Riley stood alone in the middle of her living room and realized she was shaking. It wasn't too late; she could rush out the door and stop him. She didn't want him to leave, especially not like this.

She rushed to the door and reached for the handle, but her mind stopped her. If she went in that hall… she knew what would happen. She would apologize and he'd come back in… and they'd make another mistake.

Her hand rested on the door, listening to her pounding heart. Tears were forming in her eyes as she latched the door. The moment had passed, he was certain to be gone, and this – everything they had – was over.

A distance away, Reid walked home. The entire way, there was the feeling he was being followed. But, he was so upset, he didn't care.

Reid didn't show back up to the B.A.U. until the team returned on Friday. He was at his desk when Morgan and Emily walked in. He stood to greet them, surprisingly eager to hear about the events in Tulsa.

"We really could have used you Reid," Morgan said, sitting down at his own station. "I kept waiting for you to burst in with some great spontaneous answer none of us would have even thought of."

"It's nice to know I'm needed around here."

"What did you do while we were gone?" Emily asked. Both she and Morgan waited, wondering if the answer would be good news.

"Just dealt with a few things that… really were never worth my time." He said bitterly.

"Oh, so you… you didn't talk to Dr. You-Know-Who at all?" Morgan asked, amazed.

"No, I did." He answered, sitting back down. Morgan and Emily exchanged a look of anxiety, neither choosing to respond.

Hotch, Rossi, and J.J. made it in a few moments later. J.J. gave Reid a quick hug of greeting before heading to her office. Hotch pulled Reid aside.

"I spoke to Garcia after our case was finished, Reid." He said.

"Really?" Reid asked. "I don't really know how that concerns me Hotch."

"Reid, I was going to apologize for not trusting you. She said you came in after we left just to talk for awhile, but other than that she had no contact with you the rest of the week. I at least know you kept your promise. You didn't work on that case with Dr. Parker."

"I can honestly say, I haven't seen her since Monday. Is that good enough for you?"

He didn't bother to keep his voice as low as Hotch's and was aware that those around them were listening in. Some didn't even bother to hide their eavesdropping. Hotch was looking furious. Morgan instinctively stood up, as if he'd need to come between the boss and the skinny kid staring death blows at each other.

"She's all yours, by the way." Reid blurted out.

Hotch looked confused. "What?"

Reid didn't clarify. He gave one more glare of disgust and headed to the break room. Morgan went after him.

"What was that about?" Emily asked.

"You better keep an eye on Reid. He's going to end up choking if he keeps putting his foot in his foot in his mouth."

Emily nodded, following Morgan.

"Reid, what is going on with you?" Morgan asked, walking in. "We're not even back ten minutes, you are barely back on the clock and you've given Hotch enough motive to kick you to curb."

He had nothing to say. Reid began pouring a cup of coffee for himself, acting as if Morgan wasn't there. In a moment, Emily walked in.

Morgan continued. "Hotch looked ready to kill you, kid, I'm serious. And the way you're going, I'm about ready to let him. I know you're upset about Riley, but don't take it out on him or any of us."

"Hey, guys," J.J. said, interrupting. "Um… you better get in here."

Curious, the three followed J.J. from the break room over to the conference room were Hotch and Rossi had already arrived. She had the T.V. turned on to a local news station.

The reporter began discussing two young girls found side by side on Route 619 had been found an hour before. The two girls had been reported three days earlier and seemed to have no connection to each other, other than the fact their bodies were found together and appeared to have been killed the same way.

"The Quantico police have reported these girls are the third and fourth victims found within the last month or so. All were killed the same way. They turn up missing, then three days later are found dead with signs of torture and sexual abuse and their throats cut. Cause of death is bleeding out. They don't have any suspects yet. The police contacted me an hour before we got back." J.J. turned to Hotch. "They'd like us to intervene immediately."

"Alright," Hotch said, grabbing the case file. "I know you guys are tired, but we should get down there now. Reid, since you're the only who got a decent night sleep, why don't you start reading the case for the profile."

"I don't have to, Hotch." Reid said, looking at the file. "This is one that Riley brought to you. I know it inside and out."

Hotch looked amazed. "So you were working on the case this week."

A long silence ensued. Everyone watched the two men staring each other down. "Guys, is this really the time for this?" J.J. finally asked, more for Reid's sake.

There was no doubt Hotch was furious. "Everyone, get ready to go." They turned and headed towards the door. "Reid," he called before the young genius could escape.

For the first time, Reid looked at Hotch with fear, respecting him as his superior. "Yes, sir?" he asked, knowing he was in for it.

"The only reason I'm not firing you is because the P.D. wants us to intervene." He stated in a whisper, which seemed more terrifying to Reid than a yell. "Why did you defy me? You knew what would happened if I found out before now."

