𝐓𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄- 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐑 𝐑𝐄𝐈𝐃

𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄

"𝐑𝐄𝐈𝐃, 𝐌𝐀𝐘 𝐈 𝐇𝐀𝐕𝐄 𝐀 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃?" Hotch announced to everyone, gesturing to the hallway just outside of the conference room. Spencer furrowed his brows at his boss, wondering what he had to say that couldn't be said in front of everyone else. 

"Someone got called into the principal's office," Derek said quietly, snickering in the corner with Emily, who had a small grin on her face. Spencer narrowed his eyes and stood from the table, fiddling with his fingers as he followed him into the hallway. 

"Is something wrong?" Spencer asked slowly. Hotch looked more distressed than usual, which was valid, since this case was draining all of them. It felt like they had made zero progress whatsoever. Every lead that they had seemed to fizzle out, and they couldn't solidify a profile either. The pattern of the kills was so inconsistent. They had also yet to figure out why the unsub had decided to save Spencer that night. Spencer supposed that he wanted to gain sympathy. 

"Strauss called and just informed me that we have one week to present a profile and a lead," Hotch informed him, rubbing his temple as though he were battling a headache. Spencer resisted the urge to tell him he should take an ibuprofen if his head was bothering him. "Or she is pulling the plug on this case. She seems to think that it's a waste of FBI resources, and as much as I hate to admit it, I'm starting to agree."

"So, what? We're just supposed to leave?" Spencer asked, his tone sharper than expected. He had been hoping for some kind of evidence that was enough to get Corey Mitchell arrested. He couldn't leave this town in good conscience knowing that he would hurt another girl again if no one did anything to stop him. Leanne Torres was a prime example of that. Men like him never stopped unless they were either killed or arrested. Although, based on the pattern of kills, it shouldn't be long before Corey gets the former. 

"The local PD is refusing to assist us on this case," he explained. "They know this case is going to dry up. They want us gone."

"Why are you only telling me this?" Spencer asked Hotch slowly. Surely there was some other explanation here. For a moment, Hotch hesitated, which only made him more curious as to what he was about to say. 

"Because I've asked Garcia to do a deep dive on every single person that's been in town since we arrived," Hotch explained. 

"Right," Spencer agreed, nodding his head. "I know that."

"That includes your girlfriend," Hotch said slowly. Spencer's shoulders tensed up for a minute and he frowned at his boss. "You can't seriously think that Alana has something to do with all of this."

"I'm not saying that she does," Hotch replied, careful to not say the wrong thing to him. He had that look on his face, where his entire expression was unreadable. Spencer shifted his weight, arms folding protectively over his chest. "I'm just saying that she came into town, and now we're dealing with another one of Corey's friends missing. If there's any chance at all that she's connected to this, we have to look into it."

"She was with me when the unsub killed the deputy outside of my hotel room," Spencer pointed out. He remembered it very well, because it was the first time that Alana had opened up to him in a way that she hadn't before. 

"I'm not accusing her," Hotch reminded him, his tone rather cold. "It's obvious that you care about her, but that also means that you can't see things objectively right now. We're trained to look at everything. Everyone. You know that better than anyone." Spencer thought that it was an understatement to say that he cared about Alana, because it was more than that. It had felt like more than that from the very beginning. He realized that he was in love with her the moment she came out of her house covered in blood, after he'd been so worried that Isaac had killed her. "I'm not asking for your permission. I'm just giving you a heads up."