❛𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐮𝐬❜ - 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐝

ACT TWO

The rest of the drive to the prison was spent discussing Hardwick and interview strategies, most of which were by Reid and Vivienne as Hotch gave short, straight answers when he wanted. When they finally got to the prison, Reid and Vivienne walked side by side behind Hotch, following him as they were led into the warden's office while waiting for Hardwick to be cleared for the interview.

The office was relatively small, and while Reid had offered her the seat, she chose to lean against the desk instead, taking the chance to go over Hardwick's file one more time as Reid eventually sat in the chair just a few inches away from her. Hotch remained standing, the crease between his brows deepening as he scanned the office, but there was an underlying tension in his shoulders that seemed focused on something else outside of the walls.

"Did you know that snow globes date back to the mid-18th century?"

Vivienne's focus momentarily strayed to glance at Spencer, who was busying himself with a snow globe he picked up from the desk. His brows were furrowed, lips pouting slightly in absentminded concentration as the corners of her mouth curled into a smile.

"I didn't know that," she answered, shifting her eyes back to the file as Spencer looked at her. "I do know that they were originally intended to be paperweights."

He nodded, smiling as he adjusted his posture so he faced her a bit more, his hands still twisting and turning the snow globe. "The first ones were created in France — actually, the first 'travel' souvenir was a snow globe of the Eiffel Tower."

Vivienne's brows lifted and she glanced at him curiously, tilting her head as Spencer met her eyes. "Really?"

"Yes, but what's really interesting is that the father of the traditional snow globe, Erwin Perzy, never really intended to market it as a decoration at all," he shared, holding the snow globe up to her as Vivienne stared at him, soaking up the information. "He experimented with creating a water lens to focus the light of an electric light bulb, which coincidentally was also newly created, so it was a lot dimmer than the ones we have now. You see," he continued, shifting closer to her as Vivienne leaned forward slightly, watching his fingers gesture to the snow globe. "He wanted to create something that could be used to light surgical procedures. He used empty light bulbs, filled them with water, then experimented with various white powder substances to see if they could assist in reflecting the light, but when it just floated, it reminded him of snowfall, and that's where the idea stemmed from."

Vivienne closed the file, nodding along to his explanation as she gently touched the glass, where Reid had shaken the globe enough so the fake snow was sparkling under the light. "It's weird, isn't it?" she murmured and Reid's gaze shifted to her, his breath catching when he realized how little space there was between them. Her, seated on the desk and almost hovering over him, who sat on a chair not too far from her with his whole body facing her, and the snow globe connecting them both as he held it up between them, her curious eyes oblivious to the way Spencer stared at her as if the beauty of the novelty item was but a mere speck compared to her. "It's so pretty to look at, but the snow inside is just water and liquid glycerin."

Her eyes swiftly drifted to his, and he suddenly realized that no, it wasn't just the two of them in that tiny room, and her jasmine perfume wasn't intentionally drowning his senses so much that he couldn't remember why they were in the prison in the first place. Hotch had stopped his pacing to glance at Reid, and Spencer realized with a mortified tightening of his chest that his cheeks were hot.

He cleared his throat, shaking his head as he leaned back slightly, as if the distance would help him gather his thoughts. "That's— that's right," he murmured, narrowing his eyes at the snow globe and trying to ignore the fact that Vivienne was on the other side, expression twisting in confusion. "Snow globes have actually come a long way. Now, you can find ones that play music."