Mum

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.

When Gideon woke in the morning Reid was still sleeping. It hadn't been a very restful night. Reid had cried and whimpered and shivered through most of it. It was the occasional request "Princess?" which worried Gideon the most. Jason carefully untangled himself from the young man and crawled back off the bed. He made coffee and scrambled eggs on toast. Then went back to see if the other agent was awake yet. He was sitting up on the bed rubbing his eyes and yawning.

"Gideon! Coffee! Thank you." And a smile spread over his face and for once reached his eyes.

"Eggs too Reid. I want to see you have eaten something." And he plopped the plate on Reid's bedside table.

Gideon made sure the plane was available. Though not official BAU business this was definitely for the health of a team member. His request was cleared.

He went back to Reid's room in time to see him finish off the plate of food he had made him.

Gideon took the plate and refilled the mug. "Drink then shower. We have a plane to catch."

Whilst Reid was shaving and showering Gideon made a quick call to Hotch.

…

SSA Hotchner had been waiting for the call. He was sitting in his office with the lights off thinking. He let the phone ring a few times before answering.

"Hotchner."

A pause.

"Yes I have them here in front of me. To be honest I don't know what to make of it all Jason."

A pause.

"OK..yes. Blood, mix of human and animal. Hair was female human."

A pause.

"Yes. The skin fragments were the thing which puzzled me most. Human, mixture of male and female."

A pause.

"Unknown and, erm Reid. Same for the blood. The animal is rat."

A pause.

"I don't know Jason. I am really worried about this. Are you sure this visit is wise?"

A long pause.

"Just stay with him and bring him safely back to us."

Hotch put the phone down and sat looking at the paper in front of him.

…..

The plane ride went without anything odd or untoward happening. They played chess and they both cheated at cards. Gideon won the chess, Reid won at cards. It was good that things felt so normal.

…..

At Bennington they walked up the stairs together. They were expecting him.

"Dr Reid. So nice to see you. She is reading in the lounge."

Normally Reid would be nervous and hesitant when it got to the point of actually seeing his mum, but today he was at a virtual run. She was where she always was, sitting in front of a window. He suddenly stopped and looked at her. She was his mum. What had he done to her? He walked at a slightly less mad pace so as not to alarm his mum. Gideon followed at a distance, watching.

Reid knelt in front of his mum. "Hello mum." And his voice was scared and gentle. "What are you reading?"

She looked down at Spencer and frowned. "What are you doing on the floor, get up and make me my tea."

He put one hand gently on one of her knees and took the book from her with the other. "Mum it's me. It's Spencer."

"Pardon? Give me back my book." She looked cross and confused. Gideon had seen that same look on Reid's face many times and it made his stomach tie in knots to see the same look reflected straight back at Reid's mum. Reid suddenly got up. He was shouting.

"I flew all this way mum, you can at least do me the courtesy of recognising me!" and he threw his mothers book down on the floor.

"It does make me wonder why though Spencer. What do you want?" and she stood up and she was shouting too.

"Want? I want my mum! I want to feel loved, and I want to be able to love."

"Spencer, you are having a sugar rush. Come back when you are not talking such rubbish." And she picked up her book and returned to her seat.

Reid stood with his mouth open, not sure what to do. Gideon was taking him by the arm and guiding him out of the room.

"Dr Reid. That was very unhelpful. Please don't keep upsetting your mother like that." Said the nurse

And Reid would have decked her if Gideon wasn't already pushing Reid away and towards the stairs. "Chill Spencer. Try again in a while."

They found seats in the reception room downstairs. Reid looked crushed. Jason could feel the fear and sadness pouring out of him.

"You are not your mother, Spencer." He said quietly.

"I I know – I know that Jason. But statistics say……" Gideon cut him off.

"No statistics please Reid. You are not her. You are not responsible for what happened to your mum."

Reid looked over to Gideon. "I lied to Elle you know. After the incident on the train. I lied to Elle. She knew though. She knew the truth." Gideon nodded. "It just seems…you know, one minute everything is normal, then it suddenly isn't anymore. You don't notice the little things in between. Other people might notice them. But you know – you don't know its happening. Then it's too late. You are gone. Mum wasn't always like that." And he waved towards the stairs. "She was kind and loving and sweet – then things started to alter. I was young, I didn't notice. Dad did. Dad saw it coming like an avalanche. It took everything with it. Including me."

Reid looked down at his feet. "Odd socks. I must wear odd socks. I must wear my watch here." and he tapped the watch strapped over his sleeve. "Just two small things Jason. But I look out for them now. I try to change it. I tried to wear matching socks to work! I got as far as the metro and had to take one of them off and buy another pair. I couldn't do it. No on noticed. Its just 'strange' Dr Reid. Spouting off facts because I don't always understand simple tracks in conversation."

"OK Spencer Stop. We all have quirks. Everyone does. We are not all going insane. We are not all losing our minds. Garcia is far from the norm. I am not in the slightest bit concerned about her mental health though."

"Are you concerned about mine?" And he was looking at the floor again.

"Right now, yes I am. You have been through a lot recently. You shouldn't have had that mess happen to you. No one should. I am going to help you repair yourself. And I know you can. You are not your mother Spencer. You are just as likely to turn out to be like your father."

"Oh grand choices I am getting here!" and he did a small half smile. "I need to accept my mum as she is, don't I?"

"Yes. She might not always recognise you, but you will always know her. You don't need to worry about that."

Reid got up and wiped his palms on his cords and went back up the stairs. Gideon waited in reception.

"Mum?" She was standing at the window and turned to look at him. She smiled.

"Spencer!" and he wrapped his arms tightly around her and took in the smells of his mother. Her perfume, her shampoo, and her love.

…..

A man in hat and glasses stood at the edge of the children's playground. He was smiling, and he had a small dog on a leash next to him. A little girl walked over.

"Hello. Can I pet your dog?" He smiled down at the child.

"Her name is Princess." He said. "Do you want to take her for a little walk? She just loves it in the woods!" And grinning the child took the leash and skipped away into the wooded area behind the playground. The man with the hat and glasses followed.

….