CHAPTER FORTY-THREE: 3:04 !

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CASEY WILLOWS COULDN'T REMEMBER A TIME SHE FELT THIS PEACEFUL. Especially with Spencer Reid exactly by her side.

         Casey woke up with small, soft kisses being placed on her shoulder and Spencer's arm wrapped around her body, their hands intertwined. Casey smiled to herself as she turned her head to face the man. "Morning, doc." She smiles softly.

"I missed you saying that." Spencer tells as Casey fully turns to face him. She raises a hand to his face as she strokes his stubbled cheek. "I missed saying it." She says as Spencer leans down and she leans up for their lips to meet.

         Casey looks at his features and there's a certain look on his face that she just can't pinpoint. "What's wrong?" She asks as she furrows her brows. "I just... I can't believe this is real. You. Here. In my arms." Spencer tells. Casey rakes a thumb over his knuckles as he says this. "Well, believe it." Casey smiles, causing a small smile to appear on Spencer's face and the worry began to wash away.

        "What time is it?" Casey turns her head over to the clock on the desk near the bed. "5:30." Spencer answers as Casey gets a good look on the clock to see that the time is indeed 5:30.

         Casey stretches and she rubs her eyes as she sits up in the bed. "We're leaving at 8. I should go back to my room." She throws the covers off of her as she reaches down on the ground for Spencer's white dress shirt and she puts it on around her body and buttons only two buttons as she goes to pee.

When Casey comes back out, Spencer is sitting up in bed with his white t-shirt on, searching for his slacks. "Why don't you stay?" He questions as Casey finds his pants and tosses them to Spencer as she smirks at him. "And risk the team teasing us? No way."

Spencer shrugs, "Yeah. You're right. I actually think it's better if we hide it for now. I don't really want anyone knowing yet." Casey takes a look at him and tilts her head as she puts her underwear on.

"If you're worried that I'm gonna leave you, please don't. I'm not going anywhere this time." Casey tells. "I promise."

Spencer nods, "I'm happy to hear it. I actually meant that if we keep it secret, we'll have spectacular sex." At this exact time, Casey goes to straddle Spencer's lap, arms around his next as his hands laid on her waist. "You know, like we did last time?"

Casey cocks an eyebrow. "Oh, really?" Spencer nods, "Yeah." Casey leans in to kiss him until she all of a sudden pulls away when she feels something poking the inside of her thigh through Spencer's boxers.

       "Are you seriously...?" Casey raises her brows and the tips of Spencer's ears turn red as he shrugs, "You know, seeing you in my shirts really does something to me."

       "Well, we're gonna have to take care of that, now are we?" Casey smirks as she goes to kiss Spencer's neck.

       "Actually..." Suddenly, Spencer holds Casey tightly as he flips her on her back on the bed. She giggles as she keeps her arms above her head as Spencer cowers over her and her body.

       "I'll take care of it. You just lay there, don't think about anything in that pretty head of yours and just give yourself over to me," Spencer tells in a low, seductive voice as he goes to peel her underwear off. "It's my turn."

       Casey's cheeks turn pink as she smiles, "I could get used to this."
       Spencer turns his gaze up from Casey's body to Casey's face and gives her a warning look, "Quiet."
      "Sorry." Casey stifles a laugh as Spencer smiles as he goes to kiss at her thighs.

Come on, y'all know what happened next.

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         After Casey and Spencer's activities, Casey ended up leaving the room around 6:30ish. She got dressed and ready for the day and met the rest of the team downstairs for breakfast.

        "How'd everyone sleep last night?" Casey asked once everyone was downstairs as she pours her coffee. "Not great," Luke sighs. "There was this couple a few doors down that just kept me up all night."

        Both Spencer and Casey briefly glance up at one another, both slowly turning red in embarrassment.

       "Yeah, same here. It was constant, right?" Matt asks and Luke nods, "Yeah."

        "Sounds like someone was having fun." JJ comments. "Yeah, it kept me up all night, too." Spencer decides to say, trying to agree to throw them off from even suspecting it came from his room.

