Authors Note: Sorry it took me SO long to get this chapter up. My sister ended up needing to have an emergency C-section so I've been in the hospital with her and my niece. Both are fine, but the baby still needs to be under doctor supervision. Hope you enjoy. Please Read and Review.

Chapter 2

The Moment

Down the steps of the University Krys soared before racing outside, holding the door open for Spencer and a few others before she hurried down the sidewalk, clutching the strap of her messenger bag. A little ways down the street was the arcade.

Krys pushed her entire body weight against the door and immediately the darkness and smell of greasy food overtook the scene. Flashing lights, the sound of arcade games dinging, tickets being printed, and the occasional clink-clank of the change machine. Krys took it all in with a wide smile before turning around to boldly address the young man behind her.

"In here... I'm KING." She declared with a playful waggle of the eyebrows and a more comedic gesture of her hands on her hips like some sort of Superman knock off. While Krys wasn't always the best with people she was excellent with technology.. And points.

The sudden clinking of coins and machines made Reid think of a casino. The screams of kids made him think of school. The smell of the place seemed unhealthy. He smiled at Krys hiding his discomfort perfectly. "So should I call you Krys or the KING?" He laughed at his horrible attempt to make a joke. He looked around the small place and figured that it was probably to late to get out of it.

"King Krys." The data analyst quipped with a proud little smile, hands still on her hips though her posture relaxed a little bit. She had been inside an arcade multiple times before, though this was only the second time she had been to this one in her various visits to the college in the area.

As a child she would skip lunch (not that the coins her father gave her was enough to buy lunch anyways) and she would save all week so she could go to the arcade every Friday and play for a good hour. The clinking of coins she was hearing now along with the cheers of excited beings of various ages was home to her. In a way it was the only home that she knew. It wasn't like she had a stable home now 's when she noticed something. As she looked at Spencer Reid she gave a genuine half smirk as if she had spotted a mistake that no one else in the 'class' had. "You're smiling Spencer Reid." She declared in a soft, yet knowing voice amidst the clanging of coin machines. But this sense of semi-pride and contentment was short lived for she immediately turned toward the closest game that was available.

Reid looked like a kid found with his hand in the cookie jar for a moment when Krys declared that he was smiling. Then he realized that there was no reason to be ashamed of being happy. In the back of his mind he wondered what Morgan would say about Reid being in an arcade. Then he realized why he was drawn so much to Krys. She was a female, more hyper, version of Morgan. Maybe not as brave and heroic as he was, but the same basic personality. Reid considered him his brother. Maybe Krys could be some sort of sister. After all it seemed like she needed friends.

Krys' eyes lit up at the site of a game a few feet in front of her. She was so exited that she didn't even see the stunned face of Spencer. Before he even had a chance to defend himself for smiling she was already on the next subject.

"Do you like Centipede?" She asked over her shoulder as she thrust her right hand into her messenger bag, rummaging for the spare quarters she often saved out of old habit. "Not the bug I mean, the game." She added for good measure before bending down to insert one coin. Glancing over her shoulder fully now she smiled, brushing a few stray whisps of brown hair behind her ear. "An oldie but a goodie. It's really simple. Honest."

"Centipede?" Reid repeated taking a step closer to the game. "Yeah... I know it. Made in 1980 by Atari. Designed by Ed Logg and Dona Bailey, one of the only female game programmers in the industry at the time." He said though he had never really played the game before.

Krys blinked, obviously impressed by this man's rattling off of facts. It was impressive, that much couldn't be denied. Stopping her attempt to 'set up' the game (mainly by pressing start) she slowly turned around to face in him in a momentary pause. "So you know all about it... You've just never played it..." Of course she was only teasing, and even then it was in a tone that she was amused by this and wished to encourage it further.

"You're a Snapple cap of knowledge, Spence." She turned her attention back to the game as though this sort of conversation was completely natural for them, even though they had just met. Krys was a socially comfortable person which probably scared a lot of people off, meaning once you spoke to her she treated you like she had known you for ages. It was just a positive little habit she always had. Agent Grimaldi always teased her about it. She had even slipped up and called Spencer 'Spence'. No telling how he'd feel about that, but she had done it subconsciously so she didn't even notice and she went about playing the game.

