Note #1: I just found this story on my hard drive. I originally wrote it back in 2012. After re-reading, I found it too cute not to post. Although re-reading my Lisa Marshall, I can't help but notice the issues with it, I still love her and the JAG crew.
Note #2 (written when story originally was): This story came to me after watching some repeats of JAG and reminded me about my first OC, Lisa. Since she's a therapist, this plot line would make sense. I also thought it would be nice to check in with her (and all the JAG characters) via this one shot. So, when we last left her, it was 2003 and she was happy with Gunny, and Harm and Mac just got married.
On the Criminal Minds side, this will start off in 2009, shortly after Reid was shot.
Enjoy!
Reid stood propped up on his crutches, staring at the photos on the bookcase before him. He still couldn't believe that he got sent to a therapist like this. He read all he needed to know how to rehab his knee; he could do this by himself just fine. His doctor and Hotch decided that he needed outside help though, so here he was.
He studied the photos, recognizing a few of the military personal from news stories. Brigadier General Rabb was the first female head of JAG and her husband, Rear Admiral Rabb, was a key military personnel on the hill. This therapist sure has some connections. He noticed another photo of a family, a young couple with two kids that looked to be about four years old and almost two. The man was a marine as well, Reid guessed First Sergeant based off his insignia.
"So, what does you profile say about me, Dr. Reid?" Reid spun to see the woman in the photo standing in the doorway, a smirk on her face for having caught him in the act of snooping.
"You're family oriented but still excel at your career and although you are non-military, you are clearly connected beyond just your marine husband." Reid swallowed, surprised that he just blurted that out. A sigh of relief washed over him when the woman before him laughed.
"Not bad for a few minutes of studying my photos, but you could have just as easily found that out from Google," she teased and gestured to the chair in front of her desk. Reid felt her watch him as he hobbled over to the seat. "I see we're getting the hang of the crutches."
Reid nodded as she took a seat behind her desk. It was rather modest, as was the whole office, something he liked about her. "I am. Honestly, I don't see why I need to be here, Mrs. Galindez. I think I'm perfectly capable of managing my own rehab."
"Says the man that forged a note from his doctor to clear him for full duty." Reid ran a hand through his long hair, knowing he was screwed. "Dr. Reid, I understand your hesitation. You're not the first FBI agent to resist needing help to get back into the field. And I'm sure you could do it on your own, but as intelligent are you are – believe me, the multiple PhDs didn't escape my own Google search – I would also think you would agree that deferring to an expert would improve your chances of a faster recovery."
"I'm listening." Reid nodded, conceding that point.
"Good. Now, first off, please call me Lisa."
Reid smiled, starting to feel at ease with idea for the first time. "You can call me Spencer."
"I'm not sure about this," Reid mumbled as he stared at the pool in front of him. He heard Lisa sigh beside him.
"I swear the water temperature is just fine and you and I both know that the buoyancy the water will give you will decrease the pressure on your knee to try walking some. We can't let those muscles waste away. Now get in the pool, Spencer." He continued to stare at the pool until he felt her starting to pull away his one crutch.
"Fine, fine, I'll do it before you cause me to fall on my face in this cement," he grumbled as he hobbled over to the edge and began to lower himself. He was so focused that he didn't feel her gently support him so he could sit on the edge and lower himself in. In fact, he didn't even realize she was next to him until he felt her now wet hands on his hips from behind. "Wh-what are you doing?"
"Steading your gait. I think you can make it to the bars in front of you to support yourself but we're not taking any chances. Now go." He could barely detect the smile in her voice at his surprise.
"Yes ma'am." He felt some water splash on his back.
"Just because I'm a little older than you, married to a marine, and have two kids, doesn't mean you can call me ma'am," she stated, annoyance in her voice. A laugh escaped him as he reached the bars in front of him; he should have picked up on how annoyed she got about being called 'older' terms. "Oh now you're just being cute."
"Hey, I thought I was the only cute patient you had."
Reid looked up to see a man about Morgan's age, except with salt and pepper hair heading their way. His artificial leg was also noted, but Reid tried not to stare at it.
"Hey Bud, thanks for joining us." Reid watched as the man walked up to the edge, slipped off his leg, and easily joined them in the pool.
"Not a problem, Lisa. Harriet and the kids tonight are at a birthday party tonight for one of AJ's friends."
"Um, Lisa, what's going on?"