         Emily laughs as she pours the splenda in her coffee, "I remember being that young and having enough time for sex."

         Tara sighs, "Seriously, who has that much time on their hands and that much energy for that?" Erik nods in agreement, "Not to mention that much stamina."

         "You'd be surprised." Rossi comments as he takes a sip from his coffee as he reads the newspaper. Erik and Tara both make faces at the older man as well as Casey.

         "Hm, I didn't hear anything. I had earplugs. Maybe you guys should invest in some." Casey comments as she goes to get some breakfast on her plate of scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage.

          What she didn't know was that JJ followed closely behind her with a certain look on her face. "You know, come to think of it, Spencer's room is just a few doors down from Luke's and Matt's."

         Casey shrugs, trying not to make eye contact with JJ so she didn't suspect anything. "Hm. Bring it up to Spencer, maybe he had a girl over."

        "Well, this is why I bring it up. I went to your room because I wanted to check how you were doing since... you know... and you weren't there. But I'm pretty sure I heard your voice coming from Spencer's room as well... as a few other things." Casey sighs in defeat. She was caught. She turns to JJ as she narrows her eyes at her and JJ smirks, "Care to explain?"

          Casey sighs as she looks back at the table at her conversating coworkers. She leans closer to JJ as she speaks quietly. "Okay, you caught us. Spencer and I... we're back together. But right now, we don't want anyone knowing. So, if this can just stay between you and me—"

          JJ raises her hands in surrender. "Say no more. You can trust me. I'm happy for you and Spencer." She smiles and takes a pause and says, "Just... don't break his heart again."

        Casey really did mean it when she told Spencer she wasn't going anywhere and of course, she had to prove it with her love and her heart and she really and truly did mean it. She knew it was probably gonna take at least a little bit of convincing but she knew what she knew and she sighed as she nodded at JJ. "I know."

         Casey catches a glimpse of Spencer's eyes as he gives her a small smile before going to drink more of his coffee.

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The team flew back to Quantico and after their flight headed to the BAU for some paperwork they needed to work on. "So good to be home." Rossi comments as they all walk through the elevator to the bullpen. "I'm ready for real sleep in my own bed." Luke adds.

"I'm ready to see my family." Matt tells.
"Same here." JJ adds as Casey nods in agreement.
"Ditto." Erik tells, causing everyone to look his way.

"Family, huh?" Tara asks and Erik nods with a big smile on his face, "Yeah, I didn't want to jinx anything but me and Mandy are... actually trying to make things work. We're taking things slow, but... it's something."

After the whole thing with Mandy and Emma being taken, Erik and Mandy had gotten closer than ever and Mandy and Emma were practically living with Erik at the moment and now all of a sudden, things were going great for them.

"That's so good to hear." Emily tells as everyone congratulates him for this relationship thing going on with Mandy. It turns out Spencer and Casey weren't the only ones that got lucky there.

"Uh, oh." Casey speaks as she looks towards the conference room. "What?" Spencer asks. "Look." Casey points and gets everyone's attention as they all look up at Garcia setting the projector up and putting the files down on the desk.

Casey sighs as well as everyone else. "Don't leave the building yet, folks. Looks like we have another case." With that, everyone begins to head upstairs and draws attention to Garcia, who faces her team.

"What have we got, Garcia?" Emily begins as everyone puts their go-bags down. "Sorry, guys, but this is a big one. Police uncovered three bodies of 7, 8 and 10 year old girls in Swan Valley, Idaho. They were dumped in Fall Creek Falls. Their bodies were found frozen." Garcia starts as everyone looks in the files on the table.

"How long do they think they were in the river for?" Erik questions. "Well, the river was frozen over. The PD is assuming that two of the bodies have been in the river for least a month or two." Garcia informs.

"The bodies were also found with their hands bound. Also ligature marks were found on the wrists." Spencer points out. "The unsub could've bound them from fighting." Luke tells. "Was he trying to drown them?" JJ asks.

