Chapter Seven-Questions Answered and Possibilites Arisen

Chapter Seven
Questions Answered and Possibilities Arisen

Spencer watched Melly as she danced with her future husband. The party was over, and people were cleaning up what had been used for the dance floor. She was joking and they were dancing like children, doing what he had called 'the Polka from that one play'. They looked childish, hopping like that. He stopped, and took her face in his hands. He leaned down, and she took her face away, and his lips landed on her cheek.

     The man stared at his young bride with hurt displayed in his eyes. She looked away.

"Hey! Are we late? Phil, ya little shit, you told us the wrong time!"

Melanie's fiance looked up at the band of misfits that came in the door. He changed his expression, the way Melly could do it, on a dime.

"I did that on purpose, Tom-cat!" he yelled.

Melly turned. "Tommy-cat? Are you serious? You told them?!" Melly slapped Phillip.

"C'mon, Miss Mel," the boy called 'Tommy-cat' touched her face,"You're still just as stubborn, aren't ya?"

"I'M STILL CARRYING MACE!" she screamed, another boy from the gang laughed. "So," Melly sighed, sitting on some platform Melanie's mother had carted in here for a stage,"You're still a buncha JD's?"
"When were we ever JD's?" asked a tan boy, with pointed spikes for hair.
"Zayn, when weren't you JD's?"
"Cut it. Both of ya," cried Tom cat, proceeded by a belch."Mel, you're the fuzz now, right?"
"The highest form of fuzz," shouted a boy from the back, with curly bright, blonde hair.
Melly clicked her tongue. "So?"
"So, we can't be seen with ya!" cried Tom cat, swishing his honey hair. "One more question, Mell-a-roo. Are you like them otha cops?"
"Naw," Melly said, stretching. "Cuz those cops, the believe everything they read in the papers about you cruddy JD's. But that's what you give em, right? Something to believe in?"
"You better believe it, Mel, babe! 'Course, we learned from the best..."
"I wasn't any JD!"
"Naw, but ya friend were. Have you noticed how since we started talkin', you've been talkin' like me?"
"...Oh....You can't rub off on me Tommy Djalas! I'm a lady."
"Yeah, yeah."
Zayn locked arms with the blonde-haired boy. They and Tom cat mimed together,"'Remember Mr. So-and-So, remember I'm a lady.'"
Tom cat said,"Mel, that's all that ever came outta ya mouth! When you was young, anyways...now ya really are a workin' class woman. How many guys have ya got on your sleeve since little lovestruck, Philly?"
"Oh, no, Phillip and I always have been together. A few weeks ago, July 25th, I caught up with him again down in Quantico-his father was here-and we reconnected. I really missed him."
Phillip looked at his bride,"I missed you," he kissed her neck, then spun her around."I LOVE MELANIE RENE WILKES!! I LOVE HER! I LOVE HER! I LOVE HER!"
"Phillip! Stop that! Put me down!"
"I love you, Melanie Wilkes." He tried and failed to kiss her again.

"Do you see that, Reid?" Prentiss asked, the team returning from training still lurked at the corner, with a bar the caterers set up for guests. Prentiss and Reid were chugging them. "Reid? He keeps trying to kiss her, but she won't let him. Reid?"
     Reid wasn't listening, he was stuck in his head. "July 25th, I caught up with him again down in Quantico..." "July 25th we were working the Texas case..."
"What, Reid?"
"Nothing." She lying, but to who?

