To the Bone

Spencer just stood in the elevator, mindlessly watching the numbers fall as he thought about what Adeline had just said to him. She did care, or at least, she used to. Spencer cursed himself for ever saying a damn word about another woman to her and thought about much he must have hurt her. He let his head fall back against the wall, thinking about the pretty doctor.

She had matured so much in the six years they’d been apart. They had skyped a few times, but Spencer couldn’t see anything other than her face in those, if he saw her at all since she would normally be doing something else. Her hair was longer, it had been long when Spencer met her, but it was wrapped tightly in a bun. Her inky black braid now hung past her perfectly curved hips, having drawn even more of Spencer’s attention to them when they’d been walking. He flushed brightly, knowing he’d been staring at her round backside on the way to the car.

She still wore her glasses, but they were now stylish frames instead of her thick black ones. And all that time in Greece had made the freckles she got from her father’s side of the family abundant across her tanned skin. He knew she hated them, but Spencer thought they were absolutely adorable. He groaned, banging the back of his head on the elevator wall at the thoughts of what could have been as the doors opened to the lobby. She was so different from any other woman he’d ever met, and he blew it.

That thought haunted him as he made his way back out to the car, taking the passenger’s seat. Morgan saw the look on his face and sighed. “She shot you down, didn’t she?”

“I didn’t even get to ask. She said she wants to be professional and she was stupid for thinking anything could happen when we both travel as much as we do.” He let his head fall against the dashboard.

“Well, six years is a long time, but honestly it did seem like it was hard for her at the airport, she looked like she wanted to jump into your arms.” But as Spencer’s expression stayed grim Morgan sighed. “Maybe getting to work together and her seeing that geeky doc she idolizes will help her come around. Just be yourself.”

“I’m the one that always chases them off though…” Spencer muttered. Both men were quiet, watching people coming and going to the hotel as Spencer flipped through the crime scene photos. Finally the back door opened and Adeline climbed into the car, a small satchel under her arm. She had traded her somewhat casual clothes for a button down and slacks. She looked up, smiling at Spencer.

“Do I look a little more official now?” She chuckled. Reid simply nodded. “Do you mind if I take a look at those?” She pointed to the pictures in Reid’s hand which he quietly handed back to her. She took in each picture, her fingers moving over the glossy photo paper. “And all the victims are waiting in a lab?”

“What they could find, yeah.” Morgan answered. “They dug about half a mile in each direction and about thirty feet deep. Unless it was carried away by a flood or an animal, we got it.” She nodded slowly, seeming like she wasn’t even paying attention.

“They tried to crawl away.” She muttered. “Jesus what did this monster do to them?”

“Reid said that too.” Morgan noted. “How can you guys see that in a big pile of bones?”

“If-” Adeline started, but Spencer finished for her.

“If you work with skeletons long enough they begin to speak to you.” Adeline looked up at Spencer, a beaming smile on her face.

“You watched my TED talk?” She whispered.

“What kind of pupil would I be if I didn’t?” He chuckled. “Your dig in Mexico was fascinating to read about, so I really wanted to hear you talk about it firsthand.”

“You could have called me, Spencer.” She said softly. He got a sullen look on his face and Adeline put the dates together. Her Mexico dig, her big break really, had happened when she wasn’t speaking to Spencer for six months. “Right.”

“What happened in Mexico?” Morgan chimed in, eager to keep the two chit chatting as they drove down the interstate.

“It was my first big dig since finishing school, it was led by this stuck up archeologist who basically made me beg to go with him, even with all my letters of recommendation. We were exploring this old Aztec ruin when he insisted we’d find the chief’s graves to the left. I noticed the way a skeleton at the door was positioned and that he seemed to be guarding something. I nudged him a bit and found a passageway that led us to the real burial chambers.” She smiled. “Positioning says so much, I figured if that man was determined enough to stand in a line of fire when the temple was breached, he had to be hiding something.”