"They stated in the autopsy record that their lungs were filled with water." Tara told. "So, he definitely is."

"Also, with the latest body, they found that a patch of ice was broken. It looked like someone stepped all over it." Garcia points out as she clicks the remote for the images to show up. "So, he deliberately makes a patch to drown them in." Matt says.

Casey takes a breath, "Looks like we're heading to Idaho. Garcia, I would like you to come with us on this case. I need as much access to you as possible." Garcia nearly gasps as she salutes to Casey. "Right away, boss. I should also inform you guys to pack warm for the city. Temperatures tend to drop over there."

"Especially with frozen river water, I imagine it will be freezing." Emily adds. "That's not gonna stop our unsub from striking though." Rossi says.

"Well, it's up to us to make sure we find the bastard and lock him up for good. Wheels up in 30." Casey sighs as everyone else begins to stand and grabs their bags as they go to pack for warm weather before catching the jet.

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To keep a long story short, the team had found out that their unsub was actually not drowning his victims, but more so, deciding to try and save them from drowning. He believed he was the savior and trying to save children, meaning he could've gone through losing someone himself, as they profiled.

Another young girl's body was found a day later, meaning he was staying on victimology but he stayed within the age range of eight year olds. He'd killed an eight year old twice, meaning he found the age at which his trigger started maybe with a younger sibling.

             The team also discovered another young girl went missing camping with her family and the parents had urged for the police to find her and bring her home.

Casey had Garcia compile a list of those who lost a relative or a family member to an accidental drowning. And soon enough, they had a match. "Garcia, what did you find?" Casey started as she and Emily walked into the conference room.

"I got a hit on a Jimmy Ryder, 27. Been in and out of jail since he was seventeen. Was kicked out of school in 2010." Garcia informed. "Any triggers?" Emily asks and Garcia shakes her head before doing her signature, "Oh," the one thing she said before delivering bad news. "Oh, the year prior, Jimmy's little sister, Rachel had gotten in an accident. She drowned in Bear Lake. Jimmy told police that the ice broke right under her feet. He couldn't reach her in time. She was only eight."

"Rachel fits the age range of the children he's been taking." Luke stated. "The ten year anniversary of her death was just a month ago." Garcia informed. "Must've been the trigger for the murders." Spencer adds.

"You said Bear Lake right, Garcia?" JJ asked. "He could be taking Nicole Kelly there." Tara nods.

Everyone begins to walk out of the room already as Casey starts, "Garcia—"
"Yeah, sending the location of the area now."

         The whole team — minus Garcia, had arrived on Bear Lake, taking a detour through the woods towards the lake, FBI vests on, guns drawn and search dogs practically leading the way.

           They hear a young girl screaming, which Casey can assume is Nicole Kelly. Luke, Matt, Erik , JJ, Casey, Tara and Spencer all head in the general direction and find Nicole Kelly in the middle of the lake on an ice patch. Jimmy Ryder standing on the side, getting ready to "save" young Nicole.

         "Jimmy Ryder! FBI!" Tara announced, holding her gun towards him. But Jimmy is quick on his feet and he shoot Tara in the arm and lands on the ground in pain, groaning as she holds her arm.

           JJ soon joined Tara and tried to shoot at the man but he got away. Casey tells Erik and Matt to go after him and warns Emily and Rossi through the mic that he's heading towards the woods. JJ decides to help Tara back towards a medic since they were close enough to get to one.

           Casey sees a scared Nicole in the middle of the lake and Casey's motherly instincts are kicking into high gear. "Nicole, honey?" Casey knows what she has to do and she knows she's gonna need to get close to Nicole just enough to get her out of the lake and onto the surface. "My name is Casey. You're gonna be okay!"

             Casey begins to take off her vest so it doesn't weigh her down on the ice. She looks below Nicole's feet and the ice is cracking beneath her snow shoes. "The ice is gonna break! I'm scared. Help me!" Nicole pleads.

           "Just stay calm, sweetie. We're gonna get you out of this pickle." Casey looks below her feet as she begins to carefully step on solid ice.

