My Partner Against Crime

Chapter 14

|Spencer's POV|

"Who is Chris." I wake her up.

"What?" She sits up.

"I want to know who he is. Are you cheating on me?" She laughs and gets out of bed.

"What are you talking about?" She takes a step towards me, I step back. She frowns.

"Are you okay? What happened to you?"

"I'm fine." I furrow my brows.

"Are you going to tell me what's up?" She crosses her arms and leans against the bed.

"Are you cheating on me?" Again she laughs.

"What?" I nod. I clench my jaw and tightly hold my fists at my sides.

"I want to know who he is, and how long have you been seeing him." My voice sounds a lot more aggressive than I mean it to be.

"What? What are you talking about?" I shake my head in frustration.

"I want to know why Hotch has some sort of secret with you. Just tell me what's going on!"

"What? You think I'm hooking up with our boss?" She looks angry.

"I mean how dare you for assuming anything!".

"I saw those letters! In your desk! I mean what the hell am I supposed to think? My fiancé has been talking to this guy for years and this is how I find out!?" I've never yelled like this before, at her at least.

"Spencer," She speaks with a much softer voice, "First of all calm down. You're getting yourself worked up over nothing. I'm not cheating on you, I can't believe I even have to say that. Hotch knows my background more than anyone on the team... more than even you. That doesn't mean I want him to know, but he does and he keeps it a secret." I shrug, not wanting to talk about this any longer.

"So that's it? The letters came from your background..."

"Don't you think if I wanted you to know I would have told you? This is past bullshit I don't want anyone including you bringing up. I mean shit, why don't we dissect your past!" Her face turns a light pink with anger.

"Marina that's not what-"

|Marina's POV|

"You know what? Fuck it, I'll just tell you since I know you're going to accuse me of all sorts of ridiculous things and I just want this to be over with. I have three brothers. You know about two of them, but I have another brother, Christopher, Chris." I need to slow down, my anger brought out this shitty story, and now I'm stuck telling it.

He furrows his eyebrows. "What?"

I sit on the bed with my arms crossed. How do I even start this story?

"Chris... well I haven't seen him in years. It's weird to remember when we were kids, he and I were the closest. You know what I really don't want to get into it. Basically he fucked up and he's in jail." I stare down at my socks.

"I had no idea... I'm so sorry... What did he do?" I feel my anger rush again, I hate when people poke just out of curiosity.

"I'm not talking about it, but he's in there for life so I'm sure you can figure that one out."

"So the letters... he sends you letters?"

"I've sent him one letter back. But from him, I get about one or two a week." I finally look back up at Spencer who looks sad and worried.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have even gone through your desk or just, assumed something happened between you and him." He moves to sit next to me.

I try my best to wipe away all my quickly falling tears, but I can't keep up.

"Why have you only sent him one?"

"What am I supposed to say Spencer?" I slightly raise my voice. "Can we just stop talking about it? I mean there's a reason I decided not to tell you, or anyone for that matter." I stand up and walk away to the bathroom to clean myself up.

It doesn't take long for Spencer to come and knock on the door.

"Marina?...I'm sorry I shouldn't have-" I quickly open the door slightly surprising him.

"It's fine, okay?" I grab his hands and pull him in for a hug.

"I just really don't like talking about it." He nods.

"I understand, I won't bring it up again."
-

Later in the day Spencer and I take some time apart. Not on purpose but we both end up doing our own thing. I Skype with my brother Anthony in my office.

"Mom and Dad are going to see Chris tomorrow." I rub my temple. My parents visit him a good amount, and my mom constantly harasses me to see him.

"Are you going?" He runs his hand through his hair.

"I don't know... I'm leaning toward no, but I haven't seen him in, I think six years. But part of me just hates him, it makes me sick thinking about it." My siblings and I very much have the same feelings towards Chris. I get so overwhelmed with frustration and disgust when I think about him, I don't think I can ever see him again.

"I don't think you should go, he made a choice and lost whatever relationships he had with us." Spencer softly knocks on the door.

"What's up?" Spencer opens the door and leans against the frame.

"Just checking in, who're you talking to?" I shift my body so he can see the screen. Anthony waves.

"Hey, Spencer." He comes further into the room.

"Hey, Merry Christmas." He rests his hand on my shoulder.

"Oh that's right, you assholes aren't coming this year." I flip him off, making him laugh.

"I'm sure you'll live without me. Let me know if you end up going, Jason too."

"Will do sis, talk to you guys later." I end the call and shut my laptop.

"I'm so tired." I stand up and rest my head on Spencer's chest. He lifts my chin with his finger and pokes my nose.

"Bed time." He takes my hands and leads me to our bedroom. I face plant on my side of the bed.

"It's almost Christmas!" I mumble into my pillow.

"Mhm." He gently rubs my sore back, quickly putting me to sleep.