Sweeter Than Honey

Chapter 2: Darkness Lurks Round Every Corner

Spencer's P.O.V:

After my lovely encounter with that stunningly gorgeous woman, I just couldn't stop smiling. It was as though luck was on my side today, although it had a funny way of showing itself to me. I still felt bad for ruining Cassia's top, and right before her big interview nonetheless. I shook the guilt out of my head, making my way towards my desk. I quickly set down my satchel, grabbing my coffee mug before making my way to the kitchenette. I quickly started brewing up some coffee since I had already wasted my first cup, and I needed my daily fix.

"Spencer! There you are, my beautiful boy genius! Wait a minute! Where's your glorious sweater you always wear!?" The squeaky yet kind voice of Garcia filled my ears. I chuckled before turning around, and greeting her. "Good morning to you too Garcia, Love the outfit", I complimented, trying to avoid the topic. She did look nice, though; she always looks nice. Her outfits are unique, but today she outdid herself, looking like a human sunflower. "Why, thank you, my sexy boy genius, but don't try and change the subject, mister! What did you do?" she glared playfully, her eyes full of mischief.

I chuckled, shaking my head before making my way over to Rossi and Derek, wanting to get away from Garcia and her questions. "There you are! You're never late. I was getting worried," Derek teased, bumping my shoulder cheekily, causing me to roll my eyes and join in on their conversation on some of the latest cases the BAU has been getting. Soon JJ and Emily joined the conversation, discussing the endless piles of paperwork and case files we had yet to go over.I was soon drawn out from the conversation when I heard Hotch call for us. I whiplashed my head, doing a 360 before making my way up the stairs towards the round table along with the others.

Once up there, I opened the door, only to be met by her... Cassia. I stood, feet planted on the ground. Shock was written all over my face causing a little giggle to escape from her sweet, plump, drool-worthy lips. The rest of the team all stood there, confusion and curiosity written on their faces.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet the newest edition to our team, Cassia, meet the team, team, meet Cassia", Hotch announced, stepping to the side, revealing Cassia in all her glory. Her flawless skin glowing under the harsh office lights, her defined collarbones showing just slightly as she swayed side to side, playing with the ends of her coat; that's when it hit me, the sweater; my sweater. God, I could have died right on the spot. She looked stunning, even though it was way too big on her. I smiled lightly, making my way over to her. "Welcome to the team, Cassia. I can't wait to work with you," she smiled back, shaking my hand, squeezing it lightly, causing a warm smile to grace my lips. Derek scoffed in disbelief alongside the others, probably because I never shake people's hands due to germs, but for some reason, I didn't mind shaking her hand, not one bit.

After the team welcomed her, we sat down for our debriefing of the case. About 5 different girls have gone missing recently, between the ages of 9-15. All of them are around the same height, with brunette hair and blue eyes. Each victim has been sexually assaulted and apparently was mutilated before being dumped in the middle of different public locations such as parks, busy streets etc....

"Okay, my pretties. Today we are travelling to none other than Rural Tennessee, yup folks, you guessed it, the town of little Etowah. Here we have our latest victim. The poor thing was too... distorted to be able to I.D. However, according to her dental records, her name was Susan Becker, and she was 11 years old. She had been missing for a month now. There were 2 other girls, of the same age, and ethnicity and all 3 were brunettes. They were also discovered a month after they went missing, each found with the same amount of mutilation, however, the stab wounds increased with each victim. " Garcia spoke grimly, pressing the button remote, causing a picture of the girl's distorted body to be put up on the big screen.

I cringed inwardly, at the sight of the girl's body, causing slight discomfort to settle within the depths of my stomach. But when I turned to my side, I saw Cassia's face; she was good at putting up a tough act, but when I looked into her eyes, I could tell she was silently begging me to help her clearly, not very comfortable looking and this.

