One Shots

Spencer Reid-Loss and Grief

"Darci Lynn, you have a call on line one," my co-worker said coming by my workspace.

"Thanks, Jesse," I replied picking up the phone. "Darci Lynn, how can I help you?"

"Miss Lynn, this is Jennifer Jearau, I work with Spencer."

"Is he all right?" I asked. I was his emergency contact as his mother wasn't of a sound enough mind to make medical decisions for him. Plus he and his father weren't really on speaking terms. We had grown up together, I still lived in Vegas. I owned a small business tutoring English and writing skills. My main customers were high school and college kids.

"He had a rough case, I think I should let him tell you the rest. He just needs someone right now and he won't let us in." That was Spencer, he had a hard time dealing with his emotions so he would shut the world out til he was ready to return to normal.

"Give me some idea of what I'm walking into," I said booking a flight.

"Someone important to him was killed in front of him," she said.

"Someone on the team?"

"No," she answered. I knew it wasn't his parents, I had seen them both just the other day.

"I'll be there later tonight," I said.

"Let me know when you land, I'll pick you up."

"Thanks," I said hanging up. I booked the ticket, printed the information, and left the office letting Jesse know I was out til further notice. I went home and packed a bag before going to the airport. Going through airport security with my crutches was always a pain in the ass. I had had the crutches since childhood. My legs couldn't support my weight on their own, so I needed them to walk.

Spencer had seemed to be the only one that didn't mind them when we were growing up. I was also the only one that would stand up for him. Once on the plane, I let my thoughts consume me. Who important to Spencer had died? What exactly happened? He and I hadn't spoken for a few weeks. We both had work, his kept him busy more so than mine. He got to travel in his job, mine didn't require travel thanks to the internet.

We had given each other promise rings, friendship promise rings as children. I had outgrown mine but wore it around my neck.

We each had one. We had got them for each other when we were 10, so the ring was quite small now. But I still kept it with me, always.

Once the plane landed I called in a dinner order at Spencer's favorite Chinese take-out place and told them I'd pick it up. Then I called Jennifer and told her I had arrived. She came to get me and kindly took me to pick up the order. When we got to the apartment building I slung my bag over my shoulder, grabbed my crutches, and got them on. I then grabbed one paper bag in each hand of the food and thanked Jennifer who told me to call her JJ.

She asked if I needed help getting inside but I told her I could manage. I had been dealing with issues like this my whole life. I made it up to the fourth floor, no elevator, and found his door. I knocked and didn't get an answer. JJ told me he had been ignoring everyone. "Hey Spencer, it's Darci, open up will ya?" Nothing. "I know you're in there Spencer, I can hear the TV." Nothing. "Spencer if you don't let me in I'll let myself in," I called out. I had a key to his place and he mine.

Still nothing. I had to shuffle things around to get my keys out of my pocket and get his door open. Once inside the door I threw my bag to the ground, kicked the door closed behind me, and relocked. Then I took in the state of his place, it was a mess. Dishes overflowing in the sink, trash overflowing, books everywhere, dirty laundry. "Good lord Spencer," I muttered under my breath. I set the takeout on the counter and looked for him, he was asleep on the couch.

I looked over at the kitchen as he slept on, guess I had better get cleaning if we wanted dishes to eat off of. I checked the dishwasher and it too was overflowing with dirty dishes. I rearranged the stuff in there and put soap in before turning it on. I washed the rest by hand, cleaned the rest of the kitchen, and loaded the washer with some laundry. I then gathered the trash and set it by the door to take out later. Spencer was still asleep.

I sighed as I looked over at him, he seemed peaceful right now so I let him be as I started to put his books away and dust. After about four hours I had dishes put up, laundry done, and put away with one load left in the dryer and his books put up. I grabbed the trash to take it to the shoot. I had four bags worth. The apartment looked a lot better now and it was about midnight. When I got back from throwing the trash out he started to stir. 

I had long since changed into my pjs. I sat down in a chair in the living room and waited for him to wake the rest of the way. After a few minutes, he groaned and sat up, not noticing me yet. "Hey sleeping beauty," I said as he jumped slightly.

"Darci, what are you doing here?" 

"I got a call, your friends are worried," I replied.

"I'm fine."

"Clearly," I said not believing him. "When's the last time you had a decent meal or a shower?" I asked wrinkling my nose slightly. The apartment still had a stale smell to it with more than a hint of BO. He didn't answer me, "That's what I thought." I got up and grabbed his to-go bag of food out of the fridge and heated it up on a clean plate. I brought it to him with some water.

"You shouldn't be on your feet that long, what time is it?" he asked.

"Don't worry about my legs, and it's three in the morning." I took a seat beside him on the sofa.

"What did they tell you?" he asked.

"Not a lot, eat." After he ate I pretty much made him shower and brush his hair then sleep in his bed. I sat down beside him to keep him company till he fell asleep.

"What do you know?" Spencer asked.

"Not a lot, talk when you're ready. We've got time," I said.

"Stay?" he asked.

"Of course," I replied sliding under the covers and he wrapped his arms around me.

"You still wear it?" he asked picking up the ring around my neck.

"Of course I do, you're my best friend, Spencer," I replied wrapping my arms around him.

For most of my visit he sobbed into my chest as I held him. When he did tell me what happened I was horrified. I knew there was nothing I could say to fix this, words couldn't fix this, nothing could. This wound would have to heal. That would take a lot of time.