Chapter Twelve

A/N- Unfortunately, I have had a sporadic case of writers' block, so… sorry if this chapter is not good. I am going to continue it, but I am going to BS until I come up with a way to end it. But I hope it will be good BS.

Spencer closed his eyes, ignoring the pain in his back. It was far less painful than the pain in his heart. He had sent his best friend and her idols to their deaths. He was as responsible for their deaths as if he had set the fire that killed them.

"Miss- Officer Willow, what's Spencer like?" Asked Inspector Hopkins, wanting a description of his relative. He had asked me to come to his office alone.

I paused, a wave of sadness washing over me. Would I ever see him again? "He's… will be… loyal. Funny. Hard working and fun-loving at the same time. He has a strong sense of fairness and right and wrong. That sense of justice is what prompted him to join the force. But it can also cause him to… go overboard sometimes. Once I was hurt while on duty. It was a thief, a common criminal. When he saw us coming, he panicked. Fired his gun. One of the bullets nicked the side of my head." I pull aside my hair to show him the scar. As I continued to tell the story, I let my hair fall back down over my head, concealing the scar. "I fell. I… I only remember vague fleeting… impressions… of that incident. It was the first time either of us had been injured while in the presence of the other. I remember feeling something wet dripping down the side of my head, soaking my hair. When I touched it and my hand came away red, I knew I had been hurt. I was prepared to die then. I did not know how badly I had been hurt. I remember a roar of pure rage. I felt more than heard it was Spencer. There was another person with us, a rookie. That rookie, Reggie Dayton, had the presence of mind to keep pressure on my head, yet I still blacked out. When I came back to consciousness, I was in a hospital. I heard Spencer talking- arguing- with other officers.

"'…Wade, you are on shaky ground-"'

"Officer Brady, Riley had been hurt. I thought she had been killed! I admit I was acting a bit extremely, but I thought my best friend was… had been… …I thought she was gone, Brady! I thought she was gone!" The grief in his voice was intense. But Hopkins, it was his next words that would remain imprinted in my mind forever. "'However… I had no intention of killing him."

As Riley closes the shackles around the criminal, Spencer begins to read him his Miranda Rights.

"You have a right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in the court of law. You have a right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, the state will provide one for you…"

Spencer wakes up with a jolt. As he remembers his dream, he wonders if he will ever see Riley again.