lle released Reid from her grasp and gave him an assuring smile. "I still can't get over how much you've changed."
"I didn't think I was so different." Reid mentioned. "It's like a frog in water. You notice it because you haven't been here, like putting a frog directly in boiling water, it jumps out. The others are as placing a frog in cold water and slowly heating it, it doesn't notice it and… boils to death."
"And there's the Reid I remember." She said with a half a laugh. "What else is still the same? Read 20,000 words a minute and complain how you can't get a date?"
"Hey, I get plenty of dates." Reid corrected. "But… provided I haven't completely ruined everything, I don't believe I'll be dating much longer."
Confused, Elle opened her mouth to speak, but stopped as Morgan and Emily joined them. "Hey, guys."
"Hotch told everyone to meet in here. He's having copies made of Elle's case." Morgan pointed out, sitting across from the two.
Emily took her time sitting down, wanting to make sure there were a few seats between her and Morgan. As she sat, she realized what an odd gesture that was. She had never cared where she sat before.
To Reid's surprise, the next person to join them was Riley herself. "What are you doing here?" Morgan asked.
"Hotch thought it would be a good idea if I sat in on this." She explained. Her eyes seemed reluctant to look at anyone, standing next to the empty chair beside Reid.
"Can I sit here?" she asked sensitively, her delicate fingers resting on back of the seat.
Reid looked her over, pleased her expression was soft and apologetic. It was amazing how many different emotions made this woman look cute, including guilt. He gave her a short nod. "I'd like that."
She sat down, avoiding his gaze, and settled herself. Reid couldn't take his eyes off her, however. He wanted to slip his hand under the table to take hers. Hotch, Rossi, and JJ arrived, which distracted him.
Rossi sat down while JJ started handing out copies of the file. Moving to the front of the room, Hotch took a seat at the head of the table.
"I want to make this clear to everyone." He explained as he got situated, "We are not investigating this case, we are not looking for any leads. We are just here to give Elle our views on this. This is not a profile, just professional opinions. Understood?"
The group complied. Reid read over the file at his usual pace, finishing just as Hotch was ready to begin the presentation.
"Two months ago, Elle's neighbor, Myra Little, 28-years-old, was reported murdered. Her body had been found in the street two blocks from her place. They believed she had been attacked while coming home from work. It was determined a homicidal mugging. The next day, Larissa Henshtein, a 16-year-old cashier, had been found murdered in the storage room of the mini-mart she worked. It's on the corner of Elle's street. She saw both these girls on a regular basis and, since they were killed less than 36 hours apart, she decided to do a little investigating."
"Elle, I'm not trying to offend you," Morgan began, "But is this a hobby of yours? Investigating murder cases in your spare time."
"Actually, Morgan, it's not," Elle explained. "Believe me, I try to keep this trash out of my life, but I knew these girls. I saw them every day. Larissa was just a kid, she wanted to go to Georgetown… I felt like I owed it to both of you. That's when I found the other murders. Some were before the girl's deaths, the others began occurring afterward on a regular basis, one or two every other week, up until six weeks ago."
"Hotch… she might be right," JJ noticed, reading over the other victims. "The MO varies a bit, but all the girls were killed the same way… but why weren't they connected?"
Elle had an explanation for that, too. "I thought about that, and, after looking into their histories, a lot of them weren't reported missing, some were using fake names… a few, as you can see in the file were Jane Does. The most likely reasoning is these girls were runaways and prostitutes."
"That doesn't make sense," Emily chimed in, "Why would the unsub target one type of girl, and then shift his MO and kill two completely different girls and then back again. We have never seen that before."
"Not without a reason, anyway." Rossi admitted. "If I were to guess, I'd say these girls had a personal run in with the unsub. Possibly offending him."
"Okay, Larissa was a straight A high school student and Myra…" Morgan muttered, reading carefully as he spoke. "… what was Myra's profession?"
"Well that's one thing," Elle explained, "Myra was a dancer in a strip club. She was in the process of getting her life together. She used to be a heroin addict. But over the last year she got clean and was getting on her feet. I thought she was doing better."
"That could connect her to the other victims." JJ pointed out. "We just need to know what his interest in Larissa was. I wonder if he knew her personally. We should try to determine her closest friends or even recent ex-boyfriends."
