#famiy

𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚝’𝚜 𝚏𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢

𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚔𝚒𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚙𝚢 . 𝙸𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚏𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌

I just wanna tell u what’s appended to me. Today I was in hospital with my grandma and my mum and a man came to me and asked me if I had a boyfriend. I said no, I’ve a girlfriend. And he starts to acts crazy, he asked if I was joking, what is the meaning of my worlds, if I was a man and so on. I was trying to answer in a polite way but my mum anticipated me and says to him ” I am her mother, it's ok for me and that's enough.” I literally almost cried. Thank mum you saved my day.

A/N: If they wanted to do a Reid/JJ storyline and drop a bombshell this is how I would have done it. The Jeid in this fic is 100% Platonic 

That’s what Friends are For

Season 14 Finale and Final 10 as written by #lilaswordsandthings for all my lovely fellow CM Fans.  @illegalcerebral @dontshootmespence @stunudo @reid-effect

Chapter 1: Bombshell

 When Reid stepped off the elevator and entered the BAU through the glass doors, he never expected how much his life would change that day. He did, however, notice that JJ seemed to be eyeing him with a strange look on her face. She smiled at him, but there were tears in her eyes and her hands shook as she poured her coffee. Had something happened?  Reid immediately went over to talk to her.

 “Morning Spence.” She said when she saw him.

 “JJ, is everything alright?” He asked.

 Is everything alright? JJ didn’t know how to answer that. There was a lot of good and a lot of bad in the bombshell that had just been dropped on them, on him. So no, everything was not alright, but it wasn’t all bad either. She knew he’d asked because of the look that must have been on her face when he’d walked in. He had no idea. He was worried about her, which, at that moment, was just bizarre.

“I’m fine Spence.” She assured him.

 “JJ, something is obviously going on, what is it?”

“It’s complicated, we can talk about it later. Emily was looking for you, she’s in her office.” She replied.

 “O-K…” He said, still analyzing her facial expressions as he headed up the stairs to Emily’s office.

 When he got there, Emily was sitting at her desk. She appeared to be reading a case file, perhaps their next, but he could tell that she wasn’t focused on the file’s contents. She was only reading it to make it look like she wasn’t just sitting there waiting for him. At this point, between her and JJ, he had a sinking feeling that his life was about to be turned upside down again. This feeling only worsened when he realized they weren’t alone. There was another woman, one he didn’t remember ever seeing before. She was sitting on the small loveseat in Emily’s office, which had been relocated from its usual place across from her desk to backed up against the window, directly across from where Reid was standing. The woman wore a red sweater, a long floral skirt, and a long necklace made up of large red and pink beads, she had short, pixie-cut brown hair. Something about this woman told Reid she was here in some kind of official capacity and that had him unnerved, so he kept his focus on Emily.

 “JJ said you wanted to see me?” He asked.

 “Spencer, good morning, go ahead and have a seat.” She said as she stood up and closed the door.

 He obeyed. Despite himself, he looked from Emily to their guest and back with nervous curiosity.  

 “What’s going on Emily?” He asked.

 “We need to talk.” She replied. “Spencer, this is Carolyn Frankfort, she’s with social services in Las Vegas Nevada. She came here to talk specifically to you. Did you ever know a woman named Rebecca Thompson?” Emily asked.

 “Yeah, she’s a couple of years younger than me. She grew up living in an apartment above her family’s restaurant. We grew up together, outside of you guys she’s one of the best friends I’ve ever had.” He explained.

 “When was the last time you spoke with her?” Ms. Frankfort asked, speaking up for the first time.

 “Last week, last Sunday at ten-thirty PM to be exact. I haven’t seen her in a little over three years, not since I went down to Las Vegas to get the rest of my mom’s things. Why? What happened? Why is social services involved in this?”

 “There really is no good way to say this. She died, a week ago.” She began, pausing to give him a moment to process this.

 Reid was aghast. How could one of his oldest and most treasured friends suddenly be gone? He had to know everything. “Go on…” he said, nodding as if to reassure her that whatever came next, he could take it.

