Rebel Girl

chapter 6

Three days had passed since Spencer and Mia had spent the night together bonding on her sofa over the traumas they had each suffered. Mia hadn't really imagined that she would've stayed in contact with Spencer, at first she had found him really irritating how he constantly rambled and was practically a textbook. But after spending more time with him she found that she really rather liked him, she enjoyed his company. They'd called and texted regularly, it felt like they'd known each other for years, he was her only real friend. Spencer loved talking to Mia, she was more intelligent than he had imagined when they first met, they had lots in common and it was a nice change of pace for him to have a friend who wasn't a profiler, who wasn't constantly analysing every move he made, or every word he said.

The BAU were called to Vegas for a case, which meant Spencer would get to see his mum once the case was finished. The case was brutal, as they always were, several homeless people had been found beaten and abandoned in alleyways and dumpsters. The team had been working the case for a couple of days and they felt although they were hitting a wall, each lead they chased up led them nowhere, and it was exhausting for them. One thing that was helping Spencer to unwind each evening was calling or texting Mia, she was almost sheltered from the gruesome world he lived in and it brought him a sense of relief.

Mia sent Spencer a quick message before she set off for work telling him she'd chat to him when she got home. Once she got to work she heard lots of shouting and chanting, at first she thought it was just people hyping up the band, then once she rounded the corner from the entrance she spied a fight, there was a group of five or six men all throwing punches at each other, she spotted a few of her members of staff trying to break it up and failing. Mia marched past the fight and got up on the stage where the band were setting up, she made sure the mic was on before speaking,
"Stop!" No one seemed to listen, so she said it again only this time much louder, "I said stop!" still no one listened, Mia jumped off the stage and ran at the group of men she grabbed one of them by his jacket and pulled him away from the fight, the members of staff took the same approach and dragged three of the men away from each other, Mia had never had to kick people out of the club before, she didn't want to have to do it, but she wouldn't allow people to be in danger in what she viewed as her bar. "Get out of my club, right now! And don't you dare to come back." Mia's voice was stern and low, the men stared at her in shock for a few moments before turning and leaving.

The rest of Mia's night was uneventful thankfully, she finished her shift and decided to stick around for a few hours and have some drinks. She wanted to check out the new band that were playing, with there being several new evening slots Mia had taken the chance to invite several new underground groups to play and get their name out there.The few drinks turned into many, and she ended up staying at the club until closing time, Mia was having a good time and just trying to let loose and enjoy herself, when she was walking home she decided to call Spencer it made her feel safer being on the phone when walking alone. He picked up almost instantly,
"Hey you!" Mia slurred, she heard Spencer chuckle,
"What are you doing, isn't it like two AM there?" Mia hummed in response,
"I decided to have a good night and stay at the club and have a few drinks, I haven't had a good time in so long- I miss doing this." She smiled reminiscing the nights she'd partied until sunrise, "Spencer, I think I like you a lot." She blurted before giggling, "I've got hiccups." She heard Spencer cough on the other side of the call,
"I uh- I- like you too." Mia grinned,
"When you come home can we get drunk, it's so much fun!" Mia rambled, her apartment was in sight and she was ready to get changed into something more comfortable,
"I don't really drink, but ok." Mia laughed,
"Why? It's so fun! I'm a fun drunk to be around! You'll like drunk me more than sober me-"
"Mia, I like you just as you are, whether you're drunk or sober." There was no sound from Mia for a few moments, then Spencer heard the sound of Mia vomiting. He laughed before placing his phone on the bedside table on loud speaker. He lay in bed waiting for her to come back, but he found himself drifting off to sleep.

When Mia returned to her bed where she had thrown her phone she could hear deep breathing, she listened for a moment before realising that Spencer had fallen asleep, she heard the occasional snore she smiled before putting her phone on loud speaker and falling asleep to the sound of him snoring.

Spencer woke up the following morning to see the call with Mia was still active, he grinned to himself remembering what she'd said to him last night. Spencer showered and got ready to get to work before returning to his phone, now he could hear a quiet humming which he instantly recognised as Mia singing to herself,
"Morning," He murmured to her,
"Hey Spence," She chirped back,
"How's the hangover?" He asked, he heard a quiet giggle,
"Surprisingly, non existent- how are you?" The two chatted briefly before Spencer had to get to work. His day was busy enough and the team finally had their break in the case which led to the local PD making a series of arrests, what had appeared to be a duo ended up being a 'small up and coming' gang. While the rest of the team headed for the jet to get home to their families or own beds, Spencer headed to see his mum at Bennington sanitarium. He was close with his mum, but had struggled to cope when he had had to get her admitted when he was only eighteen, she was a paranoid schizophrenic - but his understanding and knowledge of the disorder often helped him to talk down and unsubs that were suffering from it. Spencer made his way to the library where he would often find his mother, Diana, he found her reading a book that she often read to him when he was a child.

Diana had been thrilled to see her son, she was quick to scold him for not visiting enough and he had once again vowed that he would try to visit more often. The two had sat and drank coffee, they'd chatted idly before Diana had broke into a grin,
"Who is she?" Spencer raised an eyebrow,
"Who's who?" Diana shook her head at him, with a smile, "I don't know what you're talking about." He continued,
"You know exactly who I'm talking about, I haven't seen you seem this happy since, well-" She paused for a moment, "since Maeve." She smiled sadly, Spencer almost seemed to flinch at the mention of Maeve. Maeve had been Spencer's girlfriend, she had been his first real love, they'd communicated with letters and calls for six months- they'd seen each other in the flesh for the first and last time when Maeve was murdered by her stalker. It had broken Spencer, he never thought he would recover from it, he believed Maeve was the love of his life.
"Well, there isn't much to tell, we're friends." Spencer replied, his mother simply stared at him for him to continue, "I might, might, like her, I don't know yet." He lied, he knew exactly how he felt, he just didn't want to tell him mum everything and get her hopes up about him getting a girlfriend, because if it didn't work out she'd be heartbroken. Diana had asked him more about Mia, and he'd told her as little as he could,
"She's like, the life of the party, wherever she goes there's like a ray of light that follows. She's warm, she's smart, she's got everything. She never fails to make me smile."

Mia's day had been uneventful around lunchtime the hangover seemed to creep up on her and wipe her out, she'd postponed any jobs she had to do and curled up on the sofa with some coffee and a selection of snacks that were her go-to hangover cure. She dozed off on the sofa watching reruns of some medical drama she wasn't paying attention to, she probably would've slept through until morning if her phone hadn't rung making her jolt awake.
"Hello?" She murmured,
"Hey are you okay?" Spencer's concerned voice brought a smile to her face,
"Yeah, just a little bit fragile- how are you? How was your mum?" She made her way into the kitchen to get another cup of coffee, before returning to the sofa and wrapping herself in a blanket.
"I'm good, I'll be glad to be home though. My mum is doing well, she was asking about you." Spencer blushed as he realised what he had just said and was thankful that they weren't on a video call,
"You've told her about me?" Mia fired back, she heard a quiet hum from Spencer,
"So about last night-" Spencer began,
"Oh god- what happened" Mia cringed, and began trying to remember the events of the previous evening,
"You don't remember?" Spencer replied, Mia let out a quiet groan, "oh in that case never mind then, it doesn't matter."