Mama said
It's uphill for oddities
Stranger crusaders
Ain't ever wannabes
The weird and the novelties
Don't ever change
We wanted everything, wanted everything

-"High Hopes" by Panic! at the Disco


Alex flipped on the lights; Emily groaned and pulled her pillow over her head. "Seriously, Prentiss, I'm leaving for breakfast in like fifteen minutes," she said. "Get up or I'm leaving without you."

"I'm up, I'm up," Emily grumbled.

Alex leaned closer to her mirror, combing her long hair through her fingers. "I really will leave without you," she warned.

Emily dragged herself out of bed. Yesterday's makeup made charcoal smears under her eyes. "I'll be ready in fifteen minutes, I swear," she yawned, grabbing her clothes off the back of her chair on her way out the door.

"We'll see," Alex said. She pulled the sides of her hair back deftly, tying it back with an elastic and looping a dark blue satin ribbon into a bow around it. Admittedly she could probably take her time, there was no need to get to the dining hall the second it opened, but she was worried. Hadn't stopped worrying, really, since the moment she'd gotten the text from Hotch about Spencer.

She'd texted one of the juniors on rotation to come over and finish out her shift at the library; the second they made it over she ran to the main office, catching a stony-faced Hotch and a quiet Spencer on their way out.

For a moment they'd stared at each other, and after taking a split second to weigh her options she'd suddenly held out her hand to Spencer. "I could use some coffee," she'd said brightly. "Want to come with me?"

He stayed silent, but he'd taken her hand, and she privately rejoiced.

Hotch sketched out the details later- what he'd seen, what he'd heard. How Spencer was more focused on the damage done to his school uniform than anything else.

The whole situation was so frustrating. Frustrating that this child had been at school for two weeks, and he already had a target painted on his back. Frustrating that there were so many things he wouldn't- or couldn't- tell them. Frustrating that she couldn't step in and fix this.

Emily banged the door open. "All right, all right, I'm...mostly ready," she said. Her shirt was still untucked and her tie was slung around her neck like a scarf, but her eyeliner was impeccable and her glossy hair was brushed smooth. "See? I told you. Less than fifteen minutes." She paused. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Alex said. She looked Emily up and down. "You're sure you're ready?"

Emily grabbed her blazer and wadded it up into her Kate Spade backpack. "Yeah!" she said. "Come on, I need caffeine or I'm not going to survive today."

"And it's going to be a long day," Alex sad. "We're going to Derek's game tonight."

"Oh, I'm gonna need a lot of caffeine, then."


Hotch rubbed his eyes, the noise of the dining hall blurring in his ears. It was so loud that he couldn't hear anything clearly, just a dull roar. "Guys, can you just...cool it for a second?" he said. Penelope and Derek continued to bicker; JJ scooped up a third cinnamon roll while Spencer had a book propped up on his tray instead of a plate. All things considered, a fairly typical morning, but all he wanted was to have a normal, quiet breakfast for once, without having to worry about the well-being of four children.

Emily slammed down her tray next to him, half out of uniform and her oversized cross earrings jangling in her ears. "Morning, Hotchner," she said.

He sighed. Five children. "Hi, Emily," he said.

"You doing all right?" she asked. "The circles under your eyes make you look like a Scooby Doo villain."

"You're so kind," he deadpanned.

To his surprise, she reached around him and swatted JJ's hand lightly. "Put the spoon down, Jareau, that's enough," she said.

Someone touched his elbow lightly. "She's right, you know, you look like you didn't get any sleep last night," Alex said. "Everything okay?"

He shrugged. He hadn't gotten any sleep the night before, but he also wasn't accustomed to people inquiring about his welfare. "I'll be all right," he said. "Just…" He nodded towards Spencer.

Her lips thinned. "We'll talk about that later," She said. She set two plates down on her tray, then gave Spencer's shoulder a loving little squeeze. "What book are you reading?"

"Out of the Silent Planet," he said, holding it up so she could see the cover.

"Ah, the Cosmic trilogy," she said. She took the book from him, checking the page number before closing the cover, and tucked it under her arm. "You can tell me all about it during breakfast. What do you want?"

