Part 2 – Chemistry

Love shouldn't play by the rules. It's all about chemistry.

- Rachel Bilson

Chapter 10

BAU Headquarters
FBI Building
Quantico, VA

June 2012

"They're calling it a terrorist attack." JJ said as she sat with the others. "But it looks like everyone got out. There were some injuries but no deaths. It was just the property."

"That's good." Spencer said. It looked like they would be delayed but sometime tonight Shan and Mia would be home. Shan. It had been so long. "I can't believe he would destroy the Rome Priory."

"It ups the value of the product." Morgan said. "If his plan had worked Shannon would have the only copy. They're just not letting her out until she's been thoroughly questioned."

"What's her cover again?" JJ asked.

"Librarian. Getting away from a crazy stalker boyfriend with the help of an old friend."

"That works." JJ looked at Spencer. "So what's the story between the two of you anyway... sweetheart?"

Spencer felt his cheeks turning pink. Some things he just could not explain. "We met at CalTech." He said, settling in to tell the story. "I was going for my third doctorate; she was in the same department working on her first. She was...nineteen, I was twenty. My roommate, Ethan, was dating her roommate, Carla..."

"And you two were their wingmen." Morgan said.

"Something like that. The first night I met her she fell asleep on me."

JJ scoffed. "That's romantic."

"Well, she had just moved down from Berkley that day..."

Avery House
California Institute of Technology
Pasadena, California

September 2001

Spencer Reid was only partially clued into what was going on. His roommate, Ethan, was having the first of his windy discussion groups for the semester. This one involved girls, which was both novel and deeply disquieting. Spencer had settled himself on the floor at the foot of his bed, out of sight and out of the way, and was reading more than actually paying attention. Still, he had access to the pizza they had all ordered, which made up for a lot.

Until he felt a weight settle on his shoulder.

He looked up from his book and got a face full of copper silk that smelled like some kind of heavenly flower. A moment later the whole thing slid down his arm and landed heavily on his thigh. Heavy silk?

No, it was a girl.

A really pretty girl too. She was delicate, like a china doll or something. She seemed to have bones like a bird, so fine they couldn't be strong enough to support her. Her skin was the palest ivory dusted with freckles and so nearly translucent he swore he could see her pulse beating under the skin of her throat. And that was just from the head to her collar, he didn't dare look at the rest of her.

Hello hormones.

She was also very nearly asleep. Surely a girl like this one would be horrified to find herself dozing off in the lap of the nerdiest freak Las Vegas ever produced. So he gently shook her bare (and softer than he had ever imagined skin could be) shoulder. "Ummm...ummm..."

Her eyes fluttered open, and she rolled a little to look up at him with pale grey eyes. "Hey." She said. Then she rolled back, wrapped her arms around his thigh like it was a pillow and slipped off to sleep.

Oh god.

He swore later he didn't breathe for the next two hours. But he was very sorry when she staggered to her feet and followed her roommate home.

The next day classes began in earnest. He was going for his third degree, this one in theoretical physics (Physics was part of the Engineering department. CalTech was like that.) while teaching mathematics part-time. His other job covered Mom, and he had housing on a grant, but there was always a reason to have money in the bank and he enjoyed the work.

On the second day he saw that girl again.

She was in his seminar, the one he was taking, not teaching. He realized how young she was, about his age, which was still young for grad school. She also seemed more than a little nervous. To the point that after class she knocked her pack over and sent books and things everywhere.

A knight is supposed to be chivalrous. He stopped to help her pick them up. "Thank you." She said in this quiet, low voice that made him think of doves. "I'm just a little..."

"Nervous?" Spend enough time with a paranoid schizophrenic and you get real good at reading body language.

"Yeah." She smiled. "Grad school. It's kind of a big thing, right?"

"Yeah." Well, no, not anymore. "At least it was the first time."

"First time?" She was shoving everything back in her pack.

"I'm, um, on my third..."

That got her attention. "You are kidding me?" He shook his head. "I don't suppose you need a study buddy?"

No, unfortunately. But... "Um, I am trying to get a study group together, Wednesday nights? If you'd like..."

"Yeah! Um, yeah, I'll be there. Um...You look familiar..."

"I'm Ethan's roommate."

It took a minute, but then it clicked and her cheeks turned this soft pink. "Oh, right. Of course. Best pillow in Avery house. I am so sorry about that, I drove down from Berkley that day and got caught in traffic over the Grapevine..."

"No, it's all right. I didn't mind."

"Really?" She seemed relieved by that.

"Yeah. I'm, um, Spencer." He didn't offer his hand, you weren't supposed to with a lady, even though he really wanted to touch her skin again.

"Shannon. But most people call me Shan. Um..." By now they were out of the building, blinking at the bright California sun. "Where is the dining hall from here?"

"Um..." Okay, did he dare do this? "I was just heading there, I could show you if you wanted..."

"Sure." She seemed to be considering as well. "Um, tell me about campus over a burger?"

Just what he was hoping for. "Sure."