so wattpad deleted a more than half my writing when i first attempted to publish this. still kind of pissed but i finally got around to rewriting it. hope you enjoy!
TEN ; CHANGE.
IT WAS A knock on her door that took Quinn out of her trance.
She blinked twice, eyes darting from her phone to the door. Her brow furrowed, confused as to who it could be. Connor consistantly got to work early, and Baldwin wouldn't travel from her flat to Quinn's unless absolutely neccessary. Quinn neared the door, suspecting someone from the BAU team on the other end.
Her suspicions were confirmed as she locked eyes with Spencer Reid.
She tilted her head to the left, eyes narrowing slightly as she looked at him in question. His hair made him look like he had just rolled out of bed. Quinn could tell that he had been pulling at it, most likely in stress. His fingers were woven together, right hand quickly leaving his left as Quinn opened the door, offering a small and shy wave. He gave a kind smile, expression soon contorting into a more serious and affirmative look, contrasting his body language.
"Hi," he greeted, voice soft. Quinn returned the grin, stance relaxing. "Can I come in?"
Quinn nodded, stepping to the side and letting him walk through. "I'm just getting ready to leave for work," she said, walking toward her counter space and placing her phone charger into her bag's pocket. He nodded, following her to the kitchen and leaning against the doorway. Quinn glanced up at him and sighed. "I'm guessing you heard about Higgins."
Spencer nodded, a look of pity washing over him. "How'd you know?"
"The way you're looking at me," she replied, shrugging. "I'm fine. It was more informative than anything." Quinn shook her head. "It's like all of Masters' clues are being handed to me. Maybe I should just sit back and wait for him deliver each one on a silver platter," she joked. The genius didn't laugh. Quinn frowned in return, crossing her arms over her chest. "Is everything okay? You're not smiling as much as when I saw you last."
Spencer frowned, gaze flicking toward the floor. There was a beat of silence before he swallowed harshly and let out a heavy sigh. "A lot has changed since you saw me last, Quinn," he replied, his answer taking Quinn by surprise. She tilted her head, face contorting into confusion. "Two years is a long time. It would have been a miracle if I hadn't changed somehow."
She swallowed harshly, his confession hitting her harder than she had anticipated. "Spencer—"
He stepped toward her, continuing as if he hadn't heard her. "I'm not as happy as I once was. Between this job, what happened with the Horsemen and the complications with my mother, I couldn't keep up with everything," he admitted, inching closer to Quinn. "I couldn't stay the same."
"Why are you telling me this?" Quinn asked, voice soft, confidence fleeting. She was unsure of what brought this on and where he was taking the conversation.
"You were gone for two years, Quinn," Spencer said. Quinn looked away from him, eyes on the floor, focusing on the hardwood beneath it. Her chest tightened as she saw his feet come into view, mirroring the stance of hers. "Do you know what that did to me? To the team? Do you know how much it changed the dynamic?"
"You've told me." Her voice was feeble.
Spencer's fingers met the skin of her wrist, one hand snaking around and pressing lightly into it. Quinn looked up at him, gazes locking. "It changed everything, Quinn."
"I'm sorry," she apologized, too ashamed to look at him. Her eyes returned to the floor.
"It's not you fault," he told her. "It's never going to be your fault. You did what was necessary." His fingers left her wrists, now intertwining them with hers. "But do you know what's strange, Quinn?"
She was afraid to respond. "What?" she questioned, voice quiet that the genius had to strain to hear.
"Everyone around me and nearly everything about me was changing. But as soon as you walked through that door a week ago, I knew that one thing hadn't changed," he confessed. When Quinn didn't reply, he smiled softly and continued. "And that one thing was how I feel about you."
She was sure that he could hear her heart beating in her chest. When she met his eyes again, she was surprised to find how close he was to her. She attempted to smile, but couldn't muster one up, nerves too high. "And how do you feel about me?" Quinn asked.
Spencer grinned at her, the pads of his fingers running over her knuckles, leaning in closer to her. "You're the most intuitive person that I know," he replied, head cocking to the side the slightest amount. "You tell me."
Quinn looked at him. She really, really looked at him. Her eyes scanned his face, searching for a sign of a lie to the truth she knew that he was confessing to. There weren't any. There never were.
She could feel her heart thumping, her breath catching in her throat. She couldn't process her thoughts as fast as she knew she could. She usually didn't around him. But, there was one thought that stuck out in her mind, one that didn't get mixed in with the rest of them. Her mind told her to pull him down by his tie and kiss him silly.
And so she did.
Spencer was taken back only slightly, reciprocating the action soon thereafter. His fingers left hers, cupping his hands around her cheeks, pulling her closer to him. Quinn wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling his lips stretch into a smile against hers.
The two broke apart after, Spencer placing his forehead against hers. They looked at each other, bursting into a fit of giggles, Quinn placing her face into his neck, cheeks burning. Spencer wrapped his arms around her, mindlessly tracing patterns into her back.
"Oh, thank God," he whispered, breath displacing the hairs that laid upon her head. Quinn shivered slightly. "I didn't think you were going to feel the same."
Quinn scoffed, removing her head from his shoulder and placing it on his chest to speak. "Please," she muttered. "I felt you taking my pulse. You knew." Spencer snickered, cheeks tinting pink, silently admitting it to her.
"I just wanted to make sure," he defended, smile widening as Quinn narrowed her eyes at him.
"You're going to have to work a little harder to be sneaky around me, Reid," she said, grinning as Spencer pulled her closer.
"You talk as if I don't know my opponent," he replied. "I'd never be able to get anything past you."