Hotch exhaled slowly, a little bit of the stress relaxing out of his tense shoulders. He did need to talk to Alex later- he'd been able to tell her about some of yesterday's incident, but maybe if the three of them could sit Spencer down, they could start unraveling whatever was wrong with the kid.

He reached for a glossy red-and-yellow apple when someone beat him to it. "Sorry," Haley said, laughing. His fingertips brushed against the back of her hand and he jumped back like he'd just touched a hot stove. "Do you want this one? I'm not even sure I want an apple anyway."

"No, no, it's fine," he stammered. "I don't-"

He turned around, and saw her in her cheerleading uniform- navy crop top and skirt trimmed in white, Titans embroidered in gold across the front, her hair tied up with a big bow. The rest of his sentence fell completely out of his brain. She smiled at him and held out the apple. "You had it first," she said.

"You look nice," he blurted out.

She laughed, hiding her face a little, and he wanted to die. Maybe he was dying. "They always have us wear our uniforms to classes for home games," she said. "It's so weird, though. They're always harping on having our ties properly tied and checking to see if our skirts are the right length, and yet here I am."

"Yeah, here you am," he said. "Are. Here you are." He cleared his throat. "Blue's, uh...a good color on you."

If she noticed that he was having a complete and utter meltdown, she didn't let on. "Thanks, it's the whole reason why I wanted to come here," she said.

He frowned. "Really?" he said.

"No!" she laughed. "Are you coming to the game tonight?"

"Uh-huh," he said. "I've got a friend on the football team, I have to go see him play or he'll kill me." He shifted his weight. "And, uh...it'll be nice to see you, too."

She smiled and tossed him the apple; he caught it, nearly upending his tray in the process. "I'll see you tonight, then," she said, and she disappeared back into the crowd.

He watched her walk away, his stomach twisted up pleasantly, until he was poked sharply in the arm. "Hey, can you move?" the student behind him said impatiently. "You're holding up the line."

He jumped, fumbling to keep the apple in his hand, and hurried over to their usual table. They'd left a seat for him between Derek and JJ; the apple rolled across the table and Penelope caught it. "Oh, I shouldn't touch this, Haley touched it," she teased.

"Cut it out, Garcia," he said, the back of his neck heating up.

Emily perked up. "Ooh, who's Haley?" she asked.

"Haley Brooks," Derek grinned. "He's had a crush on her since last year."

The heat crept up to his ears. "I don't have a crush on her!" he protested.

"Really?" JJ said. "You talked to her for like thirty seconds and now look like you're about to throw up. That's usually a good sign of a crush."

"I'm...yeah, maybe I'm just sick," he said. "Can we talk about something else?" Derek opened his mouth. "Not football. We know you're excited about the game." Derek rolled his eyes.

Spencer leaned across the table to reach for another napkin; he was kneeling on his chair instead of sitting and he nearly dragged his tie through his plate. "I've never been to a real sports game before," he said. "I played T-ball when I was little, but...that went as well as you probably expect."

Alex frowned as he dropped back into his chair. "Spencer, you can't wear that," she said. "Your blazer is completely ripped down the back."

"I don't have any other choice," he said glumly. "I can't go without it, but I'll get written up anyway."

"You can wear your cardigan, or your pullover," Penelope suggested.

He leaned his elbows on the table. "I don't have either," he said. "My scholarship covered the basic uniform pieces, but nothing extra."

JJ rummaged in her backpack. "You can borrow mine," she said. "They're unisex and it has the right house on it, nobody will say anything."

Spencer wriggled out of his blazer and draped it over the back of his chair. "Wait, I'm going to go wash my hands, I'm covered in syrup," he said, sliding down to the floor.

"Is it really not fixable?" Hotch asked.

Alex smoothed it out. "I'm not sure," she said. "It's a tear in the fabric, not a popped seam."

"How'd he tear it, anyway?" Derek asked.

Emily shot Hotch a sharp look. "You didn't tell him?" she said.

"He was at football," he said.

"Tell me what?" Derek pressed.

