losing the door, Riley allowed herself a moment to gather herself. She wished for a tissue as she dabbed her eyes with the corner of her sleeve. Thankfully she wasn't wearing make-up.

"Are you okay?" Elle asked.

Riley gave a hum of a response, grateful she hadn't burst into tears. With another deep breath, Riley moved around the table. "I'm sorry about that. I'm Dr. Parker. You must be Elle Greenaway."

"Yeah," she replied, giving Riley's hand a shake. "Thank you for coming on… such short notice."

She knew little about Elle, only what Spencer had told her. He always seemed to have a certain remorse about him when he spoke of her. She arranged her things and readied her yellow legal pad for notes. "Shall we get started?"

…

Reid stood, staring at the closed conference room door for several moments. He knew Riley wouldn't come back out for awhile… but just in case.

It wasn't long before his friends decided it best to step away. Their work was done, but no one could go home yet. Emily went over to the break room for coffee, Morgan went to talk to Garcia, and JJ disappeared into her office. Finally, Reid went and reclaimed his seat at his desk.

Tonight was supposed to be perfect. They should be in Vegas right now. Riley should be enjoying herself and Reid should be working up the courage to pull out the ring. Instead, he was in Quantico dealing with murders and fighting with his girlfriend. Bad luck seemed to enjoy his company.

It was starting to get dark outside, and those not apart of the team were taking off. The noise was quieting down significantly around him. Reid took his bag and reached in, extracting his father's letters.

It was a waste of time reading them over. No new evidence was going to be revealed, but all the same he read every word. Once he finished, he reached over and grabbed the receiver of his phone. Reid's fingers slowly began to dial his father's number, but stopped two digits away. He had left a vague note at Bennington that he and Riley had to leave immediately, but left it at that. He knew he should explain why, but even if it weren't personal, Reid couldn't bring himself to call his father. He hung up.

This wasn't over. Those letters weren't going to stop. The constant fear that someone was going to hurt his mother lurked in his mind. She was safe in the hospital, but those walls were far from infallible. If she weren't so afraid of flying, Reid would order his mother transferred to a hospital in D.C. If things became more serious, he would follow that option.

Reid grabbed the phone again. Will Reid was two hours away and a workaholic. Odds were he wasn't home yet, and so dialed his home number. The voice of the answering machine sounded. It was a lot easier than having to speak to him directly.

"Hey, Dad, it's… Spencer." He paused, gathering his courage. "I'm sorry we had to leave so early today, it was… just a personal problem. Um… I'm in the middle of something with work right now, but I'll let you know when…" he thought for a moment whether he should say 'if'. "…when we'll be able to come back. Keep watch of Mom for me, if it's not too much trouble… and let me know if you get anymore letters. Bye."

He hung up quickly, and his anomalous mind began working again. He wondered if Ethan's murder was connected to his parents' threat, if Elle's appearance was somehow connected to Ethan's murder. Three completely different things had no relationship in theory, but three completely different things didn't happen at once if they weren't apart of some great big picture. And suddenly he began to predict what the next piece of this puzzle would be.

…

The entire interview took almost an hour. Superficially, Elle seemed to be cooperating, but as a professional psychiatrist, Riley was having trouble getting real answers out of her.

Riley made extensive notes along with Elle's responses. Her answers were short and direct, a sign she didn't want to reveal anything personal. She made little eye contact with Riley, giving an indication she was hiding something. Her demeanor was cold and disdainful. The only time she would look in Riley's direction, is to try and take a glance at what she was writing.

"You think I'm crazy, don't you?" Elle finally asked.

"Miss Greenaway, why are you so concerned if I think you're crazy?" Riley asked. Her fingertips rested on the tip of her pen as she looked over the troubled woman, trying to read what was scripted on her face.

"You're supposed to be the psychiatrist." She said shrugging, still not meeting her gaze. "What do you think that means?"

"Well, it's difficult to determine. Psychology itself is more guesswork than fact. But from my experience, people who are afraid the world sees them as crazy draws from the fear of being crazy."

At last Elle looked to her, with a coldness in her eyes. "You have no right to judge me, Dr. Parker. You never went through what I went through, you can't possibly understand how I feel about all this."

Of course, Elle didn't know Riley's history. But, instead of arguing with her, Riley used her ignorance to try and gain her trust. "I'm not judging you, Miss Greenaway, I'm just trying to do my job. I realize you don't want to be here. When you work for the FBI, you don't get a lot of patients that choose to have therapy. I deal with a lot of difficult patients, but all I want to do is help." She took a pause, thinking. "If you are ever interested in getting some official help, I would be more than happy to work with you, or give the name of some very respected-"

"Thanks, but I'm fine." She snapped.

Riley expected that. "I understand." Taking a glance over her notes, she said, "I think we're done here, I'll give my findings to Hotch."

"What's my diagnosis?" She asked.

"Miss Greenaway, this was just an interview, I'm not diagnosing you." She said as she quickly scanned her writing, then looked up to her patient. "But… in my opinion… I honestly believe your reason for coming here is purely objective."

Elle was a little surprised by that. It melted her icy attitude and looked to Riley with such appreciation. "You mean that? You're… not just trying to get on my good side?"

"It's exactly what I plan to tell Hotch," She replied with a smile. "You can get yourself some coffee if you like while I speak with him."

Riley got up and headed towards the door. Elle called after her. "Am I the most difficult patient you ever had?"

With a smile, Riley looked back. "No…" she said. "Two years ago I had one… he was the toughest one yet."

