Retribution, A Spencer Reid/Criminal Minds Fanfic

Chapter 25. A Long Day's Dawning

Morning found the dining table at Millie’s B&B filled to capacity.

Once Rossi had attested to the fact that he’d seen Hotch healed of his hurts, the atmosphere was almost celebratory. Julio, Ana and Reid joined in the conversation at times, but at others the three ESP-ers fell into the silent communication that came naturally to them. Prentiss, Rossi and Millie kept up their end with verbal conversation.

Millie was still enamored of the female agent, seeing in her a version of herself, had she chosen an adventurous career in law enforcement. Millie tended to forget that she had only become infatuated with the FBI after meeting…Dave!....

“So, Miss Princess…”

“Please, call me Emily.”

“So, Miss Princess Emily…

Prentiss gagged on her scrambled eggs, but managed to recover without being too disruptive of the meal in progress.

“Just ‘Emily.’ Please.”

“Oh! Of course. Silly me…” In truth, Millie wasn’t as scatterbrained as she appeared. But she’d noticed Dave’s ill-concealed mirth at Prentiss’ expense. She loved making him smile. So, although she honestly believed the agent’s name was ‘Princess,’ she saw how it amused elegant Mr. Rosie and chose to drop it into the conversation at will, eschewing the more familiar ‘Emily.’

“So do you all have plans for the day?” Millie looked from face to face as she topped-off coffee cups, secretly hoping to usurp some of her visitors’ time for herself. She would dearly love to sit on her porch with one…or all!...of the agents, chatting and sipping lemonade and iced tea in full view of the neighbors.

“I’m going to check on Hotch first thing. Then, I imagine our prospective parents here will want some time with the good doctor.” Rossi once again almost mastered his lips before they broke into a smile. “I can’t speak for Miss Prentiss, though.” He gave the agent a sidelong look as he finished dabbing the corners of his mouth with one of Millie’s embroidered napkins. “What’s your day look like, Emily?”

Confronted with their hostess’ beaming look of anticipation, Prentiss was quick to grope for an answer. “Uh…I thought I’d take a look around town. You know, just wander and see, you know…whatever there is to see…”

It was Julio who’d picked up on why Prentiss was really part of this group. She was curious. Nothing more, nothing less. He knew she was trustworthy. He sensed all present were eminently loyal, discreet friends. But he also knew how the doctor would feel about any outsider hovering around the edges of his town, and more particularly, his hospital…his sanctuary. Julio stood, placing his napkin neatly beside his plate.

“I am off to work. Thank you for another fine breakfast, Miss Millie.” He turned his attention to Emily. “And I am sorry to say, Miss Prentiss, but there is very little for a tourist to see in this place. This town is built around our hospital. Our hospital is open only to patients and their friends or families.”

He nodded a respectful goodbye to the group as he slipped into his jacket before delivering parting words that he hoped would offer an alternate escape route. “But if you enjoy the outdoors, hiking or bird watching perhaps? Then, there is much to see. The countryside is beautiful, but have a care if you enter the woods. It is easy to lose one’s way. I have done so twice.”

Prentiss was weighing the lesser of two evils: a day in Millie’s company, enduring whatever fabulous fictions the woman associated with the FBI, or a day slogging about on the edges of the surrounding forest, primarily to avoid enduring fabulous fictions associated with the FBI.