Criminal Minds Fanfic

by spinner

More Matter, Less Art

"I may be numberless.  I may be innocent.

I may know many things.  I may be ignorant.

Or I could ride with kings, and conquer many lands,

or win this world at cards and let it slip my hands."

-- Sting "A Thousand Years"

“You must be the new kid.”

The ensign whirled around and watched the figure approach from the far end of the pitch-black porch.  He was thinner than the shadows, wrapped up tight in a dark blue sweater, exhaling wraiths of white into the cold winter night.

“How did you get behind me?  I thought you were headed for the garage.”

“Hi.  I’m Dr. Reid – the guy you’re here to surveil.  You may not want to shoot me.  Not yet, anyway.”

“I know who you are!  How did you get over here?”  the ensign mumbled to himself and put his weapon away. 

“What’s your name?”

“What?!”

“That’s usually how it works.  I tell you my name.  You tell me your name.”

“James.  Arthur James.”

“Nice to meet you, Ensign James.”

“How did you know my rank?”

“It’s two in the morning on a freezing December Sunday.  Who else do they give this shift to but the new kid?  Besides, you’re wearing your rank on your collar.”

“I am not.”

“There’s an impression on your collar where your rank was pinned before.  So my first question is why a naval ensign is doing covert ops for General Scott, whose office is in Langley.  What did you do to get shipped from Annapolis to Langley?”

“Not much escapes you, does it?”

“Nope,” Reid replied, a hint of a smile on his face.

“I got transferred as punishment,” James grumbled.

“What did you do?”

“That’s classified information, need-to-know basis only.”

“Suit yourself.  Relax.  I wasn’t trying to scare you, sneaking up on you like that.  I know you’re new.  You’ve probably got seventy pages of protocol to read, and not much time to pull yourself up to speed, but let me make the transition more simple for you.   Here.”

“What’s this?” James asked as the wraith-like man slid him a silver circle and jingle of sound. 

“It’s a key.  I realize my moving out here is going to make it a wee bit more difficult to keep me under tabs.  It was much easier in Van Ness.  Lots of places to duck into if you need a bite to eat or a place to pee.”

“What’s the key for?”

“If you need to come in, come in.  There’s always food in the kitchen if you’re hungry.  There’s a bathroom right off the kitchen.  There’s thousands of books to read if that appeals to  you.  Don’t touch any files marked FBI that might be around the house.  There’s no reason to stand out there by the barn or out on the back access road for six hours, freezing your ass off and cursing my bones for drawing this assignment.  Come inside the house.  Sit down.  Be comfortable.”

“Dr. Reid, I may not be all the way through the handbook yet, but I’m pretty sure this is against the rules.  I’m not supposed to be talking to you.  I could get fired.  You’re not even supposed to know I’m here.”

“If it makes you feel better, we’ll pretend we never had this conversation.  Keep the key.  You’ll need it.”

“How do you know we have six hour shifts?”

“I’ve watched you and Spaulding and Scott trading places for a couple days now.  The two others I haven’t seen yet.  They must be the veterans.  They know how to stay invisible.  Must be one more.   Three veterans, six people, six hour shifts, overlapping hours from the front and the back.  That makes more sense.”

“How do you know they’re there?”

“Your shifts overlap, and you need three more people for that to work.  You are just not good at subterfuge, are you?”

“They said I had to leave and I said fine.  They said I could transfer to covert ops, and I said all right.  I thought they’d send me overseas, because I’m studying engineering.  Instead they sent me to Langley, and they gave me to General Scott.”

“Yeah.  That happens sometimes.  But don’t worry.  General Scott isn’t all bad.  He’ll hardly ever shoot at you.”

“Dr. Reid, you need to go back inside before someone sees us talking and figures out who I am.”

“My neighbors to the left live two miles away, and they’re in Jamaica for their twentieth anniversary.   My neighbor to the right is half a mile away, and she’s spends her days sitting at the windows with high-powered binoculars.  If she’s awake,  she already knows you’re here.  Folks that way, they don’t care,” Reid pointed towards the nearest city. 

“You’re going to be nothing but trouble just like Matts said, aren’t you?” James whined. 

“I’m going back inside,” Reid promised.  “You need to stop shining your flashlight around while you’re reading that handbook, or whoever you think is coming here to kill me is liable to put a bullet through you first.   You need to stop creeping around the garage too.  I almost shot you myself the other night when I came back home late.  Safety first, Ensign James.”

Reid handed the ensign a silver thermos.   Then he wrapped a heavy scarf around his big shoulders.   The young man was shorter than Reid but had about sixty pounds in muscle over him. 

“What’s this?”

“Hot chocolate.  You looked cold.”

“Oh…”  James felt himself melt a little.  “Thanks,” he said happily. 

“You’re welcome,” Spencer smiled, tossing him a pair of gloves as well.  Reid headed for the front door.

“I got caught being inappropriate with a fellow midshipman,” James said. 

“Fraternizing?  It happens more than they want you to think,” Reid smiled. 

“It was a guy,” James clarified.

Reid paused on his feet and smiled appreciatively.  “Was he worth it?”

James thought for a moment.  He opened the thermos and gave a big grin. 

“Yes, indeed, sir.  He was worth that and more,” the ensign replied.  

Reid smiled a little wider and went in through the front door.  He waved timidly from the other side of the screen and then was gone. 

more to come

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