"Phil, it's late, I need to go home."
"I'll go with you, Mel-"
"No. You know how I feel about that. Charlie will need me home anyway."
"He told me he was moving out of the place you two shared."
"Oh...well...I still need to go home."
"I'll check on you tomorrow?"
"No, no, I'm working. I'll call you when I have free time, I promise."
Phillip looked at the ground. "'Kay."
"Smell ya later, Mel-babe!"
"Call me that again, and I'll taze ya!" and she left.
*****************************************************************************************************************
Melanie brushed out her hair, she watched as it curled around the brush, and sighed at all the hair that was coming out.
"It's not just breakage, that's falling out."
She walked down to the kitchen, humming a tune she wasn't sure she had heard before. She let the never before made music flow out. "My father bought it secondhand, from a silent movie star. It was out of tune, but still I learned to play. And with each note we each would smile, forgetting who we are, and all the pain would simply fly away-HEY!" Melanie screamed and clutched at her chest. Seeing the uninvited guest sitting in her living room. She fumbled for her inhaler, and took several puffs, then fumbled for a paper sack, to calm the hyperventilation.
"I wanted to make sure you were okay, so I was coming over, but I saw you hide the key. Anyone could be sitting here, just letting you know."
"Reid! I-I-I...This isn't something you would do!"
He chuckled. "I know! Isn't weird? I've been doing a lot of things out of character lately."
"Huh," Melly breathed labored,"Dynamic character."
"Why don't you sit?"
"Don't invite me to sit in my own house!" she sighed, and flopped next to him, letting her curly hair, which she had wrapped into a bun, fall into his hands. He gingerly touched it, letting the softness linger on his hands.
"Speaking of, is Charlie home?"
"Nope. He did move out. Haven't you notice? The whole marriage and leaving me? There getting rid of me, Reid. When I'm married, I'll have to move to France."
     Reid went pale. "What?" his hands shook. "They can't take you, Melly, what reason is-"
"Phillip Dufour is the son of a French Viscount. He moved here to learn things not offered over there, and he moved back later in life. His father also works with the Ambassadors of America. His father is getting old, and Phillip is an only child. He is going to take his father's job...he needed a wife.  My family wanted me out. My father was involved with politics. It just made sense. Are you putting it together now? Why I was so caught off guard? Spencer, this marriage was arranged, and I didn't find out about it until tonight."
    Reid stared. "But..."
"But, I knew him. We did several camps together, theatre, music, drama, everything. He always had a crush on me. I was good friends with him. He told me once he loved me, he'd do anything for me. He was 16, I was only 13. Even though I should have been thrilled, I didn't love him back. I just...I couldn't. I was...grieving at the time, something not to be discussed now, I've had enough stress."
"I guess I contributed to that, sorry for scaring you, Melly."
"It's okay." she layed her head on his chest, and cuddled next to him. He only now noticed her thin night grown, which was a light lavender, with lace around the cleavage. It came to just above the knees.
"I normally don't wear this, what with Charlie around, and I obviously wasn't expecting visitors, but it makes me feel pretty." She blushed, and Spencer did the same with being caught at looking.
"I don't want you to leave here," Spencer whispered after a few moments of them listening to each other's breathing.
"The wedding is more than a year or so away. I won't leave for a while, not till Phillip absolutely has to go. I promise...Spencer, can I tell you something?"
"Anything, Melly."
"...I think you're my best friend." 

Chapter Six-The Past and Forced Future of Melanie Wilkes

Chapter 6

The Past and Forced Future of Melanie Wilkes

     "My what?!" Melanie yelped. Her mother grasped her forearm tightly and Melanie flinched, but recovered quickly. Something she had learned to do.

"Dear, Dear, Dear! Everything just slips your mind, doesn't it?" her mother hissed.

Melly's eyes were wide, and full of warity. "Oh...yes...I just...I was ready to tell everyone yet. I so thought it was next week! With all the planning going on-"

"Yes, I know, I know." Her mother kissed her forehead.

"Where..." Melanie looked down and afraid. "Where is...he?"

Her mother looked her in the eyes. "He's waiting for you in Strauss's office."

"...O-Okay...I'll-"
"Hurry, Melanie," growled her mother in a sickeningly loving tone, giving her daughter a shove.

     Melanie half ran and half stumbled to her aunt's office. Her mother gave her a good push if she was going to slow.

The team watched in shock. Reid was green and Emily had gone pale. Morgan looked like he could punch something.

Emily looked at her team. "What just happened?"

*****************************************************************

Mrs. Wilkes lead her daughter into to Strauss's room, and Melanie had been looking down the whole time. She didn't want to see him, this man. What was happening? Her world was crashing around her. And the kiss she had shared with Reid, could never happen again.

"...Melanie?"

     Her head snapped up. She gasped and whispered God's name in vain. She took in the familiar face. His shoulders were still thin and sweet, the way they had been when they were young. His gold hair was tucked behind his ears because it as a pinch too long. His bright blue eyes were still kind, regardless of the hardships he had faced with her. He was the past she thought she would never see.

