Emily went back to work immediately, but Spencer took two weeks off to recover from his ordeal. Unfortunately, during this time, the team was called away on a case leaving him to deal with his issues alone. Emily tried to call and text him whenever she had the chance, but his replies were growing shorter and more time lapsed between each response.
On the flight home, Emily shot a text to Spencer asking if she could stop by and see him. It was late, but she figured it wouldn't matter. She just wanted to see him. She had kept what happened between them a secret, so the team was none-the-wiser.
"Has anyone heard from Spence?" J.J. asked as she looked up from her phone.
"Not since Tuesday," Derek said as he pulled his earbuds out.
"I heard from him yesterday, but he hasn't responded to any of my texts today," J.J. frowned.
It was Friday and Emily also hadn't heard from him all day.
"I'll check in on him when we land," she said casually.
"Ok, let me know," J.J. said with concern.
Emily nodded with a fake smile. Truthfully, she was worried about his lack of response as well. Especially after what happened between them. Maybe this time away had caused him to change his mind about their relationship. Maybe he realized it was a mistake and was now distancing himself from her.
These thoughts plagued her the remainder of the flight and for the drive to his house. When she arrived, she looked up to see a light on in his apartment. She hurried inside and tried not to be too eager as she walked up the stairs to the third floor.
When she reached his door, she knocked swiftly and tried to school her expression to casual. After a few moments of no answer, she knocked again.
"Spence? It's Emily," she called through the door.
A few seconds later the door swung open and he stood before her in pajama pants and a tattered gray t-shirt. His hair was a mess and his eyes were glazed as he stared at her with annoyance.
"Hey, sorry, I know it's late. I just wanted to check on you," she said.
"Why would you need to check on me?" he said furrowing his brow.
She recoiled a bit at the sharpness of his tone.
"Uh, I just … I haven't seen you in a week and you weren't answering my calls or responding to my texts," she said.
"That generally is known as standard code for I don't want to be bothered," he replied.
"Oh, yea, sure," she stuttered, feeling completely knocked off her game. "I won't keep you then. I just thought you might want a visitor."
"Nope."
Emily's mouth dropped open in shock as she tried to find something to say. Finally, she settled with, "are you ok?"
"I was, until you woke me," he replied.
"Ok, sorry. I'll, um, I'll just give you a call … tomorrow, I guess," she said.
Without a word, he nodded and shut the door in her face. Her heart skipped frantically as she tried to process what had just happened. He had never been this cold to her before. Although, he was sleeping and being woken so late would probably make her upset to.
She sucked back the pain she felt and shot J.J. a text as she walked away from his apartment.
He is ok, just very tired. I'll check in on him again tomorrow.
She nodded as she hit send. He just needed to sleep. Tomorrow would be better.
(xxxxx)
It wasn't. Spencer was still ignoring her calls and text messages. She wanted to go over and confront him, but after yesterday, she was afraid of facing the truth behind his avoidance. She should have known better than to open herself up to another man. They were all the same. It didn't matter whether they were cool or dorky, rich or poor, smart or dumb. They all disappointed her in the end.
She continued about her days as though nothing was wrong. At work, she was focused and jovial with everyone. On the outside she had it all together, but inside, she was a bloody mess.
She gave Spencer his space, hoping time would heal their wounds. After a few days of not texting or calling, she decided to try her luck and visit him, but he wouldn't answer the door. She finally gave up after 10 minutes of trying. As she walked down the stairs, she heard a woman giggling and the sound of rustling.
Making the turn to the second platform, she saw two people pressed against the wall. The trench-coated man's face was buried in the woman's neck and she was laughing with one leg wrapped around his waist. She was young with dark hair, like Emily's. Her jeans were tight and low on her waist and her shirt was cropped and tight around her large breasts.
"Excuse me," Emily said as she neared the eager couple that blocked her way.
"Sorry," the girl said as she pushed the man off of her.
Emily's heart stopped as she watched Spencer turn to face her. The bags under his eyes were deep as he stared coldly at her. It felt as though all the air in the room had been taken away. Emily's eyes burned as she stared broken heartedly at him.
"Spencer?" she said wetly.
"You know her?" the young woman asked.
"Yea, I work with her," he said without skipping a beat.
A clear punch to her gut. She swallowed hard as she took a deep breath and turned her attention to the girl looking confused between the two.
"Hi, um, I'm Emily," she said holding out her hand.
"Kelsey," the girl said reluctantly shaking Emily's hand.
"I just stopped by to check on things. You two have a good night. I'll … uh … see you at the office on Monday," Emily said as she plastered a fake smile on her face.
"Nice to meet you," Kelsey said as she linked her arm through Spencer's and snuggled into his shoulder.
Emily nodded and gave a wave before walking off. She barely made it outside before she collapsed into the brick wall. Her hands covered her mouth as she trembled. He really didn't care for her. She was so stupid to believe what he said in a moment of distress. She should've known better.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" she cried as she kicked backwards into the wall she was propped on.
She took a deep breath and pushed her feelings back. She wasn't going to give in. She wasn't going to let him hurt her the way everyone else did. She was going to shove it deep down like she always did and move on. He was just a guy. A stupid guy and it meant nothing. She didn't love him. She just thought she did. Silly girl. Everything would be fine.
(xxxxx)
While Emily went home to deal with her broken heart, Spencer was curled in bed with Kelsey. They just finished fucking and she lay next to him smoking a cigarette. She pulled it from her lips and held it out for him. His first thought was "6 minutes."
He used to say that to his mom to get her to quit smoking. He would tell her that "a cigarette takes 6 minutes off your life, which is 6 minutes less I get to spend with you." But that didn't matter to him anymore. He reached out and grabbed the cigarette, taking a few long drags before handing it back to her.
