Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds. No copyright infringement is intended
A/N: Thanks to all who read and reviewed. Special thanks to mablereid for always being there for me to bounce ideas off of.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Against Reid's hopes but true to his expectations, Hotch was delighted to grant him vacation time to attend Allie's high school reunion. "That's great Reid, I'm really happy to hear you're doing this." Hotch responded after Reid told him why he was suddenly requesting vacation time.
"Well, that makes two, you and Allie," Reid replied.
"What do you mean," the unit chief inquired from behind the desk.
"You know me Hotch, and you know high school was not a happy time for me so why would I want to be reminded of it in any way." Reid explained his reasons at not being overjoyed by the upcoming festivities.
"Does Allie know this," Hotch probed?
"Oh yeah, but she's happy, she wants to see her friends again and she wants me to be with her. I figure she's stood by me with everything that's gone on; the least I can do is attend this little get together with her. She maintains that none of what happened to me should matter because we're all adults and none of them knew me before."
"I hope it works out like that. For what it's worth, I don't think Allie would suggest this if she thought it would hurt you in any way. The woman cares too much about you." Hotch gave Reid a little grin.
"Yeah, that's another thing. She's all excited for me to meet her parents. I don't know what to think of that." The young profiler's expression could only be described as pure terror, Hotch thought.
Hotch almost laughed, "Oh yes, that's always a big event, meeting the parents. I remember when Haley…" Hotch looked at his watch, "I suppose we should go find out what JJ's got for us this time." The two profilers headed down the hall toward the conference room.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reid sat on the plane on the way home from Boston. They had been investigating the disappearance and, as they discovered later, deaths of a number of elderly people. The unsub, Raymond Garland, had abducted elderly people who appeared alone with no family and killed them, then continued to collect their pension checks.
Garland had lived with his grandmother who, although not wealthy, had a fairly comfortable bank account which she refused to touch, much to Raymond's dismay, choosing instead to have them live meagerly on her small pension. On her death Raymond was disappointed to find her estate had been left to a charity. The man snapped and started to abduct elderly citizens for their pension income. Their rotting corpses were found in a cellar underneath his grandmother's home. Now Raymond would again be taken care of, by the state.
Reid was thinking about his upcoming trip with Allie and his conversation with Hotch. It was common knowledge within the team now, that Haley had left Hotch. The FBI and the BAU in particular did not have a very good track record as far as lasting relationships went. Reid wondered what his chances for a lasting relationship with Allie were if a great marriage like Hotch and Haley's couldn't survive. For once the odds escaped him.
"Hey Doc, what's goin on in that big ol head of yours," Morgan, who was sitting across from him, asked as he removed his ear buds of his I-Pod from his ears. "You look like you're thinking pretty heavily about something."
He told his friend about the high school reunion and Allie wanting him to meet her parents. "Ooh hoo, meeting the parents, it's getting serious now man, if she's dragging you off to meet her parents."
"Thanks Morgan, I wasn't antsy enough about it before talking to you," Reid replied sarcastically.
"Come on Reid, think about it man, what mom and dad are not gonna love you, I mean, what's not to love, right." Morgan tried to ease his partner's anxiety.
"Well, maybe a parent who's afraid of his or her daughter's boyfriend inheriting schizophrenia and doing who the hell knows what. Maybe the fact that I'm in the BAU and very few of our relationships last. Look at the team, nobody has a good relationship. Even Hotch and Haley, if they can't make it…"
"Hey, don't go there kid and what you just said about nobody on the team having a good relationship, maybe you should look in the mirror. You're the one on the team with the good relationship. You have a good woman who loves you. She's in the FBI so she understands. She's proven that she can handle your intellect and your family. It doesn't hurt that she's beautiful. Don't think for one minute that we all don't envy what you have." Morgan finished, laying it out plainly for the young profiler.
"Thanks Morgan, I didn't look at it that way. But I'm still nervous about meeting Mr. and Mrs. Graham."
Reid turned again to look out the window, pondering the other matter that was weighing on his mind, Evan's desire to see their father. He knew Evan was angry that he ignored his request to visit their dad in favor of going to the reunion with Allie. He also knew Allie meant well, encouraging him to take his brother to Leavenworth and in almost any other case, she'd be right but neither she nor Evan knew about the severe beating their father had taken at the hands of his fellow inmates. Neither realized the chances that were being taken if he showed up at the prison. He wanted to do what was right for his family and that included his brother and his father.
Allie was always getting on his case for overprotecting Evan and perhaps he was he mused. Was he overcompensating for his own nonexistent childhood? Was this how he would be if he ever had children of his own he wondered? Would he be so afraid that their childhood would be like his, that he would smother them in an effort to protect them from the bad in this world? It was times like these that he missed Gideon's quiet counsel.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Okay, on Thursday night there's a meet and greet at the hotel, then on Friday there's the luncheon and football game. Saturday night's the dinner and dance where we really get to party. Then Sunday we're spending the day with my parents. Doesn't that sound great? I can't wait for you to meet my best friend Chantal and her husband Mark," Allie babbled, excited about the nearing reunion.
Why, Reid wondered, was he always suspicious when people used party as a verb? What he said was, "Yeah it sounds great."
"My parents are expecting us Wednesday night, late," Allie continued.
"What do you mean, they're expecting us?"
"Well, that's where we're staying, Silly," she chirped in reply.
"Staying," Reid squeaked, "Oh no, I can't stay at your parents place. I don't even know them. Where would I sleep, with you? I wouldn't be comfortable with that and I don't think your parents would either."
"You could always stay in my brother's room, he's away at college."
"Listen, I really don't feel comfortable staying with your parents. I'd rather stay at a hotel and just go to visit them." Reid stated, flatly refusing to give on this point.
"Okay, we'll stay at a hotel, but Mom and Dad won't be happy about it. That is if we can get a hotel room with the reunion on."
"Already booked it. I used my FBI status, it opens doors sometimes," he said as he headed for the door. He gave Allie a quick kiss saying he'd see her later and was gone.
Allie leaned against her door. "Well, we may not be staying at my parents but that doesn't matter. Dr. Reid," she said with a chuckle, "Be prepared to be mothered."