Chapter 2
The next few chapters are based off of the Criminal Minds episode Minimal Loss. I have altered some of the scenes to incorporate Scarlett's character. All original dialogue etc. is the property and exclusive right of the brilliant CM writers, as always.
Scarlett tossed her suitcase onto the hotel bed and began unpacking. She listened closely to the hallway until she heard the door to the room next to hers open and closed, knowing that Spencer had checked in right behind her and had requested the adjoining room. She grinned as she heard his knock at the interior door that connected the two rooms and crossed over to answer it.
Reid saw her smirk as she pulled the door open.
"I still think it's sort of ridiculous for the state to pay for two rooms," he rolled his eyes as he entered.
"It's all with keeping up appearances, sweetie," she told him. "They couldn't expect us to share a room."
"If I was here with Morgan they would have," he pointed out. She just raised a brow at his comment.
"Okay, I know, you are right," he shrugged. "As long as I'm still sleeping with you tonight," he wrinkled his nose at her.
Scarlett pulled his hand, tugging him along behind her. "Don't worry, boy- you're still with me," she laughed, falling backwards on the bed and pulling him down on top of her.
Reid caught himself with his arms, leaning above her instead of landing on her. "Careful, crazy girl. I'm going to squash you…"
Scarlett shook her head and grinned. "You are suddenly opposed to being on top?" she teased.
He kissed her nose, sliding her back onto the bed until he was covering her. "Not hardly," he corrected, catching her behind the knees. "But I don't need to land on you," he stated. Spencer brushed light kisses across her jaw, rubbing his cheek against hers.
"Everything is set with Nancy for tomorrow morning, right?" he asked her.
"Right, seven sharp she'll be here to pick us up," she told him. "You have your cover memorized?" she asked him, stretching a little to reach his neck with a light nip.
"Yeah- it's pretty straightforward. I've worked with Nancy in the department for four years… specializing in cases within group settings and organizations…" he stated.
"Good. And I?"
"Worked out of Denver… Child Victim Advocate. You've transferred in and it's your first case with Nancy directly."
"Got it. That'll make it easier if Nancy trips up and says anything to me that makes the sect leaders suspicious as to why she doesn't know me as well as she should…"
"And if she doesn't know me?"
"Deflect. Push it off as she dismisses you- as a male working with sexual assault victims, it wouldn't be unusual for you to be pushed away…"
"Really?" he asked, looking down at her. "Is that true?"
Spencer remembered she had worked in the sex crimes division for a few years while in Chicago.
"Were there many men in your team in Chicago?"
"There were, since my team included vice… but when it came to interviewing victims, especially children, the job seemed to fall onto the female cops. I think it made the victim's more comfortable most of the time too…" she shrugged.
"Let's go get dinner," she patted his ass, moving him off the top of her. "Then we can lock ourselves in for the night," she winked.
"Right," he rolled his eyes. "Game face in public," he sighed, looking down at his empty finger where his wedding band usually sat.
Scarlett had insisted they leave their rings behind, despite his protest, since they matched and could blow their cover. Spencer drew the line at leaving the pocket watch, though, since it couldn't be outwardly connected between them. He reached inside his pocket, touching it now. He knew she still wore her locket, too, well concealed under her shirt.
"Hey," she touched his hand, running her fingers over the empty spot. "It's only temporary, lover…" she reminded him.
"I know…" he shrugged. "I just didn't realize it would bother me so much," he scowled, reaching over to touch her empty fingers also. "It does though…"
Scarlett touched his cheek gently, bringing his lips to hers. "We'll be home in no time," she stated softy. "And it'll all be back to normal."
He lowered his forehead to hers, bumping it lightly. "Why don't we just order in separate room service for dinner? That way I can have you all to myself until tomorrow…"
She grinned, biting his lip with a quick nip. "I think you can talk me into that, farm boy," she offered, giving him a bump back with her hip. He met her lips again, working on 'talking' her into it for the next hour…
Early the next morning, Spencer sat in the backseat of a standard issue government sedan, leaning forward between the Colorado State agent and Scarlett. He found it easier to keep his 'game face' on while talking about the case… since he'd already screwed up twice this morning over breakfast in front of Nancy.
