[Criminal Minds] In favor of
Title: In favor of
Rating: G
Genre: Character study
Series: Moments in Time
Characters: Emily Prentiss, Spencer Reid
Spoilers: 7x02 Proof
Warnings: None beyond what's in the episode
Summary: Mending fences proved to be harder as Prentiss had thought.
Disclaimer: All characters are property of CBS, Jeff Davis, Edward Allen Bernero and sadly not mine. I just take them along for the ride. Special thanks to my dear friend Sarah for all her help and encouragement and being a great beta. Thanks to everyone who read and/or reviewed one of my others stories.
“People have an innate curiosity to see things in order to confirm them,” Emily Prentiss’ young colleague remarked from where he was sitting across the small table on the plane, unconsciously setting the course toward the topic she hadn’t quite figured out how to steer the conversation to yet.
But when she had seen Reid taking a seat positioned to the side - not enough for it to feel completely separated but easily noticeable - and more importantly opting to read instead of spending the time on their flight home interacting with the rest of the team like he had usually done in the past, she knew she had a mission to accomplish.
The first idea for that had actually already formed itself when she had witnessed the usually shy and mild-mannered agent blowing up at JJ, with no regard to who could be listening in no less. The last time he had done something like that had been almost five years ago during the case of the war veteran with her on the receiving end. So she knew from experience Reid could lash out like that. Still, while the reaction wasn’t totally unexpected, the intensity of it and the fact that it had happened publicly at that police station worried her. That coupled with him mentioning Dilaudid on top of everything had really alarmed her.
And the withdrawn behavior he now displayed made her even more concerned. The young man acting like this was probably as much fuelled by his anger, mostly directed at JJ, as it was caused by an attempt to not let anyone get too close to protect himself from getting hurt and betrayed again by people he trusted. He was drifting from the team and she knew she couldn’t let that happen.
So here she now sat, grateful to have been given an opening which she fully intended to use for a more subtle approach than she would probably have done otherwise.
After giving a bit of a chuckle she shot a brief glance out the plane’s window to her right setting her strategy before she said smiling, “Oh, that explains why I’m going to Rossi’s tomorrow night.”
She saw with satisfaction that Spencer looked up from his book at the for him sudden change of topic and, unlike before in their conversion, he didn’t avert his eyes again after a moment, so she decided to push her luck by adding, “I wanna see if he really can cook.”
Her laughing got more genuine when she saw the right corner of her friend’s mouth twitching just a little bit while he was lowering his gaze again. Still he gave no reply so she chose the direct way. “Are you coming?”
He looked at her, even if it only was during the answer he did give this time, albeit after an almost imperceptible moment of hesitation. “Uh, no, I’m not so sure I can make it.”
The smile died on Emily’s lips as she took in this rejection. While she couldn’t say she was surprised at Reid’s reaction, there still had been a little hope that he would take this offered step back toward her, toward the team.
But now it looked like Ian Doyle would win after all, if not by killing her but by destroying this tight-knit team. Her nemesis had tried to get revenge on her, tried to get to her by threatening her BAU family and even though he’s gone he still just might succeed.
And she couldn’t let Doyle’s influence continue after his death.
Of course, she had thought about how the unknowing part of the team would take her resurrection, she would be lying if she denied it, but she hadn’t imagined just how much like betrayal it would feel to Reid. Although in hindsight she should have realized it. After all, the young man confiding in her - and only her - about his headaches just days before she had involuntarily left showed how close they had been; and now the gap between them felt miles wide. And she wasn’t sure if it ever could get completely bridged again, not with what happened with Doyle and, more importantly, because of his actions.
But she had to try, had to do the first step before the distance grew.
So she sat forward after a moment of silence, her lightly clasped hands now resting on the table between them.
“Look, Reid,” she began and gladly saw Spencer’s eyes meeting hers, even though his showed a hint of sadness. “I know you’re mad at us,” she continued, not even needing to notice the other agent lowering his gaze to know she was hitting a nerve, “because we didn’t tell you what really happened, and I understand this.” She emphasized the next words. “But I promise you we had no choice.”
