The whisper left his lips. "Juliette?" He quirked his brow, approaching the coffee line with a little more caution. A small woman stood in line, another female was touching her hair in awe.

"It's so long, how do you manage?" It had gotten a little longer, Spencer noticed, as it was now long enough for her to sit on.

"I just manage." She gave a small smile, but he knew she was annoyed that someone had touched her hair. When she turned back around, she pulled all her loose waves over her shoulders.

He stood behind the teenager who touched her hair. "This line is taking forever." She hissed, checking the time on her phone. "I'm going to be late for school."

"You can skip me." Juliette offered, letting the thankful teen in front of her. "Spencer!" Arms wrapped around him, lavender temporarily overruled the smell of coffee. He hugged her back, his stomach in knots as she stepped back, looking him up and down.

"Hey," he gave a little wave.

"How is the great doctor spending his day off?" She adjusted the brim of her felt hat, he shoved his hands into the pockets of his gray cardigan.

"I don't actually know yet. Morgan wants to see me, but he doesn't have plans either. What about you? You should be resting, if your ribs aren't fully healed you stand an increased risk of shifting them."

"I'm picking berries. Doctor said I'm good to go."

"Really?" She nodded. "Wait, are you picking berries alone?"

"Yeah, I don't really have an abundance of friends to ask." She wasn't looking for sympathy, she was making a point.

"I understand."

She ordered her coffee, the same always "A caramel coffee with a double espresso shot."

Juliette waited outside for him. "When are you going back to work?"

"I'm back tomorrow." Pretty white teeth flashed, he looked down at his converse, fighting off the urge to grin.

"That's great, I've missed seeing you."

"Same." He didn't mention that for the three months she was nursing her shattered ribs, he hadn't bothered visiting the library. "You and Derek can stop by later if you can't find anything else."

"That would be nice." Juliette smiled and adjusted the floral collar that peeked from underneath her grey sweater vest. "You were wearing that shirt when I first met you." It was a soft yellow button up with a delicate floral print.

"And you were wearing," she paused, her eyes flicking upwards as she remembered, "that cute stripy vest over your favorite purple button up."

That was too much for him not to grin, "You know that it's my favorite? I mean, I know you're observant, but-"

"Gideon used to babysit." He breathed out a sigh, "Just knock on my front door if you and Derek decide to come over." She added when he tilted his head.

He watched her walk away, the harsh wind whipping at her abundance of chocolate hair.

•••

"Hey there, Princess," Derek pulled her into a hug, "long time no see." Her small statue was greatly magnetized by Morgan. "How're those ribs?"

"Better, much better." She smiled.

"Be more careful with those ladders." He placed a small kiss on her head that sent a shot of jealously through the pit of his stomach.

Juliette handed baskets to them, grinning as Reid ran through statistics that made his anxiety less overwhelming.

"This is going to be the last harvest." She mentioned as they walked into the chilly, fall wind.

Her backyard was full of hanging plants, potted plants, and flowers. Currently, they were on their last leg, but Reid could vividly remember the rainbow forest of pruned plants in the summer. He blinked in the autumn sun, remembering the afternoons spent gathering vegetables for dinner and the lazy days reading books by the little pond.

She walked a little ahead of them, her tiny frame seeming almost too fragile to be outdoors. He studied her movements, noting that her ribs were definitely still sore, but he knew she was lonely and being inside had to have been driving her crazy.

"Quit staring at her, and go talk to her." A hand pushed him forward, he jogged to cover the stumble.

"How's Rossi?" She asked, inclining her head.

Quick to answer, he said, "He's doing well."

"Good, I worry about him a lot."

Morgan gave her a small smile, "Rossi's pretty tough."

"I know, but family's family."

•••

"So?"

"So what?" Garcia was following him.

"Tell me about Juliette."

"What about her?"

"Well. A little birdie told me you were totally checking her out the other day."

"I wasn't 'checking her out.'" He defended.

"Better not have been." Rossi walked by, raising an eyebrow that sent a fearful shudder down his spine.

Garcia scurried away, dragging him along. "Come on, Reid. You two are like fairy-tale material."

Sighing, he took a long sip of his coffee. "What do you want to know?"

"For starters, do you like her? Like,like-like her?"

"If you're asking if I'm romantically interested in her, then yes."

