Title: The Fine Line Betwixt Good and Evil (Part 6)
Author: Trista Groulx
Rating: T (same as the show)
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. Pitty. They belong to their creator, network and the writer, actors and actresses who bring them to life each week. I will return most of them unharmed.
Summary: An unsub is killing men who have gotten off on rape charges. Reid needs his mommy after finding out what happened.
Notes: What happened to the baby happened to a woman I know, it's horrible, but true. I am glad there are some people enjoying this and leaving me a bone here and there. It's been a hard fic to write.
Reid looked down at the file Garcia had sent him in disbelief. Elle had given birth to a still born baby boy. She hadn't lied about anything. He read the cause of death, the umbilical cord had detached. He wiped his tears thinking of Elle being all alone in a hospital room giving birth to a child that she knew was already dead. He wished he had known how to findher, so that he could have been there for her.
His phone rang and he jumped two feet he was so startled. He picked it up, knowing that it was probably Garcia. He could use some cheering up after the blow he had just been given. He knew she would be able get his mind off of everything even it was only for a few minutes.
"I'm sorry Reid. I thought you needed to know the truth," said Garcia. "I didn't send the rest of them that information."
"Thank you. I'm glad I know the truth. I just feel so guilty. She had to go through that alone."
"She chose to go through it alone. She could have found you, but she didn't. You couldn't have done anything to help her."
"I could have gotten you to find her."
"She doesn't want us to find her," Garcia assured him. "Trust me I've tried a few times. I wonder though-"
"What are you thinking?"
"Trust me Reid. You do not want to know what I am thinking about how she is hiding right now. Not after what you just found out. Go see your mother. She'll help you with this I know it."
As she spoke she began to type in a name on her screen. Sure enough by searching the name Elle Reid she was able to find out what her former co-worker had been doing the last few years. Reid had been right about her living in Seattle again. She sent the information that she had found to the rest of the team. She knew it would upset Reid if she told him the truth.
"You're a good friend," he told her.
"I try. You know I love you right?"
He smiled a little. "I think I needed to hear that."
"I know you did, that's why I said it. I really dropped a bomb on you, and I'm sorry for that."
"I needed to know the truth about what happened. It was eating me up wondering if one day a kid would come find me and ask me why I was never in his or her life."
"I think I might have forgotten to send you a part of what I found."
"More bad news?" sighed Reid.
"No, I saved you the good news. I wanted to tell you myself. I got the information about where the baby is buried. So you can visit him."
"I'm not sure when I'll be ready, but I think I want to go. Would you come with me the first time?"
"Of course I will. You'll never believe what she named him."
"Please just tell me. No games," begged Reid. "Today has already been hell."
"Spencer Greenaway. She named him after you. When you visit him you'll know his name."
"Wow. I guess she really did love me at some point."
Garcia knew from what she had just found that Elle had. "She did, and maybe somewhere in there she still does. We don't know what else happened or what is happening in her head for her to do this."
"Either way she isn't the same person we used to know. She's not the woman I thought I loved. This is a lot to swallow. First she's our unsub, then all this about the baby. I don't even know how to start to get over this."
"I know, and we'll all be there for you when you get back."
"Thank you. I'm almost at the front of the line. I'll call if I need anything else."
Reid was soon on a plane on his way to see his mother. He had brought a few books with him to read on the plane ride. He pulled the first one out, but found that he was having trouble concentrating. He had too much on his mind. He just hoped that his mother was well enough to see him, and would be able help him somehow.
He was surprised when the plane landed, but was also relieved. He had been spoiled from travelling with the team, and having to sit in cramped seats with strangers made him uncomfortable. The woman next to him kept trying to talk to him, but his mind was elsewhere, and she thankfully caught someone else's ear.
He got his bags, and then went to rent a car. It took him almost no time to get Bennington Sanitarium where his mother lived. He was glad. He just hoped that she was in a state to actually have visitors. He knew he should have called ahead, but after what had happened there was a part of him that needed his mother. He walked into the building, and the doctors and nurses greeted him.
"Spencer, this is a surprise," a young woman said smiling at him. Reid had hired her to read to his mother a few times a week. "You usually call us before you come to visit."
"I know, something came up," he explained. "Do you know how she's doing?"
"She's doing really well actually. You were right about reading to her, she loves it. She talks about you all the time. She's going to be so thrilled you came."