           "Casey, be careful." Spencer tells the woman and she ignores his comment as she looks at the young girl and around her area.

           Nicole is surrounded by big blocks of ice, some are broken, some are thick, some are thin and some look like they're about to break. Casey decides to try and get the fact that this girl might fall into the cold water below her out of her young mind. "Now, we're gonna play a little game, okay? You gonna hop where I tell you to hop!"

            Nicole looks around and shakes her head, "I don't know..." Casey knows she's scared but it would be no use if they couldn't save her today. "Nicole, sweetie, I know you're afraid. But this is the only way we're gonna get you out of here. It's gonna be okay, I promise." Casey assures.

             The young girl looks at her carefully and asks, "And I won't fall?" Casey shakes her head, "You will not fall. I promise, Nicole. I will not let you fall." She promises. Nicole nods hesitantly, "Okay."

            "Okay," Casey draws her attention to a thick block right next to her. "Now, you see that patch over there? I need you to hop on that patch for me, okay? Go on."

            Luke and Spencer watch as if they're on the edge of their seats as Casey stands at the edge of the block she's standing on in case Nicole does end up falling and she could catch her easily but Nicole lands perfect on the block.

           "Oh, good. Good girl!" Casey praises and looks around in her area again. Another block on her right that thick enough to hold her up. "Now... that one right there!"

          "Hop on this one?" Nicole points to be sure and Casey nods at her vehemently, "Yeah!"

         Nicole hops onto the thick block, keeping herself steady as Casey cheers, "Good! That was good! You're getting close." She points to the other one that's almost close to her now. "And that one now!"

          Nicole then hops on that one and that's when Casey notices that that block she was one was the last thick block around her and they still had a big distance between themselves.

          Casey looks around, trying to think which one would be good enough for her to hop on without it caving through at the first second. After serious negotiation with herself, Casey decides something in her brain that will guarantee that she can get Nicole onto the surface. "Okay. You're gonna hop on this one!"

          Nicole looks at the think block she's supposed to hop on and she's unsure if she should even try. "I'm scared, Casey!" Nicole tells.

          "You will not fall. I will make sure of it! I promise. And I keep my promises." Casey told. "Nicole, I want you to be brave. Can you be brave for me?"

           The young girl looks at Casey and hesitantly nods again. "Okay."

          Casey nods at the girl as she steadies herself at the edge of her block. "Okay. In three, you're gonna jump! Okay?" Nicole nods and Casey takes a sharp breath. "Ready?" The girl nods again.

          "One..." Casey steadies her block. "Two," The block beneath Nicole's feet's about to break. "Three!"

           As Nicole quickly jumps on the block, Casey quickly switches spots with Nicole as she tosses her over to thick block Casey was on and Casey goes through the block Nicole's stepped on and goes crashing through the water since the block wasn't big enough to hold her weight.

          "Casey!" Spencer yells as he goes running onto the ice, not caring if he's leaving big patches behind. "Casey!" Nicole shouts. Luke gets Nicole to safety quickly and then runs out onto the ice with Spencer.

           Spencer and Luke look through where Casey fell through and she's nowhere to be found. "The current has her!" Spencer panicked as he and Luke began to look through the ice and Spencer then found Casey just a second later.

         "She's here!" Spencer announces. Of course, he can never think logically in situations that have to do with Casey so he begins to start beating at the ice with his hands, trying to save her before she freezes to death or drowns.

          As he hits at the ice, all Spencer can think is that he can't lose her. He just can't lose her. Not again. Not when he just got her back. Memories begin to replay in his mind as he hits at the ice in anger and frustration. His cheeks pink at the cold weather and his hair flying every which way.

           Luke quickly tries to punch at the ice with Spencer, seeing that Spencer's knuckles were beginning to turn and bleed red as it squandered around on the ice. Quickly working together, the ice surely begins to break and they are finally met with water.

