Spencer trudges into the office, throwing himself down into his chair in the bullpen and running his long fingers through his hair.
"Rough night, pretty boy?" Morgan asks with a hint of amusement in his voice.
"She did it again," he mutters through his hands. Morgan groans in response.
"Who?" Emily asks from her desk. When Spencer groans out something that sounds vaguely like a name, Emily glances at Morgan for details.
"A couple years ago we busted this guy on 6 counts of first-degree murder. He was into dressing the girls up in cat clothes and treating them like pets for a couple days. After a while they'd try to run away, and he'd kill them. Well, when we got to his house, there was this one girl he hadn't killed. He called her kitten. She was his favorite, by far. She'd been with him for so long that she attacked one of the paramedics who was first on the scene for coming at her too fast. It took forever to get her to talk. She would just sit there, staring at us. Until Spencer figured out that she didn't know how to function aside from being a cat because she was his daughter. She literally was raised to be a cat after her mother died when she was 10. So, lover boy looked after her," Morgan recalls.
"She's been attached to me ever since," Spencer groans.
"Well, you were the one who scratched her ears all the time," Morgan teases. Prentiss raises an eyebrow.
"It calmed her down. That was the only thing we could do to get her to relax!" Spencer cries. He sighs and settles back in his chair. "I've been trying to get her into a safe place since she recovered, but she keeps getting into trouble and showing up at my doorstep."
"What'd she do this time?" Emily asks.
"Apparently, she attacked the guy who owns her house when he came to get this month's rent," Spencer huffs.
"Maybe you should talk to Hotch again. I mean, things don't seem to be getting better for her and she really took to you, man. Maybe if you guys-" Morgan gets cut off by the elevator dinging open.
"Spencer!" an older woman shouts, holding a young woman by the elbow who is audibly whining by her side. The girl tries to pull away from the former with no success.
"Ms. Cavanaugh! What are you-?" Spencer starts, standing as his neighbor stalks through the room. He catches eyes with the young woman who shies away from him before being shoved into his arms.
"I agreed to watch a girl, not a maniac!"
"What?"
"She kicked Simon and on the way here almost made me crash into a pole!"
Spencer scowls at the girl in his arms. "I'm sorry about your cat and the drive here, Ms. Cavanaugh. I'll take care of it."
The old woman nods. "You'd better! I expect an apology when you return home," she huffs as she turns on her heel and leaves the room.
Spencer glares down at the woman clutching his shirt. He sighs before taking her hand and leading her away. "We'll be back," he calls over his shoulder. The two walk down an empty hallway and into an unused office. Spencer locks the door then turns to face her.
"Well?"
"She's lying," the girl whispers with unshed tears glistening in her eyes. "Her cat attacked me and I kicked him away. And when we were driving here she was so busy yelling at me that she almost went off the road. She's just mad she missed her show and her precious devil cat got bruised."
"This is getting way out of hand!"
"I'm sorry, Spencer. I didn't mean to get in trouble."
"No. You never do. And yet it's always the case with you! I can't keep doing this! This is the fifth time you've pulled something like this!" he shouts.
"Then stop sending me to creepy old men who prey on their quiet tenets," she mumbles back, turning her head and avoiding Spencer's gaze.
"Stop making me send you period!"
"You think this is my fault? I told you I didn't do anything! These people you keep sending me to are the ones who are abusing me!" she shouts back in return, the tears brimming over her eyelids and falling down her cheeks. "Sometimes I wish you guys never found me in the first place," she cries.
"You don't mean that."
"How would you know? You're too busy getting mad at me for stuff that isn't even my fault! You'd rather listen to what everyone else says and treat me like a little kid like everyone else!" she shouts, her voice wavering towards the end.
"I wouldn't have to treat you like a kid if you'd stop acting like one!"
"I can't help that! I spent my entire childhood as a cat! I'm still learning!"
A tentative knock and a soft voice appear at the door amidst the argument. "Hey, you guys? Is everything okay?" Garcia asks, the door knob jiggling.
"Everything is fine, Garcia," Spencer growls over his shoulder.
"Oh, well, uh, Hotch wanted to get started…"
"I'll be right out." Spencer presses his fingers to his eyes and breathes through his nose. "What am I gonna do with you?" he murmurs under his breath.
