A/N: See, see? I AM coming back to life. (grins) 'Figured you guys deserved a relatively fast update. (grins sheepishly)
Thank you so much for your reviews, guys! (GLOMPS) The love you've given this story makes me happier than you could ever imagine. So THANK YOU! I hope this chapter won't make you regret sticking around… (sweatdrops)
Let's go, yeah? I REALLY hope you'll enjoy this one.
Sense Memory
Those five minutes in that tiny house seemed to last a lifetime to Derek.
He, followed a officer from the local police, was the first one to get close to George Foyet. He lifted his gun, only the knife held on Jeremy Quartz's throat rooting him to the spot.
Foyet stilled completely and tilted his head but didn't turn to look. "I had a feeling you might find me."
Derek's eyes narrowed dangerously and his finger twitched eagerly closer to the trigger. "Put the knife down, Foyet. You've already made sure you're all over the news. You don't need to harm him anymore."
Foyet emitted a sound he couldn't identify. "With all your experience, is that the best you've got?"
"Put… the knife… down", Derek hissed. He'd never been a very patient man. Today didn't feel like a good day to change his ways.
A sob was torn from Jeremy's throat when Foyet toyed with the knife. "It was Spencer, wasn't it? He was the one who sent you after me."
Lava coursed through Derek's veins and it took his all to keep his body from starting to shake. He didn't want to talk about Spencer with Foyet, not when there were so many people – including his superior – listening. "I'm not going to let you bring him into this."
Foyet laughed, which sounded bizarre to his ears. "Don't you understand, Derek? He's already in this. There's no changing it."
Everything inside Derek roared. His finger twitched with desire to just pull the trigger and… "Let Jeremy go", he snarled.
It wasn't until then he realized that Aaron had also made his way nearby. The unit chief's eyes gleamed with concentration. "You're going to need him alive, Foyet. He's the one who's going to keep your reputation alive, he's the one who'll tell your story."
Foyet actually fidgeted a bit at that. "I don't need him."
"Make a cut on him…", Derek hissed. "… and I will kill you."
There was a infinity of nothing. "Derek?" There wasn't the slightest change in Foyet's voice. The hand holding the knife on Jeremy quivered with restrained anticipation. "Tell Spencer to keep practicing Chopin's Nocturne. It's the just about only thing he doesn't play perfectly yet." And then, so suddenly that it brought a huge shockwave into the room, it was all over.
Metal clattered as the knife was dropped and Foyet raised his hands, slowly and calmly. Before Derek managed to make a move the officer from the local police was all over Foyet. Derek was glad. There was no telling what he would've done.
As Foyet was led past him the man gave him a look that made him shiver and smiled, then fixed his eyes elsewhere. The moment couldn't have lasted more than a couple of seconds but somehow it sneaked deep under Derek's skin.
Somehow he got a feeling that maybe this wasn't as over as he'd thought.
It wasn't until then he became aware of the sounds of sobs and noticed Jeremy, who was still sitting firmly still, face buried into one furiously trembling hand. A stab of sympathy traveled through him as he made his way to the man and laid a hand on a uneven shoulder. "Come on, let's get the hell out of here."
As soon as William Reid jumped out of his car he knew it was already over. His heart thumped madly until it stopped altogether when Foyet was escorted out of the house, firmly cuffed. They looked at each other for exactly ten seconds. "It's over", he stated, surprised by how calm his voice sounded despite all the adrenaline coursing through him.
Foyet, however, grinned and shook his head. "Oh no, it's not." The man leaned closer and continued quietly, so that only the two of them heard. "I… will be far, far more famous than you could ever imagine." With those words the killer was pushed into a police car.
Cold seeping into the core of his being William stared at the disappearing car until he heard steps. There was a look of cautious relief on Aaron's face as the man walked towards him. "We managed to get Jeremy out alive. It's finally over."
Once again looking towards the direction to which the car had disappeared with its dangerous cargo, William found himself wondering. "Is it?"
