Think Again

I sat in the front with Spencer as he drove us back to the police station. We were quiet most of the ride there, then Spencer said, "The director was very... visually appealing."

I chuckled, "Yes, he was."

"Do you like him?"

"He seems nice, why?"

"Nothing."

I smiled and turned back to the window. Arriving at the station, I got out and walked with Spencer to the meeting room. Everyone stopped what they were doing and smiled at me.

"Well," said Derek, "Did you make it?"

I nodded, "Yes. I have to be back there at 7:30 for the read through."

"Excellent," said Rossi, "Well done."

"Thank you."

"Well, we're finished here," said JJ, "Would you like to join us for an early dinner then?"

I shrugged, "Sure. Fine by me."

Derek gave a small cheer, "Alright! I know a great place."

"No karaoke bars," I said with a laugh.

"No, no, it's not one of those, it is however a Chinese restaurant."

"Well, I'm down for that," I said, "Chinese food is good all of the time."

Spencer, JJ, Rossi, and Hotch looked at me, and I shrugged.

"What? Rice is amazing!"

Everyone chuckled at my response, then we broke off into groups. I was in a car with Morgan, Spencer, and JJ while Hotch and Rossi followed. We parked in a parking long and we walked into a tall building and made our way up to one of the upper floors. We were greeted by the hostess. "Hello, how many?"

"Six," said Derek.

The hostess looked at her chart and her smile faltered a moment. Looking back up at Derek she said, "We currently don't have a table big enough for six people."

"Well what do you have?"

"Um... a table for four and a table for two."

Derek shrugged, "That's fine."

We looked at him like he was crazy, but it was too late. The hostess was moving and we were forced to follow. We reached the table of four first, and Derek and JJ slid in first, leaving Hotch, Rossi, Spencer, and me to stand awkwardly by the benches.

"Hotch," said Derek, "Have a seat man."

"Dave," said JJ, "Sit with us."

"What about Kelsie and Reid," asked Rossi.

Derek shrugged, "They can have the two seater."

The two men looked at us to see if we were okay, and I shrugged, "I don't mind eating with Spencer."

Hotch and Rossi took that for an answer and sat down. Spencer and I waited for the hostess to hand out the menus, then we followed her to the far side of the room to a corner booth in front of a window that had a lovely view of the city. Spencer waited for me to sit down before he did, then we took our menus.

I took a moment to look over the menus before I said anything to Spencer. The orange chicken sounded good, but so did the fried rice. Seeing that my goal was to try to use chopsticks with rice, that was the winner.

"Are you gonna try chopsticks," I asked.

He frowned.

I smiled, "How are you doing with those?"

He didn't respond.

"You have been practicing, right?"

He didn't say anything again.

"Spencer."

"I didn't really answer the question." He said, looking up at me.

I smiled slyly at him, then turned to the waiter who handed a pair of sticks, and took our drink order, along with the sampler platter of sushi I ordered for an appetizer. We were quiet again.

"So have you figured out that list?"

I sighed, "No. It's on the tip of my tongue, but for the life of me, I can't figure it out."

"My, um, my friend Emily had that once, during a case."

"Emily?"

"She was the member you replaced. She was apart of the team for five years. During one case, she couldn't figure out why a signature was bothering her. Turned out to be a series of constellations."

I nodded, "The Angel Maker."

"You... you know the case?"

I nodded, "I touched on it briefly, yes."

"Emily was the one who figured out what the puncture wands in the stomach meant."

"Really? Well, way to go her. What happened to her?"

"She died."

I gasped, "Oh... my God!"

"We're still looking for the man who did it."

"You mean you don't know?"

"His name is Ian Doyle."

I choked on the glass of iced tea I was drinking, "The arms dealer?"

He looked surprised, "How do you know his name?"

"He was killed in Paris a few months ago... you didn't hear about it?"

"No."

"He was shot six times in the middle of the night. a woman named Lauren Reynolds found him."

"Lauren Reynolds is dead." Spencer sounded like he was reciting it.

"No she's not...."

"Wait what did you say?"

"Lauren Reynolds... isn't dead. She's still very much alive."

Spencer stood and practically yanked me up from the table. A waiter came with the sushi and I told him to set it down, we wouldn't be that long. Spencer led me to the other side of the room to our team.

"Tell them," he said, "Tell them."

"Tell us what," asked JJ.

"I-I'm not sure," I replied.

"Tell them about Ian Doyle."

The entire table grew quiet. Hotch was the first to speak, "What about Ian Doyle?"

"Um... h-he was murdered back in June.... He was found with six bullet holes in his chest."

The table all looked stunned.

"Where was he," asked Rossi.

"Paris, France."

"Tell them the part about Lauren Reynolds."

Rossi reacted first, "What about Lauren Reynolds?"

"She's the one who discovered the body."

The table was stunned, all in various stages of shock.

"She's alive," Morgan asked. He turned to JJ, "I thought you said she died on the table."

JJ looked nervous, and exchanged a look with Hotch, "Th-That's what I was told."

"You're lying, JJ."

Hotch sighed, "Emily's alive. She didn't want to endanger us by staying here... so she left. It was for your own good, I promise. It's a relief to know Emily's alive, but right now, as hard as it is, we have to keep our focus on the case."

We were all quiet for a moment then I took Spencer's arm and pulled him back to the table. Sitting down, I used the chopsticks to move a few pieces of sushi onto my plate. Looking at Spencer I saw how distant he was and couldn't help but feel bad.

Reaching across the table I took his hand, "I um... I can't imagine what you're going through, but Hotch is right. You have to put this in a file in the back of your giant ass brain, for right now, and you have to focus on your case."

Spencer looked at me and smiled. I kept my hand in his while we ate. He gave me a smile as he picked up his chopsticks and used them to place a piece of sushi in his mouth.

"Spencer! That's fantastic," I smiled at him and squeezed his hand.

He smiled and we continued our meal, his dark slump gone for the moment.