Reid noticed the water swish around as Lisa now appeared at his side next to the left bar. "Well, I told you that rehab works better with support from others besides me. But somebody didn't think anyone in his team would help or you didn't want them to see you like this….blah, blah, blah." Reid glared at her and she just stared back, not giving in. "So I asked my friend and former patient, Bud, to help us out tonight."
"It's nice to meet you Spencer, Bud Roberts. Trust me, you are in good hands here. She got me back to full duty at JAG years ago after only spending a month with me."
Reid nodded in greeting since he was supporting himself on the bars. "Nice to meet you too, thanks for helping." He turned back to Lisa, "and our team does have a lot on its plate right now, I didn't want to pull focus away."
"Okay," she nodded. "Now let's get to work. I want you to slowly lower you leg and see if you can put any pressure on it at all."
"Look at you, pretty soon you'll not even need that cane," Lisa commented as she watched her favorite patient stride into her office. As stubborn he could be, she hadn't seen as much drive and determination in a patient to get back to full strength since Bud. All the working out seemed to have subtly filled him out too and she wondered if his team had noticed his confidence change as well.
Reid faintly smiled, but she could see it didn't reach his eyes. He quietly sat down with a sigh, making her frown. So much for confidence right now. "Spencer, what's wrong?"
He rubbed his very tired eyes. "Did you see in the news recently about the Boston Reaper finally getting recaptured and killed in the process?"
Lisa nodded; it was huge news. Victor had told her about it the other day, how an FBI agent had killed him during capture after he had killed the man's ex-wife. Lisa studied the man before her for a second…oh god. "That was your team, wasn't it? The woman that was killed was your boss'…" She let the sentence hang in the air. Reid nodded. The pair remained in silence for a few minutes until she took the seat next to him and took his hand.
"Come on, Spencer, let's get out of here." She gently pulled him out the chair.
"What about rehab tonight? We haven't met for a few days since this…case…" She grabbed her purse and jacket and led him out of her office.
"Let's just do some walking today, okay? Then if you want, you could come have dinner with my family. I know Victor would like to meet this FBI agent I keep talking about." She smiled up at him and he couldn't help but smile back. He nodded as she led them out of the building for a nice walk around the city.
"I can't believe you talked me into this," Reid groaned, taking a sip of his beer as they waited for the rest of their order. Morgan chuckled and slapped him on his back.
"Come on, Pretty Boy, we all need a little fun. Plus it's been awhile since we've been able to all go out like this." The older man gestured to the whole team scattered around the Irish pub. Hotch was playing darts with Rossi. The girls were back at the table, undoubtedly gossiping. He couldn't help but nod in agreement. It had been a rollercoaster the past few years. The team wasn't completely back to normal after Emily's return, but they were getting there with time.
He grabbed the drinks with Morgan and headed back to the table. A chorus of thank you's were heard after they arrived. "Besides, Reid, I wanna get you some lovin' tonight. I know you could use it."
Emily and JJ almost coughed up their drinks at that comment as Reid rolled his eyes. This was always Morgan's plan when they went out. Aside from Austin, it usually didn't work very well. "I don't know why you keep trying, Morgan. You know I'm not going to go up to some random girl and ask her to dance, I'm not you."
"That, my friend, is exactly what you're going to do. Now, look around and see who it's going to be."
Reid shook his head and took another sip of his beer. He glanced around and noticed a group of women at a back table. There were five of them of varied ages. He was fairly positive he recognized a few of them. Then the one with wavy brown hair turned around briefly and he hid his smile. "Anyone in the bar?"
He turned to see the whole team, since Hotch and Rossi had now rejoined them, staring at him with surprised looks. Normally, he never went through with Morgan's hair-brained ideas and never this quickly if he did. "What?"
Morgan was the first to recover, "Well, alright lover boy, go for it." The group watched as he made his way to the women's table.
"God I hope he doesn't embarrass himself," Hotch muttered after recognizing a few of the women.
"Have a little faith in our boy wonder," Garcia answered. "So what if he strikes out, anyway?"
"Because at that table are Congresswoman Latham-Turner and Brigadier General Rabb," Hotch answered.
"Oh boy," Rossi stated. He thought he had recognized a few from parties around DC. They continued to watch as their friend reached the table. The one with the wavy hair smiled widely when he started to speak. He seemed to have pleasant conversation with the group before finally leaning in and whispering in her ear. They continued to watch she nodded and took his hand.
"I'll be damned," Morgan stated as the pair made it out to the makeshift dance floor.
"Damn, Morgan, I think he's got more game than you do. I doubt you could have been that smooth," JJ teased, earning a few glass clanks from the girls. Morgan laughed and shook his head, as they continued to watch them dance.
