Sequel to Journey of Deliverance

CM

(Reid/OriginalCharacter Grace O'Halloran)

Author note: Not overly familiar with the US legal system, I'm taking the liberty of allowing the defendants to appear via video uplink like they can here in Canada and basing the court scenes on my experiences with US television. All mistakes are my own.

A big huge thank you to my conscience and support, Aut, giving it her all and putting up with my Canadian spelling; and to Droogie for nursing and character input.

Criminal Minds belongs to CBS/ABCStudios/MarkGordon etc etc. I'm just borrowing their premise and their characters.

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"Trust is the glue of life. It's the most essential ingredient in effective communication. It's the foundational principle that holds all relationships."-Stephen Covey

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'Landing in about half an hour. Are you up for a visitor tonight?' Grace O'Halloran read the text message and hastily stuck her cell phone back into her pocket as she moved into the first floor linen room and collected some towels from one of the shelves. Taking the phone out of her pocket, she typed in a quick reply, 'At work 'til 10,' before shoving the device back into her scrubs.

She grabbed a basin and soap and made her way back to the patient's room and set up a sponge bath for the first of four on her list tonight. An hour later, she emptied and washed out the basin and walked into the last patient room. Diana Reid was sitting up in her bed, her precious scrapbook in her hands and she was leafing through its pages when Grace opened the door.

"Hi, Diana, how are you tonight?" Grace greeted her, as she set the fresh towels down on Diana's little table and proceeded to the tiny en suite bathroom with the basin.

"Are you setting up a sponge bath for me, Grace?" Diana called.

Grace poked her head out the door and asked, "Is that okay?"

"I'd really rather take a shower tonight, Grace. I need to wash my hair."

"Oh, okay then," Grace agreed and set the basin down, picking up the towels instead. She handed them to Diana, a silent signal that it was time to take the shower and Diana complied immediately.

"You all right by yourself, Diana, or will you want me to help you?"

"I'm okay," the older woman confirmed. She made her way into the bathroom by herself and Grace sat down to wait for her. Sitting on the countertop that spanned the length of the room's outside window, were several potted plant and floral arrangements. Spencer had brought them by to brighten his mother's room. Seeing them reminded Grace that she had purchased items for Diana and silently she admonished herself for forgetting to bring them. After thinking about it for a moment, it occurred to Grace that she hadn't seen those items in ages. She wracked her brain trying to think of where she'd left them and it finally dawned on her that the last time she'd seen the stuffed animals and the picture frame was on that day she'd dumped the shopping bag on the living room armchair upon hearing that Diana was missing from the safe house. That was almost a month ago! She said out loud.

She took her cell phone out of her pocket to set herself a reminder to ask Spencer if her shopping bag had been taken to his apartment when they'd cleared the safe house and saw she'd received two more texts, 'Will be there at 2201!' and time stamped fifteen minutes after the first one, 'um, if that's ok?'

Grace laughed and quickly replied 'cannot wait to see you! You're coming here?'

She put away the phone when she heard the shower was no longer running and rose to see if Diana needed any help.

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Spencer Reid closed the book he'd been reading, sat back in his seat and looked out the jet window into the clouds. The team had successfully profiled a serial killer in their latest case and Reid had been instrumental in determining their unsub's trigger and motive, ultimately leading to his capture and the rescue of the young woman who would have become his fifth victim. Reid glanced around; JJ was on her cellphone likely talking to her husband, Rossi and Lewis were sleeping, Prentiss was engrossed in the endless paperwork that plagued her position as Unit Chief, and near the front of the plane, and Alvez and Simmons were playing cards. He heard the vibration of his iPhone, sitting on the table in front of him and he picked it up to read the incoming text.

Smiling as he saw the message from Grace, Spencer quickly keyed a reply: 'Is that inconvenient?' then set the phone back down and reflected on the past few weeks. He'd been seeing Grace for a month now, often meeting for dinner or coffee after she got off work. They'd gone to several movies together, and visited art galleries and museums. He laughed as he remembered that she'd picked him up at the airport after his first case back in the field since his incarceration; a move that had raised six pairs of eyebrows as his teammates deplaned. He'd been greeted by a somewhat restrained hug and his smile widened as he thought about how the team would've reacted had they seen the unbridled affection she'd lavished upon him later that evening in the privacy of her apartment.

He reached up to his neck to loosen his tie, suddenly feeling very warm as he recalled the events of that particular evening. It was the first time he and Grace had indulged in anything more than chaste kisses. Although they hadn't yet consummated their relationship, Spencer found himself blushing at the memory of Grace undoing his tie and his shirt and divesting him of those articles. Her fingers had trailed fire along his chest and he realised he was now on the verge of hyperventilating just thinking about it. He exhaled quickly and returned his thoughts to the case, extinguishing any flame of passion the memories of that night had ignited. Looking up, he noticed Emily had been watching him and quickly glanced away when he made eye contact.

His phone vibrated again and he snatched it up to check it. 'Never! I have my car work today though'.

Quickly he assured her, 'I'll take the Metro and meet you there,' set the phone back down, grabbed his book and started reading again.

