A/N: This is in fact a piece of trash but I honestly cannot sleep at night because I just think about these two all night and my heart doesn't stop jumping. So here we are!
"Wait! Reid, please stay. I just- I need someone who I know is real."
All the anger in his body melted away, was replaced with a completely different kind of warmth that spread like lava through his whole body, warming even the tips of his fingers, and he holstered his gun and immediately drew her to him. He felt her arms wrapped around him so tightly, felt her body stiffen and knew she was trying to conceal sobs.
"You okay?"
She managed a small "uh-huh" before dissolving, and it was as if she were paralyzed again as she collapsed into Reid. Real, alive, warm, best-friend-in-the-world Spencer Reid. "Oh God, Spencer," she whimpered. "That was- that was -"
He shushed her, bringing her closer and stroking her hair in what he hoped was a soothing way, the same way she had done to him so many times over the years. "It's okay now, Emily," he murmured. "Luke will get him. He will."
She nodded into his chest, rare tears still running down her cheeks, and she could do nothing to stop another sob. Some of his anger returned then, and a small part of him, the part that had found a way to survive prison, wished that he was the one chasing Scratch, wished that he was the one who could kill the demon that had hurt his team- his family. But he knew that that small part of him was the reason he wasn't, and he knew he would rather be here with Emily in what must be one of the worst moments of her life.
Emily glanced up through watery eyes to see Reid's clenched jaw, felt his body tighten around hers. Without leaving the comfort of his embrace, she asked, "Are you okay, Spence?"
His eyes met hers, surprised, and an incredulous smile found its way to his face. She could have cried an ocean of tears just seeing that smile, because it had been far too long, and she missed it more than she cared to admit. "Are you really asking about me right now?" He chuckled, and the feel of it reverberating through his chest warmed her from the inside out - real. His hand went back to her hair, and her eyes slid shut. "I'm so happy you're safe," he whispered, close enough for her to feel his warm breath on her ear - real, real, real - and her lips quirked, but he continued. "If we would have lost you, Em… I honestly don't know what I would have done. I truly don't."
She felt the shift immediately. Withdrawing from him, just slightly enough to see his face, she said, "You don't have to think about it, Spencer. I'm fine now. You guys saved me, like i knew you would."
He shook his head at this. "You saved yourself. Whatever he did to you, you fought like hell and outsmarted him." She knew he was curious. She would have been, too, but he didn't have the boss card to play and he was just genuinely a good person. What surprised her the most was how she wanted to tell him - Emily "Compartmentalization Queen" Prentiss. She could have laughed, but instead she closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she met his eyes, preparing to speak, but his words quickly rushed out of his mouth. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."
She nodded. Of course. She knew that. She also knew she trusted Spencer Reid more than she trusted anyone else in the entire world, and began to speak. "I woke up feeling like I had just gotten hit by a truck." Reid stared flatly at her. Fine, no jokes, she decided, and pushed on with a sigh. "He wanted to know where Hotch was," she said softly, "and Jack. That twisted son of a bitch wanted to experiment on Jack, and see if he could create a little mini-Scratch. I didn't tell him, and then he- he pulled off the blanket and my legs were-" She had to pause, screwing her eyes shut and clenching her fists until she could barely feel her fingers.
"Oh, Em," Spencer murmured, sounding on the verge of tears himself, and Emily hoped he wasn't doing that damn lip quiver that gets her every time. She forced herself to continue, and it was only Reid's warmth that allowed her not to get too sucked into Scratch's delusion once more.
"My legs had poles drilled into them, and as soon as I saw them I thought I was going to vomit. I still didn't tell him, and he told me that instead of me talking, he'll just stop my heart." Her tears had stopped by now, but she still shook, unable to shake the feeling of laying on his operating table. "I died, I think. I still don't really know. How many times can one girl die, you know?" She laughed pathetically then, and suddenly a warm hand was on her cheek, wiping away a tear she didn't know was there. Surprised, she looked at Reid's face and was struck by the grief and affection splayed on it, his damp eyes the softest they'd been in months.
"No more," he whispered, and she was quickly pulled back into him and grateful for it.
"Thank you, Spencer. Thank you for staying with me."
He responded with quiet sincerity. "Of course. Anything."
She shook her head. "Thank you."
Suddenly, their comms crackled to life, and Alvez's voice broke their sweet silence. "Scratch is done."
They heard him give more detail, but Spencer looked at Emily and asked, "Are you ready?"
She smiled at him, and without prompting he positioned himself so that she could lean on him. "Ready to see this son of a bitch gone once and for all? Hell yeah." He chuckled in her ear. Her light tone turned serious, laced with obvious concern. "Are you?"
Reid's brain immediately flicked through every single thing Scratch had done to his team, to him, going back to his first crime as Mr. Scratch to feeling the weight of his best friend leaning on him now, unable to stand on her own, and nodded. "More than ready."
He never got used to it. Peter Lewis had caused more trouble than most unsubs; to name a few things, he had caused Hotch to pack up and leave the BAU, killed his teammate and friend Walker, and kidnapped and tortured his best friend, but now he lay cold and still on the ground in a pool of his own blood. Just like that, Mr. Scratch, Peter Lewis, was gone. He glanced down at Emily, who was huddled into him, staring at Scratch's body. His heart seized in his chest. She was the strongest person he had ever met, and he loved her.
Emily could hardly believe this man had just fallen off a building. Are you freaking kidding? Years spent going after Scratch, so much time and resources spent on chasing him, when all it took was a short distance between him and the ground. Her nerves were shot, and she was glad Spencer was there to support her because she knew if he weren't her knees would have given out long ago. She looked to him then. He had a resolute look on his face, but she could see anger and something else brimming just under the surface. Without thinking, she brushed against him, just enough to let him know she was there and that she wasn't going anywhere. They got through Scratch, and so much more, and they would get through anything else this job and this world threw at them. After all, he was the strongest person she had ever met, and she loved him all the more for it.