Riley hurried into the station. It was almost noon. With the exception of the two minutes wrapped in Spencer's arms, Riley hadn't gotten any sleep the previous night. If it were possible, she felt much more restless than usual. Maybe it was the anticipation of meeting him for coffee in the morning…
She was unsure if it constituted as getting up early when you didn't sleep; nevertheless, by 5 am, Riley was in the shower intending on heading in. That's when she received the phone call. Sex Crimes needed her for quick interview on a suspect. They'd brought him in a few hours ago, already requesting a lawyer. The defense attorney had agreed to a brief psych evaluation, but it had to be done before 9 am. After that, they were going to arraignment. Naïve and hopeful, Riley assumed she could do the interview and still make it back to the precinct in time to meet Spencer. Well she knew what happened when you assume. By the time she got out, her watch read 11:05.
Riley couldn't ignore the feeling that was a bad sign.
The precinct was calm when she arrived. Heading to the conference room, her first encounter was with the other person she dreaded seeing that day, Detective Novak.
"Oh, Riley," she said, crossing her in the hall. "Nice of you to join us."
"I'm sorry," Riley muttered, "Did I miss anything?"
"You would know if had showed up on time. Where were you anyway?"
"Uh… Sex Crimes," Riley said, trying to switch gears in her brain quickly, thinking both of the BAU case and Spencer. "I had to do a psych evaluation early this morning."
"Interesting. Why did they call you? There are resident psychiatrists on call, what makes you so special?"
"I don't recall being informed I had to explain myself to you, Leona." Riley snapped. "Could you tell me where Dr. Reid is?"
"Who?" she asked.
Riley rolled her eyes. "He's… never mind. What's the BAU working on?"
"I don't recall being told I had to keep you informed, Riley." She snapped.
Riley rolled her eyes. "You've really got to work on your people skills, Leona."
With that, Riley stepped off to the conference room. Novak glared at her, still infuriated by the infringement on her territory.
…
The morgue was appropriately quiet; a kind of morbid silence. The two agents sat in the waiting area, alone. Reid clicked his phone. No messages, no voicemails.
"Expecting a call?" Emily asked, flipping through a six month old issue of People.
A deep breath, keeping his temper down. "Do you guys find a particular enjoyment from prying into my life?"
Emily looked surprise. "I thought maybe you were expecting the team to call, maybe they found more evidence or another lead."
"Oh," he said, looking down at his phone. "Sorry,"
"I take it then… you are expecting a call from her?"
"No," he muttered. "I just… thought she might…" He looked up at the sound of a huff of breath exhaling.
"Yeah, you're over her." She muttered, returning to her magazine.
"Alright fine, I'm not over her." He cried. "I admit it. What, it's wrong for me to still be in love with her?"
"No, Reid. I just can't fathom how you can love her that much and have possibly let her go."
"It was her decision." He explained.
"Did you ever tell her you objected to her going?" She insisted.
"She would have gone anyway," Reid stuffed his phone deep into his bag, not wanting to look at the disappointing item any longer.
"Reid, you don't know that! Maybe she was waiting for you to object, and when you didn't she assumed your feelings weren't as strong as hers."
"You don't know her like I do. Riley does what she wants; there is no other person alive as stubborn as Riley Parker."
"Oh, I can think of someone," she said quickly. Before he could retaliate, she continued. "Okay, so what if you did object and she had still gone? At least then you knew you did all that you could to keep her."
That had him. Reid ran his fingers through his excessively long hair in frustration. Emily wasn't finished. "The question is now are going to make the same mistake twice?"
Before Reid could answer, the door to the waiting area opened. Mrs. Engles, put together as best as a grieving mother could be, walked in. Emily and Reid stood up quickly to meet her.
"Agents," she said, as they walked up to greet her. "I… didn't know you'd be here. I thought we were finished… yesterday."
"We just want to make sure we have all the information. Sometimes people can remember things at different times," Reid said. He reached into his bag and extracted the tiny Ziploc. "Also, Forensics found this at the crime scene. We thought you'd want it back."
At the sight of Maria's diamond necklace, Mrs. Engles began to weep. It was proof that her daughter was gone, taken from her. Reid and Emily remained both isolated and sympathetic, a skill necessary in their occupation. With shaking fingers, Mrs. Engles took the baggy from Reid. Tears rolled down her face. "Thank you," she sobbed softly.
"The coroner just needs you to take one quick look and make sure it's your daughter." Emily explained.
