The Crushed Veneer
***Edited*** A/N: So, this is my first fic that I've ever written, and I apologise in advance for bad/inexperienced writing. I'll just shut up now; I hope you like it and leave me a review, please! :) If this re-editing stint sends out a load of false updates (I honestly haven't a clue how that yoke works), then I'm sorry. The bitchy rants included in some of my A/N's just desperately needed to be wiped from the face of the internet. :P That will be all.
Song Recommendation: "Skinny Love" by Birdy.
Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds.
***IMPORTANT: None of the actual storyline in ANY chapter has been changed in re-edits.***
"There is an ache in my heart for the imagined beauty of a life I haven't had, from which I had been locked out, and it never goes away." - Robert Goolrick
Spencer Reid stared broodingly at the screen of his laptop, willing for the information before his eyes to manipulate itself into something more pleasing.
His bank balance had whittled down to the dangerously low value of seventeen dollars and forty three cents, and his mother's health care bills would have to be paid somehow.
His last card counting excursion to his hometown of Las Vegas had ended... badly, to say the least.
He had been lucky enough to escape being blacklisted from the casinos, but explaining his black eye and split lip to his ever maternal friend Penelope Garcia had been a scathing experience, nonetheless.
She had turned her quaking wrath upon his "babysitter" for the trip, the unfortunate Derek Morgan, profanities and imaginative threats spilling from her mouth at a dangerous rate.
The image of Derek paling under her tongue lashing almost brought a smile to Spencer's sculpted lips. Almost, but not quite.
As if on cue, Derek and Penelope appeared through the door of the coffee shop Spencer had been sitting in for the last two hours, finishing a psychology paper and worrying about the state of his finances.
The two were good naturedly arguing about the correct answer to a question on their media studies final exam, but broke off when they caught sight of Spencer.
Derek went to the counter to place his coffee order and flirt with the pretty barista. Upon Penelope's arrival at his table, Spencer closed his laptop and forced a smile.
"Howdy, boy genius! How are you this fine day?" Penelope's unflappable cheerfulness raised his flagging spirits.
"I'm fine, and you?" He mumbled in reply.
"Well, since you ask, I'm doing fantastic because I just got an A in my last final exam of my junior year of college, I have won a bet against the delectable Derek Morgan about what the final question on said test would be, and my chocolate Adonis now must buy my coffee for the next month." Penelope's cherry red lips parted into a mischievous grin as Derek arrived at the table with her coffee, tucking a napkin with the barista's name and number into the pocket of his Caltech hoodie.
"I'm still convinced your crazy computer hacking skills had something to do with your knowledge of the test." Derek cocked a sculpted eyebrow as he handed over the coffee, his voice holding an ironic undertone of amusement.
"I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about, Hot Stuff." Penelope bantered back with a saucy wink.
Derek turned his attention to Spencer, who had been observing the exchange in an uncharacteristic bout of silence.
"What about you, Pretty Boy, did your paper manage to teach the professor more about his own area of expertise, or was it subpar?"
Spencer merely fixed him with a look, waiting for Derek to realise how stupid his question was.
"Right, I should have known... So what are you guys doing now that summer and all its blissful connotations have arrived?" Derek glanced between his two best friends, awaiting their replies.
"I'll either have to think up an elaborate scheme with a high cash turnover, or get an honest job and work at it for the entire summer." Spencer answered with a sigh, grimacing at the thought of a mundane job stretching across the entire three months of freedom he and his fellow college students had been allotted.
When the boy's gazes turned towards her, Penelope merely grinned mischievously and said "All shall be revealed, but I can tell you my plans involve computer hacking and a rather hot member of Caltech faculty."
"Sounds like the kind of thing that could get you expelled. Count me in!" A new voice cut into the conversation, and three pairs of eyes looked up to see Emily Prentiss approaching their table.
The tall, raven haired beauty had already been suspended and put on probation in the four months she had been at Caltech, and scandalous (and often vicious) gossip had followed her everywhere ever since her transfer from NYU after winter break.
When asked about her holiday plans, Emily shrugged and gave a vague reply about backpacking in Europe.
The group's attention finally turned to Derek, whose eyes were shining with excitement, and he was all but bouncing in his seat.
"Well, as you know, I got my truck fixed last week, and now that I have it back, I'll be able to enter into the Billabong Surf Championship 2012. The winner gets $10,000 prize money, and a contract to be the face of Billabong for the next three years. Qualifiers were last weekend, and I placed first!" All three of Derek's companions made exclamations of delight and congratulated him, Penelope wrestling him into a giant bear hug.
Spencer had perked up at the sound of such a huge sum of money.
Despite never having surfed before in his life, his past brushes with unsavoury circles had taught him that where there's one fortune to be made, there's nearly always another hiding in the wings.
When his mind returned to the conversation going on around him, Penelope and Emily were bombarding Derek with questions about the surfing competition, to which Derek sheepishly replied that it was in three weeks in Puerto Escondido.
"Puerto Escondido in Mexico?" Emily asked incredulously.
"Yeah..." Derek confirmed.
"That's nearly a two thousand mile distance!" Penelope exclaimed.
"1,751.03, actually." Spencer corrected, his mind racing through equations.
"Starting from Pasadena, given that Derek's truck does twenty four miles to the gallon, it'll take roughly 73 gallons to make the journey, and with current gas prices at $3.95 per gallon, travel costs should amount to $288.35, assuming you sleep in the truck. With an average speed limit of 70 miles per hour, the entire trip should take just over 25 hours of constant driving, not allowing for any breaks." The group absorbed this information, accustomed to Spencer's tirades of facts and figures.
"I'll go to congratulate you when you win, but there is no way I'm travelling with you to get there." Emily suddenly spoke up. "I have to visit my mother in Washington DC first, but I'll meet you in Puerto Escondido a week before the competition. I'll even pick up Penny along the way."
"You guys don't have to-" Derek began to protest but was cut off.
"As the only person here who speaks Spanish, yes, I do have to come. Who else would stop you from offending the local police?" Emily spoke jokingly, but left absolutely no room for argument.
As the girls started to make arrangements about where and when they would meet when the time came to depart for Puerto Escondido, Spencer turned to Derek and casually declared that he would be accompanying him on his road trip.
"Pretty Boy, are you sure you want to spend that long with someone who has never even seen anything with the word 'Star` in the title?" Derek's tone was teasing, but Spencer knew he was dead serious.
"It is an absolute travesty that you have yet to able to appreciate the ingenuity of Star Wars and Star Trek, but I think I can put up with you on a road trip for a few days." Spencer teased back.
Only Derek and Penelope could induce such playfulness in him.
Derek grinned widely, his handsome face coming alive with the expression as he ruffled Spencer's hair.
The four again began chatting amiably about their upcoming trip to Mexico, and to an outsider taking the situation at face value, it seemed to be a group of four average, albeit unusually attractive, college students enjoying each other's company before they parted for the summer.
No stranger could have guessed the enormous secrets each member of the group kept from the others, or the repercussions of allowing such secrets to come to light.
A/N: Reviews, anyone? :D