Aaron didn't respond, instead gave him a pat on the back and walked back towards where the officers, Derek, Emily and David were securing the house and interviewing Jeremy. In a few moments William followed, trying to ignore the disturbing feeling that there was someone watching him.
Considering how exceptional of a serial killer Foyet was, the end of it all was anti-climatic to say the least. Foyet was taken away. EMTs made a full checkup on Jeremy before the man was allowed to go and spend the night at his friend's place, to move on and share his story. Foyet would face his trial eventually. The families of his victims would finally have a peace of mind. The BAU-team would do a load of paperwork to wrap things up. It was basically all over.
Only, as Derek entered the police station he realized that it wasn't quite over yet.
Spencer was sitting in the station's break room with a tense, distraught look on his face, trembling so badly that Derek could see it. It wasn't very hard to figure out that the young man had probably never left the station since the team headed after Foyet.
He shivered a little upon feeling a hand on his shoulder. Glancing to side he discovered Emily who was looking at him with demanding eyes. "Go. Talk to him." Her authoritative tone suggested that she'd spent far too much time with Aaron. Derek made a mental note to point it out to her later. "And make damn sure you both get some proper rest. I'm going to the hotel before I fall asleep standing up."
At that moment Derek felt something foreign to him. Fear. Fear of what, he had no idea. He frowned. "What about paperwork?"
Emily rolled her eyes before they narrowed. "Just go. For both your sakes."
Derek's eyes strayed back towards Spencer. The brunet must've been deep in thought because the man still hadn't noticed him. It would've been the easiest thing in the world to turn around and head to the hotel, to let Aaron or William do all the explaining to Spencer.
Too bad Derek had never grown used to taking the easy way out.
Spencer didn't know what he was waiting for. A sign of sorts, perhaps – that feeling inside from fictional books. But the truth was that he didn't feel anything but panic and confusion until Derek stood by the breakroom's doorway once more. There was a loudly speaking look on the dark skinned man's face. Spencer tried to stand up but for some reason his feet wouldn't function the way he would've wanted.
"Well?" he demanded in a tight voice. He needed to hear it before he'd be able to believe it.
Derek nodded, seemed to come close to smiling. "It's over, Spencer. Foyet's been arrested. Jeremy is safe."
For the longest time Spencer stared at the older man, trying to grasp on the emotions he knew he should've been feeling. Such as relief. Such as happiness. But for one reason or another other things flowed over.
With his mind's eye he saw all those roses – just like he saw the pictures of all those victims.
He felt George's kiss – just as easily as he felt the man drugging him in the shower.
He felt George inside him – and of course, perhaps even more clearly, he felt the mark the man had left on his shoulder.
He fought back a retch, one of his hands instinctively reaching out to scratch the mark on his shoulder although he knew very well it wouldn't go anywhere. George wouldn't go anywhere.
He felt Derek's eyes on him and shivered. He'd never liked being stared at. "Are you okay?" the agent inquired in the end.
Spencer nodded a bit too sharply and licked his lips. "I'm fine." He couldn't have this particular conversation with Derek. He wasn't ready to open himself up this way, especially when he didn't know…
They were quiet for the longest time, neither quite knowing what to say. "Can I give you a ride home?" Derek inquired quietly in the end.
They looked at each other, knowing full well where this was going. They were both shook up, vulnerable. If Derek would take him home the man would offer to spend the night and Spencer wouldn't be able to refuse. Then…
The sound of the room's door opening startled them both. Derek jumped further from him like the agent had been doing something forbidden as William peered in, a slightly cautious look on his face. "Spencer, can I… give you a ride? We need to talk."
Spencer weighed down his options, and in the end chose the less dangerous one. "Yeah", he breathed out, feeling a quiver inside him. "Let's go." While putting on his jacket with unsteady hands he glanced back towards Derek once more. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Derek nodded slowly, appearing slightly dazed. "Yeah… See you tomorrow."
And so Spencer left, feeling the eyes on him as he went.
He and Derek didn't sleep that night.
The following morning Derek woke up with a sore back from the about twenty minutes of sleep he'd managed to have on the hotel room's couch. He glanced towards the clock on his cell phone and groaned.