"I know, it was a mistake. I'm sorry." He said. "She needed my help, I couldn't just… it doesn't matter, I'm not going to be helping her anymore."

It seemed good enough for him. Reid suspected he was too tired to argue. "Get ready to go," he said, heading to walk out. "And Reid."

"Yes?" Reid asked, looking at him sincerely.

"Don't bring her in on this. She's already prejudice against the case. If it's Fueller, we'll find out and catch him, but we need to be sure."

"Yes, sir." Reid said, watching as Hotch left.

Reid held his phone, with no intention of calling Riley. It didn't hit him at first, but after a moment, it seemed odd that Hotch remembered Fueller's name.

It was close to eleven that night. Reid had gotten home late. He stood in front of his bathroom sink, looking exhausted. His mind ran over the facts of the case. The only similarity the victims shared was their age range: 16 – 20. Other than that, the girls may never have met in their lives. Reid couldn't ignore it, though… it seemed to match Fueller's MO to a tee. If he were the killer, the longer they waited, the more girls he had a chance to kill.

Running warm water in his sink, Reid rinsed his face; an attempt to try and wash the stress away. He dabbed it dry with a towel, deciding he was ready for bed. Maybe he'd get a good night sleep, one that didn't involve dreams or thoughts of her. All he wanted was for her to mean nothing to him… the same way he meant to her.

Suddenly, the sound of a fist pounding on his door was heard, startling Reid. Who could be there at this time of night? He listened again, thinking of heading back into his bedroom to grab his gun.

The pounding sounded again, longer and faster this time. "Spencer!" a woman's voice cried. "Spencer, please!"

He knew that voice. "Riley?" Reid said to himself. The knocking and pounding continued. Quickly, Reid headed through his apartment to the front door.

"Spencer!" she cried again. "I know you're here, I checked your room number from your mailbox downstairs! I saw the lights on! Please, Spencer, please!"

As fast as possible, Reid unlocked the dead bolt and unfastened the chain latch, at last opening the door. Riley rushed in without waiting to be invited. All thoughts of loathing or resentment or pain diminished from his mind as he saw the frightened look on her face.

"Riley?" he asked, concerned. "What's wrong?"

She was crying and breathing deeply, trying to catch her breath. Reid reached out and pulled her close to him. He was afraid she'd push him away, but instead accepted his embrace and squeezed him close to her.

"I'm sorry," she said, crying into his shoulder. "I'm so sorry."

"Okay," he whispered, "Shh, it's okay. What happened?"

She cried into his shoulder for a moment, trying to gather composure. Finally, when she'd calmed a bit, she pulled away. Taking a deep breath, she finally spoke, her voice shaking. "I came home late tonight. I was driving back from Havensall… I got home a half hour ago."

"That's pretty late, what were you doing up there so long?" He tired to get her to keep eye contact with her, holding his hands on her upper arms as if to stop her from running away.

"The Dean of Medicine there said he knew of a few old files in the basement that might hold some information on Fueller. So… I went to look and I lost track of time." She sniffled, closing her eyes for a moment to stop a fresh wave of tears. "I… I came home and I… I went to my apartment and… the door was open."

"Oh my God," he uttered.

She nodded, a few more tears escaped. "I went in and the living room was trashed. All my books were off the shelves, things were thrown around. But… the only things they took were the files on Fueller that I left on the coffee table. I hadn't looked at them since you left Monday."

"That's it?"

She nodded, finally looking into his hazel eyes. "I went into my bedroom, which was fairly clean… except my entire underwear drawer was emptied on my bed. Just the underwear drawer."

"That's peculiar."

"When I was looking at it, I heard the sound of the front door close. I had closed it behind me, but I hadn't locked it. Someone had come in after me."

Reid suddenly looked scared himself. Riley started crying again, turning hysterical.

"I ran out of there as quick as I could. I left my purse, my keys, my glasses, everything. I ran the whole way here, I was so scared." she sobbed. "And, I know you're angry and I know you hate me, I just… I didn't know who else to turn to! I'm sorry!"

Reid shushed her again, pulling her into his arms to quiet her. He rocked her soothingly, letting her cry into his sweater. "That's not true. I could never hate you." He said. That made her sob harder, holding him closer. "You can stay here, I'll keep you safe."

She pulled back slightly to see his face. "Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said. "You can take my bed; I'll sleep on the couch."

"You don't have to do that," she moaned. "You're so good to me. I don't deserve you."

She sobbed harder and Reid couldn't help but smile. "Okay, stop crying." He said gently, stroking her back. "You're safe now. I'm here. Shh, I'm here."