"Guys," Hotch explained. "I understand we're all willing to help investigate, but remember we're not getting involved. Let's just… try to focus on-"
"Of course, Hotch," Elle muttered. "We wouldn't want everyone to get carried away, would we?"
He was not taking her attitude lightly. "Elle, I'm forcing my entire team to stay late on a Friday evening. I am sure each one of them has better plans than giving a hypothetical profile. If you don't like the way I'm running things, you are welcome to leave."
"I think JJ has a point. It seems odd he would change his MO for just one person. Could Larissa have been involved with any… less dignified people at school? Drop outs or drug addicts, maybe?" Riley asked, trying more to ease the tension than change the subject.
Hotch's eyes moved from Elle over to Riley. The expression was undeniable. She sat back, closing her mouth immediately, and Reid understood. Riley hadn't been asked for her expert opinion on the file, Hotch wanted her here to observe Elle.
Elle heaved a shallow breath. Her fury mixed with annoyance, giving the impression she may lunge at Hotch if he angered her further. "You know what, Hotch, if you were just going to give me the runaround on this, you could have saved me a lot of time."
"Elle, we want to help you." Morgan exclaimed. "I will admit, these murders do seem a little too similar to be coincidental. But even you know we can't get involved."
"Not unless it crosses state lines, anyway. Some of the murders here are in DC, but since it's technically not in a state, I'm not sure that will justify it." Rossi made clear.
"You're awfully quiet over there, Reid," Hotch mentioned. "Do you have any opinion?"
Reid had lots of opinions. He had plenty of ideas what to look for on this case. Maybe it was just the intensity of his week, but there was the strangest feeling in his stomach. "Honestly, Hotch… I feel like I've seen this killer before."
There wasn't a calm expression around him. Even Riley, who had been avoiding his eyes, looked to him with worry and fear. Reid needed to explain. "It's strange though. If we've dealt with this unsub before… I can't remember him."
Riley's hand rose gently and rested on Reid's forehead. "Are you feeling alright?" she asked.
"I'm fine," he assured, taking her hand to pull it off him. "I can't explain it, but… I feel a connection to these murders. I don't know what it is."
His fingers entwined with Riley's, trying to determine why this case seemed so familiar. Hotch thought for a long minute. "Okay," he finally spoke, slowly. "Reid, why don't you look into that? Go over every case you've dealt with since you came to the BAU, see if you can spot an obvious connection to this case. It may just be coincidental."
"I don't think so, Hotch," Morgan added. "If there was a case Reid worked on like this one, he'd remember."
Agent Hotchner was not convinced. "Maybe. I'd still like him to look into himself. Reid, if you want to start in the morning, I know it's Saturday, but-"
"No, I'll come in." He was planning to, anyway, expecting the information to come in from New Orleans. "I don't mind."
"If you need help, Reid," Garcia said, "I'd be happy to join you. It'll go faster with a computer."
JJ spoke up next. "Yeah, and I can call the Fairfax police. Maybe they can give us some more information on this."
Hotch tried to make things a bit more clear. "I appreciate the enthusiasm, guys, but I don't want us getting too involved. And I say this for all our sakes. Strauss especially doesn't like us taking things into our hands."
"They'll stay under the radar, Hotch." Rossi voiced. "You never know, just a little searching could really help."
Reluctant, "Alright, then. Anyone who wants to assist Reid in his search is welcome to come in tomorrow morning. Other than that, I think we're done here."
Elle was looking to Reid with such appreciation. Everyone stood, each with desperation to get their evening started. Riley took her time. As Reid stood, he looked her over, waiting to be alone with her.
"Reid," Elle said, pulling his attention. He looked to her and immediately was taken in a hug. "Thank you so much."
"Elle… I was just voicing my opinion. It's not anything you should thank me for." He explained.
Elle pulled away to look at him, her eyes sparkled with her smile and seemed like the woman he had first met, on her first case in Seattle. "But if you hadn't, Hotch would have just dismissed me. I didn't come here because I'm paranoid. I really think there's something suspicious about these murders. They don't deserve to be shoved into a drawer, especially if they don't have to be."
