Chapter 4
A New Alliance.
Love is an alliance of friendship and animalism; if the former predominates it is passion exalted and refined; if the latter, gross and sensual: - Charles Caleb Colton
Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.
At least now he didn't have to get up and go to work it gave Spencer the chance to crawl onto his bed and lay down for an hour or so. He stood up and walked slowly to the bathroom. His knees ached from kneeling for so long and his chest ached slightly. Time for a shower and to sort things out.
Spencer stood in the stark white of the bathroom in his boxers and looked down at the indentation on his chest. There was a bloody scab around it but as he pressed on his he could feel that the skin had begun to heal over already. He stood on tip toes and looked at it in the mirror and slowly picked at the scab with his dirty fingernails. There was new pink flesh showing under the scab. He placed his hand hard against it and took a deep breath. Nothing. Just that slight ache as though he had been kicked. The bruises from the kicking were already fading to a greenish yellow.
Reid turned on the cold water and waited until it was running ice cold and then put his head down and cupped handfuls of water over his face where his nose had done a pretty good job of covering the bottom have of his face in blood. Once done he turned and looked at the shower and then turned again and left the small room.
He pulled the dirty jeans back out of the wash basket but found a shirt to put on with them. He tucked the grey shirt with a small darker grey design on it into his jeans and did the belt up. Reid ran his fingers through his hair and then went and sat on the edge of his bed. He slid his hand under the pillow and pulled out the small bag with the twist of hair in it.
"Thank you." Spencer whispered to it.
He now had the whole day ahead of him. He tucked the hair back under his pillow and lay down on the top of his covers. He intended staying there until mid day at the earliest and then he needed to go into town and pick some things up. That nose bleed had been avoidable. And next time he would remedy it.
He lay on his back in a white shirt and dirty jeans with his hand resting on the strange place he had been stabbed only the evening before. He didn't close his eyes though. Spencer thought he would be tired to the point of collapse by now, but strangely he didn't seem to need much sleep these days. Just the occasional battery recharge and this is what he was doing when there was a knock on the door.
A sigh.
He decided to ignore it until he heard the voice. "I know you're in there. I need to talk to you." Morgan.
Another sigh.
"On my way." He called back before Derek decided to kick his door in. He pulled the door open and looked over Morgan's shoulder half expecting Garcia to be standing there too, but he was alone.
"Hey kiddo." The lightness of the words was lost by the gravity of the tone.
Reid stepped back away from the door. "You want to come in?"
Morgan walked in immediately taking in Reid's grubby appearance. He closed the door and followed Spencer down to the lounge. "Did I disturb you?"
"Not really. Sit – coffee?"
Derek shook his head and sat down on Reid's couch. Spencer sat on his big chair and sat with his legs tightly crossed and his arms folded.
"So – what's wrong?" Spencer knew Morgan wouldn't be here unless there was a problem.
Morgan leaned forwards with his elbows resting on his knees. "What happened you know …."
Reid sighed and leaned his head back closing his eyes. "Derek – I don't want to talk about it."
"It's just you know – it's affected us all in different ways."
Spencer unfolded his legs and folded them back again. "Well I'm glad it's not me then…Is that all?"
"I find I am doing things I wouldn't normally do."
Spencer started to pinch at the skin on his inner arms. "I don't know what you want me to say Derek. You need to see a professional. Why are you telling me?"
Now Morgan leg out a sigh. "I drove home a different way last night. I have no idea why, it wasn't a route I would normally take."
Reid glanced over at him now and bit on his bottom lip. "I see. Your SatNav is broken maybe?"
"I saw you."
He knew this was coming but it still felt like someone had hit him in the solar plexus with a baseball bat. "I don't have a curfew."
"You looked like a rent boy Reid, what the hell are you playing at?"
Spencer stood up. "Thank you for you observations Derek. I wasn't aware that I needed your permission to dress how I wanted or to walk where I chose."
Morgan didn't stand. He was afraid if he did that he temper would get the better of him. He didn't much like this Reid he was talking to. This wasn't the Reid he thought of as a kid brother.
"Just sit will you Reid and let me talk."
"Why!? So you can remove from me the tiny bit of self confidence I have left? You want me to just sit at home and be a good boy? Will that ease your mind any?"
"Reid please – sit – I'm not judging you."
"The hell you're not!"
Spencer was pacing the small room now and Derek could see just how grubby Reid was looking. "OK – maybe I was a bit, but it's how it looked Reid, and if you can't explain to me what you were doing I'm going to have to tell Hotch what I saw."
Reid stopped and shook his head. "You tell me Derek – what was I doing when you saw me?"
"Walking – then you stopped and leaned on a wall…fiddling with something in your hands. Looked like someone asked for directions."
Reid stood in front of Morgan and then crouched down. "You want to truth – you want me to tell you what I was doing there?"
A nod – and Morgan had a funny idea that he wasn't going to like the answer. "I went looking for Floyd. I got blown by some street whore. What you saw Derek wasn't someone asking for directions it was someone propositioning me." He looked directly up into Morgan's dark eyes.
