I've felt a little off ever since meeting with my mother, and I think the whole team could notice.
I had been quiet, distant, and a bit moody. When I was home with Spencer and Delilah, I was a little more talkative and happy. Taking care of those two always seemed to lessen any pain I was going through.
Spencer and I were watching a movie when the phone rang, signaling that we had a case. I got up to get Delilah ready to go to my dad's, but I froze in the doorway to her room. It was like my body was telling me to not send her away, to not go on this case, to just crumble up in a ball and cry about my problems.
Spencer stood behind me and rested his hands on my hips. "You don't have to go," he spoke softly. "I can tell the team you're not feeling well and you can stay home with her."
I shook my head, turning around to face Spencer. His hands temporarily left my hips, only to place them back when my body was turned towards him. "No, I'll be okay."
"You sure?"
I chuckled, wrapping my arms around his neck. "Always worrying about me, aren't you?"
He placed a kiss on my forehead before tilting my head up to meet his gaze. "That's my job. I'll wake her up, you get our go-bags ready."
I nodded and went to grab our things before we made the trip to work. We gathered around the roundtable to talk about our latest case, which happened to be quite a doozy. People in Arizona being killed and dumped in wooden boxes. The photos looked pretty gruesome, the way their limbs were folded. It hurt to think about.
Once we got to Arizona, we hit the ground running. We discovered that this unsub was using people as puppets. But it wasn't all easy. I had accidentally snapped at an officer and wasn't speaking much to the rest of the team. Spencer looked extremely worried about my behavior, but we didn't have the time to sit down and talk it out.
I made my way to an empty room, hoping to clear my head and calm myself down a bit. I heard footsteps enter the room and I assumed it was Spencer. Who I didn't expect to find was Alex Blake. She sat down across from me, lightly tapping her fingers on the table.
"If you don't mind, I asked Spencer earlier what was going on with you. He explained that you had a rough meeting with your mom. I know that I'm new to the team and we don't know much about each other yet, but I want to help you out in any way I can."
I let out a deep sigh, contemplating if I wanted to talk to her. She's been so nice and is offering to help me out now, so why not?
"I didn't want that meeting to effect my work and my mental state, but it is. Knowing that she was hundreds of miles away was what gave me peace at night. Now that I know that she will be in the same state as me? It physically hurts. I don't know what to do."
She reached her hand out and offered for me to take it. I reached out and let out a shaky breath.
"Family is hard to deal with sometimes. There's always bad mixed in with the good. You have a beautiful and intelligent daughter at home. You have a loving husband out there who is always thinking and talking about you any chance he gets. So shut out the bad. You don't need that negativity in your life. Hold onto the good. And if you need help seeing the good in life, you've got a room of people out there who are willing to show it to you."
I nodded, a few tears leaving my eyes. I stood up and walked over to give her a hug. "Thank you, Blake."
"Anytime. Now, let's go catch a killer."
We eventually managed to catch our killer. The case was extremely unsettling, but I'm glad I powered through it. We were making a pit stop at the BAU to do some paperwork before we headed home. Making our way up to our floor, I stopped dead in my tracks right before the glass doors.
There was a man standing at my desk. He was tall, slightly muscular, older looking. He didn't even need to turn his face in my direction for me to figure out who he was. I stepped out of the view of the glass doors, sliding against the wall onto the ground. Spencer noticed my reaction and looked into the bullpen. He seemed to put the pieces together because he was trying to calm me down in an instant.
"Reid, what's wrong?" Morgan questioned. The rest of the team started to crowd around us. "That's her step-dad," Spencer explained. "We need to get him the hell out of here and we need to make sure he doesn't even look at Ariel."
They all nodded and walked into the bullpen, hoping to diffuse to situation. Spencer slowly tried to get me to my feet so he could lead me somewhere else.
"I'm sorry," I mumbled into his shoulder the second he pulled me into a hug in the empty office we found.
