Spencer was sleeping soundly when Lila's screaming woke him. He jumped from his bed, opened his side drawer, and grabbed his gun all before racing toward her bedroom. He swung the door open and held his gun out, only to see an empty room.

Lila thrashed in her bed, still screaming and whimpering. Spencer put his gun down on her dresser and hurried to her bed. Sitting down he grabbed her shoulders.

"Lila! Lila, wake up! Lila!"

Her eyes popped open and she gasped. Her breathing erratic as she squirmed in his grasp.

"Lila, it's me! You're safe! It was just a dream!" he said loudly to her.

She stopped moving and looked at him. His face lit by the moonlight streaming through the nearby window. She suddenly burst into tears. Spencer let go of her and scooted back to give her room. She sat up with her hands covering her face as she sobbed.

"He's going to get me. He's going to find me and he's going to kill me," she said as she shook with fear.

Spencer felt uncomfortable with the situation. He wanted to comfort her, but was afraid to do so. Eventually, his heart gave in and he gently placed his hand on her arm, rubbing it soothingly.

"Lila, I told you I would keep you safe," he said softly.

"Spencer, you know statistics. What are the odds of someone being stalked twice?"

"There isn't really a statistic for that," he replied.

"You know why? Because it doesn't. I survived the first attempt. What are the odds I will survive the second?" she said as tears poured down her cheeks.

"Lila, you can't think like that –"

"I can't help it, Spence. I'm scared to death. I feel like destiny wanted me to be killed the first time and somehow, I escaped it. Now it's back to get me. To finish the job," she sobbed.

"This isn't the movies. There is no greater force trying to take you out," he said.

"Well it feels that way. It feels like punishment. Maybe I deserve it. Maybe all these things keep happening to me because I'm a shitty person," she said.

"You're not a shitty person," Spencer tried.

"Spencer, I walked out on you. I had everything I could've ever wanted and I walked away. I left you without even saying goodbye or explaining myself. I am a horrible person and whatever runs Earth knows it," she said.

Spencer frowned. He looked down at his plaid pajamas debating whether to share his life with her. For whatever reason, he decided to trust her.

"Do you think I'm a good person?" he asked.

She let out a humorless laugh.

"Spencer, you are an angel," she said sincerely.

"According to you though, bad things happen in our lives because we deserve them. Correct?"

She watched him curiously.

"Lila, just a few of the things I've been through since I last saw you; I've been kidnapped, shot in the leg, contracted a form of anthrax, taken hostage by a cult, nearly blown up twice, and I was shot in the neck. So, what did I do to deserve all that?" he said as her eyes widened in horror.

"Spencer, that's different. All that happened to you because you were trying to save lives," she assured him.

"Fair enough. How about what I did in prison?"

"Prison?" she said with a furrowed brow.

"You didn't know? I was arrested last year. Spent nearly three months in a maximum state penitentiary. While I was in there, I poisoned a bunch of prisoners that were trying to beat me into smuggling their stash of drugs," he said feeling the anger building inside of him again.

"What?" Lila gasped as she searched his eyes for the truth.

"I know you want to think that somehow you deserve this, but you don't. We all have to deal with unpleasant things in our lives. Some of us more than others, but the world doesn't keep tabs. Things just happen and sometimes for reasons we will never be able to explain. It just is. Life can just plain suck," he said.

Lila sighed and began nibbling on her thumb. Spencer smiled, unconsciously, as he reached out and pulled her finger away from her teeth.

"Don't do that," he said softly.

Lila noticed he hadn't let go of her hand. She looked at it and back up at him. When he realized what he was doing, he cleared his throat and let go of her hand.

"As long as you are with me, no one will hurt you," he said seriously.

Lila wiped the tears with the bottom of her palms. She sniffled and gave a small smile.

"Words will never express my gratitude," she said.

He nodded as he stood up and walked to the door.

"Try to get some rest," he said. "I'm a room away if you need me."

"Thank you," she said. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

He walked off, leaving the door slightly ajar. Lila smiled as she snuggled back into her bed. He knew she wouldn't want the door closed. He was always so good at reading her. She held her teddy bear close to her chest and soon drifted back off to sleep.

(xxxxx)

Much to Spencer's dismay only a few hours later he was called in for a case.

"So much for sleep," he sighed as he rolled out of bed with a yawn.