"And did you find what you were looking for?" The sickness in Morgan's stomach didn't show in his voice.
"Yes – yes I did. Thank you for asking. Now get out. Report me if you want. I very much doubt I have a job anymore anyway. Though Morgan I would watch Emily very carefully. She's not dealing with this as well as you think she is."
Morgan stood and looked down at Spencer. "Non of us are Reid."
"Can I be of service while I am down here?"
Derek ignored the weird sleazy remark and left Reid's apartment. He ran down the stairs in too much of a rush to wait for the elevator and made a quick dash for his SUV. He was speed dialling Hotch before he had properly sat down.
"It's Morgan. We have a problem. Again."
-o-o-o-
Emily woke up with a start and a small cry in the back of her throat. She tried to lay still and stay silent. There was someone in her apartment, she was sure of it. There was a smell. The smell of smoke, cigarette smoke and something else.
And as she lay there and listened to the silence she could feel where arms had been wrapped around her. She could smell a scent on her skin. Carefully looking down she could see small scratches on her stomach. Not enough to bleed, but there were raised red marks. With a shuddering breath she placed her hand over the marks.
Slowly she got off the bed and padded in her boxer shorts and vest to the bathroom She stank of stale sweat and sex and she had very nasty morning breath. Emily stood in front of the bathroom mirror and picked up her tooth brush. He other hand she lifted and brushed her fingers over her mouth. She licked her lips and there it was – that taste. She looked back into the mirror and now saw the small bruises along her neck and across her shoulder. Bite marks…hard enough to mark – gentle enough to be from passion. She now ran her fingers over them.
"What's going on?" She asked her reflection. "Was I drugged? Is this some weird dream? The same as I had in the shower." She turned slowly on the spot and looked at the small shower cubical and then back to the mirror above the sink. Slowly and methodically she began to clean her teeth.
And her thoughts turned to Spencer and maybe she should call him. Just as a friend. Just to make sure he was alright. She was sure that if she was struggling
this much then for Spencer it must be like having part of you ripped away. She would offer and understanding shoulder to cry on. She thought he would appreciate that. As friends. Nothing more than that. Not with Spencer. She spat the toothpaste bubbles into the basin and then rinsed with a pink mouth wash which she also spat and then she ran her fingers slowly over her face, pushing her hair out of the way and peering at her bone structure and the shape of her eyes.
"Damn you Flanders." She muttered as she turned once more to the shower and stripped off to get the smells of the night off her skin.
-o-o-o-
Aaron called Rossi.
"We've not got anything on today. I need to get myself somewhere new to stay – I'm taking a personal day to sort things out. I also wondered if you could go and check up on Reid – you don't have the emotional attachment that the rest of us do. Call me if I'm needed."
He didn't give Dave any room to argue or talk him out of it and if Strauss wasn't happy then she would just have to suck it up and put up. He needed a day away from everything with his mind on something completely unconnected.
A few phone calls to his realtor and he was dressed in casual trousers of dark blue and a white short sleeved shirt.
The properties were mostly uninspiring depressing places for a single man to live. One bedroom en suit and kitchen diner with a separate lounge if he was lucky. Just not what he was after.
"I need you to find me something less – less – boring. Something different. Something I can invite my brother and son over to stay. I need more than one bedroom and I need a proper decent sized bathroom. I asked for 'not big' I didn't ask for 'compact'."
The Realtor pursed her lips at the very awkward and fussy handsome dark haired man. "Do you want me to call you back or go through the list now? It might take me a while."
"I'm paying you. I can wait but I do expect you to find me something by the end of the day. I don't necessarily want something in a block. A single story dwelling with a small yard would be nice. I have a son. I need somewhere he can come and stay."
Again the face. "You should have made yourself clearer."
He left her to hook up her lap top in the car and went and sat on a wall. It was a crisp day, but not cold and right now Aaron felt almost content. It didn't last. The familiar feelings of being observed. Something out there watching him returned. He stood up and paced and then walked in big circles. How long was this woman going to take? What the hell was he paying her for? All he wanted was somewhere where he could lock his door at night and feel safe. Somewhere that felt like he could bring the happiness with him and leave the ghosts behind. How hard was that to find?
-o-o-o-
"OY! You – move on. You can't sleep here." The beat cop called out to the bum sleeping on the park bench. He turned a tired face to the police officer and nodded.
"Good morning to you too officer." He pushed himself up to sit and blinked. "I am assuming I am allowed to sit – this being a park bench."
"Just get up and move on." The rather tall particularly muscular officer responded.
He stood and heard his knees crack. "You will give me a moment to ……….."
"No – get out of here and I don't want to see you back when I return."
"Well – there will not be a fucking chance in hell of that officer, so don't you worry your pretty little self about it."
"Get out of here Mister and you watch your mouth."
He licked his lips. "My mouth – my mouth sir…" a small nod. " Is what makes me my money. I can assure you I am going to take very good care of it."
He turned before he was able to take the conversation to a place where he would be asking for some money and walked off.
"Where're you going?" A voice called behind him.
He stopped. "For a piss."
"Get out of the park!"
