Spencer Reid read his guide book at rapid speed, and entered one of the oldest churches still in existence. Spencer looked around and knew this was still an active church even though it had been built in the 1300s. The pews looked old, but in excellent shape and that meant they were probably original.
He was the only one here, as most people weren't interested in old architecture, and this church definitely qualified as old.
Here, he was in London, a trip he had been planned to take for awhile, and he was enjoying himself immensely. He could spend the rest of his vacation in a bookstore here and be content, but he figured he should see some of the sites since he was here in another country, as he could spend all day in a bookstore at home.
He knew that Dave and his mate Bellamy would urge him to get out and explore some of London since that's what he'd came for.
Dave was like a surrogate father to him, and while he and Bellamy were close, he did not think of her like a mother, as he still remembered his and how she had died of consumption. Still, they were friends and more than got along, but he thought of her more like an aunt. Bellamy was fine with this, as she was wise enough not to try to force a relationship that Spencer didn't feel and they were very close.
Spencer had been named godfather to every single one of the Rossi children and at the moment there was like 12 of them, as every few decades Dave and Bella had some more.
The Rossi always had three children decades apart at a time and had been mated for a couple hundred years now.
"Can I help you, my son?" asked a voice behind him and Spencer turned not having heard the man approach.
"No minister, I was just admiring the old architecture," Spenser replied truthfully. "I like exploring places like this. I like learning their history."
"Ah, your a history buff then," the priest said.
"Yes, amongst other things," Spencer agreed smiling.
"So where are you from young man as I can tell you or not hear from London your accent sounds American," the priest asked.
"You have a good ear minister," Spencer said politely, studying the man before him. The man's hair and beard were snowy white, and he had brilliant blue eyes that showed wisdom and kindness. "I am originally from a small town in the Midwest that I'm sure you've never heard of."
"Your accent does not sound Midwestern," the priest noted.
"That is only because I have not been back for many years as I've traveled to many places," Spencer said vaguely. "I have never been to England though, before now and I'm looking forward to exploring some of the more obscure sites, the ones that don't see a lot of tourists. If you could please give me some recommendations on what I should see while I'm here it would be appreciated."
"You should ask the front desk of wherever you were staying young man, as they would know much better than I would," the priest said. "By the way, I am minister, Edward Cooper and you are?"
"I guess we never did introduce ourselves," Spencer said sheepishly. "I am Dr. Spencer Reid."
"It's nice to meet you, Dr. Reid," Edward said, shaking the young man's hand.
"It's just Spencer, as I'm on vacation," Spencer said. "At the moment, I'm just a tourist here to see some of the sites of England before I head home to San Francisco."
"And I'm Ed," Edward said
"About those recommendations," Spencer said, "and yes I will also be asking the concierge of the hotel I'm staying at as well. I just thought you might know a few good places I can see."
"Well, I would take a tour of the Tower of London. I'm sure you know it's a popular tourist spot. You'll learn all kinds of interesting facts about its history, which considering you seem interested in that type of thing you'll enjoy."
Edward named several other places that would be good for Spencer to explore including Old North Church where Paul Revere had started his famous ride.
"Thank you very much Ed for your advice as your right I would very much like to learn some of the history here in England before I head home," Spencer told the priest politely before taking his leave.
"You're quite welcome young man," Edward said.
Spencer nearly chuckled at being called young man, because he was older than Edward Cooper knew.
Spencer finally exited the church and decided to get himself some lunch before he started going to tourist attractions and learn about the history of them.
Spencer walked briskly down the street and got lunch at the first place that looked good and then went back to his hotel and asked the concierge about places that didn't have a lot tourists.
~~~Spencer and Emily~~~
Tower of London
"And Anne Boleyn was executed only because she failed to give Henry the eighth a son after three years of marriage," said the tour guide asked Spencer and a group of tourists around the Tower of London. "Court, politics being brutal and bloody at times, demanded King Henry have her executed for failure in her duty and providing an heir to the throne."
"Like she could help that she only gave Henry the Eighth daughters," a dark haired female muttered, and Spencer, who overheard her agreed wholeheartedly with that sentiment.
The tour continued, and Spencer stared at the black haired lady. He found himself fascinated with her soft voice, though he couldn't see her face just the back of her head, but he suspected her eyes would likely be brown like her hair.
Why he was so fascinated he wasn't exactly sure and it didn't matter anyway, because he was only a visitor here not a permanent resident, but then the dark haired woman in front of him likely wasn't a resident either, because why would she be taking a tour if she was?
Still, for some reason, the few words he had heard her fascinated him and he wasn't entirely sure why.
"And this is what is known as the ravens tower," the tour guide continued, and Spencer hadn't even realized that they walked up a series of steps and now out in the open air where there were numerous roosts for raven. "Legend says, that should the six resident ravens ever leave the Tower of London that it would fall and so would the monarchy. It was King Charles the second that insisted the ravens had to be protected at all cost after receiving a warning at what them leaving would mean for the crown and England."
The tour finished not long afterwards at the gift shop and Spencer browsed the merchandise most of which he had no interest in, as it was just the usual tourist junk, T-shirts, and mugs with the Tower of London tour printed it on it, keychains shaped like the tower or ravens or the like.
Spencer headed over for the book section to see what they had on the history of England when he saw the dark haired lady again, but this time he actually saw her face instead of just the back of her head.
Spencer reeled back in shock, as he saw the face of the dark haired lady for just a split second. His mate? The dark hair lady was his mate? Someone he had never expected to find at least not for a long time. Dave hadn't met Bellamy for much longer so he hadn't expected to meet his for at least another 500 years.
Spencer stood stock still in the middle of one of the aisles for several seconds before he finally shook himself and came out of his shock enough that he was moving and thinking again.
