The Keeping of Words | Spencer Reid

9 |Science and Faith

"Faith is not something to grasp, it is a state to grow into." –Mahatma Gandhi

Alaska was four hours behind Eastern Standard Time. By the time he called to say they'd caught the unsub, it was 5 PM Alaskan Time. It was 9 PM in Washington DC, and Reid had missed the stargazing night at the Smithsonian yet again.

Bianca tried not to feel disappointed. After all, he had no control over where his cases took him, or when he could return. Still, she had hoped they could go this time. The sky was perfectly clear. It was too late now to go out for coffee or call up a friend to make other plans. It was however, early enough to make microwave popcorn and curl up on the sofa to take full advantage of the Harry Potter movie marathon weekend. Thank you, ABC Family.

It was Friday afternoon when Spencer called her again, asking if she was free that night.

"Do you have something in mind?" she asked him.

"I might," he replied cryptically. She tried to focus on work after that, but her mind kept wandering back to that short phone call. What was he planning? It took immense focus to stay on task, reminding herself that if she didn't finish up these letters, she wouldn't get home in time to find out.

He showed up at her door at 8:30, wearing one of his nicer blazers and carrying a duffel bag. "It'll all make sense," he promised. "Just make sure you grab a jacket." Bianca did as instructed, and followed Spencer out of the building and into the cool night air.

"Will you at least tell me where we're going?" she asked.

"I'll tell you when we get there," he replied. He'd brought his car, which smelled strongly of coffee, and they drove out of DC and into Virginia. Bianca watched the landscape passing by, city lights being replaced by towns, and towns being replaced by trees. They arrived at a large park, which Spencer said wasn't too far from Quantico.

"This is it then?"

"Well, almost," he added. Duffel bag in hand, he led her down a dirt trail.

"Will you tell me what's going on?" she asked once again.

Spencer smiled. "As you may have noticed on the drive over, we're farther from any cities or suburbs, and closer to rural Virginia. This spot in particular happens to be in an area of a state forest. The surrounding area therefore guarantees that there's very little light out here. It's completely dark for a few square miles."

"Now I'm starting to feel creeped out. We both hate the dark."

"Lucky for you, you're with an FBI agent. And I'm willing to put up with the dark for something like this. Now, it's also a new moon tonight, making the night even darker," he said, as they stepped into a small meadow clearing. "Cities create massive light pollution, due to the amount of streetlights, highways, and tall buildings. The majority of lights are angled upwards, which makes the problem even worse. But, I've brought us out here, with - and if you'll notice the duffel bag..."

He set the black bag on the ground, and Bianca had to squint to make him out clearly. There was the sound of something being unzipped, and Spencer pulled out what looked like a blanket, spreading it out on the grass. From the bag he also grabbed a small camping lantern, a flashlight, and a small book, continuing his rambling explanation. "Now, I've brought nearly everything we need. But before I show you what's in the rest of the bag, I'll need you to take a seat on the blanket."

Bianca complied, and he sat down next to her. "Is this one of your magic tricks?" she asked.

"You could look at it that way. A great magician never reveals his secrets, but I think I can make an exception for you. As I said, I'm sure you noticed that we're far from any town or city, and we're sitting in the middle of a dark forest. But you'll also notice that I've been distracting you with a fairly long and mostly pointless explanation in order to keep your eyes on me and prevent you from looking up. So now that we're in the proper position, look up."