Kelsey slid towards the edge of the bed, extinguishing the cigarette, and grabbed the supplies they needed. Moving back onto the bed and sitting cross-legged, she tapped her knees and held out her hand.
"Give me your arm," she said.
He stretched his arm out to her as she tied the tourniquet around his bicep. She carefully filled the needle and tapped out the bubbles, before inserting it into his arm.
He closed his eyes as he felt the warmth rush through him. He had to do this. It was the only way to stop the nightmares and as much as he hated hurting Emily, he couldn't drag her into his hell. Emily deserved a real man. Spencer deserved girls like Kelsey, who were as fucked up as he was.
He heard her moan happily beside him, she clearly had just given herself a fix. Moments later she crawled under the sheets with him and curled up against his body. The two of them blissfully high as they lay there listening to the steady stream of cars outside the window.
Emily's face flashed before his eyes. The look of betrayal when she saw him with Kelsey. The devastation when he introduced her as a co-worker. It tore him up inside, but he knew he was doing the right thing. Emily would move on. She would be alright.
(xxxxx)
Monday morning came quickly, though Spencer was in no hurry to get to the office. He had tested the doses of Dilaudid all weekend and found the right amount to function, but still feel numb to his feelings. Kelsey had gone home at some point late the night after they fucked and got high. He didn't particularly care if he saw her again. He only used her for her drugs.
He had received a text from Hotch that they had a case and was expected at the office for briefing at 8am. It was 8:20 when he strolled into the office with no care in the world. He walked into the conference room sipping his coffee oblivious to everyone staring at him.
He placed his bag down beside his chair and plopped down noisily. J.J. continued with the briefing, while Spencer lounged in his seat looking disinterested and irritated. Emily glanced his way, but quickly turned her attention back to the case. She refused to let him see he had hurt her.
"There just doesn't seem to be any connection with the victims and the drug world," J.J. said.
"Homeless man, construction worker, security guard," Gideon said.
"Just three dead men and no witnesses," J.J. frowned.
Spencer rolled his eyes and looked at his fingernails.
"We're looking for a homicidal serial criminal in a neighborhood populated by criminals. The challenge will be separating him from the rest," Hotch said to the team.
"We have no evidence, no apparent interaction between the unsub and the victims pre or post mortem, and an indistinguishable MO. Should be simple," Spencer said sarcastically.
The team all looked at him, but he was avoiding eye contact.
"Wheels up in 20," Hotch ordered.
The team gathered up their belongings and got up from the table.
"Reid, a moment," Hotch said.
Spencer rolled his eyes again as he plopped back down into his seat and looked to his unit chief. Derek and J.J. looked back in concern as they left the room. Gideon closed the door to give them privacy.
"You were late," Hotch began.
"Yes, I was."
Hotch waited for an explanation, but Spencer just stared at him.
"Any reason?"
"No."
"Are you ready to be back? Do you need more time?"
Spencer sighed audibly as he adjusted his disinterested posture into a more alert one.
"I'm fine. I just didn't sleep very well, so I'm a bit irritable," he replied, trying to tone down his attitude.
Hotch studied him carefully.
"Hotch, I'm sorry I was late, but I assure you, I am fine. I'll sleep a bit on the plane," he said feigning sincerity.
Again, Hotch stared at him before finally nodding.
"Alright, let's try not to be late anymore. These cases are time sensitive and we don't have the luxury of waiting for team members to casually arrive," he said sternly.
"Yes, sir. My apologies."
With that, Spencer got up and walked off to gather his things.
(xxxxx)
On the plane, Spencer focused on behaving. He stayed alert as he listened to everyone talk about the case adding his own insights as usual. He seemed to be doing a flawless job of blending in.
"We've got a construction worker, outside on the community. We've got a security guard, that's an authority figure. Then we've got a homeless man, that's a powerless victim that no one would notice missing. So, who's he targeting?" Derek said as he paced the aisle.
"Let's see if any of the victims have gone to the same stores or sites," Hotch said.
"He … he used blitz attacks which means he most likely lacks the interpersonal skills needed to coerce his victims into coming close and he also used the element of surprise which means he may have stalked his victims prior to killing them," Spencer added.
"Well, if that's the case, I want to go to his last crime scene and see where he may have been hiding," Derek said.
"I wanna see the neighborhood for myself. I'll go with you," Gideon said.
"Good the rest of us will go to the precinct and set up shop," Hotch stated.
"I'll map out the area and see if I can find any places the victims would've visited in the neighborhood," Spencer said.
"Good maybe we can find a connection between them. I'll help you with that," Emily said as she glanced over at him.
"I can handle it," Spencer said as he shot her a look.
"I wasn't suggesting that you couldn't," Emily replied as tension on the plane grew thick.
"Isn't that what I'll help you with it means?" he snapped.
"Reid," Hotch said as everyone watched in stunned silence. "Prentiss will help you with the geographical profiling of victimology."
"Fine," he said glaring at Hotch like an annoyed teenager.
The whole plane stared at Spencer, unsure what to make of his behavior. While Emily watched him with a mixture of hurt and concern. This was more than just him pushing her away. He scratched and rubbed at his skin while staring at his notes. Something was terribly wrong and she had her suspicions that a clear liquid may be involved.
(xxxxx)
A/N: thank you for the comments – I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapters sex scene. That was a lot of fun to write. Also, don't worry, I'm not a criminal minds writer, so there will be a happy ending for Spencer. Haha.
This chapter included words taken from season 2, ep. 7 – Distress (such a sad episode!) written by: Oanh Ly