He padded over to Lila's room and pushed the door open, allowing the hallway light to seep in. She was curled up with a bear in her arms. It brought back memories of her sleeping in his arms like that. He shook the bad memories away as he promised himself after last night he would let the past go and slowly walked toward her bed.

"Lila," he said gently as he shook her shoulder. "Lila, wake up."

Her eyes fluttered open and she instantly went into defense mode.

"What's wrong?" she said sitting up quickly.

"No, it's ok," he assured her. "I'm sorry to wake you, but I have to go into work. I have a case."

"Oh, ok," she said climbing out of bed to gather her things.

"We should leave in about ten minutes," he said as he watched her grab some clothes from her drawer.

"Ok, I'll be ready," she said heavily with sleep.

Spencer walked off to finish getting ready as well and exactly ten minutes later they were climbing into his car. As they drove quietly through the early morning traffic, Spencer glanced over at Lila.

"Were you able to get some rest?" he asked.

"A little," she said as she continued to watch the world outside her window. "How about you?"

"Same," he said.

They spent the remainder of the trip in silence. When they arrived at the BAU, Spencer took Lila straight to Garcia's lair. He knocked on the door and heard her holler out, "you may enter." He pushed the door open and Garcia sat facing them with a smile.

"Good morning lovelies," she said.

"Morning," Spencer said. "Lila, you can make yourself at home over here. I'll be right back."

Lila lowered herself onto the black leather couch, feeling out of her element. She looked around the high-tech room before her eyes landed on Garcia, who was still smiling at her.

"You'll get used to us," she said empathetically.

"I'm sorry. I think with everything going on, I'm a little awkward wherever I go now," Lila said.

"Oh, sweet pea, I can only imagine. I mean, years ago I had a man try to kill me and it took a long time for me to not look over my shoulder every five minutes," Garcia related.

"Someone tried to kill you? Because of your job?" Lila said surprised.

"Sadly, yes. The worst part was he did it by pretending he liked me. I was so humiliated when I found out it was just a ploy to murder me," Garcia frowned.

"Oh, that's horrible! I am so sorry someone would do that."

"It's ok. It hurt at first and my self-esteem took a bit of a beating, but I met someone and that changed everything," she grinned.

"Oh, that guy … um what's his name … the good-looking Latin guy … Luke was it?" Lila said.

"Luke? What? No way!" Garcia said turning red and flustered.

Lila giggled. "Oh, I thought … you two seemed … flirty."

Garcia let out a loud guffaw.

"Nope. Noooo way. Uh uh. He is the newb and nothing more. He's actually quite irritating. So, that's a no."

"Ok. My apologies for the misunderstanding," Lila said with a small knowing smile.

With that, Spencer entered the room again carrying a pillow and a large brown fluffy blanket.

"I stored this here a while back for long nights. You are welcome to use it. I'm sure you could use some more rest," he said as she took the items from him.

"Thank you. I really appreciate it," she said.

"We are headed to Kansas. I'm not sure when we will be back, but whatever you need, Garcia will be glad to assist. You can always text or call me too, but I may not be able to answer right away," he explained while she nodded.

"I'll take good care of her, boy wonder," Garcia said.

"Alright, well, I'll see you later," he said before leaving the room.

Lila watched him leave and heard a chuckle from Garcia. She looked to see the tech smiling at her.

"What?" Lila said with a furrowed brow.

"Looks like someone still holds a flame for a certain FBI agent," she said in a playful tone.

"I wish, but I screwed up that chance 12 years ago when I broke his heart," Lila replied with a frown.

"Awe honey, we all make mistakes," Garcia began.

"Not like what I did. He really cared about me and I got scared and just ran away. I left a stupid letter. If I can't forgive me, how could he ever?" she said sadly.

"Give it time. You'll see," Garcia encouraged.

"Do you mind if I rest? I didn't sleep much last night," Lila said, ready to stop talking about Spencer.

"Go right ahead! Rest as much as you need to," Garcia said as she spun in her chair, to get to work.

Lila curled up on the couch and sighed. She really hoped that the small progress she was making with Spencer, would show him how she meant what she said about changing. She hoped that he would see she was being genuine and eventually, she would win him back.

(xxxxx)

A/N: thank you to my readers and commenters! You are all wonderful and I thank you for making me smile! xoxo