Hotch hesitated. "A couple of...older kids," he said. "They cornered Spencer in a supply closet." He drummed his fingers against the table. "Short version, I guess...they were planning to do something shitty to him. Would have done something shitty, if I hadn't caught them."

"Somebody would seriously try to hurt a little kid like him?"

"He's an easy target."

"You're sure it wasn't just a silly prank that got out of control?" Derek said. "People do dumb shit to each other all the time."

Hotch glanced around, making sure Spencer wasn't anywhere close by. "They had superglue," he said. "They had him pinned on the floor and they were talking about gluing his mouth shut."

"Jesus," Derek breathed.

"We have to keep an eye out for him, you guys. We can't let anything like this happen to him again."

Spencer ran back to the table. "You're sure no one will know I'm wearing your cardigan?" he asked. "I'd rather not offer any more ammunition for teasing than I already have."

Hotch frowned at Derek, trying to convey a see? I told you so with his expression. Derek gave a slight nod back as JJ helped him into the sweater. "You look fine," she said, buttoning it over Spencer's chest. "And you won't get in trouble this way."

"You'll be fine," Hotch reassured him. "And if anyone gives you any trouble, you come find one of us, okay? Any of us."

"I'll be okay," Spencer said, squinting at the embroidered logo on the cardigan. Hotch wasn't convinced, but he didn't need to start anything at the breakfast table.

Later. They could talk later.


JJ watched the patches of colored light shine on the floor through the stained glass window as the school chaplain droned through a prayer. Chapel always made her a little sleepy, but it was impossible to get comfortable in the straight-backed wooden pews.

Then again, she could see Penelope's head tipping forward in the row ahead of her, so maybe it wasn't completely impossible for everybody.

She glanced across the aisle. Spencer was easy to pick out, his little legs dangling above the floor. Her sweater was a bit too big for him, bunching around his hips and the sleeves almost covering his small hands. He'd grow into it, though. She was going to let him keep it anyway- she didn't wear the cardigan much, and if she wanted a new one that badly all she needed to do was mention it to her mom during their weekly phone call.

The chaplain finished the prayer with a final amen and dismissed them; JJ picked up her backpack and pulled her long braid free from the strap before crossing through traffic to get across the aisle. "Hey, Spence," she said. "Are you ready for gym?"

He wrinkled his nose. "I'm never ready for gym class," he said. He slid off the pew and followed her out of the chapel. "I get that they're trying to make us active, but really, it would be more beneficial to let us go outside and play during recess than forcing us to play kickball and basketball."

"Yeah, I'd definitely like that better too," JJ said. "Derek said there's a playground somewhere on campus. Maybe we can go out there tomorrow or Sunday."

"Aren't your soccer games starting this weekend?" he asked.

She shrugged. "They don't need the whole team for every game," she lied. "I'll probably play next week."

They made the hike to the gym, but she tugged him aside before they went inside. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"If those guys give you a hard time," she said. She bit her lip. She wasn't exactly sure what to say. "Neal and Dallas. If they do anything to you, or say anything...just stay close to me and Penelope, okay?"

"I can take care of myself," he said, shifting his weight uncomfortably.

"I know, I know you can," she reassured him. "But just in case. Stick with us. After what happened yesterday…"

Her voice trailed off, but he gave her a tight little nod. "Thanks, JJ," he said, and he disappeared into the boys' locker room.

She went to her usual spot in the girls' locker room, setting her bag down on the bench and unbuttoning her blazer. "Hey, Jareau," a voice called. "I heard you got benched from your next game."

The noisy locker room quieted for a moment. "It's not a big deal," she said, trying to keep her voice light.

"I heard you yelled at Coach," another girl piped up.

"It was just a misunderstanding," JJ said, digging ruthlessly in her locker for her gym clothes.

"What happened?" the first girl said. "I heard a rumor that-"

JJ grabbed her clothes and retreated to a bathroom stall, closing the latch behind her. She stood there for a moment, her gym uniform hugged to her chest, and breathed deeply until the hot frustration in her chest began to subside.


"Hey, Derek!"