"Reid!" Garcia was bouncing. "Oh my god. Yes. This is good. Tell me more about her."

"Well, she has two doctorates, one in psychology and one in english. She graduated Princeton University, she was actually valedictorian-"

"Tell me what she looks like to you."

"You know her, personally. Why do you need to know that?"

"Humor me."

"Um, well" he paused, closing his eyes, "She has the longest, softest, hair, it falls down to her hips, it's curly and her eyes, they're bottle green- you know, less than two percent of the world's population has green eyes." He stopped as she gave him a 'get to the point' look. "Garcia, she's the most beautiful girl in the world."

"Oh, Reid," tears formed in her eyes as arms squeezed around him. "Ask her to be your girlfriend this instant."

"That is not an option."

"Morgan says you two are a dream true. Look at how you just described her. You meet her for coffee and read together until you fall asleep. You both think calculus is fun, and memorizing lists is not a normal mutual hobby. Just ask her."

"What about Rossi? She's his goddaughter."

"Just ask. You can count on mamma to take of him."

He thought about it for hours, weighing the pros and cons, bringing all visual cues to the front of his mind. Juliette openly loved to spend time with him, she met his eyes in conversation, her feet pointed towards him. On all statistical basis she was clearly interested in him, and he was painfully, desperately interested in her. He knew that she would say yes, but he wasn't entirely certain that his job was the best for her, or that Rossi would allow it.

•••

"Rossi, I need to talk to you, if you have the time." The older agent looked up from the report he was writing.

"About Juliette?"

"Y-yeah."

"Sit down, please." A lump resided in his throat, but he sat across from Rossi. "You understand our job?" Reid nodded, "So it will come to no surprise that I'm aware of your little crush on my goddaughter."

"That's a reasonable assumption." He almost whispered.

"Let me fill you in on some things you may not know about her." Rossi furrowed his eyebrows, "Juliette was born in Venice, her mother and father were agents observing foreign activity. They were also great friends with Gideon and myself.

'She was seven when her parents died. I raised her from there until she was eighteen, Gideon babysat a lot. Juliette was a sweet kid, but she didn't speak to anyone, she didn't make friends, she carried a four-point-five GPA from seventh grade until she was out of Princeton.

'When she was nine she became incredibly depressed, cried all night, wouldn't speak or eat. I didn't know what to do. She was just a little girl beginning to understand the weight of the world. Her books were the only thing she cared about. She would read and read and read.

'I love Juliette like my own flesh and blood. I still see that scared, little girl. And now she's got this crush on some skinny nerd, and I have to trust him with her heart?"

"Sir, I-"

"You can understand why this is difficult for me? But I do trust you; I think you're a good kid." Rossi gave him a soft smile. "You have my blessing."

•••

Sunlight streamed through her window. He sat in a large, leather chair. A small coffee table separated the two chair. Brown hair hung in a curled curtain, blocking her face from his view.

"Are you at a good stopping point?"

Her index came up until she nodded and turned her attention to him. "Yeah?"

"I've been thinking a lot recently."

"Oh wow, Spencer, that's unusual."

With a half laugh he steadied his nerves, "I like you."

"I like you too." He stared into the detailing on the wooden bookshelves. They were, he figured, originally built in when the house was constructed, 1915, if he had to guess.

"I have feelings for you, and I want you to be my girlfriend."

"I-" she closed her book, setting it on the coffee table, a smile pulling on the corners of her lips "I would like that."

A grin stretched across his face, he let out a long sigh as she stood and took residency in his lap. Hugging her, he breathed in the rich lavender and vanilla, his lips brushed against her soft cheek. "Can I kiss you?" The whisper left him as a thousand nerves were detonated in his stomach.

"Yeah," she breathed back.

Hands shaking, he tucked a loose strand of soft hair behind her ear, letting his hand fall through the strands of silk as he gently pressed his lips to hers. Closing his eyes, his speeding heartbeat was the only sound. Her hand gently held his jaw, he relaxed into the gentle strokes of her thumb against his cheek.

"Spencer," he breathed out at his name.

"Yeah?"

"You don't have to ask me that ever again." He smiled before leaning in to capture her lips again.

•••

"Before we start our briefing, I have an announcement to make." Garcia stood in front of the table. "Our very own, Dr. Spencer Reid officially has a girlfriend."

