la thune - angèle

"Wrong."

"What?"

"If you move the queen like that I win in three moves," Spencer commented, matter-of-fact.

"Ugh." I groaned dramatically put my head on the table in front of me. The BAU's private jet had taken off an hour before and was currently soaring over Ohio. Soon we'd be in Maine, investigating the case of 11 missing persons.

"You're not even trying." His tone wasn't scolding, it was more entertained.

"Yes, I am!" I protested, lifting my head. Ok, maybe I had been distracted the last turn. I was worried about the case.

"Worried about the case?" Reíd asked casually. Damn, that kid was good. I gave up the ruse.
"Hotch is making take point on interviewing the Zhangs," I confessed. Those were the parents of the latest victim. I twirled a piece of hair absently around my finger.

"You'll do great," Reid assured.

"I don't know... You guys always know the right thing to say. What if I offend them or ask the wrong questions and that's why we can't find the unsub? You know?" I couldn't quite make eye contact with him, embarrassed. Instead, I let the lock of hair fall and pushed it behind my ear.

"Morgan will be with you. He'll help you if you get stuck," Reid promised. I nodded. Behind us, Emily shifted positions in her sleep.

"Ok," I said, grabbing my queen and sliding her back to her previous position, "What about..."
I moved it the opposite direction, then back immediately, seeing that that too was a mistake. Reid's face caught a small smile and he placed his hand over mine. Wordlessly, he slid the queen over to the side, capturing one knight and setting me up to capture another. I groaned.

"How did I not see that?" His hand was warm and soft.

"It takes practice."

"Says you, 'Boy Wonder'," I challenged, "You probably exited the womb knowing how to defeat the old master."

"Not you too."

"What?"

"'Boy Wonder,'" Reid said with a hint of distaste. I smirked.

"If the shoe fits, Reid." He tried to look annoyed, but his eyes sparkled with amusement.

"Don't worry, I think I'll leave the nicknames to Morgan. It's your turn."

~~~~~

"Do you think the father was a little cold?" I asked Morgan as we walked out of the Zhangs' mansion.

"His son just went missing," Morgan replied.

"Not to us. About his son."

"Maybe. He was a prostitute. They were likely estranged."

"But the mother said he lived nearby. I think the father and son both knew this was coming." Morgan considered me.

"That would explain why he donated all his possessions before he disappeared. He might have been getting threats." We made our way into a police car.

"Back to the station, please," Morgan said to the driver.

Then to me: "We need to tell Hotch."

~~~~~

When we were a few minutes from the station my phone vibrated with a call. It was an unfamiliar number.

"We've got another body," Reid said when I picked up.

"What?" I said, slightly dazed.

"Another high-risk victim. Prostitute." Wow. The BAU didn't waste time with salutations.

"Ok. Um, where?"

"Behind the movie theater." I repeated the information to Morgan.

"Tell him we're on our way. And about your theory about the father." I did so, glowing with pride that Morgan referred to it as my theory, and even more so when Reid said it made sense.

~~~~~

"How we find this guy? None of the prostitutes we interviewed knew anything about him," Prentiss asked in the police station conference room.

"Though they were all very interested in Reid," Hotch said. I turned to Reid, who glanced at me, bright red.

"Everywhere we go, someone wants a piece of Junior G Man," Morgan mused. Emily and JJ laughed.

"Should we send someone out there? Undercover?" JJ asked. Her phone was buzzing, as always, but she ignored it.

"I could do it," Emily offered.

"Or Maya," Rossi said.

"No," Reíd said quickly, "It's too dangerous and unlikely to work. This city has over a hundred prostitutes. It's far more likely that the unsub would kill find another victim."

"Reid is right," Hotch said, "We need to talk to Mr. Zhang again. I want to know why he didn't do anything to help his son."

~~~~~

I was half asleep in my chair when Reid tapped me on the shoulder and handed me my jacket.
"He confessed," he supplied before I could ask how it went.

"Just like that?"

"We found the victim's missing belonging in his garage. Apparently his mother had been a prostitute before she abandoned him in foster care. His son turning to the same profession was the stressor." I nodded, bleary-eyed and tugged on my jacket.

"When's take off?"

"Two hours."

"I'm starving."

"Should we get some food?"

"Please."

"Order in?"

"Yeah. I've got to take down all this," I replied, gesturing broadly at the evidence boards, whose cork pores were filled with thumbtacks holding up pictures, maps, and statements.

"I'll help." I was too tired to argue.

"Thai food?" he asked. My mouth watered at the thought.

"Sure. Get me whatever you're getting." He nodded. I stood up and begun cleaning up, filing away important papers and throwing away the rest.

"I didn't mean to startle you earlier," Reid said after a moment in which the only sound was the rustling of papers. I raised my head.

"JJ gave me your number," he continued.

"Ah," I said ambiguously. There was a pause that was almost awkward, so I decided to fill the silence.

"Did you actually get propositioned?" I asked. He bit his lip. We were almost done with the first board.

"Yeah. Morgan was right; it seems to happen a lot," he revealed. I laughed. Then he went on to tell me about a case about homeless people disappearing from the streets of Kansas City. I couldn't stop laughing when he described how a prostitute had brushed past Hotchner just to hit on him.

"It was horrible," he insisted.

"Sounds hilarious," I countered. By then the boxes were packed. I was sitting on the table, watching Reid tell his story. He was adorable when he blushed.

"Morgan thought so. He wouldn't let me live it down for weeks." Reid's phone vibrated.

"Food's here." I praised God. I hadn't eaten since 11:00 am. Something about catching bad guys really made me hungry.

"How much do I owe you?" I asked when he handed me my take-out box.

"Don't worry about it," he reassured me and pried the plastic lid off.

"You sure?"

"Thai food is cheap. Plus, we're in Maine. The cost of living is low here." I rolled my eyes.

"Thanks. Now tell me how the case ended."