He paused, his tray balanced in his hands. On one side of the dining hall he could see his friends at their usual table, an empty chair reserved for him, but on the other he could see his new teammates, flanked by multiple members of the cheer squad, waving him over.

Maybe, just for today, he'd sit with the team.

"Hey, guys," he said with a grin that he hoped came across as easy and casual, setting his tray down at an empty place. The starstruck feeling in his chest danced around his ribcage, threatening to burst out. "How's it going?"

He'd expected them to be in good moods, looking forward to the first game of the season, but Thornton's face was as red as his hair, and Maclain's mouth was pulled down in a frown. "Did you hear about Willis and Lamb?" he asked.

"No, what happened?" Derek said.

Thornton threw his fork down on his plate with a sharp clatter. "Two of the JV boys asked them to help pull a prank on a kid in their history class," he said. "They got caught and the whole thing got blown out of proportion."

"The JV boys got off with detention, but Willis and Lamb got suspended from tonight's game," Maclain said.

"They're older, so they should have 'known better'," Thornton said in disgust. "We're fucked! They were supposed to be starting tonight."

We've been practicing for two weeks with them as starters," Maclain said. "Now we have to go into our first game with pinch-hitters."

Maclain's girlfriend wrapped her arms around his neck, her platinum blonde hair falling over his shoulder. Derek had never been this close to Alexa Lisbon before, and the starstruck feeling intensified. "You'll be fine, baby," she said. "There's no way you'll let us get beat by a stupid little public school."

"And at least it's a home game," Harper Hillman added. "They're on our turf, they'll be extra nervous."

"Besides, from what I heard, that kid deserved whatever Willis and Lamb did," Thornton added.

The starstruck sense began to fade, the bubbling warmth slowly replaced by a cold tight knot at the pit of his stomach. "When you say 'kid,' you mean Spencer Reid, right?" Derek said. "The little kid?"

"Yeah, he's what...twelve?" Thornton said.

"Ten," Derek said. "Guys, you can't seriously think that a kid as small as him could do anything-"

"Why?" Alexa asked, her green eyes round and innocent as she tilted her head. "He a friend of yours?"

"My, uh….my roommate, actually," Derek said. "He seriously is just a little kid. There's no way he could possibly do anything to anybody on the team."

"I don't know," Maclain said. "Getting two players suspended is pretty serious business."

Derek glanced back at the table. He could see Spencer sitting with the rest of the group, his elbows on the table as he read his book, the sleeves of his sweater pushed up over his skinny elbows. "I'll talk to him," he said. "He won't bother anybody else. I swear. I'll keep an eye on him."

"We'll see," Maclain said. He turned to Alexa. "Babe, have you met Morgan yet? He's only a sophomore and Coach is letting him start today."

Alexa turned towards him, as if she'd just noticed his presence, and smiled. "Hi," she said. "Wow, you must be pretty talented."

The starstruck feeling was back in full force. "I try," he said, and she laughed pleasantly.

"You're so cute," she said. "Good luck tonight, Morgan."

"Thanks," he said, and already the worry that had begun to gather like stormclouds around him faded away.


So far she had changed her outfit three times, and nothing seemed right. A dress? Shorts and a cute top? Her shortalls that had never steered her wrong before? But she should probably dress in school colors, that seemed appropriate, but if she was going to wear navy it was going to throw off the rest of her palette.

"Just pick something, Penelope!" she said aloud, looking in despair at the clothes heaped on the floor and her bed.

At the last second she picked the top from one outfit and the bottom from another, ending up with a navy and white striped short sleeve top and a denim pinafore. Still school spirit-ish, still comfy, and still covered in pockets so she wouldn't need to carry a bag for her phone and her keys.

If she hadn't spent all this time on her outfit, she could have spent more time putting on makeup. Her grandmother threw her hands up in despair every time she wore makeup- you're just a little girl, Penny, there's time for that later!- but she liked it, even if she'd learned primarily from YouTube videos. Maybe she could get Emily to show her how to do her eyeliner.

She tied a navy bandana in her hair as a headband and jammed her feet into a pair of white sneakers on her way out the door. The game hadn't started quite yet, but everyone else had met up earlier, and not only was she going to be late, but she just knew they were going to give her a hard time for being late.