Ten past six. Since when had he started waking up early?
Since Spencer sneaked into his head, he concluded, deciding to take a cold shower to regain at least some sanity before he'd have to face anyone else.
By the time he made it the station he was a bit more surprised than he should've been to discover that he wasn't the first one to arrive. A frown appeared to his face when he saw Aaron, Spencer and William emerging from the older Reid's office. It bothered him a lot more than it should've to discover that Spencer looked even more exhausted than he felt. "Is… everything okay?" he inquired.
Aaron nodded, something Derek didn't like hiding in his eyes. 'We need to talk', was the unvoiced message. "We just had a discussion over some arrangements. Spencer will be coming to Quantico with us."
For the longest time Derek honestly thought he was still sleeping and dreaming. As reality dawned it felt like a bucket of ice cold water had been poured on him and his breath caught into his throat. "Oh." Oh fuck…
Spencer didn't seem any more comfortable with the revelation than he was. The brunet actually fidgeted with anxiety. "I… The thing is, I… I don't think I can live in Vegas anymore. I need to leave, at least for a while. And now… I've got the chance to do that."
Derek blinked thrice, feeling dangerously lightheaded. "So you just… leave everything?" He hoped his tone wasn't as sharp and accusative as he feared. After all Spencer wasn't doing anything wrong. It wasn't Spencer's fault that…
Spencer nodded stiffly. "For a while." The attempt of a smile didn't turn out quite right. "It's high time for me to leave Vegas."
They all but stared at each other, a million unvoiced words coursing in the short distance between them. Derek hoped from the bottom of his heart that they would've been alone, that there would've been a chance to talk. But even if there had been, would he have been ready?
"Morgan." If it wasn't for Aaron's voice Derek had no idea how long his mind might've been floating around. The unit chief's face appeared even tighter than usual. "Could you take Spencer to his apartment, so he can take care of the preparations? Then come back so we'll get the paperwork done."
Derek nodded slowly, still feeling like he'd been floating in a dream. Although there would've been a million things to talk through Spencer and he didn't speak a word until they made it to his rental car. Talking would've been too dangerous.
It wasn't until they'd been driving for five minutes Spencer spoke quietly. "Could you…?" The genius bit his lips. "I know you're busy, but… Could you take me somewhere, before my apartment?" There was naked despair in the younger man's voice and eyes. "It… wouldn't take long."
Derek nodded, his heart making moves that felt uncomfortable. "Sure." Saying 'no' was becoming far too difficult.
Spencer gave him the address and the direction, after which it became quiet. The kind of quiet that made the sounds of the vehicle deafeningly loud. And Derek couldn't help wondering what he was getting himself into.
Spencer's heart raced as Derek and he had almost reached their destination.
He'd always done this alone. He didn't know what the hell he'd been thinking when asking the agent to give him a ride.
Well, it was too late already. They were there.
Spencer waited with a baited breath, not daring to look towards Derek. He didn't want to see the rejection.
It took a lifetime before he heard Derek's barely audible words. "A… sanitarium?" The look darted his way was more demanding and worried than repulsed which probably should've calmed him down a little bit. "Why did you want to come here?"
Spencer would've given a lot if he'd had the courage to reveal the truth but his tongue became tied. Instead he gulped, then climbed out of the vehicle like it'd burned. "Wait here, okay?" He didn't like how desperate his voice sounded. "I'll be back in a bit." And so he left, trying to ignore how much he would've wanted to go back and…
She's had a haircut, was the next coherent thought that entered Spencer's buzzing head.
Spencer wasn't aware of the doctor stood beside him until the man spoke. "She's… been having a rough day today. She's been refusing medication. I'm afraid I can only give you five minutes."
Spencer nodded, feeling cold and sick all over. Maybe this was a horrible idea, after all – this visit, moving out of Vegas… "Okay", he breathed out. "Thank you." So saying he began to approach the woman sitting on a couch not too far away, deciding to make what he could of those five short minutes.
