Reid and the awkward girl | S.R.

24

Hotch calls Garcia to look up the name 'Steve Casino'. Danny also told the team about the phone call so Garcia tries to trace it but it leads to a dead end. All she knows is it's somewhere in Virginia and that isn't very helpful.

The name though, pops up the same newspaper that Danny found at the university library, along with some other information. A file comes up, Casino did not only beat on random girls, but his wife and daughter too. The wife died two months ago which explains the trigger. She had cancer and died peacefully in the hospital. Danny wonders if his fixation on her is all just a random coincidence, but it seems like more.

"Thanks, baby girl. Does he have any properties near by?" Derek leans over the speaker.

"Yes, a barn on the other side of town and an apartment in Charlottesville," Garcia rattled off.

"We don't need the apartment, but send us that barn location Garcia," Hotch's authoritative voice directs. He grabs the files and the team make their way to their respective vehicles after Garcia confirmed that she sent the address.

Danny keeps a steady pace behind them until Derek turns around. "Sorry Hun, but this is the part that we need to do alone. You did good in there, but Reid will murder me if we put you in danger."

"I can take care of myself. I'm going to be an agent one day too."

"And we don't doubt that you'd be a good one," Rossi's calming voice speaks up. "But this is what the team is trained to do. Let them do their job."

Prentiss winks at the small girl, "you did all the heavy lifting anyway."

Danny blushes and finally relents. As much as she wants to punch Spencer's shooter in the face, she knows she's probably only going to get in the way.

"Hotch? How about I stay with Danny? She is his object of fascination, we don't want to leave her alone," JJ steps up. She does make a good point. Danny worries for her safety now, not only for Spencer and the team. She is the reason they were dragged into this.

Hotch gives a nod and leads the team out of the station, giving instructions as he goes. Danny watches them with a pained expression. She doesn't have a good feeling about all this.

"Come on, want to get some hot chocolate?" JJ redirects Dan to the inside offices, sitting her down at one of the round tables. Danny just nods while staring at the investigation board.

A few minutes later, JJ returns with a hot chocolate and a coffee for herself. She slides it across the table and sits down next to the girl.

"So you said that you and Spencer met at the university, what was that like?" The blond tries to distract, stirring at her coffee.

Danny's face beats a little pink before she relays some of the story to the agent, "Well, uh, I was in my favorite class of the day. It was all about learning the FBI rules and how to figure things out like a profile. Mr. Charles wanted us to have a speaker come in to co-teach the class. It was supposed to be SSA David Rossi, but apparently he was busy. So someone else walked in." Danny smiles at the memory.

"He wasn't what I expected. No offense, but he was always my favorite BAU member, before I even met him. Everyone looks up to you guys."

It was JJ's turn to look down with a smile. But she should have nothing to be bashful about. Everyone in this team was amazing. Danny continues.

"He was nervous at first, I could tell. He started off talking about himself, being very humble of course, and then he said a joke."

Both Danny and JJ laugh a little at that.

"Not everyone understood it, but what made me mad was that some people actually were very disrespectful. I dropped my book on the floor to get the attention on me. It was just what Spencer needed to get his confidence back. I totally saved him. And after class, I talked to him for the first time."

JJ looks thoughtful for a moment. Taking in the fact that one of her best friends finally found someone that makes them happy. She looks over to Danny. "So you made the first move, I'm not surprised."

Danny feels the tell tale sign of her face heating up. "Well, he was the one to approach me after that. It seemed as if he was always there for me. Plus he was the one to kiss me first."

"What?!" JJ gapes open mouthed. Letting out a laugh of disbelief. "Oh my gosh, when did this happen?" Her eagerness is contagious. Danny finally sees that JJ isn't someone to be intimidated by, she's just another girl.

Danny smiles and touches her lips unconsciously. "Right before he left for this case, he just kissed me and walked out the door." Her mood sours at the thought of the case again. How that was the last time she seen Spence standing up and walking. Now he's in a hospital bed.

"You love him," the sentence comes from nowhere and Danny snaps her head around to JJ in shock. "Don't try to deny it, I am a profiler."

Danny looks down before twisting her lips. Did she love him? That was a question that didn't even need to be asked. If she was there with him, she would have jumped in the way to take the bullet. She misses him so much when he is gone, cuddling up on his couch, reading his books. She can't stop thinking about the little things about him: his eyes and how they light up when he's happy, the way his hands flex, his cute sciencey statistics. She doesn't know when it happened, but does anyone really? She just knows that what she is feeling now is in fact love.

"Yes, I do." Danny bites her lip to hide her smile.

•••

The team come back awhile later, a man between the arms of Morgan and Hotch. He's not putting up any resistance.

And Danny is so glad she was right. Between the two agents is the man that attacked her. His greasy hair and oversized body remind Danny of the time she was held down by him. His beady eyes remind her of what he tried to do. The sick bastard.

She looks away and JJ takes her hand.

"How are my girls doing?" Derek walks over to Danny and JJ, a small concerned smile on his face. He sits on the other side of Dan.

"I'm fine," Danny turns her attention to the other agents walking up, "thank you for catching him."

They all nod their head at the girl, when Hotch comes back from the interview room. "I want you to come with me to make a solid identification for the record, that this is your attacker. He's requesting to talk to you, but I'm not going to let that happen."

Danny nods and JJ walks over with her to the one way glass, a tight grip still on her hand. Up close, he looks even worse. She glances away to Hotch and gives him affirmation.

"He's the one," she gets out confidently. Her blood starts to boil looking at him again. Thinking of the way he just stood over Spencer and shot him.

"I'm going to talk to him." And before anyone can react, she's in the room.