Title: Aftermath
Pairing: Lila/Reid
Rating: T
Summary: Lila and Reid deal with the consequences of "Courageous"
Author's Notes: Song Prompt: Missing - Evanescence. Sixth in Deal Breaker Series. Follows Safely, Coming Home, Pain in the Past, Lean on Me and Courageous. 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 (Part 2): I thought I would mention this because this part of the series talks about Reid's drug use (as seen in the episodes following Revelations.) His decision to do drugs is NOT because Lila and he broke up. Does it add to his pain, his need to numb? Probably, but it is not the cause! Spencer is still all messed up from his ordeal and his nightmares and everything come from that! He is not that dependent on his relationship with Lila that he would turn to drugs because she left him. I just want to make that very, very clear. Kay? Kay. Good Reading!

Lila sits in her house. It's still early, her phone has buzzed a few times, full of things she could be doing, but she doesn't want to go out. She doesn't want to be seen. She curls her knees upto her chest, resting her chin on them. The TV's on in her room, she can hear the host of a show, speaking.

"Lila Archer showed up at a Georgia hospital Thursday. She stayed inside for a few hours before leaving in a hurry, in what looked like tears. Reports say that this could be related to the FBI agent she has been reportedly dating. The FBI's Behavior Analysis Unit was in the Atlanta area for a case involving a serial killer who would call the police with Bible scriptures. We called Lila Archer's agent but received no comment. The FBI has not released information as well, other than the fact an agent was injured and is receiving medical treatment. The suspect had been taken care of."

Lila sighs.

"Yeah, Scott. It seems that the agent who was injured is the man Lila has been seen with before, a Dr. Spencer Reid, who was the youngest member of the FBI to ever join the BAU unit. We've spoken about him before, he's been seen on set of her television show as well at her home. The BAU team was called out earlier in the year, when Lila Archer was the target of a stalker. She -"

She gets up and turns off the tv before rubbing her forehead. Coudn't they report about something else? She wasn't even that big of a star. She had been in a couple of Broadway shows while at Juilliard and then in a few indie moves before getting the TV show gig. She wan't Jennifer Aniston and Hitters wasn't Friends. Most of her resume was in the modeling world. She breathed out, moving her arm over her eyes,

Criminal Minds || Aftermath

Spencer winces as he walked across his apartment to the couch. He looks over his shoulder at the blond who is setting down his bag.

"Thanks, JJ. I'll be okay now."

"The doctor said that you should stay off your foot as much as possible."

"I know. I heard him."

"I can stay-"

He shakes his head. "I'd… I'd like to be alone."

She frowns. "Spence, I know that Li-"

"I said I was okay, JJ."

JJ frowns, but nods. "Okay, well… if you need anything, you can call me, okay? Whenever."

He nods, laying on the couch, turning away from her. She watches him for a minute before letting herself out. Once he hears the door click, he turns back to the door. He stands and carefully makes his way to his bag, pulling out the vials. He stares at them for a moment before rolling them in his hand, trying to decide if he really wanted to do this. The longer he thought about it, the more he realized he didn't have much to lose.

Criminal Minds || Aftermath

Dante enters the house, looking around before he spots Lila on the couch. He shakes his head before moving to the couch, pushing her knee.

"Wake up."

"Go away."

"You have to shower, you have work."

"Go away."

"Yeah, yeah. I got your tea."

"I don't want tea. I want coffee."

Dante sighs and grabs her legs, sitting on the couch, before setting her legs on his lap. "You hate coffee."

"Yeah, but Spencer's apartment always smells like it."

Dante pats her leg. "Honey, you broke up with him. You do realize that, right?"

She turns to her back to glare at him. "Could you be with someone that you didn't know if they were going to live every time they left?"

"Nope, but I'm in love with a woman who doesn't know I exist either."

She rolls her eyes. "Anna knows you exist, she just….doesn't care."

Dante stares at her. "Gee, thanks."

He moves and grabs his tea before looking at her. "I get the fear. I couldn't do it, but…wouldn't you rather spend the time with him that could you get rather than sitting here, wishing you were with him. Because, babe, I love you, but it's been like… 3 days and I'm already sick of hearing how you miss him."

Lila pulls the pillow back closer to her chest and sighs as she looks at him. He had a point.

"I think I love him."

"You think?" Dante says, amused.

"It makes it so much harder, Tay. If we were just having fun, enjoying each other, if something happened I could move on. But if I'm in love with him….you don't just get over losing someone like that, you know?"

"Yeah, but if you're already in love with him, even if you're not with him and something happens, will you be able to move on or will you just regret not being with him when you could?"

She glares at him, putting down the pillow and getting up to shower. "I hate you."

"Because I'm right and remember, no make-up, we're already running late. You know how Felicia gets if she has to wait for you to wash your face."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's not my first time on a set, Tay."

Criminal Minds || Aftermath

His eyes open wide when he feels his head falling. He looks around the room to see if anyone saw him, nodding off, when he realizes he's alone. It's late, he can tell, by the advertisements. He watches about ceramic knives for a few moments before turning it a few times. He pauses on a movie that just started, a few years old it seems. He laughs a little when the name "Lila Archer" pops up on the screen. He doesn't change it though, not at first. He wants to see her and smiles, when she appears on the screen. Her hair is darker, her cheeks fuller, looking even younger than she did when she sat next to him after the police had taken Maggie away. He reaches for his phone, dialing a number.

