and i'm leaning on this broken fence between past and present tense

[reid_in_peril]

Characters: Spencer Reid, Tony Stark, Abby Sciuto
Rating: PG-13
Time Period: Modern
Location: the destroyed downstairs bathroom
Relative Date: a few days after Reid's death in this thread
Status: Closed for now  Finished

Reid woke from a dreamless sleep and for a few moments did nothing but stare at the ceiling. His mind felt strangely fuzzy, like it

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[titaniumalloy]

Tony didn't know why he went back. The thought of the place made him sick and he didn't even need to use the bathroom but here he was, pushing open the door again but this time with his own hand.

He vaguely wondered if someone had cleaned up the mess.

He was half afraid he would see Reid's body still there.
He let the door slam behind him and he scanned the room, his stomach a single knot. It took him a moment to spot the figure sitting on the still damp floor.

His eyes went wide. "Sherlock?"

[reid_in_peril]

He'd been sitting there, mostly blank and a little lonely, when the bathroom door slammed. It should have been startling - would have been any other day - but Reid found himself hardly flinching.

At the name, he turned his head, summoning a small smile when he saw it was Tony. "Hey. Haven't seen you around in a- a-," Reid stuttered, remembering that he actually had no idea how long it'd been, "while," he finished lamely. He looked down at his feet, only then realizing he wasn't wearing shoes.

Reid wanted to look at Tony again, but couldn't bring himself to so instead he surveyed the room. "Do you know what happened here?" It felt important, for some reason.

[titaniumalloy]

Tony stared. For a long time.
Do you know what happened here?

Reid was not the first to come back but this was different. He had seen him die. Held his body in the vain hope it was a mistake.
I made some sense Reid didn't remember. The mind often blocked out severe trauma but it make things harder.e=

Now he would have to talk about it.
"Reid, what's the last thing you remember?" he said cautiously.

[reid_in_peril]

"I remember- cannibals," desperate, fierce eyes, "shooting someone," the burst of brain matter, "a little boy dy- dying," arms strained from CPR, but useless, useless, "and his brother mourning."

Reid was silent for a moment. He stared down at his mismatched socks and scrunched up his toes, feeling very young. He'd seen lots of people die, had even killed a few, but it never hurt any less.

He took a deep rattling breath and continued. "There were some people there, who needed help, so we brought them supplies." Thin suspicious faces. "And then, a few days, where.." He trailed off, then slid the satchel over to him. As if entranced he opened it, and as he'd half been expecting there was the book - The Canterbury Tales.

"I read," he finished. "I think I was reading this, when- when... something happened." Reid turned to Tony for the first time, looked him in the eyes. "You know, don't you?"