The first time was when he'd begun to start an argument with Scarlett about not eating and the second was when he'd forgotten himself and reached over to fix her hair, pulling it out from under the collar of her jacket as they were leaving.
Lunde must have thought he had some sort of a ridiculous crush on his superior, since that was Scarlett's position on this case.
Either way, it embarrassed him totally, although Scarlett had covered for him quickly, thinking on her feet and giving him a hard stare both times. He felt his ears burn slightly just thinking about it.
He hadn't realized how hard it would be to maintain the image of a non-personal relationship, or that his daily interactions involved so much of Scarlett. He actually found himself tucking his hands into his pockets several times instead of reaching out to touch her.
Scarlett saw Reid scowling slightly out of the corner of her eye as he leaned forward between the seats to ask some more questions about the case.
"What more can you tell us about the 911 call?" he asked Nancy as he scanned through the case file she had given to them.
"Um, I believe that the 'he' that they refer to is the leader of the church, Benjamin Cyrus," she told him.
"Benjamin Cyrus…" he flipped through some pages. "No criminal record… no record at all really," Reid scowled over the lack of information. "What else do you know about him?"
"It's rumored he's practicing polygamy and forced marriages," the woman told him.
"Any ideas about who the caller is?" Scarlett asked.
"Umm, Jessica Evanson is the one that the age fits- but we can't be sure, so I negotiated interviews with all the children…" Nancy stated. She caught Scarlett's eyes. "It wasn't easy…" she said with a shake of her head.
"Well, considering their feelings towards outsiders, it would be best if you don't identify us as FBI," Scarlett told her, passing her credentials and her weapon back to Reid. He looked down at the gun, not liking the idea of her being unarmed.
"Are you keeping your secondary on you?" he asked, receiving a questioning stare from Lunde.
Crap, he chastised himself once again. He turned his eyes toward Scarlett, giving her an apologetic look.
"No," Scarlett answered easily, removing the entire ankle holster and handing it back to him to also store under the seat. "They'll probably pat us down, and they may wonder why I'd be armed to talk to children. Better to keep it easy…"
"Just use our real names, and refer to us as Child Victim Interview Experts," she told Nancy, looking over their falsified credentials from JJ, handing Reid's back to him.
Spencer looked his over, sitting back further in the seat, exchanging the identification with the ones currently in his wallet. He slipped his revolver and real id's into the lock box under the seat with Scarlett's. Watching out the window of the vehicle as they pulled into the secured encampment, Reid took in the layout of the grounds, knowing Scarlett would be doing the same.
When they finally pulled up in front of the church and school building, they followed Agent Lunde over to the stairs where a man was lounging alongside a sign, reading a book.
"We are looking for Benjamin Cyrus," Nancy called out to the man.
"You've found him," the man responded, still not looking up.
"I'm Nancy Lunde," she introduced herself to the man as he finally stood to look at her. "We spoke on the phone, regarding the allegation?"
"Savages they call us, because our manners are different from theirs…" Cyrus told them as he walked forward to meet them.
"We didn't come here to hear you cite scripture," Nancy told him, stiffening a bit with attitude.
"Actually, it's Benjamin Franklin…" Spencer corrected her as he walked up behind her. She fixed him with a scathing glance over her shoulder and Spencer blushed.
Crap… he thought again, lowering his eyes from her glare.
"Scarlett Ryan and Spencer Reid…" Nancy introduced them to Cyrus. "They are Child Victim Interview Experts…"
"How far from God's Word must we have strayed for there to be a need to invent a job titled 'Child Victim Interview Experts'," he asked, looking between Scarlett and Spencer. When Cyrus kept his eyes locked on Reid, Scarlett noticed immediately. She watched him sum up and judge Spencer within moments, and wondered about what conclusion he'd come to…
She met his gaze when it travelled to her, nodding her head in agreement.
