"Reid," Hotch put his hand in front of Reid to stop him from entering the conference room. "What's going on with you and Dr. Parker?"
He kept his voice low. The only other person interested in the conversation was Rossi. Reid tried to hide his anxiety and answer as coolly as possible.
"Why do you think there's something going on, Hotch?" he asked.
"Reid, if you and Dr. Parker cannot keep a professional relationship-"
"It's nothing like that. We just get along well." He took a deep breath, his brain working as quick as ever to come up with valid reasoning. "She can be very emotional sometimes and I just wanted to check and see if she were alright. I offered to take a look over the case, during my own time."
Hotch seemed to accept that. "She can get very passionate about things," he agreed. "I'm going to warn you, Reid. You leave that case alone. If the police want us to mediate, they will contact J.J., but otherwise, it's none of our business and it definitely is none of her business. And you don't need to get her hopes up that you'll be her hero, find this Fueller, and put him back in jail. Is that clear?"
It was a mental home, Reid thought, but stopped himself before he corrected him. "Yes, sir." He had one more question. "How do you know her so well, Hotch?"
"That's also none of your business, Reid." He said. He let him pass inside and J.J. commenced with the briefing.
…
"Good morning, Sam," Riley said as she headed to her office after leaving the B.A.U.
"Riley," Dr. Andrews said, catching her arm. "Where were you this morning?"
"I needed a consult with Aaron Hotchner over at the Behavior Analysis Unit. Why, was there something you needed?"
"I just wanted to discuss a patient with you. A patient of mine, of course. Another teenage girl, they can be the worse to deal with."
"I know, I was one at one point." She replied. "And I wouldn't wish that on my worse enemy. Well, maybe my worse enemy."
Dr. Andrews laughed, as he so often did at her jokes, and Riley couldn't help thinking if Reid also would have thought it was amusing. "Would you like to talk with me now?"
"No, I caught up with Dr. Redmond, he gave me some advice. I also wanted to ask you… are you sure you're okay?"
Riley could use someone to talk to, that was for sure. She wasn't certain, however, just how much she could trust this man. Would he turn her in for sleeping with a patient?
If he didn't, he'd be obstructing justice… or something like that, and he'd get in trouble along with her.
Instead, she cleared her throat and responded with. "Just… this guy I was seeing. I… really liked him, I just… I don't know. Things got serious and afterward, I knew it was better for everyone involved if we ended everything immediately. But… I guess I'm not taking it as well as I thought I would. Neither is he, and I can see how crushed he is every day."
"Every day?" Dr. Andrews asked. "But… if you see him every day… that would have to mean he works in the F.B.I., doesn't it."
Oh, crap. "Yes," she said, no point in denying it. "It does." At least he hadn't guessed the worst part.
"Oh, whatever happened to 'I don't date people I work with.'?" He asked.
"It's… more of a guideline than a rule, I guess." She said quickly. "You know, I have quite a few patients today and I'm… working on another case with the B.A.U." That was only a small lie.
"So, does that mean you're going to go off your guideline and finally go on a date with me?" he asked.
She knew that was coming. "Definitely not. Like I said, it is so hard for us to be around each other and…" Riley couldn't say she actually loved him. That was a Pandora's box just waiting to spill evil. "…that makes working on this case so much harder. I hope you understand."
"Hey, we won't be working in this office together forever." He said. "I can wait until then to give you a call."
"Well, if you think so," she replied, trying to joke with him. Dr. Andrews was getting more unbearable by the minute. She turned and headed into room 202. Alone at last. Of course, she would have to be careful around Dr. Andrews. At the rate she was going, she'd be looking for a new career by the end of the week.
…
On flight to Austin, the team sat while discussing the new case. Four teenage jocks from different high schools were reported missing and later found dead. Everyone began discussing possible traits this unsub could have. Well… most everyone.
That had been odd. Reid's eyes were fixed on Hotch intently. There was a sour feeling growing in his stomach and aching heat burning in his head. Riley was a little too friendly with him to be just colleagues. She had called him Aaron for goodness sake. Only when she had begun to get furious, but it was Aaron just the same. It had to be a name she was comfortable with to use it. Reid would never dream of calling Hotch by his first name, and he doubted most of the team wouldn't either.
His mind didn't often wonder, didn't often invent ideas or jump to conclusions, but his brain hadn't been working right, lately. It had been drifting for last six weeks or so… and it had completely gone off the deep end over a week ago.
Of course it did, he thought to himself. You slept with your therapist.
He was wondering, though. Riley was very comfortable with Hotch. And she had no problem bringing him a case that morning. She hadn't even bothered to go through J.J. Riley knew J.J. was their liaison. Heck, she hadn't even bothered to ask Reid… although that was a bit more understandable.
