Vulnerable | Spencer Reid

Chapter 40 - Stephen King

"You've grown."

Andy clenched her jaw and curled her fists, holding her ground. The man took a step forward and got right in her face, his hot breath fanning her face.

They stared intensely into each other's eyes with obvious hate. Reid nervously glanced at them and braced himself. He noticed that Lydia and Dylan had poked their heads out their door to see what was going on.

The man quickly snatched her arm by her side and held it close, pulling her tight against his chest. A small grunt came from Andy as she resisted his pull but he was stronger.

Reid felt the tension in the room rise, especially from the kids who were expecting something bad to happen. He had also taken a small step forward, ready to step in.

"And prettier," he mused, eyes flitting over her body.

"And you're still the same bastard as usual," Andy retaliated coldly.

Reid raised his eyebrows in shock. He had rarely heard Andy swear before but she noticed that her cold front barely flinched at her language use.

The man chuckled lowly before he caught Reid's eye, barely caring about the strange man in his house. He rather focused on the two heads in the hallway.

"Stay in your room!" he shouted violently, shaking the house.

Reid saw the smallest of trembles in Andy's body as he was distracted by the kids who hurriedly shut their door and locked it.

Once the door was shut, he turned his attention back towards the small agent, "What are you doing here?"

Andy yanked her arm back and rested it in a guarded position, "Work."

"Ahh...the fancy FBI agent in our humble house?" he mocked with fake modesty, "Last I checked, you need a warrant to be here."

"Jamie let us in. We don't need a warrant if the door is opened for us," she seethed.

"Jamie let you in?" the man asked incredulously, giving a murderous glare towards the cowering woman.

Andy's eyes widen a fraction as she realized what she said. She felt a twang of pity in her heart as Jamie seemed to become smaller.

"I don't want you here anymore. Get out!" he yelled.

"John-" Jamie whispered.

"Not another word or else!"

"Or else what?" Andy asked urgently, "Come on, what was it you were going to say?"

She had tried this trick every time she came across him, trying to get him to admit his crimes. But the man could see right through her.

His wild eyes turned back to her and gave her his twisted grin again, "Get. Out."

Andy wouldn't move but Reid could tell that John was about to become explosive. He took light steps forward and tugged on her arm, breaking their staring contest of intimidation.

Andy hesitantly backed up when Reid slowly led her to the door, opening the creaky hinges. Andy never broke eye contact until Reid quietly closed the door, making them officially outside the house.

It was only when the door shut did Andy come back to reality. She stormed to the driver's side of the car and slammed the door when she got in. Reid slid in the seat next to her and waited as she collected herself with deep breaths, steadying herself by gripping the steering wheel.

"God, that house...no matter how many times I see it, I hate even more," she sighed, rubbing a hand over her face.

Reid moved closer and softly set his hand on her thigh, just so she knew he was listening.

"Did you see the bruises? I used to get ones just like that."

Reid took a hesitant breath, "Andy, you can trust me. I won't tell."

She nodded and squeezed his hand as if to say she already knew that.

"I used to be a foster kid. In eight years, I had been in four different homes. My first home was when I was two, but they gave me back because they couldn't afford me anymore."

"My second and third home," she inhaled shakily, "Just didn't want me anymore."

Her voice cracked on the last word and a single tear ran down her cheek, "When I was eight, I was taken in by this couple who seemed ordinary. I thought that I might actually get the life I wanted. Boy, was I wrong."

She laughed lightly at herself as she squeezed his hand tighter, "After about a week, this couple, John and Jamie Darlen, had shown me the real world. John stopped hiding his drinking after social services stopped coming around. After that, it all went downhill."

She knew she didn't need to explain because Reid knew what she was implying. He rubbed her shoulder comfortingly as little pools gathered at the bottom of her eyes but they never fell.

"There was this one time, when I dropped a pan, he picked it up off the ground and hit me over the head with it."

Reid let out a silent gasp motion and was clearly shocked but she kept going.

"I was trapped in this house for seven goddamn years by myself. Jamie tried to help me but all she did was get a beating herself. It was just us against him."

She seemed to regain some of her composure as she wiped her tears off, "But then John wanted more. So he took in Dylan and Lydia. God, Spence, they were barely a year old.

"I tried to protect them. I tried so hard. But then a social worker took me away. She said that they found a family who was willing to adopt immediately. It was so hard to leave them."

She started crying violently, the water running down her face. Reid pulled her in for a tight hug as she shook in his chest, dampening his shirt.

"Reid, I can't," she hiccuped, "I can't leave. The second I do, he's gonna hurt them and I can't let that happen when I'm right here."

He shushed her gently and smoothed her hair in a comforting manner. He pulled her face back and wiped her tears with his thumbs.

"Andy, we can't stay with them forever. You've done everything you can to protect them. But we have two other kids who are counting on us to help them."

She sniffled and nodded.

"I promise you that once this is over, we will help them. Okay?"

She nodded again and wiped her tears. She turned to face the steering wheel, starting the car after giving one last glance at the seemingly calm house.

"We'll help them later," she muttered to herself before backing out of the driveway.

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"The most important things are the hardest to say, because words diminish them."

-Stephen King