Dogs, Pigeons and Pennies.
Summary: Reid has a bit of an accident before work. One shot.
"Shep, please, for the love of God STOP pulling on your leash!" 20 year old Lara Hart pleaded with the hyperactive Border Collie currently dragging her through the unfamiliar streets of Quantico. She continued to stumble over her own feet in an effort to keep up with the dog. The streets were unnaturally busy, filled with grumbling suit-laden men and women throwing Lara concerned glances. She didn't blame them, it appeared her arm was about to be permanently removed from its socket.
"Damn electrical fault's delayed the Subway. Now I have to walk to work! Tell Moroney I'll be another 20 minutes. Yes, of course I have the files…"
Lara heard snippets of phone conversations as the people scurried past. Special agents. She could tell from the sheer aura of determination FBI agents carried with them, even as they spoke on the phone. Men and women of steel. Shep continued to dart from tree to tree, bark at every bird and pee on every fire hydrant they came across. Untrained was an understatement. She silently cursed her brother for not getting a Chihuahua.
Dr. Spencer Reid was sufficiently flustered. Arriving home late from a case the night before, he had uncharacteristically (and ungracefully) flopped on to his bed as soon as he arrived home, failing to realise a power cut had caused his bedside clock to reset. The case had been draining, both mentally and physically. As a result, the BAU's resident genius found himself groggily rolling out of bed at 8:53, thoroughly confused at the absence of infernal beeping that his ears were accustomed to on a weekday morning. Upon realising the time, a steady stream of swears erupted from the young agents mouth (some even in French- impressive!) as he hopped, foot in one navy Converse sneaker, around his apartment in an effort to find some deodorant and at least a different tie that he could throw on over yesterday's clothes. He couldn't find his go bag from yesterday and hoped he'd left it at his desk in his sleepy stupor; in that case he could put some fresh clothes on when he arrived.
Bzzzzz. Reid's phone grumbled from the floor. He bent down and grabbed it.
4 Unread Messages from JJ. He swiped his screen.
Hey Spence, looks like the Subway's down this morning, need a lift after I drop Henry off?
Speeeeeeeence?
Have you become so technophobic you've reverted to sending letters via pigeon rather than texting? Because that takes too long and I have to leave soon, so time's ticking!
Sorry, Doc. I have arrived. No cases today, but a mountain of paperwork. See you soon!
It took 2 seconds for Spencer to read those texts, and 4 minutes wrestling with the junk in his hallway closet to pull out his old bike and race out of the door. He was going to be so late.
The streets cleared as the agents rushed to arrive to work at a decent time. Lara sighed. Despite her annoyance, she could not help but admire the sheer energy her brother's dog possessed. And it was an all natural energy; he was genuinely high on life. Lara chuckled to herself at the cheesiness of that statement, then went back to being annoyed. Shep was now pulling her around a corner, and at this rate they'd both be in the busy road if he didn't slow down.
"Shep, stop!" She shrieked, at the same time a voice to her right yelled, "Watch out!"
CRASH.
The man's bike had swerved in to a fence in an effort to not crash in to Lara and the dog. He now lay on the floor, apparently knocked out.
"Oh. My. God." Lara promptly tied Shep tightly on to the fence and ran to the man's aid.
He seemed no older than 25, and looked a bit worse for wear. She imagined he didn't look too hot before he crashed in to a fence. Not that he wasn't attractive, he just looked like he'd barely woken up.
"Sir? Um, can you hear me?" A cut on his head was bleeding. There was a nasty mark on his chin. She untangled his legs from the bike. They seemed okay at least. Bzzzzzzzzzzz. Bzzzzzzzzzzzz. His phone vibrated in his pocket. Should she answer it? No, she thought to herself. That would be weird. It stopped. Should she shake him awake? Oh my god what if he's got a spinal injury?! She looked frantically around her, desperate for the agents that were swarming the streets just 15 minutes prior. At least Shep was behaving. She had left her phone at her brother's apartment, and silently cursed her idiocy.
Bzzzzzz. Bzzzzzzzz. His phone persisted. She gave in and pulled out the vibrating device. HOTCH appeared on the screen, and she swiped to answer.
"Um, hi?" Lara squeaked. There was silence for 3 seconds.
"Who's this?" A stern male voice sounded from the phone. Lara gulped, she felt like she was in school again getting told off by a teacher.
"…Lara."
"Where is Dr. Reid?" He retorted immediately.
"Does Dr. Reid wear sweater vests and navy converse?" Lara questioned, eying the still unconscious man. Maybe she should hang up and call an ambulance.
"What- uh, yes? What's going on?" Hotch questioned. He did not like to be confused. Dr. Reid began to stir.
"Oh, oh! He's waking up!" Thank God.
"Waking up-? What-"
"He crashed his bike, and knocked himself out."
Beat. "Where are you, Lara?"
"I… I don't know. I'm not exactly a local. There aren't enough street signs around here." Dr. Reid's eyes fluttered open. "Sir, I'll get him to call you back in a second." Lara hung up the sound of 'Hotch' refusing.
"Owwwwwwww." The lanky Doctor's arm shot up to his head as he screwed his eyes shut against the intruding sunlight. Who was this girl?
"Dr. Reid, is it? Hey- hey?" His eyes flickered opened again. "My name is Lara. Oh God I am soooo sorry. Are you okay? How many fingers am I holding up?" Lara frantically held her hands out. He stared at her incredulously.
"It's fine, just a bump." He pulled his hand away from his head, and saw blood. "… and a scratch apparently."
"You could have a concussion!" The girl screeched as the man tried to stand on wobbly feet. Lara helped him up anyway.
