Atlas: A Dr. Spencer Reid Love Story

Heal (Tom Odell)

WARNING: The following chapter discusses the subject of rape and sexual assault towards women; if these topics are triggering for you, please take caution.

-end of Season 8: 2013-

Veronica faced the large electronic screen that held the faces of the deceased women who eerily resembled her; who received the fate she could have had. A chill ran down her spine at the thought. Faintly, she heard the conference room door shut behind her. She whipped around to find the source of the noise. Nearly ten feet away stood Spencer, his face full of terror, and an understanding she wished he never had to know.

"Spencer," She stuttered, feeling a lump emerge in her throat as her hands clasped together to cease their fidgeting.

Spencer glanced away before returning to stare at Veronica, "Why didn't you tell me?" He whispered in a pitiful fashion, stuffing his hands in his pockets as his glimpse exchanged from Veronica's solemn face to the cold floor.

Veronica let out a frustrated sigh as she gently shook her head, "I was eighteen when I was raped, Spencer, and I spent time mourning myself for years," tears pricked the edges of her eyes as memories flooded in,

"I went to counseling, I spoke with other rape victims, I openly told my story, and I started to trust again – and to look at myself in a mirror without bursting into tears. I finally felt like I had overcome my biggest demon, and I wasn't going to let it determine how the rest of my life would go. I didn't want you to know what happened because I didn't want you to see me how everyone else did – broken, terrified – like some fragile doll. I didn't want your pity or your forced sincerity or an awful label; because I had been getting those for years before you even knew me. I saw the way you looked at me when we met in the cabin - you were the first person who saw me, not a victim. Then, when we started to fall in love, I didn't want your view of me to change – ever. You thought I was courageous and thoughtful and brilliant -" She smirked, wiping a stray tear dangling from her chin, "Someone finally saw me as the girl who I had worked so hard to become," she admitted, squeezing her eyes shut.

Sedately, she opened her eyes and sluggishly turned her head to view him once more, "I'm sorry you had to find out this way, Spencer - but I'm not sorry I didn't tell you," She flatly said, her eyes dull.

"You will never see me the same," Her words stung, tears beginning to rapidly fall down her rosy cheeks.

Spencer tenaciously waltzed towards her slumped figure that refused eye contact. He enveloped Veronica in his arms, holding her in a sincere embrace. Salty tears stained his sweater as he stroked her hair, "Veronica, this would never change the way I see you - never. When I told you I loved you, I meant all of you - not just the parts that make sense or the parts you've shown me. I love the parts of you that I don't yet understand, the parts that weigh on your shoulders, the parts I only notice when I steal glances at you in the quiet. Sometimes the most courageous act a person can do is to let somebody love them," He tenderly whispered against her cheek, his lips trailing on a cold teardrop.

Veronica steadily raised her gaze to stare into Spencer's eyes. Without hesitation, she wrapped her arms around him, returning his sweet embrace. Spencer closed his eyes and tightly squeezed her.

"Thank you," She muffled against his shoulder.

"Thank you for letting me love you," Spencer dotingly replied, his lips brushing against her curls.

Veronica scoffed, surveying his face as a smile began to emerge upon her lips, "It's one of the easiest things I've done," she remarked.

She placed her hands against his cheeks as Spencer trailed his fingers along her back.

"I know you don't want to revisit what happened, but if this is the same man who hurt you, he's hurting other women too. You are the only person to survive his attack, Veronica - if you help us, we can save more potential victims," Spencer candidly said.

Veronica's smile fell as she examined every detail upon Spencer's face, "Do you know what I did after it happened? I wrote - every day - I wrote about that man and the way he destroyed me. I described him like a storm, like broken glass, like a used needle - it took me years to finally understand that he was none of those things; he was just a man. I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of being something other than that anymore," she revealed.

Spencer grasped her hands, focusing on her gaze as it intensified.

"If I can get this man behind bars for what he did to those women – for what he did to me – I'll do anything," She boldly spoke, strength emitting from her eyes.

Spencer curtly nodded before setting his lips to her hairline, feeling her tension and ferocity melt with his touch.