"Hey, it's okay. You're safe here with me. He's never going to hurt you ever again, I promise." He continued to hold me, whispering calming things into my ear. He always knew exactly what I needed, especially after seeing my abuser for the first time in 10 years. A few minutes later, Morgan stepped into the room.
"He's gone. It took us a while to get him out, but he's gone. How are you guys doing?"
I stepped out of Spencer's arms and made my way over to give a hug to Morgan. "Thank you, Derek."
"No problem. We'll handle your paperwork, you two should head home."
We thanked Derek one last time before we headed home. It was pretty late, so we figured we would pick Delilah up in the morning. We silently made our way to bed, exhaustion from the day setting in. Once we settled into bed, he grabbed my hand and started to lightly rub his thumb over my knuckles.
"Sorry about today."
"It's okay. It's not like you could have prevented it."
He propped himself up on his elbow, looking down at me. "You are in desperate need of having your spirits lifted. How about I take you out on a date? We haven't had one in a while."
I smiled and tilted my head up to give him a kiss. I could feel him smiling into it, causing me to grin as well. "I'd love to. Thanks, Spence."
"Anything for you, Madame Reid. Now let's get some sleep, I want to cuddle."
I gave into his request and soon we were out like a light.
The next morning, Spencer and I decided to go out to a nice breakfast. While I was getting ready, I got a call from my dad. "Hey, dad."
"Morning. I didn't wake you, did I?"
"Oh no, Spence and I are gonna go out to breakfast. You wouldn't mind holding onto Delilah for a little while longer, would you?"
"It's not a problem." He stayed silent for a moment. I could hear him let out a sigh before he continued. "Your mother called me."
I paused, dropping my purse on the table and focusing all my attention to his words. "She told me about your meeting. Ariel, I am so sorry."
"It's not your fault, dad. Neither of us kept in touch and we didn't know they were planning to move out here."
"I'm just worried. Now that Cole is going to be in the same state as us, who knows if he's gonna come after you or god forbid Delilah and Spencer."
Spencer walked into the room and noticed my concerned face. 'Who is it?' he mouthed. 'Dad' I mouthed back. "I know, I'm scared too. But I've got a team of profilers who would probably help us if we really needed it. I'm gonna let you go, but we'll talk later. Love you."
"Love you too, darling."
I hung up and turned my attention to Spencer. "He's worried that Cole is going to try something. He's worried about us and Delilah."
Spencer walked over and placed his hands on my hips. "If he even looks at my daughter, I'll punch his teeth out." I giggled and placed a kiss on his cheek.
"I've never heard you talk like that, doctor."
"Nobody messes with my family. Come on, let's not think about them for a while and have a nice breakfast."
I grabbed his hand and we made our way to the pancake house. We talked and ate for a while, smiles on our faces the entire time. There was no talk of cases or family drama, just the finer and happier things in life.
When we arrived at my dad's to pick up Delilah, she ran down the hallway and jumped into Spencer's arms. "Hey sweet girl. Were you good for grandma and grandpa?" She nodded and placed a kiss on his cheek. While Spencer and Cheryl started to chat, my dad pulled me into a hug.
"I'm gonna be okay dad, don't worry. What could I do to make you feel more at ease?"
"Maybe start on another restraining order," he mumbled into my hair. I chuckled into his shoulder. "Trust me, I already threatened her with one."
We eventually said our goodbyes and made our way home. I know there was nothing I could really do to calm my dad down with this whole situation. He always fought so hard to keep me safe when I was younger. Even though judge after judge turned us down and didn't believe us, he kept fighting to keep me safe. My dad was always there for me when I needed it, after every court hearing gone south, after every incident, after every injury, he was there. My dad is one of the strongest people I know and I just hope that we can get through this tough time easily, for his sake.
Sorry that this is a bit of a filler chapter, but the next part is where it really picks up. Thanks for giving this a read! Abby <3