Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds and no copyright infringement is intended. I do however own the characters of my own creation.
A/N: Hi everybody! This story has ended up being much longer than I originally intended. Thanks to a suggestion by mablereid, I have broken it into three components, a trilogy if you will. Thanks again to mablereid for all the help.
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The red tail of Northwest Airlines' flight 1543 from Minneapolis waved in the sunlight as it descended through the white fluffy clouds over Calgary International Airport. The rain had been falling in sheets from the dark clouds that seemed to hang over Baltimore when Spencer Reid and Allie Graham had taken off four and a half hours ago but the sun had greeted them on their connection in Minneapolis and guided them westward to their destination. "We're here, we're finally here," Allie said, her brown eyes twinkled and her face lit up excitedly deepening the dimples in her cheeks as she squeezed Reid's hand.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but we've got a ways to go yet to get where we're going," her boyfriend replied. "After we get our luggage, it's about a two hour drive to Lake Louise."
"Oh, I know that but at least we're in Canada now, so we're close. I can hardly wait."
Reid smiled at his girlfriend. She was so excited about their trip since their last getaway together had not turned out the way she had hoped. Reid had vowed to himself that this time would be different. She would have the happy time she didn't get in Lancaster, he would see to it. The plane taxied to the gate as the stewardess gave the usual speech about passengers remaining in their seats until the seatbelt lights went out. He hoped Allie was listening because she looked like she was about to jump out of her seat at any moment.
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Reid groaned as he hefted the last of Allie's bags off the carousel onto the cart. "What the hell did you bring? How many bags do you need for six days," he asked?
"Well, I didn't know what I needed and I wanted to be ready for anything. And I had to bring all the stuff I bought from my shopping trips with the girls," she explained very seriously.
"Oh yeah, I saw all the bags from your shopping trips. Three times," he held up three fingers, "You had to go shopping three times," he looked confused.
"Honey, you're a man," she looked at him sadly. "Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that you are but you're never going to understand a woman's need for clothes and uh…" she pointed at the bag he had just lifted, "Shoes."
"Let's go rent a car Imelda," he said and she slapped him good naturedly on the shoulder.
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Once in possession of the keys to a Ford Focus, Reid and Allie headed for the car. "Wait," he said, stopping at a kiosk, "I want to change my money." He handed his American bills to the attendant and she returned the equivalent in Canadian currency.
"Here," Allie said, going through her purse, "Change mine too." Reid changed her money, thanked the attendant and handed the bills to Allie. She looked at the money and up at Reid. "This is real money, right," she asked.
"Of course, it's real money," he replied smiling.
"It's all different colors," she looked up at him and back at the money.
"Yes, I know, fives are blue, tens are purple, twenties are green, fifties are red and hundreds are brown," he informed her as they made their way to the car. "Wait till you see the ones and twos."
"You've been here before, haven't you," she said, looking at him questioningly.
"You mean Calgary or Canada," he asked weaving in and out of people with the luggage laden cart.
"Both," Allie replied.
"No, I've never been to Calgary but I've been to Canada a few times with Gideon. He's done a few seminars up here on profiling for the RCMP and CSIS. We did one in Ottawa, one in Montreal and one in Regina."
"CSIS," she shook her head in confusion.
"Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the Canadian equivalent to the CIA," he informed her.
"Canada has spies," she confirmed, raising her eyebrows in surprise.
"Shh… I don't think they want the rest of the world to know." They had arrived at the car and Reid loaded their luggage in, biting his tongue as the last of Allie's bags barely fit in the trunk. Allie threw her trench coat in the back seat revealing a flared navy skirt topped with a hip length white mock turtleneck with blue floral embroidery and a navy belt at the waist. Black boots covered her legs to the knee.
"So you've only been up here for work, then," Allie asked as Reid, clad in his usual beige and brown patterned shirt, brown tie, brown cord jacket and beige cords, sat in the driver's seat and looked at the map.
He started the vehicle and guided the car out into the Calgary streets heading for 16th Avenue North which would lead to the Trans Canada highway. "Well, I crewed as part of a regatta when I was in Harvard. My roommate was on the crew and two of the crewmen had been in a car accident and were hospitalized. He asked me if I'd fill in. I didn't have any sailing experience but he knew I could read all the information quickly and retain it. We went from Boston to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. The east coast is quite beautiful. Anyway, it was kind of fun. We came in second."
"Well," Allie said, running her fingers through his hair, "I've heard you guys know how to show a girl a good time sailor."
"Hold that thought," Reid replied. "I have to concentrate on my driving, especially in unfamiliar territory." Reid turned westward on 16th Avenue to the outskirts of the city and onto the Alberta blacktop denoted by a green number one inside a white maple leaf on a green background. They were now on the Trans Canada highway with white silhouettes of the Rocky Mountains visible on the horizon engulfed in white fluffy clouds.
"Six days," she exclaimed excitedly, leaning her head against the headrest and smiling. "Hotch won't be calling. Evan won't be needing you for something, although you know I love him. Nobody knows us here. You have no jurisdiction, pure bliss. I'll have to buy Hotch a nice bottle of wine or something. This is the best idea ever."
He glanced at the woman beside him, the joy etched on her face. He'd never had cause to think much about how his work would affect those who loved him, simply because, until recently, there hadn't been anybody to worry about. Now there was. He still had to pinch himself sometimes. Somebody loved him! The job had been the main cause of the breakup of Hotch and Haley's marriage and the unit chief had been so torn up about it, it had caused him to lose perspective during a custodial interview they'd had recently with a death row inmate. Reid decided he'd have to work very hard at both his job and his personal life to prevent that from happening to him and Allie. He was glad Hotch had suggested this. Allie was right there was nothing to get in the way of their plans. The next six days were for Allie.
The scenery began to change as they moved westward, the flat terrain became hilly and trees more abundant. The white silhouettes became grey on the horizon with only the peaks appearing white as the sun shone through the clouds. Then suddenly, as if by the wave of a wand, they were surrounded on three sides by mountains, trees climbing halfway up their grey rocky surface. The only white now was the snow that capped the jagged peaks. As the car ate up the miles to their destination, Reid filled Allie in on many of the things he knew about the province. The drive took them through Banff National Park and the couple became lost in the magnificent scenery and the wildlife. Once past Banff, it was a short sojourn to Lake Louise.
The hotel, The Chateau Lake Louise, was right on Lake Louise itself. Getting there required maneuvering up a very steep curvy mountain road. As they approached the hotel, Allie's jaw dropped at the beauty of the surroundings. The serene green water sat against the backdrop of Victoria Glacier. "Oh honey, it's absolutely breathtaking," she said as they exited the vehicle and headed for the hotel. Reid nodded in agreement. He opened the front door for Allie to precede him. She stopped dead in her tracks and Reid almost ran into her, "Oh my God!"
