If I don't have ten ideas spinning in my head at one time, I'm not a happy camper. I have caught royal fever. There are worse things.

The recently crowned queen of Boderia becomes enamored with Reid after he foils her abduction and is injured in the process.

A Royal Affair

Reid walked into the bullpen and instantly felt tension in the air. Prentiss and Lewis were watching the news on the flat screen.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Car bombing of the royal Boderian Royal Family, while on route to the White House," Prentiss said.

"That's terrible," Reid said. "It's a small country but it contributes eight percent of Europe's GDP."

"And Queen Caroline just ascended to the throne a month ago," Lewis said. "This was supposed to be her first visit as queen."

J.J. and Simmons appeared, followed by Alvez and Rossi.

"Have they reported any casualties yet?" she asked.

"No," Prentiss said and turned to them. "During situations like this, the Director likes to keep every available resource open. Since we don't have an active case, we're being ordered to stand down, until the investigation is completed."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Reid glanced up at the screen. Queen Caroline Erdaya's official photo was on display. She had dark brown hair and with prominent cheekbones. Her smile was thin. King Warren, her father, had died suddenly of a stroke. It couldn't have been easy being queen.

…

Reid was anxious to leave by the end of the day. He only stayed an extra hour to work on some lecture notes for his seminar in three weeks. It was hard to focus as gossip flew fast. The president had made a formal announcement at noon that the body of the Queen Caroline had not been recovered and that it was believed that she had been abducted.

He cursed his decision to take the subway this morning. Everything was running late due to the investigation. No one knew who was taking charge of the investigation, but most believed it was being left to the secret service.

It was dark by the time he reached the last two blocks before his apartment. In the distance, he could hear screaming. Pulling out his gun, he ran in the direction of the sound.

There was also lots of grunting. Two men were trying to get a violently struggling woman into a van. He didn't like his odds, but if he tried calling for help now, the men and the woman might be gone.

"FBI!" he shouted with his gun raised. "Put your hands up!"

One man dropped the woman's legs and took aim at him. Reid shot him in the head, before he could make another move. The other man dropped the woman to take aim and Reid hit him square in the head also. But he managed to get shot off and at him in the left side of his rib cage. Reid stumbled to ground.

The driver got out of the car with his own gun. Reid just barely managed to recover and take aim. He hit the man in the throat as he felt hot lead penetrate his right shoulder.

Then he began to weave in and out of consciousness. A woman was shouting frantically in Bernian, the official language of Boderia. It took the last of Reid's energy to connect the dots.

The queen approached him. It looked like there were cuts and bruises all over her face.

"Your highness," he gasped in Bernian and pulled out his phone.

"You know Bernian?" the Queen said in English.

"Yes," he said he dialed nine, one, one.

"Where are we?" she asked.

Reid could tell he was losing blood fast.

"We're in the alley between Gorman and Messer by Capital Pastry Creations," he said. "Tell the ambulance that."

His eyes fluttered shut.

"Wait!" she shouted. "What is your name?"

"Spencer," he said as it became harder to be breathe. "Spencer Reid."

The last thing he felt was her touching his cheek before drifting into oblivion.