Three Little Words Chapter 5: Ghost, a criminal minds fanfic

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Three Little Words

Chapter Five: Ghost

By Ann Parker

"Good morning," Reid greeted Morgan and Emily when he entered the bullpen on a Monday morning. It had been two weeks since that moment in the shower. Although she hadn't said it back yet, he just had this feeling she'd say it soon. He knew she was probably just afraid. He didn't care how long it took; he was willing to wait forever. He set down his bag and turned to his desk to turn on his computer, not noticing the smiles the two exchanged.

"Have a good weekend Dr. Love?" Morgan teased when Reid turned back to face them. He couldn't stop the smile that crept across his face, answering the question for him. Anytime spent with her was good.

"BAU team, conference room in five," ordered Hotch from above. The three noticed that JJ and two other men were following him.

"Well, at least we had a break," commented Emily and the others nodded. They had had only one case the last two weeks, unusual for them. Reid bent down to his bag to dig out a few files he had taken home with him and groaned. They weren't there. He must have left them at Michelle's house. He made a mental note to call her as he went to get some coffee before heading upstairs.

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Right as Michelle was about to leave her house she noticed some files on her coffee table. Glancing at the names and not recognizing them as her own, she realized how they ended up there and chuckled. Looks like she was going to be paying him a visit. She grabbed them and headed to her office to check in with Wilson.

She knocked on his half open door once inside, "Hey, do you need me for anything urgent?" Wilson looked up from his paperwork and smiled at his favorite agent. He had come to see her as his little sister in their time working together.

"No, why?" he asked, closing a folder.

"I have to run by Quantico to return some files," she stated, biting back her grin.

Wilson chuckled, "say 'hi' for me." She nodded and began to walk away when he called her back. "And Stratford?"

"Yes?" she replied.

"Nice to see you smiling again," he stated. He hadn't seen her this happy since…well, never. He didn't know her when her marriage had been happy. Michelle flashed him a quick grin before turning to leave.

"Where are you headed?" greeted Thompson.

"Wouldn't you like to know," she coyly replied as punched him in the arm before heading out the door.

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Reid walked into the conference room with Morgan to find the rest already there. The two men that had been following JJ and Hotch were also there. One looked oddly familiar to him, but he didn't know why.

"These are Specialist Luke Martian and Sergeant Damian Webber. They are part of a covert army group investigating possible terrorism attacks on the eastern coast. They apparently heard of our success in foiling the attack with Jind Allah's group and would like us to assist in their current investigation," stated Hotch. The two men then went into detail about what they were investigating and how the BAU could be helpful. Apparently there was local group that they knew were planning something, but had been unable to obtain any clear information. They had two of the members in custody for something unconnected and were hoping Gideon could help them crack them and get the information they needed.

The entire time they were talking Reid listened very intently, or at least tried to. There was something about Webber that bothered him. He seemed like an all right guy, but he still didn't completely care for him. Martian seemed fine. It also really annoyed him that he felt like he had seen Webber before and couldn't place him. After the meeting ended and it was decided that Reid and Emily would help Gideon interrogate like last time, the group headed out of the office. He was one of the first ones out of the office and happened to notice a certain person standing by his desk. He quickly ran down the stairs to meet her.

"Hey," he greeted and she turned to face him.

"Hey, you left these in…" she was holding his files out to him when she stopped in mid-sentence. The color seemed to drain out of her face.

"Michelle? Are you okay?" The files fell out of her hands and he noticed her gaze was above him and he turned to see what had freighted her. When his eyes landed on Webber, everything clicked in his head and he felt like he had been punched in the stomach. That was why he looked familiar. For a man that knew just about every word in the English language, all that could come to his head at precise moment was 'holy crap.'

He noticed that Webber's gaze had locked with hers. Turning back to her, he realized what this must have been doing to her. "Michelle?" he whispered. He heard several footsteps on the stairs. She broke her gaze and Reid got a quick glance in her eyes. She looked absolutely terrified. Suddenly, she turned quickly and ran. Ran as fast as she could. He chased after her only to be stopped by the man that caused this.

"Let her go," he stated, pulling Reid from the doors.

Reid shrugged off the man's hand, fire in his eyes. "Who are you to decide what I do? You caused this," he yelled.

"Okay, what the hell is going on?" asked Morgan as the others caught up to them.

"Why did Michelle just run out of here?" asked Garcia in a much gentler tone. She was starting to form a friendship with the woman and was concerned. Neither of the men said anything right away, staring each other down.

"Reid," Hotch's voice came across as an order. He knew that might be the only way to get the young man to answer.

Reid turned to his team, the look in his eyes startling them. "Why don't you ask her husband that came back from the dead?"