It was finally time for Rosemary to leave the hospital room that had become her home in the past few days. Her apartment door had been fixed, to her relief, and her mother had indeed picked up some clothes for her to change into since her previous outfit had been bagged as evidence. At least her mother had thought to bring leggings instead of jeans for bottoms, considering trying to pull tight denim over her leg would hurt like nothing else. Her mother had also nabbed one of her favourite sweaters, and as Rosemary stood in the bathroom she rubbed the soft sleeve against her cheek, staring into the mirror at her own reflection. She was also incredible grateful for the mascara and tinted lip gloss her mother had brought her, missing having some colour in her face. She looked a lot better than she had on day one.

As she stepped out of the bathroom, she was surprised to see Spencer in the room, the two of them alone. She hadn't seen him since he'd disappeared the night before, and she was dying to ask why he'd left. But she didn't want to seem desperate or clingy, so she instead cleared her throat and asked something more reasonable.

"So, if I'm going back to my place, who's going to be guarding me after all?"

The agent raised his hand, smiling awkwardly. "That would be me."

She stared at him in contemplation, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"Why are you acting so different?" she pried, arms crossed over the soft fabric of her sweater.

"Different? I'm not acting different."

"Yes, you are," she accused more pointedly this time. "What did Agent Morgan say to you? Is that why you left last night so suddenly?"

Reid seemed, for once in his life, dumbfounded by the barrage of questions. He appeared to figure that it would spare him a lot of trouble to just tell the truth.

"Yes," he dragged out, licking his lips nervously. "He said... well, it was stupid, not worth discussing."

"What?" she insisted, coming closer. He stepped back subconsciously and her heart throbbed like it had been punched.

"He... well, he told me I was getting too close and to be careful," the tall agent relayed, not meeting her questioning eyes.

"Well- are you?" she asked, having plucked up the courage to be forward. He finally allowed himself to look at her, his mouth opening though no words came out.

"I don't know," he admitted, hazel eyes focused intently on deep brown hues.

Rosemary didn't know what to say. Her courage had only gotten her so far. And now she was too frightened to say anything that might be more revealing than she wanted.

"You ready, sweetie?" Mrs. Lennox peeked her head in the door.

"Yeah, we're coming," Rosemary said, gazing past Reid and shooting her mother a fake smile. She then brushed past him, walking straight for the door. Reid whirled around, mouth open again as if he wanted to say something else, but he decided against it and instead strode after her.

"At least they fixed the door," Rosemary muttered as she let herself and Spencer into her tiny place, setting her keys on the kitchen counter as soon as they walked in.

The agent shut and locked the door behind them, taking a look around the place he had not yet encountered. It was modestly furnished, simple- but he could see elements of Rosemary everywhere. From the stacks of books to the scattered school papers and pastel blankets- it was all her.

"Do you want something to drink?" Rosemary asked as she entered the kitchen.

"Water, thanks," Reid replied, slightly distracted as he walked around, his eyes roaming the book covers and papers.

He stopped when he saw a photo on the table in a frame, bending slightly to look closer. Rosemary approached warily, catching onto the redirection of his attention. She set the two glasses of waters down on the coffee table, taking a seat and waiting for him to notice her.

"Sorry," he quickly apologized, tearing his eyes away from the image of her and a male he had never seen before, hugging in what appeared to be a wonderland of snow.

"Is that your boyfriend?"

Rosemary blushed a deep red, immediately shaking her head 'no'. Reid sat beside her, taking his glass of water and sipping some as she came up with an answer.

"That was my best friend in high school," she explained, interlocking her fingers in her lap. "My only friend."

Reid eyebrows tugged together in guilt for asking. Rosemary lowered her gaze, speaking as she picked at the fibers of her sweater.

"His name was Dev. He asked to borrow a book from me freshman year and that's how our friendship began."

Reid stared in silence as she spoke, his big hazel eyes full of solemn realization.

"People can be so awful," she whispered, her lips quivering. "He had everything going for him. Top of our class, right above me- we used to joke about knocking each other down to second ranking every time we got grades back."

She swallowed a hard lump in her throat and forced herself to look at her companion, eyes shining.

"He committed suicide right before graduation."

