Façade//Spencer Reid

30. Keeping things private

SPENCER
Someone pinch me. Someone tell me and convince me that my dream has become real.

Last night with our relationship starting, Y/N and I had some adult time - with Y/N instructing Carter to knock and wait for permission before entering her room if he needed something. Just as we finished our adult activity, Carter knocked on the door and waited only a few moments so that Y/N and I could look somewhat presentable as to not mentally scar her son. Then he asked the question:

"Are you and Spencer together?" He looked between me and Y/N, a look of confusion on his face. That's when Y/N smiled holding my hand. We let Carter sit between us as we explained what was going on. He was confused at first, but when we told him that he'd see me more often than he already did, he smiled and gave us a huge hug.

———

In the early hours of Friday morning, - probably 4 AM - I woke up to the sight of Y/N's head gently resting on my chest as she slept, her hand right next to her head. She was snoring softly, her eyes closed as she probably dreamed about something sweet. Last night with our new relationship starting, Y/N and I had some adult time - with Y/N instructing Carter to knock before entering her room if he needed something.

I wasn't a morning person. I'm pretty sure that the entire BAU team weren't morning people. Unfortunately, early mornings came with the job - considering how much travelling we did.

If Hotch or JJ received a case, they'd usually call the team in between 3:30 AM and 5 AM, which meant that I had an hour left to wonder if today would be a paperwork day, or if I'd be travelling to another city in order to find and apprehend an unsub.

At 4:45 AM, I exhaled, hoping - and assuming - that a case hadn't been given to Hotch or JJ. I looked down at Y/N, who was still asleep. Just then, my phone lit up.

Goddamn it!

I rolled my eyes and mentally groaned, carefully moving my arm so that I could reach my phone and look at the message from either Hotch, or JJ.

As I expected, on my screen was Hotch's name with a message underneath.

Hotch: We have a case. Be at the office in 30.

Me: See you soon.

What I was hoping to be a slow and calm morning with my new girlfriend turned into a fast-paced rush as I tried to get up and out of her bed without waking her.

Just because my morning plans were changed, didn't mean hers had to. Successfully getting out of bed without waking my beautiful girlfriend up, I grabbed my clothes - getting changed. I put my phone in my pocket and placed a gentle kiss on Y/N's forehead.

"Have a good day, my love." I whispered before exiting her room.

Before I left her apartment, I opened Carter's door and wished him a good day at school. I also stopped by the kitchen and made a quick and easy lunch for Carter. Soon enough, I was in my apartment, changing into fresh clothes and packing my go bag.

By 5:15 AM, I was walking into the bullpen, my go bag in my hand as I walked up to the conference room. As soon as I sat down, Penelope started briefing us on the case we were going to investigate.

The case itself was disturbing. Most cases we investigated were disturbing on multiple levels, but cases involving dismemberment were disturbing enough on their own.

"Bridgewater, Florida. Local girl, Abbey Kelton, 19, Left her parents' home to go to the local junior college. She never came home." Penelope introduced the victim, putting an image of the girl up on the screen.

"3 days later, joggers found her - part of her - in a nearby park." Penelope looked away from the screen, clearly disgusted.

"What did that to her?" JJ asked, confused by the images of the girl's dismembered body.

"Bridgewater's off of I-75, which is often referred to as Alligator Alley...for reasons that are now apparent." Penelope shook her head.

"Everything below the waist had been eaten." Derek almost gasped.

"Ah, the circle of life." Rossi exhaled, shaking his head.

"Suddenly, I don't feel so guilty about my alligator wallet." Emily rolled her eyes.

"Alligators didn't cut off her fingers, slit her throat, or carve this into her chest." Penelope put up another picture on the screen.

"An inverted pentagram." Hotch spoke.

"Locals believe the killing was committed by a satanic cult." JJ informed the team.

"Some things never change." Rossi rolled his eyes.

"Killer satanic cults don't exist." Derek insisted.

"They were debunked as a suburban myth. What?" I spoke before feeling everyone staring at me.

"Rossi's the one that debunked them." Emily chuckled.

"Oh, right. Thanks." I tried to ignore the awkwardness.

"Cult or not, the killing was ritualized. This will turn serial if it hasn't already. Wheels up in 20." Hotch shook his head, standing up.

"So killer satanic cults don't exist, but satanic serial killers do?" JJ questioned, confused.

"Lasciate ogni speranza ch'entrate." Rossi spoke as he stood up, following Hotch.

"Oh. Thanks for clearin' that up." JJ scoffed.

"Uh, it's from Dante's Inferno. Uh, "abandon hope, all ye who enter here." I tried to translate what Rossi had just said so that JJ wasn't confused.

"So that was a yes?" JJ asked, now even more confused.

"A big yes." Derek chuckled.

———

I sat down on the jet, taking out my phone. I clicked on Y/N's number and started writing a message to her.

Me: Morning darling. I'm sorry that I'm not there when you wake up. A case popped up and I needed to head out. I've made Carter's lunch for school so you don't have to. I hope you and Carter have a good day. I'll let you know when we're flying home.

Of course, knowing that it was still early in the morning, I knew that she wouldn't see the message until later.

"So. How are you and Y/N doing?" Derek questioned.

"We're...on hold at the moment." I lied, exhaling.

"Shit. Is everything okay? Did you mess something up?" Emily asked, concerned.

"No, no! N- Nothing like that. We're just...on hold until Y/N is ready." I lied again.