Fight for each other (daryl Dixon x Spencer Reid)

Chapter 3

spencer stared numbly through the window of the suburban, watching the trees pass by in the darkness as they headed down a beaten gravel road to a small quarry. his brain seemed to almost overprocess what he saw, from the kids terrified faces to the sounds of the bombs whistling through the air just before hitting the ground. he tried to stop his mind from wandering too far, from memorizing things it didn't need to, but it almost seemed pointless. he could picture what the city looked like in almost vivid amount of detail, he could see the crumbled shops and the knew their where probably countless corpses stumbling around the broken roads. it mad his stomach churn.

Garcia was crying into Morgan's chest, and Rossi was staring numbly at the back of daryls truck, following him as several other cars followed behind them. like the worlds most macabre parade. if spencer paid more attention he could probably take a headcount, but as of right now it was all just too damn much. he wanted nothing more than to curl up and pretend none of this ever happened.

they came to a slow stop in the middle of a dusty piece of land just a few yards off from the water. the little area was surrounded by trees. crickets chirped in the distance, letting spencer know that there wasn't any hidden threat in the area. everyone moved slowly as they set up their crude little camp, the kids fell asleep in their cars and the adults stayed up, building a small fire and gathering what few supplies they had. it was almost pitiful. spencer eyed the setup from his knew position, curled up on the suburban's hood. a camper was parked on the outermost part of the camp, acting as a sort of wall with the other vehicles parked in a circle around it. he watched as Garcia and Morgan stared tiredly into the fire, along with several other people they managed to pick up along the way. Shane and another young man where doing perimeter searches, staring long and hard through the dark trees. on high alert.

was it always going to be like this? are they going to be this tense all the time, just sitting and waiting for death in the form of snarling teeth and ripping flesh? spencer was almost too terrified to think that far ahead. he wrapped his arms around his legs and ducked his head, content to just ignore the world for a while. that was, until he heard someone walking toward him. slowly, spencer peaked out from behind his arms and gave the person a tired, sad smile. Daryl stood in front of him with a blanket in hand. "ain't gonna do you no good sitting out here in the cold." he said simply. laying the blanket next to spencer gently. the young genius huffed a bit. "its better then attempting to go to sleep, everything just feels so loud." he replied, running a hand over the blanket, fiddling slightly with the loose threads. Daryl leans against the hood on his forearms, seemingly thinking about what to say.

"like back at the station, with the light thing?" he questioned. spencer was taken aback, Daryl remembered that? he really remembered something that small? he gave a slight sigh as he thought about his response, it seemed to be a bit of a weighty question... "kind of, my brain cant really shut off. it replays information over, and over and over, to the point where any outside stimuli kind of just feels like swimming in burning, loud light. it happens a lot during cases. but right now? its the worst its ever been. I just want it to stop." spencer explained, ducking his head down once again as he willed away a few stray tears.

Daryl climbed onto the hood with him, not bothering to ask if it was ok. he somehow knew it would be. they didn't say anything for a long while, just sat side by side and watched the stars drift through the sky in a comfortable silence. "your people are a lot quieter than they where at the station." Daryl observed suddenly. spencer looked at him and nodded solemnly. "they're worried, hotch went back with Emily and JJ so he could get back to his little guy jack. JJ could be giving birth any second, and Emily is strong but every hour that goes by is an hour that our hope strains. none of us really had a good home life, so for us this team is a family." spencer explains, willing his eyes not to tear up again as he thought of his lost people.