“Brilliant.” Spencer whispered, smiling. Adeline blushed.

“What happened to the archeologist?” Morgan prodded.

“He still went to the left and almost fell in a snake pit. Luckily a guide grabbed him.” She turned to the window and smiled, seeing the state forest sign. “Well that was a quick trip.”

“Yeah, except for the hike to the crime scene.” Morgan chuckled.

The trio was quiet as they made their way up the trail, quickly reaching the DO NOT ENTER tape and ducking beneath it. When Adeline saw just how far the dig spanned she took in a sharp breath. Her hand slowly moved to her mouth as she took a second to compose herself. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Spencer. She flushed, embarrassed to appear so weak.

“Sorry I just… I’m thinking of how many people could fit in a space this big.” It was a half-truth, but if he doubted her, Spencer didn’t show it. She swallowed thickly, trying to get the image of someone crawling through an ocean of bones out of her mind. She took the satchel off her shoulder, opening it to a collection of small gauges and machines. As she began to work, Morgan turned to Spencer.

His young friend was star struck, watching Adeline measure and write things down like she was Picasso painting right in front of him. Morgan couldn’t help but chuckle, which broke Spencer from his trance. “You should go ask her to walk you through what she’s doing.”

“I know exactly what she’s doing.” Spencer said quickly.

“Yeah, but you could pretend not to.” Spencer still seemed unsure, so Morgan nudged him. He walked over to Adeline as she stuck a metal probe into the dirt.

“What are you measuring?” He asked softly. She turned to him, chuckling.

“The amazing Dr. Reid has never taken a soil moisture reading? Why do I doubt that?” He shrugged and she smiled. “The amount of moisture in the soil can affect decomposition, it’ll help me age the bodies and guess how much bone might have decayed if they’re older.” Spencer nodded, pointing to another tool that looked like a mirror.

“What’s this?”

“Helps me see how dense the treetop coverage is to estimate the amount of sunlight coming through that could bleach the remains.” She took the small mirror and put it in Spencer’s hand, pointing it upward. “See how almost every square is covered and you don’t see any light? That’s considered dense. It also explains why no helicopter ever saw anything.”

“You need all these to age the bones?”

“Well, you can just get them dated, but even that will just give an estimate. I feel like this gives me a better understanding of how the bodies broke down, it can also help with your um…” She started waving her finger, trying to prompt the word to come to her.

“Environmental profile?” She snapped her fingers, beaming at him.

“Thank you, jetlag is killer.” She sat up on her knees, looking around. “Whoever did this knew these woods intimately enough to know where no one would find the bodies. And judging from the pictures, knew that there were enough predators to finish their dirty work should someone survive.”

She rolled all her tools back up, standing slowly and taking in the trees. Spencer just looked at her as her dark eyes moved over the site, glassing over slightly like she was about to cry. He touched her shoulder and she turn

“What?” He asked.

“Nothing I just…” She paused, taking a deep breath to compose herself. “I don’t know how you guys do this. It’s one thing looking in a tomb, or seeing remains of a natural disaster. But these people…” She paused again and Spencer didn’t hesitate, pulling her into his arms. It felt so right, like she belonged there as she spoke softly. “Spencer, these people were tortured to death. I’m sure of it.” She pulled back, looking at the massive crime scene. “Imagine crawling through a pile of corpses, just trying to escape as you bleed to death. It must have been awful.”

“That’s why we do this Adeline.” She looked up at him as he cleared his throat. “To catch the people who do this and put them away.” They both became quiet, just looking at the other before Adeline cleared her throat, backing away.

“Well I need to find out what kinds of people were killed so you can do your profile and stop them then.” She said, wiping some dirt off her slacks. “How far to the lab?”

“About twenty minutes-”

“Perfect.” Adeline interrupted, walking briskly back to the car as she tucked her tools under her arm. “Let’s go see what they have to tell us.”

Spencer stood there for a moment longer before smiling softly. “Lead the way.”