The woman shivered when he sat beside her and looked at him with wide, mistrusting eyes, almost dropping the book she'd been reading. It took all Spencer had to smile. "Hi mom."
Diana Reid stared at him for a moment, then smiled before her face became serious once more. "Spencer? What's wrong? I can tell something's bothering you."
He swallowed, fighting the urge to break down into tears. She needed him to be the strong one of the two of them. "I… Mom, I have to go away for a while, okay? So it'll take a while before I can visit you again. But… But I'll be fine. There's just something I need to deal with."
For a moment his mom simply stared at him. Then something he'd grown all too used to since his childhood burst through. "They're taking you away, aren't they? They're trying to get to you!" They got up at the exact same time, as though they'd been in a heated argument. She started pulling her hair, tears seeping from her flaming eyes. "I'm not letting them hurt my son! I'm not letting them take you from me!"
Out of the corner of his eye Spencer saw a couple of nurses approaching her. Instead of relief he felt a hurricane of nausea, disappointment and guilt. As soon as the nurses got to her he turned away from his mom with most likely visible reluctance, his head spinning a million miles per hour and his eyes stinging like there'd been acid in them.
He should've known better than this, damnit!
Spencer turned, and saw Derek. His eyes flew wide.
Upon leaving his car Derek had decided to be subtle. Easy in, easy out. He'd satisfy his twisted curiosity and slip out before Spencer would ever have to know.
He should've known there were no easy outs with Spencer.
It took the longest time before Spencer managed to make his way to him and he could see reluctance written all over the younger man's face. The brunet swallowed loudly. "I… You were supposed to wait in the car."
Derek had a feeling that he should've apologized but somehow he couldn't. Instead his eyes strayed towards the woman who was fighting the nurses, screaming words that didn't make any sense to him. His stomach knotted. "Is… she your mom?"
Spencer twitched like he'd just hurt the man physically and looked away, then nodded slowly. The genius licked his lips. "She's been here since… since I was eighteen."
It took a long moment before things clicked together in Derek's sleep deprived mind. He nearly winced. Shit…! It took some thought to gather the words. "I can only imagine how hard it was, but… You did the right thing, you know? You did it because you care about her. This is where she gets the best possible care."
Spencer didn't appear as convinced when the man nodded, attempting to smile and failing.
Derek was glad Spencer had his back towards his mom, that the brunet didn't see how two nurses closed in on the woman and gave her an injection despite her heated protests, how they had to fight her, how they escorted her away while her legs barely supported her weight. Derek was glad Spencer didn't see although he had a feeling the younger man had, far more times than he liked to imagine.
Testingly, subtly, Derek took a step closer and wrapped one arm around Spencer's unstable shoulders. He preferred not thinking of how well it seemed to fit. "C'mon", he murmured. "Let's go."
They didn't speak on their way back to the car. It wasn't until they sat down and the doors had been closed to the rest of the world, to the reality outside the vehicle, Derek finally found the voice to utter words. "Thank you, for trusting me with this."
The tiny, sad smile that appeared to Spencer's face broke his heart. "I've… never really had anyone to trust this with before."
All of a sudden Derke was far too aware of certain facts.
Of how close to Spencer he was sitting. Of how his hand had at some point taken a hold of the brunet's. Of how very little he wanted to get out of the situation.
And before Derek could stop it the beast inside took over.
Spencer's heart thumped in his throat as the other man leaned closer, the dark skinned man's body language leaving nothing to be questioned. Strong fingers made their way right through his hair, both determinedly and awkwardly. And although he was horrified Spencer found his own body responding, leaning just a little bit closer. Derek's forehead was rested against his and the agent breathed loudly, eyes closed and trembling like he'd been scared out of his mind.
The kiss came quickly, like an ambush of some sort, and Spencer actually emitted a sound of startle before his lips reacted automatically.
And then he saw George Foyet, right before his eyes.
Spencer wasn't sure which one of them pulled away first but all of a sudden they were sitting as far from each other as the vehicle allowed, staring directly ahead and breathing erratically.