With a grunt she moved to stand again in front of the right side of the machine where the little joystick was. "All you have to do is press this red button to shoot." She nodded toward the button in question before moving the joystick back and forth. Reid's eyes wryly fell to the button like he had never seen one in his life before.

"I'll control where the shooting comes from." Looking over her shoulder again she attempted to reassure him if he had any doubts. "It's not a gun so much as a little box shooting at little balls that are attached. It changes color too, if that's an incentive at all.."

Reaching over she pressed the red button and the machine began to play a little tune of beeps and tones. Her hands drummed rhythmically against the front before she tossed another reassuring smile in the agent's direction. "Well..?"

After a moment of hesitation Spencer joined Krys next to the game and placed his hand on the small red button. A second later he was pressing it and watching the little light come out of the point of the "gun" as it weaved its way across the screen being controlled by "KING". "This is fun..." He said delight clear in his voice. Some how the little game was able to take his brilliant mind of the troubles in the world. Suddenly everything didn't look so evil any more. Maybe he should try and have fun more often.

Krys moved the joystick back and forth. While her movement was methodical as she paid close attention to what Reid was doing, he was just pressing the red button as fast as he could.

"Right! Right! Left! Quick.. It's blue!" Krys half shouted more to herself than Reid.

It was during a quick sidelong glance that she smirked a bit and shook her head. He was pressing the button rather exuberantly for someone who seemed startled by the idea of videogames. With a bit of a proud smile Krys turned her attention back on the game where the centipede was changing to it's ninth different color meaning they were on a higher level.

"Okay. Time for the ole switcheroo." Before Reid was even able to react to the words Krys was already putting her plan into action.

In a scrambling of movement she practically limbo-ed under his arm (he was quite a bit taller than she was at 5'3) and now she took the place at the red button while he got a chance at maneuvering. Something that he wasn't quite ready for. Her brown eyes glued to the screen she watched the splashes of color, the blinking of lights against the black screen with an eager expression.

There was a moment when the gun didn't move as Reid stared blankly at the screen like it was an alien machine. Then he realize that he had to do something or they would loss. Not as smoothly as when Krys had been controlling it the box moved back and forth across the screen.

Clicking away now Krys bounced back and forth eagerly on her heels. "Did you know that centipedes don't actually have a hundred legs?" From the looks of things she was her own little Snapple Cap of random facts. Another thing Grimaldi teased her about, and often. She was the 'baby' of the team, and as a result got treated like a five year old sometimes. How this was appropriate in the workforce she had no idea, but she actually enjoyed it. Her team was more family than her own family, as sad as that was.

Reid barely heard Krys' words. All the genius mind and energy was focused on the game, which was turning out to be surprisingly difficult for just having to move a gun back and forth across a small screen

It was only when he decided to look over at Krys, like she had him, to see what she was doing the he lost concentration. When he looked back at the game it was to late to recover. The centipede, what was left of it, had reached the lowest quadrant of the screen and made contact with their 'blaster'. The screen flashed and the bold white words read in the center of the blackness: GAME OVER.

"Aw man..." Krys groaned before doing a 180 and looking to her 'teammate'. "Well played." She offered but now the screen was flashing for them to add in their names for the number 4 spot out of 7. 5 out of the seven read 'KRYS'. Reid's eyes widened at the name amazed at how good she actually was.

"Okay, okay, I've played this game a bit in the past week." She admitted, laughing it off before she nodded toward the screen. "You can put your name in. It's like being on the wall of fame only no one knows so you can't be showered with praises."

There was a short pause as Reid wondered if he should actually do what she said, after all she had done most the work in getting them as high as they had. After a moment he deiced that there was no fighting this girl and entered "REID" into the machine. It felt good to see his name on the top scores list. He felt an odd sense of pride knowing that one day someone would see his name up there. Even if, like Krys said, they had no idea who he was. He could imagine someone seeing Krys' name then his and thinking that he must be good at the game.

At the base of the game a long string of tickets had appeared. Krys reached done and grabbed then. After stuffing them into her bag she pulled out a few more coins out of it before looking back up and declaring thoughtfully: "You look like a guy who would like to whack some alligators."

