A/N: Didn't plan to upload another one-shot so quickly, but I watched a couple of episodes from season one when "The Two-Horse Job" arrived and I knew I just had to do something with it.

Based loosely on that episode, but with much more Spencer/Spencer scenes in there, rather then Eliot/Aimee.

Disclaimer: I do not own Leverage or Criminal Minds.

Story 2: The Two-Ex Job

"Thanks for coming," Aimee said, hugging Spencer tightly. "I hate to bug you on your days off, but after the fire…"

"Don't mention it," Spencer said quickly. "I'm happy to help. And, besides, it's not days off, it's a forced vacation for my team."

"Either way, I'm glad you could come," Aimee told him honestly. "Let's go tell my dad that you're here."

They walked through the house and towards her father's office, exchanging stories of the time since they last met. They talked on the phone every now and then, but it wasn't the same as meeting in person.

"Dad," Aimee said, opening the door but stopping as soon as she saw who was inside.

"You called him?" she asked distastefully.

"We need him," Willie replied.

"Yeah," Aimee said poisonously. "No, we don't."

"I forgot how much I like these southern welcomes," a familiar voice said, and Spencer moved forwards to see Eliot standing in the middle of the room, along with another man he didn't recognize.

"Eight years," Aimee said. "No phone calls, no letters – you don't get a homecoming parade."

"How's your husband, Aimee?" Eliot asked, and though Spencer knew he didn't mean to hit a soft spot, he did.

"Gone," Aimee said. "Seems I have a weakness for men with one foot out the door." She looked at her father. "Spencer's here," she said shortly before turning around and leaving, closing the door behind her before Eliot even turned to look at where Spencer was standing.

"What an ass," she said, leaning on the wall.

"Don't let him get to you," Spencer said. "You're better than him."

"So are you," Aimee told him. "So why does he think that he's better than both of us?"

"Why do I have to be there, too?" Spencer whined.

"Because I said so," Aimee replied. "There's no way I'm going to be dealing with him alone."

"You don't want to suffer alone, so you're dragging me into it?" he questioned bitterly.

"Exactly," Aimee said. "Now be quiet, they're here."

"Hello," the unfamiliar man Spencer saw earlier – Nate, he heard the others call him – said with a friendly smile. "I don't think we were properly introduced," he told Spencer. "I'm –"

"I know who you are," Spencer replied curtly. "Come. We'll show you around."

"Aimee got us the horses," Eliot told Nate, his eyes burning into Spencer's back. "We need her help to pull this off."

"So all of these are mine?" Nate asked. Marking around at the stable they were in.

"Actually," Spencer started. "Trainers work with a lot of different owners, and only a few of these horses belong to each of them so you'll own less than a tenth of the horses here."

"But the stables belong to the trainers," Aimee added. "Not the owners. So his office would be right down there."

"You can't even say my name now?" Eliot asked.

"No," Spencer and Aimee replied together, each of them sending the other an understanding look.

"And the logos?" Nate questioned, looking around.

"Like she said," Eliot told him. "My stable. These stables are all identical. The only way to tell them apart is by trainer logos, so Hardison faked a couple of them up this morning."

"Why do I have a feeling it's bad I hear this conversation?" Spencer asked bitterly.

"Probably because it is," Aimee replied. "Anything else you need so you can wrap this up and go back to being a somewhat disappointing memory?"

"I thought you said you two were fine with this," Eliot said.

"I thought you said you were coming back in three weeks," Aimee retorted.

"I thought you said you'd call me," Spencer added.

"Oh, boy," Nate said to himself, walking away. "This is perfect."

"You don't know half of what was going on," Eliot said as soon as Nate was out of reach.

"And whose fault is that?" Spencer asked. "Who just walked away without any notice – twice on me, and once on her?"

"The second time was different," Eliot said.

"Oh, really?" Aimee asked. "What was it? You didn't leave any hopes of return the second time? It doesn't sound like your style."

"I don't know, maybe he didn't," Spencer said. "Maybe I misinterpreted 'I'll call you'!"

"Well, maybe I misinterpreted the kiss!" Eliot retorted. "Because usually, it doesn't mean you have a boyfriend!"

And with that, he turned around and walked away.

"So," Aimee said, leaning on Spencer's arm. "How's your vacation so far?"

