The weather had warmed slightly. A slight drizzle of rain started again; at least it wasn't icy. Reid and Riley made their way across town to the address Hotch had given them. Pulling into an alley, the flashing of silent police lights glimmered halfway down.
They pulled up and got out quickly. The sprinkle hit them immediately. As light as it was, it wouldn't be long before they were soaked. Reid's overnight bag was still in the car. As a stroke of luck, Emily had taken hers out upon their arrival at the station, meaning Reid had no strict reason for returning once they were finished. He could stay with Riley for as long as he wanted.
He shook the idea off immediately. Even if he wanted to consider rekindling their relationship – which he didn't – he shouldn't be thinking about it now. Standing over an innocent deceased victim in shallow grave deserved more respect.
An officer stood by the back gate. Reid and Riley flashed their badges; he stepped aside, ushering them in.
"Are they sure it's Maria?" Riley asked. Two members of the crime scene unit were busy over a muddy mess. Reid suspected it was the body.
"We found this." The officer said, holding up an evidence bag which held a silver necklace. The talisman had a sparkling diamond M on the end of it and the chain had been broken. "It was on the body."
"It's Maria." Reid said, taking the necklace. "She was wearing it in her senior photo. Call Agent Hotchner, have him contact her mother so she can identify the body at the morgue."
The office went off to make the request while Reid slipped the necklace in the bag. Mrs. Engles would want that back. Riley looked at the body apprehensively. The crime unit stood around her, unable to continue their search until the coroner showed up.
Seeing a body like this for the first time was a shock. Even now, it affected Reid, giving him nightmares. After so many years, he knew how to handle the bad dreams and restless nights. He'd even come to appreciate them. As an old friend had reminded him, a long time ago "I guess the day this job stops gnawing at your soul and your hands stop feeling cold, maybe that's the time to leave." When the nightmares stopped, when he truly became numb to this job, that was the time to be scared.
Slipping his hand into hers, Reid led her over to the grave. Mixed with the mud and the sludge lay a once admired and innocent girl; a future lawyer with ambitions to become a prosecutor. The dreams and talents that flowed through that girl had died with her. Her wrists were bound with twine, cutting into her skin enough to draw blood. An opened wound lay on the back of her head, obviously the spot where her captor had knocked her out. Had it killed her? Or did she wake up, only to find herself buried under tons of dirt?
These thoughts ran through Reid's mind. One look at Riley proved she was thinking the same. Moving around the body, the eyes were closed and her frightened face was half burrowed in her arms. Lines of mascara striped down her cheeks to the line of duct tape over her mouth, apparently from tears.
Reid stood moved closer to her. He didn't need to speak, Riley understood. "I'm okay," she said, unwilling to move any closer. To his surprise, however, she quickly grasped his hand. It was more like they were standing before a lost friend, the kind of friend you didn't know to well, but wished you had after they died.
The coroner's assistant showed up a few moments later and set to work. "Our office has never been busier than these last few weeks." He stated, looking over the body. "The head wound wasn't the cause of death. No dirt under the fingernails means she didn't try to dig her way out. Not sure if it's because her wrists were tied or not."
Back to work, Reid's hand slid out of Riley's as he squatted beside the shallow grave. He watched the process; the coroner continued. "Dirt in the nose. Cause of death is probably suffocation, but we'll know for sure after the autopsy. Not much more I can do here. Let's put her in the meat wagon."
"You know, you could show her a little more respect." Riley cried as the assistant climbed from the grave. "She was alive only twenty-four hours ago!"
"Well she's not now," the assistant said. It sounded almost comical.
Riley stepped forward, ready to rip him a new one, but Reid intervened. He stepped in front of her, pushing her back. "Just let it go," he whispered to her. "You're not going to help anyone by getting upset."
Riley took a deep breath, trying to keep the tears from escaping. Reid's hands firmly gripped her arms, holding her from going off the handle again. The crime unit worked on getting Maria out of the grave and into a bag. Still upset; Reid's hands left her arms, slipping around her waist and pulling her close to him. She seemed to accept that, resting her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes. He inhaled the familiar scent from her hair again. The same perfume mixed with nicotine. The rain fell slightly harder.
…
An hour and a half later, Maria had been taken to the morgue and Reid and Riley finished up at the crime scene. Both climbed in the car, soaked to the bone with rain and mud. The weather wasn't about to die down.