Following Krys off to the Wac-An-Alligator Reid found himself a little confused. "Its it suppose to be Wac-A-Mole?"

"Kind of. But not..." Krys eyed the machine as she pointed out the various plastic parts. "There's no holes, no moles.. And the alligators come through this tunnel." She looked up again at Spencer brightly. "But you do have to hit them on the head, well, snout anyways."

Now turning her attention on a large, wide green game shaped like a swamp labeled 'See Ya Later Alligator' she inserted the coins eagerly before holding the big, plushy mallet out for Spencer. "All you gotta do is hit the gators over the head." Now chewing sounds were coming from the machine and the fake water began to move, and then appeared the alligators. So, Krys demonstrated, with one hand she hit one, then another before looking to Reid. "It's pretty barbaric but awesomely so."

Reid took the mallet only second before the game started. He was taken aback as Krys started to hit the machine with her hands. "Just a little…?" He respond questioningly.

Seeing an alligator pop up but not getting to it in time with the mallet. Slightly frustrated and again wanting to show Krys he could do it, he whacked the next one harder though still missing it, and sent his mallet flying a few feet into the air before it landed on the table in front of him. His checks turned red with embarrassment. "Heads up!" A hint of an amused smile and slight tilt of the head, Krys looked to Spencer with her brow curiously raised. A second later he burst into laughter. "I guess I'm not that good." He said between laughs

Krys was quiet for a moment as she watched him in the midst of the alligators now making hungry growls and crunching sounds. This man was laughing. While he had been so nerve-racked earlier now he was actually laughing. And she wasn't going to let it fade away."Doesn't matter." She concluded simply, her chin raised high. "People always cheat anyways. Come on!" And with that she turned to the machine with a large smile and proceeded to push down on the plastic alligators' snouts with her hands, thus racking up the points. People did this all of the time and though it wasn't in the rules it wasn't like you could get into trouble for it. The rules weren't tacked up anywhere, no one was breathing on their necks, they could invent their own.

If it was any other time Reid would have thought that that was cheating and pointed it out. But then there was no need to be a wet blanket now. He decided to just have fun with it. So he joined in the fun whacking the alligators with the mallet, while at the same time he was making sure that he didn't hit Krys' hands. Reid quickly learned the pattern in which the heads came up, because no matter how random something is there is always a pattern if you watch close enough. With this he actually ended up helping raise their score.

Without the mallet Krys had to apply a bit more force, and quickly, so she would dash to each gator, jump in the air and press on it with both hands, using her full body weight. Even as she did so, she wanted to keep the random facts game alive, even if most of her facts were just gathered from Animal Planet watching.

"Fun fact, in Africa Hippos kill more people than Crocodiles." Another breathless grunt as she rushed to another alligator bopping it right on the snout. "As a kid I wanted a pet Hippo." She shrugged, rushing to another one as the gators were coming faster now. "As a kid I wanted a pet everything. Still do." Another grunt and a push as a gator cried out 'ow' in a comedic low voice. "But I travel too much to have a pet, or much of anything else." It was when she said this that she was incredibly focused on the game so she hadn't even paid attention to what words she had said or the murmured tone she had said them in.

"I wanted a dog." Reid said plainly. He really never wanted any odd animal, knowing that it wasn't possible. It was kind of sad that he never got to imagine what it would be like having a Lion, or something like that, for a pet. Now that he thought about it he missed out on so much. But what was he going to do. There was nothing he could do to change what he was like back then. And he was defiantly not going to become one of those regretful people. When he was a kid he had something no one had, an adult mind, which was why he was where he was know doing what he loved in the world, and he wouldn't trade anything to have it a different way.

Reid smiled as he came up with his own fun fact. "Both crocodiles and alligators have dotted sensory pits along the upper and lower jaws that look almost like beard stubble. They detect slight changes in water pressure, thought to help the animals locate prey." Reid quotes as he hit another alligator on the head.

"So, in a way, they're kind of like me on my computer." She chimed in, pressing another alligator on the head, it's low protests heard over the game's sound system. "My computer gives me a whole new sense that others don't have. I'm pretty much an X-Men.""You're not god awful at this you know." The comment only embarrassed Reid more. He figured that this game had to be the easiest game in the place. But the fact was he was doing pretty good at not missing.

