Spencer Finally Catches a Break

Chapter 9

       "It just doesn't make sense," Ada said after pulling away feeling raw, as if her tears somehow weathered her skin and bones away and revealed her buried pain. Ada always compared her pain to others, telling herself that others have it so much worse. And she was right, others are in worse situations, more abusive ones, but she didn't understand that that was no reason to undermine her own trauma. Almost no one makes it out of their teenage years with no trauma, and Adelaide was no exception. 

      "What do you mean?" Spencer asked softly, parts of his button up bonded to his chest by tears. 

       "They had chosen to go to to marriage counseling, they were doing better. They had said I love you again, it's peculiar," Ada insisted. She looked up at Spencer, who was almost an entire foot taller than she was.

       "Do you think I could go down and talk to the M.E? I don't want to see anyone, I just want to ask them a few questions," Ada begged. Spencer slowly nodded.

      " Let's leave Dante with Garcia, we don't want him messing with anyone," Spencer warned. Ada agreed, and went to inform Garcia of where they were going. Garcia looked at Reid nervously, but gladly agreed to watch Dante. 

       Reid went in front of Ada, opening the door for her. Ada slanted her mouth upward in a smile, but her eyes looked hollow. Spencer tried to look deeper into them to attempt to read them, but her eyes were glued to the tips of her shoes as they headed towards the elevator. As the elevator doors closed, Spencer's eyes drifted to Ada who was almost unreadable, besides her eyebrows that were drawn together in determination, and her eyes which had considerably darkened. 

       "Adelaide?" Ada snapped her eyes up from her shoes to meet Spencer's eyes. her eyes flickered from determined anger, to worry, and in a second switched back. She see-sawed her pointer finger over the length of her thumbnail, feeling it cut in and pinch. She maintained eye contact with the obviously perturbed Doctor. He looked almost nervous as he licked his lips to prepare to talk, but didn't since the elevator had already opened. 

       Ada practically teleported out of the door, not bothering to wait for Reid. She kept her eyes away from the harsh metal tables with the white sheets over the almost-as-white corpses, straight to the medical examiner.

       "Sir? Hello, I'm wondering about a patient of yours? Lyra Mowan? I wanted to double check with her supposed consensual copulation. Are you completely sure that it was consensual? There was no tearing, or bruising?" Ada asked. Spencer dashed out after her, reaching protectively for her shoulder. The M.E nodded, and checked the clipboard next to the closest table.

       "There was some tearing, but it wasn't enough to label it as sexual assault. It could have started consensual and then something happened, or vice versa. There wasn't enough left of her to tell bruising," the M.E explained. Ada nodded, her eyes furrowing even deeper.

       "Did you check on the other bodies as well?" Ada probed. The doctor nodded his head.

      "There was evidence of the same, but it hasn't been tested," he explained. Ada pursed her lips, and looked up at Spencer.

       "He could be tracking down old clients and committing assault before the murders. It just doesn't make sense," Ada explained. Spencer bobbed his head in concurrence. Ada rushed to the elevator and hit the button three times before stepping away, and Spencer paused to thank the doctor before following Ada into the opening elevator. After Spencer stepped in, he shut down the elevator. The lights on the top shut down, but there was glow tape at the bottom that illuminated the elevator. Spencer took a seat in the corner crossing his legs, and motioning for Ada to sit across from him. She mimicked his behavior, and watched as he pulled out a deck of cards bound by an over-used rubber band.

       He gave her two cards and himself two cards, and put out four cards in-between them.

       "This is how I play poker when I'm not betting anything. Do you understand how to play?" Spencer asked. Ada was confused, but nodded, glancing at her two aces. She made no changes to her hardened facial expression, and looked up at Reid.

       "Spencer? What is this?" She asked. Reid looked up from his cards to Ada. He sighed, and wet his lips again.

       "I understand that you want to help, and you're completely capable of doing so, but I don't want you delving too much into this case. We have a secure lead as well as a list of people that he'll be targeting, and you were the one who brought this to our attention. These cases are often too much for us, I can't speculate how much this is affecting you. You do a good job at pushing this down, and covering it up, but this hurts you. It brings back childhood trauma, and adds to it three-fold. I think we should go to the bookstore after we inform Garcia of the link. You need a distraction," Reid surmised. Ada stood still for a minute. The elevator looked like a portrait, no-one moving. They maintained eye contact, Reid pushing her nonverbally. He looked at her, not letting her look down.

       "You're right. It all hurts so much, and I just want to find any way I can to help it, but it won't matter. It's all gone," Ada breathed. She was so quiet that even in the silence of the elevator Reid strained to hear her. 

       "Why don't we go? The team can call if they need me, and we can pick things up for Dante after getting some books and perhaps a couple pairs of clothes," Spencer suggested. Ada nodded, pushing herself to make a small smile. 

      "Thank you. Also, I believe I win," Ada said, revealing her two aces, and setting them in a row with the two queens and king. Reid looked confused, placing down his nine and ten of hearts with the queens and kings of spades and clubs.

      "You don't lose often do you?" Ada questioned as Reid gathered the cards from the floor, and turned the elevator back on. Reid shook his head as Ada got up.

      "Almost never," Spencer replied, the light shining bright in the elevator.

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Smaller filler chapter, there will be more next chapter! Since it's break, I'll be writing more often, and I didn't post last weekend because it was my birthday. Stay safe during this new wave of Covid, and wear your mask! Stay safe my friends, and have a lovely day/night/Whatever! xoxo 

P.S. This is currently unedited, because I'm tired.