Title: Off Time
Pairing: Lila/Reid
Rating: T
Summary:
Author's Notes: Tenth in Deal Breaker Series. Follows Safely, Coming Home, Pain in the Past, Lean on Me, Courageous, Aftermath, Sorrow, First Step and One Day at a Time. Safely is rated definitely M for sexual scenes and doesn't have to read to understand the story. All others are more necessary and not rated as high.
Author's Notes: Lila comes off (to me) as a little pathetic in this, but please don't get the image that she can't live without Spencer or anything. She is a strong, beautiful woman who can get whoever she wants and she knows it, but right now she wants him and is doubting herself a little. It happens to the best, but she's smart. She's still herself.
Author's Notes: This is also kind of a start to an experiment. I'm thinking of writing the other characters relationships and lives away from the BAU too in this kinda.. universe i've made for Lila/Reid. It would include Pre-Lila/Reid relationships too. Whatcha think?

She had been in DC for two days. Things were awkward but they weren't bad and whenever things got really strange, Spencer would excuse himself to visit Gideon. He had told her about their last case and how people that were close to Gideon had died. His mentor was in a bad place and as someone who understood that, Spencer was trying his best to help. Now, he was in the bathroom, showering as she fidgeted on the couch. They were going to go out to eat before meeting the team, minus Morgan who Reid said was in Chicago visiting family, at a local bar.

His phone rings and she frowns, wondering if she should pick it up. She looks towards the bathroom, wondering if he's going to acknowledge it. He doesn't and it rings again. She chews on her bottom lip before standing up and grabbing the phone. She answers, but before she can speak, the other person speaks first.

"Hey sexy."

She opens her mouth to speak, but can't. Who would call Spencer late at night and then "sexy" at that. Was he dating?

"What, chico? Cat got your tongue? Don't get all shy on me now."

She hangs up hearing the shower turn off. She moves back to the couch, trying not to focus on the phone call. Someone who thought Spencer was sexy and not shy was calling him, late at night, who wasn't on his team. He steps out of the bathroom and looks at her.

"Let me get a coat and then we can go."

She nods, distractedly, too focused on who it could be. It had to be someone he was seeing and that was just…. Heart-breaking.

"Are you okay?" He asks, pulling on his jacket. His cell beeps before she can answer and he pulls it out, looking at the caller-id first. She sees him slightly smile before he answers. She knows it's her and tries not to scowl.

"Hey." He says, softly. The way he answers with her. She bites on her bottom lip to keep from saying something.

"No." He looks confused before his eyes move to Lila. "No, it's okay. I… let me call you back, later, alright?… Yeah I'm fine. I promise. Bye."

Lila raises her eyebrows as he puts the phone back into his pocket. "So… who was that?"

"An old friend."

She nods. "That's nice."

He stares at her for a moments, studying her before he nods. "Are you ready?"

She nods, getting up, slightly annoyed that he's keeping secrets.

Criminal Minds || Off Time

Dinner was tense and quiet and Lila was glad to be in the bar setting, with music and small talk. JJ smiles at her and she smiles back, not wanting to be rude. Spencer sits near Garcia who ruffles his hair. Emily is there too, talking to a man at the bar. Lila orders a drink before she turns to JJ, who has been watching her.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Lila says, watching as Garcia pulls Reid to the floor.

"Is that why you ordered a drink with enough alcohol to make a drunk pass out?"

She glares back at the woman before her drink arrive and she takes a large drink. It is strong and she breathes out before speaking again.

"Do you know if Spencer's been dating anyone?"

JJ cocks an eyebrow. "Spence?" She laughs. "No. He.. I haven't even seen him look in the direction of another woman. He's too enamored with a certain blonde."

Lila frowns, running her fingers over the rim of the glass. "How about a friend who speaks Spanish?"

JJ watches her before shrugging. "Elle spoke Spanish, but we haven't hear from her in almost a year."

Elle. The girl from the hospital. The one who had gotten shot. He had been so worried about her. She had even met the woman. She was beautiful and had teased Spencer. They were close, but Lila had figured he was close to all his team mates, but no one else would call Spencer 'sexy.'

"Did he and Elle ever…. Have a relationship?"

JJ laughs again. "Spencer and Elle? No. No way. Elle flirted with Morgan a little while she was here, they were friends. She and Spencer were friends too, I guess, after Texas they were closer. but… a relationship? With Elle?" She shakes her head. "Not a chance." She chuckles again and Lila frowns. JJ seemed so certain.

"What's so funny?" Reid asks as he sits back at the table.

"Your ability to dance." Garcia says and shakes her head. "For someone who is so smart with math, you'd think you'd be able to understand rhythm." She ruffles his hair though, so Lila knows she's only teasing. Spencer doesn't look offended.