Another alligator, another bop. Another one, this time Krys did a little move with her elbow, facing inward toward Spencer. "Did you know that alligators can sing?" Bop. "Not so much sing as puff out this little bit of skin under their necks and purr, really loud. Imagine if people did that." Her two hands moved outward and hit two separate green alligators over the head.

"Frogs do the same thing. And though most make a loud 'ribit' sound some also purr, like an alligator." Reid said getting another hit.

Just like that the game wound down, the time limit running out, and the game silence itself and yellow tickets began to print and collected, in a line, at their feet. Bending down Krys yanked them out and shoved them into her bag. Straightening back up there really wasn't anything to say. She was willing to bet her going on and telling him 'good game' would make him feel awkward and weird, so, instead, she settled on a rather blank: "I wanted a dog too." Before she gave him a bright sort of expression. "Wait right here." And she hurried off.

When Krys ran off Reid felt a little lonely. He was sure that he looked really out of place standing in the middle of an arcade alone staring into space. He also thought he might look like some sort of pervert or something. Then again he had been told many times that he looked a lot younger then he really was. Even once someone thought he was twelve. It amazed his how he could be 28 and look like a teenager. Maybe that would actually play in his advantage for once in his life. The thought of blending in made his feel better and more relaxed.

It wasn't long before Krys returned with a white and red checkered cardboard container which held nacho chips and melted cheese. "Did you know those 'must' have 300 calories a chip..." He muttered not really sure if she could hear him or not. Luckily she didn't.

She gave a calm smile as she introduced yet another arcade staple disguised as a makeshift fact. "Did you know, though horribly unhealthy, arcade food is delicious?" There was a glint of something in her face but it quickly disappeared as she offered the box to him to take if he wished. Maybe the stickiness of the cheese would be a problem, or the fact that it REALLY looked like a clot waiting to happen, but you had to live a little once in a while.

To make up for his comment he reach over and a little hesitantly grabbed a chip covered in sticky cheese. Then he slowly put it in his mouth causing some of the hot cheese to run down his chin. Quickly he whipped the cheese off with his hand, afraid to be seen as a messy eater or something. Not that Krys would care, he was sure. She was just going to laugh and make a few jokes about all his BAs and not being able to eat. And he was okay with that. She was no more harmful then Morgan was. And he had learned to live with Morgan's teasing years ago. Chewing the food he found it was actually quite good. Unable to speak he held up a thumb and nodded his head a couple of times.

Krys was horribly amazed and amused when Spencer actually gave her a thumbs up. She certainly hadn't been expecting that, not the fact that he enjoyed the nachos (because that was a given) but how he would voice it. She had half expected a very intellectual, soft spoken answer not something as 'hip' as a thumbs up. True thumbs up wasn't exactly hip anymore but it was certainly a step in the right direction and it meant that this Spencer wasn't completely and utterly lost when it came to the great big world. Leave it to Krys to think that a remarkable genius like Spencer was lost. If anything, he probably was better off than her.

"You're officially an arcade pro Spencer Reid. Congrats." She declared with a hint of a smile. Tilting her head playfully at the young genius she felt another little fact coming on.

"Did you know that 97% of the human population will respond to 'congrats' with 'thank you'?" It was a totally true fact and it also applied to the phrase 'thank you' versus 'you're welcome' but somehow she doubted Spencer would want to listen to all of the little logistics. Now holding up a medium sized Cola for him she cocked her head slightly to the right. "True story."

Taking the drink he smiled. He never really drank cola. He just wasn't a big fan. Not that he really didn't like it, but Coffee did the trick so much better then soda did, though both were equal bad for you in different ways. He took a sip of the liquid finding it to be a little watered down, but then what would you expect from an arcade. They were here to make money and scam little kids with over priced under quality drinks and heart-attacks on a stick. Smiling he said, "Well in that case I might as well be a statistic. Thank you, Krys Robin."