"Forced vacation," Spencer corrected, deciding it might be a good idea to help with the horses in order to clear his head.

It isn't my fault, Spencer thought to himself as he brushed a silver horse named, unsurprisingly, Silverware. I wasn't the one who didn't call after they promised they would. I wasn't the one who left, time and time again. It isn't my fault, and he should stop acting like it is.

Is he wrong, though? asked a small voice in the back of his mind. You did kiss him while you were still dating Derek.

He was my friend before he was anything else, Spencer replied. He should have called me to talk – as friends.

You made it pretty clear it wasn't just friendship on your mind, back at the bank, the voice replied. Unless, of course, Eliot really did misinterpreted the kiss.

He didn't, Spencer thought. The kiss meant just what he thought it meant.

That you didn't have a boyfriend?

That I have more than just friendship on my mind.

Suddenly, his cellphone rang, making both him and the horse jump. He answered quickly, not even bothering to look at the caller ID, and patted Silverware.

"One moment," he told whoever it was on the other side of the line. "Calm down, buddy," he told Silverware, walking out of the booth the horse was in. "Everything's good. Hi."

"Hello," Garcia's cheerful voice said, making him jump once more. "Just called to make sure you're not dying of boredom, but I guess it was unnecessary. Who's with you?"

"Silverware," Spencer replied.

"Oh," Garcia said, surprised. "That's an odd name."

"Not for a horse," Spencer told her with a laugh. "I have a friend who works with horses, and her father's stable burned down last week. Since we have time off anyways, I thought I'd come to help."

"I think I read about it somewhere," Garcia said sadly. "Eight horses died, right?"

"Yeah," Spencer confirmed. "And Aimee asked for my help, so…"

"How do you know them?" Garcia asked.

"We used to have a mutual friend," he replied. "Turned into a mutual ex."

"The things that bond people together," Garcia said dramatically. "Sounds kinda like a soap opera to me. a burnt down stable, two friends who have a mutual ex… all that's left is that he would be there as well, and we've got ourselves a story."

"Guess what?" Spencer asked bitterly. "He is here. Aimee's father asked for his help, so he came. Which would have been alright, if not for the fact that he wouldn't leave me alone."

"Oh, honey," Garcia sighed. "He still cares about you."

"No," Spencer replied determinedly. "You don't tell someone you care about that you'll call him and then disappear for weeks, only to meet again by accident because someone burned a stable."

"Weeks?" Garcia asked, starting to connect the pieces in her head. "Reid – did you break up with Derek for this guy?"

"And if I did?" Spencer asked. "What did it give me? Two ex-boyfriends and a broken heart."

"It doesn't have to be two ex-boyfriends," Garcia mused. "It can be one ex-boyfriend and one boyfriend."

"Are you trying to tell me to get back with Derek?" Spencer asked, annoyed.

"Actually, I'm trying to tell you to give another chance for this mystery man," Garcia said. "But, you know, you don't have to listen to me. I'm only the goddess of anything known and unknown, no big deal."

"I'll think about it," Spencer muttered. "In the meanwhile, I think Silverware's getting jealous."

"Okay, okay," Garcia said. "Tell me what you decided, either way."

"I will," Spencer promised. "Thanks."

"No problem, my love-struck G-man," Garcia said swiftly. "And, Reid?"

"Yes?"

"Good luck."

"Hey."

Spencer looked up from the book he was reading as he sat in the stable's staff room, only to look back down the moment he saw who was standing at the doorway.

"Hey," he said, no emotion to his voice. "How did you know I was here?"

"Aimee told me," Eliot said, sitting down next to him.

"Traitor," Spencer mumbled, causing Eliot to laugh.

"Depends which way you're looking at it," he retorted. "You didn't tell me what you're doing in town," he commented.

"No, I didn't," Spencer agreed, not elaborating.

"Care to tell me what you're doing in town?"

"Willie's stable caught on fire and they needed help," Spencer said. "What do you think I'm doing in town?"

"I don't know," Eliot replied. "There must be a better way to spend your days off."

"Forced vacation," Spencer corrected. "Though I think I'm starting to regret my choice of destination."

"I don't know," Eliot told him. "I'm kinda glad you're here."

"Good for you," Spencer bit out. "Now, can you go? I'm trying to read."