"Juliette?" Morgan whipped his head around, "Congratulations!" A heavy hand clamped down on his shoulder.

"Way to go, Spence." JJ smiled at him. In fact, everyone was smiling at him, even Rossi.

•••

"I can't believe you have the entire day off." Juliette walked around her kitchen, watering the various herbs and flowers that were growing in the bright, streaming sun.

"I can't believe it either." He hugged her from behind, resting his chin on the top of her head. "What do you want to do today? We can do whatever you want because at four-thirty-three P.M. it will officially be our one year anniversary."

"How about," turning so she was looking up at him, Juliette rose to her tiptoes and kissed his cheek, "we relax. Take a bath, get some blankets, we can watch a movie or something."

"Lord of the Rings?"

"Sure." Pressing his lips to her forehead, Spencer smiled.

Hot water soaked into his muscles, Juliette's head rested against his chest, he was content. Her bathroom was large and open with large potted flowers and dark wooden floors and walls, it felt like a part of nature- like a fairy tale cottage. He touched a floating, orange petal, smiling as stress left him.

"For you, my Darling," he set a small package in front of her, she tilted her head slightly before opening it.

"Spence," a hand rose to her mouth, "this, this is perfect." Slender hands held a first edition of Les Miserables. "How did you even get this?"

"I have some friends."

"This makes my gift look really bad." She covered her face with her hands before handing him a box wrapped in brown paper.

He carefully unwrapped it, trying to avoid the sound of ripping paper. "A three dimensional chess set. Will you play it with me?" Excitement bubbled through him, he felt like a child when she nodded, eliciting an uncontrollable fit of laughter from him. "I love you."

Then he stopped. A chill rushed through him. He blinked and stared at shocked, green eyes. Those words hadn't been spoken yet. Heart speeding up, Reid opened his mouth before Juliette cut him off, "I love you too."

A slow smile spread over his lips until he was unable to prevent laughing again. Quickly, he stood, rushing to kiss her, placing his hands gently on the sides of her head before running them through her hair. "I love you so much, Juliette." Desperation for her to know spread through him.

"I love you." She spoke in between his kisses.

"Juliette," he buried his face in her hair, "God, Juliette." He whispered lightly, closing his eyes and feeling at home for the first time in years.

•••

"I'm planning something and I want you both to be there."

"What's going on, gorgeous?" Garcia's orange lips spread in a smile.

"I'm, well, I'm going to ask Juliette to marry me." He stopped as Garcia began to scream, holding Morgan as she did so. "And I want you to make sure it's recorded, and you," he turned to the grinning man, "I just need moral support from my best friend."

"Let me see the ring." Morgan demanded, his smile unwavering as Reid shoved his hand into the inside pocket of his vest.

"Oh my god, Reid." Garcia breathed. The engagement ring had taken him two months to decide on. In the end he went with an uncut opal stone with a delicately braided silver band.

"That's a good choice, kid." His grin spread as Garcia squealed.

"I will capture it all on HD, don't you worry about a single, little thing. Where are you asking her?"

"Do you know what Ombra is?"

Eyes wide, Garcia sped through her sentence, "You mean the Italian restaurant-boat that's on the Potomac. The one with three month in advance reservations? Has violinists? Yeah. I know about it."

"Well," he interlocked his fingers, bringing them to his lips, "I made reservations for four people at Six O'Clock tonight."

"Looks like you thought of everything." Morgan chuckled. "We'll be there. Calm down."

"Did I hear talk of Ombre?" Rossi strolled over to the coffee machine. "What occasion could that be for?" He winked at Reid before pouring his cup and walking to Hotch.

•••

A spread of dead women laid in front of him. He arranged the pictures in order of first victim to his last.

"What's his connection?" JJ was rubbing her forehead. "It's not racial, none of these women knew any of the others, different jobs, different neighborhoods, their income is varied. Different abduction sites, and different dump sites." Blue eyes glanced to him, "I don't get it, Spence."

"We're missing something obvious. I just haven't figured it out yet." He confessed, pushing his lips together.

"According to the boyfriends of the last two victims, they received live videos that were untraceable and they were unable to save the videos to a file. It just disappeared after the UnSub was done." JJ sighed.