"If I'm such a burden on you then why don't you just forget about me and forget about anything we ever had because obviously it's not worth anything to you anyways. You'd rather send me away to some psycho before you show an ounce of affection towards me," she cries, making her way towards the door when Spencer takes her by the arms.
"You know I tried to make it work. I tried everything I could think of and it just wasn't enough. I won't forget you. You mean too much to me for that to happen," he says in a low tone.
"Then why do we always end up like this? Yelling at each other whenever something goes wrong…"
"Because there's an obvious solution to all these problems and I can't make that happen. You are a past victim and I'm one of the people who saved you. We can't be together, no matter how much we want to," Spencer whispers, his eyes shining with the threat of tears. "I love you and I can't do anything and it kills me inside every time you end up at my door again. Because it reminds me of everything I want to do for you and how all these issues can go away if you were mine and how nothing else can make this right. Maybe we fight all the time because I know that if you get mad enough you'll go off on your own and make a life for yourself and we can both move on from this…this thing we have. Maybe I keep sending you to crappy places because I want you to come back to me one last time. I know it's selfish and it's hurting you, but I can't…I just can't..."
"Spencer…" she whimpers. She silently leans into his chest and his arms curl around her frame. He bows his head just as her fingers take hold of his shirt. Their tears run freely down their faces as the weight of Spencer's words sink in. They both knew it was true, yet there was nothing they could do to change it.
It wasn't until Garcia knocked on the door again did the two separate. "We'll figure something out after this debriefing okay?" Spencer asks, sniffling and wiping the tears from his eyes. She nods ever so slightly. She takes his hand and the two walk out together towards the round-table. When the two enter, Spencer clears his throat. "Do you mind if she stays?" he asks Aaron.
Aaron looks up from the file and takes in the sight of Spencer and the girl cowering behind him: her tear-stained face, Spencer's damp shirt, and the shared grim looks up each of their faces. Hotch nods and gently moves a chair over to her.
She sits by Spencer, never letting go of his hand. He opens up the case file and skims it over without really reading the words on the page. She rests her head on the arm rest of Spencer's chair just as the team begins discussing. No one questions her appearance, nor do they question Spencer's odd silence. About halfway through, Spencer slips his hand from hers and rests it on her head, idly scratching behind her ears. This small action puts both at ease, allowing Spencer to put a little more focus on the case while gently lulling her to sleep.
When the meeting was over, Hotchner reminds everyone they will leave within half an hour. Each team member files out of the room, giving Spencer sad glances as they pass.
"Reid?" Aaron asks just before leaving the room with the rest of the team. The two men's gazes connect for a split second and Hotch knew before Spencer could even say a word.
"I love her, Hotch. I can't stop myself. I'll only hurt her more if I let her stay here any longer. I know that. But I don't want to send her away," Spencer cries, the tears welling up in his eyes again as he gazes down at the woman by his side.
"Reid, these circumstances lead me to believe that the only good thing for her is staying here with you. And this goes completely against protocol, however her safety comes before anything else."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm not saying anything. I'm certainly not saying I'll look the other way on this one. And I'm definitely not suggesting you talk to Garcia about burying her file somewhere it won't be easily found. What I am saying is that she needs someone who's going to keep her safe and happy, even if that person happens to be you."
A huge smile breaks out over Reid's face as the information clicks. "Thanks," is all he can get out from the tidal wave of relief that overcomes him.
"I didn't do anything," Hotch replies, turning to walk out the door when he stops and turns around again. "You should take a day off. You need to take more vacation time."
"Since when?"
"Since now," Hotch smiles. Spencer watches as his boss walks out of the room before turning to the girl on his arm. He gently shakes her awake and revels in the fluttering of her eyelids.
"What?" she mumbles while rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
Spencer can barely wait another second before he presses his lips to hers and pulls her from her chair into his lap. For a moment, she resists from surprise, but then melts into Spencer's kiss. She runs her fingers through his hair and he mimics the motion, pressing her into him as much as he can.
"I thought we couldn't…?" she asks when the two come up for air.
"It's okay, now. I'll explain later. Just let me kiss you some more before I do," he smiles before pulling her back in.