The Dangers of Falling (A Criminal Minds Story)

XIII

   I was afraid to go home, even with Spencer there, but I did anyway, deciding that if I was safest anywhere, it would be with him. I could tell he didn't want to leave me alone, but I assured him that I would be fine.
    I got into bed and grabbed a book off my nightstand. I couldn't sleep, not with all of this weight I felt on me. "Are you okay?" Spencer asked, and I laughed, putting the book down on my lap.
    "Why do you keep asking me that?" I asked, looking at him.
    "Because I care about you and I want to make sure you're okay." I smiled.
    "Yes, Spence, I'm okay."
    "Okay, good." I turned to him.
    "Hey, you've never told me anything about yourself. I mean, I've met your parents and you've been to my childhood home, and yeah, I know that it was a... strange circumstance, but I was just wondering." Spencer looked uncomfortable.
    "Yeah, uh, I'm from Las Vegas. I wasn't there long, obviously, because I went to college pretty young. My Dad left when I was little and there was this whole thing with him when I went back there a few years ago that I really don't want to get into right now." He gets quiet for a second and I touch his hand. He smiled. "Anyway, my mom's still there. She's uh, at the Bennington Sanitarium because she has schizophrenia." He said it cautiously, as if he was trying to gauge my reaction.
    "Do you ever go visit her?" I asked. He nodded.
"Yeah, but since it's so far, I don't get to see her that often. Only when we go on cases there, which isn't that much, but it's enough to keep her happy. I write her letters sometimes, too. Not as often as I used to. I should probably do that more."
"What do you write about?"
"You." I blushed, the smile on my face wider than I ever knew it could be. Despite the current situation, I felt happier than I had in a long time.
"I'd love to meet her some time." His smile matched mine.
    "I'm really happy you said that, you know."
    "I know." I smiled even brighter. I didn't know how I had gone this long without Spencer. How did we work together for two months? Morgan and Emily figured it out along with everyone else so why did it take me so long? I realized then it didn't matter. I had him now, and that was the important part. I read for a little while longer before falling asleep, Spencer next to me. And in that moment, everything was as it should be.

    I woke up the next morning much earlier than I had intended to, the sunlight waking me up along with it. Spencer was still fast asleep next to me and I quietly got out of bed, not wanting to disturb him. I tiptoed out of my room and yawned, heading towards the bathroom.
    Despite a good seven hours of sleep (which was a new record considering my job and the fact that Garcia and JJ were missing), I looked much more tired than I felt. I brushed my teeth, and turned around, grabbing a towel.
The air in the bathroom felt slightly off putting as if something was wrong, but maybe I was just being paranoid. Maybe my body was just making up for all the time that I wasn't being scared enough because I was with Spencer.
I turned around to reach for the doorknob, my head still turned around, and that's when he grabbed my wrist. A dark figure reached out and covered my mouth with a cloth as I tried to scream for Spencer and then everything went dark.