"Phillip?"

He smiled, and her heart melted. It's Phil...my Phil, he's alive... He chuckled. "Yeah, it's me." He laughed again, a little harder.

"What?" she asked.

"You."

"Well, that was rude."

"No, just...you...your expression." he sighed. "Melanie...you're all grown up."

     She stepped closer to him, and let him take her little pale hand.

"Phil, it's just, I haven't seen you since-"

"Yes, I know. Since the summer before," he looked at her eyes and she nodded knowingly.

"Alright, Master Phillip, I'll leave you to explain the situation to her. Make it swift, you have 10 minutes." Mrs. Wilkes left with that.

     Melanie was lead to a chair by her new...fiance.

"Phillip...what's happening...what's going on?"

He avoided her eyes, but glanced once and found he couldn't turn away.

"I, uh, came back to town next week. After I took you...there...I had to leave. I went back to France. I thought you'd have come home by then. But, you weren't."

"I skipped a grade."

"So, I'd heard."

Melanie sighed. "She doesn't know you helped me escape?...Phillip?"

"No, Melanie! I didn't tell anyone! I could go to jail for that, did you know? We both could."

"But everyone knows..."

"And you have the pass! Mel, I just..."

"...Continue, Phil."

"...I showed up at your house. Aggie answered the door. Of course, he didn't know who I was. He was too young to remember me. He got your mother. I spoke to her for a while. Charlie was there too. They had been...giving each other...odd looks. Your mother asked me if she could speak to my father. After a series of phone calls-which I tried and failed to listen to-she told me my father was interested with an arranged marriage. I'm coming into my manhood in France. I'm going to take office soon. I need a wife to come with me. Your mother is worried too, Melanie. She's worried your not going to find anyone. You know you have trust problems, Melanie! And you don't talk to anyone!"

"You haven't seen me in six years!"

"And has anything changed? I know you must be stronger. I got your letters, and I know what happened. I wanted to come-I really did. But Father was sent back to France....I had to stay. I don't know what else to say but we don't have a choice in this. It's not the end of the world. I'm not that bad." he teased her.

     Melanie chuckled darkly. "I just...she should have warned me. I just...It still hurts. The thought of it...anything can remind me of what happened. I'm almost always caught off guard by the nostalgia of it all. It scares me...Phillip, I still have the dreams. You here...it makes...hard. I really missed you, Phillip...I wasn't sure if you had lived after you left me there. They weren't kind to strangers...."

      He looked at her strangely. "C'mon," he said, taking her hand," your mother wants you dressed and down there. She has a dress waiting for you in your office. She's waiting to do your hair and make-up. But I still think you're beautiful without it."

"Did you ever forget about me?" she whispered.

"I never gave up on you, Melanie. Ever."

*****************************************************************

     Melanie returned to the fray a few minutes later. A bridal shower in the middle of the Quantico office was not ideal, especially for Melanie, who did things excruciatingly traditional. She emerged secretly from her office wearing a beautiful white dress, coated in black lace. Her hair was up intricate swirls and the ponytail was done in spiral curls. Her eyeliner seemed to dark, but faded throughout the night. She danced with everyone, mainly her future husband, whom she whispered to through tout the night.