Spencer counted that the silence had continued for two minutes and twenty-seven seconds before he spoke in a tiny, child like voice. He cleared his throat and licked his lips. "We should go, now." He felt like an idiot, which was quite an accomplishment for someone with the IQ of 187.
Derek nodded slowly, a bizarre dazed look in his eyes. "Yeah. We should." With that the agent started the car. Neither spoke as they drove off.
Derek didn't know what strings Aaron and David pulled to get Spencer into the team's jet and suspected he was happier that way. How things ended there, however, was quite insignificant in comparison to the situation at hand.
Derek had always been a confident person. But being in the extremely confined space with Spencer made him feel like there'd been a rope wrapped around his neck and a bomb ticking in the place of his heart. The events in the car flashed through his mind, blurring together with their one night of passion, their kiss in the elevator and very unwanted memories of Carl Buford.
What the hell was he supposed to do with Spencer when everything inside him was torn in two, when the dangerous option ahead of him was alluring and absolutely horrifying at the same time?
This was not his thing – men were not his thing. He wasn't supposed to feel these… urges.
But he did. And just one look at the way Spencer's eyes strayed towards him time after time and how the brunet shuddered whenever he was near revealed that he wasn't alone.
The flight had lasted for nearly a lifetime when Derek found himself emerging from the toilet for the tenth time, musing that if his teammates were paying any attention to his actions they were bound to become suspicious. In an instant he saw that Spencer was practically fidgeting on the seat the brunet had taken as soon as he'd walked into the jet, subtly just a slight distance away from the team. At that moment Derek knew that they'd have to talk.
Derek stood there for a moment, evaluating the situation. Aaron was writing something in a far corner of the jet, most likely already preparing a report. David and JJ were fast asleep, and it looked like Emily wasn't too far from oblivion. Spencer, however, was wide awake, reading a book although it looked like his concentration was a million miles away.
This could be his only chance. And so he braced himself.
Spencer's eyes widened slightly when the man lifted his gaze from the book to find him. "Hey." The man cleared his throat and looked away once more. "So, uh… About the…"
While taking a seat beside the younger man Derek shook his head quickly, as though trying to shake off a horrible nightmare. "I didn't handle the situation like I should've, and I'm sorry." He scratched his scalp, wondering how in the world he was supposed to work through this one. It was never this complicated with women. "You just showed me something that required a huge amount of trust and I…" He fumbled for words for a moment before uttering the honest, naked truth. "I screwed up." Spencer was not ready, not after the turmoil with Foyet. As for himself, Derek didn't know what the fuck he was or wasn't. What he did…
"Morgan." The soft tone cut all his self pitying thoughts, made his crashland back into reality. Spencer wasn't smiling but there was something in his eyes that made Derek feel warm all over. "I'm… still glad I trusted you."
Derek was powerless against the smile that creeped to his lips. "Thank you."
They said nothing further. Both feeling at least remotely more relaxed they focused on their own thoughts, all the stress from the past few days taking its toll on them. On the spur of the moment Derek found one of his arms wrapping almost protectively around Spencer. The genius stiffened but succumbed to his touch after a moment. For the moment all was calm.
Derek had absolutely no idea of what he was doing. It looked like he never had a lot of reason in his head when it came to Spencer. He did know, however, that this was what he wanted to do. Maybe feeling like he was out of his mind wasn't such a bad thing, after all.
Lulled into something like peace by that conclusion Derek drifted into sleep, pretending that he didn't notice how Spencer's head slipped to rest against his shoulder as the younger man went under as well.
Neither of them would ever know that only an inch from sleep Emily cracked one eye open to see them. With a tiny smile on her face she took a more comfortable position and allowed her mind to become foggy.
Evening had already stretched far and prison guard Rex Anderson, who'd just celebrated his thirty-fourth birthday, was gradually falling asleep on duty when the unmistakable sounds of high heels alerted him. Looking up he found his eyebrow bouncing up while his brown eyes widened ever so slightly.