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Spencer closed the door after peeking in at his mother who slept soundly in her bed. It was just before ten p.m. and he wasn't surprised that she was already asleep. Quietly, he walked back down to the nurses' station and spoke to Iris for a few minutes. Grace was apparently in another area of the home with her assigned patients for the evening and Iris assured Reid that she wouldn't be much longer. Every resident except Albert was usually in bed long before ten p.m. and Albert could generally be found in the TV room if he was having one of his late nights. Such was the case this evening and Albert was now awaiting the news on TV, Grace was sitting next to him. One of the night nurses, a particular favourite of Albert's named LaMarr, was on duty and his arrival was greeted with great enthusiasm.

"Well, I guess I know where I'm not wanted," Grace teased, rising from the chair to give it up to LaMarr.

"Now don't be like that, Missy," Albert admonished. "You've been talking all day about how that man of yours is back tonight!"

His voice carried out to the hallway where Spencer stood with Iris who broke into laughter. Reid look questioningly at her as Iris tried to stifle her laugh.

"I'm sorry Dr. Reid, but Albert's right. Grace lights up like a Christmas tree when your name is mentioned." Reid was looking her in the eye as she spoke and he noticed that Iris' eyes were focused on something behind him as she continued, "In fact, it's darn embarrassing sometimes, how she carries on."

"Iris Mulligan! Shut UP!" sounded from behind Reid and he broke into a wide grin as he recognised her voice. Pivoting, he turned and met Grace's eyes, immediately drawing her into his arms.

"Missed you!" he promised as he buried his face into her hair, breathing deeply to reacquaint himself with her scent before kissing the top of her head.

"I missed you too," she answered, sliding her hands up his arms until she reached his neck and drew his face down to her level to kiss him softly.

"Oh, pulllll-llllease," Iris crowed and made a gagging sound.

"You're just jealous," Grace shot back as they broke off the kiss and turned to leave, arm in arm.

"You're not wrong!" Iris crooned back at her.

Grace hissed at her, and Iris laughed again, "Have fun, kids!"

Shaking her head, Grace bit back a laugh, opened a door and led Spencer down a set of stairs to the employee parking level.

"Are you hungry? Have you had dinner yet?" he asked her, knowing full well the answer was going to be 'no'. She confirmed that, and he suggested they grab a pizza as she pulled out of the parking lot. She nodded and asked him how his case had been as they began the two-mile drive down the DC city street towards her apartment building.

"Oh," he started, biting his lip, "Can we not talk about my work today? Please, Grace? I'd rather talk about you."

She signaled and pulled into a parking spot in front of the pizza shop.

"Okay then, what should we get on the pizza?" she asked.

"Whatever you like," he said, taking her hand as they entered the restaurant. "Let's see. Pepperoni, onions, mushrooms, banana peppers, and black and green olives," he recalled from memory.

Grace smiled, touched that he'd remember her favourites. "Oh, let's go without the onions this time though," she requested.

His brow furrowed but he placed the order and without onions as she'd asked.

"Can we get that to go, please?" Grace asked the pizza shop employee. To Spencer she added, "I'd really rather take it home, I have wine at home to go with it."

"Of course," he nodded. After he paid for it, they sat in the waiting area while the pizza was prepared and Grace told him about his mother's day and remembered her earlier thought.

"Spence, is there a small bag from Macy's at your apartment? One that Anderson might have brought over when they cleared the safe house?"

He concentrated for a moment; mentally going over the current layout of his living room and remembering where everything was situated but nothing out of place came to mind. "Honestly Grace, I can't recall anything, but I haven't been home much since I was reinstated. We've had back-to-back cases, and you and I have spent a lot of time together. I've literally only been home to sleep." He paused for a moment and continued, "You're working Sunday this weekend, aren't you?"

She nodded.

"I'm taking Henry and Michael to the park Sunday morning, but I'll check around the apartment later for it later."

Half an hour later, they arrived at Grace's apartment. It was after eleven as she unlocked her door and Spencer followed her in, carrying their dinner.

She directed him to the living room, where he set the pizza box down on the coffee table as Grace hurried to her bedroom to change out of her scrubs and into a pair of comfortable jeans and a rose coloured sweater. She moved to the kitchen to get napkins, wine glasses and a bottle of Italian red wine then returned to the living room. As she poured them each a glassful of wine, Spencer opened the pizza box and served her the first slice on a napkin. They ate in companionable silence for several minutes, sipped wine and cuddled on the sofa.

A short time later, after Spencer had carried on a one-sided discussion about red versus white wine for several moments, he realised Grace hadn't contributed to the conversation about one of her favourite topics. He moved to set down his wine glass and discovered that Grace had fallen asleep; her head nestled against his chest.

Tenderly, he picked her up and carried her into her bedroom. He laid her down on the bed carefully, covered her with her quilt and tiptoed back out to the living room, thinking about how much he'd liked to carry her into the bedroom for another reason.

"Someday," he vowed, smiling at the prospect of sharing a bed and that most intimate of human moments with her. For now, he acknowledged silently, he'd settle for just being with her.

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