Author's Note: Here we go. Reid gets the word from Bobby.

Disclaimer: I own nothing!


Reid went straight to his desk when he arrived at his floor. His phone showed no missed calls. He had tried not to expect any; Bobby always called his cell phone. But he had hoped a little bit that the lack of calls to his cell might mean Bobby was trying at the office.

No such luck.

"Hey man, how are you feelin' today?" Morgan asked, stopping by his desk.

Reid knew he couldn't hide the shadows under his eyes, so he didn't try. "Not great," he replied honestly.

"You don't look so good. Is it your friend?"

"I'm still waiting for the call."

Reid jumped when Morgan's cell phone began ringing. Morgan answered the call, all the while casting Reid a worried look. He headed back to his desk to get some information for the caller, but he paused long enough to squeeze Reid's shoulder supportively.

Reid appreciated it, but the gesture did little to ease his anxiety.

For the next three and a half hours, Reid jumped every time a phone rang. He nearly had a panic attack when his own phone went off the first time. (It was only a fellow agent calling about a detail of the last case the BAU had worked on.) The morning passed by in a dreadful haze as Reid waited, and waited, and waited.

Around 10:30, Barlow came upstairs to check on him. He tapped his knuckles on Reid's desk to catch his attention. "Hey, kid. How's it going?"

Reid set down his pen and closed the case-file he was working on. "I've been better."

The older man huffed a slight laugh at that. "I know what you mean. What are you working on?"

Grateful, Reid grasped at the distraction. "Just finishing up some notes on the last case we worked. I've only got a paragraph to add before I'll be done. Then I'm supposed to go see Hotch about today's workload."

Barlow nodded distractedly, watching something across the room.

Reid looked over, but he saw nothing other than the elevators and the large clock that was visible on the edge of the room. "Is something wrong?" he asked.

"Nah, nothing like that. Just having a hard time concentrating today." He gave Reid a halfhearted smile.

The younger agent shook his head to himself. "I don't know how much longer I can wait if—"

He had no time to finish the sentence though, because his cell phone rang. He grabbed it off his desk as quickly as he could, almost forgetting to breathe when he saw that the Caller ID flashing Bobby's name on the screen.

"Bobby?" he asked into the phone, his voice sounding breathless and almost strangled—strange to his own ears.

"Hey, Spencer. Sorry I called so late. We had a lot of clean-up to take care of. Only got, well, we just..." Bobby cleared his throat, running out of words.

"Bobby? Just tell me. Did you guys...?" But he already knew the answer. It would have been the first words out of Bobby's mouth if they had saved Dean.

"No. We didn't. I'm sorry, Spencer. He's gone."

Reid's eyes slid shut as he tried to remember how to breathe. This couldn't be happening.

"Sam wouldn't let me burn the body. So we buried him in a forest a few miles outside of town. Now Sam's following me in...in the Impala." It took a moment for Bobby to continue, but he rallied himself and sounded almost normal when he spoke again. "We're heading to my place for a while. I'm gonna see how long I can get Sam to stay."

Reid didn't even know what to say. He was trying to picture the grave, already knowing it would likely be a barely-marked spot. Dean Winchester was a hero laid to rest in an unmarked grave somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Few would ever know of the world's loss of a savior. Fewer would mourn that loss...

"Spencer?"

He had to swallow before he dared to answer. "Y-yeah, Bobby. I'm still here."

"I think it'd be nice if you called Sam a little later. It would probably do him some good."

A tear slipped down Reid's face at the thought.

"He's feeling guilty as hell, kid, and he needs someone to remind him that this isn't his fault."

Reid swallowed against the tears, trying to steady his voice before he said anything. "Okay, Bobby. Sure. I'll, uh, I'll call him later."

"Good. I think that's what..." He coughed quietly, unable to say it, but Reid still heard the unspoken words: That's what Dean would have wanted...

Reid nodded. "Okay," he whispered.

He had promised Dean he would be a brother to Sam. In the Winchester family, brothers took care of each other. Spencer Reid was going to do everything he could to take care of Sam.

"I'm uh, I've gotta go, Spencer. But you call us tonight, okay?"

"Sure, Bobby. Thanks for calling me."

"Spencer? You did everything you could. Okay? We all did. There was just nothing we could do. It was out of our hands."

Reid felt his control break at those words. He pressed the button to hang up on Bobby, then dropped his face into his hands.

A hand rested on his shoulder, reminding him that Barlow was still standing there. The watching of the clock suddenly made sense. The random trip upstairs to see Reid.

"You knew," he accused Barlow. "You knew it had gone badly."

"Bobby called me a minute ago. Told me to get my butt upstairs so you wouldn't have to take the call alone."

Reid didn't know what to say. He felt Barlow pat him on the shoulder again.

"Finish up your report. I'm gonna go tell your boss you'll be out of town for a few days."

Reid looked up. "Where are we going?"

"South Dakota."

"But if...I mean..."

Barlow shook his head. "You need to see Sam and Bobby. We're leaving the office in fifteen minutes. I've already cleared it with my boss. Tie up your loose ends so we can go."


AN: You know, I never actually wrote a chapter where Reid gets to see Sam and Bobby in person. But after editing this chapter, I decided I had to. :( As soon as I finish it and manage to read it through once or twice, I'll get it up and keep on running with this story. Wish me luck!