Innocent: Spencer Reid ✔️

{30} Everything I Wanted

t h i r t y . o n e
S p e n c e r
m a i l

The woman in the live stream had her ring finger sent to us, in a matter of hours. It didn't surprise any of us—aside from Avery. She couldn't even look. She's back to being silent, as she usually is when something bad is happening in the case. The case that's ruined her entire life. Whenever I'm not doing something, my mind wanders to what Avery told me on the rooftop. She can't have kids, they took that away from her. I've only thought about children a certain amount of times—and it would be nice to one day have a child, but bringing one into this world? There's not a chance.

If there was any way to just move to a different planet where everyone is nice and there's no such thing as serial killers, rapists or jackasses that are adamant on ruining lives, I would move and never look back.

"Hey." I mumble, my hand resting on the small of her back. She looks at me briefly, before she goes back to sorting the files.

"What are we gonna do? Spence she doesn't deserve to die. She's already been tortured enough, if she dies-."

"She won't. We're going to do everything we can but if we give you up, then you're dead." I don't want to appear that I'll choose Avery over an innocent girl just because she's my girlfriend, but for me that's part of the case. I've been warned that sooner or later I'm going to have to make a choice. Despite everything Avery has been through, she's still hiding something that she thinks won't help the case. I just can't even think about the choice I'm going to have to make. It's coming up—Avery or the innocent girl. Who lives and who dies. "I love you and I'm not letting anything happen to you." I've completely forgotten about the forsaken rule about no public affection on the job when I tip her chin up to look me in the eye. I press my mouth against hers, savouring the taste of her chapstick.

She's been obsessed with using it ever since she started biting her bottom lip when she's nervous or anxious. She's picked it up from me, but although the consequences, it's adorable when she does it. I wrap my arms around her and weakly smile when she hides her face in the crook of my neck. "I love you." She mutters, her hot breath fanning against my neck. I kiss the side of her head, pulling away to cup her face so that all of her attention is on me.

"Now we have a case to solve...let's go." She smiles, bringing a hand up to poke my nose. I grin and gather the files, meeting back with the rest of the team in the round table room. "What have we got?" I ask, taking hold of Avery's hand to gently rub my thumb across her knuckles. Hotch says nothing at the action, he knows she needs comforting. Hand-holding isn't really hurting us right now.

"We're one hour away from the pair checking in on us. They're smart, now we know their names they wouldn't go somewhere that's linked to them. We haven't got a clue where they are but they want us to find them." He says, looking around the circle at us all.

"How so? Surely if they wanted us to find them, they would go somewhere that's linked to them." Avery speaks up, leaning in to my touch as she rocks on the balls of her feet.

"They enjoy the game, right? They've given us 72 hours. They're giving us a chance." Avery nods, dropping her file down onto the table in front of us. "I hope you all got some sleep, we're going to be here a while."

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t h i r t y . t w o
A v e r l y n
1 4  h o u r s

"Joshua, you don't have to do this. We can be how we used to be." I plead, desperately trying to throw him off guard. He doesn't listen, the muzzle of the gun digging into the side of my head. I can see the team through my eyes, blurred with tears. When I blink, a fresh set appear.

I can see JJ and the rest of the team, pointing their guns. I can see Spencer, his face silently begging that I'll survive this ruthless pair. Joshua takes another step back, using me as a human shield. We're on the edge of a cliff, and a few more steps backwards and Joshua, Thomas and I are going to fall backwards against the sharp rocks. "None of them care! Look at them, Averlyn. Look at who their guns are pointed at." I do look, and they're all pointed at me.

Not because Joshua is using me as a shield, but because they want me dead. They all want me dead. I choke back a sob, shaking from the cold and how terrified I am. I'm going to die, and I deeply deserve it. "Wait! Wait, please! I deserve it all, okay. I deserve everything that's ever happened to me but please don't kill me!" I cry, stumbling against Joshua as he takes another step back.

Spencer pulls his gun out and loads it. He has a shot, take it. He points it towards Joshua and I. He hasn't got a shot of Joshua. Joshua's laugh is the last thing I hear before a bullet pierces my skin, ripping right through my heart, tearing it apart. All the love I've ever felt for the man in front of me, seeps out in my blood. I spill my heart out for him. And he watches.

I gasp, my heart pounding. Still perfectly intact when my hand flies up to feel my racing heartbeat. Everyone is asleep around the round table, no amount of coffee could of helped them. Spencer is asleep, resting his head on the table with one arm being used as a pillow. His free hand is holding onto mine underneath the table. I don't notice straight away—but Penelope is silently looking at me, concern ridden across her face as she sips some flavoured tea. "Are you okay?" She asks, worried. I'm glad she can't see my face properly through how dark it is in the room, somebody must have turned the lights off when we all slept.

"Yeah...yeah it was just a nightmare." At least Penelope wasn't in the nightmare. I know Spencer would never shoot me, but the images in my head are taunting me.

"Are you sure?" She takes an empty seat next to me, and I drop Spencer's hand. He gives me a muffled groan, but doesn't wake up to link his fingers with mine again.

"Everything is just getting to me, Penelope." I say, careful to keep my voice quiet to not wake the rest of the team. Hotch isn't here, he's most likely asleep in his office, as is Rossi. It's just me, Spencer, Emily, JJ, Derek and Penelope. "I just want this to end." I sigh, rubbing my eyes to wake myself up. I check the time on my phone, which illuminates on the table. It's 5AM.

"Dont we all." She gives me a nervous laugh, "it will. We will find them. The team—we're great at our job." She tells me. I nod, I know they're good at their job. I smile at Penelope, following her out of the conference room to make myself a cup of coffee. There's no sleeping now. We make small talk, speaking of what we're going to do once this is all over. Penelope insists of having a girls night, which I would happily agree to.

At one point, Spencer wakes up and meets us by the coffee machine. I'm sadly on my second mug of coffee when he wraps his arms around my waist and says good morning to Penelope and I. Penelope leaves with a grin and another mug of tea. "Morning." I smile, mixing in a small amount of sugar to my coffee.

Spencer buries his face into my neck, sighing. His hair is a floppy mess, and he still looks like he's half asleep. "How did you sleep?" He asks, and I find it almost impossible to squirm out of his hold.

"I slept fine. The chairs aren't the comfiest, but I slept okay. Did you?" I turn around and place both my hands on his chest. He nods, leaning down to steal a quick kiss before Penelope arrives back with Derek.

"Good morning love birds. How did we all sleep?" Spencer pours coffee into a mug, adding only a small amount of milk.

"I slept fine." He states, while warming his hands with his mug of coffee. Derek nods, emptying the rest of the hot coffee into his mug. We all exchange in short conversation until Hotch returns from his office. He doesn't look as tired as the rest of us when he beckons us all back into the round table room. Penelope gives me a worried glance, that I can immediately tell what it means. Are you going to tel Reid about your nightmare?

No, Penelope I can't.

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hey you guys—this chapter is kind of small but the next one will be longer. promise!
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