A/N 1: Since I seem to be addicted to comment-fic at LJ, I've decided to organize the smaller drabbles into one "story". The larger fics (like "Lessons Learned" and "Reading Reid" - which yes, will be updated when I have more reliable access to the internet since Reid requires a ton of research and a mega-thesaurus to write) will stand alone. These drabbles are not in order, and to be honest, some are more plausible than others.
A/N 2: Prompt for this one was "clothing"
A/N 3: I heart catko, the bestest beta of them all. Also, Criminal Minds isn't mine.
Summary: This may very well be the saddest team loss of all.
On the surface, it seemed a simple loss. But no. The current tragedy the team faced ended up being almost harder than losing Elle, Gideon, and hell, JJ and Prentiss combined.
Reid's messenger bag broke.
The kid'd had it for as long as anyone could remember, and probably years before that. It'd had a good life, and served its owner well. No one knew all of the exact contents other than the obvious books, case files, paper, and pens (plus suspected packets of Skittles Morgan insisted Reid was addicted to); but yeah, after over what everyone figured was at least a decade, it was time for the bag to well...pass on.
It happened when Reid got out of the SUV after they pulled into the local station of their current case. The strap got caught on the door handle, and Reid inadvertently pulled too hard to free it.
The damage was extensive.
The reaction from the team was immediate.
JJ and Prentiss helped gather spilled items.
Morgan ran after the rolling bottles of water.
Hotch told Reid he was sorry about the loss.
Rossi just muttered something about it being a purse.
It took Morgan to finally notice Reid's reaction to the destruction of his beloved possession. Or rather, lack thereof. Morgan was vaguely reminded of when they'd walked into the school's bathroom after Jack Vaughan had shot that one kid right in front of Reid.
Upon closer inspection of his friend, Morgan realized scratch that. It was definitely the expression Reid held right now.
Rossi frowned, noticing it too.
Granted, Reid never took change well, but it didn't take a profiler to know the kid's level of grief was more than what even Reid would normally exhibit.
Hotch gently reminded Reid three times how much he needed the young profiler to focus.
Morgan wondered where Reid got all the duct tape to try and fix the blasted thing.
JJ did her best to keep Reid out of the main station, and planted firmly in the workroom with his maps.
Even Prentiss admitted it was embarrassing to acknowledge Reid was, in fact, grieving heavily for a bag.
Rossi, however, suggested they name the purse so they could at least pretend Reid was mourning a friend whenever the LEOs gave them sympathy over "whoever that poor kid's lost".
After a twelve hour workday with no leads, they went to the hotel for the night.
The next morning, Reid came down sans bag, sunglasses on, a voice so quiet you almost needed hearing aids to understand, and head down so low the only thing the kid could possibly see was his Converse sneakers shuffling across the floor.
Even Rossi sighed.
Three days later and not even JJ could take it anymore. To his credit, Reid had actually been trying to move on and complete his geographic profile, but after the umpteenth time watching him reach instinctively for his now non-existent bag, JJ threw Morgan a pointed look, and the older agent finally caved.
Throwing his pencil down, Morgan proclaimed, "C'mon, Reid, we're going for coffee."
"There's a new pot in the breakroom."
"I mean decent coffee, kid."
For the first time in days, Reid finally looked up. "Okay." Following his friend out the door, JJ gave a sigh of relief. If anyone could get to the bottom of the problem, it was Morgan.
Thirty minutes later and she learned the situation was worse than they'd originally thought. After sending Reid on an errand, Morgan walked into the room and closed the door. Turning to the team he announced, "It was his mom's."
"I knew it was a purse!"
One phone call by Hotch, one frantic search by Garcia, one hotel key card "borrowed" by JJ, one forever-denied breaking and entering offense by Morgan, and two hours later Rossi and Prentiss walked into the leather shop with the ruined messenger bag.
Rossi balked when told the price it would cost to fix the thing. "It's a damn purse!"
Prentiss shot him a look.
Pulling out his credit card, Rossi sighed. Again. "How much extra to get it done today?"
Six hours later and they were on the plane flying home. With the amount of money Rossi spent, the guy had fixed the bag in an hour. An hour after that, Reid had nailed the geographic profile. Two hours after that, they'd had the unsub in custody. And forty minutes after that, they'd had their confession.
Sunglasses now off, Reid was sitting in his chair next to Morgan, still in awe over his now better-than-ever messenger bag. Rossi and Prentiss sat across from him; Hotch and JJ across the aisle, doing paperwork.
Finally, Prentiss leaned in. Softly, she asked, "Hey Reid, where'd you get that bag, anyway?"
A smile graced their friend, and he quietly told them all about the bag. It was his mom's, from when she was a professor. He'd inherited it when he started school himself. The story involved scenes of a three year old Spencer joining her for her lectures; a quiet nook in a window in her office they frequently settled in; and books she pulled out of the bag and read with titles only she and Reid could pronounce.
Rossi never called it a purse again.