To her it felt like she had stated this a hundred times already, and maybe she had actually had as much. She was certain that the logic part of Reid understood why they had had to do it but this part wasn’t the one winning right now. And if things were reversed she couldn’t even say for sure that she would react in a different way.
She assumed his behavior of shutting them out was just a defensive mechanism. Because the way he’d probably see it people seemed to keep leaving, people he depended on, parts of his family. First his father, then Elle, Gideon, JJ and finally herself, and while with first four there had at least been a chance that they might return - as it had happened with William Reid - her leave appeared final.
“You mourned the loss of a friend. I mourned the loss of six,” she said, trying to make him see a bit of her side of the story. Spencer didn’t reply to that, just blinked and swallowed once but still not looked at her. She wished he would at least make eye contact because his eyes often gave away emotions he didn’t want others to know about, which was probably the reason he just glimpsed at her; he was aware of it, too. It didn’t make it any easier for her though.
Emily gave a frustrated sigh before she shifted her gaze to the black nothingness outside that surrounded the plane. There was only one way she hadn’t tried yet.
So she glanced at him again and said in a lighter tone, “This whole thing gave me an ulcer, please don’t give me another one.” It had the desired effect. Spencer not only looked up, however brief, he even gave the tiniest of a smile. Satisfied, she tilted her head to the left trying to catch his lowered eyes.
“Are you gonna go to Rossi’s tomorrow?” she asked hopefully. She could almost see the inner debate in her friend, which she interpreted as a good sign that Reid at least considered it.
After a moment he answered in a low voice, “We’ll see.” He briefly glanced at her then before turning his attention back to the book in his hands, clearing his throat while almost unnoticeably pulling himself back together again.
Prentiss looked on, searching for any clues she might get as to his decision but he remained guarded so that even a professional observer like her couldn’t see anything and she realized that the topic was closed for him.
Leaning back in her seat she sighed, knowing that the answer she got was the most she could hope for at this point.
Now she could only trust that he would make the decision in favor of her and the team and would really show up at their friend’s house the next evening.
Rating: G
Genre: Character study
Series: Moments in Time
Characters: Emily Prentiss, Spencer Reid
Spoilers: 7x02 Proof
Warnings: None beyond what's in the episode
Summary: Mending fences proved to be harder as Prentiss had thought.
Disclaimer: All characters are property of CBS, Jeff Davis, Edward Allen Bernero and sadly not mine. I just take them along for the ride. Special thanks to my dear friend Sarah for all her help and encouragement and being a great beta. Thanks to everyone who read and/or reviewed one of my others stories.
“People have an innate curiosity to see things in order to confirm them,” Emily Prentiss’ young colleague remarked from where he was sitting across the small table on the plane, unconsciously setting the course toward the topic she hadn’t quite figured out how to steer the conversation to yet.
But when she had seen Reid taking a seat positioned to the side - not enough for it to feel completely separated but easily noticeable - and more importantly opting to read instead of spending the time on their flight home interacting with the rest of the team like he had usually done in the past, she knew she had a mission to accomplish.
The first idea for that had actually already formed itself when she had witnessed the usually shy and mild-mannered agent blowing up at JJ, with no regard to who could be listening in no less. The last time he had done something like that had been almost five years ago during the case of the war veteran with her on the receiving end. So she knew from experience Reid could lash out like that. Still, while the reaction wasn’t totally unexpected, the intensity of it and the fact that it had happened publicly at that police station worried her. That coupled with him mentioning Dilaudid on top of everything had really alarmed her.
And the withdrawn behavior he now displayed made her even more concerned. The young man acting like this was probably as much fuelled by his anger, mostly directed at JJ, as it was caused by an attempt to not let anyone get too close to protect himself from getting hurt and betrayed again by people he trusted. He was drifting from the team and she knew she couldn’t let that happen.
So here she now sat, grateful to have been given an opening which she fully intended to use for a more subtle approach than she would probably have done otherwise.
After giving a bit of a chuckle she shot a brief glance out the plane’s window to her right setting her strategy before she said smiling, “Oh, that explains why I’m going to Rossi’s tomorrow night.”
