❝ i don't care when i see you next,
but i always worry right before it comes. ❞
in which the elementary school teacher becomes entangled with the young genius
CRIMINAL MINDS SEASON 8-
OC X SPENCER REID
TRIGGER WARNING: THIS STORY CONTAINS GRAPHIC V...
there's a small timeline change !! the team will know abt hotch going into witsec immediately, not after a couple of weeks!!
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SIXTEEN. OUT OF BALANCE
THREE WORDS. Three words was all it took to light the flame that would make her world stop. It was the one night she had gone to bed and had forgotten to plug her phone in, so she missed the notification that came through around three in the morning. She'd been fast asleep in an awkward position that would probably lead to back issues in the future, but she was on her period and had finally found a way to be comfortable, so it didn't really matter.
It was a night without Spencer, as well. It wasn't unusual for them to sleep at one another's apartments considering the lack of time they got to spend together as it was. With movies and discussions keeping them up late at night, they'd decided that perhaps it wasn't the worst thing to make a habit of.
Her alarm clock had started screaming in her ear at the usual time, and she reached around blindly, attempting to hit the snooze button. Eventually silence loomed over the room once more, and she fell back against the pillow, refusing to believe that she had to get up.
Her morning routine was nothing special; she'd roll out of bed as late as possible, shower, brush her teeth, and grab a coffee if she had time, before hurtling out the door for another long day.
She had almost gotten through it all before she'd seen her dead phone on the kitchen counter. She groaned and hung her head, reaching for it and tucking it in her pocket. She had a charger in the car, and that was good enough for her. Besides, there wasn't anything important she needed from it.
★☆
Less than two hours later, Rhea was running through the FBI building on the verge of a panic attack. In one hand was her visitor pass and in the other was her phone, and from the way her legs were shaking, she was in desperate need of comfort. By the time she burst into the bullpen of the BAU, her eyes were shiny with unshed tears and her bottom lip was bleeding from how hard she'd been biting it.
"Rhea?" Anderson jumped to his feet as she made it halfway through the room, only to see that Spencer wasn't there, neither was the rest of the team. Her shoulders began moving up and down even quicker, and she felt sickness rise inside her. Anderson didn't hesitate in leading her over to his desk and sitting her down on the chair, before he went to the conference room, where the team was discussing their newest case. He hesitantly knocked on the door, and drew attention to himself instantly.
Most assumed the worst, but it was Marnie who peered outside the window leading to the bullpen who noticed Rhea's presence. "Shit, she's probably here about Daisy and Hotch."
Spencer didn't have to follow her gaze to know who she was talking about. He shot up without a word and rushed outside, his colleagues in pursuit. Rossi and Emily Prentiss exchanged a worried look as they followed the doctor, knowing how things were likely to pan out.