"I'm sorry," Spencer said quietly.

"Me too," Rosemary mumbled before breathing in deeply, running her fingers through her roots.

Spencer hesitated before adding, "My girlfriend was killed right in front of me."

Rosemary's eyes slowly found their way back to his, her breath caught in her throat. Though he seemed to have control over his emotions, as he spoke again his voice was thicker.

"Everything got mixed up and she wasn't supposed to be involved..."

Something inside of him snapped and he swallowed hard.

"And then she was dead. You think you can save everyone you care about, no matter what..."

"-But you can't," Rosemary interjected, both of them staring at the floor. "Not always, anyway."

A silence filled the room.

"Do you mind if I do some work?" Rosemary asked shakily, breaking the quiet. "I'm a few days behind now and I have some research to get back to."

"No, please," Spencer broke out of his trance, briefly smiling and gesturing for her to go on. "Just think of me as a home security system. You'll barely even know I'm here."

Well, that wasn't true, Rosemary thought. In fact, it was quite the opposite- she could feel him everywhere she went now, and it affected her every thought and action.

"We've got borders secure and every man and woman we have in state law enforcement is out looking for this guy," JJ remarked as she and the rest of the team left the conference room. "There's no way he'll make it out of the state before someone turns him in."

"Let's just hope so," Hotch muttered. "We haven't been alerted of any new crime scene yet, but there's no telling what might happen as more time passes."

"There could be one more thing that could give us some clues," Blake suggested, turning as facing the group as they halted in the main room.

"What?" Hotch asked, eyes darting to the brunette.

"We talk to Rosemary and see if there's any way we can retrace her steps to find the place she was held captive," she suggested, crossing her arms. "She said there was a camera in there watching her and that was how she communicated to him. Maybe we find out what computer the camera is hooked up to... we're way ahead of the game."

"Good thinking, I'll give Reid a heads up," Hotch nodded. "We should get going now to pick them up."

Rosemary had gotten up from the sofa to retrieve her laptop from her room. But as she searched around, she was unable to locate the device.

"Is there a laptop out there?" she called from her room. Spencer scanned the room, looking on the side of the couch and under the papers on the table.

"Nope, nothing here," he called back. But he quickly got distracted by the loose papers on the table, picking one up to start reading. In no time he was halfway through the paper mess, his eyes running at top speed down the pages.

"That's odd," she said as she re-entered the room, looking somewhat frustrated. "Maybe my mom moved it or something- oh, don't read those!"

Her panicked tone surprised Spencer, who looked up from the paper in his hand with confused eyes.

"Why not?"

"It's not good, really, I just don't think-"

"What are you talking about? This is incredibly well-thought out, the ideas are clearly and astutely presented... this is one of the most amazing dissertations I've read."

"You're just trying to be nice," Rosemary shook her head, abashed as she stood before him.

"Rosemary, don't put yourself down," he suddenly said, his voice more forceful than she was used to. "I wouldn't lie about how intelligent you are. You're an amazing person with an even more amazing mind. What is there to lie about?"

Rosemary stood wide-eyed, not sure what to say. Reid seemed suddenly aware of how passionate his words might have come off, and immediately his face relaxed.

"I'm sorry," he murmured. Before she could respond, his cell phone rang. Reid gave her an apologetic look before picking up.

"Hey," he greeted into the phone. He listened intently for the next few seconds, nodding and glancing at Rosemary. "We'll be ready to go."
He hung up, and Rosemary gazed enigmatically at him.

"Ready to go where? Is it about my dad?"

"Not entirely. They want to find the warehouse you were held captive in and see if we can obtain anything from the camera."
Rosemary's heart sunk doubly, mainly at the thought of having to return to the hellhole she'd woken up in, and also at the fact there was still no word on her father. It had only been one day, but she knew that statistically, if he was being held against his will (as she and her mother believed despite the FBI), he wouldn't last much longer.

"Are you going to be okay?" Spencer asked, stepping forward in concern.

"Yeah," she blinked, feigning a nonplussed smile, though her body language conveyed discomfort.

"I'll be right by your side for this, you have nothing to worry about."

Rosemary looked into his eyes and knew that will all of her mind- and heart- she could trust him.