MASTERMIND | spencer reid

012: i can do it with a broken heart.

"Of course, but, you know, if you just wanted to get out of the house. . .you could've called," Emily claimed, though with a hesitancy in her tone. "It's been a while since we hit the clubs, just us girls. If you need some more time off—"

"I, uh, I don't," Lucy interjected, though her lip begrudgingly tugged up at Emily's consideration. "But, thanks. I will, however, take you up on that clubbing idea, so long as you buy mine."

Emily let a chuckle slip, mirroring the soft smile Lucy wore, but, still, that uncertainty radiated from her. "Its good to have you back."

"Good to be back," Lucy quipped, finally tossing her bag below her desk and excusing herself, "now, I've got to go pay a visit to a special someone in her bat-cave, so if you'll excuse me."

Emily nodded in understanding, "oh, certainly."

She moved her way out of the bullpen, her eyes again on the phone as another text buzzed through. Theo's worrisome nature may be endearing, but it was beginning to tug on Lucy's nerves. She was in the midst of replying back, something short to lay his worries to rest, when Spencer and Derek emerged from the elevator, Derek chuckling and Spencer's cheeks pink. It was easy to deduct that some characteristic teasing was going on.

Unsurprisingly, two weeks hadn't changed the group dynamic.

"Is that Lucy Byrne or are my eyes deceiving me?" Derek was first to take notice of her, with a cheeky grin to match his words. "You so eager to get back? I thought you were still—"

She had been gnawing at her lip, agonising over what best to send Theo, as she glanced at the pair. "Um, yeah, no, I'm good. Fit as a fiddle. Really, it was just a couple of cuts and bruises, so. . .I'm fine."

Lucy wanted to smack their unconvinced expressions from their face.

But that would simply give them all the more reason to believe she wasn't fine. (And she was fine!)

"Right, yeah, okay," Derek replied, though Lucy detected the drips of sarcasm in his tone as he moved around her, towards the bullpen.

And then there were two, and Lucy couldn't help but remember the last conversation they shared at the hospital before she took her leave. The whole 'please tell me I'm not crazy' thing made her cheeks pink with regret every time she thought about it, and she had thought about it a lot.

She really hoped Spencer wouldn't consider her weaker because of it.

And she could see him toying with something behind those eyes of his, shuffling unsurely on his feet, so she expected the 'walking-on-eggshells' treatment to start. But, instead, he just asked, "so, you're all good?" When she nodded with a small 'yep', he continued with a nod himself, "good. That's good. We missed you here, actually, so. . ."

She furrowed her brows, jokingly, "actually? Wow, consider me flattered."

"Sorry. I meant, as expected, we all missed you. Keep this between us, but I think Rossi and Morgan missed bickering with you," Spencer commented, and Lucy noticed his grip tightening around the strap of his satchel.

Lucy grinned, the revelation resulting in a sense of satisfactory to build within her. "I totally knew it. See, I accused Rossi of it once but he just said I was 'the bane of his existence' or something," she pffted, waving away Rossi's words as lies with a laugh. "But, hey, Emily and I were talking about catching up, hitting the clubs—totally your scene. It was going to be just us girls, but I'm sure I can pull the whole 'I just got blown up' card so they'll let it slide. You should come with."

Spencer smiled tightly, appreciative of the conversation, thought the idea of clubbing only awoke a dread within him. "I don't know. . ." He replied, with an uncertain shake of the head.