"Double check the M.E. reports." Hotch said, sighing deeply.

"Hey, pretty boy, what's Juliette's number?"

"241-596-8575. Why?"

"I left my keys at her house, and I can't get a hold of her."

"That's unusual." He furrowed his brows, "She always answers her cellphone."

"Reid, I'm sure she's fine." A comforting hand rested on his shoulder.

"I'm going to call her." He stepped into the hallway, dialing Juliette's number. He paced as it rang through to voicemail three times. "Hey, Juliette, it's me, Spencer, um, call me back as soon as you can."

"Kid, she's probably curled up in that sunny alcove upstairs, reading whatever book you've given her. I bet she dropped her phone in the key jar and she can't hear it."

"Statistically, you're right." He ran the statistics over until the weight lifted off his head.

"I know I am, now let's solve this case so you can get back to her."

"Guys." Garcia's voice was hollow, "we got a message. I'm sending it to your phones."

"God knows your sin."

"What is this about?" Morgan asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, God, Oh, God." Her breathing was heavy.

"Garcia?" Hotch asked.

"Reid," she was crying, "everyone come to me."

They filed into Garcia's tech room. She was crying when they entered, instantly wrapping her arms around Reid. Tears hit his shoulders, mascara running, Garcia pointed to her computer.

On her screen was a picture.

In that picture was a bruised and bloodied young woman. A mass of brown hair was matted with blood. He grabbed onto the table's edge, trying not to throw up. "Juliette." Hot tears shook from his eyes.

"Garcia," Hotch broke the stunned silence, "trace it."

"It's been three days." He paced in front of the writing board. "Dehydration is setting in."

"Reid, we are going to catch him."

"When?! You understand who that is?!" His voice cracked as he screamed, Morgan's eyebrows dropped.

"Kid, we are going to catch him."

"I need everyone in here." Stiffly, he walked back into the tech room.

Her fingers clicking, Garcia avoided his gaze. He eased himself into a chair besides her. She whispered. "We have video." Hotch stood behind him as the video blurred into focus. "It's live." Sweat rolled down his back, Garcia covered her eyes.

Juliette was tied to a metal chair, blood dribbled from her mouth, collecting on the point of her chin before dripping onto dirty, brown pants. "Confess." A voice filled the room.

Shadowed eyes stared hard at the dirt floor. "CONFESS!" A masked man grabbed her hair, ripping her head backwards. She was silent, even when his fist collided with her cheek, toppling the chair. A gloved hand held her jaw, forcing her to look into the camera.

Reid had to sit back down, "I'll kill you." He shook, his teeth hurt from the pressure of his grinding jaw.

"Garcia?"

"I'm close, but he's good." She spoke curtly, typing faster than before. "Like super scary good."

The chair was set back. "Tell him your sins! TELL HIM!"

"If she confesses, he will put her in that hole." Rossi spoke quietly. Reid shivered violently, remembering Juliette's claustrophobia.

"Juliette hasn't done anything wrong!" Reid snapped, openly crying as Juliette's chair was knocked backwards. Brown hair splayed over the floor, boots walked over it, a low groan came from her figure.

"CONFESS!" A glowing poker was pulled, nausea set in, he had to look away as Juliette's screams echoed around the room. When he was able to look, she was shaking violently, her neck supporting a furious, swollen burn. Silent tears rolled down her face.

"Son of a bitch!" Morgan screamed. His fist slammed into the table. Rossi stood behind Garcia, holding her hand as she looked away.

"Okay, okay," she panted, mumbling something the camera was unable to pick up.

"LOUDER!"

"I'M PREGNANT!" Tears flowed down her face, "Spencer," her body shook with sobs, "I'm pregnant." She laid on the floor, tears streaming down her face. "I'm sorry," she cried, "I'm sorry, Spencer."

He threw up, his forehead slammed into the desk, he sobbed. Veins strained against his neck, as Juliette cried harder. No one spoke, he knew they were looking at him as he touched the screen, desperate to hold his fiancee. "Come on," Hotch pulled him to his feet, guiding him to the bathroom where Reid pulled his stained sweater vest off and rinsed his face.

"Reid," Hotch placed his hand on his arm, "I need you to focus, I know it's hard, but Juliette needs you." Nodding, Reid starred in the mirror, his sickly reflection blinking back.