Most of the team had arrived before eight that morning. They hadn't had a weekend to themselves in over a month. But today their team was back to its full potential. Nathan Harris wouldn't evade them for long.
Reid and Riley walked in, unnoticed by the others in the bull pen. Riley offered to get them coffee while he greeted his friends and after a quick kiss, parted ways.
"Morning, guys," He cried pleasantly. Even in the middle of the circumstances, Reid couldn't deny he was pleased to get back to his regular routine.
"Ah! The prodigal son returns!" Garcia exclaimed, giving him a warm hug.
As she released him from her arms, JJ gave his hair a tousle, "How are you feeling, Reid?"
"Pretty good. A little tired," He gave a smile, "I was up late last night."
Morgan folded his arms, looking at him sternly. "If I recall, you were told to take it easy. Not to overexert yourself too soon."
"We were talking," Reid took a seat at his desk, looking just as it had when he left. "Just talking."
"So…" Emily took a glance in the break room. "Things are… okay with you two?"
Reid smiled, nodding. "Yeah, we're okay. Once she got over the shock and stopped hitting me. I explained everything… we're great."
Garcia wanted to press if anything else happened last night, but kept quiet. Unaware that Emily knew anything, let alone had the ring. Besides, JJ wasn't supposed to know and she didn't want to reveal she'd already spilled the beans to her.
"How long until we get started?" Reid asked.
"Well, Hotch is with Rossi in his office," JJ explained. "We're still waiting on Elle and Gideon. I know they're both pretty anxious to see you"
While he looked forward to Elle, Gideon was another story. His grim expression was unexpected to them. "That's great."
…
"Hey, Sweetie," Garcia said tentatively as she, Emily, and JJ approached Riley a few minutes later.
She was stirring sugar into Reid's coffee, her own mixed with cream and sugar sat next to it. Riley glanced at each of them. "Is this an ambush?" She joked, which seemed to surprise them.
"We just wanted to make sure you were okay." JJ explained. "We know how hard this was on you. We feel awful we couldn't tell you."
"How long did you guys know?" She was curious. "I mean, you all were really upset at the funeral…"
"It was the next day." Emily explained. "Remember… when I left?"
"Oh," Riley understood. "I thought you were acting differently when you came back, I just… I didn't care."
"Are you mad?" Garcia asked. "Because we are… so incredibly sorry. You have no idea how sorry. Like now would be a good time to ask for a large sum of money sorry."
To each one's surprise, Riley stifled a giggle and smiled. "No, I'm not mad."
"Wow… you're… surprisingly calm." They may not have been friends very long, but Emily had learned quite a bit about her attitude and demeanor in that time. A skill she had attained as her four years as a profiler. "Almost suspiciously calm."
"I'm not mad," She repeated. "I should be mad. I have a right to be mad, but I'm not. And I'm not saying that because I just want to move on or I'm trying to be a big person… I'm honestly not mad. I don't know whether it's the joy or the relief… or if I'm just numb from the shock, but with all truthfulness… I'm okay."
"Wow… great." JJ looked at the others. They hadn't been expecting this, "We're so glad."
"Oh," Riley reached into her bag, removing a brown envelope. "Here's my résumé. I figured I may as well just give it to you now."
"You're still going to take the job?" Garcia asked, obviously having heard.
"Yeah, provided I have permission." She explained. "Spencer being alive… doesn't stop what everyone did for me."
It was an anomaly just how well she was taking this. "Well…" Emily spoke with caution, hoping this wasn't just a house of cards. "I hope you get it… we already know you work well with everyone, so that'll help… and we're happy you're helping us with the case again."
"Yeah, we need all the help we can get." Garcia agreed.
"Well, I'm happy to … and I'll join you guys in just a minute." She explained.
The girls got the hint and went to leave. Before she could get away, Riley grabbed Emily's arm to stop her. Nervous, she stopped and waited, meeting her frightened eyes.
Riley took a moment to find her words. Emily waited patiently, feeling the building anxiety, expecting to hear the concealed wrath of the young therapist any second. "Emily…" Riley spoke slowly. "I can't begin to… to thank you… for everything you did."
She hadn't been anticipating that, slightly stunned. "Riley-"
"Please, just let me say this." She took a deep breath, trying to get back her courage. "I know I wasn't the most pleasant person… and I tried to push you away… but you were amazing. You were there almost every night, you took care of me, you listened to me for hours while I cried. Besides Spencer… I have never had anyone care about me like that… I don't know how I could have gotten through this without you… you were a real friend. I can't do for you what I can for JJ, but I promise, even if it takes me the rest of my life, I will do everything in my power to repay you for this."
"Riley," Emily pleaded, "You don't owe me anything. My friend was in pain, I didn't have a choice. You needed me. I would have been there even if Reid were dead. And I would still be there."
Riley nodded. "Thank you… If you need anything, do not hesitate to ask."
"You're welcome," Emily pulled her into an embrace, just as grateful as she. She had not joined this place of her own choice, but the people of this team had accepted her and become her friends when she had no one. Emily had never expected that. They had grown into the most important people in her life; it was nice to finally do that for someone else.
"Oh," Riley exclaimed as they let go. "And um… I did happen to… glance into my waste basket this morning … and by glance, I mean frantically search… and I didn't find what I was looking for. I'm hoping… maybe…"
"Like I would have let you throw it away." She jeered with a smile.
Riley let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank God. Emily… if I didn't owe you before…"
Emily giggled. "It is a very pretty ring, you know."
"Yeah…" The actual ring was the furthest from her mind. Now that she had Spencer back, she fully realized what this meant. Astonished, "He wants to marry me."
