You awoke groggily to the sound of someone knocking on the office door. You checked the clock, 7:30 am, before scrambling off of the pull-out couch and opening the door.
"Good morning, Y/N," Hotch said, standing in the doorway.
"Er, hey." You wrapped your arms around your torso, feeling extremely underdressed in your pajamas compared to his suit.
"We're getting an early start today, you can leave your things in here, but I'll need you to collapse the bed and get dressed."
"Sure thing," you said as he turned and started back down the hall.
You closed the door and pulled your wrinkled work clothes from your duffle bag. You dressed in a fitted cream turtleneck, a brown tweed skirt, and tights. The only shoes you had were your tall black mary jane heels from the night before, which weren't really work appropriate, but you pulled them on anyways before transforming the bed back into the couch and rushing out of Hotch's office. You walked down to the kitchen, grabbing a cup of coffee before heading up to the conference room. In the kitchen, stands Prentiss, JJ, and Morgan, looking just as tired as you.
"Good morning guys," you said as you filled your mug.
Prentiss shook her head. "Bad morning. I need more than five hours of sleep to function. And Hotch," she shot a hardened glare towards your boss, "made the executive decision to deny me of that."
You laughed quietly at her comical anger as the four of you walked back to the conference room, joining with Hotch, Rossi, and Garcia.
"Good morning everyone," Hotch said solemnly. "There's been another murder."
"God damn it," you said loudly, slamming your hands on the table.
"Y/N..." JJ reached towards you, but you pulled away.
"No, he's killing people because of me. These girls are dying because I didn't answer this asshole's phone calls." You turned towards your boss. "Did she look like me?" He hesitated. "Hotch. Did she look like me?"
He nodded once and clicked the button on the remote. A photo of another young woman flashed across the screen, and again, she looks eerily like you. He clicked again, and the crime scene photos appeared. Morgan let out a low whistle, and Garcia cringed away from the screen. Again, she was stabbed and strangled, with no blood at the scene. Angry tears pricked the corners of your eyes as Hotch continued with the case overview. You could feel yourself folding inwards as you watched the aftermath of your one stupid date displayed across the screen.
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In the lamest terms, the next week was the worst in your life. Each day, a new body was found, and the team was no closer to finding Julius as they were when the body was found. It seemed as if Julius had quite literally fallen off the face of the planet. His apartment had been abandoned, his car left in a cameraless parking lot downtown, his job hadn't seen him since the night before the first body was found, Julius was nowhere to be found. Quantico, Virginia was in a frenzy as the bodies of young women were being found nightly. JJ tried her best to keep the story out of the press, but an officer in Quantico's police department tipped off the local newspapers, strengthening the pressure on the members of the BAU to find Julius Castro and give his now eight victims the justice they deserve. It was a Friday night, a full week since the first body was found when there was a break in the case.
"We knew he was getting sloppier with each kill, but this is pretty bad, right? With how organized he's keeping his routine, why would he kill this victim at the scene, instead of taking her to a secondary location?" Morgan said. The team was stationed at Quantico PD's local precinct, you and Garcia were set up in the conference room at the BAU, talking to the team over the phone.
"Well," you started. "He's getting frustrated, right? I'm what he wants, and he can't get to me when I'm here, so he's taking out his anger on whoever he can. I wouldn't be surprised if he soon strayed away from the victim type."
Hotch cut in. "The amount of evidence left at the scene is astounding. Rossi and Prentiss are there now, we'll call with updates."
The phone clicked, and the rest of the team was gone. Because you and Garcia had been left alone in the office for a week now, you two had grown incredibly close. She'd started to stay later with you, and because everyone knew how bad the food in the FBI's headquarters was, she'd started to bring you food. The night before, however, you'd mistakenly believed that she'd left earlier than she did, leading her to accidentally barge in on your nightly phone call with Spencer. She left the room quickly when she realized you were on the phone, but not before catching you ask for Spencer Reid. You brushed it off that night, hoping she hadn't heard too much, before continuing your conversation. Since the first night spent in Hotch's office, every night before falling asleep, you and Spencer spent an hour or two on the phone. You helped him through the complications of detoxing and completing rehab in general, and he consistently talked you out of the idea that it was your fault these women were dying.
