So this story's been bouncing around in my head for a long time, and I hope it turns out better than my first drafts. I'll try to post new chapters regularly. Emphasis on the word TRY. This story's dedicated to my buddy Olivia, who's passion for CM and obsession for Reid outranks mine by a million.
Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds, or any of it's affiliated characters, settings, ect.
'So, are there any last minute questions before we run out of time?'
Reid's question was met by silence from the seventy or so university students in front of him. They had been silent the entire lecture and he had to wonder if they had simply been that interested in Sociopaths in Criminal Institutions, or if they had paid any attention at all.
Suddenly a hand shot up in the back. 'Dr. Reid, your work with the BAU has brought you into contact with a number of sociopaths; which one stands out most clearly to you? Which one has made the greatest impact on you?'
He was a little taken aback by the question, but answered it quickly. 'Frank Breitkopf. He was responsible for numerous brutal killings, and rather than be taken into custody, he and his partner jumped in front of a train. Shortly after that, my mentor Jason Gideon retired from the FBI, and has not been seen since.'
The bell signally the end of classes rang, and the students immediately rushed to the exits; they had been bored by his lecture. Reid knew he didn't have the knack for lecturing that Gideon had had, and Rossi still did. He supposed it was another one of those things where he'd simply given up charisma for intelligence. Then he noticed one of the students coming towards him, instead of heading for the door. It was the young woman who'd asked the question. She seemed about his own age, from what he could see in the poor light.
'I'm sorry Dr. Reid, if that seemed like a personal question. I can be rather nosy sometimes; my psychology training coming out in me I suppose.'
'It's fine. I can be the same way.'
She stepped closer, into the light of the lecture platform. 'You don't recognize me, do you?'
Looking at her fully, Reid saw she had reddish brown hair that framed a freckled face in soft spirals. And her eyes were such an unusual shade of blue-green, like aquamarines. He knew those eyes. 'Michelle?'
'Try Special Agent Dr. Michelle Soraley.' Michelle grinned. 'How long has it been since we were at Cal Tech?'
'Together? Eleven years and three months. You've been with the FBI this entire time?'
'Only the last three years. I prolonged my education for a few years. Yale…was great. I'm up to four doctorates and two masters.'
'PhD's in Engineering, Chemistry, Psychology…' Reid remembered.
'And Philosophy.' She supplied. 'The masters are in Literature and Anthropology.'
Reid realized he'd stopped packing away his notes; he was still a little shocked to be speaking to Michelle after so long. They'd fallen out of touch once she was accepted to Yale. 'So you know I'm with the BAU; what unit are you on?' He asked, stuffing the papers into his messenger bag.
'Well, I was in White Collar Crimes, but I just received a promotion, and a transfer. I passed my profiling examination with flying colors.'
'So you're going to be in the BAU; what team?'
Michelle smiled, but it was hesitant. 'Spencer, we haven't spoken for the past eleven years, despite incredible friendship at Cal Tech. Why do you think I chose to finally seek you out?'
She had been assigned to his team; it was in her hesitance, her avoidance of the question, and how she seemed unsure of how he would take the news. And Michelle had every right to me unsure, because Reid hardly knew what to think himself. Michelle had been his closest friend in university, but then she'd just disappeared when she went to Yale. How was he supposed to react to her returning into his life? 'Wow…'
'I know; it's too much.' She was reading him as much as he was reading her. 'I figured it would be better to let you know, and not have a big dramatic reunion on Monday. That's when I'm starting. I just thought I'd let you know.' She started to leave.
'Michelle, do you want to get a coffee? With me?' Reid asked suddenly, surprising even himself. He never asked people to get coffee with him.
Michelle smiled; a true smile this time. 'May as well. It'll be just like old times; when we used to go to the coffee shop after lectures. Remember that?'
As they walked out of the lecture theater, Reid realized there was a lot he'd almost forgotten about Cal Tech, and Michelle. Especially Michelle. Whether it had just been the passage of time, or that he'd subconsciously pushed her to the back of his mind, he didn't know. But now he was going to have to start remembering.
Getting their drinks, Reid brought them back to the corner table where Michelle sat in the campus Starbucks. 'One Venti red tea, one Grande espresso, and enough sugar to enter hyperglycemia.' He said, sitting across from her.
'You remembered my sugar dependency.' Michelle giggled. 'And I almost forgot your caffeine addiction. I hope I don't have to peel you off the ceiling later.'
'Michelle, when you went to Yale, why didn't you call or write to me?'
Her smile dropped like a marionette with cut strings. 'Spencer, it's a very complicated story; you probably wouldn't understand. In fact, you'd probably be better off thinking I'm just a shallow bitch who forgot everyone. I'm… ashamed, of the truth.'
'Whatever it is, Michelle, I won't judge you.' He assured her. 'I'm in no position to judge anyone.'
'I got shot in a drive-by, right after I arrived on campus. In my right shoulder. And they gave me a lot of pain medication; Morphine mostly, and at one point Tylenol 3s. I became really badly dependant on them, and when my prescriptions ran out, I just started to get it on the street. I hardly did anything but study, and think about my next fix for almost two years Spencer—I was sure you'd all forgotten me by then.'
Michelle looked close to tears, and Reid decided it would be better to say something. 'But you got clean.'
'Yeah, I went to detox after a friend of my died of an overdose. Worst twenty eight days of my life, and absolutely worth it.' She replied with a bitter smile. 'Luckily, I was still a juvenile, so the FBI had no access to those records. For all they know, I'm as straight and narrow as you.'
