Me, Mom and the Volvo

A/N: My entry to the Fanfic Challenge Round Two. For the sake of the story let's pretend that the song "Disturbia" is a lot older than it is...

Please enjoy!


Pairing: S. Reid/Diana R.

Song prompt: "Disturbia" - Rihanna


"Your mind's in disturbia, it's like the darkness is light. Disturbia, am I scaring you tonight?"

Spencer Reid rolled up the window with some difficulty on his trusted old Volvo Amazon to keep out the sound of the blaring music coming from the large and overtly flashy yellow SUV in the lane next to them. A song containing the word "disturbia" was not something he wanted his mother to hear. Not today. His news were, he guessed in her eyes at least, probably disturbing enough.

He on the other hand thought that it was excellent news. In fact he didn't think he'd ever been more excited about anything than he was about this. But he had a nagging feeling that his mother would be of a different persuasion.

He knew that she'd had great expectations for him ever since... Well ever since he had read 'Great expectations' for the first time when he was five years old. She had probably dreamed of seeing him walk down the same path as her. Seen him as a prominent professor of 16th or 17th or maybe 18th century English literature.

When he had chosen to get degrees in the technical field, such as mathematics and engineering, rather than in literature and history he'd seen the disappointment in her eyes. She'd been hurt that he hadn't chosen the same for himself that she would have chosen for him.

And she had always been very protective of him. Overprotective actually. Almost to the point of it being ridiculous. He knew that she hadn't liked it one bit when his father had tried to get him involved in sports. To have him do normal things. Things like that weren't for him. He was supposed to use his head for brilliant and extraordinary things not have it hit by baseballs or soccer balls.

Therefore he was fairly sure that him going in to law enforcement was filed under 'things Spencer shouldn't waste his remarkable brilliance on'.

But he had made up his mind. He was going to join the FBI. To him getting this chance to use his intellect to help people and to protect them was a priceless opportunity that he didn't want to pass him by. And now he had to tell his mother that.

He had picked her up at the home she was living at twenty minutes earlier and they were now driving together down the streets of Las Vegas. The car they were driving was the old Volvo from the nineteen fifties that he had inherited from his grandfather. It was one of his most prized possessions partly because he knew how much his mother used to love it when she was younger.

During some of her more lucid times, when he was much younger, his mother had told him stories about when she was young and how her father had driven the whole family around in that old car. She told him that at the time she had mostly been sitting in the back with her nose in a book. But when she'd thought back to it she thought that it had been a lovely time. It represented happiness and closeness of family to her.

He didn't know if she remembered any of it now though. Her medication put her in a state somewhere between coherent and gone and sometimes she disappeared into her own mind. He didn't like when that happened. It made him feel helpless and he was worried that telling her his news could push her into a state like that. But he still hoped that being in that old car would have a calming effect on her.

"Mom?" He began treading around the situation with caution.

"Yes, Spencer?" Diana Reid answered looking at her grown son from the passenger seat. "What is it? Where are we going." She asked, her eyes flickering over the buildings outside.

"We're not really going anywhere, Mom." Reid told her giving her a weak smile. "I just thought that you might like to go for a ride."

"You know I don't like it when I don't know where we are going." Diana told her son looking with slightly worried eyes through the window. "Now tell me what's bothering you."

"Nothing's bothering me..." Reid began.

"Don't lie, Spencer." Diana cut him off. "I did not raise a liar."

"I'm not..." Reid tried but was once again cut off by his mother.

"Don't Spencer..." She said. "A mother always knows. Now tell me what's wrong."

"I've decided to join the FBI!" Reid blurted out. This was not how he had imagined his big reveal. He had hoped that they could have driven some place quiet. Some place he knew that his mother liked. The last thing he wanted to do was to upset her.

Diana sat quietly for a while. Every second of silence was building on Reid's fluttering nerves. He just didn't know how she would react. She might cry like she did the time he wanted to go to a school dance. She might be worried sick like she did when he joined a little league baseball team. Or she might just loudly disapprove.

Keeping his eyes locked on the road he startled a little a he felt his mother's hand on his arm. Looking up he was met by her face smiling warmly at him.

"I think you're very brave, Spencer." She smiled at him. "I'm proud of you. You know that?"

"I do, Mom." He answered smiling back.

"Thank you for taking me out on a ride, Spencer."


A/N: I hope you liked it. Writing Diana was by far the most difficult character I've written... so apologies if it's a bit OOC.

On a different note: Just wanted to let you know that we're having a new challenge at the Smut Club forum (check my profile page) called The "Caught with your hand in the cookie jar" Challenge. Check it out!

x Sussi