S.S.A Herrmann (Criminal Minds / One Chicago Fanfic)

Chapter 11

BAU Private Jet 

Nikki sat at one of the tables sipping on a coffee even though it was close to midnight but she couldn't sleep due to thinking about what she was planning on saying to Spencer earlier along with a headache that just woundn't go away. 

The brunette sat there with her eyes closed rubbing her skull as the pain subsided slightly. "You alright?" Spencer asked taking a seat in front of her. "yea, just got a headache that won't go away," Nikki replied. "How much water have you had to drink?" Spencer asked, the brunette paused. "Coffee is 99% water, does that count?" Nikki asked him as he shook his head standing up and returning with a bottle of water and setting it down in front of her. 

"You're probably dehydrated from the excessive coffee and nicotine consumption, try to finish this by the time we land and if you still have a headache I'll give you some Asprin when I get home," Spencer said opening the seal on the bottle for her as Nikki started slowly drinking the cold water. "Thanks, doc," she replied with a small smile forcing herself to drink more water despite wanting the coffee instead. Nikki looked up meeting Spencer's gaze before he took the mug of coffee and emptied it out. "Try some tea after the water, it might help you sleep," Spencer said as he sat back down again. 

It didn't take long for the Jet to land and the team went their separate ways heading home for the night. Spencer drove Nikki back to their shared street, "How's the headache?" he asked. "Still there but I'll manage," Nikki replied tiredly. "Are you sure? I can get you an asprin, have a cup of tea and maybe talk about what you were gonna say earlier," Spencer asked. "Sounds good to me but I want a smoke first," Nikki replied earning a look from Spencer. 

"The nicotine isn't gonna help your headache especially if it's because you're dehydrated and your smoking more so you could also have a headache from having too much nicotine in your body," Spencer said as he pulled into his driveway and turned the car off. 

Doctor Spencer Reid's Residence, Quantico Virginia

Nikki stepped out of the car followed by Spencer as she still pulled her pack of smokes out and lit a cigarette between her lips. "7 Minutes," he said after a moment but waited with Nikki while she smoked. "When did you start smoking?" Spencer asked her after a moment of silence. "Around the same time I shipped out to Iraq," she replied realizing "4 years almost," Nikki replied with a shrug. 

"You don't talk about it much, your tours," Spencer said picking his words carefully. Nikki took a long drag letting out a shaky exhale. "That's because I'm not proud of most of the shit that happened over there, the things I did Spence," Nikki said shaking her head as the memory from the sandbox came back. "You were in a warzone Nikki," he said softly, as she scoffed shaking her head. "You know the Taliban train and use child soldiers to attack platoons and American troops over there," Nikki started to say as she took a smoke feeling Spencer's eyes on her. 

"They'll use children because they're more innocent and susceptible to try to get their message across by causing the most damage and using children as pawns for their war," Spencer stated. "What those articles won't tell you is how they strapped an IED to a 4 year old girl they captured and released..." Nikki said taking a shakey breath. 

"She started running towards us, me and my platoon. We told her to stop, I saw the explosive first. She just kept running at us..." Nikki said staring at the ground. "I um I shot her..." Nikki's voice cracked a bit as she lifted her hand to her throat. "The um the bullet hit her throat but she... um, she didn't... she didn't die right away she um... lay there choking staring at me, and I couldn't even stop to help her... I tried but erm one of the soldiers I was with Halstead. He dragged me outta there, I probably would've been blown to a million pieces if I went near her." Nikki took a long drag of the smoke slowly letting the smoke out with a deep exhale. 

Nikki put her smoke out and wiped her tears away taking another deep breath before turning to Spencer who was still watching her. Spencer and Nikki made their way into Spencer's house and the two sat down on his couch like they had the other night when she started crying on his couch at 4 in the morning. 

"I'm not a good person, I murdered children," Nikki said her words felt like jabs to Spence. "You are a good person though, you put yourself 2nd to stand up for this country and your family. You're one of the most badass people I've ever met. Look there's been times when the unsubs the team looks for are kids and there have been times when we could stop them or save their victim and we pick the victim every time. All my way of saying you did what you had to do to survive," Spencer replied as he handed her a mug of chamomile tea. 

"Also I've been meaning to say Thank you for your serv- please don't Spence," Nikki said shaking her head as tears formed in her eyes. "I understand that nobody really knows what to say to me but, please don't thank me," Nikki said with tears in her eyes. "okay," was all Spencer replied sadness written on his face. "Thank you for feeling comfortable enough to share that with me, it couldn't have been easy," Spencer said. Nikki looked at him, "Is any war easy?" replied honestly as she finished off her tea setting the mug back on the table with a sigh. 

"I should probably head home, try and sleep before we gotta head to the office in the morning," Nikki said as she stood up from her seat. "I'll walk you home," Spencer replied as he stood up and walked Nikki home making sure she got there safely before he himself went home but didn't fall asleep. He spent the following hour thinking about what Nikki told him and wondering about the things she'd seen and witnessed as a soldier and didn't talk about. 

BAU Office, FBI Academy Quantico Virginia 

It had been a little over a week since Nikki opened up to Spencer about a bit about her time in the Rangers. The brunette sat at her desk sipping on her 4th coffee while she filled out the pile of case files stacked on her desk. "So Nikki you ready to get your butt whooped this weekend?" Morgan asked referring to the Marathon they were both competing in. "Ha, You mean are you ready to lose 'cause I am so crossing that finish line first," Nikki replied with a cocky smirk as her phone rang on her desk. 

Nikki picked up the device noticing her dad was video calling her, which was odd first thing in the morning. The brunette pressed the green button accepting the call as her father came onto the screen. "Hey, Dad what's up? is everything okay?" Nikki asked him confused. "Do you wanna tell your sister? or should I?" her dad said in a stern tone as Lee Henry came into view but stayed quiet and Nikki knew he was in trouble. "Lee Henry got suspended from school today, why don't you tell her why? hmm, go on," their father said. 

"Dad they raised the prices on the vending machines and I'm free to express my First Amendment rights however I want just like pro athletes. The whole point of America is I have the right to protest and not say the pledge of allegiance if I don't want to," Lee Henry argued. The look on her father's face Nikki thought he was going to have a hernia as she covered her mouth trying to hide the laugh she was suppressing. 

"you are a Herrmann before you are an American, which means I TELL YOU WHAT YOUR RIGHTS ARE. HERRMAN'S DO NOT DEFILE THE SACRED THINGS I HOLD MOST DEAR IN MY HEART. Like love of country, love of freedom, and love of all the things in the history books which tell us that this is THE GREATEST COUNTRY ON EARTH," Their dad yelled. "Your grounded for the foreseen future until you're 30, no longer than that. Give me your car keys," their dad said. "But- NOW!" Their dad ordered. 

Lee Henry stormed out of view with a huff leaving Nikki and her dad, "Can you talk some sense into your brother please?" he asked. "And what exactly am I supposed to tell him Dad? He can't be upset about his school jacking up soda prices and tell him he can't protest?" Nikki asked joking. "I don't lock him in a holding cell until he's 30," their dad said. "Yeah I can't do that either," Nikki replied. "Well I have a meeting with his vice principal later, hopefully, your mom and I can get this settled and have him back in school sooner," their dad replied. 

"Well good luck and try to stay calm or your only gonna escalate the situation more," Nikki advised. "Lee Henry escalated the situation when he defiled this country," their dad said. "Take a few breathes and go from there, I'm sure things will work out fine, I love you Dad," Nikki said waiting for her dad to say I love you in return before she hung up noticing the wide eyed looks she was getting from Morgan and Spencer before she chuckled shaking her head.