Hermione and Spencer were cuddling on the sofa in Gideon's cabin when the call came. Gideon had popped out to get some groceries since he had only left the bare minimum in the cupboards the last time he had enjoyed time off.
"Dr Reid here," as he spoke Spencer noticed Hermione's slight shiver at the husky edge to his voice; he had nearly been asleep.
"Reid, its JJ, I am really sorry to have to do this but we need you and Gideon in on this case. The order comes from the director and went over Hotch's head. The UNSUB is targeting law enforcement."
If JJ's weary and apologetic tone hadn't told him how desperate the situation was, hearing that the victimology consisted of law enforcement certainly did. He could find no argument.
"If we can bring Hermione then we will leave as soon as Gideon gets back from the shop." Hermione looked at Spencer curiously, his tone of resignation told her the situation needed him and her Uncle Gid working the case but she wanted to know whether they were desperate enough to let her come in too. The person on the other end of the phone must have answered in the affirmative because Spence nodded his head to her slightly before replying to whoever was on the phone; "That's fine JJ we can get there in about an hour and a half after Gideon gets back." He then hung up the phone.
"Spence, why an hour and a half? It takes one hour in traffic to get there and its clearly desperate since they called you and Uncle Gid in on your vacation time."
Hermione had shifted on the seat as she asked this so Spencer was momentarily distracted by the sight of more of her leg as the shirt she had borrowed from him rode up. She had said that while she could have transfigured some of her own clothes she wanted to wear something of his and the idea had indeed had its appeal, so Spence had given her his favourite purple shirt and when she was standing it fell to roughly mid-thigh. Shifting his focus back to his new wife, Spencer decided that honesty was the best route. "Mia you haven't eaten properly in months, I want to make sure that you get something proper to eat before we go because we don't always have that opportunity on cases. I am worried about you. You have only been out of the hospital for 18 hours."
Hermione wanted to be mad, she really did, but she had never had someone other than her parents and Uncle Gid express that much genuine concern for her well being, it caused her to burst into happy tears and sob into Spencer's shoulder. He understood, having felt a flash of her emotions before she buried her face in his shoulder so he merely held her making shushing noises. Within five minutes Hermione had fallen asleep on his lap, but Spencer didn't mind. They were still in that position ten minutes later when Gideon walked in with the groceries.
"Reid, what happened? I was gone forty five minutes and now Hermione is asleep looking as though she has been crying."
Spencer quickly reeled off everything that had happened including why Hermione had ended up crying and was met with the sight of his colleague and sort-of in-law smiling softly at him.
"You'll be good for my girl, thank you." This was said in almost a whisper by Jason Gideon. Only ever in his head had he referred to his goddaughter as his girl, but having been her legal guardian for three years and in her life for eighteen, he couldn't help the paternal instincts that she brought out in him. He was truly happy that she had found someone to understand and accept her completely.
Spencer merely nodded to this, feeling slightly uncomfortable because he wasn't sure of how he was supposed to react to this but Gideon understood. Gideon quickly prepared some pasta for all of them so that they could get to Quantico quickly. Within minutes, the aroma woke Hermione.
"Uncle Gid, do you need any help?" She knew he would say no but she always offered to help anyway.
"Actually yes, can you ready my go bag, and then get your own stuff ready? Spencer is sorting his stuff now."
Hermione barely registered her godfather referring to her husband by his first name before she was off. The idea had formed in her head to teach Spencer how to pack using magic. As she walked into the spare bedroom she saw her soul-mate struggling to fold some of her clothes, the sweet man having decided to try and help.
"Spence let me show you," the request was made softly but still made him jump. She walked up to him and put her wand in his hand. Luna had found her wand from Bellatrix after she had been killed and given it back to her. She gently guided his hands in the correct movement and whispered "Pack."
Spencer watched in wonder as both his and her clothes neatly folded themselves before all flying into Spencer's open go-bag. Hermione wobbled slightly behind him, having forgot that she needed to let her magical core re-strengthen itself but Spencer caught her quickly. They were looking intently into each others eyes and gravitating towards each other. Their faces were less than a centimetre apart when Hermione remembered that she needed to pack her godfather's go bag as well.
"Do you think you could do that on your own for Uncle Gid's stuff? I'm not supposed to use my magic until my magical core has re-strengthened. It's a side effect of Dolohov's curse two years ago." Images of Hermione collapsing after being struck by purple flames and then of a kind nurse telling her the side effects flitted quickly through Spencer's mind.
He nodded at her, then leant down to place a soft, chaste kiss on her lips before setting off to do his task, Hermione's wand in hand. He was back within seconds with a smug look on his face, telling Hermione that he had successfully completed his task. Hermione pulled a pair of thick tights on under Spencer's shirt before grabbing one of his thick belts and tying it around her waist. She then pulled her black ankle boots out of her beaded bag and putting them on too.
Yet again Spencer was mesmerised, even while feeling weak his beautiful soul-mate had an elegance about her movements that Spencer could never hope to achieve. As she sat back up after tying her boots she caught his stare and smiled. He smiled back and moved towards her, helping her stand when he reached her. They were toe to toe, again looking into each other's eyes when Gideon called them to the table.
As they all sat down to eat Spencer and Hermione maintained contact, keeping their hands interlocked. They all ate in tense silence, anticipating what would likely be a hard case and a difficult conversation with the members of the BAU.
So next chapter will have everyone meeting up and some awkward conversations. Let me know what you thought of this one.