After the USPS creates a penpal pairing program, Elizabeth Mills is encouraged by her friends to sign up and talk to someone new. Spencer Reid, bored with only getting bills and advertisements in his mailbox signs up for a penpal.
The two get paire...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Derek and Emily had practically invited themselves to Spencer's apartment that day, which annoyed Spencer to no end. That morning he was looking forward to getting Elizabeth's letter that evening when he got back from work, and now he was likely going to get teased into oblivion.
"Come on 187, you don't need to check your mailbox right now. We're hanging out."
"It's right here, plus statistically, people who check their mailbox straight after work are on average more successful and organised."
"Okay Spence, get your mail, then we're doing wine and movies."
"That I can agree with." Derek nodded. Spencer simply went back to his mail, flicking through it, looking for her letter.
"What are you looking for pretty boy?" the bearded man asked, slinging his arm around Spencer. Spencer stiffened up, internally freaking out. Derek would tease him if he found out he'd been writing letters to a girl across the country for the last six weeks, and Emily would ask him more questions than they've arrested unsubs.
"Nothing!" His voice went up and octave.
"Oh yes you are. Tell us pretty boy, what are you looking for? Has this got something to do with 18th Century colloquial slang?"
"No, it doesn't. I'm just checking my mail." Spencer pushed Derek's arm off of him, and going to walk up the stairs.
"Spence, come on, you can tell us. We want to know, you're our friend!" Emily exclaimed.
"I'm going to my apartment and when I open the door, this conversation better be over." Spencer shouted from the top of the stairs.
He wanted to tell the team about Elizabeth, he really did. However, he knew them. Derek would get Garia to look her up and Emily would undoubtedly tell JJ. Garcia would probably ask JJ about it and JJ would tell Garcia that Emily, who always exaggerated when telling rumours, told her that Spencer had a girlfriend. Garcia would then tell anyone and everyone who would listen and it would get to Rossi who would undoubtedly tell Hotch. Hotch would call Spencer in and tell him to fill out the relationship forms not matter how much Spencer denied they weren't dating. He could see it already, spiralling out of control.
He opened the door and quickly closed it behind him. He placed his bag on the hanger, and flicked through his mail, picking Elizabeth's letter out from the bills and advertisements. He wanted to open it, however he knew that Morgan and Prentiss would be knocking at his door any second. He walked over to one of his bookshelves, plucked out a book at random and put her letter in the centre of the book. 'Possession' by A.S. Byatt, he memorised.
The knock at the door, drew him away from the bookshelf. He opened the door to Emily and Derek. Emily walked in and put the grocery bags on the kitchen counter and pulled out the popcorn and red wine that she'd bought. Derek nodded as he walked in and began looking through Spencers movie collection.
"Glasses are in the top left cupboard." Spencer called out to Emily.
"Got it!" Emily said, grabbing the glasses and putting the popcorn in the microwave.
"Spencer, have you got any movies that are in English, because I'd like to actually understand what's going on."
"Depends, I've got Star Wars and Back to the Future."
"Emily," Derek called out, "Star Wars or Back to the Future?"
"Star Wars, the good ones, not the prequels."
"There are prequels?" Spencer asked.
"Yes, and we are not watching them." Derek responded, pulling out Star Wars: A New Hope. Emily bought the wine bottles and glasses in, and Spencer grabbed the popcorn from the microwave and poured it into a bowl and bringing it into the living room.
Elizabeth was sitting on her porch, the light switched on and her legs under a blanket. She was reading the ending of Great Expectations. She wanted to talk to Spencer about it. She knew she really shouldn't have been. She should have been practicing chess for Chicago. But even though her flight was tomorrow night, she wanted to finish it early.
Eventually, she put her book mark in between the pages. She had one chapter left, and she could read it on the plane. Folding up the blanket, she headed back inside, locking the door behind her. She placed the blanket on the couch and placed the book in her carry on. She yawned. She'd finish her packing in the morning.
She quickly got ready for bed and headed to sleep. The next day was going to be a long day.
The airport was crowded the next night, a majority of the people were leaving the airport. She understood, she prefered flying in the morning, however she'd booked the tickets late and had no choice but to fly at night. She booked herself in and got through security pretty easily.
She got a coffee and sat down, pulling out her portable chess set and began playing. A small child sitting next to her staired over curiously. The child was about six or seven, and she had short blond hair. "Do you want to play?" She asked.
The small girl nodded and Elizabeth began teaching her the game. "So this one, is the Queen and she is the most powerful piece on the board, okay. She can move as far as you want in any direction." She told her, pointing at the queen piece. "The King," She moved over to the piece. "Needs to be protected. He can only move square at a time. The bishops move diagonally, and the knights move in an L shape." She demonstrated. "You get that?" The girl nodded. "This is the rook, but I think it should be called a castle. The castle moves in straight lines. And finally, we have the pawns. A lot of people say that they're pointless, but they are one of the most important pieces. At first, they can move one or two spaces, but after their first move its only one square." She checked again, "So are you ready to play?"
The little girl nodded. She was going to let the girl win. She wanted more girls to play chess, so many men played the game and women were for some reason seen as inferior in the game. Women were given smaller prizes and she figured, if more women played, their competitions would eventually get equal prize money.
After a while, the little girl won, a wide smile on her face. "Well done kid! High five!" She high fived the kid. "You're really good at this, so keep practicing. Maybe one day you could play competitively."
"Really?"
"Oh definitely. You practice enough and compete if your parents let you, you could do it properly."
The little girl smiled as Elizabeth packed up the small board, her flight being called. "I'm Elizabeth Mills. I hope that I'll get to play you again." She smiled.
"I'm Megan Smith. I want to play you again too."
"Well, let's hope that happens." Elizabeth waved goodbye. She saw Megan's mother mouth thank you at her as she walked away.
"Mommy, can I play chess? I really want to play chess! I want to play Elizabeth again!"
"Okay sweetie, we'll see."
Elizabeth shook her head, smiling. Hopefully, she'll see Megan again in the future, and hopefully it would be on the other side of a chess table.
