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“Are you nervous?” He drawled, eyes boring into hers.
Her grip on her gun didn’t falter- if anything, she held on tighter in a desperate attempt to stay grounded, to stay level headed. “I don’t need to be nervous. I’ve been looking for you for a long time, and I’ve finally got you.” She spoke clearly, her heart picking up pace.
This made Spencer chuckle, his eyes never leaving hers as he reached in his pocket, “And that’s a problem, now isn’t it?” Her eyes flickered down as she watched him pull out a silver gun, the barrel seeming to shine in the dimly lit room.
They stood in a poorly lit pool area, inside an abandoned hotel. She wanted to take the credit for finding him after 6 months of obsessively searching with the rest of the team, but she couldn’t. He led her directly to him with a note set outside of her house, telling her to meet him here alone, in the middle of nowhere. She knew it was a bad idea, and she knew the risks, but there was a rush, call it adrenaline, that pushed her here. Here with him, without back-up.
She swallowed thickly. With the small, rational part of her brain ordering her to keep him talking, she quickly asked, “Should I be nervous, Doctor?”
“Well I don’t plan on killing you, not today, if that’s what you’re asking,” He took a few steps closer to her, his revolver steady in his hands, “But you have been getting in my way lately, and it’s becoming very inconvenient for me.”
She didn’t take any steps back yet, not wanting to show him any submission. “Thank you,” She quipped, a small gush of pride swelling in her chest.
“That wasn’t a compliment,” He stated, the corners of his mouth rising slightly, his eyes sparkling with amusement. He took another step forward, and almost without thinking, she cocked her gun back, the loud click resonating off the walls.
“Don’t make me kill you,” He warned her, lifting his gun just a little higher. “We were just getting started.” And somehow, even with a clear shot to her forehead, his finger on the trigger, she didn’t feel the cold shiver she should have. She didn’t feel the raw fear, not even the classic fight or flight response. Not yet, at least.
“I can’t make you do anything, Doctor Reid. And let’s be completely honest here, you can’t kill me. You won’t.” Still, she kept her gun aimed at his chest, knowing she wouldn’t fire. He let out a slow chuckle at this, throwing his head back.
“What makes you so sure? I mean, are you seriously willing to risk your life on your profile?”
“Yes, I am.” She didn’t hesitate, sounding so sure of herself. He wanted nothing more than to shatter that confidence.
“How stupid could you be? Those profiles are wrong a quarter of the time, you know. And what if you’re wrong about me? What if I’m not a vigilante killer? Maybe I kill for the pleasure, the thrill.” He sneered, watching intently as she shifted slightly, a telltale sign of anxiousness. “What’s wrong? Are you doubting your profiling skills?”
“No, I know I’m right about this. I know you aren’t a sexual sadist, or a psychopath. You aren’t killing for pleasure, you’re doing this because you think you’re bringing justice to the victims, to the families. But you’re wrong-”
“I’m wrong? And how is that? Half of the rapists, serial killers, and pedophiles we catch don’t serve any time. All they need is a good lawyer, so is what I’m doing really that bad?”
“Doctor Reid, just let me help you, please. We can walk out of here, you can make this easier for everyone.”
He clicked his tongue, pretending to ponder the suggestion. “I know what it feels like to be incarcerated, to be thrown away from the outside world. And from what I’ve seen, you’re smart. Smart enough to know I’m not going back.”
She was about to argue with him before she stopped, her mouth opening and closing a few times as she fumbled for the right words. “You’ve been… watching me?” She slowly asked him.
“Well, you’ve been watching me. Spending all your extra hours working on my case, even the team was worried about you. I took an educated guess, and I knew it would be you who decided to meet me here without any back-up. It made the most sense.”
“No, there’s no way you could have known that. I didn’t even know I would be here-”
“But I did,” He cut her off, “I knew you would come here because you’re just as interested in me as I am in you.” He explained with a small smirk, knowing he was right.
She could feel her face burning with humiliation, what kind of agent interacts with criminals like this? She thought, trying to remind herself that’s what he is, a criminal. “I came here because I’m doing my job, taking people like you off the streets. Making the world a safer, happier place.”
“We both know that’s not entirely true,” He suddenly slid his gun in his pocket. She was about to ask him what he was doing when he started taking large strides towards her.
“Back up- I won’t tell you again.” She tried her hardest to sound stern, but he saw right through it as he walked closer to her, so close there was hardly any room between them.
“Put the gun down.” His voice dropped, almost to a whisper as he grinned at the way she still didn’t back away from him. How could she when her heart felt like it might beat out of her chest? She was about to say something else when she noticed a bright red circle flash across her stomach. A sniper. As soon as she processed what it was, she felt a wave of fresh fear course through her, but she wasn’t stupid. She knew what she felt was more than fear, it was a twinge of excitement.
She let out an involuntary gasp, looking down at the bright red circle, covering it to see the dot immediately shine on the back of her hand. “You aren’t working alone? That’s- it wasn’t in the profile,” She looked up with wide eyes to come face-to-face with Spencer, looking down at her. His long brown hair framed his face, almost giving off the illusion of a halo. But she knew better, and he was no angel.
“If I were you, I’d put the gun down,” His hand went to hers, lowering her gun before she quickly placed it in her holster, hands shaking. “Come with me.” The statement caused her eyes to widen once again, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
“Come with you? I can’t just-” His hands came up to her face, so soft they felt like they would disappear at any given moment. She caught herself before she leaned into his touch, and he just reveled in the way she didn’t flinch. “I can’t leave everything, everyone. I- it’s wrong.” He leaned in closer- if it was possible. So close she had to crane her head back as he towered over her, his hazel eyes seeming far too intrusive for her liking.
“You really want to stay?” He prodded, watching as her eyes shifted back and forth, the sniper feeling long forgotten. “You can really tell me you’re doing enough?”
“Sometimes I feel like we’re not doing enough, sometimes it feels like we’re completely disregarding the victims, leaving them with physical and emotional wounds that won’t ever heal. It doesn’t… always feel like we’re helping them. Maybe we’re doing more harm than good,” She admitted, her voice nearly a murmur, afraid that if she raised her voice too loud it might shatter the bubble it felt like they were in.
“So come with me,” He stroked her face with his thumbs, and all she could focus on was the faint scent of mahogany and gunpowder radiating off of him. “Like I said, I’ve kept tabs on you. You’re different then the rest of the team, you must know that.” Her eyes fluttered shut at his words, knowing he was fully right, once again.
Whatever words she almost said were lost as they heard a door being kicked open a few rooms away, with a distant shout. The BAU was here, and they both knew it. She looked up at him with a frantic look in her eyes before he swiftly broke away from her, the loss of his hands leaving her to drown in a feeling of coldness.
“I suppose we’ll just have to continue our cat and mouse game. And just know, the cat always wins.” He vaguely threatened as he swiftly backed away, hearing heavy footsteps approaching.
“Wait- Doctor Reid,” She looked at him, and in the heat of the moment she couldn’t think of anything to say. Not when he was already opening the back door, not when the team was seconds away from storming in.
“Until next time.” It sounded like a promise coming out of his mouth, and she watched silently as he turned his back and walked out of the door.
All she could do was hope he kept his promises.