Thank you for everyone being so patience for me. Here is chapter 12. As usual, my thanks to Dragonsmaiden for being my beta reader. Good luck with your exams. And my thanks for my sister being my sounding board. And yes, I do not owned Criminal Minds. I welcome all reviews.

Chapter #12

Reid let out a sigh, hearing Ashley's voicemail again. He looked at the few postcards that were on the hotel's front desk. "Hi, it's me. I'm just calling to make sure that you're ok." He looked down at the postcards again, trying to think of what else to say. "We're done for tonight so if you wanted to call me to talk, that would be ok. Bye." He hung up his cell, putting it back in his pocket.

He brought a postcard when JJ approached him. "Hey, we are going out for drinks. You coming?"

Reid shook his head, "Actually, I'm going back to my room," he answered, slipping the postcard in his messenger's bag.

"Sure. Is everything is ok?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "I honestly don't know."

"Ashley?" He nodded his head.

"Wanna talk about it," she offered. He nodded his head again, hoping that JJ could help him out.

"Come on," she said, taking his arm. She led him to the hotel bar where they sat alone in a booth, away from the rest of the team.

A waitress came by to take their orders, "Diet coke with lemon," JJ said.

"Coffee, please," Reid said.

"What happened after the concert? Morgan said one of the band members attacked Ashley and you were going to stay with her and take care of her." The waitress came back with their drinks.

"Thank you," he said to the waitress.

"She was upset with what happened. When she found out that everyone was there, she really felt bad. She literally cried on my shoulder. She then asked me to come over to her place to talk and I could sleep on the couch if I wanted to. We were talking at her house and she told me she started doing drugs and drinking after her son died. She told me she was a Scorpion and that she was forced into prostitution. But when she took a break, she wasn't the girl she used to be, a girl who was full of life, who did cartwheels out on the street or sang with the musicians that played at the subway stations for no reason. She was so emotional, raw and terrified."

JJ stirred her drink with her straw. "So what did you do?"

"I hugged her and told her she didn't have to finish the rest of her story if she didn't want to. Then we went to bed where I held her. We were just laying there and I told her about Tobias Hankel."

She stopped stirring, "Wow."

He let out a breath, "JJ, other than my mother, no one outside of team knows of how I became an addict. I've always just talked about the feelings, the cravings, not how I became an addict in the meetings," he explained as he counted it off on his fingers.

"Really, why," JJ asked, surprised of what he'd just said.

Reid shrugged his shoulders, "Everyone else had a choice to do the drugs." Reid explained, shaking his finger at her. "I didn't. Hankel tied me up and injected me with the Dilaudid." He shrugged again, "I guess I always felt ashamed of it."

"Spence, there is nothing to be ashamed about," she assured him, giving his hand a squeeze.

He nodded his head absentmindedly, "That is what she said and then she held me. I promised her in the morning we would take her dog out for a walk and have breakfast together."

"But you got the call."

"Yes. I told her that I would keep my promise when I got back." He paused and closed his eyes. "But the look on her face." He went silence.

"She was hurting," JJ said.

He shook his head and opened his eyes staring at JJ, "No, that's not it, broken is more like it. It's the best way that I can describe it. I think she felt like I was one of her johns leaving her after using her." JJ took a sip of her drink.

"Wow. Have you tried calling her?" He nodded again.

"I have, I left two messages on her voicemail. Normally she would call me back or at least text me, telling me that she got my message when she is too busy to talk. But this time, she hasn't." He leaned back in his seat. "If this was a case, I would have theories of why she hasn't call me back or what is the next step," he said, running his hand through his hair, scratching at the top of his head.

"But this isn't a case, it's Ashley," JJ said knowingly.

"I know, but I honestly don't know what else to do." He traced the handle of his untouched coffee mug with a long finger.

"Nothing." He looked up at her, "There is nothing that you can do, but wait. I know, it's hard, but trust me."

He rubbed his eyes, letting out a yawn. He knew that JJ was right, until he get back to Quantico, there was nothing else that he could do. He leaned forward, covering his face with his hands and he set his elbows on the table. He pressed the heels of both of his hands against his eyes, blocking out the light and let out a low grunt.

"It's late, you should get some rest," JJ suggested.

He just nodded his head at her and kept his head in his hands. Then his cell phone rang.