           They both pull Casey out of the water and see that her skin had completely turned blue, her lips gray and eyes closed. Spencer leaned down to her chest but couldn't hear a heartbeat. "Casey, come on. Come on. Wake up." Spencer pleaded as he lightly slapped her cheeks to awaken her.

            Spencer then laid her down on the ice and began to perform CPR on her. Breathing into her mouth as he pinched her nose and alternated but pushing at her chest. "Come on. Wake up. Casey." Spencer muttered to himself as he performs CPR. "We need a medic now!" Luke tells into his mic.

         "God, not like this. Please not like this." Spencer begs as he pushed at her chest. "Come on!" Suddenly, as Spencer breathed into her mouth again, Casey gasped as she spit out some water in her throat.

         Luke knelt down to hear a heartbeat. "She has one but it's faint. We need to get her to a hospital now." Spencer then picks Casey up in a bridal position and Luke picks Nicole up, who witnessed the entire thing.

          As Spencer carried her out of the woods, one of Casey's arms subconsciously wrapped around his neck as she dug her face into the crick of his neck. Everyone watched in shock as Spencer carried Casey into the ambulance and decided to go with her.

         "Oh, my God." Emily takes a sharp breath as she watches the scene.

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           The entire ride to the hospital, Spencer held onto Casey's hand. His warm breath hit her cold hand multiple times and Spencer wondered if maybe he was trying to subconsciously keep her warm. He worried that maybe she would get hypothermia from this accident.

He statistically remembered that mild, treatable cases of hypothermia are more common, especially among groups of people who are at risk. In the United States, between 700 and 1,500 people die every year from hypothermia. Casey wasn't going to be one of those people today. It wasn't gonna happen and he wasn't going to let it happen.

When they arrived in the hospital, Spencer nearly refused to leave her side but the doctors needed to help her. He was in the trauma room up until they finally kicked him out. He didn't need to see this.

The door closed behind him and they closed the blinds so Spencer couldn't even peek in trauma room. Finding that he was alone now, he stepped back slowly until his back hit the wall and he slid down the wall and he just let himself sob. So many worries and facts about death ran across his mind as he sobbed.

            The team hadn't noticed as they were in the waiting room. "How's Tara doing?" Rossi wondered as JJ walked into the room. "It was just a graze on her arm. She's gonna be fine. She's asking about Casey." Matt nods, "Yeah, we're trying to figure that out too."

Suddenly, Erik and Garcia walked into the hospital after Garcia insisted on going into the hospital so Emily had Erik go and pick her up from the PD.

"Oh, my God. Is she o— Is she okay—? Oh." Garcia looked at Luke and his bruised hand. "What happened?" Luke shook his head. "Casey... she was trying to save Nicole. She switched spots on a thin block. When she stood on it, it went crashing. She... she was under the water for... I don't know how long."

Garcia shakes her head. "Oh, my God." Luke clenches his fist and sighs, "Her skin... her skin was blue." Right now, Luke was really worried about Casey. The way he and Spencer found her, it was a sight no one wanted to see of their friend.

          As Spencer continued to cry, tears streaming down his face, knees pulled up to his chest and FBI vest thrown across the room, he felt alone. They hadn't even gotten the chance to tell Chris about them being back together yet. They had so much to say and so little time.

From his peripheral blurry vision, he turned to see JJ approaching him and she looked at him and then at the trauma room. Spencer wiped his eyes as JJ decided to sit next to him on the ground. JJ didn't say anything. She leaned against the wall as she pulled her own knees to her chest and then reached over to squeeze his left knee to assure him that he was not alone in this. That he wasn't the only one going through this.

Spencer took a deep breath as he took JJ's hand on his knee and squeezed it, almost as if to assure her with an: 'I know'. And they just sat there in that silence, worrying for Casey and hoping she was just gonna make it out of this.

         Back in the waiting room, Matt and Emily walk into the room and Rossi looks at them. "Any news on Jimmy Ryder?" He wonders. "Nothing so far." Matt answers.