"Why don't you meet us here in the morning?" Reid asked. "You can help us."
Her smiled faded into a look of uncertainty. "Do you really think that's a good idea?"
"Yes, I do." He stated.
Thinking, she gave a slow, hesitant nod. "Alright… I'll be here."
"Great," He said.
Glancing over at Dr. Parker, Elle continued. "Are you heading out? Do you want to get a drink?"
"Actually," Reid's gaze fell on the woman pretending she wasn't listening to the conversation behind her, "why don't you go on ahead. I'll be out in a minute."
She nodded, sensing there was much more between the two than first met the eye. Seeming a little surprised, Elle took her coat and walked out. The two were finally alone.
It was like a game of chicken. The first person to speak would show weakness and be in the wrong. Reid, having started the whole thing, knew he should concede.
"So, what do you want to do tonight?" Reid asked. "We could… go to dinner or… discuss Elle's case or, you could, I don't know, apologize to me."
A long moment passed and finally, with sparkling brown eyes, Riley turned to him with such a soft expression. "I'm sorry."
"Well, you know what Riley, you should be." Reid pointed out, speaking much more bitterly than he felt. It melted away almost at once. "Okay, I'm sorry, I was expecting us to continue fighting."
Riley stepped closer to him. "It doesn't cancel out what you did, but… I shouldn't have acted like that. I was hurt and angry. I should have listened to you."
"You wouldn't even let me talk, you just… made up your mind about it and wouldn't listen. I hate it when you do that."
"I know and I'm sorry." She urged. "But you have to understand why I was upset. Why didn't you tell me? You knew I was nervous about meeting your mother and you let me walk in there just expecting her to know who I am. I made a fool of myself."
"Okay, well, that's the reason why I'm the worst boyfriend in the world." Reid said, his eyes looking to the floor.
"No, you're not. You're the best." Riley corrected, her arms going around his neck. She brushed her brow against his, trying to get him to look in her eyes. "You just… handled this very poorly."
"I know I should have told her, I'm sorry." He said, his arms wrapping around her waist. "I knew I would have to eventually. It's just… I didn't know how she would react… I've never had a real girlfriend before, never mind she's the love of my life… and we have been so happy, I didn't want to ruin it, I didn't… I didn't want to give you an excuse to run."
"Spencer," She protested, "don't you trust me? We promised each other things would be different this time. I'm not going anywhere. Face it, kiddo, you're stuck with me."
His forehead fell on hers again. "You're right… I should have just told her. It was a stupid thing to do."
"Well, Dr. Reid, you may be a genius, but you're still only human."
He smiled, "I am sorry. But please understand, this is in no way a reflection on how I feel about you. Not at all."
"I know," Riley replied with a nod. Reid pulled his chair back out from the table. "Of course, your mother thinks I'm the government trying to harm her son. I guess that means she doesn't like me very much."
Reid sat down. His hands went to her hips, guiding her onto his lap. "Well, that's okay. Because I like you."
Riley giggled. Her arms went around him as they glided into a kiss. Their lips moved in their natural harmony. Her one hand ran up into his long hair. Reid's hand slipped from her hip down her thigh. It lingered at the hem of her skirt, trying to resist the urge to travel underneath it, which became even more difficult hearing her sigh so blissfully into their kiss.
"I thought you guys were fighting." A voice sniggered from the door. JJ stood in the doorway with her coat and bag ready to go.
"We made up, now leave us alone." Was Reid's muffled response. He was beginning to lose the battle as his fingers made a half an inch journey under the fabric.
"Listen, everyone's leaving. You guys want to join us for drinks?" She asked.
Riley pulled from the kiss and stood up. "Uh, no… I think we're just… going to go home."
Reid, his feelings unanimous, got up and followed Riley to the door. "I thought so," JJ added, heading to catch the others at the elevators.
Gathering their things, Reid and Riley headed out of the BAU. They waited outside the building for the next available cab. Had the two lovers paid attention to anything besides each other, they may have sensed they were being watched.
As they climbed into the cab, the street was quiet. Among the shadows appeared a tiny glow; the flame of a cigarette. A figure stood still in the shadows, watching them. He took a long drag. "Hello again, Dr. Reid," He whispered and exhaled his smoke into the chilly night air.