Dark Academia- Spencer Reid

Chapter 5

Time felt incredibly sped up, yet so slow all at once for Spencer. This case was difficult beyond compare; twelve children over three weeks had gone missing. It seemed to the whole team found child abduction and murder cases to be exceedingly more emotionally degrading than adult cases. However, they found that it affected Spencer the most. With an affinity for children, and a rough childhood himself, he became beyond emotionally invested, blaming himself for the children he couldn't save, rejoicing in the reunion of families for the kids that he could. But this case was a whole new breed; the team had been up for nearly three days straight, and with nearly no leads, it seemed that the agents would be up at least another 12 hours before they could consider rest.

Zena however found herself more anxious than usual. Perhaps it was the fact that finals were coming along and she had to synthesize over 500 questions for the four different classes she teaches, but there was the added stress of Spencer being out on a case. While they had only just become friends (if that's what you could even call it) she worried immensely for his safety. Not hearing from him at all made her inexplicably nervous, and after three days away she decided she would reach out first and text him. Even if she didn't get a response, she wanted him to know that she was thinking about him and is safety.

'Hey! Just checking in, making sure you're alright... well as good as you can be. Your car is getting lonely sitting idly in the parking lot. Not sure what the case is about, but I know that you've got this! Come home safely okay?'

Spencer was so preoccupied with creating a geographical profile in hopes of making a breakthrough that he almost didn't feel the smartphone buzz in his pocket. Thinking it was an important file emailed to him from Garica, he couldn't help but to rip the phone out of his pocket. However, he was delighted to see it was from Zena, and took a moment to smile and breathe, most importantly ground himself and give himself confidence. He knew that he could do it but seeing that she believed in him really made him feel confident.

The young genius didn't know if it was the confidence he received from the girl he had feelings for, or the fact that after working for 36 hours straight he gave his brain a twenty second break. But either way, he finally figured it out. The geographical profile was the key to finding the unsub. After examining the locations of the missing children, the houses made a really odd shape. However, when the map was flipped 180 degrees, and curvatures were drawn around the jagged parts, it created a heart. And at the precise center of the heart was the exact coordinates that the unsub was taking the children.

Before the team knew it they were on the jet heading back home. Everyone was ready for a well-deserved nap on the flight home. What everyone was even more excited for was the weekend started tomorrow, meaning that if all went according to plan, they could sleep in. Just as Spencer was beginning to nod off, he texted the girl that he believed helped him solve the case.

'Hey beautiful, thank you for checking in. If it weren't for your sweet message I don't think we would have been able to solve the case. I'm on the jet now, but I'll be back in about 4 hours. Can I make up for our interrupted date with takeout and a movie tonight?'

He was beyond nervous for her response. He was truly worried that after he cut their coffee date short, she wouldn't want anything to do with him. However, his anxiety was eased moments later with a very reassuring text message.

'Little old me solving the case? Now that is something you don't hear every day. As for dinner count me in! Take a nap, I'm excitingly waiting for your return!'

5 hours later the two were in Spencer's car clad in comfortable clothing, driving to Spencer's favorite Indian restaurant to pick up their food.

"You know, if it weren't for your text I don't think I would have been able to solve the case. You really helped me out."

"Im glad I could help. However, I'm still kind of confused on what I did. For sure I thought that texting you while you were working was against the rules but I'm glad it worked out," she said happily.

Before they knew it, the pair was back at Spencer's apartment. Walking through the front door, Zena was automatically in awe of the little space he called home. A beautiful apartment with built in bookshelves containing what looked like thousands of books stacked in them. Zena broke away from his hand to look at all of the copies of books that lined the walls, running her fingers along the broken spines of the soft cover books. She slightly smiled to herself for two reasons; one because she knew it meant that these books had been truly loved, but also because she did the same thing. After making a lap around the perimeter of the apartment she realized that there were even more books, stacks upon stacks in random places around the living room. Some were used as mini tables holding lamps, others had pieces of paper with scribbled words on them. This place was the physical manifestation of Spencer's personality.

After eating a copious amount of food the two resided to his couch, where they argued over what to watch. Spencer wanted to watch reruns of Dr.Who, to which Zena absolutely refused.

"Spencer, I am not going to watch that. I've tried it, It is so bad," the young professor ranted at him, her face turning bright red.

A fake gasp left his mouth. "You know Dr.Barbarge, you were the absolute perfect woman until those very words left your mouth. I'm almost thinking about kicking you out of my home," Spencer said laughing. However, Zena could only focus on the former part of the sentence.

"You think I'm perfect," she asked, staring down at her interlocked fingers, blushing profusely.

"Well yeah, I do. I think you're smart, beautiful, funny, and dedicated..." But before Spencer could finish his sentence, Zena had leaned in and kissed him. The kiss progressed further, Zena was now straddling Spencer their lips moving in perfect time. Both pulled away together smiling like absolute idiots.

The rest of the night carried on as usual. Lots of conversation about the books that filled their brains, lots of tv, and lots of food. However, as Spencer was going off on a rant, he started to realize a weight applied to his side. There, Zena was cuddled into his side fast asleep. She looked so peaceful when she slept, so instead of waking her up and taking her home, he detached her from his side, feeling emptiness without her touch. He slowly lifted her up and carried her into the bedroom placing her under the covers. He had decided that he would take the couch allowing her to sleep comfortably. However, just as he was about to shut the door he heard her tired voice.

"Spence, please stay."

"Anything for you Dr.Barbarage," he whispered kissing her forehead and sliding into bed with her.  Holding her as he fell into a peaceful sleep, one he hadn't experienced in years.