What if this went deeper? What if, and really he was just thinking outside the box, she had told him she didn't love Reid and didn't want to be with Reid… because there was namely someone else she wanted. Namely…
"Reid?" Hotch asked, catching his gaze. "You don't have any questions on this case? This is all clear to you."
Reid gave him the most subtle of glares. "Crystal." He replied, giving a contemptible smile.
Rossi spoke next and the words turned to white noise. Reid continued staring at Hotch for a moment, and his attention was right back at Reid. If he thought he was going to take Riley away from him…
You're jumping to conclusions. He thought. But he knew what he saw. There was something there that equaled more than a social or professional relationship.
Finally, he turned and looked out the window. The more he thought, the more it seemed less incredible. After all, Riley was almost thirty and Hotch was divorced. And they seemed to know each other very well when seeing them together six weeks ago. At the time, there was nothing suspicious about it. Could that have been a smoke screen?
When the plane landed, everyone hurried off the plane. Once again, Hotch stopped him.
"Reid," he said. "Are you sure you're okay? Because I can't have you working on this if you're not focused. Are you focused?"
The longer he spent here, with him, the more Reid hated him. "I'm focused,"
"Are you sure?"
He flashed him another loathing smile with hate behind his eyes. "I'm sure."
…
A day passed and they had few leads to go on. Deciding to call it a night, the team headed out for a quick dinner. Reid wasn't much for company, but stuck it out to avoid suspicion. Afterward, they headed to the motel. All Reid wanted to do was be alone, climb into bed, and… not sleep.
Finally, alone at last, he closed his door and dropped his bags on the floor. He made an unusual bee line for the mini bar, deciding he wanted a drink. He knew he'd have to pay for it out of his pocket when they checked out. He didn't care.
He poured one small bottle of scotch into a glass slowly. The smell of the liquor unhurriedly wafted across the room. No ice or anything fancy, he set the empty bottle down and was just about to take a sip when his cell phone rang.
Groaning, he went to his bag to find it, expecting Morgan or, undesirably Hotch. Instead, only a number was shown; no name on the ID, but he recognized it as a Quantico area code. He hoped it was who he wanted it be.
"Hey," he said as he answered.
There was slight pause on the other end. "Why do you answer like that? Like you know it's me." Riley asked.
"Because it is you." He replied, taking a sip of his drink. "Where are you calling from?"
"My home. I'm in bed and I wanted to call you, but… my cell phone was in the other room and I'm already comfy."
"Oh," he said, still a bit caught off guard. "What are you wearing?" It came out before he could stop it.
"Dr. Reid, are you flirting with me?" she asked lightheartedly.
"No…" he stammered. "I don't know what I'm saying, I've been drinking."
She giggled at that. Reid's stomach did a somersault every time he heard that giggle. "You don't sound drunk."
"Well, I've only had one sip so far."
That made her laugh harder. He chuckled softly, listening to her. Listening to how beautiful it was. He kicked off his shoes and climbed onto his bed to relax while she calmed down.
"What are you drinking, anyway?" she asked, still with giggles in her throat.
"Scotch," he replied. "I hate the taste of the stuff. I probably won't finish it."
"Mix it with Kalùha; together, they taste just like Dr. Pepper."
"Thank you for the tip, I'll remember that." He replied. "You know, I'm lying in bed, talking to a pretty girl on the phone on a week night, I feel like a teenager. At least, how I think a teenage boy would feel. I never got the chance to experience it."
"I bet all the girls would have been fawning over you in high school if you were the same age." Riley said.
"I doubt that," Reid replied.
"Well, I certainly would have been fawning over you." She refuted.
They sat in silence for a moment. Reid felt flattered, but uncertain. This wasn't the way someone acted if she weren't interested in someone. They were approaching the door of unconcluded questions.
But, however badly Reid wanted answers, he didn't want to ruin this. It was like the way things were Saturday night, before the kiss. He never would regret that kiss, ever, or what happened after, but he wished they could go back to the few hours before. Just to relive it.
"So, I assume you called because you wanted to talk about Fueller and that new case you found?"
"Well, yeah…" she spoke slowly. "But I really don't want to anymore. We can talk about it when you come home."
"Okay," Reid said, miserably. He lost her already. "You probably want to go to bed anyway."
"Not really," she answered quickly. "Can we just talk? I mean… just casually, talk?"
He hated that he was in love with her. He hated that she didn't love him back. He hated that she might want to be with… him.
But, it didn't matter how she felt, though, or who she belonged to. Right now, she was his and he wasn't going to let her go any sooner than he had to. "Absolutely."