With mumbled words and a sideways glance at the tall cop Floyd walked back out towards the street. He would probably be back in the evening if it wasn't raining. He had to find somewhere else now that Spencer had tracked him down. He didn't want him following him around. He gave him what he did so he could carry on and be happy, not so he could drag him self down lower than that rat that he himself was.
Floyd was tired and hungry. He had no money and there was no way he was going to visit a homeless shelter. The past week or so had had devoured enough rodents to grow himself a his own fine pair of whiskers and now he just wanted to lay down and feel someone in his arms.
His very brief projected interludes with dear Emily were lovely – they left a nice scent of woman sweat on his skin but it wasn't the same. It would never be the same.
Decisions. He had a few choices. One of them was to give up completely and go home. He would only be tormented for a millennium. What's a few hundred years between friends? He could carry on whoring himself out, but that would require being clean. He could go back to his old home here. Not his home with Spencer. He couldn't go there. He would explode if he ever saw Spencer again. He would be able to lay traps and garden herbs. It would be like in the times before. When things were going right. Before he messed up. Before Spencer and before his princess.
He looked at his hands and smiled. Now he knew where he had to go and what he had to do. With a renewed vigour in his walk he began to walk towards the freeway in the hopes of hitching a lift home.
-o-o-o-
They must have passed each other. Morgan had barely left when the light tapping was heard on Spencer's door.
Reid assumed it was Derek back again and swung the door open to see a flushed Prentiss standing there.
"Emily!"
She put her hands on his chest and pushed him back into his apartment and kicked the door closed behind her.
"Reid. I am going to ask you some questions and you are going to tell me the truth."
He was backing off from this wild looking woman. "I always do – what's – what's – stop that – Emily! What's wrong?"
She was pushing him back into the lounge.
"Where is he?" She hissed at him.
"What?"
"Floyd – I can smell him on you. Where is he?" Her hands were resting on his chest but she had stopped pushing him back. Spencer raised his hands and put one on each of Emily's shoulders.
He leaned forward and whispered in her ear. His lips brushed against her skin causing a shiver to run down her spine "Prentiss – I don't know where he is."
"Don't lie to me Spencer." She turned her head to look at him accidentally brushing her lips over his jaw. Her breaths where deep and hot against Reid's skin.
"Explain to me then – how you also smell of him? I can smell him in your hair Emily. I can smell him.." and now he was nuzzling into her neck. "On your skin."
"Spencer – I – you must stop – what the hell…?"
And one of his hands was resting on the side of her face and one was on the small of her back and his tongue ran over her lips. "I can taste him on you Emily." He breathed into her mouth and moved his hand to the back of her head and twisted his fingers in her hair.
"Reid – stop."
He moved his hand from her back and around to her hip. "What is it about me that you hate so much Emily?" He found the gap between her shirt and trouser waistband.
"I don't hate you Spencer." She could feel his fingers on her bare back now. "Please stop."
"You don't want me to stop."
"I want to find Floyd."
"You already have." And now his mouth was pressing against Emily's as he held her head in place with his right hand and pulled her in closer with his left.
For about two minutes she let Spencer give her a breathtaking lip crushing toe curling kiss. It was nothing like she ever imagined he would be like. He wasn't gentle. He pulled her hair and bit down on her lip and his nails dug into her back. When she finally remembered what the hell was going on she pushed back away from him and Spencer let her go. He stood against the wall with his arms at his side staring at Emily.
"Well…." He said "I wasn't expecting you to be such a dirty girl."
She slapped him hard across the face and still he stood and looked at her. She could see the hand print rising on his pale skin.
"Emily – I need to find him as much as you do. In the meantime we have each other. Small consolation I realise that."
Prentiss moved right away from this very strange Spencer. "Very small consolation! What the hell got into you?"
Still leaning on the wall but watching Emily he spoke. "Do you know when I last had proper sleep? Do you know what that does to a person….never sleeping…never able to sleep, just laying for hours staring at the ceiling listening to the night sounds. Listening to distant car alarms going off…listening to the world wake up when you can't sleep. The only comfort I get….the only respite….when I can relax is when I am going against every grain in my body Emily. I need to find him. I need to leave here now and go looking for him. I have a few ideas where to look. You may come with me or stay – I really don't mind."
Emily was walking in circles. "Where? Where are you going to look?"
A frown from Spencer. "First stop is the other side of the city. Does that mean you're coming with me?"
A quick nod. "Yes – yes I'm with you Spencer." She walked quickly over to him and placed a hand on the red cheek. "I'm sorry."
A tight smile and he placed his hand over hers. "There's bottled water in the kitchen. I just need to get something and we can go."
As Emily went to the kitchen Reid went to the bedroom and took the sample of hair and put it back in his pocket. With a sigh of happiness Spencer left the apartment with Emily. He closed the door and locked up securely.
It was good to know he had someone on his side. Someone who he was sure he could get to know just a bit better if she let him.
Emily was confused by this change in Spencer. She thought maybe he was having some sort of breakdown. She was not going to take advantage of him. It wasn't Reid she wanted.
