Disclaimer :- I don't own anything to do with Criminal Minds.

It's been a while since I've attempted to write anything but here's what I've managed to come up with.

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"I don't want to be that girl so please, Spence, don't make me that girl." Jennifer pleaded with him hoping it wasn't a losing battle.

"Which one, JJ?" He replied, his voice surprisingly strong given the day they'd had. It had been trying for everybody, Reid especially though.

"The one who breaks your heart. I don't want to be that girl. I'm not the one for you, Spence. I promise you'll find her one day and she'll be smart and beautiful but that woman isn't me. I'm sorry." The woman begged him to understand and she really was sorry. Once upon a time she'd felt it too and really thought they could've been something. But that's just it - time got in the way, she'd grown up and met somebody, had a child with him and was now tied to him in a way that could never be undone. Not that she would - she could never regret Henry not even for a chance with Spencer.

"Jennifer, you're my friend." The genius looked at the media liaison as though she were a conundrum. The conversation had taken him completely by surprise and as much as he would love to just avoid it altogether or walk away from her he couldn't. They were trapped in an elevator – more specifically the elevator of the hotel they were utilising whilst they solved their most recent case. It had been two hours and there had been no sign of rescue which only made Reid that much more disgruntled and unsettled.

"Yeah exactly, and we need to stay that way. We're best friends." She told him adamantly, looking him in the eye and nodding her head sharply. After a quizzical look her friend looked away, not replying to the comment. Unfortunately, with Reid one could never know whether this was a good thing or a bad thing. JJ sighed in frustration. If it wasn't for the meddling of the resident BAU tech analyst the two of them wouldn't have been having this conversation. A simple comment from him wouldn't have meant anything more than just him being nice but Garcia had gone and put ideas in her head of Reid having a crush on her and she couldn't escape them, she'd begun reading into everything he did. Nothing was just a simple gesture anymore and she hated it.

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Three hours and counting. Jennifer had given up standing and was now sitting on the floor of the elevator with her legs stretched out. Reid sat in the same position as her on the opposite side – literally as far away from her as he could get. He hadn't spoken a word to her since she'd told him that they were best friends and they needed to stay that way. In fact, he hadn't even looked her way and it was irritating her more than she'd care to admit. She'd known the moment that she'd begun to say something that it was a mistake but she couldn't help it, the words just started pouring out of her mouth without remorse. If it were a few years earlier he would have stuttered and his cheeks would have bloomed red in humiliation and it would have caused her to feel worse that she did now.

"Spence, I-" JJ began warily, looking over at him.

"JJ, don't." Reid spoke sharply over her. "I don't know where you've gotten your idea that I'm in love with you but you're wrong. I think of you as nothing more than a friend. I'm not a naïve twenty-four-year-old anymore Jennifer, don't flatter yourself."

The look he gave her – the disgusted once over full of disappointment made her wish he had never looked at her at all. She pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them in a move meant to comfort herself. It's something she had always done as a child and a habit she had yet to break despite her now being an adult. She didn't know whether to be worried or relieved that he seemed to know what she was thinking. Was she that transparent or did he just know her that well?

"I wasn't trying to-"

"I said stop JJ!" The genius told her, the force behind his voice startled her into silence. His stare could at this moment rival Hotch's. She knew she shouldn't push him any further but she also knew she needed to explain herself and apologise. With Spencer Reid there was never a good time or a right time. "I'm tired, I don't want you to apologise and I don't want an explanation from you. I heard you and you really don't need to worry. If I've done anything that makes you think that I have feelings for you then I'm sorry but honestly? I got over you. You were a crush and a first date when you were relatively new to the BAU but that changed, you're now more one of my best friends and a confidant and I really wouldn't have it any other way."

The female agent drew in a pained breath and looked away from her colleague surprised at how much it hurt her to hear him say that. Her chest shouldn't ache, tears shouldn't be burning behind her eyes and she shouldn't be feeling like she couldn't take a breath and yet she felt it all. Jennifer wouldn't admit this to anybody else but she felt as though she'd just lost something profound despite never actually having had it which only made it that much more painful for her. She recalled that one and only date with Spencer, they'd kissed and every kiss before and every kiss after had paled in comparison. Regrettably, it had never gone any further and Spence had insisted that they just remain friends. She had pressed him for a reason but the only one offered was that she was too good for him. At the time she had a feeling that it could have been a cop-out and that they really could have been something but she didn't push the issue – more for her own insecurities and fear of rejection.

"You haven't done anything." Jennifer whispered into the tense silence between them after a while. She couldn't let him think that he'd been acting inappropriately towards her when in actuality all of this was down to her own paranoia and Penelope Garcia.

"What?" Reid turned to look at his fellow agent in confusion, shifting to fully face her.

"You haven't done anything to make me think that you have feelings for me." She re-iterated mirroring his position, their legs almost touching.

The genius tipped his head back against the wall of the elevator and groaned in frustration. "Not this again, JJ."

"I just wanted you to know." She told him quickly. "I didn't want you to think it was your fault. Garcia…"

"Wait, this was Garcia's doing? I should've seen that one coming." Reid shook his head and rolled his eyes, unamused.

"I'm sorry." The blonde murmured apologetically.

"Damn it, where are they?" The growl from the opposite end of the elevator startled her into looking up again.

"Who?" Jennifer cursed herself for the wariness that crept into her voice with that one word. The sudden change in conversation was either purposeful or the source of a lot of Reid's irritation. The media liaison knew that he didn't like elevators from a previous time that he'd gotten trapped with Morgan though that hadn't lasted for nearly as long.

"Anybody." Spencer stressed. "We need to get out of here. It's been almost four hours. What could they possibly be doing!?"

Just as he said those words the elevator lights went out.

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