There was a knock at the door suddenly, interrupting the spell. Spencer stood, quickly, going to the door and peeking out the peep hole. He opened it half a second later. Hotch came in, looking more gruff than usual.
Zoe sat back on the bed, shrinking slightly. Hotch set the folder on the desk.
"You've interacted with this man before, Zoe." he said sternly.
"What?" she said.
"What are you talking about?" Spencer quipped.
"You just don't remember it." he said. "I just now saw the sexual assault charge on your record. It was probably him."
"Oh," she said softly. "no, it was definitely not him."
Spencer's chest tightened as he saw the fear slip back into Zoe's eyes.
"Is there possible there's a connection between them at all?" he asked.
"Unless he was a year old when he murdered and kidnapped these women, no it's not the same person. It was a guy I went to high school with, I highly doubt they are connected." she said. Her voice had gone flat; gone was the flirtatious hilt, or the poetic tune that was present while she spoke to Spencer. Now it was flat, dull.
"What was his name?"
"Mike LaBoerelle." she replied coolly.
He wrote it down quickly. "We'll look into it, I'm sorry to bring this up so suddenly, it's just really important in case they're somehow connected. Sometimes stalkers can use third parties to lash out at a victim, start their fear early."
"Okay." she said.
He turned to Spencer. "Nothing unusual?" he asked. Spencer shook his head.
"It's all been fine. We've just been laying low."
"Alright." Hotch said. "Keep me in the loop."
Once Hotch was gone, Zoe was quiet. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and picked up the remote. Spencer sat down on the bed again.
"I'm sorry...I don't think he realized-"
"It's okay, Spencer." she said. "It's not a problem. It was a long time ago."
"How old were you?" he said gently.
"15. Not the most romantic way to lose your virginity, y'know? In a janitor's closet." she said, and then cleared her throat.
"I'm sorry." he said. "I really am, for everything. Nobody should have to lose so much so suddenly."
She shrugged. "Guess it sets me up Karma-wise for the rest of my life. Get it all out of the way in half a year. Que e a vida." She said in Portuguese.
"Are you fluent?" he asked.
"Yes. Well, sort of. Out of practice. My mother taught me growing up. She'd say something in English and I'd have to respond in Portuguese. She called me 'meu brilho', 'my glow'." she said. Her eyes were somewhere else. After a moment she shook her head.
"What's your mom like?" she asked. "You said she taught literature."
"Did. She currently lives in a mental hospital. She has severe schizophrenia." he said with a slight frown.
"Oh Spencer..." she began.
"It's alright. It's actually hereditary, which was scary for a while, but I'm past the point of danger now, or so they say." he shrugged, leaning back on his pillows.
"What a life this is." she sighed. She climbed off the bed, and then paused. "I got up to change into something more comfortable, and then realized.." she trailed off, and slumped back onto the mattress. "I guess it's a chance to update my wardrobe." she said bitterly, and Spencer laughed.
"Looking on the bright side." he stood up and went to the corner, where his small travel bag was. He poked through it for a second, and then pulled out a blue, longsleeved button up shirt. "Here, it's all I've got, unless you want to wear my e=mc2 shirt that has a coffee stain on the back, instead."
"No, this is great, actually." she smiled at him, taking the shirt. It was surprisingly soft, where most dress shirt's she'd seen or felt had been starchy or dry. "Be back in a second." she said, before she disappeared into the bathroom.
Reid took the moment alone to switch into his own pajamas, a black pair of flannel bottoms he'd got years before, and the same e=mc2 shirt aforementioned, a gift from Garcia. He slipped out his contacts, a process that without fail, always gave him shivers, and found his glasses in a side pocket of the bag.
The bathroom door opened and he turned around right as he slipped on his glasses. Into view came Zoe, who'd tied up her wavy dark hair into a bun, and changed into Reid's shirt, which fit her so the hem rested halfway down her thigh.
"I might keep this." she said. "It is shockingly comfortable."
"Well, I practically live in those things, so I don't skimp on the fabric softener."
She crawled over the bed and kicked at the sheets so she could wiggle under. Spencer watched, amused. He caught the slightest glimpse of lavender lace trimmed underwear, and spun around, returning to his duffel bag and collecting one of the books inside. He also set his gun on his bedside table.
"God, I don't think I've ever been this tired." she said, leaning back and pressing herself into the pillows. Her eyes were still open, watching the news. The story changed, and onto the screen flashed her house, being consumed with flames.
A local woman's house today was burnt to the ground by an apparent arsonist.
They both sat up, Zoe put a hand over her mouth.
Zoe Martin, a local university student, came out recently to reveal that the feared 90's serial killer, The Red Wing killer, has returned. Experts believe that this fire, in fact, was set by the man in question.
More shots of Zoe's burning house and the crowd around it played as details of the murders were being explained. Zoe made a sudden shriek, and pointed at the TV.
"That was him! That was him!" she said. "In front of my house. In the crowd. Can you rewind?" she picked up the remote and fiddled with it, and then rewound the footage. After a moment, a shot of the small crowd gathered in front of the house appeared, and she paused. She crawled across the bed and stood. "Right there, him." she announced.
"Who?"
"That's Mike LaBoerelle. He was there." she whispered. "I can't believe it."
Spencer dialed his phone as fast as he could.
A/N: Alright, folks! Chapter 8 done. A couple small announcements - a) I changed the story cover because I finally found a better model for Zoe, thank goodness, so it's fixed accordingly. And b) I commissioned my friend and very talented artist to do some fanart for me, so very soon there will be some really awesome images of Spencer and Zoe for the next part in this series. I really hope you're all enjoying this, please review, I LOVE feedback:) Thanks for reading!