Pieces
Spencer thrummed his fingers on his steering wheel for a few seconds before getting out of his car. Stop being a coward. He pushed open his car door and strode to Victoria's front door. He rang the doorbell and waited for her to answer. After several seconds of bouncing on the balls of his feet, the door opened. Victoria's eyes widened slightly. "Oh. Hey." she said stiffly.
Spencer tried to smile, but his lips wouldn't budge. "Hey."
Victoria rubbed her face with her hand. "Look, about last night…"
"That's actually what I'm here to talk to you about." Spencer replied.
Victoria studied him for a few seconds. "Come in." she allowed, opening the door a little wider. Spencer stepped across the threshold. "Can I get you coffee or tea or anything?" Victoria asked.
"Uh, no, I'm... I'm good." Spencer replied.
Victoria pursed her lips and offered him an awkward nod. She sat down in an armchair. She had a cup of green tea resting on the side table beside her. She brought it to her lips and took tentative sip. She set down the mug and pulled her knees up to her chest. Spencer tried to ignore how cute she looked in her paint-splattered jeans, pink fuzzy slippers and oversized sweatshirt. He sat across from her on the couch. Victoria inhaled. "Look, I know what I did last night… Unfortunately I wasn't drunk enough to forget everything. That was tactless of me and rude and I am really embarrassed. It won't happen again." she said.
Spencer looked at his hands, which were resting on his knees. "You don't need to be embarrassed." It should be him. He should be the one who was embarrassed. He had broken both of their hearts, just to come crawling back to say he was a coward for running away.
"Look, I… It's just hard to be around you still. And as long as I am around you all the time, I won't move on. Which is why I'm transferring on Monday." Victoria said.
Spencer's head snapped up. "Victoria…"
"Don't try to convince me not to," Victoria interrupted, "I can't handle being near you anymore. It obviously upset you enough last night to make you come here and lecture me today, so I think it's best if I go. One of us needs to. You've been with the team longer than I have, so it should be me."
"I didn't come here to lecture you." Spencer muttered.
Victoria frowned. "Then why are you here, Spencer?"
Spencer blinked back the tears pooling in his eyes and wrinkled his nose a few times before answering. He met Victoria's eyes. "To beg for your forgiveness." he croaked.
"What?" Victoria's brow knitted.
"You were right about everything, and I'm sorry." Spencer croaked. Victoria said nothing. Spencer took a deep breath. "Victoria, I… I don't know where to begin to tell you how sorry I am. I… I'm miserable. I know that I've hurt you. I know I caused all of this. B-but I want to fix it. I would do anything to make this better, to pick up the pieces of us. I-I never wanted to hurt you…"
"But you did," Victoria snapped. Spencer gazed at her, his lips parting. Victoria crossed her arms. "You… You didn't just hurt me, Spencer. You broke my heart. I understand why you broke up with me. I really do. But it still… It still didn't make sense to me. I-I gave you everything, Spencer. Korey tore me down. But you… You tore my heart to shreds." Victoria broke off, tears sparkling in her eyes. She pursed her lips into a thin line. It seemed she was finally releasing the anger that had been collecting for three weeks now, like dust in an abandoned house. Spencer didn't blame her.
He blinked back tears of his own, feeling as if he had taken a sledgehammer to the chest. "I know. And I wish… I would do anything to take it back. I hurt myself in doing this. Victoria, you're in my veins. You're a part of me. You were never just my girlfriend. God, you were –are –so much more than that. Even after I ended us, it didn't really feel like it was truly over. At least for me. I laid up at night, missing you so much it felt like you were there. I-I couldn't let go of you because… I didn't want to. I was still holding onto us because I love you. I broke up with you to protect you from what might happen, and I know that was stupid and selfish of me. I can't make that decision for you and I can't protect you from everything. I wish I could keep you from ever feeling any pain in your life, but I can't. Victoria, I am so, so sorry." Spencer's voice cracked at the end as tears spilled down his cheeks.
