Author's Note:

So fast, I know! For all new readers, this is a continuation of my story An Unyielding, Horrifying Love. If you haven't read it, you might want to read it first before you start reading this because, well, you just might get lost in this one if you don't.

Now allow me to continue!

Saturday, January 21st, 2012 2:43 PM
Hotch's home, Quantico, Virginia

Dr. Spencer Reid sat at the kitchen table with the rest of his friends at Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner's place for a special get-together after a particularly hard case in Connecticut. Everyone was there - Emily Prentiss sat across from Reid, Jennifer "JJ" Jareau on her left, Derrek Morgan at Reid's right, Penelope Garcia at his, David Rossi across from her, Hotch at the head. Hotch's son Jack was spending the night at a friend's house and wouldn't be back until the morning, giving them the perfect night to talk about the case that impacted quite a few members of the team.

Hotch passed around the rolls as they helped themselves to spaghetti and meatsause, salad, baked zucchini, and other Italian delectables, much to Emily and JJ's work. Reid had to admit, the food was good, but he hadn't really had an appetite for the past week and a half since he knew Amy Nickhoales was off in the hands of the murderer they'd failed to catch, but Hotch wouldn't believe him, especially since it was Amy who had told Reid it was Stan Fields, her past dance instructor who was in his early fifties.

Once everyone had eaten, the team sat around the table, preparing to talk about the case Reid couldn't take his ever-busy mind off of.

Hotch started. "This last case was anything but usual."

Prentiss nodded. "I'm still having insomnia. Sure, we caught the guy, but that doesn't make me feel safer. He wanted Amy to suffer, and now she will for the rest of her life."

"However long it will be," Reid muttered.

"It will be very long, Reid," Hotch said, knowing what he meant. "I highly doubt Amy was right. She probably just wanted the attention again. You know kids these days."

Reid chuckled bitterly. "I highly doubt Amy is the attention-seeking type. If she wanted the attention of the media then, she'd have gone out there and talked to them, watched herself on TV in the hotel, done something besides steer clear of meeting people she knew would end up prime targets of the murderer's agressive feelings."

Morgan put his hand on Reid's shoulder. "Reid, just because she knew you were a genius doesn't mean she'll know right off the bat we caught the wrong guy."

"'I'll see you again, Amy.' 'Nice to see you again, Amy,'" Reid quoted.

"What?" Garcia asked, confused.

Hotch closed his eyes and shook his head. "The last two cross-examination questions. The man who confessed to the crimes said those in the accent of his birth nationality. What are you trying to say, Reid?"

"Oh, nothing. I'm just thinking about something regarding those two questions and the accent in which he said them in." Reid looked at Hotch suddenly. "Amy said the man must have seen an accent coach for a British accent because 'I'll see you again Amy' at the train bombing was in a British accent. Hotch, Francesco Vodka is Russian. Doesn't that say something?"

"So she got the nationality wrong. So what? The man confessed. That's all we were there for. We caught the guy, and now we're here. End. Of. Case," Hotch said.

Something inside of Reid cracked then. He stood suddenly. "Thanks for dinner. Hope you have fun discussing the countless lives lost at the hands of a man who walked away the primary guardian of his true victim and how this affects you. It's not likely going to affect you all nearly as much as it does myself and her. Who knows what she's enduring now?!" With that, he grabbed his coat and left.

Once outside, he walked down to the corner of the street and pulled out his phone to call a cab.

"Reid!" someone called.

He put the phone in his pocket and turned back to Hotch's place to find Garcia rushing over to him.

"Reid, wait up!" she called again, nearly tripping due to her heels.

Reid walked a little closer, then stopped once she was next to him. "What, Garcia?"

"Reid, I'm sorry. If you want, I can help you make a case against Stan Fields, but you're going to have to come up with evidence against him," Garcia said once she caught her breath. "In the meantime, I think you should get some help. It might, well, help you get over this case once and for all."

Reid shook his head. "Seeing someone isn't going to help. Believe me, it doesn't erase memories the way I'd want them to. But I'll take you up on that offer. But the only evidence I have so far is Amy's accounts on what happened and any information you can get about Stan Fields."

Garcia nodded. "Will do, Genius Man."

Reid half-smiled. "Thanks. You leaving Hotch's?"

She nodded. "Yep."

"We'll share a cab then," he said, and placed the call.