never grow up, criminal minds

049. auditing

"You lost your job?" Clara's jaw drops.

"I didn't lose my job." Spencer denies.

"Um... your box of stuff that was at your desk says otherwise." Clara comments, pointing to the box.

"I-- I got kicked off the team. But I'm still gonna be teaching, so I still have a job." Spencer says.

"Why'd you get kicked off the team?" Clara asks.

"Because there's this woman who is somehow in charge of us and she's trying to rip the whole team apart. She only kept JJ, Luke, and Matt. Everybody else she moved to some other department or something." Spencer says.

"Want me to fight her?" Clara smiles.

"What? No!" Spencer exclaims, giving her a weird look. "You can't go fight somebody in the FBI. This isn't school."

"Just a suggestion." Clara shrugs. "A mostly joking one."

"Look, the team will probably figure this out somehow and-- and I'll be back before we know it... hopefully. I like teaching, so it's not the worst outcome. I'll be fine." Spencer says.

Clara purses her lips, watching him put some work stuff he has at home in the box of things from the BAU.

She walks over and hugs him, her head resting against his arm. Spencer sighs, reaching a hand up to rest on her arm.

"I'm sorry." She tells him.

"Thanks." He mumbles, rubbing her arm.

+++

"Why do I have to go?" Clara whines.

"Because you don't have school and you rarely leave the house." Spencer says.

"So I have to go sit and watch you teach? I'm supposed to have the day off from school." Clara says.

"You do -- from your school." Spencer smiles.

"Daddy." Clara whines.

"Not gonna work. Let's go." Spencer tells her.

+++

Clara sits curled up in one of the seats that's in the front row of the class. Her knees are pulled up to her chest, the girl hating herself for forgetting her headphones.

Spencer turns the lights on after the video ends making her wince.

"Okay, let's take a moment now to discuss the difference between a trigger and a stressor." Spencer tells the class. "A trigger is a sensory event experienced by an offender that precipitates subsequent behavior whereas a stressor is a longer term pattern of behavior or circumstances which push a person into behaving differently than they normally would."

"You're probably gonna want to write this down. I shouldn't be telling you guys this, but I'm definitely putting this on the final." He warns.

"I'm only auditing this class." One girl says, tucking her hair behind her ear. Spencer frowns.

"Is anyone else auditing this class?" He asks.

Almost everybody raises their hands. Clara looks around at them, observing the lovestruck, lust filled looks on their faces.

"Ugh." She grimaces, shrinking down into her seat, burying her head in her hands, her eyes squeezing shut.

"Okay." Spencer mumbles. He checks his watch. "Uh, unfortunately, that is all the time we have for today. Thank you, guys."

Clara keeps her face hidden until she's sure most of them are on the way out. She lifts her head, watching the young adults make their way out of the room. She glares up on stage, watching her father talk on the phone.