     Reid just stared. He  couldn't believe what was happening. She kissed me...and it was a lie....Reid looked like he could cry. The song stopped and Melanie's fiance excused himself. Melly looked around, looking lost and scared to be alone. She turned down a hand to dance, then another, then another. Then she saw Reid.
     Reid pretended he didn't see her, and her wiped his eyes with his back to her.
"...Reid?" he heard her little meek voice, the same one that had nervously apologized for her brother the first day they had came. They same voice that cried when she admitted to him she wasn't strong enough for this job. This little girl...who had  been strong enough to lie and to break his heart. "Reid, please talk to me. I don't...." she sighed. "I need to talk to you about what happened." He didn't respond.
    She sat down next to him, and began to speak. "I didn't want to talk about what happened. I was going to pretend it didn't happen. It...Reid...that broke my heart. I felt it breaking. There was too much...whatever was in...it. It was too strong for me. I could succumb to it, Reid. I had to...go...I'm sorry..."
"That you lied?"
"...Lied?" she whispered. "Oh...Oh, God...there really is no way I can explain this with out getting in trouble....I can't tell you what is going on in my life, Reid. I can only tell you that it isn't fair to me or you or anyone. I can tell you I didn't plan it and I don't want it."
"...What does that mean?"
"Well-"
"Sissy!!" Melanie's baby brother-who was no more than 6-came up and asked to dance, no doubt a deed requested by his mother. Melanie and Aggie danced for a good 5 minutes, before her mother took the stage and asked the two stars to take the center floor.
"Melanie, Darling, I do believe Mast Dufour has something to ask you!!"
"Dufour?" Morgan whispered to Reid.
     Melanie watched soberly as Phillip got to his knees and pulled out a golden ring with the biggest rock ever seen.
"Melanie Wilkes, since the day I met you, I thought...well, I thought you were different, that's for sure. I learned to love you...you learned to tolerate me. Somewhere down this road, we both learned to love each other. God, has sent me a gift, Melanie. It is everyday with you. I want everyday to be a gift Melanie. I'm letting down my guard and the future is in your answer. Melanie Wilkes, will you marry me?"
     Melanie looked at him. There was hardly an expression. Then a weak smile appeared, and her little bright red lips began to quiver. "Yes," she whispered, then began to sob. He picked her up and spun her around. They held each other so tight, and Melly was worried that she may break in half.
"Did you notice something?" Emily asked Reid. "He never kissed her, she never kissed him. Not once."

SPENCER REID PICTURES

Only for the fans. KEEP READING CRIMINAL CRANIUM ( spencerreidmindreaders.blogspot.com )



-MEG GIRY

Chapter Five-Life That Is Planned Is Not What Is Intended

Chapter Five

Life That Is Planned Is Not What Is Intended

     Morgan and Reid watched from the hood of Morgan's mercury tracer, Melly Wilkes, gold hair flying as she fell over the finish line. She landed on her elbow in an odd, sickening way, and grasped at her inhaler, which hung around her neck. After an unhealthy number of puffs, she flopped down on her back.

     Reid ran over, and Morgan trailed at a fast stride. Handing her a bottle of water, Reid tried to help her up, but she refused him.

"I...can...get...up. I'm not...incapable...of...that....Just gimme a minute." Her breathing was heavy and ragged and she looked thin to the bone. In the uniform all other trainees wore, you saw the most of Melly. In her normal clothes (which resembled a school uniform, and almost always matched her brothers) she was a girl. Yes, she had breasts. Yes, she had a waist, but all of this went unnoticed. In her uniform, her chest was high, and easily a C cup, and her hips were heart shaped, and legs weren't scrawny as once thought, but perfectly rounded.

     Though of late she was growing thinner and paler. Regardless, she was stronger. Louder. Sweeter.

"How much did you just run?" Spencer asked.

"Two miles,"Melly breathed as Reid tipped the water bottle back down her throat.

"You shouldn't be breathing that hard, Mel." Morgan reprimanded.

"No,"Spencer corrected,"she worked her self too hard. She's untrained and has asthma. She shouldn't be pushed this hard."

      Melanie swatted the bottle away from her mouth at this point. "No, Morgan's right. If I keep this up I won't be able to go back in the field. I'm fine,"she whispered, trying to rise. She wobbled and fell, but Reid supported her. She straightened her self and looked at the both of them. "Really, truly. Let me run one more lap and-"

"No, get in the car. They want us back at the Academy."

"Is that why you picked me up and not Charlie?" she asked them. The boys tried to avoid that.

"He hasn't shown up in the past two weeks, Mel. Ya gotta understand since you chewed him out-"

"I know,"Melly interrupted Morgan. "I'm sure he went back home and talked to mother. My fate will be decided by that, gentlemen. But until then, I wish to remain where I am needed. If I am needed at all."
Reid smiled and placed his hand on her elbow, a gentle gesture of his emotion,"I'll always want you, Melly. Er-need." He smiled awkwardly and looked away. Melly laughed.

