Daisy entered Coffee Culture, which was a small and rather upscale looking café. Walking to the café in the cool night air Las Vegas summers offered made her feel better. When she entered the café, she noticed there were only a few people sporadically scattered through the café enjoying coffee or light meals. She glanced at her watch and realised it was 9:30 and that was why the café was so deserted.
She didn't bother to take off her flak jacket. She was only planning to spend a few minutes to enjoy a hot drink in the cozy looking café. She took a few seconds to wipe her shoes off on the mat so they wouldn't scuff up the nice wood floor before proceeding to the counter to order a drink.
She stood in front of the cash register and saw a girl no more than 14 standing behind the counter. Despite her youth, Daisy could tell she was smart by the calculus textbook sitting open on the counter by the cash register. She smirked as she fished around in her pocket for spare change. She remembered a comment one of her high school teachers made.
"Kids today have no appreciation for the work it takes to get anywhere in life."
Daisy knew that was statistically true but this girl did not fall within the statistical norm. Daisy watched as the girl noticed her presence and closed her book with a loud thud before shoving it under the counter. She glanced at Daisy with wide, frightened eyes.
"C-can I help you agent..." The girl said stiffening.
"Gomes. I'm not here on official business I just want to order a large mocha." Daisy said warmly trying to ease her fear.
"With tax that comes to $3.15" The girl said starting to relax.
"Yes." Daisy replied casually.
"Here you go." She said with a polite smile that made her green eyes twinkle.
"Thank you and just so you know you have really pretty eyes." Daisy said politely offering a smile in return.
Daisy picked up and glanced at a sheet of paper that had fallen out of the young woman's textbook and on to the floor. Daisy handed the sheet back to her and offered her the solution to the problem before waving goodbye and making her way over to the sitting area by the fireplace. She took a seat on the black leather couch and took a sip of her mocha. She already felt the warmth starting to spread through her and relaxed in to the couch pulling out her I-pod that she forgot she had put in her coat pocket.
She shook her head when she remembered that Dale gave her the I-pod for her birthday. She scrolled through her music library until she settled on The Older I Get by Skillet. She made sure to keep the volume down because she hated wearing headphones but did not want to disturb anyone. As the angry but soothing voice floated out of the device, she couldn't help but sing along to the tune. She felt the song struck painfully close to how she was currently feeling about her relationship with her brother.
Tears fell from her eyes when she thought about the fact she saw this fight coming. She knew that choosing to attend the FBI Academy instead of opening a medical practice had strained her relationship with Dale. She took another sip of her mocha, wiped the tears from her eyes, and felt like someone was watching her.
She turned around and saw Reid standing behind the couch with a steaming cup of coffee with a deep flush to his cheeks because he was caught staring.
"Reid, what are you doing here?" How long have you been standing there?" Daisy said.
"Long enough to hear your beautiful singing voice and Hotch sent me to keep an eye on you." Reid said his voice sounding strained.
"Why don't you sit down?" Daisy said as she gestured to the black leather chair tucked in the corner opposite the couch she was sitting on.
Reid took a sip of his coffee and sat down in one of the black leather chairs tucked in a corner opposite the couch.
"I think what Dale said to you was out of line." Reid blurted out before he realized what he was saying.
"He's my brother nothing is out of line for him." Daisy said bitterly. She tensed in a mixture of deep emotional pain and anger.
"What he said is out of line and it obviously hurt you." Reid said soothingly taking a sip from his coffee.
"Our relationship has been rocky for some time now." Daisy said deflated while scrubbing a hand over her face.
"Why?" Reid said furrowing an eyebrow.
"Dale wanted me to either work in an ER or open a medical practice. I knew though when I graduated from medical school that I wanted to take a different path." Daisy said sadly.
"You're a doctor." Reid said the surprise clear in his voice.
"I have a medical degree but I've never practiced medicine outside my residency." Daisy said.
"So Dale got mad because you decided to move back to the U.S. and attend the FBI Academy." Reid said noticing fresh tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Yes because he had his heart set on me either working in a hospital or opening a medical practice. Dale struggles with where his role as my brother starts and his role as guardian ends. I love him but I'm getting tired of fighting with him." Daisy said tiredly as she took another sip of her mocha.
"Talk to him and make him understand that this is what you want." Reid said watching as she played with a ring hanging on a chain around her neck.
"I tried but he's too stubborn to listen. Reid, I hope I am not overstepping any boundaries but I think I am not the only one who is dealing with emotional trauma. I saw the way you reacted after you read my diary and it makes me think that it brought back unpleasant and suppressed memories." Daisy said softly feeling a pang of guilt when she saw Reid freeze with a look of sheer terror on his face.
