Stepping into the Unknown
Chapter 26: Long Over Due
Author's Note: This takes place after Daily Morning Routine. Since this is part of my first Criminal Minds story, I don't think I am going to go into cases in detail. This will mainly be focus on what Dr. Reid's life outside of work might be like.
I do not own Criminal Minds or Dr. Spencer Reid. I do own Michelle, though.
"Are you sure I look okay?" She stands in front of the bathroom mirror in their hotel room pulling at her royal blue button-down shirt, biting her lips nervously.
"You look great." He says standing behind her as he knots his tie, trying to appear calmer than he is. "Anyway, Bennington doesn't really have a dress code."
She reaches up to caress his cheek, still facing the mirror and he can't help but think about all the progress they made in the last month alone; sure, Michelle still has nightmares at least twice a week and he still goes to meetings to handle the cravings created by his guilt but, they are still holding it together and relying on each other for strength when they're feeling weak.
He makes a quick call to the sanitarium to see if his mother is fit to receive visitors or if she's having a bad day; he went to see her alone the day before, told her that Michelle was in town with him and asked if she would like to meet her. His mom seemed excited about the idea but he still wants to make sure everything goes as smoothly as possible.
When they get to the Bennington Sanitarium, a member of the staff tells them his mother is waiting for them in the garden and he can hear Michelle taking deep calming breaths. He gives her hand a gentle squeeze as well as his best reassuring smile and hopes that she can't hear his racing heart. They approach the bench where his mom is sitting, writing in her journals.
"Hi mom," he says after clearing his throat to get her attention. She looks up and smiles; the knot in his throat loosens a little.
"So, this is her, the girl who stole my son's heart?"
"It's wonderful to finally meet you, Mrs. Reid." Michelle takes a step forward, hand extended; she appears calm but he knows her enough to tell how nervous she really is.
"You can call me Diana." His mother replies as she shakes Michelle's hand.
There's an awkward pause and the knot in his throat comes back; he's never been happier to see Dr. Norman than when he approaches them. They chat for a moment and when he turns his attention back to his mother and Michelle, they're in deep conversation about Chrétien de Troyes.
They stay with his mother for a little less than an hour, when he can tell she is getting tired. They get into a cab, heading back to their hotel and he rests his forehead against his palms as Michelle mentions how glad she is that it seemed to go rather well. He feels her hand on his thigh and without even looking up he can tell she's giving him her concern expression.
"Spencer, are you okay?"
"I should have worn sunglasses I think," he says squinting at her. "All that bright sunshine gave me a headache, that's all."
"When we get to the hotel just take out your contacts and take a nap, I'm sure it will pass soon." She passes her hand through his hair as she speaks and he closes his eyes, resting his head on her shoulder as she caresses the side of his head affectionately.
And she's right, after a short nap and trading his contacts for his glasses, his head feels a lot better and he can enjoy the rest of their weekend. They get home late on Sunday night and less than 12 hours later, he and the team are in the air, headed to Edgewood, New Mexico on a multiple abductions/murders case.
After they've discussed the case, Morgan comes and sits down in front of him and pushes a cup of coffee toward him. He can tell what's coming next, the only times Morgan ever brings him coffee is to bribe him into answering some personal questions. He marks his page and closes the textbook he was reading.
"So, how'd it go?"
He had no doubt when he told Garcia he was going to home to Las Vegas with Michelle for the long weekend, so she could put it in the personnel information log, that the team would hear about it. He still feigns not to know what the other man is talking about, even if the fact he's beaming makes it less than believable.
"Come on, man, how did it go with Michelle and your mom?" Morgan asks again, loudly, attracting the rest of the team's attention.
"Yeah, Reid, tell us!" Emily adds from the seat behind him and he sighs, he's got no choice now. He knows all too well how they can absolutely hound someone until they get an answer. Out of the corner of his eye, he can tell that even Hotch and Rossi stop talking are now listening.
"It went incredibly well." He finally says, cheerfully.
Morgan gives him as a broad smile as J.J. tells him how happy they all are for him.
"Now, all you have left to do, is to put a ring around her finger and take her off the market." Adds Rossi in the background, Prentiss tells him not to listen to the guy who 'got married, what? Five times, is it Rossi?', as Morgan hums the Wagner's Bridal Chorus. Fortunately, his embarrassment is stopped by Garcia calling in with more information about their latest victim.
He lies in bed, staring at the ceiling; he moves the bag of ice a little more to the left on his knee and lets out a small groan as the cold starts to numb the pain. He looks at the clock wishing the minutes would go faster as he waits for her to call him back. As if on cue, the phone rings and he quickly answers; since the 'Tara incident' as she calls it, he always feels slightly on edge when he's away.
"Hey!"
"Hi, sorry about earlier, Allison showed up unannounced as I got home from my session... Sean drama again..." Without even seeing her, he can tell she's rolling her eyes. "How was your day?"
"Multiple abductions and murders..." She interrupts him, and asks if he's okay.
"...you sound in pain."
"You know you really could be a good profiler, if you can hear such little subtleties in people's voices like that."
"It's only your voice that I wanna be able to read, my Beautiful Boy." She replies, flirtatiously.
He explains that he had to climb down into a ditch earlier, failing to mention that it was due to the fact that Rossi didn't want to dirty up his new boots. A second later, she's reminding him of the doctor's orders that he is not supposed to do anything that could lead to further injuries to his knee. He tells her that he knows all that, but in his line of work it does happen that one has to go against the doctor's orders. She exhales loudly at the other end of the line and says she just want him to be okay. He knows she means well, but ever since it happened, he feels guilty when she tries to protect him rather than the other way around.
They keep on talking for over an hour, he hears her yawning and looks at the clock, it's nearly 1 am in D.C. and he tells her she should go to be.
"Sleep well Spencer."
"You too." As usual, he reminds her to call if she has the nightmare. "I love you."
"I love you too, my Beautiful Boy. Take care of yourself and come home safe."
He hangs up and reaches for the case files next to him. After a few minutes of being unable to do anything but stare at the pages, he set it down and reaches for his phone again. It takes him a moment to figure out how to find a search engine on it and that night he falls asleep, phone in hand, to pictures of shiny silver bands with sparkly stones.
Maybe Rossi's right, maybe it is the next logical step?