Reid started the car. Both watched as the officers began to finish taking statements from neighbors and the tenants while the crime scene unit took its leave.
"Field work." He said over the hum of the car, waiting for the heat to hit them.
"I never thought it would be fun." She said, her eyes closed, her hand rubbing her forehead. "But I didn't think it would be that bad."
"You can't let yourself get emotional." Reid explained. "I know it's hard."
"Yeah, it's hard." She snapped. "That girl was someone's daughter. Someone's sister, someone's friend. People loved her, and she was just… taken from them. Can you imagine what that must feel like?"
"I don't have to imagine." Reid muttered, staring at her.
"What?" She asked, not opening her eyes.
"Nothing," he replied, not wanting to open that can of worms right now. "I know it's hard to… not consider who these people were and who they were supposed to be… but you have to detach yourself." She continued massaging her forehead. "Are you alright?"
"I have a migraine." She said. "I've been getting them since I moved here, from the rain. All the lack of sleep doesn't help."
"I don't know about you," he said. "But I could use some food. How about a late lunch, early dinner?"
Her eyes snapped open, sitting up and looking at him with the most appreciative look. "Please,"
He smiled at her in return. Her normally neatly pulled back hair looked frizzy and tousled from the rain. A small piece had fallen over her face again. Something about her persona seemed so much more disorganized than back in Quantico. Reid couldn't quite pin point why that was.
His hand seeming to have a mind of its own, Reid reached over and pushed the hair away, resting lovingly on her cheek. To his surprise, she closed her eyes sighing lightly at the feel of his touch. He remembered those sighs, hearing her mutter them in her peaceful sleep.
Her lids opened, revealing that glimmer he loved so much. "Thanks… for today." She said with a small smile.
"It's no problem," he said. "It's you."
…
Time slipped away from them, turning the next several hours into a blur. Before long, the rain had stopped, the sun had set and the sky overhead was ablaze with dozens of stars.
By nine, Reid was driving Riley back to her apartment. He would much have rather walked. It was much more personal, and Reid wanted to hang onto this moment as long as possible He couldn't look at her much while he was driving. If he had, he would have noticed how Riley's attention barely left him.
She never realized just how easy it was to watch someone when they were driving. His hair was a little longer, messy and slicked back from the rain. He'd been distracting, peaking into her thoughts during the day, keeping her awake in the lonely hours at night, and invading her dreams when she finally would fall asleep. Even with all that, though, she hadn't realized until now just how much she missed him. Riley wanted to pull herself against him, hold him, and never give him the chance to get away.
The sight of him in the conference room, just standing there so casually, like he belonged there, had been like a kick in the stomach. It took her a full six minutes before she had gathered the strength to say anything. Yesterday, hearing that the BAU was coming, she had a fleeting hope that Hotch would tell Reid to stay behind. How could she focus on the case with him here, the man whose heart she'd broken too many times? An idea had occurred to her as well; she didn't have to work the case. Honestly, the idea of facing him again made her turn it down. Now that he'd arrived, she was thrilled to have him back in her life, and there was no way she'd have gotten through today without him. How could she possibly now ever let him go?
She was forgetting something though. Reid was over her. He'd said it himself and Riley believed him. Realizing how pathetic would it have been, admitting this whole ordeal was just short of torture for her, she lied through her teeth.
It was the crime scene that stuck in her head. She had been upset, and Reid was there to comfort her. That proved he still cared about her. And maybe she'd been mistaken, but Riley was sure Spencer had smelled her hair. She loved it when he did that.
She was just being naive. Once this case was over, he would go back to Quantico and return to his life… his life without her. But he was better off without her.
"Riley?" he demanded, looking over.
Startled. He must have been talking to her for a few moments.
"Yes?"
"I asked if this was your street." He informed.
"Oh, uh," she looked around, trying to determine where they were by the glow of the street lamps. "Yes, that's my building right up there."
"Another corner apartment?" He asked, pulling up.
"No, this one is no where near as nice as my last place." She said, unbuckling. Her mind debated the next sentence. But it slipped out before she decided against it. "Would you like to come up?"
"Sure," he answered, maybe a little too quickly. "You know, just for a minute."
Three flights up (again, no elevator) they made it to Riley's door. Her hands shook slightly, jangling her keys; her mind wondering what would happen once they were on the other side of that door.