"I...I." Reid stuttered trying to find the right words.
"It's okay we don't have to talk about it. I just want you to know that just because I'm damaged doesn't mean I can't offer to listen if you need to talk." Daisy said soothingly reaching across the space between them and taking his hand in hers.
"During a case a unsub with Split Personality Disorder abducted and tortured me for two days. As a result of that abduction I developed a drug addiction and started questioning if I really belonged in the BAU." Reid said tears spilling from his eyes.
"I'm so sorry Reid." Daisy said squeezing his hand.
"I just felt so isolated." Reid said taking a sip of his coffee.
"Believe me I understand that but you don't feel that way anymore do you?" Daisy asked letting the concern she felt show in her eyes.
"Not anymore." Reid said wiping tears away.
"A friend is one who walks in when others walk out." Daisy said.
"Walter Winchell if I'm not mistaken and they are very wise words." Reid said.
"My dad said that to me when I was a child and had a fight with Dale. I didn't understand what it meant then but I do now and it's very profound to me." Daisy said feeling more tears burning at her eyes.
"I think we should head back to the precinct. Hotch is probably wondering where we are." Reid said pulling himself up out of the chair.
"The last thing I want to do is get in trouble with Hotch." Daisy said pulling herself to her feet and grabbing her I-pod and shoving it into her pocket.
Just as Daisy was about to follow Reid out of the café she became startled by the ring of her Blackberry. She fished it out of its holster and felt her eyes widen in shock when she saw the name of the caller flashing on the display screen, Adam. She debated whether to answer it knowing that calls from Adam were never an emergency and she had already been away from the precinct for an hour. However, something about this call felt different. She couldn't explain it but she suddenly got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach telling her that something was wrong. She shot Reid an apologetic look and pressed the answer key holding the phone to her ear.
"Gomes." Daisy said into the phone.
"Daisy you have to help me. I found a girl tied up in her hotel room and she's been raped." Adam said and his frantic voice sounded like nails on a chalkboard.
"Adam slow down and tell me where you are." Daisy said trying to process what was going on.
"I'm at the Las Vegas International Hotel. She's bleeding and I don't know what to do." Adam said sounding as if he was on the verge of a panic attack.
"Adam first things first I need you to calm down and tell me how badly she's bleeding and from where." Daisy said the sharp tone of her voice demanding answers.
"It's bad; she has blood all over her chest. It's still pouring out of her wound and oh god there's so much of it." Adam said sobbing.
"It sounds to me like a severed blood vessel so what I need you to do is grab a towel and press it down to the wound as hard as you can to slow down the bleeding. Whatever you do, do not let go no matter what. I also need you to keep her calm to delay the onset of shock. I'm on my way and I'll be there in about five minutes." Daisy said fighting the urge to vomit.
"I'm going to watch her die." Adam sobbed on the verge of absolute hysteria.
"Adam, stop it! You're not going to watch her die." Daisy said firmly.
"She stopped breathing." Adam hiccupped.
"Get her on the floor and start CPR." Daisy said sternly.
"What about the bleeding?" Adam said his voice filled with fear and uncertainty.
"Adam the bleeding has become a secondary priority because if she's not breathing she's got about four minutes before her brain starts to die." Daisy yelled into the phone as she ran out of the café towards Reid's SUV.
Daisy cursed inwardly when she heard the line cut out and realized her phone lost its signal. She berated the lousy cell service and shoved the device back into the holster on her belt. As she climbed into the SUV, she found herself praying that Adam would be able to keep the girl alive until she got there and could take over.
She flicked on the lights and siren and as soon as Reid was safely in the SUV took off heading for the hotel. She glanced over at Reid and saw the look of concern and confusion in his eyes as she pointed to the back telling him to grab the Kevlar vests. She could heard a dispatcher over the radio sending units to the hotel and telling them to be on guard because of a 911 call informing them of a suspicious man in the hotel. Daisy picked up the radio and pushed the button in on the side.
"Dispatch this is Daisy Gomes of the Quantico FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit. I need you to get in contact with my supervisor, Aaron Hotchner, and tell him that SSA Spencer Reid and I are rolling code four to the scene. Our ETA is about five minutes." Daisy said sternly in to the radio.
"I read you Daisy and I'm sending your team rolling code four to the scene."
Daisy could feel her body shaking with adrenaline as she sped through Las Vegas traffic at twice the speed limit for the road she was on. As she put her tactical driving skills to use dodging cars that were in the way, one thought kept bouncing around in her head repeatedly.
"I hope I make it in time."