Strange Love// Spencer Reid// Criminal Minds

18

Madeline's POV

I don't even know how I got there in such a short amount of time. I remember stumbling down the stairs of my apartment building, getting into my car and literally speeding over there within ten minutes.

I got out, ducking underneath the police tape before running over to the ambulance. Spencer was sitting on the back of it as the paramedics treated him. I wrapped my arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.

I sobbed as I pulled back to look at him. "Are-are you okay?"

My fingers were shaking as they brushed over the cuts on his face. "Oh god, what did he do to you?"

"I'm fine, Maddy." He said, taking my hands.

David attacked Reid in his house, getting a few cuts on his face, a busted lip and a bruised rib. 

Hotch came over and sighed, putting a hand on his shoulder. "You all right?"

"Yeah," Reid nodded. "He got away with my wallet and my gun. He gave this to me, too."

He pulled a letter from his pocket, handing it to Hotch. Hotch glanced at me with sympathetic eyes before turning and leaving.

"What's that?" I asked him.

"A letter," he sighed. "He left it for me."

"What did it say?"

"Madeline, it's really-"

"What did it say?" I asked him again.

"You've got three days to leave him or I take care of it."

"Jesus." I sighed, sitting beside him.

"Hey," he said, his hand on my thigh. "It's going to be okay."

I took his hand, intertwining our fingers. "I believe you."

Spencer's POV

After getting checked out at the hospital, Madeline and I went back to HQ where the team were already starting victimology. Madeline sat at my desk while we were in the conference room, doing the normal thing.

Garcia was doing her normal digging in her lair while we made up our preliminary profile. Normal routine stuff. We were writing when Garcia came in, her mouth parted.

"What is it, babygirl?" Morgan asked, going over to her.

She glanced out the window at Madeline before looking at me.

"What is it?" I asked her.

"I was doing normal digging on David, past victims and such-"

"I know, what's up?" Hotch cut her off.

She opened a file in her hand, holding up a picture. I furrowed my eyebrows as I stepped forward, snatching the picture from her hand.

"David and Madeline were engaged," Garcia said. "They were going to get married."

That's a low blow. I was confused. Mad. Betrayed.

"Madeline was pregnant," Garcia went on. "But she miscarried when she was 17 and she ran away."

I turned around and started towards my desk where she was sitting. 

"Reid, don't." Morgan said from behind me.

I slammed the picture on the desk, raising my eyebrows at her. She picked it up before looking up at me, opening her mouth to say something.

"Spencer, I can explain-"

"You were engaged to him?" I yelled, the surrounding people looking at us.

"Reid.."

"You were pregnant?" I asked her, tears filling my eyes. "With his baby?"

"I don't know how to explain-"

"I trusted you, Madeline, I thought you trusted me enough to tell me, why didn't you tell me?"

"Madeline." Hotch said from the conference room door, waving her in.

I followed her back into the room, where she stood in front of everyone, starting to explain everything that happened. I crossed my arms, tapping my foot.

"When I was fourteen, I was convinced that what David did to me was...love. That he wanted me and wanted to get married to me," she said, tears running down her face. "I thought that what he was to me, that it was love. I was stupid enough to think he was everything I needed. So yes, I was engaged to him, I was pregnant with his baby."

"What happened between you?" Morgan asked. 

"My sister, Eleanor, committed suicide after we announced our engagement," she said, looking at my feet. "I hadn't realized that he did the same thing to her, that there were other girls, not just me. One night, I flipped out, had a knife, I was going to kill him and then myself."

JJ put a hand on her shoulder as she sighed, relief evident on her face. "But he fought back, pushed me. I fell down two flights of stairs, and I miscarried. The police came to me and I got him arrested and 10 years in prison."

"Madeline, this is important to the profile," Hotch said. "We have a better chance of catching him."

I looked at the evidence bar, starting to piece together everything. Everything made sense now. Madeline grabbed my hand but I snatched it away, focusing on the board.

"Reid..I'm sorry." She sniffled.

I ignored her as she turned and left the room, assuming she was going back to my desk in the bullpen. We were all eating when Morgan came up to me. Madeline was outside in the bullpen, doing something on her phone.

"You know, she just wanted to protect you," Morgan said. "Wanted you to love her for who she was, not who she used to be. You get that."

I took a sip of coffee, not looking at him. "She lied to me."

"We've all lied," Morgan said. "She loves you, Reid."

"I love her too, but this isn't something I can just throw over my shoulder, Morgan," I said to him. "Maybe stay out of it, yeah?"

He raised his hands in surrender. "Sorry."

I grabbed a plate of the food we ordered before going out to the bullpen, searching for Madeline. But she was no where to be found.

"Hey, Anderson," I said to him, setting the plate on my desk. "Where'd Madeline go?"

"I think she went to the bathroom." Anderson said, not looking up from his desk.

"Well, how long has she been gone?"

Anderson shrugged. "About 15 minutes."

I panicked, grabbing her phone from my desk. "What makes you think she was in the bathroom for 15 minutes?"

"I don't know, woman stuff."

I went into the conference room, sitting her phone on the desk as I sighed.

"She's gone," I sighed. "Madeline's gone."