There was a shortcut around there somewhere, though. It was a decent hike to get from the dorms to the football field if she went the usual way, but Dave and James had said something about cutting across an abandoned amphitheater.

She wasn't exactly the greatest at navigation, and they weren't kidding that the place was abandoned, but she found it eventually. The gate was long overgrown with ivy and lamb's ear, but she rattled the rusty latch and it creaked open.

If there was more time she could definitely stop to explore. Walking into the amphitheater was a complete Secret Garden moment; the only thing that could make it better would be the appearance of a charming country lad and his trained robin. "This is what you get for dawdling," she said aloud, the only sound in the cool shaded air, and even though she wanted to stop and enjoy the wild roses and wander around the crumbling concrete steps, she had to go.

The opposite side backed up to a wire fence covered in foliage, but she was able to pull the wires apart far enough to crawl through. She could hear the music from the school marching band now, the football field wasn't too far away.

"Hey!" a voice barked. "What are you doing out here?"

She jumped. "I'm just...uh, I'm sorry, I'm late for the game, I was taking a shortcut," she said. Two men in security team shirts loomed over her and she took a step back. "I'm sorry."

"Where's your ID?" one of them asked.

She fumbled it out of her pocket and held it up. "I really am sorry, I know I shouldn't be back here," she babbled. "It's just that I'm running late, I couldn't decide on my outfit, my friends are already at the game-"

The officer copied her name down and thrust the card back to her. "We'll let you off with a warning," he said. "Students aren't allowed back here."

She took the card back, the edges digging into her palm as she squeezed it too tightly. "I'm sorry," she offered again.

"Get out of here," the other officer said. "We catch you back here again, it'll be more than a warning."

She nodded, unable to speak, and ran.


James shifted around on the silver bleachers, trying to get comfortable, but that was going to be impossible. Even if the benches weren't the worst things in the world to sit on, the early September sun beat down mercilessly, making sweat drip down his neck. Not exactly the kind of situation he was hoping for, not when Alex was sitting next to him, close enough for their thighs to touch. She was wearing a white eyelet sundress and her hair was tied up in a bun with a floral bow, but she wasn't paying attention to the game- or him, for that matter.

"Alex, did you seriously pack books for this?" Dave said.

"Mm-hm," she said. "And I have a backup. Just in case."

"Who brings books to a football game?" Hotch said, scrunching his nose.

Spencer held up his book. "Me," he said.

Dave laughed. "You walked into that one, Hotchner," he said. "Not much of a sports fan, huh, passerotto?"

"Not particularly," he said. He squinted out towards the field. "Besides, I can't see anything."

"Short people problems," Emily teased. She ruffled Spencer's hair. "I'm sure you'll grow eventually."

"Emily, how are you not dying out here?" James asked, raising his voice to be heard over the voice on the PA system announcing the names of the cheerleaders. "I'm sweating to death in a tee shirt and shorts, you look like you're auditioning to play Lydia Deetz."

"Oh, no, I'm sweating to death," Emily said. "But I'm committed to this look. If I show up dressed like Miller, you guys would think there was something wrong with me."

"True," Dave admitted.

Penelope raced into their row, red-faced and out of breath. "Hi! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I couldn't pick an outfit, I'm sorry, I'm here!" she said.

Hotch leaned back so she could scoot past them and plunk down between him and JJ. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah!" she said. "Fine! Absolutely fine! Have I missed anything?"

"They're just announcing the cheerleaders, I think," James said.

Emily straightened up. "Somebody point out which one Hotchner likes, I didn't see her this morning!" she said.

"That one," Dave said. "Second row, on the end."

Emily craned her neck. "The little blonde one?" she said. "Oh my god, she's so cute!" She leaned across Alex and James to smack Hotch lightly on the arm. "I'm surprised, Hotchner, you have good taste. She's adorable."

Hotch's face reddened. "I don't know why you guys think I have a crush on her," he said stiffly.

"Oh, I've seen how you act around her in theatre club, you're totally in love with her," Penelope said. "You're almost as bad as James is around-"

"Hey, they're bringing the players out!" James interrupted, his voice rising into a shriek. "Where's Derek, anybody see him?"