Spencer went over to the book section and begin browsing the titles at rapid speed, keeping the dark haired lady in his sight out of the corner of his eye, trying to figure out how it was best to approach her.
Finally, it looked as if the dark haired lady was about to leave after she purchased her souvenirs and so Spencer picked out several books on the history of England, and then also headed for the cash register.
Spencer stood behind the dark haired lady, as she purchased a T-shirt, several keychains and a mug, with the towel of London on one side and the words Toured the Tower of London and it was awesome saying on the other.
Spencer also picked out two different mugs for Dave and Bellamy and kids sized T-shirts for the Rossi current crop of children.
Spencer paid for everything already having his credit card ready and then hurried after the brown haired woman before she could disappear into the crowd.
Spencer frantically searched the crowd trying to find the dark haired woman, as he didn't even know her name as he had yet to speak to her to exchange such basic information.
He finally spotted her and hurried to catch up with her before she got into her car and disappeared on him. Spencer finally caught up with the woman who had not been as unaware of him as he had believed.
"Why are you following me?" came the woman's voice as Spencer finally caught up with her.
"Not for anything nefarious," Spencer promised her, as he stopped just a few feet away as the woman looked all prepared to defend herself if necessary.
"All right, maybe I'll believe you if you tell me who you are and why you were so intent on catching up with me," the woman said.
"I'm Dr. Spencer Reid, a visitor here in London," Spencer introduced himself. "I'm just a tourist that came to see some of the famous sites and learn some of English history."
"That still doesn't explain why you were following me," Emily said, although she relaxed infinitesimally. This Dr. Reid didn't seem dangerous, but Emily was well aware that a lot of the criminal element could seem quite aboveboard and ordinary. She worked at Interpol as an inspector, so she was well aware that almost anyone could be a criminal. This Spencer Reid might seem harmless, but it didn't mean he was, as he had been following her after all.
She was going to do a background check just as soon as she got into the office. Make sure that Spencer wasn't on the most wanted list or just had a record just to be on the safe side.
"I just happened to see you in the gift shop and you struck me as the most beautiful woman I ever seen," Spencer said, laying on the charm. He was certainly no David Rossi when it came to being charming, but he was also being truthful, which could come off as charming, and in this case it did.
"Don't flatter me," Emily said, blushing and involuntarily. "I just want the real reason you're following me."
"I wanted to ask you for a date actually," Spencer told her being completely honest. "I'm sorry if I startled you, but I meant to approach you in the gift shop, but you were already checking out and I didn't have a chance. I bought my own selection and then hurried out of the gift shop, hoping you hadn't disappeared into the crowd."
"I would think that you could choose anyone else that would be easier to approach then I am," Emily said.
"I could have if I wanted to I suppose, but I'm not the ladies man that Dave is or was before he married so I rarely date Miss...?"
"I suppose I didn't introduce myself, though I would think you would know my name since you were following me," Emily said. "I'm sure you have a file on me in your car or your hotel room maybe."
"I don't have a file on you, as I am not an investigator of any type," Spencer said. "I'm a simple tourist that happened to spot you in the gift shop at the Tower of London and wanted to ask you out for a date and that is the truth."
"You must be desperate for a date then," Emily said sarcastically.
"I wouldn't go that far," Spencer said his voice calm, "but let's just say I haven't dated in awhile and when I saw you for the first time, I felt as if I've been slapped in the face."
"What you felt as if you had been punched in the nose? That doesn't sound like a compliment to me," Emily asked with a raised eyebrow, sounding curious and sarcastic at the same time.
"Trust me it is," Spencer told her smiling a little. "What I meant was I felt as if I'd been hit over the head with a hard blow or struck by lightning and that's unusual for me. Why don't we go somewhere more private to talk instead of standing out here on the sidewalk where people can overhear us?"
"Why so you can kill me?" Emily asked still suspicious, though she was weakening as Spencer really did seem harmless.
"I have no intention of harming you," Spencer said looking serious and sober. "I have never harmed anyone in my entire life, and I don't intend to start."
Emily studied him and then decided that they could have a meeting, but it would be in public, but she wasn't about to go anywhere where there weren't many people just be on the safe side until she was sure that this Spencer Reid was harmless.
"My name is Emily Prentiss and I work at Interpol."
"I guess that explains why you were so suspicious of my motives then," Spencer said calmly.
Emily studied him, but Dr. Reid didn't seem worried that she worked at a law enforcement agency so either he was a really good actor and at concealing his emotions or he really was an innocent guy that just happened to like a pretty woman.
"There's a café that serves food, decent coffee and tea so I suppose we can meet there," Emily decided.
"Sounds good to me," Spencer said. "If you'll just give me the address, I'll program it into my GPS."
Emily did so and Spencer nodded, not bothering to write it down.
"Don't you need to write that down?" Emily asked, and Spencer shook his head.
"No, I have a eidetic an memory," Spencer answered. "Do you know what that is?"
"Of course I do," Emily snapped in an annoyed tone
"Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you didn't know. It's just that I've met several people over the years that had no idea what that was. I didn't mean to insult you," Spencer explained.
Emily visually calmed herself down as she hadn't meant to snap at Spencer, as he wasn't slighting her intelligence he was just asking if she knew what an eidetic memory was, because he wasn't sure if she knew or not since a lot of people didn't.
It amazed Emily, that this man, that she was enormously attracted to, had that type of memory, as from what she knew it was an extremely rare gift.
"I'm sorry I snapped at you," Emily said. "The café I mentioned isn't far from here."
"I'll meet you there," Spencer said once he had the address and the name of the café.
Emily watched as Spencer headed down the street where he was parked and she relaxed once he was out of sight. She wondered exactly what she had just gotten herself into but she supposed she would find out sometime in the next few minutes.
~~~Spencer and Emily~~~
