The Zero Hour

Reid and Prentiss

February 2011

Note- The restaurant mentioned below exists near Chicago. They also have something similar, but differently themed, in Tennessee. But I don't know if they have it in Washington DC or Virginia.

Chapter Eleven

Emily took her cell phone and slammed it against the table, after she had just hung it up.

Reid said "Strauss won't be happy if she has to issue you a new one of those."

"Hotch says we can have the rest of the day off. There's no more leads on Doyle right now. UGH!" She let out a curse word as she passed the floor. "I am so sick of this crap!" She grabbed her coat. "I need some air." Emily fled the apartment.

Reid had to slip on his shoes, grab his coat and secure his apartment before he could chase after her so didn't catch up with her till she was outside on the street. "Hey, hold up!"

Her shoulders slumped. "You didn't have to follow me. I have a gun. I can protect myself just fine." She lifted her pants to show on strapped to her ankle.

He rocked on his heels. "I want to take you to dinner."

She smirked a little, her mood completely changing. "Dr. Reid, are you asking me on a date?"

He thought about it. "No."

Emily rolled her eyes and let out a frustrated breath. "Dealing with you can be just so...ugh."

"What?"

"Nothing." She paused and focused on what he had suggested. "Dinner. Your treat. Well how could I turn that down? Where do you have in mind?"

He hailed a cab and told the driver where to take that. They ate dinner at a Medieval themed restaurant where you have to eat with your hands and while you watch a show, knights on horseback josting. Prentiss was a secret nerd so she loved it.

XXXXXXXXX

"So," Derek asked, kicked back in his chair at the office the next morning, "you two are bunking down together, huh?" He looked at Reid and teased "First woman to ever get in your door?"

Reid crankily answered "At least I can remember the name of everyone who I've ever slept with."

Derek chuckled. "Well all the women who have had the pleasure to get with Derek Morgan surely remember my name and that's what counts the most." He looked at Emily "So how it is staying with Reid? Does he quote statistics as he does everything?" Derek laughed at his own joke. "Vacuum while quoting? Make dinner while telling you the history of civilization?"

Emily rubbed her head. She had a slight headache. All night long she had kept waking up from nightmares, and each time she woke up Reid because of her tossing, turning and crying out. Neither of them had gotten much sleep.

"Morgan, kindly shut the hell up, would you?" Emily grabbed her coffee cup and went to the break room.

There she ran into Garcia, who asked "How are you holding up, gum drop?"

"Don't ask. How can someone so psycho be so hard to track down?"

"I ask myself that everyday around this place."

Their pagers went off. Since there was no leads on Doyle, and another agency was working with them to search locally for him, the team was being sent on another case.

Emily groaned when she saw her text message. "Great, just great." As much as she wanted to get away from Washington DC she would feel guilty knowing she was safe while Doyle may attack another of her former colleagues.

When they got to the roundtable room Morgan was complaining "Hotch, man, we can't take a case right now. Tell them to send someone else."

Hotch said "I did tell Strauss that but she insists. Lets get down to this. The quicker we do the quicker we get back. We'll be informed if anything breaks while we're gone and, if so, you," he said to Morgan "and Rossi will fly back to check it out."

Hotch ordered Garcia to travel with them for this case. If Doyle couldn't get to Emily, he might get to whoever was close to her instead and none of them wanted to chance it.

XXXXXXXXXX

They worked their case that day and then broke to go to their hotel rooms. Reid stayed up, looking over the copies of the letters that Doyle had sent Emily and the ones he sent her former teammates.

He read them over and over, looking for clues, until finally he thought he stumbled onto something. He rushed out of his room, over to the one where Morgan and Garcia were sharing (with double beds) and knocked on the door.

After Morgan answered Reid told him that he needed Garcia's help.

He explained that only Emily's first letter, and other first letters to other teammates, were written in a controlled, calm manner of speech. The later ones were rambling thoughts of a man getting deeper and deeper into his obsession and farther from reality.

He went on to tell them that in prison the inmates use codes to put in their letters because the gaurds read all the mail. Reid wanted Garcia to search for known codes used in the Russian prisons. He tried several and then finally figured out that Doyle had made his own code that was similar to a known one.

Taking all the messages he was able to find in the letters Reid uncovered that Doyle had delusions that after he had killed every enemy of his he would then kill the President- the ultimate leader in the United States, and symbol of the people who had destroyed Doyle's family, imprisoned him and stopped his mission of cleansing Russia of filthy women.

Garcia said "This baddie is a certified looney toons."

Morgan said "This is good, kid. If he really does plan to go through with this then he'll want to find a place to stay in downtown Washington. He'll probably try to get near the President at some point. We need to report this threat. He's devolving so fast that he couldn't pull anything off without considerable help but if he shows up at any events they can arrest him." Morgan pulled out his phone and walked a few feet away to call Hotch.

Reid says "This changes my geographical profile. He will want to be as near his final target as possible. I need to re-work my map." Reid got up and headed for the door. "Good night and thanks, Garcia."

"Anything for EP," Garcia said, sweetly.

Spencer Reid felt the same. He'd do anything he could to protect Emily Prentiss. He felt that way about her, and the rest of the team, before he ever started to sleep with her but now, after seeing her so vulnerable, being so intimate with her, laughing and joking and sharing secrets, he felt it with his heart and soul. He might not believe he would be able to make their relationship last a long time (because he didn't let himself believe in good things like that happening to him) but he did believe and know that he would do all he could to keep her safe.

He would not let her down.

XXXXXXXXX

"Wonder why Hotch paired us up?" Emily asked Rossi, as they sat in their hotel room.

Rossi was reading the newspaper at the table. "We need Reid's mind functioning at full capacity right now."

She sputtered. "Hmm, what's that? What does that even mean? You think I would distract Reid?"

Rossi looked at her, with his wise, sage eyes, and chuckled. "Hookers may love Reid but he'd never hire one. That only left two options for who gave him that hickey."

"Not really. He might have hit on a hotel clerk or bartender or something."

"Reid? Hit on?"

"Oh, crap, you're right. That isn't even believable." Emily paused. "So is Hotch mad? About the frat rules?"

Rossi smiled. "You know, now that I think about it, Hotch is just about one of the only people I know who never has broken the frat rules. Don't stress. We all cross that line sooner or later. On this job, more times than not, the only person you are around enough to fall for is your teammates."

"We won't let it affect the team."

"I know." Rossi went back to reading his paper.

Emily was too wound up to sleep. "Hey, I think I'll go down to the gym. I could use to blow off some steam."

"Fine. I'll accompany you."

"No, that's okay."

"I insist."

"Doyle didn't follow us all the way across the country."

"Probably not."

Emily groaned. "I'm not going alone, am I?"

"Afraid not."

"Ugh! Sucks, sucks, sucks!" she muttered, as she went through her go bag looking for her work out clothes. She couldn't stand being babysat. She couldn't wait for this to end.