"I'm sure. I wish it was under better circumstances. Thank you for doing this for us Sophia."
"I love visiting with her. When she is having a good day she has so much to say, and so much to teach. It's pretty cool. Mind if I go with you, maybe tell her I have a surprise for her?"
"Sure. I think she'd like that."
Sophia had lived next door to them when he was growing up. They had drifted apart mostly because of the way he was able to speed through school. When he had put out the ad for someone to read to his mother she had replied, and he remembered the name. He knew that having someone familiar would help his mother, and he liked getting to know her again. The two of them walked together to Diana Reid's room.
"Missus Reid I have a surprise for you," Sophia said smiling.
"Please tell me it's not another soon to be classic," said Diana.
She laughed. "No, I'll stick with the stuff you like from now on. Don't worry, come in."
"Spencer!" Diana exclaimed as Reid came into the room, a huge smile on her face.
"Hi Mom," said Reid. "How are you feeling today?"
"Good, even better now that I get to see you. This is a very nice surprise."
He went over and gave her a hug, and he began to cry. Sophia excused herself silently. She wanted to help her old friend, but knew that he needed his mother then. Diana hugged her son tightly, letting him cry. She smoothed his hair like she did when he was younger.
"Spencer you need a hair cut," she said.
Reid couldn't help but smile a little. "I've been busy Mom. I would have done it before I came here, but I kind of. I just needed to see you."
"What's going on?"
"Do you remember me telling you about Elle Greenaway?"
"Yes, the young woman you used to work with? She left after she had to shoot a man in self defence."
"That would be her. We found out today she might be killing the rapists that she caught and got away."
"So why aren't you with the team helping them to find her?"
He shrugged, "Because it's too personal. It's my fault she is doing this."
"How can her going around killing people be your fault Spencer?"
"I think I was her stressor."
She took a deep breath. "Please no profiler speak, what are you talking about?"
"Right before all of this started something happened, and it may have been my fault. Actually it might have been my fault she killed that guy after the case."
"I thought it was self-defence?"
"It wasn't after all. The night before she killed him, I went to her room to talk to her, and well-" his voice trailed off, and he began to blush.
"All right, I don't need the details. What else happened?"
"It turns out that she got pregnant. She told me about the baby. I wanted to be in his life. I wanted to do the right thing, but she wouldn't let me."
"So what happened?"
"We had a fight about everything. She wanted me to quit the BAU and elope with her but I couldn't do that. Not after she told me that she actually killed that guy, and I just- I only wanted to know the baby. I didn't want him to grow up like I did wondering why his father was never there. Then I never heard from her again."
She hugged her son again. "How is this your fault? She asked you to do something impossible, and admitted something to you that she knew you would never accept. She would have known that if she really loved you. What happened to the baby?"
"I should have known she would not have kept me from the baby. I should have gotten Garcia to find her. Something when I didn't hear from her. It turns out she lost the baby. Garcia found all the medical records. I can't say it out loud, but what happened was horrible. That's what made her start doing what she is doing."
"Spencer you didn't cause this. You know that. If she had wanted you to help her with her loss she would have come to you."
"So why does it hurt so much Mom?"
"Because at some point you loved her and now she has become something you hate. That hurts no matter how you look at it."
Reid began to cry again. "But I don't hate her. I don't feel the same way I once did, but-" he took a deep breath. "If I knew where she was I'd want to protect her."
She smoothed his hair. "You will always feel that way Spencer, you can't change that. But she chose what she chose and it has nothing to do with you. I know you are smart enough to know that."
"So why does it hurt so much?"
"Because it always hurts most to lose the first person you love Spencer. I'm sorry I can't tell you something more comforting."
"When will it stop hurting?"
"It won't stop. But I promise you that it will hurt less when it's not so fresh in your mind. It's one of those things that you need to give time, and meet someone new."
"I don't know when I will be ready for that honestly."
"I understand Spencer. Now since we scared Sophia away how about you read to me today?"
"I'd like that. I bought a new book for the plane ride, but I couldn't really shut off my brain to read it."
"Then let's read it together."
He smiled and took the book out of his messenger bag, and sat down in the chair next to her. He flipped it open and began to read to her. This had always helped him to stress down. He might even be able to fall asleep.
End part 6
Notes: I just thought Reid needed to get away for a bit. Don't worry I didn't exactly send him away, he ends up still being inovloved. He does have his cellphone he just needed his mommy.