'I wouldn't say that Michelle.'
Reid unbuttoned his right sleeve, and rolled it up past the elbow. There on his arm, plain as day, were the old track marks he worked hard to hide. The ugly truth that even after Tobias Henkel was dead, he kept injecting Dilaudid into his veins. Reaching out, Michelle gently ran a fingertip over one of the marks.
'You too?' She asked softly.
'I was kidnapped by an Unsub during one of our cases, and he drugged me with Dilaudid cut with a psychedelic. I stole the drugs, and kept using them for months.' He explained. 'I couldn't check into rehab without the FBI knowing. I just had to do it on my own, with my friends.'
Michelle ran a hand through her hair. 'Makes me feel a little better. Everyone in White-Collar was so…admirable. Perfect backgrounds. Please tell me the BAU's different.'
'It is. We all have our histories. And I bet that your old team had histories as well, that you just never knew about. We only learn each others' through cases.'
Nodding, Michelle took a large sip of her tea. 'So on to something a little lighter… how's your mom?'
Lighter? 'I had to place her in a mental facility, when I turned eighteen. But at least there, she's being taken care of.'
'My mom agreed to go into care when I was twenty one.' Michelle replied. Reid remembered that her mother was almost completely quadriplegic, and had refused to go into care after Michelle's dad died when she was fourteen. 'I bet it was tougher on you though.' She was probably right
'Remember when we used to talk about how our lives might turn out?' She asked suddenly. 'Cause I'm pretty sure it wasn't anything like this.'
'We planned to work as engineers together, with NASA.' He reminded her.
'Look at us now!' Michelle laughed. 'Two FBI agents who haven't seen each other for over a decade because of some stupid drugs!'
The light on her face was a reddish gold; the sun was setting, and it was time to get going. Once again, Reid was reminded of something from Cal Tech. That more often than not, they'd hung out together long after the sun had gone down. Because they were young, and brilliant, and didn't have to worry about the world. But those times were gone; they had to go home.
'I guess I'll see you at work on Monday.' He said, rising to go.
'It's a Friday night, and you're not willing to stay out past ten?' Michelle asked in amazement.
'At the BAU, we have to sleep when we can, in case we're called on a case.'
She sighed, but got up too. 'I guess things are going to change for me. The only question left, Spencer, is if we're friends again.'
'I think we can be Michelle.' Reid replied, and Michelle smiled again. And for the first time in a long time, he realized he'd missed her.
Opening his apartment door, Reid was greeted by the sound of his phone about to go to voicemail. Making a mad dash, he caught it just in time. 'Hello?'
"Hey genius boy." It was Morgan. "How'd the lecture go?"
'No one had any questions in the end. So either it went really well, or everyone slept through the whole thing.'
"Nobody in that entire lecture hall had any questions?"
Well, that wasn't entirely true; Michelle had asked a question, but that would mean explaining everything to Morgan. And Reid wasn't sure if he was ready for that just yet. He wanted one more weekend to process the whole situation. To get used to the idea that he had his old best friend back. 'Nope. The professor went home early, so not even she had any questions.'
"She?" Morgan had taken the bait; the best way to distract him was to mention a woman. "How old is she? Is she hot?"
'Morgan, she's almost twice as old as I am; old enough to be my mother.'
"Oh. I should've guessed. I mean, she's a professor! Though you could be a professor; you have the credentials. But you don't have the charisma… or the public speaking skills."
'Thanks for the self-esteem boost.' He replied sarcastically. 'Did I miss anything at the office?'
"Hotch announced that we're getting a new agent. She was with White Collar for the last three years, and they promoted her to BAU."
'Does she have a name?' Reid asked, hoping that he didn't sound like he knew anything.
"Can't remember her name; just that she's like this Psychology whizz and has four doctorates." Morgan laughed. 'Looks like we're gonna have a Genius Girl. Hey, what are the chances she's hot?"
100%, Reid thought, then wondered when he'd started thinking Michelle was hot again. He'd thought of her that way… when they were fourteen. 'Morgan, for all you know, she's Hotch's age.'
"She has four doctorates Reid. She has to be a genius, and you know better than anyone the Bureau likes to hire their geniuses young."
'Multiple doctorates does not mean she's a genius.'
"Sure it does." He laughed. "Look at you, and…" He didn't even know more geniuses than his friend. "ANYWAYS, Garcia remembers hearing the name at Cal Tech, before she dropped out. Do you remember?"
'Well, I don't know the name of the person you're asking if I've heard of, and Cal Tech may be a small campus, but it's still big. I probably wouldn't have even known she existed.' That was a lie; he and Michelle had found each other very quickly. Geniuses needed to have friends too, and she'd been his best friend. Closer than a sister. 'Did I miss anything else?'
"Just Strauss blowing another fuse when she found Garcia and Kevin holed up in her office, having a Tetris battle. And then really losing it when she learned they'd started this after trying to access the new girl's file. Apparently it's under extra security because it's White Collar, but Garcia thinks she's got something to hide."
In other words, he'd missed nothing but another boring Friday at the office. 'That's great Morgan. I'm gonna go sleep through the entire weekend, unless JJ gets an Amber Alert case.' Reid yawned, and hung up. Sometimes, Derek Morgan talked too much.
Not sure when I can post again; going to Minneapolis for the weekend. Music in the Parks. Gotta love it.
