Psychopathy

Chapter 71- An Unexpected Hero

Isabel had not seen this coming. She knew a hero was needed in this situation, but it was who had stepped up to the plate that shocked her. The enemy they were facing wasn't particularly dangerous, but the fight was more a matter of pride. Isabel would have loved to join the fight, but she was still healing. So she had settled with watching from a distance. And when all hope had seemed lost, he had come in and delivered the finishing blow. And Isabel cheered for him, smiling widely when he turned around, beaming with pride.

Her confidant.

Her hero.

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"You see my hips? See my hips? You swing through, nice and easy." Reid didn't like this situation one bit. Just being on a baseball diamond made him all sorts of uncomfortable, and yet, there he was, pushing softballs into a pitching machine for Morgan to hit. Akilah stood in the dugout, a look of pride on her face as she watched her boyfriend hit ball after ball into the outfield. "All right, come on. You give it a try."

"It was just a ride to the airport," Reid said as he walked towards home plate. He looked over at Akilah, seeing that her pride had been replaced with amusement, interest, and just a dash of pity. "This wasn't exactly what I had in mind when I said I owed you one." No, this was definitely not what he had expected. But when Morgan had called in his favor, Reid's pride at being a man of his word had kept him from saying no. So there he was, trying to learn how to hit a softball so he could join the FBI's yearly softball game against the Secret Service.

"Hey," Morgan started as he met Reid in the middle. "You act like this is torture."

"I'm sure for him, it is!" Akilah called out from the dugout. She laughed as Reid glared at her.

"You know, there are people who think this is fun," Morgan mentioned, and Reid directed his attention back to the other man. If Akilah wasn't going to help, then he wasn't going to waste any mental energy on her. He'd need all the mental energy he had if he was going to hit this damn softball.

"Believe it or not, most of my childhood sports memories aren't altogether pleasant." That much was true. He remembered his father forcing him to play T-ball in an attempt to make him more "normal". He remembered the look of disappointment when Reid's sports skills were far less than exemplary, and the frustration they shared when he just couldn't figure it out. The only positive thing about his T-ball experiences was when he would sneak away from the field to play chess. Morgan sighed in exasperation, and almost immediately, Reid was transported back to those childhood memories.

"Reid, it's just one game," he responded. "We need a body. You might not even have to play."

"Perfect! Can we go now?" Reid wondered, already walking to the dugout.

"Reid!" Morgan called out. "Just humor me? Take the bat and get up there and give it a try." He clapped Reid on the shoulder, handing the bat over to him. Reid took it with just a little bit of frustration, heading for home plate. He knew he was going to fail spectacularly. Well, on the bright side, at least only Morgan and Akilah were there to witness it. Well, okay. He wasn't worried about Morgan witnessing his failure, but Akilah? She'd never let him live it down. "Get up there."

"Hey, if all you guys need is an extra body, then why doesn't Akilah play?" Reid asked, and Akilah held up her arm for him. The way she'd been standing, he hadn't been able to see her arms. And that meant he hadn't seen the red cast on her left arm. "What did you do??"

"I was helping him with one of his renovations, and he conveniently forgot to tell me about one of the tarps he had abandoned on the staircase," Akilah mentioned.