Riley had awoken hours later. The room was dark and the sound of rain sounded on her windows. She had suspicion dawn wasn't far off. It was so hard to tell in Seattle; the intermittent overcast threw off her internal clock.
Her eyes landed on Spencer almost immediately. It only took a second to remember why he was here. She didn't want to move, afraid she'd wake him. Both arms were protectively around her and Riley hadn't realized how close she had moved to him in her sleep, like he was a protective cocoon around her. Spencer looked so peaceful, and she couldn't believe how much she missed waking up to this. Her eyes danced over him. They took in every relaxed muscle, every line and furrow in his face. Her index finger reached over, gently drawing a line down the bridge of his nose. Riley gave a light snort as Spencer twitched, looking like a bunny rabbit.
It had been like a dream. Her thoughts remembered last night, having complete dependence in him while she tried to get ready for bed. That kiss on her shoulder had almost robbed her of defenses. All her strength fought to resist him, and even then it had barely been enough. The feel of his hair in her fingers, leaning into the side of his face. If she hadn't backed off exactly when she did, Riley would have kissed him. There would have been no chance of stopping after that.
Two of her fingers caressed his lips delicately. They were just as soft as always. "I love you," she whispered.
He didn't move, not hearing a word. "I wish we could be together…" She felt tears in her eyes, knowing full well she would never be brave enough to say this if he were conscious. "… you have no idea how better off you are. I would rather you be with some other girl who deserves you… then be stuck with me." Her tears were falling now, onto the fabric of his sleeve. "I would just make you miserable… and I know you, Brainiac… if you knew the truth, you would do everything to prove me wrong. But I'm not wrong… not this time."
Reid grunted in his sleep, shifting slightly. Riley stopped talking, wiping her eyes quickly in case he awoke. He didn't, remaining still as he slept on. "I love you, Spencer."
"I love you, too, Riley." He muttered, not even waking up. She gasped, panicked until she realized he hadn't woken. She gave a laugh in disbelief, remembering when Spencer had insisted she had said the same to him while she slept, after their first night together. She wouldn't bring this up, though. It wouldn't do either of them a bit of good. Snuggling close to him again, Riley closed her eyes. In less than a minute, she was back to sleep, in the arms of the man she loved and the man she could never have.
…
Reid didn't awake until he heard his cell phone ringing. Riley was cuddled close to him, her head resting against his chest. Running on minimal sleep had finally caught up to him. He groggily pulled himself up, his movement startling Riley who stirred slightly but didn't wake up. Reid reached into his pocket and grabbed his phone. "Hello," he grumbled, his eyes slipping closed, adjusting to the soft light from the windows.
"Reid, where the hell are you? It's almost eleven." Hotch exclaimed into the phone.
"Uh…" Reid grunted. He managed to slip his arm out from under Riley's head without waking her. His free hand rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "Sorry… Hotch… we must have overslept."
There was a silence on the other end, like Hotch suspected him of lying. At least Reid knew he was telling the truth, even if no one believed him. "Does Riley feel well enough to come in?"
"I think so. I'll check with her, she's… still in her room."
Another silence. Reid suspected that Hotch has suspicions, but he didn't let on. "Find out. I expect you in by noon if she is."
"Okay, we'll be there," He said quickly, hanging up the phone. His attention was immediately lost in the tranquil creature next to him. Reid hated to wake her. His old way was leaning down and kissing her collar bone until it revived her. Instead, he brushed her hair off her cheek. With a gentle sigh of content from his touch, he decided to give her a few more minutes. Reid watched her, breathing in and breathing out.
…
"Hey, feeling better?" Emily asked as Reid and Riley arrived that morning.
Indeed, Riley's ankle was sore, but not so much where a cane felt necessary. Reid's clothes were the same as yesterday with the exception of a different sweater vest. Though she felt better, Riley didn't have the energy to dress as professional as usual, wearing jeans and an oversized red sweater. Her hair was down and loose, looking more like a teenager lounging on a Saturday than an almost 30-year-old professional going to work. The rest of the group sans Hotch and Rossi, but with the detectives, were sorting through evidence in the conference room.
"A little," Riley said. The glances between the others were not lost on her, nor on Reid. Both could only imagine what the conversation had consisted of before they arrived, but they had a pretty good idea.
"What's going on?" Reid asked. One look around the room and he could tell they either had new evidence or had cracked a viable piece of the puzzle.
"911 call this morning just before midnight. Patricia Beck and her 13-year-old son Alex were on their way home from a basketball game that night at the high school. They were walking home, she had to stop at the corner market for a few things, told Alex to go home. He never made it."
"Was the note waiting for her?" Reid asked.
"This morning, it was in her mailbox," JJ explained. "They pulled us into it immediately. She's… devastated, she said Alex is sick."
"Sick how?" Riley asked.
"Cancer." JJ replied. "He has Leukemia. His mother said he's starting to improve. He's back at school, he attends his team's games even though he can't play yet. But he's still weak. We have to move quickly. If he's still with the unsub, Alex may not survive to be buried alive."
