Hi, you know the drill by now. Thanks for sticking around!
Chapter Fifty-Three
Reid's class at the institute was mostly composed of teenagers and young adults with self-worth issues. These patients were considered to be of low risk of having a fixation on the subject. A doctor was watching the class, and read any homework. So far everything was going smoothly.
Today Reid had invited his team to give a presentation on the various careers in the FBI.
"Data analysis isn't as cool as knocking down doors, but it is equally rewarding," Garcia said. "I look at information for commonalities our crime fighters might have missed."
"Do you have access to the records on aliens?" one kid asked.
"Not for the lack of trying," she said.
"What Garcia means," Prentiss said quickly. "She tested the strength of the antivirus software on records relating to UFOs when she was a freelancer."
"Right," Garcia said.
"That's all for today," Reid said. "You're welcome to chat with any agents now."
Reid began to wipe notes off the board.
"Are you okay?" Rossi asked.
"Sure, does something seem off?" Reid asked.
"I know your expressions as well my own. Something is on your mind."
"Am I allowed to be happy?" he said with a sigh.
"Of course, why wouldn't you?"
"Because every time I try to improve my life, bad stuff happens."
"Is there a woman?"
He turned red. "Maybe? I'm just not sure she likes me and whether I want her to like me."
"May I touch you?" Ross asked.
He nodded.
Rossi lightly touched his shoulder. "No one in the world deserves happiness more than you. Go after it, son."
"Even after what I—"
"There is nothing 'after.' Chase love Reid. Sort everything else out later."
Iris appeared.
"Hey X-Men," she said. "I scored an off-campus pass for the afternoon. Who would like to take me to lunch?"
"I would!" Garcia said. "How about the new cereal bar?"
"Hey Iris," Reid said.
"I still need a date for the valentine's dance."
"I don't like you that way, I just, I just I know what you and Bruce are plotting. I'll go along with it."
Iris approached Simmons and raised her hand. He slapped and then Alvez caught it too.
"Pick me up at seven," she said with a wink at him.
Reid wondered what he was getting himself into.
…
"You look nice," Selzer said.
"Are you sure a tie would be too much?" Reid asked.
"You're supposed to look comfortable, no man wearing a tie is ever comfortable," she said with a laugh.
Reid was dressed in a red dress shirt with a black suit jacket and black pants.
Selzer walked him to Iris's room.
"You know what they're plotting don't you?" he said.
She merely smiled.
Reid arrived at her room. Iris was wearing a red halter dress.
"You forgot my corsage," she said.
"You know they have a thing against pins," he said.
"I'm too hip for this place."
"You'll be out for the first day of summer."
"I hear they're looking at releasing you then too."
"I don't know if I want to leave," he said as looked at his feet.
"Spencer, you have been caged for far too long. You went out and you got burned. That shouldn't stop you from trying again."
They stepped into the elevator.
"My mom was happier after I had her committed."
"You are NOT your mom. You have a lot to contribute to the outside world."
They stepped out of the elevator.
"It's my decision," he said.
"That you'll regret if you were to make it right now."
"Hey guys," Juno said.
She was dressed in a black pants suit with a red blouse.
"Iris, don't try to spike the punch with those travel-size liqueur bottles you think we don't know about."
"You never let me have any fun," she pouted.
They walked into the gym. There were columns of red balloons everywhere.
There wasn't a lot of dancing going on. Many looked uncomfortable in formal clothes. It seemed that this was the first social occasion for many.
"Hey, Bruce!" Iris said.
Reid knew where this was going as he looked for Nadia. He wasn't prepared for what he saw though. She was dressed in an off-the-shoulder dress that looked like it was made out of large a print pattern of red rose blooms. Her hair was in a partial updo in waves. She was the most beautiful woman in the room.
Her eyes would not leave him as he approached her.
"Would you like to dance?" he asked.
"Yes," she whispered.
Nadia was about four inches shorter than him.
"May I touch you?" she asked. "I remember the rules."
Reid offered his arm. She took it.
"I feel ridiculous," she said. "Bruce's kids kidnapped me and took me to the mall for a shopping spree."
"You look beautiful," he said.
Reid held her close as they swayed to the sound of the music.
"This shouldn't work," she whispered. "I have no experience with love."
"I don't in the physical sense," he said. "I am a psyche patient."
"I can't live without Xanax," she said. "I haven't had time to take care of my mental health."
"I have lost so many people. I'm also a drug addict."
"My son might hate you."
"I'd work to earn your son's love. I read twenty books on autism before I was abducted. I've read five in the last three days. Fate keeps preventing me from being happy."
"I often wonder if this is all there is to life."
"I don't have many friends."
"All my friends are either psych ward patients or people I have worked with."
"I like facts more than people."
"So do I."
"I'm afraid to ask for something when you have so much else on your plate."
"I'll have another kid with you if that is what you want."
"I'm scared."
"So, am I."
Reid touched her chin.
"Are we rushing this?" he asked.
"Does it feel like it?" she asked.
"No," he said and kissed her.
She was nervous and didn't know what she was doing. She breathed at the end.
"I did enjoy that," she said. "I just never had a chance to enjoy it."
Reid realized Nadia had never lived, she'd only survived. He vowed to show her how to live.
"Let's go someplace private," he said.
He led her to the elevator. Selzer silently shadowed them. Reid didn't mind.
They went to the lounge area on the third floor. He gestured for her to sit beside him on the couch.
"Remember to breathe," he said and slowly approached her.
He kissed her again. She took her time and embraced it.
"Is this love?" she asked.
"I hope so."
"I don't know you particularly well, but I feel like my life has led up to meeting you. Your face, everything about you, makes me feel like nothing else on the planet."
He held her hand. She rubbed it. Reid snuggled her against him, with her head on his chest.
"I hate country music," she said.
"I only listen to Beethoven."
"My kid will watch the same episode of Duck Tales for six hours straight."
"That doesn't scare me."
"Maybe I'll keep you then."
"I hope so," he said as he kissed her head.