𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 ➳ [ SPENCER REID ] [PARTS 1 & 2]

━━━━ prologue

"reid."

hotch looked up to her, nodding his head.

"well," he smiled, holding his hand out to her. "nice to meet you, noelle reid."

𖥸

"how you holding up kid?" derek morgan asked spencer reid as he walked towards his desk.

even though it's been over a year since leah's death, spencer still had some tough days and morgan took it upon himself to be there for him whenever he needs him.

spencer looked away from the framed photo of her on his desk (the only photo, nonetheless) and made eye contact with morgan. "i'm okay," he smiled.

and he wasn't lying. he really was okay.

even weeks after leah died, spencer didn't leave his apartment. he helped garcia and the team if they had any questions through the phone, but that was it.

he spent 4 weeks and 3 days away from work before he returned. he didn't sleep, he didn't eat much, he listened to "teenage dirtbag" on repeat and sobbed as he listened to the words, trying to reminisce her voice the way she sang.

when leah died, it was the hardest thing for spencer. it was even harder when the last words she said to him echoed in his head every few minutes.

"i wish we would've.."

and then she died. she never finished her sentence. spencer would never understand now, he wouldn't know what she felt, he didn't even know what she meant when she said those last words to him. all he cared about in that moment was the goddamn medic that took way too long to show up. he barely even listened to the words, but he should've. he would've if he knew they were her last ones.

but he was okay. it got hard sometimes, and he thought about her a lot. he cared for her deeply, as a friend, as a colleague, as a person- as his person.

but she was gone.

"we're going to head to the movie theatre tonight to catch a movie," morgan said, gesturing his head towards emily and garcia. "do you wanna join us?"

"no thanks," spencer replied. "rain check?"

derek smiled at him and walked towards the girls. spencer looking at leah's photo one last time before standing up and grabbing his coat.

"he's dead," hotch came out of his office and announced to the team.

the team turned towards him.

"who's dead?" jj asked him.

𖥸

it was around 2:30am when a phone call woke leah- noelle- up.

it was aaron hotchner.

leah groaned. yes, her and hotch talked every day just to catch up and fill each other in on their lives, but 2:30 in the morning?

"hotch," leah groaned. "why are you calling me at 2:30 in the mor-"

"he's dead," hotch cut leah off.

"what? who?"

"jason porter."

leah's eyes widened, and before she knew it, stray tears streamed down her face.

"w-what does this mean, hotch?"

"depends, leah."

leah's eyes widened. hotch NEVER called her leah, not since she took the name "noelle" so long ago.

"on what?"

"if you want to come home."