"I got it, Reid. Don't be embarrassed around me. You're like my best friend." With that, she tried to skip away from the track, but failed, and simply stumbled toward the car.
***********************************************************************************
"Will you just leave it be?"
"No."
"But it's making me upset."
"I don't MEAN to make you upset, but I just wanna know."
"And I don't want to talk about it!" Melanie turned up her nose to Derek Morgan.
"What?" JJ asked.
"She won't tell me about her first relationship."
"You don't deserve to know!"
"Tell me. Tell me. Tell me. Tell me. Tell me!"
"Stop-squeeeeeeee!!" Derek had began to assault Melanie with tickles. "Okay! Okay! I swear I'll tell you! Stop it! Stop it NOW!"
     Derek stopped and let Melanie regain her breathe, then looked toward Derek sheepishly.
"You promised." he reminded.
"I know....Promises are just lies with pretty ribbons tied around them."
"Tell me."
She sighed. "I've never... had a boyfriend."
Derek went wide-eyed. "Never?"
"Never."
"You've never been kissed?"
"That is my own doing," she answered. "I've had a few boys try to kiss me. Okay, like, three. But, I just...I want my first kiss to be with my-nonexistent- fiance. I want there to be a promise. I don't want a man to just take it from me. I never...I just...I'm not that kind of girl."
"Promises are just-"
"Shut up, Derek."
"She does have a point." Reid said. He had been quite though most of the conversation. "I think her thinking is good. If most girls thought like she did-"
"No man would get love in America."
Melly patted his back. "You'll survive."
"What does that mean?!"
"I guess you'll-" Melly stopped, and her big blue eyes got big and scared. Her lip trembled. "Ch-charlie?"
"Yeah. How ya been sis?"
Melanie stopped and remembered her reaction to the last time he had asked her that question.
"Why are you here?" she asked.
"Why, I work here, same as you. I'm only in town a day or two though."
"We should get to the office," JJ suggested. Melly nodded.
*****************************************************************
Strauss greeted them, which was a shock. She gave a great hug to Charlie, and nodded at Melanie, who returned the stiff nod.
"Of late events, It has come to my attention that a few of you need better training." Melanie looked at her Mary Janes. "The field agents, Morgan, Reid, Prentiss, and both Agent Wilkes shall go. You will be dropped off to a secluded training center where you will survive a week in the woods. Bring only a back pack full of things. Any questions? If anyone asks to stay, they may with the permission of Agent C. Wilkes." She left the room.
"Well I'm not going." Charles Wilkes yelled the second his commander left.
"Why not?" Melly asked, half outraged, half curious.
"I have matters to attend to. Morgan is in charge. Tootles, Melanie dear." and he too left. Melly looked so scared.
"Are you okay?" Reid whispered to her.
"I don't know..."
"Well? Are we ready?" Morgan asked.
"Yes," Melly replied, wiping her eyes, trying to clean up the evidence she had not yet created.
*****************************************************************
     The four agents were to spend a week in the woods, with no communication to the world ( this excluded an old, worn down radio brought by Reid). They had to hunt with only what they took into the field. This was survival of the fittest in the roughest form.
"This can't be legal!" Emily yelled when Morgan had shot and killed a deer, then suggested they eat it.
"What other food do you see around her, Em?"
"I'm going to be sick..." Melanie whispered.
"We can't just...it's not cooked!"
"Then make a fire, Emily!" Derek yelled.
     Melanie got up and wobbled into the woods. Reid followed. He found the little girl under a tree, laying back with her eyes closed. Her hair was back in a braid, and several hairs on both sides of her face were falling onto her face. She had on an army green tank top, with khaki cargos. Her favorite blanket/shawl that she never left was tied around her waist. Her make was still done, and it looked queer with the rest of her laid back outfit.

She looks so strong, he thought.

