Poison (Criminal Minds)

Chapter One

 Spencer Reid wore black. So did everyone else, even Penelope Garcia, the most colorful member of the team. This wasn't their first funeral. Spencer wanted it to be their last. He couldn't believe Emily had died. It wasn't fair, it wasn't right, but it had happened anyway.

He walked up to the coffin with his rose. “Goodbye, Emily” he whispered, laying it carefully across the lid. He tried to avoid touching the smooth, cold surface, but he couldn't. He didn't want to think of his friend in there. It sent chills up his spine. And sadness. He really missed her.

He left the coffin, without looking back, though he wanted to. He wanted to run back, to beg and plead with any higher power, though he didn't believe they truly existed. He wanted Emily back. With all the reading he had done, though, he knew it wasn't possible. There was no proof of people coming back from the dead. He knew it couldn't happen.

“How are you, Spence?” asked JJ, coming up next to him. Spencer didn't want to answer. He didn't really know how to answer.

“JJ . . .” he wanted to cry. But the funny thing about trust was that once it broke, it was almost impossible to rebuild. He would never go to JJ, not after she lied to him about Emily's fake death.

His thoughts always brought him back to Emily. One look at JJ's face, and he knew the same thing was happening to her. As he watched her, a tear made its way slowly down her face. And that turned his own tears on, like a faucet. JJ tried to wrap him in a hug, but he shrugged her off. He wanted to suffer on his own. Without another word to JJ, he walked away. Maybe if he walked far enough, he could walk off the edge of the earth. He only made it to his car.

He pulled open the door angrily, as if it had been the one to kill Emily. Sliding into the seat, he stopped trying to reign in his grief. He let himself sob for the friend that he would never see again.

–

“She went to her friend from tenth grade's house” Spencer said. Morgan nodded in agreement. “She never told me the name, though. Or the address.”

“She had ingested mistletoe” JJ said. “In a tea.”

Morgan snorted. “Who makes mistletoe tea?” Spencer knew how poisonous every part of the plant was. In a tea, it was definitely the cause of Emily's death. And definitely murder.

“This wasn't an accident” snapped JJ. “Prentiss' friend killed her.” Morgan closed his eyes. Spencer rested his head in his hands. They were getting nowhere.

They had found Emily's body in a dumpster, about three hours after she had died. Spencer and the others had figured that the last person to see Emily alive was her old friend, but JJ was jumping to conclusions. Someone had poisoned Emily, but they had no proof of who.

Spencer understood how JJ felt. Every time he heard something at all close to a theory, he jumped to conclusions as to Emily's killer. He knew that none of them should be working the case. They were too involved. But they didn't care. It was too important to just step down and let another team handle it. Or, even worse; let it become a cold case. They had to solve this one. They owed it to Emily.

“Why didn't she tell us anything?” asked Morgan softly. “Why didn't she trust us?” The question hung heavily in the air, but nobody answered it. Spencer didn't want to. He didn't even want to think about the reason behind Emily's reluctance to give them information.

“I'm going home” Spencer said abruptly. He stood up, and left. Not caring about what any f them thought. He couldn't take it anymore. Too much had happened in three days. Finding Emily's body, the funeral, this discussion. He just wanted to sleep.