Selcouth | Criminal Minds | Spencer Reid

Chapter 14

"What A Strange Illusion It Is To Suppose That Beauty Is Goodness"
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A SLIGHT CHUCKLE from behind us pulls us apart to the smirking face of Emily.

"Called it," She announces with a smirk.

I feel my face heat up and I quickly duck my head, turning away as if to look at the scene when in reality, I'm embarrassed.

"I-I'm going to go see if Hotch needs anything," Spence mumbles, practically sprinting away.

"So, Spencer, huh?" She laughs as she notices the scowl on my face.

"Emily, can we please talk about this later?" I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose tiredly.

Did I take it the wrong way, did I just ruin our friendship? God, I shouldn't have kissed him, I can't-

Emily's hand on my arm pulls me from my thoughts and she replies, "We're going out for drinks tonight then, ok?"

"Ok," I chuckle, when my personal ringtone cuts it short.

The number reads as unknown, and I quickly mouth, "Gotta take this," to Emily before striding over to a quiet area.

"Hello?" I speak into the phone.

"Don't hang up, it's Mia; we need to talk," Mia Wang rushes out.

"How did you get this number?" I question, ignoring her statement.

"I had to pay for the privilege," She chuckles.

I almost laugh myself, like old times, but I hold it in.

"There's nothing to talk of Mia, and you know that," I deadpan.

"No, you listen to ME, there is loads of shit we need to talk about, but you can't stop shutting me out; I need one goddamn minute of your time Nat, just one!" She practically shouts.

Her outburst takes me off guard and for a moment, I feel small again, invalid.

"Fine, meet me at Jay's, six sharp," I groan into the phone, surprising even myself.

"Ok, see you there," She replies, before disconnecting the call without another word.

I'm far enough away from the chaos to let a couple choice words fly from my tongue like a battle ax.

I quickly compose myself and head back to where the team is regrouping, plastering a small smile across my face.

"We're going to stay here the night, there's going to be some bad weather and we need to make it back in one piece," Hotch jokes with a small smile.

Everyone nods in agreement and we make our way back to the cars in silence.

[HOTEL]

"Hey Nat, you coming?" Emily yells through the door as I yank on my leather jacket.

"You two go ahead, I'll catch up with you soon," I call back, tying back my hair.

Her footsteps fade away and I take a deep breath before making my way from the room and down to the lobby.

The guys had already left a while back, with Morgan tugging Spence along.

We still hadn't gotten the chance to speak to one another, but I had to push it to the back of my mind for the time being.

My breath comes out in puffs of grey, swirling around my head in the dark as I dart through the throngs of people walking.

The colorful lights of Jay's soon come into view and I rush inside, glad to be out of the cold.

The bar is awash with people tonight, and it doesn't surprise me that most of the patrons are from the hospital as this was the place to go when I worked there.

I notice Mia right away, tucked into the back booth where we used to sit.

I stride towards the booth and plop down, noticing her smirk at my movements over the rim of her glasses.

"Hey," I greet her, plucking a fry from the basket in the middle.

"Hello," She replies awkwardly.

"How's, uh, Kylie," I question, munching on my fry.

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about Nat," She sighs softly, pulling her glasses off and casting them aside.

"Here," She deadpans, handing me a slightly crumpled piece of paper.

I quickly unfold it and smile slightly at the childish drawing inside.

It's of a distinguishable field filled with flowers and four people.

"That one is me, that's her, that's Uncle Danny and she says that one is mommy," Mia sighs, pointing at the figure on a whole other side of the paper.

"Mia..." I start before she cuts me off.

"Don't Mia me, she's your daughter and she needs you Nat, not just me," Mia huffs, sliding the drawing back into her purse.

"I can't be the mom she needs or wants Mia, I've never been able to protect her," I choke out, quickly looking away.

"Now you listen here Natalia Aleksandrina Wilde, if you ever say that again; I'll clock you; I don't care if you're a federal agent!" Mia fumes.

"You've always been able to protect her Nat; you got away from him in order to do it and you had me adopt her to keep her out of the system, but you can't just completely cut her from your life like she was never there!" Mia finishes, her voice frighteningly low.

"Mia, I'm sorry, I just didn't-," I begin before she cuts me off.

"I know, you just didn't want to get her hurt," She interrupts, abruptly standing up from the table.

"Mia, wait, please!" I beg, starting to follow her.

"You know where I live, come visit us in the morning and I'll know you're serious, don't and I'll leave you be," She growls, flying from the bar like a tornado.

A/N:
Hmm, so that's where Natalia's daughter is! Plot twist or did you see that coming? To clarify, Natalia had Mia adopt her daughter and before you say; but wait, doesn't Natalia's ex still work at the hospital so he knows about Mia having his daughter? No, Nicholas is clueless to the existence of his daughter...or is he?