Clueless

Distances

"You're an idiot." Rowan said, her head tilted sideways.
"I am not an idiot." Spencer tried to argue.
"Spencer, I told you I would go on another date with you and you turned me down." She pressed.
"You're worried. And I can tell. So until we find out who killed your brother, we are not going on another date." He said finally.
Rowan leaned back in her seat. "That is the most ridiculous excuse to not date me I have gotten in a while. And I've gotten a 'I can't go out on a date, parents are making me watch younger siblings' from an only child. Am I that repelling?" She joked.
"You're not repelling, Rowan." He threw a packet of sugar at her and she caught it easily, dumping it in her coffee as Morgan entered the room.
"You two alone and absolutely nothing happening." He commented, shaking his head.
"Shameful." Penelope agreed as she walked inside.
"And if you found us making out on the desk right now, you would do what? Applaud?" Rowan questioned jokingly.
"I would." Penelope smiled.
"And I would knock you out, Spence." Morgan said lightly. "Rowan's my little sister."
"You've known me longer!" Reid objected.
"And Rowan's still my little sister!" Rowan smiled slightly; she never had an honest family before. No one that would ever stick up for her before.
"Don't worry, Morgan." Rowan said slyly. "I don't think Reid's picked up on the fact that the invitation's open." With that, Rowan stood and smiled at Derek. "Some people never learn." Penelope followed her to the coffee station.
"Reid, man, what are you thinking?" Morgan demanded.
"I'm not. I can't. Not when she's around." Reid ran a hand through his already messy hair and looked out the glass wall to where Rowan, JJ, Penelope, and Prentiss were all talking.
"Reid, there's nothing to worry about. Rowan's not going anywhere. Unless you don't step up."
•
The room was filled with the sense of awkwardness.
Spencer couldn't look at Rowan and Rowan couldn't look at Spencer, yet they were seated across from each other looking for a geographical profile.
"Uh, do you have anything?" Spencer managed to ask. His voice sounded weak.
The two hadn't spoke since Rowan's hinting in the briefing room. They didn't even sit by each other on the jet like normal.
"If I told you that I stared at this map for the past twelve minutes with nothing whatsoever, what would you say?" She questioned, managing to look up.
Spencer was watching her and she caught him staring. He immediately looked away and cleared his throat.
"I would say that I've done the exact same thing." He answered.
She smiled a little bit.
"I thought we were the dynamic duo. Now we're the brilliant bums." She shook her head and cleared her throat, looking back down at the sheets.
"Can we forget geography for a second? I want to show you something."
Spencer nodded and watched as Rowan cleared away the maps and laid down a photo of the victims. They were all posed after death.
The M.O. was different on all of the kills: one was poisoned, one's throat was slit, and one was beaten to death with a blunt instrument.
The only link was the fingerprints that weren't on any database.
"This girl, Vicki," she was pale with dyed black hair, "was poisoned. This girl," a redhead, "had her throat slit. This girl," a blond, "was beaten to death, right? Now look at the way they're all posed. Hands folded across the stomach."
Reid nodded: he already knew all of this.
"I didn't want to mention this in front of the team. They'd think I'm crazy. But they seem to look like a fairytale."
Reid's eyebrows drew together as she tried to explain.
"Snow White was pasty and had black hair. The Evil Queen poisoned her with an apple. Ariel's vocal chords were taken. In the original fairy tale, Cinderella's mother always beat her with shoes lying around. High heels, which could have been used to beat the last victim."
Rowan leaned away, slightly worried Spencer would think she was crazy.
"That actually makes sense." Spencer leaned forward.
"Really? You think so?" She started to smile a little.
"Should we call Hotch?" Rowan reached for her phone- a new issue- just as Spencer's phone lit up with a call from their boss.
"Or have him call us. You're on speaker, Hotch."
"There's been another murder. We need fresh eyes. I'll send you the address."
•
"I thought I would get used to this." Rowan was pale.
A little girl, looking to be around thirteen or fourteen, was laying face up on the concrete. Blood was smeared all around her, coating the bright red jacket she was wearing.
Gashes ran across her stomach. "Little red riding hood." Rowan murmured underneath her breath.
"And the big bad wolf." Spencer agreed.
"What?" Morgan questioned. No one answered him.
"What do you guys make off this?" Emily questioned.
"We have an idea." Rowan volunteered, then elbowed Spencer to prompt him into explaining.
"It's possible that this unsub could see this as a twisted reality. The particular victims look like fairytale princesses and their deaths correspond with that particular character. For instance: little red riding hood."
There was a moment of silence. "I'm never watching Disney again." Emily shuddered slightly.
"Alright, we have a profile."
•
"Please tell me it isn't so." The hotel was out of vacancies. They had four rooms:
Room 1: Hotch. He doesn't sleep much and would keep up roommates.
Room 2. Rossi and Morgan.
Room 3: JJ and Emily.
Room 4: Spencer and Rowan.
Rowan's face was hot as she opened the door, ignoring Derek's snickering from the room beside theirs.
"Use protection!" He called before Spencer shut the door in his face.
"Please tell me it isn't so." Rowan groaned again and dropped her go back at the foot of the bed- the only bed.
"I'll sleep on the floor." Spencer volunteered.
"Don't be ridiculous. You won't get any rest. Besides, it's a queen bed. We won't even be touching."
They started to prepare for bed when Rowan cursed loudly. Spencer, who was startled, looked up worriedly. "Everything okay?"
"I forgot a shirt to sleep in." She huffed, pulling out her useless cotton shorts.
"You can use mine." He offered.
"You packed two pajama shirts?" She questioned.
"No." After a moment of hesitation, she accepted the shirt.
As much as they had been through together, would it matter that he went shirtless? Sleeping in the same bed as her? Her insides felt like becoming her outsides.
It was insane how she thought there would be room.
Rowan could feel Spencer's body heat under the blankets, both of their bodies radiating awkwardness. Both slept on their sides, facing away from each other.
Rowan stared at the wall with wide, not tired eyes.
"Go to sleep." Spencer murmured.
"I haven't said anything!" Rowan whispered back.
"No, but you're tense. And keeping me awake." He joked.
"How am I keeping you awake?" She turned to look at him as he turned to look at her.
"You're thinking too loud." She could see his smile in the dark.
"Oh, I'm thinking too loud now? Since when did you become a mind reader?"
"How do you think I got 7 PhDs?" They both laughed a little.
"Do you know the worst thing about having an eidetic memory?" Rowan said quietly. "You can never forget. You can never forget anything."
"Sometimes it's not bad." Spencer had to remind himself not to reach out and just... Touch her. Stroke her face, fix her awfully adorable bedhead.
"Can I ask you something?" Spencer asked.
"Anything."
"You put walls up between everyone. You won't let yourself get too close to anyone on the team. I know you care, Rowan, and I think that's why you distance yourself."
"That sounded like a statement."
"The question was do you think you could let me inside your walls? I won't hurt you." He promised.
"Not intentionally, I know you wouldn't. It's just- after being let down so many times it gets hard. Hard trusting people, hard believing people can be trusted. And with a job like ours-" she yawned. "We only see the bad in people. Distancing yourself is the only way to make sure you don't get hurt."
From the gentle shift in her voice, Reid could tell she had fallen asleep.
Softly, he whispered, "But without this job, we wouldn't have met."