Sinner | Spencer Reid

Chapter 11

Spencer's POV

I can't sleep. No matter how hard I try I simply cannot will for my brain to switch off. Of course it doesn't actually 'switch off' but I wish that mine could. I'm always processing information, categorising it and seeing if it could help with the case. The variables just don't add up. Yes these three, if looked at in the eyes of an extremist, were sinners, but so are most human beings. Why these specific people? There has to be a connection that we just haven't found yet.

I'm distracted from my thoughts as my phone vibrates on the dresser next to me. I look and see that it's Garcia and slide the call across to answer.

"Hi Garcia, do you have more information on the case?" I ask hopefully.

"Sadly not Genius. But I was calling to ask if you'd be able to do something for me?"

Her voice hints that there's something she isn't telling me, but I decide to ignore it. "If it's within reason. I mean it is," I pause to check my watch, "02:04 in the morning."

"Can you grab me Hotch's ID card from the car that you were in today? Pretty sure he left it in there and is gonna need it before morning. Should be in the glove compartment."

"Sorry Garcia. No can do. Jaella took that car to go and stay at a friend's house."

There is a pause and I wonder if the call has ended but she speaks up again.

"Can you just go outside and check?" She doesn't even give me time to reply before she hangs up the phone.

Odd.

Confusedly, I toss the covers off me and slip on my shoes. I'm dressed in pyjama bottoms and a Doctor Who t-shirt. Nobody will see me like this so I don't even bother fixing my messy hair. I close the heavy hotel room door and make my way to the hotel exit. I look to the parking lot and am surprised to see three black SUVs and not the expected two.

I approach the nearest and recognise it as the one that I was in today from the registration plate. I look in the window to see Jaella. Just sitting there, in the car, staring into space with a glazed look.

Jaella's POV

I give up on trying to sleep, and although I only tried for the short while after my chat with Garcia, I know that it won't be coming soon. Too many memories and experiences were flowing through my head at an unbelievable speed.

Probably near the speed that Spencer can read at. Wait why am I thinking about him. Stop it Jaella. Stop.

I hear a gentle knock on the glass beside me and nearly jump out of my skin with a small shriek. I turn to spot a guilty looking Spencer peering in the car window. Speak of the devil and he shall appear. After some heavy breaths I open the door and peer out at him.

"Hi," I say, embarrassed at my outburst.

"Sorry I didn't know that you would em-" he pauses. "Why are you here?"

"Oh I uh," I stutter, struggling to form a human sentence.

WORDS JAELLA USE YOUR WORDS.

"I came out here to watch the stars?" Even I am not convinced by my lame excuse.

"Being a profiler comes in handy sometimes. This is one of those times," Spencer says with a small smile. "May I come in?" He gestures to the car.

"Sure, course."

He climbs into the back and shuts the door carefully behind him to keep out the nighttime chill.

"Are you ok?" He wonders aloud. "Why aren't you with your friend?"

I look up at him and catch his eye but quickly look away again.

"You don't have a friend here in Florida do you? You even said yourself that you only come here for work," he proclaims.

"Ding ding ding," I say quietly. "We have a winner."

"Do you mind me asking why you said that you had somewhere to stay?"

I gulp nervously. I don't know why but something in me makes me want to tell him. Maybe it's how he always looks at me with kindness. Maybe it's because for once a guy within the vicinity of me doesn't just look at me like an object. Or maybe it's just his eyes.

I take a shuddery breath and am silent for a minute or two. "Whenever my shifts would end in the early mornings there would always be more customers around. Some just didn't want to let me go. They would pay extra."

I notice Spencer stiffen, but not in an uncomfortable way. More in a protective manner.

"I would make all of the money and not have to split it with my boss. So we would go to the nearest hotel and.." I trail off. "You can probably guess the rest. But with no security guards around like there would be at the club, sometimes when you would be finished with them, they wouldn't be finished with you and would make sure that you stayed. So that's why I lied. I just can't be in a hotel without thinking about everything."

It is silent for a couple of moments before I look up to see Spencer already looking at me. He raises his hand to wipe a tear from my cheek that I hadn't even realised was there.

"We can stay here for the night," he manages to whisper out.

I look at him with disbelief.

"Wait no, you have a nice comfy bed in the hotel," I begin to object but Spencer cuts me off.

"Jaella. Either we both sleep here or we can both go back to my room. You are welcome to share it with me. Or we could get you your own one," he quickly adds. "But it is usually better for a person reliving a traumatic memory to be accompanied."

He takes my hand in his. "If we were to go back to my room I promise to keep you safe and calm you down if you get stressed. I can tell that you will be stressed whether or not you actually go inside the hotel as your fingers have been tapping each other since I saw you through the window."

I look down to my free hand and realise that it is indeed, tapping. The thought of Spencer keeping me safe feels nice.

I slowly nod. "Thank you," I whisper. If we were not in such a tight space he probably wouldn't have heard me.

He leads me back to his room and even manages to keep holding my hand until I go into the bathroom to get changed. I throw on an oversized t-shirt and shorts, my usual night wear. I emerge from the bathroom and see Spencer already on the left side of the bed.

My heart begins to beat faster and I am glad that the room is dimly lit as my cheeks would be a shameful red. I hadn't taken in his appearance back at the car. His hair was messy, his clothes loose. He seemed relaxed, carefree, something that I liked seeing.

I climb into the bed and whisper, "Good night Spencer," as I lay my head on the pillow facing away from him.

"Night Jaella," I hear from behind me.

Spencer and Jaella are asleep almost instantly, possibly into a deeper sleep than either have had in a long while. As they are in that in between stage of being awake and not, something occurs to the both of them. They are, slowly but surely, falling, not just asleep, but for each other.

Hello lovelies. Officially my favourite (and longest) chapter so far. Ugh I love 'em. Good morning/good afternoon/good evening/good night to you.