 She was discovered on the steps of All Saints Orthodox Church just after midnight a week ago today. The priest there was leaving when he discovered a newborn wrapped in a blanket and left on the floor of the narthex. He picked up the child and opened the door to see if the mother might still be in the area. That’s when he saw a woman in her mid-thirties with black hair laying on the steps leading up to the building. He set the child down on a chair and tried to resuscitate her but, it was already too late. He called the police, who called us and that’s when I became the little girl’s case manager. As I’m sure you’re aware when the in-state search fails to identify a suitable guardian a child would normally be put into the foster system. However, it appears Miss Thompson took great pains to ensure that didn’t happen in this instance.

 “You didn’t find anyone?” Emily asked, she’d been silent up to now but the horror of what she was hearing had made her speak up.

“No.” She answered

 Reid shook his head. “I’m not surprised. Becca’s only other family are her parents, and social services would never place a baby with them. Her mom is severely mentally ill, she’s volatile and abusive. When we were kids, Becca would quite often have cuts and bruises all over her. She tried to hide these with long clothes and dark makeup, but it didn’t always work. By the time she was ten, CPS started to take notice. She was almost removed from her parents’ custody three separate times, but each time her dad covered for his wife and talked their way out of it.”

 “He’s right, which is why even though she is their grandchild we can’t place her with them. Fortunately, Miss Thompson left us other instructions. There was a handwritten letter placed inside the blanket she was wrapped in. You can read the whole thing for yourself but essentially it states that she knew she was dying and rather than let her daughter be raised either by her parents or complete strangers, she’d like you to raise her. She told us who you are and where we could find you. Now, normally the odds would favor the grandparents in a case like this but, taking into account that they are, in our own estimation, unfit, and the mother’s wishes you do have a legitimate claim to custody of this little girl.”

For a moment, Reid just sat there, unable to find the right words to sum up what he was feeling, the thoughts racing through his mind.

 “Of course, there’s a lot to work out if you do decide to adopt her, and the final decision would be up to the courts but…I leave to return to Nevada in three hours. If you agree to take her, I’ll get things started and figure out exactly what the next step is as soon as I get there.”

 “I’m doing it.” He said, cutting her off mid-sentence.

 “Reid? You don’t have to decide right this second.” Emily reminded him.

 “I’m taking her Emily. I’ve already made up my mind. It’s what Becca wanted. I owe it to her to make sure her daughter is safe and her last wishes are honored. Which means it looks like I have to go back to Vegas.”

 Emily nodded. “Ok, I’ll get Garcia to get you on the next available flight.” She said.

 “I need to get going as well or I’ll miss my flight…”

 “I’ll walk you out as far as the elevator.” Emily replied, turning to Reid she said: “Wait here, I’ll be back.”

 He nodded as they left the room. Reid didn’t understand any of this. Becca had only been thirty-four years old. The last time he’d heard from her, she’d seemed fine. She’d never told him that there was anything wrong, or that she was pregnant. He didn’t know what to think. He needed answers, answers only a trip to Las Vegas would answer.

                                                           ***

 Ten minutes later, Emily walked into Garcia’s office.

 “Morning Garcia…”

 “Morning. Do we have a case? Or did you just come to say ‘hi’?”

 “Neither. Actually, I need something else, two tickets on the next available commercial flight from here to Las Vegas.”

 “You got it, you got it,” Garcia replied, pulling up the website for every major airline. “What’s this about?”

 “It’s a long story. Apparently, an old friend of Reid’s suddenly died roughly a week ago, he had no idea until this morning. It turns out that the last thing she did was abandon her newborn daughter in a church with a note pinned to her blanket asking Reid to raise her.”

 “OMG, Em… please tell me you’re kidding.” Garcia asked as she sat there multitasking.

 “I wish, and to make matters worse, the only reason the friend hasn’t been buried yet is that the ME hasn’t pinned down a cause of death.”

 “What about the baby?”

 “Reid’s determined to adopt her. That’s why he’s going to Vegas, to start that process.”

 “Is he ok?”