Hey everyone! I wasn't planning on updating this weekend, I'm in PA school and have two tests this week. But I got two reviews that made me smile so I hurried up and finished the tail end of this chapter to get it out to them! I really appreciate the reviews. And remember the more reviews I get the more likely I am to keep going. It helps my ego!
Well without further ado....
Chapter Three:
"You can set up here." Amy motioned to Reid as she began clearing her table.
Reid watched her flutter around in mild fascination. She was a constant contradiction. She was tough and refused to comply with recommendations of relocations. She was kind and sent Officer Smith home with enough cookies for him and his two boys, making sure to remind him of a Disney movie premiere that night. Even her home was in total contrast. Her bookshelf was full of medical and profiling books, but all of her other items were bright and superficial, similar to the objects Garcia filled her office with.
"I don't need the whole table." Reid spoke up, nervously pushing his hair behind his ear. "You are welcome to stay and study."
She shot him a grateful smile and he mentally patted himself on the back. Smooth move, Genius. The table showed chronic use, and the book shelf next to the table was full of school supplies. It was obvious to see that she preferred studying out here. Profiling sometimes came in handy.
"Would it be okay to hang a map on your wall? Maybe with push pins?" Reid stuttered as he followed her to her bookcase.
"Holes in the wall? Now you, Dr. Reid, are speaking crazy talk. Do you know how much of my security deposit I would lose if I put holes in the walls whenever I felt like it?"
"Actually, statistically landlords do not normally penalize for minor wear and tear such as nail holes. Also, push pin holes are usually able to be superficially fixed by using normal house hold items, like toothpaste or white out." Reid pushed his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels as the facts ran comfortably off his tongue.
He watched her pick up the thumb tacks and turn to face him, a giant smile on her face. "You really don't know how to take a joke do you, Dr. Reid?"
Reid swallowed audibly. He always seemed to miss jokes. JJ said his brain was too literal for them. "You don't have to call me Dr. Reid." He finally said, taking the tacks from her. It was weird to have someone his age bracket address him like a supervisor. Normally it didn't bother him, but with Amy it did.
"What should I call you?" She asked. Her head cocked to the side as she considered the idea.
"Everyone calls me Reid. Or Spencer. Or Spence, even. Though only JJ calls me that." He fumbled his words as she helped him hang the map on the wall.
"Spencer Reid? I think I can handle that. So, Spencer Reid, you are going to do a geographic profile?" She asked.
"Yeah. It will possibly help us locate the unsub by seeing where he strikes. It is likely that he kills close to home or work where he is more comfortable."
"Spencer. I did go to school at Quantico. I not only know what a geographical profile is but how to do one."
"You better know how to do a geographic profile." Morgan laughed as he came back from the kitchen carrying another handful of cookies. "I told you Reid. This girl is going to give you a run for your money. She was first in her class the whole time she was at Quantico."
"Keep speaking lies Morgan and I will take away your cookies."
"Oh. I'm shaking." Morgan laughed as he held the cookies high out of her reach. "You were top of your class in academics, not hand to hand."
"Shut up." Amy laughed sticking her tongue out at Morgan. Reid watched with easy jealous. It wasn't hard to see that the two had a history, even if it was strictly student teacher, or more likely brother sister.
"Well, I'll let you get back to your geographical profile, Spencer." Reid watched Morgan's eyebrows lift in question. They both knew he never let victims or families call him by his first name. Professionalism was his way of keeping respect when his obvious youth took it away. "And I'll get back to doing what I do best," Amy continued, "drugs."
"Excuse me?" Morgan questioned as she moved back towards the table. "I know I taught you better than that."
"Pharmacology." Reid supplied without looking away from the map. He could feel Amy's confused eyes on him. "I saw your notes earlier. You are working on opiates now although you were struggling through it. Too many hesitation marks with the highlighting. Though, you picked pink to try to brighten your mood. It didn't work."
Reid was surprised when a hand on his shoulder whipped him around and put him face to face with Amy. Well more like face to the top of the head with her being so much shorter than him. He had to admit, he enjoyed the view.
