A/N: I am done reconstructing this, I promise. Due to the new changes, the story will make more sense if you read it from the beginning. Sorry? Please let me know what you think of the new chapters. Thanks!

"Alone, afraid, I called your name aloud -
Mine eyes, unveiled, beheld white stars agleam,
And lo! awake, I cried "Thank God, thank God,
A dream - a dream!"

- Ella Wheeler

Holding the book he had brought her, Monica gave Spencer such a look. She reminded him of an upset child now more than ever.
"Monica..."
"I don't wanna go", she whined.
He laughed,
"They are announcing your flight!"
She hugged him. He pat her head as she complained.
"I won't get to see you for a whole month. I feel bad about making you wait for me", she poked his chest, "You could get a side dish while I'm away"
He said,
"I have waited 37 years for you. I think I can wait another month"
Monica mewled,
"Why would you say something so sweet when I'm going away?!"
"Monica..."
"Don't 'Monica' me", she grumbled and picked up her bag, "I know I have to go"
Reid put a hand on her shoulder,
"This is a huge deal. Australia will be good for your career"
"Whatever", she moped, "I am going now"
"Have a safe flight"
She threw her bag to the floor and kissed him on the lips. Spencer had tried all morning to be happy for her sake, but that kiss damn near broke his resolve.
"Thrice fairer than myself", she said, "I love, love, love you"
He smiled,
"I love you too"
She shook her head and smiled away the tears in her eyes.
"Don't you...", Monica put her hand in his hair, "...forget about me"
"Stop talking in lyrics. Go"
Walking backwards, she sang so only they could hear,
"When I walk on by..."
That made him grin. She kept it up until he was out of earshot. Then she raised her fist in the air and blew him a kiss. Reid stood in the airport and waved her goodbye.

Monica hadn't called. She hadn't responded to his texts. He understood the pressures of being involved in an empirical study but, a single, one-word text to let him know she was okay wouldn't have hurt.
He was lonesome again.
And though he didn't want to admit it to himself, he missed her touching him. Somehow, her touch didn't make him want to recoil. It was genius, the way she always knew when to touch him and how.
Time didn't care that he missed his girlfriend though. It was a slow, torturous couple of days he had had to spend.

"Hello!", Monica waved at him through the screen.
She had finally called.
"Hi", he beamed at her.
"I miss youuuu!"
Spencer laughed. He said,
"How was your first day on the field?"
"Pretty good. They made fun of my accent and a giant spider crawled up my shorts"
"Are you okay? Did it bite you?"
"No, no. I screamed so loud he turned deaf and ran away"
"Seriously, did you check and make sure you weren't bitten... down there?"
Monica leaned forward with her elbow on her desk,
"Do you want to check?"
"Monica"
"I did! There's no spider venom in my vagina. I made sure of that because I am gonna start humping you the moment I see you again!"
"Will you keep it down?", he shushed her, blushing, "My Mom is here"
"Sorry, sorry. Put your headphones on"
"Yeah"
He reached for the headphones that were right before him on the table. His hand collided with them wrong and they fell to the floor.
"Just a second", Spencer said and bent to retrieve them.
When he put them in his ear, sat back upright and plugged them in, his eyes stared in horror at what was on the screen.
"Dr. Reid?"
Diane Turner stood smiling right behind Monica's chair. He didn't care she was dead. He only knew what she did to him and the woman he loved.
"Monica, get out of there"
"Oh, my friend's here. I have to go now. Bye"
"Monica, don't go with her, she's going to kill you. Don't! Monica! No! NO! MONICAAA!"

Screaming her name, he shot up in bed. His chest convulsed with the heavy breaths he drew. Sweat dripped down his forehead into his eyes. He sat there, drawing lungfuls of breath.
'A dream. Just a dream'
After a while, he got out of bed, put on his robe and went to the kitchen.

He tried some coffee, afraid the nightmare would return. The coffee only worsened the sick feeling seeing Turner had left in his guts.
Diane Turner was dead. She couldn't hurt anyone anymore. Not Maeve, not Monica.
But was Monica safe from all the other countless enemies he had? Why the hell was he putting her life in danger? His happiness certainly wasn't worth more than her well-being. Sooner or later, someone was going to take her away from him. They always did.

When Monica actually called him, Spencer had to force himself to smile. Every glance, every movement of her features, every smile of hers seemed precious. She could vanish out of his life like a wisp of smoke, if fate had its way.
"You look upset. Do you want me to take my shirt off?"
He was too tired to laugh.
"I'm fine"
"You don't look fine. What's going on?"
"Nothing"
"Doc, you're transparent. What is it? Bad case?"
"No"
"Headaches?"
"No"
"Is Diana okay?"
"She is. It's not that"
"Then what is it?"
He tried to make it seem trivial.
"I had a bad dream, that's all"
"About?"
He didn't have to tell.
"About me? What happened in it?"
He licked his dry lips. His hand ransacked his hair.
"We were on a video call, just like right now. And... we were talking, but then I looked behind you and... the woman who killed Maeve, she was there"
"Oh"
They stared at each other, silent. Monica said,
"And you said you were okay"
"I am, you know. I'm just a little shaken. That's all"
"She is dead, Dr. Reid. She can't hurt anyone again"
"I know"
Monica said,
"And if she rose from the grave and sneaked up behind me, I would kick her twice as hard as I kicked you the other day"
He shook his head, weary that she had made him smile at last.
"That should do it", he said.
Monica tilted her head and smiled at him.
"No one is going to pull us apart. They would have to go through me first"
"That's what scares me"
"It's not going to happen. Why would you waste your energy worrying about a mere possibility? If it does happen, we'll get through it together. You're not getting rid of me. I'll hang on to you like koala on a branch"
"I thought you said you were a quokka"
"Ooh, that reminds me! We're going on a safari this week. There's a herbivore conv..."
Like always, she took his worries and cast them aside. He did worry about losing her, but far though she was, he knew Monica meant to stay.