tone. "Besides. Jake isn't my boyfriend. I'm pretty sure his wife would get pretty mad if I was."

     "Oh! Pretty boy got served!" We both look over to see Morgan standing in the doorway. Spencer flushes red with embarrassment and I give a smirk.

     "Comes with a lot of practice." I reply, before heading out of the break room. I really wanted to help these people catch this guy. Before anyone else got hurt.