A/N : This is just a one shot drabble to spend time while I'm thinking up other ideas for both of my stories, and yes, I fully expect to continue on The Price Of Living, as well as finishing off A State of Mind as soon as I get enough reviews to go ahead with the story line the viewers choose. So cast a vote, if not in a review of the story, then in the poll I have on my profile page.
The cases before had been quite tough on Spencer Reid. There had been many things expected of him. A good shot, a clear head, an easy and sensible explanation for everything, and information on random statistics right off the top of his head. Okay, well that last one he threw in just because it was there and it seemed relevant at the time, but…
Reid sat on the edge of his bed, staring at his wall. It was storming outside and the lights had been cut off. Reid was clutching a flashlight to his chest, trying to keep his mind off the thunder and the darkness by thinking over different things, never letting his mind linger too long on one particular subject too long.
I've definitely learned a lot from the BAU, Reid thought to himself. What with Morgan and Hotch and Gideon and Prentiss and J.J. helping me along the way and everything. Wait… Why do we always call each other by our last names, but always call J.J., well, J.J.?
A loud boom of thunder startled Reid into jumping halfway off the bed, so clutching the flashlight a little closer to his chest with white knuckles, he changed his train of thought.
Their last case was a very dangerous one; not only had it taken more time that comfortable to the team to figure out who the UnSub was and find him, but Reid and Prentiss had been taken hostage. Well, Reid had been taken hostage, Prentiss had been knocked on the head and left to die in a cornfield. It had been up to him to figure out a way to let the team know not only where he was, but where Prentiss was. It had also been Reid's responsibility for saving J.J. when she'd rushed in after seeing Jacob Thomas, (the UnSub) trying to strangle Reid.
Jacob had turned around and rushed for J.J., and Reid had scrambled to his feet, lunged for his gun that had been thrown to the floor, and shot the UnSub in the back of the head.
Just as Reid remembered with a shiver how the blood had literally blasted all over the wall and J.J., lightning struck at the same time the thunder cracked, and Reid shot off the bed this time. Deciding that thinking wasn't really keeping his nerves that calm, he moved out of the bedroom, heading toward the kitchen.
Maybe a bit of coffee would calm him down a bit, he reasoned with himself, shining the flashlight along the floor to make sure he didn't stumble into anything. He reached the kitchen, and within a few minutes had a steaming cup of coffee cradled in his hands, the flashlight standing up on the counter and shining light on the ceiling. Leaning against the counter, Reid slowly sipped the coffee, his mind unfortunately working over time.
Prentiss, he heard, was quite scared by her experience because she had awoken in the middle of that cornfield to a coyote sniffing around her shirt. Her scream had sent the starved animal running away with it's tail between his legs, which was a good thing, but still not an experience you wanted to have. Reid had let them know which cornfield she was out cold in, but her scream had gotten them to her faster.
All in all the day turned out alright, but it had definitely been rough business, and a race against time. But by the time that Reid was out of Jacob's basement, his nerves were so fried that he couldn't stop shaking. In fact, he'd barely even talked to anyone before he came home, and he definitely wouldn't let anyone touch him. Every time he even brushed against something, all he could feel was the UnSub's hands on his throat, choking the life out of him slowly…
Reid shook his head to try and distract that thought, then taking another sip out of his mug only to find out that his coffee cup was empty. Frowning, he picked up the pot and refilled his cup, glancing out the window. The rain was still coming down in torrents, but at least it seemed as though the thunder and lightning had stopped for the time being. Sighing softly, Reid tried to force himself to think of something different when he suddenly remembered that he'd charged up the MP3 that Morgan had got for him a few weeks ago, complaining that Reid didn't know what real music was.
He was almost afraid to check what was on the little device, but had soon found out Morgan had actually put some pretty cool songs on it. In fact, there'd been one song that had been going through his head at random intervals since he started listening to it, and he found himself suddenly mouthing the words to it as he thought about it more. Setting down his now half empty coffee cup, he grabbed the flashlight and moved back to the bedroom, searching through his drawers for the MP3. Finding it, he placed the flashlight on the nightstand and placed the earphones within the shells of his ears and flipped the device on.
Searching through the electronics' data base, he finally found the song and clicked it, and music filled his ears. It helped to drown out the sound of the rain he knew was still beating heavily on the roof of the apartment, and at the windows. Somewhere outside, the thunder rolled in the distance, but was lost on Reid, as he was busy mouthing the words to the song "Witch Doctor." But what he didn't realize was that he was actually singing it softly.
But at least the darkness wasn't threatening to crush him anymore; the sounds outside weren't startling him and right now, he didn't have a care in the world besides what words were coming out of his mouth.
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"There are no secrets better kept than the secrets that everybody guesses." - George Bernard Shaw
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Extra Author's Note : The idea for this little ficlet came from the movie, Alvin and the Chipmunks. Matthew Grey Gubler, (Dr. Spencer Reid) plays the voice of Simon in the movie, and lately I've been listening to the song Witch Doctor, sung by the chipmunks. But I've more recently found a version on Youtube that slows up the song so that their real voices are what you hear. It's a little strange at first, but let me tell you, Matthew can SING. Anyway, that's where this little drabble came from. Hope you liked it, and I urge you to look up that song if you get the chance.
