Cinnamon, Old Books, Chamomile

Chapter Thirteen: One Dark Day

Spencer never should have taken the case with the others.

He had not wanted to either; he wanted to stay home and finish watching the Fifth Doctor's run with Tsuki and keep working on his scarf. He wanted to sleep with his head in her lap while she played with his hair. He wanted to play with Tyler, he rather liked the little kid, and pet Charlie. But he knew he had a job and despite his worries about leaving Tsuki alone, Abby promised that the two would be fine, go have a day out with Tyler and that he needn't worry. It was somewhat comforting having her not question his overprotectiveness, and same for his teammates who mainly just reminded him they needed him and that he could always call her to make sure she was okay. But between the potential unsub causing such a racket at the border and and all the questions, the entire BAU team would be needed to properly untangle this particular case and that meant their genius and somewhat nervous Doctor Reid.

But no one expected it to become the horror show it did. What started with missing homeless people had led them across the border and into what looked to be one of those cases where the stomach turned no matter where one looked. A duo of unsubs, one quadriplegic and manipulative as hell, one developmentally challenged and stronger than any of them; it was not a happy ending, it was not one of those cases that left any of them with a good taste in their mouths and the trip home was solemn, leaving Spencer to just stare at his phone. He had known it would not end well, he had felt it in his bones and in his veins; he'd even asked Hotch but the man, always the most composed of them, tried to keep him focused. Unfortunately his feeling had been correct and between a good man being arrested for murder to avenge his lost sister, and a man who never really seemed to have a chance being gunned down, he felt himself be weighed down.

He wanted to go home. He wanted to be with his solace again; Spencer sent texts to Tsuki, trying his best not to tell her what had happened, still in some small way wanting so desperately to protect her from the worst his job could bring upon him, but she seemed to pick up on something being wrong nevertheless and tried to comfort him without knowing details. The gentleness of her words, reassurances that he could always depend on her, count on her, were almost enough but he knew it wouldn't be until he actually saw her again. A rest would do him well and he daydreamed of just laying on his bed beside her as she read him something, stroking his hair and letting him feel as if all the stress and all the darkness was far away and gone.

The reality though was that the BAU never did seem to get a break. They were barely back, and certainly not rested, when the new case came up; he was just barely asleep in bed, curled up beside her, when the call came in. He whined, he complained, he tried to ignore it, but she told him it would have to be urgent and that things happen. It didn't seem fair, it wasn't like there weren't other teams that could handle cases or things that should be best left to the police first but eventually despite all complaints he managed to pull himself out of bed, and away from her, to go to work. Again. After getting only four hours of sleep. He needed coffee and a lot of it.

"I'll see you once you get back," she told him, kissing his cheek as she handed him a thermos of coffee; it was warm and smelled nice but still wasn't enough.

"I don't want to be back, I want to sleep," he said and pouted, causing Tsuki to chuckle at him.

"How is it you keep reminding me of a puppy, Spencer? Go, I'm sure there was a good reason for this; you go work your case, I'll bake us some treats, and when you get back we'll snuggle and relax."

"You're not gonna be alone while I'm gone will you?" Even exhausted, both mentally and physically, he couldn't help his concern.

She smiled. "You know, you really don't need to worry so much about me; I'm a grown adult and take care of myself."