Stepping inside, Reid removed his coat and took a quick look around. The sight surprised him. Boxes were stacked along the walls. Her books were in neat piles, all in desperate need of a shelf. Her posters, some familiar and some new, rested against the walls waiting to be hung. After this long she hadn't unpacked, she hadn't settled in. That had to mean something.
"I'll make us some coffee," she said, heading into the kitchen.
"Coffee, not battery acid," he called, knowing how strong Riley preferred it. He heard her giggle in the next room.
He moved over to the books, taking a couple off the top of one pile. Her collection had taken a bad beating after the Andrews experience. He and Riley had attempted to rebuild it, but four months had not been enough time. Reid remembered The Shining waiting in his shoulder bag. He had taken it during the investigation last year, forgetting he had it for a long time. Before she left for Seattle, Reid had attempted to give it back, but Riley insisted she keep it. Her favorite Stephen King novel, to remember her by.
Soon Riley returned with two cups of coffee, setting them on the center table in the untidy living room. Reid set the books down. "Still got some unpacking?" he said, stating the obvious.
"I've been busy," she explained quickly, avoiding his eyes. She was lying.
Reid dropped the subject. Pressing it could backfire on him. He took the seat next to her on the couch. "How's your headache?"
"Better," she said. She took a sip and set her mug back down. "Thanks for dinner."
"My pleasure," he replied. He watched her as her nimble fingers unclipped her barrette. Her black hair fell loosely around her, slightly tangled from the rain. As she ran her fingers through her messy curls, her eyes closed for a moment as she rested her head on the back of the couch.
"Tired?" he asked.
"No," she said, sitting up and smiling. She emitted that familiar habit of hers, moistening her lips with her tongue. It made Reid's heart rate speed up, wanting desperately to lean in and kiss her. His hands itched to touch her, starting at her hips and sliding along her legs, those long legs he'd caressed so many times before.
"What have you been up to back in Quantico?" she asked, pulling him back to reality. Riley managed to slip closer to him as she spoke. Close enough to hold her, Reid realized. He wondered if this were an accident or an attempt to make a move. He better think the former until he knew otherwise. His arm draped behind her. No harm in that.
"Not much, mostly just working." He answered. "I haven't been seeing anyone if that's what you meant."
"No, that's not what I meant," she said quickly. "I mean… not that I would care if you were seeing someone."
"You don't care?" he asked in mock disappointment.
"I don't mean I don't care… that came out wrong. I mean I… wouldn't mind. I would understand." She scowled as he started laughing. "And you're messing with me, aren't you?"
Her scowl melted away as she giggled, matching his laughter. It lasted only a moment, her eyes lingering on his shoulder. "What is it?" he asked.
"Nothing, I just… can't get the image of that girl out of my mind. Every time I close my eyes, I see her there." The tears formed in her eyes. "That poor little girl."
"And the part that hits you the most is… that you know what she was feeling right before… Right?"
She looked up, her shimmering eyes locking with his. He understood, having been in the situation himself. Riley nodded, trying not to cry.
"I wonder… did she fight until the very end or did she give in to him…" the tears fell onto her cheeks finally. "…like I was ready to."
Wiping her tear with his thumb, he said, "Come here," and pulled her to him.
Riley wrapped her arms around his waist, leaning down and resting her head on his chest. He felt her tears drip onto his mostly dry shirt. She savored the feel of his heartbeat, realizing now how much she loved that sound.
Their emotions were in tandem, feeling like the last seven months had never happened. Reid's arms tightly wrapped Riley into him, helping her feel safe, trying to show her this is where she belonged.
"I missed you," he said. "I mean I really, really missed you. These last seven months have been agony without you." He paused, entwining his fingers in the tips of her curls. He looked down at her, watching as her eyelids slid closed for a moment. "Riley… I love you. I wish you'd come home."
He waited with bated breath for her to say something. Silence could really be the worst sound in the world, specifically at times like this. " Riley," he said. "Can you hear me?"
With a sharp gasp, Riley sat up. "I'm sorry," she said, dazed. She had fallen asleep. "Did you say something?"
Her face was so close to his, Reid could have easily kissed her. At first, he considered it. One kiss could open the door to telling her the truth. But the seconds ticked by without a move, and the moment finally dissolved. "No."
