So I'm currently working on two lengthy fics (one co-written and the other just by me) at the moment as well as Tumblr prompts and spontaneous one-shots but I've been itching to throw my hat into the wonderful world of Raeve fanfiction for months now and the temptation is just too strong to resist this sweet pair. I'm hoping if this builds enough interest and momentum to carry this all the way from their first correspondence regarding Reid's headaches, through their payphone romance and then the events of Zugzwang (at which point it will turn into AU – just a warning if you're not into that). Anyway, please let me know if you'd interested in such an idea (or if people would more prefer to go straight to the AU) and any reviews for my prologue would be extra cheery too! Thank you x

PROLOGUE

"WAIT!" Reid yelled as Diane raised the gun to her head and indirectly, Maeve's. He threw himself and caught the young geneticist around the middle as the gun went off. He cupped the back of her head with his hand protectively as they collided with the hard concrete floor.

Reid shielded her small body with his own as a flurry of noise and activity rushed around them. Something wet and warm soaked through his shirt and he looked down at his love to see blood pooling around her head like a halo.

His heart stopped and his blood ran cold as if he had been submerged in an icy lake. She was hurt.

"Maeve," he whispered breathlessly, his hand shakily covering her wound.

"Spencer," she murmured weakly in her delicate, lilting voice he adored so much, reaching up to brush her fingertips across his face but she was too weak. He caught her hand before it fell and pressed a soft kiss to her fingers.

"You're going to be okay, you're fine, you're fine. I've got you," he trying to reassure himself as well as her. He stared into her bright green eyes which were fighting to stay open. She was drifting in and out.

"I didn't mean any of it," he promised tearfully, kissing her hand again. "I love you. I love you so much."

He didn't know whether the words were lost on Maeve. Her wrist had gone completely limp in his hand and her eyes were flickering in and out of focus. A fresh wave of agony ripped through him as she scrunched up her eyes and let out a soft pained noise. After a couple of painful tiny intakes of breath, her features relaxed in rest and her eyes did not reopen to him.

"No, no, don't…" he panicked, ignoring the pain in his injured arm and lifted her up. Her head flopped weakly against his chest and her breath was faint and shallow against his neck.

Morgan reached out helpfully, to take Maeve from Reid so he didn't have to carry her with his bleeding arm but Reid quickly ran past him with new found adrenaline and rushed to the EMT's outside. He laid her down so carefully as though she were made of glass.
"Please help her," he cried out to the three waiting paramedics who hurried over. "She's been shot."

Only against the white linen did he see how much blood she was losing, the precious fluid soaking into her dark mahogany hair. He brushed her fringe off her forehead as the paramedic applied gauze and pressure to the gunshot wound. She was so pale. So lifeless.

"No, Maeve, no," he gasped out in pain. Even though he knew it was impossible, he felt like his heart was splitting open. The other paramedic noticed the blood flowing freely from the gunshot wound in his arm.

"Sir, you've been shot. You need medical attention."

The dull ache that was beginning to worsen as the adrenaline wore off was nothing compared to the devastation taking place where his heart should be. Reid always shook his head disbelievingly when people spoke of 'heart-break'. As if the chemical's associated with love affected that particular organ was ludicrous. But this…this was agony watching the only woman he had ever loved bleed out right before his eyes.

They went to wheel Maeve in the ambulance and Reid panicked, reaching and grappling madly for her.

"It's okay, it's okay. You can ride with her. You need treatment too," the paramedic said ushering the young man to follow.

JJ squeezed Reid's hand beside him. "Go, Spence. We're following right behind you."

Reid tried to return her kind smile but couldn't muster anything other than earth-shattering fear.

His conscious was only slightly aware of the paramedic working on his arm. His only focus was the sweet, broken girl laid out in front of him.

"What's her name?" one of them asked hurriedly as they sped toward the hospital.

"Maeve," he choked slightly. "Her name is Maeve."

The paramedic opened on of her eyelids and shone a torch into her eye.

"Maeve? Can you hear me, Maeve?"

"Please help her," Reid begged them weakly.

"We'll do everything we can for her, sir. Please just sit back and let us help you."

He held her hand, trying to warm it with his own. It's shape fit perfectly within his own. It didn't surprise him in the least. He already knew she was made for him long before they had met in person. He had dreamed of meeting her, running over a thousand different scenarios in his head, each lovelier than the last. Though he had never perceived it would happen like this.

His eyes finally spilled the tears that had been threatening to spill over the moment he had realised her stalker had taken her.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. It's going to be okay," the kind paramedic working on his arm said to him. "She's going to get the best help possible. And she's a strong girl, I can already see that…just focus on something else…How did you two meet?"