…
They weren't out of the woods yet. While Reid being back was great, it wouldn't be long before Nathan found out. Once he did, everyone would be under his wrath again. The clock was ticking. They wasted no time getting down to work.
Elle arrived to find everyone working in the conference room minus Hotch. Reid was busying himself with several maps of DC and the surrounding cities, trying to pin point the places Nathan possibly staked out and chose his victims. If they could find the one or two most popular areas, they might be able to track him. But currently, no zone seemed to have more than two or three victims. He wasn't about to give up yet.
There seemed little else to discover about the other victims. It seemed their only hope would be that Shakira would lead them in the right direction. She may not agree to help them, but she may give them a clue. If Nathan had made her believe he loved her, he couldn't have gone this long without having some kind of contact with her if he wanted to keep her on his side.
"How you feeling, Reid?" Elle asked. The progress she seemed to have made appeared to have dissipated. Maybe this was finally starting to get to her.
"Relatively normal," He replied. "But I'd be better if we could just solve this. How are you?"
"Fine," she muttered. "You seem to be doing a lot better than me after being shot."
"Are you kidding?" Morgan asked. "After everything that kid's been through, getting shot in the chest is a cake walk."
Reid shot Morgan an easy glare. It hadn't gone unnoticed by him or the others the body language between him and Emily. They wouldn't look at each other, avoided getting close, and worst of all was the awkward standstill at the doorway before they entered, trying to decide which should go through first. Riley was the only one with a suspicion what it was about, but didn't let on for respect of their privacy.
The moment Reid had been dreading was upon him. Hotch came inside with Gideon behind him, having just arrived. Reid avoided his eyes, pretending not to detect his being there.
"I just got off the phone with Strauss." Hotch informed, ignoring the stifled groans that passed through the room. "She's on her way here."
"Do we want to know?" Rossi asked.
"Her reasoning is that we've spent too much time on this case. Now, I can't say that I blame her, but she doesn't understand how sensitive this is to us. She wants to see our progress. We have to justify we're close enough to see this case to the end, otherwise she'll declare it cold and put it away."
"Yeah, and when Reid's parents start being threatened again, will she let us reopen it?" Morgan wondered.
"Let's just prove to her that we can keep it open now." Hotch informed. "Let's organize the evidence for her presentation. Garcia and Morgan will take over the geography for Reid."
"What am I going to do?" Reid asked.
"Gideon's going to interview Shakira again at the station. He requested you go with him." Hotch informed.
At last, Reid acknowledged Gideon in the room. He looked at him so pensively, like he had a preconceived idea of what Reid would grow into and was pleased to see he achieved and exceeded his expectations. Reid, however, fixed him a neutral stare, almost cold, before looking away. "Are you sure that's wise, Hotch. I mean I just got back on my feet. And I'm supposed to be staying under the radar."
He pretended not to hear the protest. "Hopefully, Strauss will give us the clear to continue working. Let's get going."
Reid had to practically force himself out of his chair. Hotch left the room followed by Rossi and Elle. Emily and JJ began gathering up the folders on the table, intending to organize them. Gideon met Reid's eye again.
"Hello, Gideon. Um… I'll just be a minute."
"Sure, Reid," He uttered almost in a whisper. He stared a moment longer, then turned and headed out of the room.
Swallowing nervously, Reid looked to Morgan, standing next to Garcia, who both eyed him nervously. "Are you sure you guys will be able to handle this?"
"Sure," Morgan said, "We've done this before." He lowered his voice. "Are you going to be okay, man?"
"We'll find out won't we?" He smiled as Riley approached him. "I'll be back soon."
"You better," She said folding her arms. "And… try not to… be too hard on him."
"What do you mean?" His ignorance didn't fool her, his hazel eyes darting away.
"You know what I mean." She lowered her voice. "Look, I know you're mad at him. This isn't something a person can just push aside and get over. And I'm not saying you have to forgive him… I'm just saying be civil and listen to him. As both a licensed psychiatrist and somebody who devastatingly hurt you and is still twisted with guilt to this day… don't assume he considers himself even remotely blameless."
Reid nodded, looking at the ceiling for a moment. She was right, but it was easier said than done. "You know I'm not a person who easily lets go of a grudge."
"I know, Baby," her voice went even lower. The others hated to eavesdrop, but the unit being so quiet on a Saturday, it wasn't like they couldn't hear her. "But just try… Holding onto a grudge like that can be so toxic. I want you and Gideon to be able to reconcile, just like we did."
Reid gave a questioning stare and Riley blushed. "Okay, well… not exactly like we did. But… if you try to give him the benefit of the doubt and you're a good boy…" She smiled in a wicked, teasing way, "I'll be a very bad girl while wearing that black lacy nightgown you really like."
Reid lost the ability to speak. After severely attempts to clear his throat, "Um… well, I'll… definitely take that into consideration."
She reached up to place a warm kiss on his lips, her hands resting on the side of his face. It took everything in him not to pull her closer, but was fully aware there were others staring at them.
He let her go and placed one more kiss on the top of her head, her giggle resonating as he moved out to meet his former mentor.
"Hey, Riley, you know, if Reid's not interested, I'd be happy to take his place," Morgan teased, flashing her a flirtatious grin.
Riley shot him a look, indicating he would only ever have that opportunity in his dreams, and headed out to grab more coffee. Morgan was still smiling as he caught Emily looking at him bitterly. "I was just kidding," he shrugged.
"I know," She replied, following Riley out the door. "I wouldn't care if you weren't."
"That was a little weird." JJ whispered to Garcia. Morgan seemed too preoccupied staring at Emily through the blinds to hear her.
Garcia shook her head. "Honey, you don't know the half of it."