silenced (Spencer Reid) book two

thirty five

𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚛𝚝𝚢 𝚏𝚒𝚟𝚎

'DONT TRUST HIM'

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Spencer and Abby had spent the past week and a half together. Of course, at the end of the day they parted ways and slept alone in their own beds - a farewell that broke Abby's heart every time. It wasn't like Spencer hadn't kept his promise to Abby - he had told her over and over again that if she ever needed him, he was just on the other end of the phone. But every morning when he checked his messages, there was nothing. No missed calls, no messages, that had been left overnight.

He wanted to share his nights with Abby again, just like they used to, but there was something - just something, that was holding him back. He had spent a long time during Abby's absence, during his grief, trying to figure out exactly what it was. And he knew there could come a day when that reason bubbled over, but he just hoped he could determine it, silently, before then. 

Thankfully, the team had spent that passed week and a half at home. But, as it always seemed to, their time off ended far too soon. So here they were back in the BAU bright and early at 8 am on an unnecessarily hot morning.

Spencer followed Abby out of the elevators and across the bullpen to their desks, his hand brushing against the small of her back. She felt the small pit of warmth in her stomach and her chest started to feel like someone had tickled her heart with a feather. Every time his skin touched hers she felt a contentment that she was sure she would never feel again. 

"Morning, lovebirds." Morgan teased as they passed by his desk. "You both look surprisingly well rested." 

"Yeah well I was busy last night, Morgan. Speaking of which, your mom didn't call you last night huh?" Abby retorted sarcastically, placing her go-bag down on her desk.

There was a chorus of quiet laughs from the team.

"You walked right into that one." JJ laughed.

"Very funny. Classic." Morgan pushed her shoulder gently, Abby laughed loudly at his childishness - not that she was one to talk; she was 20 something and still making 'your mom' jokes.

"Round table room, BAU." Hotch called out to the team from the walkway above them.

"Ooh Abby, daddy's calling you." Morgan teased Abby this time.

She let out a huff of air. "Huh, funny, I don't remember hearing Spencer's voice."

Garcia let out a very loud Garcia type of laugh, which naturally made everyone else laugh too - apart from Morgan, who was too stunned to speak.

Morgan stared at Spencer and Abby dumbfounded as they passed him and began heading to the round table room, following the rest of the team. Spencer just shrugged nonchalantly and smirked, Abby doing the same.

"What have you become?" Morgan asked quietly as he then followed the two into the room.

Abby paused in her seat and turned to her friend, "You." 

"Please no, I don't need any more Morgan's." Hotch said completely expressionlessly as he entered the room, closing the door behind him.

"The hell did I do!" Morgan protested, this of course just made the rest of them laugh. "We have a tiny holiday and suddenly everyone's got jokes."

"It's just because we love you, sugar." Garcia said sweetly.

"Yes it is. Let's get started." Hotch instructed, silently reminding them of their job - and the horrors it always seemed to house. 

"Yes, Sir." Garcia stood from her chair and directed their attention to the board behind her. "So, this morning the body of Mrs Aria Whitley was discovered by her husband, well ex husband. He had come to collect his children to stay with him for the weekend, when he discovered his ex wife."

"Partner?" Blake asked simply.

"Negative on that front, she had a girlfriend but uh - she hasn't been staying over, if you know what I mean. Uh, unfortunately, and just, uh - it doesn't bare thinking about, her two children were also in the house. Johnny and Tyler, 9 and 12 respectively, were both found by Mr Whitley this morning in their beds, they were both physically unharmed."

"Why are we being called in?" Rossi asked. None of them liked to ask that question, it almost sounded offensive. 

"Because of this." Garcia pressed the button and an image of Aria's bed appeared. Above her body, in bright red lettering was, 

"DONT TRUST HIM"

"Do you think the grammatical mistake is intentional?" Abby asked. "There's no apostrophe in 'Don't', or is that a stretch?"

She looked around, she hadn't felt this self conscious since she first joined the team. Ever since the prison, she had spent a lot of time doubting herself and her decisions - the protocols she once trusted got her hurt.

"The unsub could be uneducated or he may just be in a rush, his grammar may not have been his biggest concern." Spencer said. He noticed Abby's sudden distance, he didn't need to ask why. 

"We're forgetting the biggest question." Morgan said. "Who's he?"

"That's what we need to find out. Wheels up in 10." 

As usual, they all began to disband one by one. They all went to their desks, collected everything they needed and reconvened on the jet. 

"You okay?" Spencer asked as he took a seat next to the blonde (she had dyed her hair, again - which had not gone unnoticed by Spencer). He knew why she was dyeing her hair so often; because she couldn't stand to stay the same for too long - she needed to figure out what felt like her, but she was slowly losing a hold of who that was.

"Yeah." Abby said quietly. "I'm just having a bit of a bad day."

Spencer nodded. He took her hand in his and squeezed it reassuringly. 

"Then we'll get through it, together."

She smiled warmly, and Spencer could feel the warmth and love radiating off of her. But he also felt like there was something that Abby wasn't telling him. And that scared him, understandably so. 

"Yeah. Yeah, we will." 

But in the pit of her stomach she had this twisting feeling that once Spencer found this out, he was not going to be able to look passed it, no matter how much he tried.

. . . . . . . . . .

sorry for such a short chapter! This case is going to be so exciting (hopefully!) and then we're reaching the climax people :')

don't forget to vote and comment, it really does mean a lot. i hope you're enjoying 'silenced'.