Pieces Of Me

Chapter 8

With wet hair and a towel wrapped around his hips, Spencer stepped out of the bathroom. It had been stressful the last few hours. The team hasn't been here for long now but they had tried everything to find out who their unsub was and to give a profile to the local police. They hadn't been successful though so far and Spencer had a hard time trying to get his mind off the case and get some hours of sleep before they would have to give their best again.

Next his thoughts about the case he couldn't stop thinking about Leah. Since he knew that she was pregnant, he wanted to be with her any minute. He was scared to miss something important during her pregnancy and he was also a bit anxious about what could possibly happen when he wasn't there to protect her. He knew what kind of people were out there.

Spencer let himself sink on the edge of the bed and turned on the bedside lamp. He had a room just for himself and was pretty glad he could be on his own. Of course, he liked Derek a lot but there were just days he'd rather be alone for a while.

There were no new messages on his phone and he put it back on the bedside table. But just as he had let go of it, it started to ring. Leah was calling. With a little smile, that had creeped on Spencer's face, he answered the call.

"Hello, darling. How are you?"

"Spence...I...did I wake you up?" Leah's voice was quiet and Spencer could hear that it was shaking a little. He sat up straight again.

"No, no. You didn't. I'm still awake. What's going on, baby? You're not sounding good..." Spencer frowned and waited for his girlfriend to answer. What was going on with her? He had been away for only some hours and when he'd left Leah had been happy.

"Spence, my parents told me that I was adopted", she whispered and then a sob escaped her mouth.

Although Spencer was shocked and couldn't believe what Leah had been told, he listened to her telling him everything. Sometimes she sobbed sometimes her voice was clear and strong again. He could hear that she was confused and didn't quite know what to feel or think about that whole situation.

"Darling, I know this is a difficult situation and I wish I could help you somehow", Spencer finally said after Leah had finished. He could hear her taking a deep breath and then letting out a sigh.

"I feel a bit better after telling you", she confessed and Spencer couldn't help but smile at her words.

"I'm glad you are. I'm sorry I can't be with you now. I wish I could."

"It's okay", Leah assured him but Spencer could hear in her voice that her thoughts were lost in all that had happened hours after he had left to Denver for work.

"Listen, I'll be back soon, darling", Spencer promised although he knew it was most likely that he would have to break that promise. They could never know how long a case would take.

"I know", Leah quietly said, "I'm sorry for disturbing you. I know you need some sleep and need to stay focused on the case."

"No, you're not disturbing me, darling." Spencer shook his head. "I love you, Leah. I always can find some time for you, you should know that." He could hear he sigh.

"I should know, yeah. I'm just...I don't know. I guess I should get some sleep. And you as well, right?" Now he heard a little smile in her voice and he chuckled.

"That's right. We hear each other tomorrow, okay? And if there's something, call me, no matter what! You have to take care of you and our baby."

Leah promised. "I love you, Spencer. Thanks for listening."

"I love you too, babe. Get some sleep now and then you'll feel better tomorrow." He smiled and then disconnected the call. He had started to freeze and now hurried to get dressed in his pajamas. He snuggled under the duvet and tried to get some sleep. He was worried about Leah. Although he hadn't seen her during their phone call, he could imagine how disturbing this news for Leah must be. She had been confused, sad, angry – everything at once. All this stress couldn't be good for the baby...

Spencer tossed and turned himself in bed half the night until his alarm clock went off and he had to get up again to work on the case with his colleagues.

Absent-minded Spencer was chewing on one of his pens and stared into space while Hotch was talking about what to do today to finally catch the bad guy.

"Reid? Did you hear what I just said?"

Hotch's voice and him directly speaking to Spencer pulled him back into reality. He winced and cleared his throat, slightly embarrassed. "Uhm...sorry, no", Spencer muttered.

"I said, you and I will go to the location the last victim was found", Hotch repeated and Spencer nodded. He had to focus again, for god's sake, he thought. No matter how worried he was about Leah, she wouldn't allow him to be so distracted if she'd be here.

So the young agent followed his boss out of the police station and placed himself on the passenger seat while Hotch started the engine. He glanced over to Spencer. "What's going on with you today, Reid?", he then asked. Spencer grimaced. He wasn't sure if he should tell Hotch what was going on. He wasn't sure if Leah would be okay with him telling what she had learned yesterday.

"Come on, I know there's something going on in your head that's nothing to do with the case", Hotch pressed for Spencer to finally speak.

Spencer sighed. He had to tell Hotch, he started to realize. His boss wouldn't stop asking until he'd tell him what was going on. And he'd find out if Spencer would lie. So he had no other choice than telling the truth.

"Leah called me last night. She found out that she's adopted and...well, she's confused and angry and sad and...I'm just worried about her, you know?" Spencer turned his head and glanced at his boss. Hotch's eyes were fixed on the road. For a moment there was silence between the two men.

At a traffic light that had just turned red, Hotch stopped and turned around to Spencer. "That's very unexpected news. I totally understand that Leah's confused now and that you're worried about her. Uhm...would you prefer to fly back home earlier?"

Spencer's eyes widened. He had never expected Hotch offering him something like that and for some seconds he was at a loss of words. "I...no, I don't, thank you", he stammered. "I guess Leah wouldn't be happy about me coming back home without having caught the bad guy." He couldn't hold back a smirk and saw that Hoch was smiling as well.

"Yeah, maybe she would send you right back here", he chuckled and Spencer joined him.

"I'll just have to do my best and focus on what's going on here again", Spencer continued as he watched Hotch turning into the street where the local police had found a woman's dead body a few days ago.

Yes, Spencer would do everything to solve that case as soon as possible. And no one would say something when he would call Leah from time to time to check on her. Feeling a bit better, he left the car and slowly stepped closer to inspect the crime scene.