     He walked up to her, and laid next to her underneath the tree.
"Are you alright?" he asked timidly.
"Huh? Oh...yes...I'm...." she looked him in the eyes. "Why do I always pretend with you, Reid?"
"What do you mean?" he screeched, taken aback.
She giggled lightly. "I mean...I try to be so strong. For everyone. I act strong, because I have to be. I don't have a choice anymore. If I cry and cry like I used to...I'd never stop. I act strong around you too...do I have to? Reid, can I be honest with you?"
"Always."
"...I don't like it here. At the BAU. I would've quit after my fight with Charlie but...when I thought of it, I didn't think I could leave you-the team, that is. I didn't want to come here in the first place. I can't stand this. Fighting...I didn't even like the government growing up. They restricted too much."
"...What do you want to do then?"
"...I want to go to NYC. Live there. Be something. Some one. I wanna be a singer. Or a dancer. An artist, an actor, a teacher, a writer. Anything. Reid...I don't belond here. I can't stand this!"
"What?"
"Death."
*****************************************************************
It was the 5th night of the expidition and Reid and Melly were laying out in a clearing. There were a few logs (Morgan had found a dead tree) set up around a camp fire. The grass was cool and wet from the dew and it made the softest bed. It would be around 3 in the morning now. Morgan had gone to hunt and Emily had gone for water. The two wouldn't be back for hours. Reid had turned on his little "charming" (as Melly had put it) radio.
     It was a news station and no news had come out of it since Reid had turned it on 3 days ago. All it was was static. Since it was cold, Melly had her shawl out and was laying close to Reid for warm. He didn't mind it like he had the first night. It helped him sleep, someone next to him. She stirred alot, and whimpered a few times in her sleep, but stayed asleep. Reid liked the noses, they were calm and sweet sounding.
     Melly wasn't asleep yet, she was staring at the sky. Reid just looked down at her blue eyes, in which you could see the stars clearly. Or maybe it was just her eyes, Reid thought.
Melanie sighed and moved over to the radio.
"What are you doing?" Reid asked.
"No news is coming out of this Reid. I need some music or I'm going to die. It's too quiet."
"Mel, if we want to pass this-" but she had changed it and went back to him. It was a slow country song.
"I thought you hated this genre."
"Music is music." was her only reply.
     She cuddled closer to him than she ever had, and let her head rest on his chest. He looked down at her. Their eyes stayed locked, and Reid listened to the music.
     It was a band he had heard before. The chorus was "Just a kiss on your lips in the moonlight..." and it kept playing. Melanie's heart seemed to have kicked into the music because the pulse was sincronized to it. She slid up closer to him and pressed her forehead against his. She began to hum, and Reid noticed how pretty her eyelashes were.
"Just a touch in the fire burning so bright..."
Before he could think, Reid did what felt natural without thinking.

He kissed Melanie Wilkes.

The kiss was slow, and her lips were cold. Reid closed his eyes, and he and Melanie both had the same fantasy.

They were in high school. And little Spencer Reid had little Melanie Wilkes and they were different. Different together. She could protect him, and he could make her feel special, and not alone. She wouldn't be outcasted. He wouldn't be teased. They could love each other.

Then the song stopped, and the radio once again produced static. They slowly backed away, staring at each others eyes. The fantasy was too much for Melanie, and she burst into tears. Reid tried to kiss her again, but she turned away. She went over across the camp and held her shawl tight to her chest. Morgan returned shortly later, and she let him hold her that night for warmth, and Emily and Reid layed next to each other, which Reid found exceedingly awkward.

But all night, the two were stuck on the fantasy, and what could have been and what never was.
*****************************************************************
"We are never doing that again." Emily sighed. "I never thought I'd be so happy to be back at the BAU."
"Right?" Morgan said. Then looked at Reid.
"Oh, yeah..." it was the first thing he'd said since they'd come home. Melanie still hadn't spoken.
"Well-"
"Hey, Melanie!" some woman across the hall yelled as the four stepped in the elveator. "Congrats!"
"...Thanks?" Melanie said as the door closed.
"What was that about?" Prentiss asked.
"I don't know..."
The doors to the elevator opened and the four were mobbed with sayings to Melanie, most of which she couldn't make out, but when she stepped into the office and all yelled "SURPRISE!" Melly was...so overwellmed. 
"Mom?!" Melanie yelled, walking up to her mother.
"Why, Melanie! Darling, you must've forgoten!"
"Forgotten what? Mother,whats going on?"
"Darling!" she yelled so all could here,"you silly dear, you.

It's your wedding shower!"