Victoria looked away from him. "You're right. It was stupid. Everyone knew it was stupid. Even you knew. So why? Why did you do it? Why did you drag it out?" Victoria looked directly at him. Spencer tried to formulate a response, but Victoria wasn't done. "Do you know what's in the back of my mind a lot? That I'm your second choice. Y-you couldn't have Maeve, so I was the next best thing. That I will never be good enough for you because I'm not her. And then you broke up with me, and I couldn't help but think I was right because your reasoning was so twisted!" Victoria's shout seemed to echo throughout the house, reverberating against Spencer's hollow chest as he gaped at her.
"Victoria," he breathed, trembling slightly, "you are good enough. I loved you while I loved Maeve. Honestly, I don't know if Maeve and I would've worked out because I loved you, too. I was just too blind to see it. T-that's the thing about love. It can blind you. I wanted to protect you from myself, Victoria. B-because I can't help but think that I'm not good enough for you. Our children would be at risk of inheriting the schizophrenia gene and now dementia. I'm weird. I-I've seen the guys who talk to you at bars…"
"Those guys are idiot," Victoria interrupted sharply. "They're picking up women in bars because they're assholes who just want sex and when they don't get it, they get pissed off and try to take it by other means. They're less severe versions of Korey. Spencer, you are good enough. I don't care how fucked up your genes are. I love you. I always will."
"I love you too," Spencer murmured. "I want you back in my life. I can't stand this anymore. The distance between us. I want you back. I can't face this alone. I-I understand if you… If I've hurt you too much. Just know that I am so incredibly sorry, and that I want to spend the rest of my life making it up to you."
"You really want that?" Victoria demanded.
"Yes." Spencer insisted.
Tears filled Victoria's eyes. "Because I-I'm transferring, I'll be leaving soon. With me gone, you can forget me."
Spencer's heart seized. "I don't want you to leave. I don't want to forget you."
"I just… I just can't help but think that you don't really want me back, you just miss me. If I'm gone, it'll be easier for us to move on." Victoria muttered.
Spencer dropped to his knee before her and took her face in his hands. "Victoria, I meant everything I said. I wanted you back the moment I broke up with you. I have wanted you every day since then. I don't want you to leave. You're my family. I miss you. I miss my best friend. I don't want to move on. I want you. I love you so much, and I'm so sorry for everything. I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you, if you'll have me."
Victoria scowled, tears splashing down her cheeks. "If I'll have you?" Spencer knitted his brow. "Spencer, everything I've done these past few weeks… I've been trying to get you back, idiot!"
Spencer blinked, his hands dropping from her face. "What do you mean?"
Victoria rolled her eyes and avoided his gaze. "I told the girls that you wouldn't notice, but they insisted. I was dressing sexier and wearing more makeup than usual because Penelope and JJ said I should. It was stupid, but it helped me feel better."
Spencer frowned, his mind racing. He remembered the lower cut shirts, the fitted trousers, the skirts and heels… The sultry eye makeup, the high ponytails… "And Zack?"
"I told him what was going on and he agreed to help me make you jealous." Victoria admitted.
Spencer's lips twitched. "You did that to get me back?"
Victoria averted his eyes. "It was stupid, but I wanted to make you miss me."
Spencer's small smirk faded. "Victoria, you didn't need to do that."
"I know, it was petty of me." Victoria mumbled.
"No, I meant you didn't need to make me miss you. I already did." Spencer said.
Victoria met his gaze at last. "I missed you, too." She bit her lip. "So… Does this mean that we're back together?"
Spencer smiled softly. "I hope so."
Victoria frowned. "Do we have to start all over?"
"What do you mean?" Spencer asked.
"We've talked about having a future together and typically couples should be together three to four years before they get married because that gives them enough time truly know one another, and we've only been together a year and half but now that we took that break, does that mean we have to start over at square one?" Victoria huffed.