"I see your knee hasn't been causing you any trouble," Lisa commented after he spun her.
Reid smiled, "Never been better." He briefly glanced to see the team still staring and he couldn't help but chuckle.
"You know, we should probably sell this more." When he looked at her confused, she ran a hand through his hair. "I love the shorter hair, makes you look much more handsome."
Reid couldn't help but blush a little. "Damn, Lisa, I don't want Victor coming after me after this."
Lisa simply laughed and then squeezed his bicep a little, "And I see we're still working out regularly."
He shook his head, "You're going to get me killed."
"It was your idea," she teased back. Soon the song ended and they separated for a second. "So I do I finally get to meet them?"
He noticed the pleading look in her eyes. "I'm not sure why it's such a big deal to you, but sure."
She surprised him when she pulled him into a hug. "Because everyone deserves some form of a family to be there for them in this life, the good and the bad. I just want to make sure you've got a good one." She pulled back and kissed him softly on the cheek. Reid smiled and nodded, the final piece of his profile on his therapist falling into place.
"I do, and I'm glad you do too." Lisa smiled, not surprised he figured out some of her past. She used to shield herself from that pain, but a few sailors and a certain marine helper her past it all.
She looped her arm in his and started towards the group. The profilers pretended to look busy as they noticed them headed their way. "Oh, I can totally tell who everyone is from your descriptions, Spencer." Reid grinned at their confused looks. "Let me see." She went around the table, correctly naming everyone. "And you are clearly Agent Morgan," she ended.
"Um, Spence, is there something you're not sharing?" asked JJ.
Lisa's eyes lit up, "Oh I like that! I should start calling you Spence now. It's like calling Harm instead of Harmon or god forbid calling Sturgis by his real first name." Reid looked at her and she grinned. "Sorry. Please, make the introduction that should have happened over two years ago."
Garcia's eyebrows shot up. "Two years?"
Reid shook his head. "Everyone, this is Lisa Galindez." He paused and noted Hotch smile, the name clicking from paperwork. "She was the physical therapist I worked with after I was shot." A look of understanding finally crossed everyone's faces.
"You totally cheated," stated Morgan with a grin.
"I don't know what you're talking about. You said I had to ask any woman in the bar to dance, you never specified that I couldn't already know her," Reid answered with a straight face. The rest of the team laughed as Lisa watched the interaction.
"Hmm, maybe you were right about not having him help with your therapy. I think I would have spent most of the time sending you to separate corners like my kids." That caused more laughter from the group. "And I certainly didn't want Agent Rossi helping you after finding out he left you in a ditch."
Rossi's eyes grew wide. "You told on me?"
Reid smirked, "She wanted to know why I was suddenly limping again." Lisa opened her mouth to chastise him but a voice from behind them cut her off.
"Spencer, good to see you!" The group turned to find all the women from Lisa's table along with some men. Reid shook hands with a few of them.
"You too, Victor. Bud."
"If my eyes don't deceive me, I believe its Aaron Hotchner." Hotch hugged one of the women.
"Mac, it's been a long time. I feel like I should salute you with your ranking. Glad to see that detour in the private sector didn't derail your career."
Mac smiled, "Yeah, me too. It certainly saved me from having to face you in court anymore, but I guess the FBI took you away from that anyway." Introductions were then made around the group.
"Well, I hate to cut this short," started Victor, "but the babysitter called and she needs to head home early, something came up." Lisa nodded and turned to Reid.
"Come by for dinner again soon? The boys love your magic tricks."
Reid smiled. "That depends, am I finally going to get that salad recipe?"
"Hey, wait a minute. I still don't have that recipe," injected Harm.
"Relax Top Gun, it's a family secret," she rolled her eyes and then winked at Reid. "Call me when you're not on a case, okay?" Reid nodded. "It was nice to finally meet all of you." The profilers nodded in agreement.
"Oh, Spencer, I was going to give you a call soon. Us guys get together for a poker game once a month, want to join us?" asked Bud.
"That is a bad idea," stated Emily. When the military crew looked at her she smiled. "He's from Vegas."
"I don't know, lawyers are pretty good a finding tells," stated Sturgis.
Rossi raised an eyebrow, "So are profilers."
"Touché," stated Lisa, shaking her head. Yep, just like her boys. "On that note…" She hugged Reid and the groups separated after Reid gave Bud his card.
Morgan waited until they were out of earshot. "So back to finding you a little honey…"
Reid groaned and downed the rest of his beer; he should have left with Lisa.