Quinn simply glanced up at him with a smile and pressed her lips to his once more.
-----
DEREK MORGAN WAS the first to become suspicious.
He saw it as soon as Quinn and Spencer entered the conference room, eyes narrowing and darting between the two of them. Quinn returned the look, tilting her head in confusion. When she had turned, Morgan glanced at Spencer, raising his brow. He quickly looked away, giving Derek all the evidence he needed to make the connection. Morgan's mouth dropped, a smile of disbelief appearing. He had done it. The kid had finally done it. Derek now felt less guilty about the hard-toned advice he had given the genius about Quinn yesterday.
JJ caught on soon thereafter. Her gaze landed on the silent exchange between Morgan and Reid, turning to look at Quinn as the girl sat down beside her. She looked toward Morgan, expression one of curiosity. When he nodded, JJ's face contorted into surprise, a grin playing at her lips as she snuck a glance at Quinn.
Emily Prentiss entered the room, the rest of the team filing in after her. Quinn smiled in greeting as Luke Alvez sat next to her, turning to Emily as she turned on the screen behind her, laying the laptop out on the table. When she opened the lid, the television showed the what was on the computer. Prentiss sighed softly, looking up at her team. Quinn's eyes however, were glued to the words 2 Attempts Left. She clenched her jaw, shaking her head and tuning into what Emily was saying.
"This morning at six-thirty I received an interesting wake-up call from our very own Quinn Carson who had some alarming news," Emily said.
Morgan looked at Quinn, a hint of disgust on his face. "Why were you up at six-thirty?"
"I don't sleep," Quinn answered bluntly, unsure of a better way to phrase it. Morgan let out a huff of a laugh, a small smile appearing.
"Anyway," Emily continued, "Quinn was visited by Elliot Higgins who informed her of some vital information about the Horsemen's game."
"Well, that obviously shows that he's not afraid of us," Rossi stated. "Going out into plain sight to talk to Quinn takes confidence."
"But it also tells us that Kyle Masters isn't as patient as we thought," Lewis offered. "If he's sending his men out to hand information to us, he obviously wants to get the dice rolling in the game."
JJ nodded. "Exactly," she agreed, nodding to both Rossi and Lewis. "Confidence and impatience aren't always the best combination. If he's so confident that he won't be caught, but impatient enough to put himself into situations like these, he could easily trip over his own feet."
"Wait," Alvez said, turning to Quinn. "What did he say to you?"
"He talked a lot about the rivalry between The Horsemen and The Commission," Quinn answered.
"Jonah Grey's group?" Morgan asked.
"Yes," she replied, nodding toward Morgan. "Like Masters, he mentioned my father being high within that group." Quinn sighed, eyes catching Spencer's who sat across from her. "He said he wanted to give me a backstory before the game went any further." Quinn furrowed her brow. "He mentioned Clue a lot too. Had a whole extended metaphor about it."
"The game?" Hotch asked. Quinn nodded once more. "Anything significant about that to you?"
"No," she answered. "I've really only played it about once or twice before."
"But Quinn thinks that she may have been given the password," Prentiss said. "Higgins left a bill with her abduction date on it, and the numbers match the slots in the password."
"Would Masters really just give it to you?" Lewis asked.
Quinn shrugged. "I don't know," she replied honestly. "He's been helping us with clues lately. I wouldn't put it past him."
"Was there anything else of significance in your talk?" Rossi asked. "Did he repeat a certain word or phrase, or emphasize something strange?"
She looked away from him in thought. Was it The Commission in the ballroom with the knife? Or, was it The Horsemen in the study with the gun? Well, I guess you're just going to have to play to find out. Quinn's breath caught in her throat. Open the laptop. Study what you find.
"He emphasized the word study a lot," she told him.
"In what way?" asked Spencer.
"He over-annunciated it," Quinn answered. She turned to Emily. "Study has five letters. It's worth a shot."
Emily looked at everyone around the table, checking to see if there were any objections. No one spoke up. With a deep breath, Emily pressed down on the according keys. The silence of the room was deafening.
S T U D Y.
DANGER! DANGER! One attempt left!
The team deflated, obviously upset with the results. Quinn apologized half-heartedly, focused on the notice on the screen instead. Each profiler noticed her tone, looking to what she was looking at.
DANGER! DANGER! One attempt left!
Quinn stood from her seat, walking toward the computer, standing beside Emily. Danger. Why give that notice? Why now?
Spencer looked at Quinn, speaking up softly. "Quinn, what is it?"
She looked at him, eyes wide as the pieces of the puzzle started to form a picture. "What five letter word do we know that means danger?"
Spencer sat back in surprise, mentally cursing himself for missing the connection. He watched as Quinn laid her fingers on the keys, pressing each one, one at a time. Quinn held her breath as she typed in the last key, looking up at her team who nodded toward her.
P L E O H.
There was a moment of relief for the team as the laptop opened, showing a normal looking home page. Quinn let out a shuttering breath, smiling at Emily who wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into a hug. Quinn's gaze met Spencer's and the two shared a moment of silent conversation. Good job.
This moment was short-lived, however, as the home screen shut down, dark looking, live footage of children that had been taken hostage replacing it.
— END OF PART ONE —
---
yeah wattpad deleted 3/4 of this chapter when i published it the first time so it took me a while to rewrite it and ugh i'm happy that it's finally out
anyways yay !!! squinn !! part one of three of green light is over !! the horsemen are assholes !!
i hope you enjoyed and plan to stick around for part two. it's gonna be a bit of a ride.
love you all tons!
-mags