"1984, by George Orwell?" Eliot asked, looking at the cover. "You read that book a million times already. You've got an eidetic memory, Spence, why do you need to reread –"

"Don't call me Spence," Spencer said, standing up. "You lost the right to call me Spence."

"Spencer, then," Eliot said. "Or is it Reid, now? Tell me, so I can keep up with you."

"I don't want you to keep up with me!" Spencer called.

"Fine, then I'll stop trying!" Eliot replied, wondering briefly to himself how the small gesture of trying to talk to his former best friend ended up so badly. "I'll stop trying to talk to you, I'll stop keeping track of you, I'll stop coming to save you when you end up in the middle of a bank robbery –"

"Nobody asked for your help!" Spencer called. "I didn't ask for you to save me after you disappeared for years! But you came, and we kissed, and –"

"And you've got a friggin boyfriend –"

"We broke up!" Spencer called, causing Eliot to stop and look at him. "I broke up with him, because you said you'd call! Because I was stupid enough to let myself believe that you still care! And then it turns out that you don't!"

"Of course I care," Eliot said. "Spencer, I was about to walk straight up to your team, knowing I will most likely get arrested, before Nate called me with an actual plan to save you. I care, alright? It doesn't happen often, and it doesn't happen with just anybody, but it always happens with you."

"You didn't call," Spencer said again, quietly this time.

"You had a boyfriend," Eliot repeated.

"I don't have a boyfriend anymore," Spencer said quietly, taking a step towards him.

"It would be pretty pointless to call now," Eliot told him, leaning in to close the gap.

"Eliot," Nate's voice came through the com. "We sort of need you here."

"Can it wait?" Eliot asked.

"Not really."

Eliot sighed, leaning back from Spencer again. "This isn't over," he warned.

"It better not be," Spencer threatened with half a smile. "Now go do… whatever it is that you do."

"I'll be back," Eliot promised, running out the door.

Spencer sat back down, looking at his book. If only he believed that promise.

"We gave Willie Baltimore," Eliot said as the two of them were walking. "And a generous donation I probably shouldn't mention the origins of, seeing as you're an FBI agent."

"So you're done," Spencer stated. "And now you're leaving."

"Unless you got a room somewhere you want to take me to," Eliot commented.

"And you'll leave in the morning."

"I will," Eliot said honestly. "But next time doesn't have to be like that."

"Next time?" Spencer asked.

"I'm just saying," Eliot shrugged. "You travel a lot for your job, I travel a lot for mine. There ought to be times we end up in the same city – and even if there aren't, there are still days off and forced vacations."

"You want to have a long-distance relationship?" Spencer questioned in disbelief. "Between a federal agent and a criminal?"

"Pretty much," Eliot replied. "If you want me – if you take me, I'm all in. No disappearing, no running away."

"No avoiding phone calls?" Spencer asked.

"Give me your phone," Eliot said in reply. He typed into it for a minute or so before returning it. "I put my phone number in there, just to be safe," he said. "And Nate's phone number. And Sophie's, and Hardison's, and even Parker's. If I don't call you, you call me. And if I don't answer, you call them. And Sophie will never give me a spare moment until I call you back."

"You're really serious about this," Spencer said.

"I am," Eliot replied.

"And you really want this?" the younger man questioned.

"I do," the hitter said without hesitation.

"Fine," Spencer said, leaning closer and allowing Eliot to kiss him. "You're not coming to my room tonight," he murmured against the other man's lips.

"What?" Eliot asked. "Why?"

"Do you really think I'm that easy?" Spencer questioned. "First you buy me dinner and then we'll talk. And besides," he added as his phone began to rang. "My vacation's over." He spoke briefly on the phone, telling JJ he would come straight to the scene before hanging up and looking at Eliot.

"I guess you're the one leaving this time," Eliot said with half a smile.

"It is my turn," Spencer shrugged. "My next case is in Nashville, by the way," he added as an afterthought. "You know, in case you have a case there. Or a time off. Or a forced vacation."

"Call me when you're done with the case and I'll invite you to dinner," Eliot told him with a smile. "Are you leaving right now?"

"Yes."

"Do I get a goodbye kiss?"

"No."

"What?" he asked, confusion written all over his face.

"I thought I made the rules pretty clear," Spencer said as he walked towards his car. "Looking forwards to that dinner."