The Reid Effect

Chapter 1:

Dr. Spencer Reid walked aimlessly around the mall. He was there to meet J.J. and Henry for lunch at one o'clock. J.J. had called him at twelve fifty-five to tell him that Henry's playdate had run late and she was going to be a few minutes late. So there he was, wandering the mall. Completely out of his element.

Just then he noticed a little girl walking in circles around a fountain. She ran her hadn along the wall as she walked around. He figured she couldn't be much older than six and it occurred to him she might be lost. He knew from experience just how easy it was for a child to be kidnapped in a mall. So he assessed the situation and approached her.

"Excuse me, little girl." he said kneeling down in front of the girl. Her light brown hair was tied in pigtails and she wore a pink dress.

She looked at the man in front of her and screamed. Suddenly, she kicked Reid hard in the stomach and before he could do anything he was tumbling backward into the fountain.

Reid stood up out of the fountain as a security guard approached the still screaming little girl.

"What's going on here?" he asked. THe security guard was big... much bigger than Reid felt comfortable dealing with. He quickly pulled out his badge. "I'm with the FBI." he said to reassure the officer. "I think this little girl may be lost, and I just wanted to make sure she made it back to her parents."

The officer looked at Reid's badge and decided he trusted him, he then looked at the girl. "Are you lost?" he asked her.

She stared up at him, but didn't say a word. She was obviously not comfortable with any man, and Reid had to admit he was glad it wasn't just him.

The guard sighed. "Would you mind waiting with her while I go check to see if anyone has reported a missing child?" he asked Reid.

The officer walked off before Reid answered. "Sure," he muttered.

Spencer didn't like to admit it, but he didn't even bother trying to make conversation with the girl. Every time he even looked at her she turned away. She wouldn't be anywhere close to him.

A few minutes later the officer returned with a woman who looked to be in her late twenties. She had reddish brown hair and was wearing jeans and a loose t-shirt. "Daina!" she exclaimed as she ran and scooped the girl into her arms. "Where on earth have you been? You had me so worried!"

The security guard turned to her, "Ma'am, this is the man who found your little girl." As he spoke, the woman set Daina down.

Reid blushed. "I'm Spencer Reid, with the FBI."

That was all he got out before she hugged him. Quite suddenly.

The security guard walked away laughing to himself.

As she pulled away she blushed too. "Sorry, my name is Heather. And this is Daina. Thank you so much for finding her. I don't know what I would have done if anything had happened to her."

"I'm afraid I may have scared her. She kicked me into a fountain." he said laughing nervously.

Heather's eyes went wide. "I am so sorry! Her mom is just really over-protactive and taught her that if a man ever comes up to her she was supposed to scream and do whatever she could to get away." she covered Daina's ears. "She has issues with her ex. Y'know how it is."

"I heaerd that!" Daina yelled.

Heather rolled her eyes.

"So, you're not her mother?" Reid asked, confused.

Heather shook her head. "No, she's my sister's girl. I'm just babysitting. And my sis would've killed me if anything had happened."

Reid nodded. "Well, I'm glad I could help."

Heather smiled at him, "Yeah, me too." She glanced at her watch. "We'd better get going but, um, would you mind if I got your number?"

Reid blinked, "Um,"

"You know, in case I need your help again?"

"Sure, yeah. Here you go."

A few minutes later Reid walked into the food court. He spotted J.J. and Henry sitting in a booth by themselves.

"What took you so long, Spence?" J.J. asked as she gave him a long over-due hug.

"Oh, I uh, I met a girl." he said.

J.J. laughed, "You don't sound so sure of that."

Reid laughed to himself. "Well, it's just I met her by scaring her niece half to death."

"And the Reid effect strikes again!" J.J. exclaimed.

"I only said hi to her and she screamed and kicked me into a fountain." Reid explained.

J.J. only laughed harder. "So, did she ask for your number?"

"Who? The little girl?"

J.J. smiled. "No, her aunt."

Reid smiled sheepishly. "Maybe."

"Looks like the Reid effect worked to your advantage for once?"

"Yeah," he answered, "It looks like it did."