"So, what are we doing?" Reid asked.
JJ jumped in again. "Hotch and Rossi went off to meet with Alex's mother. The rest of us are working on leads."
Morgan's phone suddenly rang. Like the savior she so often was, Garcia was calling with apparent results. "Talk to us, Baby Girl." He said, putting her on speaker phone.
"Friends, country men, profilers, lend me your ears." Garcia called into the phone. The team never tired of Garcia's bubbly attitude. Levinson even looked amused while Novak rolled her eyes, like the prom queen forced to work with the science geeks. "I am pleased to announce that Alex Beck is still among the land of the living for the time being."
"How do you know that?" Emily asked.
"Someone spotted him sleeping in a car parked at a gas station just outside of King County. They recognized him from a newspaper, an article about the basketball star captain beating cancer. The car went off in the direction of Lloyds Crew, a small town about an hour outside of Seattle. The witness pulled a seven and a PN off the license plate to a ford explorer. I couldn't get an exact match."
"Okay, Novak, I want you to put out an APB on the partial plate and make for the Lloyds Crew PD." Levinson jumped in. "I think two of us ought to head out to Lloyds Crew to look around. If Alex is still alive, he won't be for long."
"No, why don't they put out the APB, Logan, and you and I will go and track this perp down." Novak demanded.
"Because, Leona, like it or not, this isn't our case anymore." Levinson explained. "Now go do your damn job."
Furious, Novak stood, giving the BAU team one last glare, and headed out the door. Emily continued. "Anything else, Garcia?"
"As usual, I give you guys a juicy steak and you ask for sauce," She sassed. "But nothing else has come up yet. And that includes any hits on the DNA. It's still going through CODIS, sorry Riley."
"That's okay," Riley replied. "No news is good news."
"Call if you got anything else, Garcia," Emily said.
"Au revior, my cherubs!" She exclaimed. The click indicated the end of the conversation.
"Well, Reid, since you had a nice restful morning, why don't you get your skinny ass up and come with me to Lloyds Crew to track this kid down."
Reid silently agreed, standing up. Riley, however, had another plan. Quickly jumping up, she rushed after them as fast as her weak tendon would let her. She called after them outside the door. "I want to go."
Morgan and Reid stopped, both looking back surprised. Her face completely sincere.
"Riley," Morgan said, "I don't think that's a good idea."
"Why not?" Riley asked.
"Because you're not an agent. You can't carry a gun, you don't have training, and you're injured, you should stay here."
"I'm also the only one here who has medical training. Alex is sick, he needs help."
Morgan still wasn't convinced. "What would you be able to do?"
She had apparently thought it out. "You have first aid kits in the car, I'm sure. If we find him, I can at least do something to stabilize him, and then we can get him to a hospital instead of relying on blind faith in the EMTs to find us." Riley turned her attention to Reid. "That little boy is sick and alone, I want to help. I'm not doing any good here."
"Don't look to him for help. Reid's not going to put you in that danger, he's in love with you." Morgan argued.
Maybe he was trying to push Reid to make the right decision, or perhaps it had just been a Freudian slip. But either way, Reid felt like he was being manipulated. "Thanks, Morgan. Obviously I'm blinded by my feelings to make wise decisions. And I think she should come."
Reid stepped out quickly before anyone could protest. Riley glanced at Morgan, unsure what to do. "He made the wrong decision."
"No, you should come. You have a valid point, I just…" Morgan retorted. "I embarrassed him."
They made their way towards the entrance as Riley replied. "Embarrassed how? I know he still loves me. And you guys know our history. No ones out of the loop here."
"Embarrassed because… look, Reid has this twisted 'knight in shining armor' complex when it comes to you. He doesn't want to appear weak in front of you." Riley opened her mouth to contest his theory. "You know he loves you, okay, and you've seen the effect you have on him, I'm sure. But… I don't think you realize the kind of hold you have on that kid. You should have seen him the months you were gone."
"I know he never got over me," she replied. "And I'm sorry for that-"
"No, Riley, and if you care about him at all, you will not tell him I told you this… but he has been a mess; an absolute mess. Reid turned into this dejected alien form of himself ever since the day you left. And he'll fall right back into that as soon as we leave. Maybe even worse."
She began to feel a sharp pain developing in her chest. "Morgan… he'll be fine without me. Eventually. He just needs to get over me." Riley explained.
"Yeah, we know. But he won't. He doesn't want to, and even if he did… I don't think he can."
They made it out into the cold, the rain having finally stopped, and reached the car. Reid leaned against it, waiting for it to be unlocked.
"What the hell took you so long," Reid replied, opening the door as the click sounded from Morgan's key ring.
Riley climbed into the backseat. She felt Morgan's eyes on her and met his gaze momentarily. She claimed her seat in the middle. Reid glanced back at her, giving her a small, reassuring smile, "Are you sure you're up for this?"
Unable to unstick her throat, Riley nodded. He wasn't mad at her, but she felt like he should be. Riley certainly hated herself.