"We wish we didn't have to be here," Scarlett told him.
"So do we. But you are welcome here, nonetheless," he told her, keeping his gaze leveled with hers now. Scarlett didn't break the contact and she saw his eyes flare slightly as if challenged. Rather than risk her cover, she looked away.
Reid noticed the push and when Scarlett looked away, he understood why. Cyrus wouldn't expect a challenge from a case worker… especially a woman. He started profiling the man in his head, taking mental notes to be able to stay ahead of him. He filtered it between what he knew about cult leaders in general in absence of any real information on Cyrus himself. Narcissistic, usually leaning towards sociopathic tendencies, gregarious with the ability to manipulate people… he thought.
"The children are in the school as I had indicated," he said to Nancy, pointing up the stairs.
"Thank you," Scarlett said, following Nancy up past him into the school.
Reid stayed back a bit, looking at the encampment behind Benjamin.
"You're using solar power?" Spencer asked.
"Yes, we are completely self-sufficient," Cyrus answered. "Electricity, food, water… Ben Franklin said 'God helps those that help themselves'… You seem surprised," he looked Reid over, studying him.
"Uh, no- impressed, actually," Spencer said honestly.
Cyrus was taken back by that. "Thank you," he said.
"For what?" Reid looked confused.
"For admitting that…" Benjamin moved towards the school, indicating for Reid to follow Nancy and Scarlett. He left them at the doors.
Scarlett called for Jessica Evanson and her mother first, since Lunde had mentioned that she'd fit the age basis the most closely. Nancy took one of the other children to another part of the classroom to speak with them, while Spencer stayed at Scarlett's side, observing.
The girl sat stiffly before them, hands folded and face masked.
"We go to school, do our chores and treat ourselves and each other with the respect that God demands," she looked into Scarlett's eyes, her face held a look of self-righteousness that could only be achieved by a teenaged girl. Scarlett resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the rhetoric the child was spewing.
"But you have never been off the ranch?" Scarlett asked.
"I brought Jessie here when she was just two…" her mother, Kathy spoke.
"You talk to lots of children in your work," Jessica mentioned to Scarlett. "Tell me; are their lives somehow better than ours?"
"We are devoted to God, but that doesn't mean we aren't devoted to our children…" Jessie's mother said, standing protectively beside her.
"We are not here because of your religious beliefs," Scarlett assured the woman.
"Why are you here?" Jessie asked her.
Scarlett spoke to the girl directly, meeting her eyes and watching for her reaction.
"We received a phone call, alleging that an adult male member of your church was having inappropriate relations with the younger women here…" she said gently.
"You're talking about Cyrus," the young girl stated.
"Why would you say that?" Scarlett asked. She hadn't expected information to be so forthcoming. She felt Reid stiffen as he stood at her side watching the girl.
"Jessie," her mother touched her shoulder. "Stop…hush…"
"Is it inappropriate for a husband to share a bed with his wife?" the little girl gave Scarlett a haughty look.
Reid narrowed his gaze and swallowed against the lump in his throat. The situation was sounding worse by the moment. He looked at the girl, then back at Scarlett. Her face was impassive; she showed no shock or censure towards the girl's words, making it difficult for him to read her face.
"You are married to Cyrus," Scarlett said evenly, not wanting to upset the child.
The young girl nodded her head. "Yes," she lifted her chin defiantly. "Cyrus is my husband, and a prophet. It is an honor to bear his children…"
Scarlett caught the tenseness in Reid's voice as he spoke to the little girl.
"Jessica, you are fifteen years old. The state of Colorado requires parental consent…"
Scarlett watched Kathy's face and a frown marred her brow. "She gave consent," she told Reid flatly, meeting his eyes.
Now he could hear the censure and he held his breath, hoping Scarlett would control her rising anger.