Chapter Text
“Home is wherever you leave everything you love and never question that it will be there when you return.”
— Leo Christopher.
Spencer Reid looked at his watch, his phone desperately silently sitting on top of a folder. He took a sip of his sugared coffee, trying not to panic too much because of a call that wouldn’t come. Not that it was his friend’s fault, of course. It’s just that so much had happened to both of them in the course of the past years, that the man dreaded the moment Hermione would call him and announce that something terrible had happened.
“Hey Pretty Boy,” called his friend’s voice from the desk across his. “You okay? You look tense.”
Spencer put down his drink, folding his hands in his lap to keep him from fidgeting. No, he wasn’t okay. He was worried for his best friend, someone he hadn’t been able to see for so long he probably couldn’t even remember if not for his eidetic memory. Wasn’t it ten years, ninety-three days, and twelve hours already?
God, he hoped nothing bad had happened.
“Yeah. It’s just been a while since I had news from a friend and last I knew, he was dealing with a tough situation.”
Derek Morgan frowned in front of him. Hadn’t Spencer added the last part of his sentence, he would have teased him on how he didn’t expect the kid to have other friends than his coworkers. But with that? He rose from his chair and walked up to him only to push his neatly ordered folders in order to sit halfway on his desk.
As usual, he expected his best friend to protest against moving his stuff.
He didn’t.
Bad thing.
“When was the last time you heard of him?”
Spencer looked down. He knew that Harry was literally leading a war in which he had no place and no influence. He wasn’t even supposed to know about it. Yet he did. And because Harry had gone into hiding, he couldn’t be kept updated on whatever they faced.
“September,” he murmured.
Morgan’s eyebrows shot up. September was literally what? Nine months ago? And he hadn’t thought about reporting him missing? One would think that working at the BAU would teach him one thing or two about how to react when your friend walks out on you and never returns.
“And you didn’t tell anyone?”
The SSA shook his head, trying not to show how much his hands were tied. How he fought not to crumble because of his rising panic. How he dreaded as much as he prayed for a call that he didn’t see coming.
“It’s a special case.”
Morgan looked at him puzzled, his lips tightening a bit before he forced himself to relax. Spencer cared about someone he didn’t know, that was normal. He had his secrets and stuff he didn’t tell them about. That was normal. Right? A whole secret person.
“Is he an agent?”
He wasn’t being irrational at all, of course.
“Something like that. In the UK, though.”
The older man nodded briefly. Maybe he could ask Hotch if the man would be willing to reach out to some contact overseas to let Spencer know if his friend was okay? Whatever could ease the mind of his friend.
“I’ll see if one of us can find anything about your friend,” he reassured, straightening.
“Please don’t,” Spencer stopped him to his utmost surprise. “He asked me not to. Said it could compromise him.”
He asked him not to, and Spencer did not despite his worry. Derek clenched his fist but nodded. He had friends outside the Bureau too, but none of that would have happened with them. They didn’t work in the same field as he did. He ran the most dangerous job of them all.
For the first time, he saw what kind of toll it probably took on them, though.
“Whatever you want, Pretty Boy,” he gave in.