"How about I make you a deal?" She said and he watched her put her arms on her hips and spread her legs apart in a fighting stance. He instantly understood why she wouldn't be too intimidating in hand to hand. She was trying to look formidable but she just looked like a petulant teenager ready to argue curfew times. He tried to keep his grin in check and he could see Morgan attempting the same. "You don't profile me and I won't profile you, okay Dr. Reid? I know I'm the victim in your normal case scenario but I am not a victim and I am sure as hell not an unsub. Treat me like either of those and you will regret it. So stop profiling me and try working on your geographic profile."
Reid held his hands up in front of him in a pacifying stance as she turned back around and sat at the table.
"Yeah, Dr. Reid." Morgan laughed emphasizing the Doctor part. "Just work on your geographic profile."
"Shut up Morgan or you both will be on cookie restriction." Amy commanded without looking up from her paper.
Morgan just laughed and took a seat on her couch, flipping through the police files.
Reid pulled away from the geographic profile a few hours later with no real answers. The unsub wasn't sticking to a certain place. The prostitutes had no geographical relation to Amy that he could find. He sighed and rubbed his eyes pushing his hair out of his face as he did so.
"Here." He turned in shock to see Amy standing next to him holding a cup of coffee. She looked more comfortable than earlier. She had kicked her shoes off and put a school sweat shirt on over her more professional looking blouse. "I put two big spoons of sugar in it, that way if you didn't want it I can drink it."
"Actually that is perfect." Reid gave her a hesitant smile as he took the coffee from her.
"I guess my evil plan back fired and I'm going to have to make myself a cup of coffee." Amy smiled widely, before taking a deep breath and squaring her shoulders. Reid noticed the change instantly and turned his body towards hers, giving her his full attention. "I just wanted to tell you I am sorry for how I reacted earlier. My nerves have been frayed for the last couple of days and you just happened to step on the last one. I'm trying very hard not to let all of this effect me and, well, you saw that it was. I took it out on you and I'm sorry."
Reid watched her. She spit the excuses out but took her time on the actual apology. His brain easily picked up on the changes in her speech pattern. She meant her apology but hadn't enjoyed rationalizing it. She didn't want to appear weak, or like she was giving an excuse for bad behavior. He took a sip of the coffee and smiled. It was perfect.
"You don't have to apologize." Reid assured her, noticing her instant relief. "No one expects you to keep all of your emotions under control. You have been through a lot the last couple of days. We are all impressed with how you are handling all of this." He watched the smile grow on her face.
"So, Spencer Reid, how much of your profile talent was used to give me that answer?"
"Oh, just about all of it." Reid answered easily his checks coloring a slight pink when he gave an embarrassed smile.
"Good to know. So how is this profile coming?" She looked over at the map that covered a decent portion of her wall.
"Not that great actually. I can't see to find a relationship geographically between the murder victims and you. How about pharmacology?"
"Well, I've made notecards for all the information."
"That's good." Reid praised. The amount of pages she had gone through in the past few hours was impressive. Morgan wasn't kidding. She may not be a genius but she was smart, and very driven.
"Yeah now I just have to learn it." Reid watched her make a long suffering face. "Well, I better make my coffee and get back to work."
Reid nodded and watched her retreat back to the kitchen. He moved towards the table where the files he needed were, but hesitated. He needed to sit down and go over the information but didn't want to crowd her work space. He noticed the seat across from her had a large portion of space cleared and the files placed there.
"They're the ones I finished reading. I'm sure Amy would share her space with you." Morgan pipped up from the couch where he had made the living room his own work space.
Reid wasn't surprised to look up and see Morgan grinning. The man could find the quickest ways to make him feel uncomfortable. It's like he as a sixth sense. How can we make Reid squirm today? Reid shot him an annoyed look but took the seat anyway. He was half way through the file when Amy came back and sat down across from him. He looked up to see her smiling at him before they both started back on their work. Yup. Morgan knew how to make him squirm.
