Nightmares To Daydreams

Chapter Twenty-Two

The police force was beginning to suspect that you were onto them. Everywhere any member of the team went, there always happened to be a member of the force carefully watching. All three times Hotch tried to share information privately, we were interrupted. The team had resorted to meeting in each other's hotel rooms.

Tonight was Emily and your turn to "host." Garcia's face lit up the computer screen on the desk across from the bed. Emily and Jj sat at the edge of the bed closest to the laptop while Hotch stood in the corner of the room. Derek was leaning on the wall beside your position on the bed, Spencer lay on the other side of you with his arm wrapped securely around your waist.

As the team began speculating, you sat just listening to Spencer's even breathing. "Well, I don't think the sheriff realizes just what's going on in her department. Think about it. She wouldn't have called us in if she knew," Spencer interjected before drawing his arm from around your waist and leaning back against the headboard. You worked to keep your face from slipping into a pout, but despite your efforts, you felt the bed quiver slightly with Spencer's silent chuckle. If the girls felt it, they didn't react.

When Derek began positing his opinion, he absentmindedly drew a strand from your ponytail and twirled it in his fingers. It wasn't an unusual thing. The team was incredibly close, so we had no reservations about casually touching each other.

Spencer seemed to forget this when it came to his overly muscled counterpart. You didn't have to look at him to know he would be sitting rigid beside you. In an effort to keep him from overreacting, you reached out and placed what you hoped was a comforting hand on his thigh. He flexed under your hand, and you stifled a gasp. You had forgotten just how toned his perfect body was. There was no way to keep your mind from wandering now.

Trying to keep your mind off of Spencer's body, you listened more intently to the conversation. Unfortunately, everyone sounded pretty glum. "Wait," everyone turned to look at you as you turned to Jj. "Who was with you when you went to the ME's office yesterday?" Nobody seemed to grasp why that would be important, hell you barely had a clue yourself. "Uh. Uhm. . Officer Jefferson." You turned to Derek, who still had your chestnut hair between his fingers. "Wasn't Jefferson the one who insisted on hearing all of our ideas the other day?" He nodded as understanding gradually took over his features. The team was soon jumping in with their own experiences of Jefferson getting just a little too close for comfort. Hotch closed the meeting with "I'm not sure what this means yet, but everyone watch their backs, especially close around Jefferson." The team huffed agreements, and everyone began dispersing.

You walked out of the room to get a break from the crowded environment. When you stopped, Derek was behind you almost immediately, causing you to jump about a mile in the air. He laughed before his expression became solemn.

"Y/n Spencer would never tell you, but he's been struggling ever since," he trailed off. "Since I got shot. I'm not sensitive about it." He looked at you like you were dumb, "which is why he'll never tell you. But you weren't there. We all sat there, not knowing if we'd ever see you again. We looked at you, features slack with machines breathing for you as they kept you sedated. The rest of us can cloud our heads with other things until we forget, or at least until it's only a dim memory. Spencer can't, and it's tearing him apart. Switch rooms with me. I already asked Em, and she's moving your stuff as we speak." You had never considered their side of the situation. The horror of imagining seeing any one of the team like that almost had you vomiting.

You felt like the worst girlfriend in the world. You nodded, exchanged room keys, and breathed out a quick thank you to Derek before walking quickly down the hall to Spencer's room. You stopped just in front of the door and took a deep breath. You weren't sure how Spence would react to the switch. Finally, you opened the door and crept in. Spencer was laying on his back, eyes shut and breathing evenly. Your heart swelled at the sight of him looking so peaceful. Before crawling into bed, you stripped out of your day clothes and pulled an old pair of blue flannel pants out of your go-bag. You decided to just throw on a sports bra and call it a night.