"Not a problem Spencer Reid." Krys returned the sentiment, she was actually quite content that he seemed to be humoring her. He listened to her facts and even contributed. Could she ask for anything better? "And no worries. You're not just a statistic or a number." She offered with a half shrug. Most people looked relatively normal holding nachos and a soda but Krys found a resemblance between Spencer and a kid at his very first baseball game. His tall form sweemed dwarfed by the things he was holding and everything going on around him. This comparison amused her, though for once she wouldn't voice it. Occasionally, she could keep herself in check.

Reaching out and stealing a nacho she took a bite, chewing thoughtfully. "So what do you usually do for fun Spence?" She somehow was willing to bet that his answer included: library, scientific experiments, or work (which wasn't even a real answer anyway). Not like hers was much better, she doubted that he'd appreciate: arcades, occasional zoo visits, randomness, and being locked in 'my lair' alone. "You do have fun?.. Don't you?" Maybe he was one of those overachievers who constantly worked. God, if she only had the focus to be one of those.

The question forced Reid to stop and think a second. It wasn't so must as he didn't have fun as he didn't know what she would think was fun. Finally he decided that the best answer would have to be the truth, after all he had decided that he wasn't going to lie to her any more. "Most the time I work. I do find my job fun, though it can be hard and disheartening at times. But its still the joy of my day. In my down time, and believe me I don't have very much, I like to read, and sleep. I need as much sleep as I can get." He thought about all the times that he had gone days with out any sleep. Or times he had ran for weeks with only a few hours here and there. Being on call 24/7 made it really hard to get enough sleep.

Krys herself was on call also on call 24/7. The only thing that kept her going was Energy drinks, which was the kind of drink she was holding now. It was actually a brained that had been disbanded years ago, but was still cared in arcades.

"But a job isn't who you are." The analyst stated matter of fact, her smile gone for the moment. "It's a part of you but it doesn't make you who you are. It shouldn't." If that was the case with other things Krys should have been an emotional wreck from her childhood. Now, maybe she was a mess of sorts but she didn't show it publicly and she hid it well from everyone, including herself.

When Krys insisted that you weren't your work Reid had to agree but disagree. He knew that that wasn't what it should be, but he also knew that when you had no time but to work that became who you are. There wasn't really anything wrong with it, only that you were able to pull away from it when it really mattered and be there for your family and friends when you really needed to be. As of yet Reid knew that he had failed at that. He knew that he wasn't there for his mom, but that wasn't because of his work. He used his work as a shield, or an accuse in this matter. If he was to busy working he didn't have to go and see her.

"What do you like to read?" She found herself changing the topic. She doubted that Spencer wanted to listen to her talk as seriously as she had been, let alone debate the importance of a job to a person. It'd probably be best just to avoid all of Reid could answer though, she felt a buzzing in her pocket. "Ooo.. Hello there." She commented, more so to herself before reaching into her back pocket and pulling out her phone, checking the front of it. Her smile faded upon seeing the source of the call and she immediately pocketed the cell. "I have to go. I have another meeting with the PD here.."

Reid first found it ironic that she was called off before he was. Second he was saddened that the fun must end. He didn't know when the next time he would be able to do something like that again.

"But, before I do..." Reaching into her bag she retrieved the tickets and, since Spencer's hands were full, she tucked them into his pants pocket. "Buy yourself something nice." She teased as she wrinkled up her face just to get a smile. Automatically her hand was back in her messenger bag, digging around.

"Get yourself something like... Here we are." Her right hand gave a pull and freed the object from whatever hold the confines of the bag had on it. "One of these." In her hand was a cheap little blue monster finger puppet with big googly eyes. Pretty much an arcade staple no matter where you went. "I collect them. One from every arcade I visit. I have a ton! You can have this one though." And without even waiting for a 'yay' or 'nay' she went up on her toes and set it right ontop of the lid of the Cola he was holding.

Going back down on the flats of her feet she pocketed her hands. "Thanks for... Well.." Her words never came out quite the way she wished them to, so instead she reverted back to their little game with a bit of a sigh mixed in with a smile. "Did you know that 99% of people, when one says goodbye, will respond with the same?"

He really didn't want to take the finger puppet, he could "buy" one with the tickets, but he wasn't about to fight it. The gift made the good-bye a little easier, anyway. "Well then I guess… good-bye... for now." He said quickly he looked down at his bag. Then he looked at the stuff in his hands then at Krys.

