𝙰𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚝 𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝙾𝚍𝚍𝚜 | 𝚂𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚛 𝚁𝚎𝚒𝚍

From the Darkness

"I'll be there when you win the first prize trophy."

————-««»»————

Aitana sifted through the pile of cases on her desk, trying to organize them as best as she could. Penelope had been kind enough to bring some of the files she was thinking of presenting that week. She'd been a true angel letting Aitana still share the liaison duties while she went to school. Patience was Penelope Garcia in human form. In fact, today was the first day Aitana was back after a series of midterms and Penelope was so kind enough to catch her up on the cases the team had worked on. Aitana had taken off an entire week to focus on her studies so there was a lot to catch up on.

"Hey Aitana," Spencer greeted at the doorway. He'd seen the office door opened and since Aitana had been gone for an entire week, he made the presumption she was finally back today. He was glad he was right. "You're in today!"

"Yeah, I finally finished with my midterms." Aitana gave a distracted wave of her hand. "Thank God."

"That's great!" Spencer said, smiling. "How do you think your exams went?"

"I think pretty good," Aitana admitted rather confidently. She picked up the stack of cases, noting they were indeed massive for just one week she'd missed. "I may have lit a candle to the Virgin Mary for extra luck but I think it went pretty well in the end."

Spencer chuckled. "Really? You really lit a candle?"

"I'm Catholic, Spencer. I have a few tendencies that—" Aitana finally looked up to greet Spencer properly but ended up doing a double-take.

"That what?" Spencer waited patiently.

Aitana blinked out of her stupor and ducked her head. "Uh, you got a haircut..." She felt her entire face warm up like she was on fire. Where the hell is this coming from?

"Hm? Oh, yeah," Spencer shrugged. "Morgan says I keep going for a floppy style and I can't convince him otherwise." He was oblivious to her reaction and Aitana was eternally grateful. He just looked so good...

She managed a smile at him but even then it was short as she focused entirely on calming herself. This wasn't happening, it wasn't, it wasn't... She just...she liked how he looked. That was it. Haircuts changed people's appearances and sometimes for good. That was it. That was all.

"You look good — nice!" Aitana exclaimed, eyes once again wide. "The-the haircut — it's nice." She made haste around her desk, catching sight of the bullpen in the process. "Is Rossi alright?" Her question was perfect to move the conversation along.

"There's something wrong," Spencer said in a matter-of-fact tone. He walked up beside Aitana, both standing in front of the window. The blinds gave them the perfect cover.

"Why do you say that?" Aitana said, figuring afterwards that it was stupid considering their job. Still, Spencer was kind enough to answer her.

"He's been reading the same page for 16 minutes and 24 seconds."

"Oh, um, maybe it's a really good article?"

"It's never taken him longer than 11 minutes, 17 seconds to turn a page."

"I guess that does sound a bit — wait! You time how long it takes us to read a page?" Aitana was flustered all over again. Her head flipped in Spencer's direction.

"Just the things I notice," he shrugged.

"But you — God, don't even tell me how long it takes me." Aitana would rather save herself the embarrassment.