The Telepath's Daughter

The Letter

Melinda had won. She'd achieved pre-school. But now...

Ana chewed on her bottom lip and let her eyes slide to the side, giving her daughter a look that was meant to be questioning, but came off as apprehensive.

The letter Melinda had brought home from school rustled as Ana's nervous fingers smoothed it out on the tabletop before her for the umpteenth time. She unfurled her empathic antennae, feeling the space between and slightly above her eyes grow warm with her own special ability.

"Mellie, what did you do to make Ms. Keller want Daddy and me to come talk to her?" She could feel worry wafting off of Melinda. "It's okay, angel, I'm not mad."

I know you're not mad, Mommy. I can feel it, and I...

"Out loud, young lady!" Ana threw up the mental shields she and Reid had become increasingly adept at erecting, and thought to herself (she hoped), Mommy might not be mad now, but, Melinda, Mommy will get mad real fast if you respond to a verbal question with a telepathic answer!

"Sorry, Mommy." Melinda's eyes turned molten gold as tears pushed their way up. "I didn't do anything wrong. I didn't!"

Even through her shields Ana could feel her daughter's indignation. She really believed she wasn't at fault. And she probably wasn't. But she's different and pre-school teachers are on the lookout for kids who don't fit in. They're always trying to identify problems early enough to get a child help. And 'help' can be disastrous.

Ana's alpine-blue eyes filled with tears in turn. Her heart ached for Melinda. The child's life was never going to be "normal." She was "special" in a world where that wasn't always a good thing. Ana lived with a deep, dark terror that she kept submerged and hidden from both husband and daughter. The past had left its mark. Ana knew there were people who would love to study any one of her little family. Her maternal instinct fed on the fear that Melinda would give herself away; that a small slip in public could result in an existence bounded and bordered by researchers and their labs.

Ana took a deep breath and expelled it slowly, watching Melinda's almost unconscious mimicry of the action. It calmed them both.

"I know you didn't do anything wrong, Mellie. Just tell me what you did that was, well, maybe different from what the other children were doing?"

Melinda's brow furrowed in childish concentration. Ana could almost hear her daughter's remarkable mind sifting through the minutiae of her day, using the same eidetic tools that she'd inherited from Spencer. Several minutes passed. Melinda's deep sigh heralded the end of her review of the school day.

"Nothing, Mommy. I don't kn-o-o-o-o-w." She ended on a note of frustration that threatened to grow into a wail.

Ana abandoned the troublesome letter from school in favor of embracing her daughter, of cuddling her close and wishing with all her mother-heart that she could take away the painful parts of growing up. "It's alright, Mellie, angel. Daddy can help us figure it out when he gets home."

"'Kay. 'M sorry."

"Don't be. We'll learn from it, so it's ultimately a good thing."

Melinda's tears dried. Her mind fixed on the concept of 'ultimately.' Within moments, she was immersed in trying to quantify and qualify what 'ultimately' meant when applied to different situations.

Ana held her daughter and sent a tendril of shielded communication outward.

Spencer? Will you be home soon?

xxxxx

"So you need to expand your records-search to the surrounding counties even if..." Reid faltered mid-sentence.

He'd been having a phone consultation with a harried police chief in Nebraska. The chief was dealing with a body that might be the result of either an unfortunate accident, or a skillful murder; the first in his small town in over two decades. The man's uncertainty was a desperate undertone to his request for FBI aid.

Reid tried to cover his lapse by clearing his throat. He made use of the momentary break to respond to Ana's mental query... I'll be home in a couple of hours, unless...are you guys alright? Ana? The young father's own desperation leaked through. It had been years since Ana had been attacked and Melinda had been abducted, but the sensitive mechanism that was Spencer Reid's marvelous mind would never forget. Terror and grief and guilt lurked in his picture-perfect memory like a steel-edged curse, waiting to rip and tear at the beautiful, fragile life he and Ana had built. Ana!!??

Honey, we're fine. Mostly. Just something from Mellie's school that we need to discuss. The tone of Ana's thoughts turned warmer, softer, like a sweet hug; the kind that Reid had hungered for all his life and had resigned himself to thinking he'd never find until Ana and her alpine eyes and her brown-as-a-birdwing hair appeared and changed everything. But he could tell she was making an effort. Everything wasn't fine. We'll talk later, Spencer. And I'll order Chinese...

So now she was bribing him, too. Cashew chicken was Reid's favorite, special treat. He loved that someone knew that. He hated that whatever was happening at home would have to wait just a little longer.

Reid continued the consultation while he let one level of his mind reach out toward his daughter and deliver a comforting nudge. Love you...

"...even if the manner of death isn't the same as your victim suffered. You need to read through the reports and find any other similarities. If you've got a serial killer on your turf, he'll probably have a signature. And what you described sounds too crafty for a killer who hasn't already perfected his MO. Do you understand, Chief?"

The reply came in a voice that sounded more confident than it had when the call had been put through to the BAU. Reid signed off after assuring the police chief that the FBI would, of course, step in if the worst case scenario played out and this was a matter of mayhem rather than simple misadventure.

Almost before the connection closed, Reid was out of his chair and headed toward the Bureau's underground parking garage. It was already after hours so there was no one Reid had to notify of his departure. The Nebraska call had come late in the day because the police chief had changed his own hours to a night shift. It made his small town feel safer knowing their most experienced cop was on duty during the hours when something dark might be stalking them.

Reid's car shuddered its way to life and coughed a few times before settling into a rough rattle. He navigated his way out to the street and reminded himself to keep his mind on driving. It was tempting to reach out and "talk" with Ana, but that was even more distracting than texting while behind the wheel. Instead, Reid thought about how to budget for a new car. He was glad they were a two-car family already, but the one that was reliable was at Ana's disposal. He'd been firm about her having dependable transportation when she was in charge of Melinda and, on top of that, was carrying their son.

Our son!! I'm going to have a son, too!

And that scary, delightful, impending prospect occupied Reid's thoughts all the way home.