Piece of Mind (Criminal Minds FF)

2. Words Exchanged

The Detective

I look at the pictures of the children, instantly recognizing all three of them.

"Sofia," I say, pointing to the young girl. "Kaleb, Nick." I point to the two boys.

"You knew them?" I look back up to the African-American man and nod.

"Yes, I did, Agent..." I trail off, hoping he'd supply his name.

"Derek Morgan."

I nod and look back at the pictures.

"When I heard that they were murdered, I didn't think..." I let out a huff of air. "This is horrific."

"We were hoping you'd be able to help us," the gentleman adds. "The people here in El Paso don't reveal secrets and definitely not to federal agents."

"Yes, well, people around here would like some privacy," I say.

"Would you be willing to come down to the police station and help us talk to some families?" the tall man with dark hair asks. I can tell he doesn't like me. Not that I could blame him. Well, that or he's just really grumpy.

"I guess I might as well. I have nothing else to do today. My team and I were just about to start on this case tomorrow, but it wouldn't hurt to have a headstart." I stand up. "Just give me a second to change."

As I walk out, I notice Reid is looking at all of my books on my bookcase, taking everything I've read and done. He must know I've changed since the last time we met. I have walls to keep me safe, and I'm not letting him back in.

I quickly to upstairs to my room and change into something more professional, throwing my long, blonde hair into a loose bun. I grab my phone and my shoulder bag before slipping my feet into a pair of flats.

This was honestly the last thing I wanted to do, helping Spencer Reid out, but I didn't want anymore kids to get hurt. My mortality won over my distaste for Reid.

"Reid. How did you know her? What was she talking about?" the woman in the black hair asks him.

Oh, they were not just taking about me being my back. Not rude at all.

"We knew each other in college," he says.

"She threatened to shoot you."

Spencer stood silently. "I'm honestly surprised she didn't." That got a few odd looks.

"What do you mean?" she asks.

"As much as I enjoy listening to people talk being my back," I say lousy, making everyone quickly look at my direction, "I'm ready to go when you guys are. The 'How Spencer Reid Destroyed My Life' story takes a while, and I rather not find another innocent child dead."

They all get up and head towards the door out to their cars. I follow after them, locking my house up. I walked down the stone path, and when I saw Spencer getting into the first car, I immediately veered towards the other. I climbed into the back if the car that the two women got into.

"You know, I just climbed into a car with two women I don't know," I muse. That got a smile out of the blonde one.

"I'm Jennifer Jareau, but call me JJ."

I nod and give a small smile.

"I'm Emily Prentiss," the other says.

"Well, it's nice to meet you both," I say. "Despite the circumstances, solving murder cases must not be the best way to meet people."

"Your tune changed pretty fast," Prentiss points out. A sad smiles crosses my lips.

"I am more relaxed without Reid here. Not seeing him for six years after what happened and showing up on my doorstep out of the blue kind if shocks you."

"Would it be of any use to ask what happened?" JJ asks.

"I think that he should be the one to tell you. You've known him for years, and you seem to act like one big family, which he needs after what happened with his dad and Diana. Thank goodness, she's been doing well lately, but I do feel bad not seeing her for the past year..." I trail off when I see JJ practically staring at me from the passenger seat.

"You know his mother?" she asks after a moment.

"Yes, I do," I utter as I nod. I didn't want to start rambling again.

After a while, we finally arrive to the police station, and I clamber out the door, the men getting out the car in front.

I quickly walk up to the front steps to see the sheriff standing there.

"David!" I greet, giving him a hug. He was one of my closest friends at the academy.

"So are you the one being arrested?" he asks playfully,poking me in the stomach.

"Totally. Murdering kids is exactly what I do to fill my free time," I say, sarcastically. "No, but seriously, I never thought I'd see you again since you were transferred to NYPD. Are you okay with all this?"

He sighs. "I can't sleep. Knowing that some psycho is in my hometown, carving these children up..." He shudders. "I'm just glad they let me come here to help."

"Of course. I have to head inside to help the team, though." He nods. "Tell Alex I said hi."

"I will."

I wave goodbye to David and walk into the station. On my way, I stop into the break room to steal a cup of coffee. I grab a random mug from the cabinet as the coffee starts to brew and grab a spoon from the drawer, along with four packets of sugar.

"I thought you didn't like coffee."

I jump and to turn to see Spencer standing in the doorway. My defenses instantly go up.

"Well, people change," I retort. "After staying up for nights on end trying to work on my next Ph.D, I developed a taste for it."

He stays silent but takes a few tentative steps forward, keeping his distance. I dump the sugar in my coffee before stirring it and taking a sip.

"I didn't know you had a boyfriend."

I almost spit out my coffee when I hear this.

"What did you say?"

"I didn't know you had a boyfriend," he reiterates. "You know, that guy you ran up to just a few moments ago. I didn't know you were dating."

"First of all, he's not my boyfriend. We're just friends. Second of all, even if we were dating, his wife would go crazy."

"Oh! Pretty Boy just got served!"

We both look over to see Morgan standing in the doorway. Spencer flushes red with embarrassment, and I give a smirk.

"Comes with a lot of practice," I reply before heading out of the break room.

I really wanted to help these people catch this guy... before anyone else got hurt.