         Emily looks around at the room and takes a sharp breath and knows she has to take charge. "I think I speak for all of us when I say we do not stop until we catch him." She tells. "Casey, she knows the risks. And she would rather us keep looking for this son of a bitch instead of sitting here doing nothing. Now, I'm gonna have Spencer, Tara, Garcia and JJ stay here but the rest of us, we need to be on the lookout for Jimmy Ryder."

           Emily knows Casey would want her to take over to get this son a bitch and if it were her, she'd stop at nothing to make sure he was caught.

━━━━━━

           Casey was barely in the water but it was confirmed that she did get hypothermia and it would take a while before her body temp went back to normal and that she would wake up. She laid in that hospital bed with blankets among blankets on top of her to keep her warm.

            They were told they could go and visit her but to be patient with her. Spencer sat at her bedside, holding her hand. His hands felt warm compared to hers. Spencer would note that Casey's hands were always warm and his were always cold. And right now, her hand was freezing cold. And he hated that. He hated the fact that he had this warmth and she didn't when she was the one that really needed it.

The bandage on his hand was really bothering him but it didn't matter. It couldn't matter because he could care less about his hand or the possibility of the fact that maybe he broke it or fractured it. The only thing that mattered was Casey. And Casey only.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door lightly, making their presence known. There stood Garcia and Tara, her arm was in a sling but overall she was okay. "She doing okay in here?" Tara wondered. Spencer looks at the woman and says, "She feels so cold."

Garcia walks in to the room with the other woman as she stands beside Casey on the other side of the bed. "The doctors say it's gonna be a while before her body temperature gets back to normal again."

There's a pause as Tara sits beside Spencer in another chair next to him. Spencer sniffles as he caressed his thumb across Casey's knuckle. "Three minutes and four seconds," Spencer spoke. "She was in the water for three minutes and four seconds. Any second later, she could've died. At a water temperature of 32.5 degrees, death may occur in under 15 - 45 minutes. More than five million people die every year due to freezing or excessively hot temperatures."

"Reid..." Tara takes a breath.

"This cannot be how I lose her. I've lost her once. I just got her back. I'm not letting her go. Why does it always have to be her?" Casey had been through a lot in just these few years. Ranging from her divorce, to jail, to losing her sister, facing past demons, trials, being shot, all of it you could name in the book. Spencer just wished he could take Casey's pain away. All of it, if he could. He used to think that bad things happened to him all of the time and then he met Casey and my God, did she go through a lot.

Tara looks at Spencer carefully. "Spencer... she knew what she was doing. She saved Nicole Kelly, she'd be happy that it was her and not Nicole that fell in that water. You're not gonna lose her. She's gonna be fine."

          "And you know why? Because she's strong." Garcia chimes in. "This is nothing compared to what else she's been through and she's been through a lot but she's gotten through that and she'll get through this. She has to." She assures.

Spencer took that to comfort. He knew Casey, he knew she was strong and she would overcome this, like she always had. She's walked through fire but she always made it out the other side. He was just so grateful to have someone so strong, so brave, so fearless of anything. To carry so much as he did. To carry so much of him. He loved her and he swore he was going to love her until the day he died. And today, she wasn't. She was gonna live. She was gonna see another tomorrow and he would make sure of it.

         Hours later, when Emily, Matt, Luke, Erik and Rossi all arrived back to the hospital, they arrived with good news. "We got Jimmy Ryder in custody." JJ nodded, "That's good."

"Any news here?" Matt questioned.
        "Nothing yet." Garcia shook her head.

        "Casey Willows?" A doctor asks, causing everyone to turn to him and the doctor looks around at the many faces and Spencer decides to ask, "Is she okay?"

         "We've regained her body temp back up. She's okay but we might need to keep her here for a few days before it's at the normal temp." Everyone smiles in relief at hearing that their boss, friend, colleague and lover was going to be okay.

         "Thank God." Garcia smiles.
         "That's really great news." Rossi comments.

         "Can we see her?" Emily asks. "She's still sleeping but you can see her when she wakes up." The doctor tells.