I quickly changed the topic by speaking. "Well, judging by the cut marks and different wounds, I would say that this unsub may be disorganised, especially with the way he cut some areas." I voiced softly. "I agree, but the way he was able to kidnap, control and murder all these girls suggests a level of organisation, which doesn't fit the M.O", Rossi contradicted, voicing his thoughts. I agreed with him before looking at Cassia, who was silently thanking me. I smiled in response."Well, we'll only know more once we get there. Okay, everyone, wheels up in 30," Hotch ordered calmly before all of us dispersed to gather our things and make our way onto the jet.

As I made my way out of the room, I quickly made my way over to Cassia. "Hey, you ok?" I asked, concerned for the shy girl. "Ya, just... I feel awful for those poor girls. What kind of monster does that and feel... satisfied afterwards," she cringes at her own words, causing a slight frown to form on my face. This was her first time dealing with an active case, and she was clearly nervous. I grabbed her small, petite hand in mine, rubbing calming circles on her delicate skin. She relaxed, her tense muscles softening under my gaze, smiling lightly up at me. "If it ever gets too much, let me know, okay? I don't want you to feel uncomfortable on your first day." I whispered in her ear, causing a small shiver to go up to her spine, making me smile inwardly. "Thanks, Spence", she giggled as my face turned a right red. I laughed with her, letting go of her soft hand too soon for my liking, and made my way over to my desk.

"So pretty boy, gonna tell what's going on between you and the newbie," Garcia spoke slyly, wiggling her eyebrows. I scoffed, turning around and preparing to grab my bag. "Woah! Slow your roll, mister; I know that the sweater that Cassia was wearing was yours. I was the one who hand-knitted it for you as your Christmas gift, so how on Earth did she happen to have the exact same one?" Garcia questioned, glaring at me softly. I huffed, knowing that there was no point in lying to Garcia. "Fine, you win. This morning, on my way to work, I bumped into her. I accidentally spilt my coffee all over her shirt right before her interview with Hotch. I felt bad, so to make up for my clumsiness I let her take my sweater to wear instead, okay?" I spoke, chuckling when Garcia pouted at my boring yet true explanation. "You're no fun, Spencer Reid, fine! I give up! Go on, you've got a psycho to catch or whatever," she rolled her eyes but still hugged me and sent me on my way.

Once on the plane, we continued to discuss the litigation and the possible motive for these murders. We were still quite baffled as to why exactly the unsub chose these girls in particular. We decided that to know more, we would have to split up the workload. "When we land, Derek, you and Rossi will go and check with the Coroner's office about the latest victim. JJ, you will set up a conference with the media to inform the public of what's going on. Emily and I will go to the last crime scene and check it out to see if they missed anything. Meanwhile, Spencer and Cassia will interview the victims' parents to see if they know anything that can help us narrow don't our suspect list." Hotch ordered firmly, to which all of us nodded as a response.

I quickly looked towards Cassia, who was having what looked like a lovely conversation with Emily and JJ. Her smile was so breathtakingly beautiful that I just couldn't help but smile at her fondly. Once her eyes landed on me, it was as though time had stopped. My heart was pounding in my ears, causing me to swallow hard. She sent me a cute, shy smile with her plump, rosy red lips. I smiled back goofily, feeling a sense of giddiness and happiness erupt within my stomach, sending shivers up my back and a rush of warmth down my chest. "Hello, Earth to Reid? Hello? Kid? Kid!" A rough, deep voice pulled me out of my thoughts; I shook my head slightly, turning my head to see Derek's confused and curious gaze on me. "Um... ya, Derek?" I responded, clearing my throat slightly.

"You ok, kid? I've been talking to you for the past 10 minutes, and all I got was your blank-ass stare!" Derek chuckled as he shook his head like an amused older brother. I pouted, huffing softly as I tried to come up with an excuse. "Don't even try to lie kid, everyone can tell that you've got a thing for the little missy over there", Derek said, jabbing his thumb in Cassia's direction; "Honestly, it was kinda funny seeing how you drooled over her,'' he laughed, causing my eyes to go wide and my neck and ears to turn red, a light coating of blush dusting my pale cheeks. I quickly wiped the non-existent drool off my chin, once again causing Derek to burst into a fit of chuckles. I laughed slightly with him, smiling over at Cassia as she giggled at my face.