Beautiful Things

Rory sat with me as we watched the video in my office. I clenched the arm of my chair as it continued on. It wasn't what I had expected, or even close.

In ways it was similar to the other videos. For instance, it showed multiple different video footage of a girl. Unlike the others, that girl was still me, instead of a new prey. Some clips were very recent. I recognized them.

And then it ended with a clip of Reid and I at a coffee shop. It was from a few nights before when we stayed out to examine the newest body. The angle gave me chills. He was that close to me. He was there.

"Oh my god..." I mumbled before I covered my open mouth with my hand.

Rory didn't say anything. Instead he stood up and left. I thought he was being ignorant, as if I wasn't worth his time. I took that back when Reid arrived in the doorway.

"Rory sent me," he said. I nodded.

Reid pulled a chair beside me. He sat down and attempted to comfort me. I could feel him rubbing circles into my back. I stayed in my position, hunched over my knees as I cried into the tissue I clenched in my hands. We sat in silence until I could speak clearly.

"What would you do?" I asked him.

He didn't stop rubbing my back. I turned to look at him. His face was close to mine, so close I could feel his breathing on my neck. He didn't know what to say, I could tell from the sympathetic speechless look on his face.

"I don't know, Megan," he replied softly.

Without even thinking, I turned and fell into his arms. He wrapped them around me without hesitation. I pressed my tear-streaked face into his light blue dress shirt, immediately regretting it. I pulled back, even though I desperately didn't want to, and looked at the mascara marks.

"I'm so sorry," I sobbed.

"It's okay," Reid soothed as he pulled me in again.

"Hey, what's going on in here?" Morgan asked teasingly.

I laughed through teary eyes as I sat up straight. Reid let go of me awkwardly and straightened up.

"N-nothing," Reid replied, as if Morgan was actually searching for an answered.

"You okay, baby girl?" Morgan asked me.

"Yeah, I'll be okay," I told him.

Prentiss entered my office with a mug full of coffee. She placed it on my desk with a smile. She didn't say anything, but her look said it all. They were worried about me, and I was so grateful. No ones worried about me this much ever.



"Why did you send in Reid?"

Rory and I stood outside of the media room, where the FBI team was working around the clock now. I had excused myself and run into Rory, who was also doing some work the team had asked my officers to do.

"I'm not stupid," he told me.

"What do you mean?"

Rory looked around. "It's not really a secret that you've got a thing for each other."

"Beg your pardon?" I scoffed. "That's completely unprofessional, there's nothing going on."

"I'd like to believe you, Meg," he retorted, "But the way you look at each other...it's all too obvious. Oh, and the cuddling in your office was a nice touch. That's spreading like wildfire around the station, by the way."

I glanced around at my officers. What did they think of me now? I was so ruining everything I had going, and all because of some stupid feelings towards some stupid--

Some stupid genius.

"Nothing is going on," I repeated, "So knock it off."

I walked away before Rory had a chance to respond. I had stated my final argument and I was standing by it, for the most part. I think. Reid was just so cute and so interesting, but I had to control myself. I couldn't let myself get caught up. It wasn't allowed on the job. Ever.

Instead of sitting in my office, trying to piece this together alone, I entered the media room. Morgan and Prentiss were gone, possibly examining the bodies again. A video tape was paused on the television. Thankfully it wasn't mine, I would probably have crumbled.

Hotch and Rossi stared at me as I entered. I could tell they were studying me, possibly because they wanted to know if I was still capable of doing my job. I was. They didn't need to worry.

In a second, Reid was by my side, and Hotch and Rossi returned to their work. They pretended not to listen to our conversation, but I could tell they were, at least subconsciously.

"Feeling better?" he asked quietly.

I nodded. "I'm still--" I paused as Rory's words came back to me. I pushed them out of my head quickly as I crossed my arms, suddenly I became distant, though that wasn't what I wanted at all, "--shocked. I'm still shocked. I have to go."

I left the media room without a protest from anyone, not even Reid. He was too shy to stop me, I knew that. And maybe I took advantage of that, but I couldn't worry about it now.

I needed to save myself.