Spencer stood up, trying to get a better look. Alex glanced up from her book and tugged him over to sit on her lap. "He's right down there," she said. "See? Number thirty-three."

"I've never seen a football match before," Spencer said. He frowned. "Is it match, or game?"

"Game," JJ said. "Here, I'll tell you it works, I watch football every Sunday with my dad."

"Finally, someone is teaching Spencer something instead of the other way around," Dave teased.

Alex adjusted Spencer on her lap and elbowed James in the ribs in the process. "Sorry, Jamie," she said. "Are you okay?"

"Don't worry about it," he said. "Lean on me all you want."

She smiled up at him. James caught Dave flashing him a thumbs up from the other end of the row and he rolled his eyes.


Dave tapped his foot in frustration. This wasn't fair. Maybe he should have just said that he was going to the bathroom. Announcing that he was going to go to the concession stand was apparently an open invitation for everyone to place their orders so he could bring them snacks. All he wanted was a soda, and now he was waiting on four drinks, nachos, two soft pretzels, and a hot dog with nothing on it (JJ had been pretty clear about that). And a blue slushie, because Spencer had initially said he didn't want anything, but Alex had sent him a text shortly after he left and offered to pay for it herself.

But who were they kidding? They'd all offered to pay him back, but buying a couple snacks and drinks wouldn't even make a dent on his credit card limit. It was fine. The least he could do, probably.

The student worker behind the counter slid the carrier full of drinks over to him. "We're working on the rest," he said.

"Yeah, yeah, it's fine," he said, waving his hand.

There was a considerable line forming at the counter; most likely his massive order was holding everything up. Or maybe it was the pretty girl at the register digging through her purse.

"I'm so sorry, I can't find my wallet," she said. "Oh, god, I might have left it in my car…"

Dave leaned over and held out his credit card. "Don't worry about it," he said.

The girl straightened up. "Oh, you don't have to do that," she said. "I'm sure my wallet's in here somewhere…"

"Really, it's no problem," Dave said. The worker behind the register took his card.

The girl sighed heavily. "You must think I'm an idiot," she said.

"Not at all," he reassured her. "I'd lose my own head if it wasn't attached." She laughed at that, and he grinned at her. "You're from our rival school, I'm guessing."

"What tipped you off?" she said dryly, looking down at her red tee shirt with white letters that spelled out Crievewood High. "I figured I should have a little school spirit for the first game of the season."

The cashier handed him his card and he stuffed it back in his wallet, not even bothering to look at the receipt. "Who do you think is gonna win?" he asked.

"Are you kidding?" she said. "St. Thaddeus always beats us. It would take a miracle for us to win."

"Yeah, a miracle," he said.

The worker behind the counter handed over a drink and a package of Starburst to the girl. "Still waiting on your nachos and your pretzels," he said.

"Thanks," Dave said. He caught the girl looking at him, an amused smile quirking up her lips. "My friends sent me to get food."

"Sure they did," she teased. "What's your venmo? Or your Apple Pay, or-"

"Seriously, don't even worry about it," he said.

She tilted her head. "There's going to be a party in town next week," she said. "Would that be a good way to pay you back, giving you an invite?"

"That depends," he said. "Are you going to be there?"

"Absolutely," she said, balancing her drink carefully as she pulled her phone out of the back pocket of her denim shorts. "Give me your number."

He recited it for her. "You want a name to go with that?" he asked.

"Yeah, maybe," she said.

"David," he said. "David Rossi."

"I like that," she said as she typed it in. She glanced up at him. "I'll text you when I know more details."

"Thanks," he said, and she offered him a little wave as she walked away. "Hey, do I...do I get to know your name?"

She disappeared into the crowd, and he scowled until his phone buzzed in his hand.

unknown
6:38pm
Hayden :)


"You doing okay, Em?" James asked.

She rested her chin in her hands. "I've seen so many TV shows and movies with American high school sporting events, and I feel cheated," she said. "Glee and Riverdale have lied to me."

"You want me to explain how it works again?" JJ offered.

