AN: ok, so this is my first story. I'm hoping it's good, but as I don't know myself if it is any good (I just write them and love them) I have to ask that you guys tell me. however, even if you think it's crap, I'll take it under advisement. Flames are welcomed as long as you know that I wont take a single word in them to heart. that being said, ANYTHING that anyone has to say that will make this story better is welcomed.
I hope you enjoy my story!! Paineverlasting. :)
She wasn't made that her mom was in a hospital, or that her dad was dead. What she was really mad about was that they had tried to take her dog away from her on top of everything else. She could live with just about everything that had happened, but when they tried to take away the animal that had saved her life, she made them agree to at least have Reid make the decision on weather of not she could keep her.
They meet with him at his apartment, and she was glad to see that he didn't seem against her bringing Panda, or that Panda herself wasn't growling at him. She had her hand in her head though. She was glad when Mrs. Denver left them. Spencer could see this, and when he gave her a curious look, she shrugged. "Not much of a dog person." Panda barked, and he jumped a little.
She held onto the leash tighter. He just sighed. "I won't make you get rid of her, Maple. I know how much you love that dog. Your Dad made sure to tell me everything about you two."
She relaxed her hold, and Panda moved forward to sniff him. Then she sat down and tipped her head.
He looked at Maple. "She wants you to scratch her ears. She usually doesn't act like this around adults though. It's… kinda weird."
He did what he was supposed to though and rubbed her ears. Then they all went inside together, and Panda went to the small kitchen and laid down on the tile. Spencer took her to the stools that her had next to the counter. "Ok, so here's what's going to go on now. Everything from your house is going to be brought down here, than put in storage until I get a bigger place. Don't worry, I am. Also, we'll have to keep Panda there quiet until we get out of here. Pets aren't allowed in this building. Until than though, you can take my bed until-"
Maple held up her hands. "Wait a minute, there's no way you're going to sleep on the couch. It's too short for you."
Spencer looked down at her, and you could see everything going threw his head. "You do know I am the adult here, right?"
She shrugged. "I know. But I'm used to taking care of myself anyway. Besides, I fall asleep on the couch at home all the time."
He knew that she wasn't lying either. It just upset him a little that life wasn't to different for her.
Or that she wasn't to different from himself. "Fine. Also, we need to get you signed up for school. I know that you skipped two grades."
She shrugged. "I like keeping up. Dad got me books whenever I wanted them from this home schooling store. I learn faster on my own anyway. Do you have anything to drink?"
"Just water and coffee. Sorry. I don't drink much of anything else."
She shrugged. "That's ok. I don't mind drinking water."
As she got something to drink for herself, she got a dog bowl out of her bag and filled it up for Panda.
She scratched her head when she put it down, and Panda yawned.
It was quiet for a while before Spencer thought of something to ask. "So, do you like being in the seventh grade?"
She shrugged. "I dunno. It's kinda weird. Everyone is starting puberty, and some of the girls can be jerks. But then again, there are a lot of kids who are pretty cool about it. There's even a group who let me sit with them all the time so I'm not alone. I think they only really liked me though because I corrected our Science teacher."
He smiled. "You know, by the time I was your age I was in high school."
"Bet that sucked." Spencer noted that she looked a little uncomfortable.
"They'll test you to see if you're still able to be ahead. Maybe you'll be with kids your own age here."
She didn't look very hopeful. "Can I sign up for soccer here?"
"Sure. I'm thinking we can find a team for you. Maybe JJ would know of one…"
She nodded and looked at her feet. "So… so where's Mom?"
He studied her. "She's still in the hospital in Florida."
"Will they make her better? Dad… dad never wanted to… to talk about it."
He kept quiet for a minute, wondering to tell the truth or lie. He went somewhere in the middle.
"I don't know Maple. I'm sorry."
"It's ok. I… I'll be right back."
Panda got up as she started to leave. Spencer grabbed her arm as she started to run around. "Let go!!"
He brought her closed as the tiers began falling. "Maple, it's ok."
"No it's not!!"
"It's no one's fault."
"Let go!!
"It's not your fault, it's not your Dad's fault-"
"Shut up!!"
"And it's not your mom's fault."
She hit him. She hit his chest, his arm, and as she aimed a punch at his nose, Panda barked.
It made her jumped, and Panda wined and waged her tail. Maple just started crying harder. He brought her around to the side that wasn't sore and let her cry on him as he talked. "It's not any one's fault. She's sick, and there's nothing that anyone can do about that. It's wasn't your fault when she tried to hurt you, when she tried to hurt herself, or when she tried to hurt your dad. It wasn't any one's fault. I know you know that."
It seemed like forever before she started to calm down, and when her cries started to turn to hiccups, she whispered "I'm being a baby."
He laughed. "No you're not. Your being a 10-year-old kid who just found out that she couldn't do everything."
"I'm almost 11 though."
"Still counts."
When she was done, she sat on the stool and played with the water ring that her cup maid.
They sat for a while before she looked around. "You really like books hu?"
"Don't you?"
"I like learning… but I'm a big soccer fan. I've got all kind of stuff from my favorite team."
And suddenly he saw a way to distract her, and he took it.
After they went out to eat, Reid started to look around harder for a new building. It wasn't long before he found out that there really wasn't much that fit them. Just the two of them was one story, but having Panda just complicated things. Than there where places that didn't even seem to want any kids in their building. He was going to have to ask for help.
He looked at her while she ate her cheese burger."How would you like to meet my team tomorrow?"
"You mean the rest of the BAU?"
"How did you know that?"
"Dad… and Mom when she had the energy."
"Oh. Well than you must know about all we do then."
She seemed interested. "Not really. I know you try to go into the bad guys head, but that's about it."
"Well, first off, we call him the UnSub…"
And he watched as she sucked everything in. It was actually kind of amazing. He watched her hang on every word.