She saw with satisfaction that Spencer looked up from his book at the for him sudden change of topic and, unlike before in their conversion, he didn’t avert his eyes again after a moment, so she decided to push her luck by adding, “I wanna see if he really can cook.”
Her laughing got more genuine when she saw the right corner of her friend’s mouth twitching just a little bit while he was lowering his gaze again. Still he gave no reply so she chose the direct way. “Are you coming?”
He looked at her, even if it only was during the answer he did give this time, albeit after an almost imperceptible moment of hesitation. “Uh, no, I’m not so sure I can make it.”
The smile died on Emily’s lips as she took in this rejection. While she couldn’t say she was surprised at Reid’s reaction, there still had been a little hope that he would take this offered step back toward her, toward the team.
But now it looked like Ian Doyle would win after all, if not by killing her but by destroying this tight-knit team. Her nemesis had tried to get revenge on her, tried to get to her by threatening her BAU family and even though he’s gone he still just might succeed.
And she couldn’t let Doyle’s influence continue after his death.
Of course, she had thought about how the unknowing part of the team would take her resurrection, she would be lying if she denied it, but she hadn’t imagined just how much like betrayal it would feel to Reid. Although in hindsight she should have realized it. After all, the young man confiding in her - and only her - about his headaches just days before she had involuntarily left showed how close they had been; and now the gap between them felt miles wide. And she wasn’t sure if it ever could get completely bridged again, not with what happened with Doyle and, more importantly, because of his actions.
But she had to try, had to do the first step before the distance grew.
So she sat forward after a moment of silence, her lightly clasped hands now resting on the table between them.
“Look, Reid,” she began and gladly saw Spencer’s eyes meeting hers, even though his showed a hint of sadness. “I know you’re mad at us,” she continued, not even needing to notice the other agent lowering his gaze to know she was hitting a nerve, “because we didn’t tell you what really happened, and I understand this.” She emphasized the next words. “But I promise you we had no choice.”
To her it felt like she had stated this a hundred times already, and maybe she had actually had as much. She was certain that the logic part of Reid understood why they had had to do it but this part wasn’t the one winning right now. And if things were reversed she couldn’t even say for sure that she would react in a different way.
She assumed his behavior of shutting them out was just a defensive mechanism. Because the way he’d probably see it people seemed to keep leaving, people he depended on, parts of his family. First his father, then Elle, Gideon, JJ and finally herself, and while with first four there had at least been a chance that they might return - as it had happened with William Reid - her leave appeared final.
“You mourned the loss of a friend. I mourned the loss of six,” she said, trying to make him see a bit of her side of the story. Spencer didn’t reply to that, just blinked and swallowed once but still not looked at her. She wished he would at least make eye contact because his eyes often gave away emotions he didn’t want others to know about, which was probably the reason he just glimpsed at her; he was aware of it, too. It didn’t make it any easier for her though.
Emily gave a frustrated sigh before she shifted her gaze to the black nothingness outside that surrounded the plane. There was only one way she hadn’t tried yet.
So she glanced at him again and said in a lighter tone, “This whole thing gave me an ulcer, please don’t give me another one.” It had the desired effect. Spencer not only looked up, however brief, he even gave the tiniest of a smile. Satisfied, she tilted her head to the left trying to catch his lowered eyes.
“Are you gonna go to Rossi’s tomorrow?” she asked hopefully. She could almost see the inner debate in her friend, which she interpreted as a good sign that Reid at least considered it.
After a moment he answered in a low voice, “We’ll see.” He briefly glanced at her then before turning his attention back to the book in his hands, clearing his throat while almost unnoticeably pulling himself back together again.
Prentiss looked on, searching for any clues she might get as to his decision but he remained guarded so that even a professional observer like her couldn’t see anything and she realized that the topic was closed for him.
Leaning back in her seat she sighed, knowing that the answer she got was the most she could hope for at this point.
Now she could only trust that he would make the decision in favor of her and the team and would really show up at their friend’s house the next evening.