━━━━━━

         When Casey crashed into that water, her body immediately felt numb. The water corrupted her lungs quickly. It had to have been at least below five degrees in that water because in a matter of seconds, her body began to feel weak. And water quickly entered her lungs. Casey thought that she was for sure a goner. But it wasn't long until she woke up.

          And when she did wake up, the first thing she noticed was someone at her side. She expected nothing less that Spencer was right beside her, his mop of hair flying every which way as his head was the only thing laying by her side.

          The second thing she noticed once she looked down was Spencer's bandage on his hand. "Your hand..." Casey spoke, her voice raspy and hoarse. Suddenly, Spencer's head raised quickly and he smiled, almost in disbelief that she was awake. "Hey..." He said as Casey raised a hand to fix his hair in front of his face.

        "Hi..." Casey said and Spencer stood up, quickly going to kiss her and hold her. Of course, she still felt a little cold in his arms but the way he was holding her could make Casey warm in a second. He kissed her on her cheek, her nose, her lips.

          Spencer quickly pulled away so as not to overwhelm her and she looked down at his bandage, wondering how he got that. "What happened to your hand?" She asks and Spencer looks down, noting that she's already said something about it. "Well, someone had to save you, right?" Spencer jokes and sees the seriousness in her face. "This is nothing. My hand should be the least of your concerns right now." He assures.

         Casey looks at the man in front of her, taking all of his features and for a moment, envied Spencer's eidetic memory for remembering everything about her. She wished it only she could remember all of his own beautiful features.

         As Spencer noticed she was staring, he moved a strand of her hair behind her ear as she looked at him and smiled, "I'm so glad you're here." Spencer smiles down at her now. "Where else would I be?"

         Casey grabbed his hands and Spencer wondered if maybe she was holding onto them for the physical touch or for warmth, maybe both and she kisses his knuckles and says, "I love you." Spencer smiles at her and says with a small blush rising in his cheeks. "I love you, too."

          When the team wondered when they could see Casey after Spencer, they stood outside of the room and looked through the window.

           In the hospital room, they'd seen both Spencer and Casey laying in the hospital bed together, Spencer's arms wrapped around Casey, the blanket covering both of them. They both looked the most content the team had ever seen them in their entire relationship.

          The team saw them and all of them each had different reactions. Garcia had a sharp gasp and her voice raises in a whispering excitement. "Wait. Oh, my gosh. Are they—? Are they—?"

         "From the looks of it, it looks like Spencer and Casey are finally back together." Luke chuckled.

         "I thought they were never gonna budge." JJ said, crossing her arms.
         "Neither did I. That $20, Rossi?" Emily holds her palm out as Rossi sighs and puts a $20 bill in her hand. "Never make bets unless you know you'll win, ladies and gentlemen."

          Matt chuckles himself, "Did they really think we weren't gonna figure it out? I mean, they work with a group of profilers."
         "Ah, well, they're in love. They've always been so hopped up on each other. You should've seen them when they first got together." JJ said.

         "I think we should give the lovebirds some time together, don't you?" Tara guessed and Erik nodded, "Oh, yes. They are long overdue on that."

          "I cannot believe it. Boy genius and the fair maiden are back together and didn't tell anyone about it?" Garcia asks. "Well, Garcia, they needed time to figure a lot of stuff out. Now, we can stop that nonsense of the 'Will they, won't they' type crap." Emily told.

           So, Casey stayed cooped up in Spencer's arms and instantly felt the cold washing away as his hot breath stayed close to her forehead. She smiled to herself, happy to be in his arms and no one else's. Happy to be with him. And for Spencer, there was nowhere else he'd rather be.

this shit sucked😀
anywayssss
of course the team was gonna figure it out quickly
have you met them?

everyone @ me for putting casey through so much:

trauma makes for a good oc guys🥲 i'm sorry

also i finally got to watch "Saltburn" and y'all
this was me for the entirety of it:

anywayssss
first chapter of the new year!
thank you for reading
and i love you all

next chapter: saturday !
any best guesses for what's gonna happen? hehe
-mya </3333