Mágoa // Spencer Reid

Chapter 2

"Other things may change us, but we start and end with family."
                   Anthony Brandt

Maria let out a sigh as she squirmed past the tens of people on the plane, the air smelt of a combination of BO and cheap perfume. Upon finding her seat Maria was greeted with a man sat spread out over two seats, one of which being hers. The man let out a grunt and a grumble as he moved to allow Maria access to her seat.

For the entirety of the plane ride Maria had her headphones in and tried to ignore the fact that the passenger beside her was leaning on her, she had to try even harder to ignore the smell of booze and sweat radiating from him. Maria tried to relax and rest, but she felt her mind was in a hundred and one different places; she was thinking about her mother, the anniversary always felt like the hardest time for both her and Naomi, she thought about her father; she had no way of knowing how he would react to seeing her, some days he couldn't even register who she was. Despite these bleak thoughts Maria couldn't help but smile when thinking about her upcoming graduation and her plans for the future, she was considering contacting her uncle for some sort of internship at the BAU.

-

Upon arriving in Vegas Maria quickly made her way to a hotel, where she got settled and ran a quick bath to wash away the smells of the plane that seemed to cling to her. After getting out of the bath she settled down in the comfy double bed with a criminal psychology book, Maria found it amusing that to unwind she was reading up on lie detection and eye-witness testimonies- she was always thinking, her mind couldn't switch off.

The following morning Maria awoke to the sound of her alarm, with a groan she switched it off and checked her phone to see that she had a message from Naomi checking in and asking about her flight, Maria replied to her sister telling her that the flight was horrible and that she'd video call her later her sister had replied with a series of emojis implying that she found her older sister's traumatic journey amusing, to which Maria simply laughed.

Maria threw on a flowery black and white skirt with a plain black vest and a black blazer, she put on a daisy necklace that her mum and dad bought her for her tenth birthday, she smiled as she thought back to opening the tiny velvet box it had come in. She pinned half her hair up in a twist and put a minimal amount of makeup on, as she knows how much her dad despises it- before setting off to see him.

When Maria entered the institution she was greeted by the smell of hand sanitizer and bleach, she quickly made her way to the reception desk,

"Hello, I'm Maria Williams I am here to see Daniel Williams." She said politely to the receptionist who looked her up and down briefly before standing up from her computer,

"He's having a good day today, let me take you to him, it's good to meet you- I've heard so much about you from your father." She said with a smile,

"All good things I hope!" Maria chuckled as the two turned down a long corridor the receptionist's pager beeped and she shot Maria an apologetic smile,

"I have to go. Turn left and it's the second door on your right." Maria smiled and thanked her before making her way to the room she was directed to, she knocked on the door and suddenly felt bile rising in her throat, seeing her dad always caused her to feel incredibly anxious- they'd never been particularly close and their relationship often felt forced.

Maria walked into the room whilst looking down at the floor, she slowly brought her gaze up to see her dad sitting in a chair next to the window with a copy of Great Expectations in his hands,

"Hello Pumpkin!" He chirped,

"Hey Dad, how've you been?" Maria inquired taking a seat opposite him,

"Coffee?" He offered and Maria nodded accepting a mug with a small smile, "you're wearing the necklace, your mother and I got you that for your tenth birthday!" Maria grinned and absentmindedly twiddled the daisy in her fingers, "I remember, thirteen years ago- I remember it like it was yesterday, how's Nay? She's eighteen now?" Maria half winced as her father placed his hand on hers and held it, she couldn't help feel uncomfortable speaking with her dad about Naomi, given Naomi's feelings towards him.

"She's really good! She's still running Mum's cafe," Both Maria and her father smiled proudly, "She's really doing well dad. Oh! And I almost forgot to tell you, in a few weeks I'm graduating from uni, so then I'll have two PhD's, one in psychology and one in criminology," Maria felt herself begin to ramble, she paused and her father nodded at her as if to say 'continue', "-and then I'm gonna call uncle Bill and try to get an internship, and I'm planning to be a profiler- well only if they'll have me, but I really want to work with the BAU," She looked at her dad and his eyebrows were raised,

"Well pumpkin that's great!" He squeezed her hand gently and gave her a proud grin, Maria stood up to put the mugs in the dishwasher as she did her dad stood up and pulled her into a tight hug, she smiled as she recognised his familiar scent, he still wore the same cologne as he did when she was a kid.

When she returned to the hotel Maria video called Naomi as promised, the two chatted for an hour and a half Maria told her she'd be home in a few days so they'd be together on their mother's anniversary- Naomi had insisted there was no rush, and that Maria should enjoy her time in Vegas seeing as she's always busy with university work.

The next few days and Maria was finally going home, she'd really enjoyed spending time with her dad, but being around him reminded him of her mother, which made it difficult. Maria couldn't stop thinking about being home and in her own bed, as comfy as the hotel was she'd missed home, she'd been thinking about her uncle Bill too on her trip and had decided that she was going to give him a call as soon as she got home. Maria quickly made her way to her seat on the plane and quickly checked her phone before putting it on airplane mode; she was met with three missed calls from Rachel, she quickly redialed her number,

"Hey Rach, whats up?"

"I can't find Naomi," She sobbed, "she hasn't been at work and she won't answer her phone, something is definitely wrong."