Welcome to the BAU - Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, other than River Constantine. I am not making money from these stories. I like writing and this is a terrific distraction for me.


Chapter Three

Everyone had their own car, except River and Reid. River rode over to the restaurant with Emily, while Reid rode with Morgan.

At first, Emily seemed slightly uncomfortable with the new girl, unsure of what to talk about. She didn't know what River was interested in, or what kind of hobbies the young genius would have. After a few minutes, both women had gotten to their breaking point.

"So…"

"Well…"

Both of the agents had started talking at the same time, causing them to start laughing.

"As much as I hate small talk, the silence is killing me," River said between giggles.

"Same here. I realized when we got in the car that I didn't really know anything about you other than the stuff Hotch had told us before you arrived. I mean, I don't even know what city you were in before you got transferred."

"I was at the office in Buffalo, NY. I'm actually glad to get to live somewhere with less snow. Even with my IQ, I am probably the worst driver in all of Virginia. I have a car, but it normally just sits there.  I would rather walk through feet of snow, than have to deal with other drivers."

"Really?" Emily asked, laughing again. "Apparently, Spencer is a terrible driver, too. Maybe it is actually because of your IQ…"

"Might be," River agreed. "So, where are we going?"

"This little seafood place.  I can never remember the name, but it's only a couple more blocks."

"Oh, okay." River looked out the car window, and was surprised. "Hey, we are actually pretty close to my apartment.  It's only a mile or so west of here."

"Really? Reid's apartment is in this area, too. He picked the area because of the buses. They go straight to the office. He has a car, and he will drive to work if there is an emergency or something, but on a normal day, he takes the bus." Emily was smiling, in a "this could be fun" kind of way.

"It would be a little scary if I ended up in the same complex as him. I really just signed for the first one I found that wasn't too far from headquarters." River was actually getting unnerved. There were only two complexes in this area, and it was highly probable she and Reid were living in the same one. *At least,* she thought, *the numbers are against me.*

They had just pulled into a parking spot, and Morgan was pulling in right next to them. Hotch, Rossi, JJ, and Garcia were standing at the door into the restaurant.
River and Emily got out of the car, and were walking to the door with Derek and Reid. Emily glanced at River and then at Reid and smiled. *That doesn't look good,* Reid thought. *What were they talking about?*

The team walked into the restaurant together, and was at their table in less than two minutes.  Their server came up and asked what everyone wanted to drink. They ordered one by one going around in the circle of the table, starting with Hotch.

"I'll have a Jack and Coke."

"Frozen margarita, no salt," Rossi said.

"Pina Colada," JJ requested.

"Same, please," Garcia said, laughing.

"Scotch," Derek ordered.

"Strawberry daiquiri," Emily said.

The server was now looking over at River, the next in the circle. *They don't know… I could if I wanted to…* she thought.

Reid could tell she was uncomfortable, and he knew she used to drink in excess during college. He didn't know if she still drank or anything, but she was definitely uneasy, and he thought he knew why. He reached over, under the table, and placed his hand on her knee, squeezing gently.

"I'll have coffee with cream and a water, please," she said, without thinking any more.  The second his hand touched her knee, she knew she couldn't get away with it. Not with Spencer sitting right next to her. He remembered. He obviously remembered.

"I'll have the same," Reid said, without moving his hand. River looked over at him, right into his eyes. She could see it in his eyes; he knew.

Spencer could tell she was trying to say *thank you*, without actually voicing the words. He nodded, and moved his hand to his lap.

The rest of dinner went by, with a lot of laughing and smiling, in part because Emily couldn't help herself, and brought up the apartment situation. River and Spencer were in the same complex; they were actually right next to each other.

As everyone was making their way to their respective cars, Hotch asked is River and Reid wanted a ride home.

"I think we're good. It's only a few blocks. We'll be fine," Reid answered.

"Are you sure?" Derek asked.

"Ya, we can walk. It's okay," River responded.

"Alright. Well, take care, and we'll see you two in the morning," Hotch said, and everyone else walked to their cars, and drove off.

Dr. Spencer Reid and Dr. River Constantine started off down the road in silence. It wasn't until they turned onto the next road that the silence was broken.

"So, how long has it been?" Spencer asked.

"Since?" she responded, pretending she didn't know what he was talking about.

"Since you drank or used," he stated, matter of factly.

Her stomach dropped. She knew this was coming, though, after what had happened at the beginning of dinner.

"Five months off of morphine, and 30 days off alcohol," she said weakly.

"That's good. I know it is probably hard, but you can always talk to me, if you need to. Just remember that, okay?" Reid was hesitant to let her know just how much he understood, but he wanted to help her.

"Okay."

Reid decided to keep his own issues to himself, at least for right now.  He didn't see how telling her would help matters right now.  It couldn't hurt, so he chose to stay in his comfort zone.

"Well, home sweet home," Reid said, as they were walking up to their doors.

"Ya."

They each walked into their own their own apartment and shut the doors.

Reid spent the rest of the night worrying about River.  He knew the look she had as they walked home.  He had had that look 8 months ago, when he had 10 months clean from the Dilaudid, and he was struggling.  He knew that look.  He knew it meant that she was seriously considering giving in to the desires.  He also knew, though, that he wouldn't be able to stop her unless she wanted to stop, but that thought didn't keep him from worrying.

River spent the rest of the night trying to convince herself that going to the corner store and buying the hardest form of alcohol they sold was not a good thing to do.  She didn't want to drink, but for some reason which she couldn't explain, she felt like she needed to drink.  She was happy here. She liked her new teammates.  She was in the same city as her best friend again.  And her best friend was literally one wall away.  They hadn't talked in ages, but she had never been able to talk to someone the way they did before, and she never would have admitted that she was trying to clean herself up to any other person in the world.  *So, why do I want to drink?* she questioned herself.

They both spent the entire night, tossing and turning, lost in their own thoughts.  Neither of them really ever fell asleep, knowing that the other was right next door, but not wanting to bother them.  

River's first day on the team was over.  Her second day, the one where she would actually feel like a part of the team the entire time, was due to start in a couple of hours, and River was still sitting on the floor, wrapped in a sleeping bag, doing everything she could to not start crying.