"Hey can you go into my bag. There's a small slot in the back with a few cards in it. Can you grab one?" He said then quickly added. "Be careful, though, I have my gun in there." He made sure his voice was low encase anyone over heard him. Sure he was aloud to have a gun with him, but in a kid filled arcade he knew it wouldn't go over to nicely.

It wasn't like he was afraid she was going to find something he "wasn't" suppose to have. No he was afraid that she might bump the gun and become scared, or that hr had forgotten to put the safety on it. Though he knew he hadn't. At any given moment Reid checked the safety a dozen times before placing it in his bag. It would a sad day if he hadn't and the gun went off and killed him or anyone else. He wasn't looking for a heroic death, but he knew he would look like a fool if he dead because he didn't have on the safety.

"Yeah. Sure." Krys nodded, though her brow furrowed perplexed at what he would need his card for in the middle of an arcade. Of course she wasn't putting two and two together and didn't even think that he was going to give her the card. Krys wasn't that self centered. She didn't live under the illusion that every moment involving her revolved around her. No, in her mind she was just background noise, a supporting character. Sure she contributed to the plot in the movie that was her life, but she certainly wasn't the central character.

"You're allowed to carry a gun?" Her voice was quiet so not to draw alarm or alert anyone else. Krys blinked and instantly looked up with slightly widened eyes at this news. "How many degrees did you need to get for that?" It was a rhetorical question of course, hence the little smile. This time Reid actually got the joke and laughed softly.

Reaching into the bag she felt around for the location he described. After a few seconds she finally found the little slot in the back of the bag. Her fingers attempted to wiggle into the opening so to remove just one, and not make a complete mess of things.

"Here you go." Her right hand held out the card that Spencer had told her to fetch, clearly not comprehending the current concept

Reid could help but think it was funny first that she didn't get the point. "Keep it. Its yours. If your ever in the area call me." He wanted to add that he might not be around but instead he just added. "Or call any time so we can just talk. Doesn't matter the time of day, I'll probably be up anyway." He smiled a large smile, glade to see that one of his jokes had actually turned out being funny, or at least he thought that it was. It really did sound funny and not at all corny, but then what did he know?

"Really?" She looked to the smiling young man with disbelief as the words sunk in. True she had been showering him with various odds and ends all day but this simple exchange of a card meant the world to her even if it was only done solely out of formality.

"Thanks." She commented, managing to swallow down her surprise so she didn't look like an even bigger loser. "I'd give you mine but I don't have one." Sliding the card into her messenger bag she knew he probably wouldn't call her even if she did have one, and she wasn't a huge personal phone call-er herself. She preferred texting, or the internet. "But you know Garcia so I'm sure she can weave about and find some way to reach me."

Reid was pleased to see that Krys was excited to be given the card. He knew that she needed more friends, and in a way he needed more it. Actually he probably needed them more because he wasn't good at talking to new people while she was. he looked forward to the next time the two of them were able to be together. (To bad he didn't know the circumstances of the meeting yet.) He half smiled and said, "Yeah I'm sure I could get Garcia to uncover everything about you. But I'll only ask for your phone number." He was sure she wouldn't give him to much of a fight for that.

"Good luck Spencer." And with that she turned around and walked out of the arcade.

"I'll call if I need to." he muttered half to himself. "Good-bye Krys Robin. Until next time." He wanted to wave but with all his stuff he couldn't. When finally she was out of sight, which didn't take long he walked over to the prize counter. Setting the things down he put the finger puppet in his pocket and ate another nacho before throwing them out. He made a mental note to pay Krys back, one why or another, for the food he wasted. Then he looked over the prizes. Finally he bought a similar finger puppet, deciding that it was only fitting to get one. He was amazed to find that it took almost all of his tickets to buy. Then he gave the rest of them to a kid who looked like he needed some more to get what he wanted and exited the arcade, holding the toy in his hand. A few minutes later his phone rang calling him to work. He wasn't even sad about the fact that he never got the nap he wanted. Instead he couldn't wait till he could ask Garcia to find her phone number for him.