Lila looks back at JJ, hoping the woman doesn't say anything, but she's still amused by the fact.

"We were just talking about if Elle and Reid ever had a relationship."

God, she hates the woman even more. Lila takes another large drink as Garcia giggles.

"Our squeaky clean genius and the naughty dark-and-twisty Cuban? Oh, well.. I can actually see that."

Lila looks up and sees Spencer isn't looking at anyone anymore, his face flushed.

"You can?" JJ says, amused.

"Sure. Think about it." Garcia sips her fruity drink. "Definitely a couple years ago, when Reid was even more awkwardly adorable than he is now." She winks in his direction. "He would have been a perfect little puppy."

"Little puppy?" JJ laughs before she gasps. "Oh my god. I do see it!" She laughs even more.

Lila watches Spencer as the women talk about the man. He still hasn't looked up. He clears his throat.

"Can we talk about something else, please?"

"What are we talking about?" Emily asks as she finally joins the group.

"We're talking about how cute that guy was." Garcia says, looking at the woman, giving the man an out.

"He was 23." Emily says and rolls her eyes.

Spencer looks relieved and his eyes finally move to Lila, who doesn't feel any better.

Criminal Minds || Off Time

"Lila." He starts as he sets down his keys on the table near the door.

She turns to him. "So.. Were you? Her little puppy? Are you now? She's seemingly back, thinks you're sexy."

He watches her. "You answered my phone."

She wants to growl. That's not the point. She needs to know if he's dating the other woman. He doesn't answer any of her questions though. He just stands there and frowns, deep in thought.

"Spencer."

"Why does it matter if I am dating her. You…you broke up with me."

She stares at him. "Because!" He wasn't supposed to be dating some Hispanic woman who went crazy! She doesn't say that though. "You aren't supposed to be dating. You're in N.A. It's a step or something."

"The thirteenth step." He says. "It's not an actual step. It's a suggestion, because relationships cause an-"

"Exactly! They cause stress and you don't need stress! You don't need to be dating her."

He looks at her, watching her. "You're upset."

She clenches her jaw, trying not to get angry. "Yes, I'm upset. You…"

"You broke up with me. I'm allowed to date." He repeats himself.

"So you are dating her?"

He frowns. "No."

"But you did. At one point?"

He watches her. "Why does that matter?"

It matters because they had obviously had a connection before and if Elle was back in his life, then maybe they would try again and then she'd never have a chance to get over her stupid little fear and get him back. That sounded insane. She sounded insane, worrying about his past relationships, but they had always been so honest with each other and now, she was finding out he was hiding things. It hurt, even if they were just friends now. He didn't trust her with this?

"It just does."

He studies her before sitting down. "I saved her life once… it, uh… we became close."

She feels sick. He saves a girl's life, they fall for him. She wasn't the first. This was his game. No, Spencer didn't have game. He was too nerdy, too socially awkward to have a plan to get women. She sits in the arm chair, listening.

"We'd…It wasn't anything… I mean, she…" He blushes. "It wasn't a relationship. She had trouble with dealing with the stresses and we'd talk, play games…"

"have sex."

He flushes even more, but he doesn't deny it. "I didn't love her. She was just a friend."

Who he had sex with. She couldn't see Spencer having a friends with benefits relationship and yet, he had. And he hadn't told her about it before.

"She called me after Georgia. She had heard about it from a friend. We talked some. She understood what it was like to…lose yourself. She's a recovering Alcoholic." He frowns but continues. "She helps….like you do."

His words don't help and she feels even sicker.

"Uh, but when… Frank killed Rebecca… from the… Fisher King case, remember with the knights and everything, when she got shot…. She… I guess she and Rebecca had been in contact or something…she came down for the funeral and we-"

She raised a hand, not wanting to hear the rest. Luckily, he was paying attention and had paused. If something had happened with Elle, she didn't want to know. She knew she had no real right to be upset, but she was. She stood up. "I think… I'm going to go."

He frowns. "Nothing happened, Lila. We talked about the past and how things had changed. Our addictions. She's thinking about moving back here. We looked at some places. I offered to talk to the people at Georgetown, trying to get a job teaching Criminology or Victimology at the school."

She nods. "That's great, Spence."

It was anything but great. Elle, his ex-lover and new best friend, was going to be leaving in his neighborhood. Someone who had worked the job, understood the job and wasn't scared like she was. She was perfect. She smiles at him, trying to show that she's fine. She kisses his cheek.

"It's really great. I just… I have this movie you know in a couple days, I should really head back to California for a few days."

"Right now? It's 2:11 am. Stay the night, please." He reaches out for her as she moves back from him and she pauses. He's giving her a sad, confused look, as if he knows she's upset but doesn't understand why. She nods.

"Okay." She says, softly.