"So," Garcia said slyly. "Are you gonna tell me about what you and Boy Genius talking about last night." She nudged you on the shoulder, acknowledging the blush quickly spreading across your cheeks.
"Nothing," you said, too quickly.
"Y/N, tell me now! You two are a thing right?"
"What?! What makes you say that?"
"Hm, I don't know," She faked as if she was deep in thought, tapping her finger against her temple. " Was it the immediate tension between you both? Or when he stood up for you in the bar? Or the going out to eat after work? Or the-"
"Okay, okay, I get it," you groaned. "Stop talking now."
She smiled. "So you are a thing... When did it start?"
You frowned. "What do you mean by start?"
Her eyes widened. "What do you mean by that?"
Internally cringing, you gave her the rundown. "I guess you could say it probably started around when Spencer and I went undercover? But we still hated each other then, and I mean hated, so I'd say it started when we were on the case in Michigan."
"Oh wow, so it's kind of new then, a few weeks if we're going by your timeline."
You nodded. "Yeah, and I don't really know if it's gonna go anywhere. It still feels so weird. Like, logically, I hate him, but I also can't stop thinking about him," you groaned and rested your head on the table.
"Y/N's got a crush!" She said in a sing-song voice. "On Spencer!"
"Don't even say it, I'm humiliated." You looked up at her. "A crush on a man, how disappointing."
Garcia laughed. "Hey, at least it's Spencer, he's sweet."
You frowned. "Sweet? Are we talking about the same Spencer? Just last night he called me an idiot for not knowing the Diophantine Equation off the top of my head."
"I promise, under all that, he's the nicest you'll get. Cut him a little slack, he's been through so much."
"I know, but God, he knows where to hit you where it hurts."
"He's coming back on Monday, right? His mom's doing better last I heard."
You nodded. "Yeah, and honestly, I'm a little nervous. He left right when we started getting... close, so most of whatever we have has been over the phone, and I don't even know what we are."
"Ah, I see." She sat quietly for a moment. "Why don't you just ask him? Plain and simple."
"Er, yeah, I guess I could..." Your thoughts were interrupted by the ringing phone.
Garcia answered and put it on speaker, and Hotch started speaking immediately. "We've got something. Julius lived with his mom for a while after he dropped out, we found a storage unit in her name about an hour outside of town. I've got Morgan and Prentiss on the way over there now. I've got to go, but I wanted to fill you two in."
"Thanks, Hotch," you said as he hung up the phone. That's when Garcia noticed something behind you.
"Hey!" She jumped out of her seat and moved behind you. You turned to see none other than Spencer Reid standing in the doorway.
"Hey, Garcia!" He said, accepting her hug.
You felt your heart speed up slightly as Spencer looked over Garcia's shoulder and at you. She released him and glanced over at you.
"Oh, right. Er, I'll be right back," she snaked around Spencer and snuck out of the room.
You stood up nervously and took a step towards him. "You're back early," you said quietly.
"I thought you'd be happy to see me," he joked.
"No, I am," you backtracked. "But I thought the program was two weeks."
He nodded. "Technically yeah, but the last weekend is culminating activities anyways.
"Are you sure-"
"Y/N, can you just shut up and give me a 'welcome back from rehab' hug?"
You laughed quietly and stepped towards him. You wrapped your arms against his torso, and he wrapped his around your neck, pulling you closer. He rested his chin on the top of your head.
"I've got something for you," he whispered.
"No, wait!" You said, pulling away. "Me first."
You grabbed Spencer's hand and led him to Hotch's office.
"So, this is where you've been staying?" He asked as you dug through the duffle bag tucked next to the couch.
"Basically." You found what you were looking for, and passed Spencer the book you bought him. "I know you've already read it but this copy has an interview with Ray Bradbury in the back, I thought you'd like it."
He smiled. "The Illustrated Man is one of my favorites. Thank you, Y/N."
"You're welcome."
"Here, this is for you." Spencer reached into his pocket and pulled out an envelope.
"A letter?" You asked as he handed it to you.
"Yeah. It was part of one of the group therapy activities. We had to write a letter to someone who supports you. And, well, you've been a big support."
You smiled softly. "Thank you, Spencer."
"Are you gonna read it?" He asked.
"Oh, now? Sure."
You slid your thumb under the flap, ripping the paper. You pulled out the sheet of paper and unfolded it.
Dear Y/N, ............