The Ghost of Princeton ||Spencer Reid||

gone

SPENCER

I woke to an empty bed and sat up slowly as I realised it.

"Spence?" I asked, just loud enough for him to have heard if he was still in my apartment. There wasn't a response, so I assumed he was gone. Why? Why was he gone?

I walked out of the bedroom, the cold air hitting my bare legs as I made my way to the kitchen and saw a note on the bench.

Gone to get breakfast, I'll be back any second now.

I smiled as I picked up the piece of paper. He did this at least once a week; before I would wake up he would go and get us croissants and coffee. And in return, once a week I would take us for dairy-free ice cream or bring us a fancy dessert to have at home.

Even though it was a common occurrence, knowing I was here by myself was fairly anxiety inducing. So far we had no leads on Cooper's location, so knowing there was every possibility he could walk through my front door was starting to terrify me.

But I could handle it. It's what I'd been training for all these years; so that I could put up a fight and win against someone like him.

Maybe I should go and get dressed, so when Spence comes back we can leave for the BAU straight away.

I got dressed and packed my bag for the day, but Spence still wasn't home yet. Why wasn't he home yet?

Maybe the wait was a long one this morning, they did tend to have a bit of a rush. I called his phone but he didn't pick up, which wasn't comoletely unusual. Instead of worrying I picked up my keys and decided to walk down the street to the bakery I knew he would have gone to. At least that way I could run into him on his way back and we could walk together. I rang his phone again as I walked down the stairs, and again as I made it onto the street.

But he never picked up.

And I never ran into him, nor was he in the bakery. This was weird. No, this was wrong. Something was wrong.

"Hey, did Spencer come in this morning?" I asked Janet, the owner of the bakery and the one who served us every time we came in.

"I didn't see him..." Janet replied, and I immediately furrowed my brow.

"He's not picking up his phone." I said, and maybe it was the panic in my tone that spurred her into action.

"I wasn't out front all morning, let me go and ask Olivia, I'll be two seconds." She kept her voice calm, her green eyes concerned as I nodded. She walked away and returned with a solemn look on her face. "Olivia didn't see him either, are you sure he was coming here?"

"He left a note saying he was getting breakfast, this is the only place he would come to. I've rung him multiple times but..."

Shit.

"Do I need to call the police for you?" Janet asked, which made me realise she didn't know what we did for a living. I shook my head.

"No, we work for the FBI, I'll call..." how the fuck was I supposed to tell the team?

"Okay, well you need to find him. He's my best customer and without him we might go out of business." I appreciated the joke, but I might have appreciated it more if my heart didn't feel like it was going to explode.

"I'll find him," I said before I walked out of the bakery, my phone already pressed to my ear as it was dialling Emily's number.

"Cress? You were meant to sleep in today, you haven't stopped for three days-"

"Spence is gone." I cut her off, forcing myself to walk instead of sprint back home so I could get in my car and to the BAU faster.

"What do you-"