[S3E16] Elephant's Memory

Derek Morgan: [sighs] Oh, Reid, you don't need an eidetic memory for that. You know, we forget half of what they teach us in school, but when it comes to the torment and the people who inflicted it, we've all got an elephant's memory.

[S3E16] Elephant's Memory

This is peak level anger + angst + fluff based on season 3, episode 16 ("Elephant's memory"). It is how I imagine their love confession happened and it's consistent with most of my other one shots (especially number 16, if you've read it: I mentioned that they confessed their love to each other while fighting)

Audiences know from the get-go that Reid hasn't had an easy life. But the series takes time to reveal the details of his unique childhood trauma. This is partially due to the fact that Reid himself doesn't seem totally sure of the specifics, having repressed major parts of his memory in order to continue functioning. Season 4's "The Instincts" kicks off with a dream, in which Reid finds the body of a young boy in a basement, only to see him wake up. He attempts to dismiss the vision, but finds himself unable to forget it. Compounding matters is the fact that Reid is visiting Las Vegas, his hometown, to investigate the grisly murder of a child. Moreover, Diana is hospitalized, leaving Reid with a whole slew of complicated feelings to sort through. 041b061a72