Raven's Song

Raven looked at the clock Saturday morning, it was eleven A.M. and Caleigh had not come in to work. She was not answering her phone, it was not like her to not call if she was going to not be in or be late. She was starting to worry. she thought about calling Rob to check on her but he would not even turn his phone on until noon. She got a chill as a bad thought crossed her mind. ''No Dammit do not think like that,'' she told herself out loud. Just as the words came out of her mouth Morgan and Spencer walked into the deserted store. Spencer had his hands in his pockets and Morgan had a serious look on his face.

''Raven I am sorry but I have some really bad news, Caleigh was found this morning in a park about four blocks from her house, I am really sorry.''

The words slowly started to sink in, she swallowed a lump in her throat forcing herself not to cry. She would not look at either one of them. She traced an imaginary rectangle on the counter by the cash register. She could not believe what she had just heard, they had to be mistaken. She almost felt like someone was playing a cruel joke and Caleigh was going to pop out from behind them. Nothing of the sort happened it was all very real. She sat on the stool behind the counter,her throat was dry and she could not say a word. if only she had left at the same time as Caleigh, they would have been together.

''I know this is the last thing you want to do but Caleigh had you listed as her next of kin, we need you to come and identify the body. '' Morgan told Raven. ''We will drive you down there.''

''What about Kevin some one needs to get a hold of him, he is overseas with no communication. I think he is based out of Fort Belvoir'' Raven said blankly.

''We have Garcia tracking him down as we speak, it may take a few days to get word out to him'' Spencer answered softly.

Raven pulled her jacket on over her black and purple corset shirt, locked up her store and followed them to the black SUV and sat in the back. She did not feel like having any kind of conversation so she dug her Iphone out of her purse and put on her earphones. All she wanted to do for the twenty minute drive is listen to music and temporarily forget about what she was about to do. She closed her eyes and by the second song she forgot where she was and started playing air guitar to Havenless by Enslaved. Spencer watching her in the back from the corner of his eye and wondered what she was listening to. Whatever it was it was like she was not even there, on her way to go identify the body of her best friend.

When they arrived at the morgue, Raven took off her jacket and hung it over her purse. Morgan walked a head of Raven and Spencer next to her. She looked at the floor as they walked in silence. They got to the doorway of the room Caleigh was in and she stopped and looked at the form covered in a white sheet.

''Take your time.'' Morgan told her.

Raven slowly walked up to the table, the woman working in the cold room pulled the sheet back. She felt the blood drain from her face when she was Caleigh laying there pale and lifeless. ''I-its her,'' was all she could say. She started to back away from the table, another lump formed in her throat, and abruptly turned away, toward the door. She grabbed the door frame, stumbled out into the hall, she leaned up against the wall and slid down to the floor. There was no stopping the tears now, she buried her face in her knees. She felt a warm soft hand on her arm and she looked up to see Spencer crouched next to her his eyes looked warm and full of concern.

Spencer watched as she raised her head from her knees, he looked at her sad eyes and tear stained face and saw a whole different Raven. Not the same girl who only a few days ago declared she did not want to talk to him, and not the same girl with her intense piercing eyes he was used to seeing. He was trying to read the expression on her face while she sat there silent looking back at him. He sensed a bit of distrust, he wasn't sure what to say to the crying girl sitting on the floor. She looked him in the eye and through the tears he still felt like she looked right into him. Just like the first day they met. Before he realized what he was doing he brushed wavy strand of hair that had fallen in her eyes, the tips of his fingers brushed lightly across her cheek.

He started to speak softly to her. ''You know even the strongest of people have moments of weakness sometimes and it's okay. Some of us can bottle up our emotions but most of us have a breaking point. You are obviously a strong person Raven but I see a caring person in there too.''

She continued to look at him, not sure what she was looking for or why, she sensed he was getting uncomfortable, Her face still tingled where his fingers brushed her cheek. ''She was like a little sister to me, other than my parents and my friend Rob, and a few friends scattered across the country I do not have a lot of people close to me. I am not sure if I will be able to forgive myself for not going out with her last night.'' The tears started falling more freely now, she buried her face back into her knees.

Spencer stroked her hair. ''Please don't blame yourself for this, it could have happened anytime or anyplace.''

She looked back up at him and wondered why he was being so nice to her after how horrible she was to him. She did nothing but give him a hard time and here he was sitting next to her trying to comfort her. Raven felt pretty rotten at the moment, she let him see her in a moment of weakness, something she was most likely gonna let him see again. ''I never had anyone close to me growing up, I graduated at fourteen, I went to school three days a week, the rest of the time I was traveling with my parents, when I should have been in Jr High, I was tutoring high school kids four years older than me. Trust me that did not make me a lot of friends. I didn't have any friends really other than the drivers' kids who I knew from going to race tracks my whole life.So to have some one that close to me taken away from me really sucks.''

''I get it more than you think, I graduated when I was twelve, school was not fun for in that sense.''

''Yeah well towards the end of school the only reason anyone tried to be friends with me is so I could take them to meet drivers at Richmond and Martinsville.'' Raven told him. ''But I wasn't that stupid.''

Spencer dug into his pocket and pulled out a small folder and handed her a card. ''Look, if you ever need to talk or anything, you can call me okay?''

She looked down at the card and almost smiled. ''Alright....Spencer, uh thanks I guess.'' She shoved the card into her purse, thinking to herself she would never end up calling him. ''I'm okay now.''

Spencer stood up offering Raven his hand, and helped her up. She could not believe how soft his hands were, she lingered for a moment until she realized she had done so and pulled her hand away quickly. This was the first time he hadn't annoyed her and she wasn't sure what to think of it. raven wondered about Caleigh seeing something that she couldn't. She pushed the thought out of her mind, and convinced herself that Spencer Reid was just doing his job and nothing more. On the way back to her shop she kept sneaking glances at him, what she didn't notice was Derek Morgan watching her do so. he couldn't wait to tell Garcia.