AN: A one shot written for the Fortune Cookie Friday Prompt. The Prompt is: "You've got what it takes, but it will take everything you've got". Hope you all enjoy!
It was a dreary day and the slight mist that had started to fall had cleared the cemetery quickly of the couple of dozen people who had gathered for the interment of Diana Reid soon after it had ended. There was only one person left at the grave side - her son Spencer Reid. He had told his team members, who had come to Las Vegas for the funeral, to go to the vehicles to get out of the weather. That he had needed some time to himself. Reluctantly they had gone.
Now, by himself for the first time since receiving the news of her death, Spencer Reid walked slowly toward the casket. In what seemed like slow motion, he placed the single rose he was holding on the top of the smooth surface. Until today, it hadn't seemed real. Until, today he had been telling himself it was all a bad dream. That he would wake up and this nightmare would be over.
Seeing his mother lying in the casket back at the funeral parlor had shattered that belief. Spencer had finally had to admit that the heart attack had really taken his mother from him. That the only family he had was gone. His father hadn't even bothered to show today.
Spencer reached out, and placed a hand on the smooth wooden surface. As they had many time before, he felt the tears well up in his eyes. For the first time though, he finally gave in and let the salty drops fall from his eyes. He was tired of fighting them. Tire of being strong. His knees getting weak, Spencer let himself fall to his knees beside the casket, his hand remaining on the top of it.
Leaning forward, Spencer Reid let his forehead rest on the casket in front of him and let the sobs come freely. His whole world was falling apart around him. Eventually, the sobs lessened and though the tears still flowed, they were silent tears.
"I can't go on," he said out loud, though there was no one around to hear him. Or so he thought.
"It might seem that way now, but you'll find out eventually that you can. We all do," a familiar voice said from behind him.
Spencer didn't look up right away as he tried to quickly compose himself. He was embarrassed that anyone would see him like this, especially the man who the voice belonged to.
"I thought I told you all that I would meet you all back at the hotel," Spence finally said, wiping away tear drops from his face. He still knelt by the casket and he didn't look behind him.
"None of us thought you should be driving right now. The others went on ahead, and I hung back. I know how hard what your going through is. To have someone who means the world to you suddenly taken away."
"How do you know?" Spencer asked, finally looking over his shoulder at David Rossi.
Rossi stood just behind him, a blue rain jacket partly protecting him from the mist that fell. The blue jeans he was wearing were starting to show the rain water that was making them damp, and mud and pieces of grass clung to the black, Italian leather boots that were on his feet. Absently, Reid found himself wondering if they were the same boots he had been wearing when he had made the younger agent walk into the ditch on a case about a year ago.
"I was twenty-five when I lost my mother. She was killed in a car accident the day before I was to graduate from the FBI Academy. She and my father were coming down for the graduation actually. A drunk driver hit their car head on and she was killed instantly. My father suffered only minor injuries."
"Though my Dad was at my graduation, it wasn't the same. I know he loved me but he had always been distant. Not one to show his affection. My mother was the complete opposite. Always smiling, always showing her love to everyone around her. Making each special event all that more special. My sister and I were her world and she made sure we knew that everyday of our lives. Not to mention, I felt responsible. That if she hadn't been coming to see the graduation then she'd still be alive. I almost quit the bureau right after I graduated from the academy because of it."
"Why didn't you?"
"My father. I had gone home for the funeral. Was staying at my parents house. My father came up to the room I was staying in before bed the night after the funeral. I had mentioned about not reporting for my first assignment. About resigning from the bureau. He told me that would be the biggest mistake I could make. That my mother wouldn't want me to quit just because of what had happened. I remember I told him I didn't think I could do it. Couldn't stay with the bureau without it remembering everyday that it had taken her from me. My Dad told me that the bureau hadn't taken her away. That the man who had been driving drunk was responsible for that and though I might not see things that way right then but one day I would. He also told me he was just as proud as she was at what I had accomplished with my life and gave me this."
Rossi held out a gold pocket watch. Reid slowly took it from him and glanced down at it. On the back was an inscription which read - "You've got what it takes, but it will take everything you've got."
"My mom had that chosen that inscription and it was to be a graduation gift. My Dad told me that no matter how dark things seemed right then, if I just remembered those words, I'd be okay no matter what life threw at me. He was right. The same goes for you. I know things seem bleak right now, but it will get better."
Reid was silent. He was having a hard time believing what his colleague was saying was true. He held the watch back out to Rossi.
Rossi wave his hand away. "Keep it. I think you're going to need that reminder more than me in the coming days."
"I can't take this."
"Sure you can. I want you to have it. I always figured I'd have a son or daughter I'd pass it down to one day but that isn't going to happen. The way I see it, you're the closest thing to a son that I've got."
Reid looked back down at the watch, unable to speak as his emotions were choking him up once again. He read the inscription once again and then looked back at the casket in front of him. Did he really have what it was going take to go on without her.
As much as he hurt inside, he knew that was what she would want. That his mother would want him to keep living his life.
Slowly Reid got to his feet. He rested his hand on the casket one more time. "I'll never forget you, Mom," Spencer said softly, before turning and walking away from the grave site.
As the two profilers fell into step together, walking toward the waiting SUV, Rossi reached out, and put his arm around the younger man's shoulders.
"One day at a time, Kid. Just take it one day at a time," Rossi told him softly.