"Jareau." JJ answers, half-asleep.

"JJ, turn on the tv. Channel 32. It's Lila."

"What?"

"Lila. She's in a movie."

"Spence, it's 3 am."

He doesn't say anything, watching the woman talk on the screen to a dorky little kid.

"What channel?" She says after a few minutes.

"32."

"Okay." He hears the tv turn on. "Look at her. Her hair is brown."

"Mmhmm. Have you slept yet?"

He doesn't answer. He knows that his drug-induced black out probably doesn't count and doesn't want to talk about it.

"She looks about 18 or 19, huh?"

"I'd say 20. Didn't you mention she didn't get into film until Juilliard."

"Yeah, she was more into theatre and modeling. Did you know that she's been modeling since she was 15?"

"Spence, why don't you call her? I'm sure that it was just overwhelming for-"

"Yeah, she's probably older than 20. She graduated from Juillard when she was 22. I don't think she did any movies until after that. She was in a Broadway show though. Did you know that? She could have stayed in the theatre, but instead after she graduated, she moved to-"

"Spence."

He sighs, watching the woman on the screen until she's gone. "Do you think it was more than just the danger?"

"Like what?" JJ says, softly.

"Like… a guy? She…her assistant is a man, did you know that?"

"I'm sure he's gay or something, Spence."

"You think?" He thinks about it, she and Dante did seem to have more of a relationship like Garcia and JJ than like Morgan and JJ.

"I'm sure that she would have told you if there was someone else, Spence. She didn't seem like the type that would… I don't think she would do that to you, anyways."

"There was this guy, on set… her boyfriend in the show or something… He was very in shape and….good looking. She's an actress, you know, she has an image to maintain."

"So you think she would date you for 8 months and then decide that her image was more important than being happy and go for some hottie with a buff bod that might help her career?"

Even in his drug-clouded haze, that seems very illogical.

"No." He says, slowly.

"Spence, I saw her when she came into that hospital. She was terrified. I thought she was going to murder Gideon when he started to talk to her. She… I can assure you that she wasn't with anyone else. She wasn't thinking about being with anyone else. All she wanted was to get by your side, make sure you were okay."

"Then why did she leave?" He asks, his voice cracking.

Criminal Minds || Aftermath

"Lila! How is Spencer doing? Is everything okay? Are you guys still together?"

Dante looks over his shoulder at the woman who shoves her hands into her hoodie pocket. There's not usually this much press waiting for her. A few photographers, yes, always seem to be around the set.

"She doesn't have any comments for you guys, sorry." He says to the photographers calling out for her. "C'mon, back off." He says, putting his hand in front of one of the cameras that was getting too close.

"Come on, Lila! Why were you crying? Fans want to know!"

She keeps her eyes on the ground until they're inside. Dante nudges her shoulder. "Hey, did you see me? I was kinda like a bodyguard."

She raises her eyes slightly, giving him a slight smile. "You're not buff enough to be my bodyguard. You're barely strong enough to carry my dry cleaning."

He nudges her again. "Bitch." he teases.

She smirks a little before straightening, seeing Danny, her co-star and onair boyfriend. He winks at her as he passes. She's almost at her trailer when Anna spots her.

"Lila! Please tell me the rumors aren't true! Spencer was in the hospital?"

She breathes out. "Yeah, he's… he's fine. Just something work-related."

"Did he get shot?"

"I can't really say." Lila shrugs. Even if Spencer had started to share more about his cases, she knew he wasn't really allowed to and she definitely couldn't talk about it to anyone else.

"God, you guys are so cute! He saves your life and then you guys fall all this time flying across the county to be together.. It's so romantic."

"I can be romantic." Dante mutters and Lila giggles to herself, despite the woman's comments. Anna looks confused. She shakes her head before another giggle erupts out of her.

Dante looks at her, strangely. "You okay, Lila?"

"Anna, Dante has been in love with you since the first time he flew out from New York to spend time with me. He talks about you so much that it's almost stalker-ish, but has never asked you out or tried because he thinks you're too beautiful for someone like him, that you're too good for him. His sketch books are filled-"

Dante, finally getting over his shock - clears his throat. "Lila!"

She looks at him before looking back at Anna. "I'm just saying if your idea of romantic is spending a few dollars on a plane ticket, then you haven't really experience romance and maybe you need to stop dating guys that look like Danny, who looks really good in board shorts, but isn't the brightest crayon in the box, and try to find someone who has actual emotions and passion and drive for something bigger than their self…" She shakes her head before walking off to her trailer.

Anna looks dumbfounded and Dante looks between Lila's trailer and Anna. He rubs the back of his neck.

"So that was… I'll just be…. We'll see you on set, then." He says before following after the blonde than had just left. He enters the trailer to see Lila on the couch, head resting on her hands. He sighs and sits next to her, rubbing her back.

"How do I do this, Tay? Either I go back and try to fix our relationship and stress myself out over him and his job. Or I don't and I'm miserable. Why does it fill like either way, I lose?"