Spencer stared at her, his mouth slightly ajar. "I thought I was the one who rambled," he teased. Victoria scowled and punched his arm. He smirked. "Victoria, I don't think it counts. And we've known each other for nearly five years. I want you to ignore any statistics about relationships that you may have read. I know that's easier said than done. Trust me, I have to work on that myself. You and I get to decide when we're ready for marriage, not some statistic. We will be a statistical anomaly, the variable that throws the rest of the research off. It doesn't matter how long we've been together, what matters is how hard we're willing to keep us together. Okay?"
Victoria nodded. "Okay," she breathed. Her lips quirked upward. "Only you could make math and science sound romantic."
Spencer chuckled. "May I kiss you?"
Victoria rolled her eyes. "You don't need to ask." Spencer pressed his lips to hers in chaste kiss that quickly turned desperate. Spencer broke it off before it could escalate to more.
"Can I take you out tonight?" he asked.
Victoria nodded. "Of course."
…
Victoria, Spencer and JJ jumped out of the SUV, Garcia's warning for them to be careful still ringing in her ears. She ducked low and crouched beside the squad car. "Did he make any demands?" Spencer asked.
"No." replied the cop.
"Shut up!" snarled the unsub, holding his hostage tighter.
"Lock down the perimeter. He's not getting out of here." said JJ.
"Got it," said the cop. He radioed in, warning the other law enforcement officers to lock it down.
"You ready?" JJ asked. Spencer nodded and moved to a different vantage point. The cop moved to the other end of the car, crouched behind the trunk while Victoria and JJ knelt behind the hood. "Andrew Meeks, FBI!" JJ yelled.
"Drop the weapon, Andrew!" Spencer shouted from his standpoint.
"You drop your weapon!" snarled Andrew.
"The only way you're getting out of this is if you let her go and put the gun down!" JJ yelled.
"No! No way!" Andrew bellowed.
"You wanted revenge but this ends right here, right now." Spencer called.
"She's terrified, Andrew. Listen to her breathing!" JJ cried.
"Do you remember being scared like that when you were being smothered in that gym mat?" Victoria called to Andrew.
Andrew didn't reply. Then, he shoved his hostage away and pointed his gun straight at Victoria and JJ. He fired, the bullet bouncing off the hood of the car between JJ and Victoria, who both ducked. Spencer's gun fired two shots. Victoria and JJ got up and hurried over to Andrew's body. Spencer was already there, checking the body for a pulse. He pulled away, his lips pursed in a grim line. He showed Victoria and JJ the stolen FBI credentials. JJ squeezed Spencer's arm. He patted her shoulder and hugged Victoria. They withdrew quickly, so as not to raise suspicion. Victoria and the rest of the team packed their things and got on the jet. Spencer sprawled out on the couch. Victoria sat across from him. She put on headphones and listened to music. She leaned her head back, her eyes closed.
Spencer shook her awake when they landed. "Anyone up for dinner?" asked JJ.
"Yeah. I could eat." Victoria said. Spencer nodded in agreement. Penelope rushed out to meet them.
"I'm gonna have to pass, but I'll see you guys later." said Morgan.
"Wait, wait!" said Penelope. Everyone froze, staring at Penelope with anticipation. "You guys aren't avoiding each other… You're standing next to each other… Are you guys back together?"
Victoria glanced at Spencer. He grinned. Victoria turned back to Penelope, a smiling smugly. "Yep." she said.
Penelope screamed. "My OTP!" she cried, pulling Spencer and Victoria into a group hug.
"Finally!" Morgan cawed.
"It's about damn time." said JJ, grinning.
"Let's celebrate!" Penelope exclaimed.
"Drinks are on me next time!" Morgan promised, jogging to his car. "I'm late for dinner!"
Victoria grinned. Hotch gave her a hug. "I'm glad you're not transferring." he said.
Penelope froze. "You were going to transfer?"
"Yes," said Victoria in a small voice, "but I'm not, so it's all okay!"
"Oh, you are not getting off that easy!" said Penelope.
Spencer slipped his hand into Victoria's. "To be fair, it's mostly my fault."
"Damn right it is!" said Penelope. "But I still love you both with all my heart! Oh, I'm so happy you're back together!"
Victoria glanced up at Spencer, beaming. "We are, too." she said.
…
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