…

A door opened and Reid took a glance up above. His stomach contracted as Riley exited, but he didn't run to her immediately. He watched her knock on Hotch's door with her notes and disappear inside. She had left the conference room door opened. Elle was still in there. The last time Reid spoke to her had been in Ohio in her hotel room. He had tried to help her and, despite Morgan's reassurance, he always felt her downfall had been partly his fault.

Taking a deep breath, Reid stood and made his way to the open door. He saw Elle lost in her thoughts. She didn't notice Reid approach until he knocked on the door, to the tune of "Shave and Haircut".

Unlike with Morgan, Elle looked pleased when she saw her new visitor. "Hey, Reid," she said with a smile.

"Hey," he smiled nervously, his hands disappearing in his pocket. "This is certainly a surprise."

"Not a pleasant one, though, right?" she said as he moved further into the room.

"I don't know about everyone else, but I find it pleasant. I've really missed you."

Elle was touched, and for a moment looked like the girl they used to know. "I've missed you, too. You look so different."

"Bad, different?" he asked.

"No, not bad, just… grown up." She pointed out. "Uh, did I hear you yelling before?"

A little embarrassed. "Oh, that was… nothing. Um… can I talk to you?"

She rolled her eyes. "You're wondering why I'm here?"

"No," Reid replied. "I wanted to say I'm sorry."

Surprised, Elle began to get to her feet. "What the hell for, Reid?"

He hesitated at first, but it was too late to stop now. "The last conversation we had… I should have tried to help you."

"Reid… you did try to help me." She pointed out.

"I tried to make you feel better, but I didn't help you. I should have…" Four years of guilt spilled from his mouth, like a soda opening after being shaken. "I should have gone to Hotch… you would haven't gotten scared, you wouldn't have gone out that night, you wouldn't have lost your job…"

"Reid," she moaned, her hands landed on his shoulders, trying to get him to look in her eyes. "What happened was not your fault. If you had gone to Hotch… maybe some things would be different, but I made my own choices. I could have gone to Hotch, too. And as for my job, I quit. I still would have left… I couldn't let this place infect my life anymore. I just should have left sooner."

It didn't ease his blame. Elle wouldn't let up until he agreed. "My life is not your responsibility. You did exactly what a friend should do… be a friend. Do you understand me?"

With a twitch of his mouth, Reid shrugged. "I still feel bad. I am sorry, Elle."

"I do not accept your apology, Reid, because it's not necessary." She replied, pulling him into a hug. "But I do appreciate it."

Reid embraced her. After such a bad day, it was nice to face one demon that had been haunting him and defeat it.

…

After talking to Hotch, Riley put her things into her bag. The bull pen was completely empty, and she was desperate to talk to Reid. She felt horrible and, once the fog had lifted, realized what a brat she was being. Coffee might lead her in the right direction, and so made her way to the break room. All she found was Emily, leaning her palms on the counter, her back to her.

She'd tried to forget what Morgan had said, but it infected her mind like a cancer. That warm knotted feeling that grew in her stomach had yet to subside. It had been sitting there since she was outside the conference room. Emily had stood there for a half a minute. Emily had seen Morgan flirt before, yes, but he usually saved that particular behavior for her. What made Elle Greenaway so special to pull his attention like that? But, more importantly, why did it bother her?

"Hey," Riley said, pulling her attention from her thoughts. "Hotch wants everyone to gather in the conference room. Have you seen Spencer?"

Emily stood, taking a glance at the group of desks. "He was there a minute ago. Maybe he… went to say hi to Elle."

Riley looked over Emily's face with curiosity. "Are you okay? You look… kind of pale."

"It's…" she glanced around for listening ears. "It's probably nothing."

"What's up?" Riley asked, going to get herself a cup of coffee.

She turned and leaned against the counter, folding her arms. "I'm just thinking… about… Morgan."

"Morgan?" Riley stirred the cream and sugar in her drink. "What about him?"

"Well… you're supposed to be the expert. What do you think it means when… a person is jealous?"

Confused, Riley replied, "Okay, you're going to have to walk me through this one."

"Well… I've known Morgan for years. He's one of my closest friends… and I know he's kind of a player and… I've seen him flirt with many girls… why would it bother me now?"

Riley pursed her lips, trying not to laugh. "Em… I may be jumping to conclusions, but are saying you like Morgan? As in you 'like' like him?"

"'Like' like him? What, are we in junior high?" Emily gave a laugh.

Riley laughed along with her. "Okay, how about having romantic feelings for him? Is that enough grown-up vocab for you?"

"I don't… I don't have romantic feelings for Morgan." Emily said, her smile fading. "I'm sure there's a rational explanation as to why it suddenly concerns me."

"Hmm," Riley thought. "Maybe I'm wrong, but… I'm not sure this is a new feeling, it's just the first time you're noticing it."

"Excuse me?" Emily asked.

Riley took a careful sip and continued. "Emily, I know I haven't known you guys that long; and I know you and I have only been good friends for a few months, but I'm pretty good at what I do, and I have noticed some things."

Emily turned directly to her, the concern rising. "And those things would be?"

"Well… I've always noticed Morgan holds a certain… interest with you. When he's in the room or he's brought up in a conversation… your attention changes almost instantly."

"And you think that means I have feelings for him?" Emily confirmed.

Riley continued. "I've seen you when his attention is on other girls. Not like Garcia, just… girls that could be a threat to you. You look like you want to scratch their eyes out."

"You know, Rye, it's a good theory, but… I think you're just jumping to conclusions." Emily replied with a roll of her eyes.

"You're right, Em. I'm just a professional psychiatrist. I work for the FBI, I graduated from one of the best medical schools in the world. What the hell do I know?"

With a knowing smile, Riley took her beverage and left the break room, leaving Emily alone to her thoughts, now only made worse.