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My heart was pumping and so was my chest from the running I’d been doing. I had taken a lot of deep breaths in the last 30 seconds, trying to get my noise output to a minimum. The problem was the tall man I was currently pressed against was doing the exact same thing. Why he had to pull me into what seemed to be the smallest cupboard in the house I had no idea. Okay, maybe I knew there was less chance of the gun weilding unsub thinking we’d be in such a small cupboard, but I was still annoyed at Spencer. Mostly because of the whole ‘us being unarmed’ thing, but I was trying not to think about that life threatening fact right now. We both should’ve known better than to go to any crime scene unarmed, even if it was 2am to follow up on a theory Spencer developed when he couldn’t sleep. I thanked my lucky stars Penelope Garcia didn’t sleep much either, and I had been messaging her before we arrived. I just hope Hotch isn’t too mad when he gets woken up to rescue us. But mainly that he gets here before the unsub finds us.
I’d calmed down slightly and looked up at Spencer, who seemed to still be on edge. Even in the dark I knew how to read him, he was my best friend of three years after all.
“Can you hear him?” I whispered.
“Not right now,” he whispered back. “I’m sorry, y/n, about this,” he said, gesturing between us.
“It’s alright Spence. The team will be here soon, and we will be fine.”
“I know but I’m, well, scared. The unsub is so methodical in his torture, it’s one thing to talk about but to experience it, well, the physical scarring is only the beginning.” I could see him retreat into the darkest corners of his mind, where he vividly recalls what happened in a rural Georgia cabin.
“Hey!” I snapped him out of his thoughts, putting my hand on his cheek.
“We’re not going to be tortured Spencer. Penelope knows where we are and I’m sure she’s already let the team know.” I reassured him.
I felt his heart still racing, so tried to take some deep breaths for him to subconsciously copy.
“Thank you y/n. You always know what to say,” he whispered.
I was about to reply when I heard footsteps approaching. I looked to Spence to see if he’d heard it too, and he was looking at me with wide scared eyes.
I held my breath and clung to him, feeling terrified myself. He wrapped his long arms around me and I didn’t feel him breathe either, pressing his head over my shoulder. We didn’t move a muscle as the unsub walked past us. To our instant relief he walked right on through the hallway and out the front door of the house. We began breathing again, more heaving breaths as adrenaline coursed through us. We were tangled in each other as close as physically possible, which we were quickly becoming aware of as we realised we were safe. I looked up at him, though it was dark, and gazed into his eyes. He looked back intensely, our faces only an inch apart. His warm breath blew against my lips, and I watched his as they parted to say,
“I’m so, so sorry.”
“For what?” I asked.
“For putting you in danger.”
“You don’t have to apologise.”
His hand came up to hold my cheek.
“Y/n, I..”
I gazed back up to his eyes, and closed mine as I began to lean in.
Just then the cupboard door burst open, and the faces of Morgan and Hotch were looking at us when we turned our heads.
“We, um..,” Spencer stuttered, and we jumped back from each other.
“Why didn’t you respond when I called out?” Morgan asked.
“We didn’t hear you,” I said.
Morgan raised a thick eyebrow and a grin grew on his face,
“Uh huh. Whatever you say.”
“Sorry Hotch,” Spence said.
“Yeah, sorry,” I followed.
“Don’t be sorry, just carry your weapons next time.” He said in his Dad voice.
We shuffled out of the house, going to sit in the back of the car. I looked over at Spence and he saw me, but quickly turned away to look out the window, his neck and ears growing a deep pink colour.