The Soft-Spoken Intern | Spencer Reid AU | Age Regression

ch. 10 | long way home

Ari's POV

Spence and I had a great night after my first case. We watched Star Trek for a few hours, with him explaining as much as he could and pointing out the errors. 

I went into a younger headspace with him, around 2. My headspace ranges from 1 to 3; he had only seen me at 3. I have never felt comfortable enough with a person to regress around them, let alone regress to that young of a headspace. 

He makes me feel so comfortable, so safe, so cared about. I am certain that he would never hurt me, never yell at me, or call me names. I don't trust anyone, especially after my father and what I went through growing up. Knowing that there is at least one great man out there comforts me. 

He is also a gentleman. When I sat on his lap to play with his hair, he didn't try to put his hands on my waist, hips, or ass. Which I would be fine with, just not when I'm small. 

Wait, what? I want his hands on me?

My thoughts confused me, so I shook them out of my head. I woke up before Spence, as we had fallen asleep watching Star Trek, wrapped in each others' arms. He looked so peaceful as he slept and I didn't want to wake him up, but we had to get going on the long way home. 

"Spence?" I said quietly, gently shaking him. He slightly stirred but didn't wake up. I tried shaking him a bit harder, but still nothing. I went to move out of his arms to try something else, but that seemed to do the trick. He opened his eyes and his voice was a bit deeper; it was his morning voice, and god, was it attractive. 

"Hm? Where you goin'?" He pulled me to him again and I giggled. 

"Spence, we've gotta get up, we're heading home today. We can sit together on the jet, hm?" I played with his hair gently, which made him smile. 

"Okay, let's get packed up and head home. When we get to the BAU, we have some paperwork to do. Don't worry, the team and I will help you fill it all out." We get up and change into comfier clothes since we were going to be traveling. I put my dirty clothes on one side of my bag, fold my blankie and set it up as a wall next to my dirty clothes, and put my clean clothes on the other side of my blankie. It was a habit I picked up a while ago so that when I get home, I don't get my dirty and clean clothes mixed up. 

"All packed up?" He said, and he had his bag on his shoulder. I nod and make sure I have everything. I pull out my earbuds and phone so that they're ready for the jet ride, and we head out. I left a $20 tip for the person who was going to come to clean the room. "Do you always tip them, Ari?" Spence asked, watching me curiously. 

"Yes, I do. I've worked many jobs, ones where tipping sometimes made the difference in whether I was going to be able to buy food that week. So, I've made it a point to tip wherever I can." He smiles softly, and then we meet up with the team, where we decide who goes in which SUV to get to the jet. 

In one SUV, it was Hotch, Rossi, and Derek, while in the other SUV was Spence, JJ, Emily, and I. I was slightly relieved to have the girls with me, as I wasn't quite ready to be in close quarters with Hotch and Derek yet.

I also wanted to get to know Emily and JJ a bit more, so we made some small talk on the way to the jet, where they shared some memories that they had with the rest of the team. Spence was in the back with me so that he could translate for me since I still wasn't comfortable speaking around them yet. I shared some of my education with them, my previous interest in being a forensic tech, and that I interned at a forensics lab. 

They were quite interested in that, and Spence seemed slightly surprised. I explained that I enjoyed working in the lab, even though I was mostly cleaning. I loved learning about forensics and the science behind a crime scene. So, I offered that I can give forensic advice for future cases and they accepted. 

A few moments later, we made it to the jet, and we all got onto the jet, Derek taking one of the couches, Hotch and JJ taking seats, along with Rossi. Emily took the other couch, and Spence and I took our spot that we sat in on the way here, where we didn't face anyone. I already had my phone in hand, so I put in my earbuds and started listening to one of my favorite forensics podcasts to help brush up on some of my knowledge. 

Spence seemed very curious, so I quietly told him what I was listening to, and he took the earbud I was holding out to him. I nodded along, recalling some of the information, and he seemed quite fascinated by it, especially by the blood spatter analysis, as it was mostly math and physics. He asked me questions and I answered them to the best of my ability. 

After a bit, I changed it to All-American Rejects, mouthing along to the words of Stab My Back. I blushed when I Wanna started to play, especially when it got to the part, "I wanna, I wanna, I wanna, I wanna touch you, you wanna touch me too." Spence blushed a bit too, and I went to skip it, but he gently put his fingers on the back of my hand, letting me know that it was okay. I mouthed along to the words of this song, too, starting to slightly bob my head along to the beat. 

I showed him all of my favorite pop-punk bands, along with All Time Low and Falling in Reverse. He showed an interest in it, liking the beat. He didn't like the songs with screaming, though. I played Come as You Are by Nirvana, and he seemed to recognize it as I hummed along to it. 

And that's how we spent the rest of the jet ride. Just sitting next to each other, content and happy with just listening to music, but after a while, I fell asleep with my head on his shoulder again, and he fell asleep with his head on top of mine. And somehow, in our sleep, our hands found each other again, fitting like puzzle pieces. 

a/n

i apologize if this one is a bit boring! i'm a bit stressed due to work rn, so i wanted to post a chapter for you guys! 

i hope you have an amazing week, and do something that you love or that will make you smile today, you deserve it. <3