The Keeping of Words | Spencer Reid

51| A New Constellation

Scratch was gone. Peter Lewis was finally dead, but it had come at a cost – the loss of Stephen Walker. They had all stood at the funeral to pay their respects to a team member gone far, far too soon. Bianca's heart broke to see his wife, Monica, trying to be strong for their two children. That so easily could have been her. Inevitably, Will must have been thinking the same thing. There was so much at stake each time the BAU went to save the world. It was a small comfort to her that Reid wouldn't be back in the field for a few more weeks.

As her due date drew ever closer, Bianca had finally taken off of work per her doctor's request, and most of her days were spent on bed rest. Doing nothing was far more exhausting than she'd expected it to be, but Spencer was only at the office a five days out of the week, and was always home before dinner. It was for that reason that it caught her off guard when he called one evening to tell her he'd be home later than usual. Given that the Bureau was reviewing his performance, she assumed there were some extra tests to be run, maybe some paperwork that needed to be done. She kept herself busy with War and Peace as the sky grew darker.

At the approach of his car, she hurried to finish her page, closing the book just as he walked through the door. "Welcome home," she called from the couch. He set his bag on the kitchen counter before coming into the living room.

"How's bedrest treating you today?" he asked. There was a trace of an apology in his voice, knowing how much she hated having to stay put all day.

She shrugged. "Still boring. Tolstoy is keeping me company at least. I've just gotten to the part where Sonya discovers Natasha is planning to elope with Anatole."

"Sonya is good," he said, smiling.

"Natasha is young, and Andrei isn't here," she laughed. "The musical definitely helps to keep all the names straight." With one hand she reached out to him, and he laced his fingers through hers. "I did miss you, though."

Gently, he squeezed her hand. "I missed you too."

"How is it that we always manage to end up apart?" she asked jokingly. "Whenever you have to stay at home, I have to go somewhere; and whenever I need to stay home, you have to work."

It was meant in jest, knowing full well that they would spend more time together if their jobs allowed it. Raising his eyebrows in mock surprise, he replied, "The universe must be conspiring against us. But I'm here now. And the sky is so clear tonight. Do you think you feel up for venturing to the back porch to see the stars?"

Never one to refuse the stars, she nodded, and he offered his other hand to help her up off the couch. They walked slowly to the porch and sat side by side on the chair they kept there. He had been right; the sky was a magnificent sight.

"Now we're just missing some Golden Star Tea," she said. That beautiful night still lingered in her mind, when he'd made the whole Milky Way into a magic trick just for her. He grinned, and she inched a little closer to him. Their gazes moved upwards and she knew from the quiet that settled around them that they were both thinking of all the times they'd looked up together, staring at the stars. Those bright, gleaming dots in the sky, so full of hope in the darkness. Constants in the sky that they had always shared.

Finally, Spencer broke the silence. "The, uh, the Bureau said I could be reinstated today." Eyes wide, she pulled her gaze away from the swirling stars to look at him. The announcement caught her off guard. "Emily offered me my job back. Said I could start as soon as I wanted."

"Th-that's fantastic," she said. "So what did you tell them?" The offer had come sooner than she'd expected, but she knew it was a good sign. The Bureau trusted him again, and the damage done to his reputation was finally being repaired.