Thank you for your lovely reviews and I hope you had a lovely birthday CriminalMindsFR.
I hope you all enjoy this chapter and please leave a review, let me know your opinion! It started as a small chapter, then I wanted to write out the entire episode and it kept getting longer and longer so I really hope you enjoy reading it.
She had never seen Spencer so angry before.
Even after Maeve's murder in front of them all, she hadn't seen the pure unadulterated rage that filled his eyes when he had run out of his apartment hours earlier. Moving off his couch in silence, the brunette ran her fingers through her hair before moving towards the window to glance out at the street. It was practically dead outside. Everyone was asleep, she should be asleep but she couldn't. She couldn't shut her eyes without seeing Spencer's face, remembering the anger that had taken over him when he'd walked out of his apartment, pulling a shelf full of books onto the floor before he had slammed the door. She had piled the books on the floor next to the bookcase once Reid had left, not wanting to put them incorrectly onto the shelves. She didn't want him to come home and be reminded of his loss of temper.
His sudden outburst of violence had unnerved her. Alex had listened to him threaten to kill Scratch, had watched the books fall to the floor when he had exited, and seen the pure anger that had covered his face after the phone call and the combination had terrified her. She had known Spencer for years and never had she seen that look. It was the look of anger that she had seen in Curtis' face when he had abducted her. It was a look she had never imagined seeing on Spencer Reid's face. No matter what Spencer had always been able to take a step back from what was going on. His intention to kill someone, even someone so vile, shocked her. Spencer Reid was not a killer. He had killed, they all had, but he had always pulled the trigger to defend, to protect others or himself. Wrapping her arms around her body as she felt a chill run down her spine, Alex bit into her lip as she glanced behind her at his apartment, desperately clinging onto the hope that he wouldn't kill Scratch. If he did, if he did pull the trigger and murder the man who had tortured his team, Alex wasn't sure they would ever get Spencer back.
Moving back towards the couch, Alex sighed before she picked up her phone and stared at the blank screen for a moment. She didn't want to be that person who constantly called, who worried about him, she didn't really have the right too. Curling her legs underneath her body as she attempted to relax, Alex sighed as she thought about the kiss they had shared in the corridor of the BAU, the way his arms wrapped around her body to hold her close to him. She hadn't expected the kiss, hadn't expected Spencer to be attracted to her in anyway but their shared kisses and the time they had spent together, fast asleep on his bed, didn't give her the right to suddenly start ringing him at work to find out whether he was okay. Shaking her head in frustration, the brunette quickly unlocked her phone before finding his number and hitting the call button, sitting down as she heard it begin to ring. She wasn't expecting him to answer, he hadn't when she had called him after he had stormed out of the apartment without telling her anything about the phone call he had received. Hearing the familiar voicemail message, Alex sighed at the positive tone of Spencer's recording before relaxing back into the leather of his couch and closing her eyes.
"Hi Spence, it's me…"
CRIMINAL MINDS- CRIMINAL MINDS
Staring at the message Emily and Stephen had used to lure Scratch out, Spencer shook his head before groaning in frustration. Why couldn't he see the answer? Rubbing his palm into his eyes again in a desperate attempt to understand the answer, the profiler groaned again at his inability to see clearly. Why couldn't he work out what it was? If anything happened to Emily it would be his fault. They were relying on him to work out what B-Cap was. It was clearly important, important enough to have brought Scratch back out into the open, and he couldn't work out why. Sitting down at the table, Reid shook his head before he heard the familiar beep of his phone. Reaching across for the phone, Spencer took hold of it, smiling weakly at the notification that flashed up on the screen. He hadn't even heard it ring. He knew Alex was worried. He had walked out of his apartment without even telling her why he needed to go. Dialling his voicemail, Spencer sighed before holding the phone to his ear, unable to stop himself from staring at the text message that was deluding him.
"Hi Spence, it's me," Alex began, her voice immediately telling him that she was nervous before she fell silent. He had scared her, he'd worried her. "I know you're probably busy right now but I had to call, I needed to see how you were," she said before falling silent again, his head shaking while he ran his free hand through his hair. "Because what you said before you left… Well Spence, it scared me," she admitted, his eyes shutting as he remembered the statement he had made, guilt running through him as he thought about the woman who had watched his outburst in shocked silence. He wanted to kill Scratch, he still wanted to kill him, and he knew that Alex had understood that. "Promise me Spencer that you'll stop before you do something you regret because you are not a killer," she stated desperately, his eyes remaining shut while he breathed out. What if he was? What if he was a killer? Every inch of him wanted to kill Scratch. He wanted to watch the life leave the other man. "Just come home Spence, when whatever is going on is over, come home," she suddenly whispered. He couldn't help but hear that the brunette was on the verge of crying and he hated himself for it. He had hurt Alex, hurt the woman that he cared deeply for. "Because it will end Spence, it will all be over soon. You'll work it out like you always do, I know you will," Alex said weakly. "I better go but I'll see you when you come home," the brunette added confidently before hanging up the phone, Spencer's head shaking when he opened his eyes and glanced at the board again.