"Did you know-" He swayed a bit before rising fully, "Bicycle incidents are the second most common cause of concussions. Behind sports injuries."
"…Is that supposed to reassure me?" She asked.
"I…I don't know." He looked thoughtful for a second before reaching for his bike. Lara was already collecting the scattered contents of his messenger bag. Mostly pennies, packets of sugar and yellow manila folders. Upon further inspection, she noticed a seal in the corner.
"You can't see that!" Dr. Reid snatched the folders from her hands, stuffing them in his bag.
"What, why?" She questioned, suspicious.
"Classified." He mumbled, looking at his watch before beginning to walk off with his things.
"Hey!" Lara quickly untied Shep before following him. "Was that… was that the Federal seal? Why do you have FBI files?" He stopped and fumbled in his pocket for a second, before procuring a black wallet with a shiny badge. His credentials.
"Oh…OH! I'm… I'm so sorry. I assumed you were a Doctor of Medicine." Lara apologized. He mumbled a quick, "It's fine." before continuing to walk briskly. Lara kept up. Shep, now seemingly worn out, was the one struggling to keep up this time.
"You know, if you're an FBI agent, shouldn't you be heading in the other direction?" Lara smiled. She wasn't familiar with the area, but she sure as hell knew headquarters was not this way. Reid halted, taking in his surroundings, before taking a prompt U-turn in the right direction. He smiled sheepishly at her.
"Oh, by the way, a guy called Hotch rung your phone whilst you were taking a nap on the sidewalk." Lara said, and Reid's eyes widened. He loosened his tie, and decided not to call him back. Hotch would insist on coming to pick him up, and then Reid would be forced to sit in the passenger seat like a misbehaving child.
"Oh, that was my Unit Chief. I'm really late. And I'm never late. I've been with the FBI for over 10 years and not once have I ever missed the morning briefing. Out of the 2836 work days I have logged I have only ever been late 3 times. That is less than one percent. Actually-"
"Wait, did you say that was your Unit chief? As in, also in the FBI?" Reid nodded. "Christ. I hung up on a federal agent." Dr. Reid chuckled. Lara handed him a tissue from her pocket. "Your head kind of looks like a bloody mess." His slender fingers prodded the wound. He winced.
"Might need a stitch or two." He saw Lara's concern. "Really, I've had worse. I was shot in the neck last year. And the arm before that. And the knee before that." The girl visibly paled. "Sorry I didn't mean to freak you out." The young agent apologized.
"No, it's just… my brother's in the academy. It's worrying to know what he'll be up against when he graduates." Sensing her discomfort, Reid changed the subject.
"So… is that your dog?"
"Oh, Shep? No, he's my brothers. I'm just visiting before I go back to Uni."
"What are you studying?"
"Psychology. I actually just got back from a year studying in Australia. I'm actually thinking of applying to the academy myself when I get my Bachelor's degree." Lara spilled, a bit embarrassed to be telling a stranger something she had yet to confess to her own brother. They continued their conversation, Dr. Reid offering sage advice to the young university student as they continued the trek to FBI headquarters. Eventually, they arrived. Reid was 43 minutes late. Neil, a red headed security guard offered to look after Shep until Lara returned, giving her a visitor's lanyard after Reid assured him he was with her. After over an hour of walking, Shep opted to curl up at Neil's feet and sleep.
"SPENCER REID!" A blonde woman with bright orange feathers in her hair shrieked as the pair walked in to the bullpen. She quickly enveloped him in a hug. "Oh, my poor Junior G man, what happened to you?! We'd just about sent out a search party." Spencer blushed tomato red. She quickly pulled out her phone and set out a mass text message:
The Doctor is in the house. I repeat, the Doctor is in the house (and might need one himself, ouch!) Return to home base.
"Garciaaa, was this entirely necessary?" Reid whined, leaning his bike against his desk.
"Yes!" She shrieked, "Even Hotch was worried. He claims a crazy lady told him you were in an accident and then hung up." Garcia then acknowledged Lara. "And who might you be?" She extended her arm in welcome.
"Um… the crazy lady? Although, I prefer Lara." Lara offered timidly shaking the heavily accessorized hand. Garcia balked.
"Oh! You- you don't look crazy. I mean, Hotch didn't exactly say you were crazy, but I kinda came to that conclusion myself when- Well, you're obviously not…" Garcia sighed and pulled the girl in to a hug. "Thank you for bringing him back safe." She whispered in to Lara's ear. It was obvious Dr. Reid was loved. Lara grinned and returned the hug. Reid cleared his throat.
"Well, glad we got all that cleared up. Coffee anyone?" Reid started towards the coffee machine.
"Hey, pretty boy's finally here." A booming voice accompanied by an equally booming looking dark skinned agent entered the bullpen, followed by two females and a dark haired man. Lara feared one of them was Hotch.
"Reid, glad you made it. Mind telling me exactly what happened?" The dark haired agent spoke. Lara noticed he had a definite air of superiority. Reid squirmed slightly and gave a detailed explanation.
"…and so I offered Lara a tour of the BAU since she mentioned her interest in joining the academy." He finished. Lara stared uneasily at the agent, who she had deducted was the Hotch that had called Reid earlier. She was afraid he was going to kick her out and yell at Reid for allowing an outsider in to the office of the elite FBI agents. Instead, he smiled.
"It's only fair. Go get your head fixed up, I hear agent Callahan is excellent at stitching. I'm sure Garcia and JJ would love to show Lara around." With that the brunette agent led Reid away after he offered Lara a reassuring grin. Hotch retreated to his office and JJ and Garcia began their tour.
It would be 10 years before Agent Lara Hart would walk those halls again, this time smiling fondly at her new Unit Chief Dr. Spencer Reid.