The Secret Social Life of Dr. Spencer Reid Chapter 10

It had been 2 and a half days. 2 and a half long, agonizingly slow days since they last spoke. She hadn't come back; at all. He assumed she was staying in a hotel. Turns out the feelings between Nichole and Kathryn are mutual. They both hate one another. He missed her being around: he missed hugging her, he missed her laugh, her when she got up in the morning, her teasing, their flirting – he missed her. If he could go back in time and change it all then he would and he regretted everything he said to her. He had no idea where she was; he'd called Lindsey and Lucas but they said they'd only talked to her and didn't know where she was; he got into a lot of trouble with them. He would have called the team but he doubted she'd go to one of them; she wouldn't trust them enough. He tried calling her and texting her to no avail, he was screwed. Today, today will be the worst day he'd had in a while. It was Monday and this meant they had work together; if she wouldn't talk to him, the team would realise something was wrong and pry and he'd get the blame. Great.

…..

She missed him a great deal. It was hard not to talk to him when the one person she went to when she was upset was him. It sucked. She talked to Lindsey about it – well she said they'd had an argument about his new girlfriend but didn't specify what was said or how upset she was – but didn't tell her where she was staying because she was sure that it'd be passed back to Spencer and she didn't want to see him. She may miss him but that wasn't the point. As much as it killed her, she couldn't go running back to him and apologising and making up, and, it'd take a lot more than an apology, a hug and a kiss on the forehead to fix this anyway. She'd never admit to anyone how much it hurt to hear him insult her so viciously without any ounce of remorse, she would never admit that she cried afterwards or that she had had to fight with herself not to answer the phone when he called or reply when he text her. Basically, she avoided him at all cost. She stayed in her hotel room and watched crappy tv drinking coffee or alcohol, eating sweets, chocolate and ice-cream. There was no avoiding it now though because it was Monday. They had to work together and if he wouldn't talk to her, the team would realise something was wrong and pry and she'd get the blame. Great.

…

Everyone was beckoned into the conference room at 9.30 instead of 10 with the word 'case' ringing through their ears. Morgan and Prentiss had watched the lack of interaction between Kathryn and Reid and were curious as to why. They came up with silent tactics to wait until each was alone before they talk to them. Morgan knew Reid would talk to him but Prentiss could only hope the young woman would talk to her too.

The young genius was the first out of his seat, rushing into the conference room and away from the awkward tension that was engulfing him back there. As he sat down, he let out a sigh of relief before being patted on the shoulder by Morgan before he sat down next to him. In the seat Kathryn usually sat in. Great.

"So." Derek began. Oh God. He knew it'd be him. "What's going on between you and Kathryn?"

…..

She saw Spencer rush away as quickly as he could and rolled her eyes. It was typical of him to run away from stuff he didn't want to face. It was a little mean and rude but understandable. She knew she'd more than likely do the same if she was the one in front of him. Instead, she got up and trudged to the break room for a refill of coffee before she had to sit awkwardly next to him in the conference room.

"Want some?" She asked, aware that Emily was standing in the archway staring at her intently as though she was studying the younger agent.

"Er, yeah sure." She placed her mug next to the brunette, leaning against the counter. "Look, are you ok? You and Reid are acting … well not normally."

Kathryn couldn't help but let out a humourless laugh, although it could be worse. It could be Garcia who had asked. No offence to the woman, she was lovely but when it came to her friends arguing or being hurt, she had a very short temper. "It's nothing really. It'll be fine soon, I think." That earned her a worried glance but if she told Emily what happened then she'd just sound like a jealous little girl. It'd be humiliating, and she was not jealous. She was just shocked that he didn't tell her is all.

"You do realise that you're talking to a profiler right? It can't be 'nothing' if you're avoiding and ignoring each other. On Friday night at Garcia's the pair of you had an argument and couldn't last more than a couple of hours before talking again. Therefore, it must be something more than 'nothing', don't you think." That was not a question. That was a knowing statement. Kathryn officially hated profilers. Luckily, Rossi walked in to top-up his coffee which effectively broke up the interrogation.

"What?" Rossi asked. "Am I breaking up a mother's meeting? Sorry." He poured his coffee, smirked and walked out reminding them about there being a case.

"We are not finished with this discussion." Emily warned her, pointing at her for emphasis before picking her freshly filled coffee mug and stalking towards the conference room. Great, she now had an awkward conference room meeting and then a conversation about her problems with Emily. Maybe she could fake being ill and go home? Ok fine, she couldn't run from her problems and everyone would see right through it. Should be fun.

…..

After everyone was seated in the conference room; Derek stayed next to Spencer where Kathryn usually sat which forced her to sit in-between Rossi and Prentiss, JJ began to explain the details of the case.

"Ok. There have been three females in Palm Beach, all raped repeatedly and then drowned." She stopped, clicking the remote to show the images of the victims before and after they were killed. "Chloe Charles, 23, was a waitress at the local diner as was victim number three, Lizzie-May Tyler also 23. Abbie Bell, 24, was a, er, stripper at a local strip club. They were each missing for three days before they were found inside their homes."

"Wait. They were reported missing but found inside their homes?" Morgan queried.

"Yep. Each victim went missing after work and were all reported missing, their homes bound with yellow tape so the police could search for clues but, three days later their bodies just appeared on their bathroom floor. According to the police, the victims were dead before they were dumped in their homes." When JJ had finished her speech, she sat down, ready to discuss the potential beginnings of a profile.

"Well he's careful but is also able to gain access to their homes so he may be in law enforcement." Kathryn surmised.

"He's meticulous and probably stalks his victims first especially if he knows where they work." Spencer added, sneaking a glance towards Kathryn who caught his eye for a moment before looking down at the images before her.

"He targets women with menial, degrading jobs so he may resent them or think he's doing society a favour by getting rid of them." Hotch told them, looking around the room at his teammates. He noticed that everyone had shuffled around today and was curious as to know why. They always sat in the same seats. Judging by Reid's puppy dog eyes however, he could hazard a guess as to why.

"When was the last victim found?" Morgan asked, breaking Hotch out of his sudden 'lets-profile-the-team' mode.

"Yesterday." JJ replied whilst staring, somewhat concerned at the never unfocused unit chief.

"We have until tomorrow before he takes another girl." Prentiss concluded, saying what they were all thinking.

"Wheel's up in 30." Hotch commanded before gathering his things and striding out of the room, abandoning his subordinates.