"No, no, I don't think that's gonna make a difference," she said. She jabbed her thumb towards Alex and Spencer. "These two had the right idea bringing books along."

"Well, if Derek asks about it later, because I'm sure he will, tell him you had a great time," Hotch said. "All you need to know for now is that it's neck and neck."

"Which is honestly a little weird," James said. "We never have this much trouble beating Crievewood."

Dave walked up the steps to their row, his arms laden down. "Okay, somebody help me with these," he complained. Penelope quickly jumped up. "If I forgot anything, you get to go get it yourself."

"Okay, a pretzel for Hotch, a pretzel for Alex, a hot dog with nothing on it for JJ-"

"Thank goodness," JJ said, checking it for signs of rogue ketchup.

"-the nachos are for me, and...I'm guess this is for Spencer," Penelope said.

Spencer glanced up from his book and his eyes lit up. "That's for me?" he said.

"Yeah, don't spill it," Dave said, handing over the giant blue slushie.

Spencer set the book down on the bench and held it reverently with both hands. "I don't...I don't have the money for this though," he objected quietly.

He was still sitting on Alex's lap, and she gave him a little squeeze. "Don't worry about it," she said.

Emily accepted the cup that Dave handed her. The Sprite was cold and bit at her throat as she took a sip, bubbles popping in her mouth. The sun was beginning to set, turning the sky vivid hot pink, but it was still way too hot and humid.

She pulled out her phone and checked her chat app as Penelope peppered JJ with questions about how football worked. Last night's message was still unread. Just like all of the others.

Maybe she should sneak out for a smoke and text him again.

Maybe it was stupid of her to keep trying to message him. Maybe she should give up. Maybe he just didn't want to talk to her anymore.

She hadn't realized her cup was slipping from her hand until James caught it. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, sorry, I just...zoned out for a second there," she said. She hastily stowed her phone back in her pocket. Now wasn't the time to wallow in feelings that she should have given up over the summer, after she was kicked out of her last school, after she spent the summer moping around in her bedroom.

Spencer pushed his long hair out of his eyes. "Hey, Emily?" he said. "Do you have another hair tie?"

"Yeah, come here, babe," she said. He slid off Alex's lap and set his cup down carefully before climbing over to her. She raked her fingers through his silky hair, still smelling faintly like baby shampoo, and drew it up into a ponytail.

"You might need a haircut soon," Hotch said. "When's the last time you had one?"

He scrunched up his face. "Two years ago," he said. "Give or take a few weeks."

Emily tied off his ponytail with a hair tie off her wrist. "Così bello," she said, and he smiled, his mouth stained blue from his slushie. She smiled back. It wouldn't do her any good to dwell on the past.


Spencer leaned his head back against Alex's shoulder without thinking. His book was long finished, and it was way too dark to read anyway. The sugar high from his slushie had worn off, and now he was drowsy and comfortable, almost on the verge of dozing off even with the chaotic noise of the football game.

Maybe he did doze off, because the next thing he realized the noises of the football game had gone silent, replaced with a thousand echoing conversations. "Is it over?" he yawned.

"Yeah, it's over," Alex said. "We won't tell Derek you fell asleep."

He slid down from her lap and picked up his book. "Did we win?" he asked.

"Nope," James said.

"First time in at least five years that St. Thaddeus lost their first game of the season," Dave added. "People are gonna be pissed about this."

Hotch yawned. "It's just football," he said. "C'mon, let's go. I want to sleep."

Spencer followed the bigger kids out of the bleachers, hugging his book sleepily to his chest. He was ready to sleep too. His bed at school was the most comfortable one he'd ever slept on, even if he tended to get cold at night with just the one blanket.

It was dark now, the way back to the dorms lit by warm little pathlights, and the sidewalks were clogged with other students heading to their rooms, complaining loudly about the outcome of the game. Spencer tripped over his broken shoelaces, his book fluttering from his hands and his knee striking the ground hard. "Wait for me, guys!" he called, fumbling to retie his shoe. He snatched his book and scrambled to his feet. "Wait for-"

He froze.

