Thanks to everyone for all the support. It means a ton to me.

I own Haley. I own the syntax. I own nothing else.


As time passed and Haley's caffeine problem wore off, she returned from Garcia's office (where she had been sent because Garcia was the only one upbeat enough to deal with her) to curl up by Reid's desk with a book, notebook, and pen.

"Finally wore off?" Reid asked.

"Yeah", Haley replied quietly. "I was stupidly energetic. Heck, I talked to strangers", she observed, writing something using odd symbols in her notebook.

"Maybe that's a good thing." Reid looked at her with approval.

"It's a stupid thing", she insisted. Her face was set in an annoyed look, and she was clearly chastising herself severely in her mind.

"Considering that everyone here is FBI, they're here to protect you. You just have to develop the confidence to approach them", Reid replied whilst reading a file, sliding a lanky finger down the page before turning it and doing the same.

"I feel like I made an idiot of myself, and now I just want to curl up behind your desk where I won't be seen for a while."

"You feel like you made an idiot of yourself. It was my fault for letting you have all that espresso", he said absentmindedly, patting her shoulder for a moment. "I made an idiot of myself", he concluded.

"Well, the espresso's worn off at any rate. Why'd you take me with you to the office again?"

"Because you can help us with the case", Reid said, being vague on account of his distraction, the files.

"I couldn't just mark the addresses on a map", she warned him with a note of regret. "I went through so many; I don't remember many of the addresses. Plus we moved so fast…" she trailed off.

"We can take you in a car, if you remember the way", Prentiss volunteered, seemingly talking to a hallucination on account of Haley being stashed behind Reid's desk.

Haley looked up at Reid, timid again.

"What?" he asked, breaking off from the files to look her in the eyes. "It's not like she's going to hurt you. The only thing she'll squash is an insect." He meant it jokingly, but that wasn't how Haley took it.

She nodded, hanging her head for a moment in shame of her cowardice, which Reid apparently saw fit to be harder than normal on her for. Reid, having not intended to get this reaction and not wanting Haley to regress any, ruffled her hair and took a moment to get his hand under her chin and coax her head up, which proved to be a difficult task. When she finally held her head up, he ran his hand ever-so-lightly across the top of her shoulder. "Come on now, talk to Prentiss", he coaxed.

"I would remember most of the way", she said to Prentiss. "The last few turns would just have to be driving around the blocks, but I would definitely remember the house."

"Alright. Shall we be on our way, then?" Prentiss asked. "I'm done with my paperwork", she stated flatly, dropping several files on her desk and grabbing her purse.

"Something real quick first", Reid said. "Just to make sure she's comfortable being alone in a car with you."

"Your word isn't enough?" Prentiss asked.

"I think it is, but then again, I just got her back from an abusive household yesterday, and she's had even more beatings since I saw her last."

"Point", the agent conceded, sitting with her legs folded under her on the floor, looking at Haley, who refused to make eye contact.

"Haley, come forward and turn so Prentiss can reach your back, okay?"

The look Haley shot him said it louder than if she had just blasted the words from a megaphone: Not AGAIN with the trust exercises! Really? Please. I don't want to! I'm scared! Her eyes flashed intensely, and Prentiss was fully informed of Haley's attitude towards whatever was about to happen.

However, she also noticed Reid's determination, his brow narrowed, his eyes equally as intense, lower jaw tightening involuntarily in a display of dominance, as he flashed back a silent You'll do it and you'll do it NOW. No fighting! This seemed a little harsh, Prentiss reflected, but then it occurred to her that if Haley didn't learn to trust now, when would she learn? When could she get over it, if not under Reid's wing?

"Turn your back to her, Haley", Reid restated his instructions, his dominant expression slackening to a salesmanlike look, oddly persuasive. "Haley, you need to get past this. I don't want to push you too hard either, so just tell me if it's too much, but you know as well as I know that you've got to learn to trust again."

"I know", Haley said quietly, turning her back to someone that wasn't Reid for the first time. This simple act brought out the timid side of her, as she felt exposed and vulnerable. Her breathing quickened, but for fear of reproach she tried her hardest to conceal it, which mostly consisted of shallowing her breathing, which, unfortunately, made it especially noticeable.

"Shh-shh-shh, it's okay", Reid soothed her, putting his hand under her chin once more and lifting it to get a good look at her expression. She drew back, looking ashamed, not even looking at him.

By now, the whole team was watching, including Garcia from a surveillance camera and Hotchner perched halfway down the staircase leading from his office to the bullpen. Reid could feel the eyes and knew he had to take a different approach.

"Hey", he said softly, tapping Haley's shoulder. She looked in his general direction for a moment, abashed, like she was opening up to an expression of his disapproval simply by doing that. "Here", he said, dropping his hand under her chin again and guiding it so she faced him. This done, he pursued eye contact until she gave in, expecting reproach and unfamiliar with this newly-discovered side of Reid.

"Don't be afraid of me", he said calmly. "Maybe I'm being too hard on you. It's your first time in this building and I've already got you doing trust exercises with people you don't really know", he conceded, "and I'm sorry. But this has got to be done, if not now, soon. That said, if you're nervous about something, don't try and hide it from me, alright?" He ran his fingers under her jaw a little, imagining what a father might do to comfort his child in this situation. He knew that there was a good chance that the nerve endings would soothe when touched, so after a moment, he withdrew his hand. "No need to try and hide, Haley."

She only nodded, now looking intently at him, waiting for instructions.

"Okay", Reid began again, addressing Prentiss, "She's fairly stressed right now, so when you lay and hand on her, start with your fingertips and bring your hand down really light from there. What I want you to do is lay a hand down on her right shoulder, and Haley, you just try and relax."

Haley nodded and Prentiss did as instructed. "She's really tense; are you sure this is a good idea?" Prentiss asked Reid.

"Laying my hand down", he warned Haley, resting his hand close.

"You feel that? And that's more relaxed than she was before she knew you were putting your hand on her." Prentiss' tone was matter-of-fact and somewhat shocked.

"No need to hide, Haley", Reid soothed. "If you're too scared, quit hiding it and we'll try again later."

"I don't want to let you down", Haley said in a soft, shaky voice, barely audible. "And like you say, if I don't learn now, when?"

"You'll learn soon enough, and you're not letting me down. Get that out of your head." He pulled Prentiss' hand off Haley's back, replacing it with his own. "And you're tense enough to explode."

Haley was silent, clearly irked at herself for letting Reid down.

"Relax", he whispered, rubbing lightly on her back. "Shhhhhhhhhhhhh. Don't be disappointed. You're having a hard time. That's understandable. I'll drive you when I finish up my paperwork."

"I can't believe you trust Reid to drive a car, Haley", Morgan observed. "I would trust Prentiss over him any day."

"I would normally object, but he's right", Reid conceded, hoping that this would set a positive predisposition to Prentiss, finger already sliding down the last piece of paper and signing on the line.

"It's not that I trust him to drive; it's that I trust him to not want to hurt me", Haley said quietly, so quietly that only Reid heard her, Prentiss having returned to her desk. He smiled a little at the comment.

"Prentiss, you want to drive?" he asked.

"That's fine by me", she said, picking up her purse and swiping car keys off a hook while Reid logged the keys out in a pencil-and-paper logbook. This done, he called to Haley, and the trio left the office.