"But you found the necklace, you know it's her." Mrs. Engles protested. "I… I can't see my baby like that."
"I'm sorry, Mrs. Engles, it's procedure." Emily said. "Dr. Reid and I will be in there with you, it'll just take a moment."
"Did… did she look like…" she could hardly get the words out. "… she suffered?"
The truth was, depending on the situation, suffocation could either be a painless or painful death. Maria had not run out of air, however, so it was more than likely the latter. No one in their right mind would reveal that to a grieving mother.
"I like to believe she went peacefully, ma'am." Reid said. Lying could so often be a blessing.
Emily lead Mrs. Engles towards the morgue, Reid went in follow.
…
"Where is everyone?" Riley asked as she arrived in the conference room. The only person present was JJ.
"Rossi and Morgan are speaking to a few of Maria Engles' professors at Seattle U. Hotch and Detective Levinson are trying to track down Maria's brothers. Reid and Emily are at the morgue and I'm preparing for this afternoon's press conference."
"Wow," she said, slipping into a seat, not bothering to remove her coat. "That's a lot of stuff."
"You okay?" JJ asked. "You look kind of… tired."
"Tired. Code for 'you look like shit.'." Riley replied, closing her eyes as she leaned on her propped up arm.
"I didn't mean that." JJ corrected.
"Oh, I know. But it's how I feel, to be honest" she replied, opening her eyes, grinning wearily.
"Everything alright?" JJ asked, leaning back for a moment. "I haven't really gotten a chance to talk to you yet."
"Yeah," she exhaled. "Seattle is more of an adjustment than I thought. I haven't been sleeping well, I've been getting these awful headaches…" Riley didn't want to get into the subject. "How is everyone? How's your family?"
"Great," she said, "Henry is almost two. He's saying full sentences and has the new goal of using a fork."
"Oh, that's wonderful." Riley said, moving a few seats closer. "Do you have pictures?"
No one needed to ask JJ twice. Swiftly, she reached into jacket and pulled out a billfold, flashing several photographs of the endearing toddler.
"He's adorable," Riley fussed, flipping through the pictures. "Oh, how cute."
"Yeah, he's terrific," JJ glanced at Riley for a moment. "So… Seattle's been kind of a struggle then?"
Riley nodded, still admiring the little boy.
"You know… if you wanted to transfer back… there are plenty of people at the BAU who could help make that happen. I'm one of them."
Riley wasn't stupid. Swallowing her nerves, she replaced the pictures and handed them back to her friend. "I don't think so, JJ."
"It's not a problem. Garcia could handle the transfer, you could be wanted back in Quantico before we are."
"Yes, and I appreciate that. I do, but… there's nothing for me in Quantico. Not anymore."
JJ was not in the least convinced. She decided to cut to the chase. "Not even Reid?"
"Reid…" Riley said slowly, almost like she were trying to remember who he was. "Um… no, I couldn't go back for him." She pulled a file to her, pretending to study it. "No, we're… over."
"It's just that you guys don't seem very 'over'." JJ pointed out.
"You never had a boyfriend that you kept lingering feelings for?" Riley asked, looking up.
"Well… yes," JJ admitted. Who didn't? "I've run into exes, but I've never looked at an ex the way you and Reid look at each other."
"That doesn't mean anything. We have both moved on, and we can't go back, even if we wanted to."
Curious. "Do you want to?"
"No!" She cried, a little too quickly it seemed. She took a deep breath, "No. This is a great job, it could mean a lot to my career. It could lead to a lot of great things, like getting published. Spencer knew that and… not only that, now he can concentrate on his career without worrying about me. Seven months with no contact; I think that shows we made the right decision." She paused again before quietly adding, "I'm not going let him ruin his life."
JJ could swear she saw a glisten in her eyes. It disappeared though as Riley turned to her with worry. "Can we keep this between us, please?"
Nodding, JJ replied, "I won't talk about it. But if Reid happens to ask, I'm not going to lie."
"Far enough," Riley agreed, looking back to the file. They sat in silence for a few moments. Riley's eyes were stationary, her thoughts elsewhere.
"JJ… does he ever… talk about me?"
These next words could affect the future of her two friends severely. JJ took a moment to respond, trying to choose her words without pushing Riley away or exposing Reid too much.
She never got the chance. Hotch rushed in quickly. "We have another victim."
A/N: If anyone was confused by the e-mails with the other chapters, I'm sorry. Windows was being an ass! This is the real chapter, so you don't get confused.
