Profile // A Spencer Reid Love Story

Chapter 7 // Airplane Sweet Airplane

Chloe's POV.

After everything that had just occured in the last ten hours, I was actually relieved to head back onto that airplane. It was pretty early by the time we started heading back to Quantico, only about 6 PM. JJ and Agent Morgan had already fallen asleep in the back of the plane while Agent Hotchner and Agent Rossi sat together in silence, both reading. However, they would exchange a few words every once in a while.

I sat towards the front listening to music on my phone. Reid grabbed a cup of coffee before coming to sit across from me.

"So, rough first day?" Reid asked as I took out my ear buds. "Yeah, you could definitely say that." I sighed and rested my elbows on the table. "I still remember my first day here. Although, my first day didn't exactly involve flying out and solving a case. It wasn't too nerve-wracking for me, considering everything that they asked me I already knew all of the answers to." Of course he did, after all, I had been told multiple times that the guy was a genius. It was amazing, at least to me it was. He had graduated high school at the age of twelve! When I was twelve, I was still having trouble with division.

"Well, you are a complete genius." I smirked before continuing, "I'm not surprised that you learned the ropes in a day or two." I leaned into the aisle to see what the rest of the team was up to. Turns out, Reid and I were the only two still awake. The rest had managed to fall asleep while we were talking.

"Actually, It took me only half a day. I can store information pretty quickly. They didn't trust me with a gun for the first month, though. I was only allowed to tag along for the crime scenes so that I could observe the evidence and come up with theories." He sighed. I combed my fingers through my hair before looking out of the window. It was night time, so all of the buildings and houses down below were lit up. That was probably my favorite part about flying, the way that you can see everything that is going on down below. You can see so many cars moving and lights turning on and off. It always made me think about how all of those people driving their cars down below
all had their own stories. And who knew where exactly they were driving to? Maybe one was on their way to visit an old friend, another nervously driving to a first date or job interview, another driving to the funeral
of a lost loved one. It was crazy to think about all of that, at least to me.

I had noticed that there had been a long silence since Reid had spoken, so I cleared my throat before starting to talk, "Does it get easier? Seeing the crime scenes, the grieving family members,....everything?" I combed my fingers through my hair again, it was something that I did when I got nervous or anxious. Like a tick of some sort.

Reid looked down at his hands, probably unsure what to say. "You never truly get used to it. It's more of a matter of not letting the fear and the sadness get to you. As if you've built a wall against your logic and your emotions. Though, obviously you cannot build an actual wall. I'm just metaporically speaking." He rambled on. "The point is, we all eventually got the hang of it. In the end, the reward is seeing the victims come back together with their families." Although he looked at me in the eyes as he talked, his tone wasn't as cheery as it should have been. I didn't want to assume that he used to live in a broken househould, but that was where my mind went. I remembered back when we were surrounding the unsub, and he had tried to calm him down by telling him that his mother went to a mental facility just like he did. My curiousity got the best of me, and I spoke before I could think. "Was what you said about your mother true?" As soon as I had said it, Reid's expression changed to something that even I, as a profiler, couldn't read. It was a mixture of sadness, shock, confusion, and maybe even embarassment. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked." I returned my gaze to the window, unsure of what else to say. There was a long pause before he spoke.

"She has schizophrenia. I had sent her to a mental hospital when I was eighteen because she was getting worse." He kept his head down, eyes focused on his hands. I looked back over at him my eyes following his. "Oh Reid, I'm so sorry." I reached out to lay my hand on top of his. "No, don't be sorry. The rest of the team knows about it, I would've told you sooner or later." He finally looked up, his hazel eyes meeting with my dark brown ones. "Still, it wasn't any of my business." I gave his hand a squeeze before placing mine back. "Well, I suppose that I shouldn't have shouted it out in a room full of agents and police officers." He let out a soft chuckle, trying to lighten the mood. I smiled at him before we both returned to silence. About five minutes passed before he said anything.

"Hey, it's only going to be about 8:30 when we get back. Do you, maybe, uh, want to go grab a cup of coffee with me?" He scratched the back of his head. "I'm pretty sure that both of us are on a caffeine overload, but I'm willing to risk it. Sure, I'd love to." I replied, trying not to sound as ecstatic as I was. It was only my first day in the BAU, and the fact that I was already becoming friends with one of the team members made me feel at ease. Especially since it was a guy like Spencer Reid. He was warm and welcoming, and quite intriguing. I wanted to know more about him, and it seemed like I was going to get the chance.