One review last chapter? Give me something to work with, guys. Thanks to Sgdp1261, you're a legend. :)

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X

February 14th

Although he'd dealt with more broken-hearted people than he could count on both hands, he'd never mastered the art of dealing with them. Sometimes he'd offer them tea, which was invariably too hot or too bitter; sometimes he'd try to reassuringly rub their shoulders, but he'd usually get his hand caught in their hair. So now he just sits there, watching her, wondering what to say.

"Tragic love story, isn't it?" Spencer asks scathingly. At first he thinks she's mocking him, but then he realizes that isn't the case. She's mocking herself. "Being in love with someone who you know will never love you back. You get together, you think you'll be okay. You think, hey, maybe this will be my happy ending. But it's not. There are no happy endings."

He opens his mouth to protest, to tell her that there are happy endings, but he can think of absolutely none. He closes his mouth again.

"So you dated for a while," he says instead. "But you're not dating now?"

She tilts her head, looking at him almost quizzically. She's probably wondering why he isn't trying to comfort her, he realizes. He feels like he should offer an apology or an explanation.

"No, we're not."

She doesn't give any more information. McDonald thinks that he might have pushed too hard. She's retreating back into herself, her eyes becoming slightly unfocused. She goes back to trying to rub the blood off her hands, which is probably a futile task.

"Spencer?" he says tentatively.

She doesn't acknowledge him, and he curses himself for rushing her. He may have just blown any chances of her opening up.

"Spencer, I'm going to leave you alone for a few minutes," he says, closing his folder and slowly standing up. "It might give you some time to…"

He doesn't know how to finish the sentence, so he lets it trail off. Then he gives her a sympathetic smile that she doesn't notice, and exits. Outside Delaney is waiting for him.

"We've got an ID on the victim," Delaney says as they start walking down the hall. "His name was Mason Winters. Sound familiar?"

McDonald shakes his head. "Never heard of him."

"Yeah, well, he's got a bit of a record." Delaney hands him a thick folder and watches as he starts flicking through it. "He's a pretty nasty guy. If you ask me, he's better off dead."

McDonald is about to say something about how no one deserves to be dead, but then he reads a line in the file that makes his blood run cold. "Did he really -"

"He never confessed, but yeah, he did," Delaney answers.

The detective glances at Spencer, who's running her hands up and down her arms, like she's cold or nervous or both. She looks so small, so frail. It doesn't seem like she's capable of killing anyone… but then again, people aren't always what they appear.

"If it were up to me we wouldn't be locking her up," McDonald says, re-reading the rap sheet. "We'd be thanking her instead."

X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X