There was nowhere else he wanted to be right now then in his apartment with Alex, knowing that his team was safe and Scratch was gone. He wanted nothing more than to hold Alex close to him again, to kiss her, to hear her laugh, to apologise for running out of his apartment and leaving her behind. He had an incredible, intelligent, loving woman waiting at his apartment for him to come home and it was one stupid word that was stopping him from solving this case, saving Emily, and arresting Scratch.
"B-Cap," he whispered, staring at the word before groaning in frustration at his own idiocy. Grabbing a book on plants, he quickly began to flick through it to the page he needed while moving towards the board, his head shaking again when he glanced down at the page. How had it taken him so long? This should have taken him seconds, not an hour! Throwing the book across the room in frustration, he didn't even register the noise of it smashing against the glass. "Banisteriopsis caapi," he said to himself, moving towards the door, opening it to see Penelope and Matt staring up at him from the desks. "I know what B-Cap is," he stated, moving back into the conference room as his two colleagues walked up to join him.
"What is it?" Penelope asked, smiling weakly when Spencer began to explain about the properties of the plant, his frustration building. He should have worked this out fifty-nine minutes ago. He had just wasted precious time trying to understand. Time that might cost Emily her life. Hearing Penelope comment on the book he had thrown, Reid looked straight at her, noticing the worry that covered her face.
"If Emily dies because I was too slow, I'll be throwing more than books," Reid stated before walking out of the conference room, his head shaking again. He wasn't going to have anyone else die because of him, because of his poor decisions or his inability to work the answer out quick enough. Sitting down at his desk, Spencer buried his face into his hands before groaning in frustration. He desperately wanted to be able to concentrate, to feel confident in his own abilities. What if Emily was dead right now? What if she had died in the last hour while he had been pacing up and down trying to work out what B-Cap meant?
What if Emily's blood was on his hands because he had been too slow?
CRIMINAL MINDS- CRIMINAL MINDS
Keeping his arm wrapped around Emily as she continued to rest her head on his shoulder, Reid smiled weakly while he continued to stare at the closed elevator doors. Luke and Matt stood either side them in silence, none of them looking at each other as they waited for the doors to open. Scratch was dead. Scratch had died. Reid had stood beside Emily at the scene, keeping her close while they had all stared down at the lifeless body of the man who had tormented them all for years.
"It's over," Emily whispered, breaking the silence as the three men glanced at her. "It's really over," she said again, her voice full of the shock that all of them felt. It seemed impossible that Scratch had just fallen to his death. They had all just stood there in the street, staring at his corpse waiting for him to sit up and attack them. Hearing the elevator doors open, the four agents walked out, Emily's hand grabbing Reid's to stop him from following Luke and Matt further into the BAU. "Thank you for staying with me Spencer," Emily said quietly, staring at her friend as he shrugged. "Luke told me what you said," she admitted, falling silent when Reid shook his head.
"I wouldn't have done it," Reid admitted, realising now that he had would never had killed Scratch. When he had taken in the injury to Scratch's skull, he had realised that he would never had taken Scratch's life. He wasn't a killer. When Emily had begged him to stay with her, his thoughts had gone to Alex and the sadness in her voice during her voicemail message and the promise she had asked him to make which was why he had agreed to stay with her. Although he had wanted to stay with Emily, he had stayed with her to keep his promise to Alex. By staying with her, he had stopped himself from getting into a situation where he might have been the reason Scratch was dead. "I made a promise to someone important," he whispered, Emily's eyebrows rising at the comment.
"Someone important?" Emily asked, unable to stop herself from smiling when Reid began to blush before nodding nervously. "She's a lucky lady, whoever she is, Spencer," Emily declared, her arms wrapping around Spencer to hug him tight before his own moved around her. "It's all over," the dark-haired woman whispered, Reid's head nodding as he breathed out a sigh of a relief.
"It's over," he repeated before laughing gently. "It's actually over," he said again. He couldn't believe it. Scratch was dead. The man who had assisted in getting him arrested, the man who had tormented Hotch into witness protection, the man who had murdered Stephen Walker.
"Emily, Spence," a voice called out, pulling Emily and Spencer apart to see JJ walking towards them while Will stood behind her, her pace quickening before she wrapped her arms around her two friends. "You're okay," she whispered, stepping away to look at Emily first before turning to face Spencer. "You're both okay," she said again, smiling weakly when Spencer ran his hand across her cheek, taking in the bandage to her forehead.
"How are you?" Emily asked, JJ's head shaking as her smile began to grow.
"Just another scar to add to the rest," she said quietly, moving back as Will walked towards them, his arm wrapping tightly around his wife before she rested her head against his shoulder. "Dave and Tara are both okay, they'll be discharged soon," the blonde admitted, Emily nodding silently as Penelope, Luke and Matt approached, a nervous smile covering all their faces.
"Excuse me," Reid said quietly, moving away from the group as they all watched.