The very, very young woman approaching him had long, blond hair and the biggest dark brown eyes he'd ever seen. The black shirt and tiny red skirt she was wearing left absolutely nothing to be questioned. His heart raced, then almost exploded when she smiled at him.
"Hi. My name is Jane Smith." He couldn't recognize her accent, which was weird. Usually he was good with accents. "I'm here to see George Foyet."
Rex arched an eyebrow.
Trust a psychopath to catch the finest girls…
"I'm afraid he's not allowed visitors yet, sugar", he answered in a sickeningly sweet tone, leaning closer to her. "But is there anything else I can do for you?"
Another smile made his most private parts harden. With a very elegant motion she pulled out a tiny piece of paper and handed it towards him. "Could you give this to him? Maybe it'll cheer him up a little bit."
"Yeah, I'll give this to him", he promised. He glanced towards the surveillance camera, knowing well that he was working against strict protocol. "But you owe me for this, Jane. What are you willing to do to return the favor?"
No good girl could've given him the look she did then, or whispered the words she delivered into his ear that turned beat red. He didn't manage to even flinch before she'd already walked away.
Several moments later he finally remembered the note in his hand. Curiosity taking over he folded it open to see the words.
'Happy birthday, sweetie.
Love,
Your very own angel'
He stared at the paper for the longest time. "That's weird", he managed in the end. Weird, but nothing suspicious in his book. He groaned loudly, his private member throbbing with discontentment, and began to make his way towards Foyet's cell.
She'd better fulfill her promise. He wasn't planning on risking his job for nothing.
In his own, tiny prison cell George Foyet let only his eyes move as the door screeched upon being opened. The guard who entered in looked like the walk to his cell had been the hardest job he'd ever done. "Someone left you a note", the man announced in a audibly annoyed tone, letting a piece of paper fall to the floor like it'd been a piece of trash. "Try not to get yourself killed with or anything, alright? My shift's almost over." With those words the man left.
It wasn't until he could be sure the guard was gone Foyet allowed himself to make his way to the note and give it a look. As soon as he read the words a chilling smirk appeared to his face.
It was time to get out.
Sometimes Aaron Hotchner had a quite unpleasant ability to sense when something was badly wrong. That morning such a hunch was rising in the back of his head as he entered his office, barely even noticing that the sun hadn't showed up yet.
As soon as he'd taken a seat his cell phone started ringing. He picked up although he was already dreading what he'd hear. "Agent Hotchner."
"This is chief Reid. I decided to call you as soon as I found out." William's voice was so tight it almost broke, filled with terror and something beyond. There was a long pause. "Foyet… He escaped a few hours ago."
TBC, no?
A/N: So yeah, okay, we all knew it was coming, but still… (groans) CRAP! We'll see just where things escalate after this one…
PLEASE, leave a note! This story just had a near death experience so let it know if you're still feeling love for it, yeah? (gives puppy's eyes) It'd make me insanely happy (figuratively speaking, I hope…).
IN THE NEXT ONE, in case you're still on board: Time has passed but things are far from calm. Reid and Morgan reach their boiling point, which leads to something neither of them expected. Meanwhile, Foyet is creeping towards his goal. But who is the young woman helping him?
Oh yeah, and since some of you have been asking… In the next chapter I'm plannin on reuniting Reid with his violin. (grins)
I really, truly hope I'll see ya guys later.
Take care!
Winter Cicada: LOL! (howls with laughter) Not quite yet, hun. Dang, I'm excited to me back!
I'm absolutely thrilled to hear you were pleased with the long awaited chapter! (jumps with joy) And, I'm happy to announce that YES, VERY soon we'll see more of Spencer with his violin. I'm been really looking forward to writing such a scene. (smirks)
Massive thank yous for the review! Perhaps we'll be typing again soon…?
Katsakura: It means the world to me to hear that, ya know? (grins from ear to ear)
Colossal thank yous for the review! 'Hope the next one won't disappoint.
Nicolethecrazyone: Oh no! (winces and hugs) I'm glad to hear I was able to make you feel at least a tiny bit better. Calculus bites. (groans)
Huge thank yous for the review!
Until next time!
