Finding Clarity

Tragic endings.

Two police cars, an ambulance, and the BAU's black van were parked surrounding his house. He confusedly parked on the side of the road and looked for a familiar face to explain the chaos. He located Agent Prentiss standing on the curb, so he jogged over to her.

"Emily? What's going on?" She looked up at him with tears rolling down her face. "What is it?" He demanded.
"It's... Maeve." She choked. "She was going out, maybe to get the mail, and there was a drive-by shooting, taking her instantly."

His expression didn't change as he tried to piece together what he'd heard, but as he looked toward the mailbox he saw paramedics zipping up a body bag and suddenly he understood. He looked at Emily, "Maeve?" He stuttered.
"I'm so sorry, Spencer, I'm so sorry." She sniffed.

A small tear rolled down his cheek as he numbly reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring. Emily gasped.
"I was gone because I was picking up this. I was going to propose to her today. I always get the mail for her, but I wasn't here." He slowly sunk to his knees and began to sob. Emily reached down to him and wrapped her arms around him, crying softly.

As the paramedics were lifting the bag into the ambulance, he ran over to them. "Wait, please, I need to see her," he cried. They sympathetically unzipped the bag and left him alone. He gently put his hand to her cheek, she was still warm, it had just happened. He began to cry again as he unzipped the bag far enough to grasp her hand and slide the ring onto her finger. "I'll love you forever," he whispered. He zipped up the bag until only her face showed. He bent down and kissed her forehead, a tear falling onto her cheek. He wiped the tear from her cheek, zipped the rest of the bag, and stood up.

He then walked to the curb and sat down with his head between his knees, sobbing until the last of the emergency responders left. He stood up, he was alone. He slowly walked into the study, where Maeve's jacket sat draped over the chair. He carefully picked it up and held it to his face, it smelled like her. He went and sat down at the kitchen table, where Maeve's daily sudoku puzzle lie blank.

It still didn't seem real, it felt like she was going to walk in at any moment, hug him from behind, kiss his cheek, passionately kiss him in the rain, laugh at his bad jokes, rest her head on his chest, but in the back of his mind he knew she wasn't. She was gone.