"Is he alright?" JJ asked, her voice betraying her concern, while she watched her friend walk down the corridor, his phone pressed against his ear.
"I think Spence might have a girlfriend," Emily admitted.
CRIMINAL MINDS-CRIMINAL MINDS
"Excuse me," Reid said quietly, smiling weakly at his colleagues before he moved away and started to walk down the corridor. Digging his phone out of his pocket, Spencer smiled to himself before dialling the one person he was missing. Stopping at the end of the corridor, the profiler sighed as he moved the phone to his ear and waited for her to answer.
"Hello," Alex answered, a yawn leaving her lips while he laughed gently.
"I woke you," he responded, keeping his voice down in a desperate attempt to stop his team from listening in to his conversation. Spencer knew they'd be curious about why he had left them to call someone and he wouldn't be surprised if Emily had commented.
"I don't care Spence, I'm just happy to hear from you," she admitted, his head nodding as he stood still. He just wanted to go home, he wanted to see Alex in person and apologise for how angry he had been earlier. He wanted to apologise for scaring her. "What's happened?" she asked quietly.
"It was a trap, he crashed into their cars," Reid whispered, remembering the fear that had overtaken him when JJ was wheeled into the hospital, followed by the rest of the team before Luke had taken him to one side and explained that Stephen was dead and Emily was missing. "He killed Stephen and kidnapped Emily, he thought he could get Hotch's location from her," he said quietly, feeling his hands shake. Stephen was dead, Emily could have died to.
"I'm sorry Spence, I know you liked Stephen," Alex said quietly. She hadn't met Stephen but she knew the younger profiler had enjoyed working with him. He had often come up during one of their conversations, although she wasn't sure whether Spencer knew how much he had mentioned Stephen specifically. "Is Emily okay? What about everyone else? JJ? Rossi?" the brunette asked. She'd become close to all of them during her time on the team and she knew how important they were to Spencer. She couldn't imagine what his life would be like if anyone else on the team had been really hurt.
"They're fine. Rossi and Tara are still in hospital but they should be discharged soon, JJ got some glass in her eye," Reid admitted, glancing back briefly to see the entire team watching him. "He's dead Alex," Spencer finally sighed, turning away from the team while his free hand moved to his hair.
"How did he…" she began before falling silent.
"He fell off the roof," Reid admitted, the brunette remaining silent as he closed his eyes briefly. "I was with Emily when it happened, I made a promise earlier to someone important that I fully intended to keep," the profiler admitted, the brunette remaining silent while he bit into his lip nervously. "Alex?" he asked quietly. He knew she was still there, he could hear her breathing. "Rossi called me an ass clown earlier," he found himself saying, desperately trying to get a response from the brunette, his head shaking when Alex suddenly began to laugh loudly down the phone.
"Ass clown?" she asked.
"He was refusing to have surgery, he had something he needed to tell us. I'm putting it down to him being in pain," Spencer admitted, his smile growing when Alex continued to laugh. "I'm hoping it doesn't become a new nickname."
"I might have to remember that one," Alex smiled before they both fell silent again. "I should let you go, I imagine you have some things to do before you come home."
"No, we're just about to leave," Spencer admitted, looking back to see JJ and Penelope hugging before JJ moved towards the elevator with Will. "Go to sleep Alex, I'll be back soon."
"I'll wait, I've found a crossword," the brunette stated, his head shaking as he imagined her curled up on his couch, working on a crossword that he hadn't gotten around to starting. "I'll see you soon Spence," she whispered, the profiler repeating the statement before hanging up and sliding his phone back into his pocket.
CRIMINAL MINDS-CRIMINAL MINDS
Unlocking the door to his apartment, Spencer gently closed the door before walking down the corridor towards his living room. There seemed to be only one light on in the apartment and he guessed it was the lamp beside his couch. It wasn't bright enough to be anything else. Stepping into the living room, the profiler smiled to himself at the sight of Alex curled up on his couch, the crossword resting on her lap as she slept.
"Alex," he smiled, moving to kneel beside the couch as the brunette groaned in the sleep and moved slightly, the crossword falling to the floor. "Alex," he said again, leaning forward to press a kiss to her cheek, noticing the smile that decorated her face as she began to open her eyes. "Come on you, bed," he stated, standing before he held his hand out towards her, the brunette groaning as she took hold of his hand and stood up. Watching her as she stood in front of him, her hand holding onto his tightly, Spencer smiled before leaning down and pressing a kiss to her forehead. "I really want to kiss you Alex."
"Then why don't you?" she asked quietly, glancing up at him as he shook his head.
"I'm so tired, I'd probably do it really badly," Spencer admitted before yawning, Alex's head shaking before she rested her hand on his cheek.
"Shut up ass clown," she whispered before kissing him gently.
So? Love it? Hate it? Let me know!
Reid's six weeks of leave is going to be coming up soon so if there's anything you want to see Alex/Reid do, please let me know and I'll see if I can put it into the story.