Retribution, A Spencer Reid/Criminal Minds Fanfic

Chapter 24. Heredity

Tireless, despite the late hour, the doctor returned to his patient.

He sat by his side and watched him sleep, wondering why this particular man was so vulnerable to a psychic touch.

Well, young Aaron, there’s only one way I’ll find out.

Once again, he rested the palm of his hand across the pale brow. He closed his eyes and entered the outer edges, the fringes of the slumbering psyche. He would start by traveling around the boundaries where the most immediate, most recent information could be gleaned readily. Then, as the night progressed, he would travel deeper, moving in a way that he’d learned over the course of centuries; a way that stepped softly, without leaving footprints; a way that slipped past defenses without setting off alarms.

He didn’t know what he was seeking, but he was confident he’d recognize it whenever he discovered it in some dark, protected corner where even Aaron would never think to look.

xxxxxxx

Reid and Ana snuggled down in the big, featherbed Millie had decided was the most suitable accommodation for newlyweds. Cuddled together, surrounded by the unaccustomed quiet of the country, and secure in the old doctor’s reassurance that there was no immediate danger lurking around some unknown gestational corner, waiting to pounce on their unborn baby, the couple felt more at ease than they had for quite some time.

I’m glad we came here, Spencer.

We really didn’t have a choice, but, yeah. I’m glad, too. He played with a strand of her hair, pressing its silkiness against his cheek, inhaling its cherry-almond fragrance.

Something’s on your mind, my husband, and you’re not quite sure you want me in on it.

Reid and Ana knew that privacy was necessary even in the closest of human relationships. They’d practiced blocking all external interference as a way to spare themselves from the constant cacophony of mental and emotional noise surrounding them, but they’d learned a better way to grant each other privacy.

Over time, husband and wife had developed more control over the speed and force with which they accessed each other’s thoughts. When they’d first met, their communication had been the equivalent of shouting in public. It wasn’t until they’d experienced the finesse and selectivity in the elderly doctor’s telepathy that they realized how clumsy, how brutal, their own methods were.

So, instead of throwing up shields against each other, they initiated contact between themselves with a touch of consideration. Instead of employing defensive tactics, they chose to use respect and honesty.

When Ana reached out and encountered the edge of a thought that had a wish for privacy woven into it, she didn’t push. She asked.

If you want to keep something to yourself, you know that’s fine, Spencer. But please understand that considering where we are and why we’re here, it makes me nervous to think something’s being kept from me, especially if it concerns our child. So, I won’t nag, but can you at least reassure me it’s nothing to do with this baby?

Reid nuzzled his nose into her hair and let her feel his smile, warm against the strands.

And here I was keeping something private because I didn’t want you to be concerned about anything other than yourself…both of you.

You’re welcome to tell me. Okay if you don’t, but…She gave a forlorn sigh…if you want to make me wonder…in my present condition…all by myself…all night…alone…without succor…comfortless…