Natalie

Chapter 22

"It means..." Spencer waited a moment, "that there's a bigger chance that they're still out there."

It took a moment to realize how the words he just said could effect Natalie, but it was too late to take it back. False hope was a scary thing, especially when all you had to hold on to was hope. Maybe this wasn't false hope, but if it was, Natalie could fall into a tail spin.

Spencer decided that they were at a good place to stop. They had been talking for just about an hour, making it almost four in the morning. Both of them could definitely use some sleep. "You should get some sleep," he said, proceeding to get up.

"You're gonna leave me on a cliffhanger like that?" Natalie asked, shocked.

"It's four in the morning, Nat," Spencer said. The look he gave her screamed for her to stop talking, and to go to bed. Clearly, the case Spencer just came back from was a rough one. Though this could've been the reason he wanted sleep so bad, it probably was because his body was so accustomed to waking up at six in the morning even on his days off.

"Fine... I'm going," Natalie said. As she stood up, her hands went up in the 'I surrender' pose.

Spencer patted Natalie on the back as she walked to her room. There, she allowed herself to finally turn off her laptop and lay down in bed. This was the first time in a couple days she was letting herself relax. When she drifted off to sleep, Natalie dreamed of her parents. Specifically, the happy memories, rather than the bad ones.

----

"Give me a lead, and then we can talk about the team working on it," Hotch said from behind his desk. Sitting across from him was Spencer, who had brought up what he found on Natalie's parents. Normally, Hotch would be more interested in looking over a case like this, but there was just too much to be done.

"That's exactly why it would help to bring the team in on this! A profile might find what happened," Spencer crossed his arms.

"A profile will help guide us to a specific person, or team that did this. Right now, all your giving me is more evidence that her parents just walked out one day," Hotch said, closing the file Reid had given him.

"Night," Spencer corrected, "They were out the night of their anniversary and never came home,"

Hotch glared at Reid for a moment, and sighed, "Honestly, that's more evidence. Two adults, as terrible as it is, deciding the night of their anniversary to run away,"

"After being married for 15 years? That's a long time to plan a vacation,"

"You're digging yourself deeper into a hole. Bring me a break in the case."

Frustrated, Spencer stood up and took the file off of Hotch's desk. He left the office without saying a word. Outside, the BAU was quiet which was the way Spencer liked it. Obviously, he loved his coworkers, he just appreciated peace and quiet sometimes. 

That peace and quiet only lasted a mere fifteen seconds when Garcia came running into the bullpen. Spencer refrained from rolling his eyes as she ran straight to him, "What's up?" he asked, once she made it to the desk.

Watching Penelope run in eight inch heels was truly a sight. It amazed everyone that she never seems to trip. Profiling was cool, but THAT was impressive. Penelope took a breath and finally spoke up, "I heard you and Natalie are digging into her parents case, and I thought you could use some help,"

Spencer pondered for a moment, "I wouldn't be opposed to it, maybe do a deep dive into her parents right before they went missing. Find anyone and anything they were close to," he paused. It was like a brick just hit him when he realized something that was feeling off the entire time, "I have to talk to Natalie, but dig deep into the times they moved before she was born,"

"That's not deep at all, I'll find you the dirt," Penelope said.

"I was just thinking that it was weird that they moved to that town when Natalie's mom was pregnant with her. Two first names, and no living relatives once they were gone? Something's not right there. It makes me think about what Detective Miller is really trying to protect her from,"

"Better to not know than to find out that they weren't good people. That's actually quite endearing of him," 

Sighing, Spencer replied, "In some ways, but it's eating her alive. I saw that even before she lived with me,"

"I'll let you know what I find," Garcia said, giving Spencer a pat on the shoulder.

It wouldn't be long now before everything unraveled.