Ineffable - S.REID

49

・゜゜・．TWO WEEKS LATER .・゜゜・

The BAU team, minus Clara, collectively worked to direct the Unsub into the nearest lockable car. The Unsub decided it was well within his right to refuse being arrested and put up such a fight that it required multiple people to get them securely within the car. By the time the car was locked and the Unsub caught, few had noticed Clara's absence. Hotch was one of the first few to notice, as many of the colleagues were securing the area and talking to the other police members who had shown up upon their request. He called for her once on the radio and when he did not receive a response, the others began to look around for her in place. Their heads acted like swivels, all glancing around for any sign of their missing member as Hotch called for her again on the radio. "Davia?" Silence followed once again and worry began to set in.

"Davia!" Rossi yelled rapidly, voice thick with his Italian accent as it usually did when he was concerned. Next, when no response came, people started to move around towards the buildings to search for her. Some ran, like Morgan, others walked hurriedly. JJ went directly to follow the path that Clara had taken, hoping that she would find her that way.

"Clara!" Spencer yelled down the comms, desperation evident within his voice. His mind, of course, immediately went to all the wrong places. The bad places. The thought of her shot and dead somewhere.

Three minutes later, her voice came scratchy in everyone's ears. "Sorry I'm here," she quickly apologised, her voice heavy with exhaustion and relatively breathless. Spencer instantly sighed with relief upon hearing her voice but it was stolen away from him when she continued. "JJ and I are coming out with another killer."

A few minutes passed of them all waiting around, not knowing where the two women were going to come out of, before JJ walked out with the killer in cuffs and not fighting whatsoever. Clara walked behind the two of them and it took a second for everyone to see her and guess what had happened. Her lip was cut open, blood slowly dripping from the wound. Her eyes were full of pain and bruises already formed on the surface of her arms and the top of her neck. She looked completely dishevelled, like she had been in an exhaustive fight for her life. Truth was, Clara had heard a noise and had walked away from the main group. She found a room full of images and further proof of more murders and had found the woman there. She was ambushed with a metal pole and had thankfully won the fight by breaking the woman's arm whilst knocking her to the floor. She thanked her time undercover for that specific move.

Spencer didn't leave her side since the second he ran up to her and checked out the full extent of her injuries whilst comforting his girlfriend. He stayed as the doctor checked her over and cleared her. She even fell asleep on his shoulder on the journey back from the case and he did not move a muscle apart from pressing a subtle and secretive kiss to her hair.

-

When they arrived home, Clara went straight into the kitchen. She had a new found energy to cook and even though he offered to cook and even get her favourite take out, she refused. She simply just wanted to cook. The fight hadn't affected her mentally, just physically. In fact she, after her nap, was perfectly content and rather happy. Twenty minutes into her process, her phone rang from her bag in the living room. He picked up the phone, checked who it was to see if it was important enough to interrupt her process, then walked into the kitchen. He wordlessly communicated that it was her Mom, as she had asked him to do so beforehand and she quickly answered it. The conversation flowed in complete Italian and he could hear her Moms frantic voice through the phone even in the living room. He worked out that her Mom had a dream about the events prior to their case but couldn't catch much else as they were talking rapidly and over each other.

He walked into the kitchen after she had hung up the phone after the conversation with her Ma had reached its end point. He hugged her from behind whilst she poured a jar of her Nonno's prepared and seasoned tomato base into the pan. She smiled and chuckled to herself as he kissed a deep purple bruise on her shoulder with such gentleness. She leaned into it as he whispered, "Are you sure you're not in any pain?"

She shook her head, "I'm fine honestly. I just bruise easily. "

At her response, he let go off her waist and turned to make the cup of coffee he had entered the kitchen to make. She continued to focus on her cooking whilst he made the coffee and a cup of tea for her. He placed it on the counter next to her phone without saying a word. "Grazie," she whispered after kissing his cheek, realising that it was exactly what she needed. How he knew that, she didn't know.

Calm quiet filled the room once again as she re-entered her cooking headspace, not noticing how he lingered in the kitchen and hadn't returned to his book in the living room as she had figured. After two minutes of contemplation, he cleared his throat. "Ara?"

Clara hummed and looked over her shoulder to see what he wanted. The spoon in her hand dropped into the pan, splashing the tile and her shirt in red. Completely unexpectedly, he was down on one knee with the most gorgeous ring in a stunning box held towards her. She gasped softly as she slowly turned around, shock taking over every thought completely. " I was going to do this in a completely different way. But then I couldn't decide on how best to do it and I just—" he cut himself off with a sigh, finding the words too tied within his mind. "Will you marry me?"

"Are you serious?" she responded in pure disbelief and once he nodded, she beamed. "Yes."

The grin that formed on his lips as he stood was one she would remember forever. "Yes?"

She took his face in both her hands and grinned into the kiss, answering his question in the best way possible for both of them. As they broke apart, he slipped the ring onto her finger and settled it in its rightful place. The ring had burned in his pocket for weeks. "It's beautiful."

"It has the Garcia seal of approval."

"She knew?"

"I wanted to check that I had picked out something you would like. She said I hit the nail on the head."

"I'm surprised she kept that a secret."

"She asks me about it daily."

She laughed softly, gaze still flicking between him and the ring. "That's more like it... Well she was right about hitting the nail on the head, this is perfect," she whispered before placing both her arms on his shoulders, standing on her toes to kiss him once more. "I love you Spencer Reid."

"Ti amo Clara Davia."