He didn't recognize the boys standing in front of him, but it didn't take a genius to scan their freshly showered hair and matching navy tee shirts and realize they were part of the football team.

"Yeah, that's him," one of them said. "The little kid that got Willis and Lamb suspended from playing."

The biggest of the boys loomed over him. "If they'd played tonight, we wouldn't have lost," he said. Spencer took a step back. "Now we're starting the season with a loss on our record. And we never lose. So you know what that means, kid?"

Spencer's mouth went dry. "No," he said in a small voice.

"It means you'd better watch your back, you little shit."

Spencer ran. His torn up shoes caught at the cobblestone walkway, and his lungs seized up, but he ran until he caught sight of Alex's white dress, easy to spot in the moonlight. He threw himself into the middle of the group, hiding between Hotch and James. "Hey, where'd you come from?" Hotch asked.

His heart beat staccato on his ribs. "Stopped to tie my shoe," he gasped.

If they noticed he was out of breath, they didn't mention it, keeping up their conversations. He clutched his book, glancing back every so often to see if he was being followed. He wasn't sure.

"All right, goodnight, everybody," Dave said as they reached Lincoln House. "I gotta drive back home now."

"I'll walk you girls over to Roosevelt," James offered.

Alex touched Spencer's shoulder lightly. "See if you can sleep off that sugar," she teased, but impulsively he threw his arms around her waist and buried his face in her stomach. She paused. "Spencer? Are you okay?"

"Uh-huh," he said. She hugged him back, warm and secure. He took a step back and smiled up at her. "I'm fine."

She cupped his chin in her hand and kissed his cheek. "Go get some sleep," she said.

He nodded and followed Hotch and the girls inside, saying his goodnights to JJ and Penelope as they passed their floor. Hotch told him an absent goodnight too, patting his back before disappearing into his room.

Spencer got ready for bed, brushing his teeth and stripping down to his tee shirt and boxer briefs to sleep. He left his hair pulled back in the ponytail, though, and when he crawled into bed and pulled his blanket up to his shoulders he had every intention of going right to sleep.

But he couldn't sleep. And he couldn't even muster up the energy and willpower to pick up a book.

It was late when Derek got back, dumping his bag on the floor by his bed. "You still up?" he said. "I figured you'd be asleep by now."

"No," Spencer said quietly.

He watched him get ready for bed, curled up into his single pillow, but wasn't until Derek was just about to turn off the lights that he had the courage to ask his question out loud.

"Are you mad at me?"

Derek paused. "Why would I be mad at you?" he asked, genuinely perplexed.

"Hotch got those football kids in trouble, and they couldn't play in the game tonight, and you lost," Spencer said.

"That's not your fault, pretty boy," Derek said. "Actions have consequences, and what they did was wrong. And besides...sometimes teams just lose." He smiled at Spencer. "Besides, we got a whole season to play. We'll do fine. Understand?"

"Uh-huh," Spencer said.

Derek reached for the lightswitch, then paused. He crossed over to the closet and pulled down the ivory satin-edged blanket he'd borrowed during movie night. "Here," he said, tossing it to Spencer. "They've got the AC cranked up way too high in here, you're gonna freeze."

"Thank you," Spencer said, startled. Derek turned off the lights, and he laid down, arranging the blanket around himself. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, pretty boy."

He fell asleep almost immediately, but he had the dream again, and he woke up shaking, a scream dying in his throat. No matter how exhaustion pulled at him, he couldn't bear to close his eyes, so he forced himself to stay awake until dawn began to peek into the room, clutching the blanket in his hands.


Author's Notes:

Whew! We had another week of delayed posting, but here it is! Hopefully next week Ill be back to posting on Thursdays again.

Not a whole lot to write about here, I think- but we're getting into some new character arcs- and as you can probably guess, Spencer's troubles are far from over.

Special thanks to ItsEmilyFreakingPrentiss, xGoldentigerlilyx, ferret54, It's Morley to You, tearbos, Eeltje, Cat, and a guest for reviewing!

And as always, come hang out on tumblr if you'd like to chat or read the drabbles I've written for this verse, or see the fanart that some amazing folks have drawn for this fic!