City Limits (Spencer Reid Fanfic)

Chapter Eight: Okay

"Checkmate."

I scoffed and slashed the chess pieces off the table with a wave of my hand. Queens and kings and pawns alike crashed to the ground, and Reid shot me an amused look, which I prudently chose to ignore. What can I say? I'd always been a sore loser.

After our heart-to-heart thing last night, Reid and I were pretty much reconciled. We—or, I—decided to 'bond,' and as per his suggestion, I found myself playing what was supposed to be a casual game of chess between friends. We'd been at it for almost three hours, and despite my best efforts, I'd only succeeded in getting mercilessly slaughtered by my ever-so-humble opponent. In my defense, and much to Uncle Jason's chagrin, I was a complete dolt when it came to chess. Sliding little horse and crown figurines around a checkered piece of wood never really appealed to me—I was more of a Barbie girl as a kid. I mean, can we just talk about the Dream House for a second?

"Get that smirk off your face, Spencer Reid. I'd destroy you at Snakes and Ladders," I grumbled as we began cleaning up. The team was awaiting the arrival of Zachary Parker's parents, and I was awaiting the arrival of Jack Hotchner. In the meantime, we'd all been given a well-deserved break. JJ and Morgan were touring around the old Babysitter kill sites, while Rossi stuck around the D.A's with Reid and I. Prentiss was at the public library, reading up on the archived Babysitter articles from the 80's. So even on their break, the BAU didn't really 'break.'

I couldn't blame them, though. If I was the parent of a victim, I'd want every agent in the tri-state area doing everything humanly possible to catch and castrate the son of a bitch. I could only imagine their torment, their pain, and how the mere thought of that could affect the team. All of the suffering... it was one of the contributing factors that led to Uncle Jason's resignation. Apparently, he kept framed pictures of all the families he'd reunited over the years. It was the families he didn't reunite that got to him.

"That's a game based purely on luck," Reid retorted.

"Yeah, well, you'll be lucky if I don't shove one of those chess pieces right up your--"

Before I could finish my threat, we were interrupted.

"Are you with the FBI?"

Reid and I both glanced up. A pretty blond woman, accompanied by a stony-faced man, was staring at us with wild eyes. Her gaze darted to our badges, and before we could so much as blink, she answered her own question.

"You're in the BAU! Aren't they the ones I'm supposed to talk to? I'm—I'm Zachary Parker's mother."

I felt a lump form in my throat. Oh, God...

"Yes, ma'am. I'm Dr. Spencer Reid, with the Behaviour--"

"I don't give a shit who you are, I just want you to find the sick bastard that k-killed my little boy! Why are you sitting around, playing chess, when my baby is lying cold in some morgue? My baby!"

With that, Mrs. Parker dissolved into a wailing mess, and I turned away, out of respect, and humiliation. She had a point. What did it look like, when her only child was dead, and the people responsible for finding his killer were doing... nothing? Fortunately, Reid swooped in to save the day.

"I should go," I went to dismiss myself, but Mrs. Parker bounded forward and blocked my way.

"Uh, ma'am?" I squeaked.

"Take this. This is Zach's most recent school picture. He took it last month... he was so excited to wear the shirt my mother sent from Florida, and I gelled his hair back a-and—I'll never see him again. He's...dead."

I grabbed the photo from Mrs. Parker's shaking outstretched hand and pretended to look at it, since I couldn't actually. Not if I didn't wanted to fall victim to another panic attack. From the quick glance I stole, I stared into Zach's eyes. They bore back at me, little green dots, all-knowing, and now, unseeing. His mother was right. He was dead, and he was never coming back.