chapter five.

ANNA-JANE LOST the will to sleep. It's been a week since she was rescued, but it felt like she was still trapped- at least in her mind. She feared closing her eyes because if she did, she saw the basement she was kept in and the face of her kidnapper and he killed himself. She saw everything very vividly, even if her eyes shut for a mere few seconds from exhaustion, causing her to snap awake again.

Anyone could tell that she hasn't slept or she's been through something traumatic, but the only person that sees her is her mother and her doctors when she has them come to visit. Spencer sometimes sees her as he leaves his house, but when he does, she closing her door behind her, not even acknowledging that he was outside. At times, he wanted to knock on her door to see how she was and if she needed anything, but he wasn't sure if he was the best company for her to have.

Though, one morning, Anna-Jane got up to get ready to go to work. She felt that being stuck in her house all the time was going to drive her mad, since she was held captive in a place for almost a week. Her doctors cleared her and assured that she was capable to be in her work environment again, which she couldn't wait to her after spending all her time in her bed and exercising in her living room. Her mother, however, was completely again the idea.

"What's the rush, Anne?" Her mom, Michelle, asked as she fixed her blazer, "I mean, you have all the time in the world to go back to work. There will still be clients that need you by then."

"Mama, I can't stay home any longer, okay?" She reminded her mom, "I have to keep busy. I have to do something to keep my mind off-" She paused to glanced at her mom, "I have to go to work."

"I just don't get why you can't work from home," Michelle went on, following her daughter as she left the bedroom to go into the kitchen, "Why can't you have that assistant of yours come here and give you all the stuff you need for work? Is there something wrong with her legs?"

Anna-Jane let out a light laugh, "There is nothing wrong with her legs and there is nothing wrong with me going to work, alright?"

"At least find another place to work," Her mom suggested and groaned when her daughter shook her head, "I was on my way here and reporters were just lined up in front of the house, asking about you."

"They've been like that since I was at the hospital," Anna-Jane sighed, "Soon enough they'll get tired and move on."

She was also hoping her mother moved on. Her mother was constantly bringing up all that her daughter went through, even to family members as they would ask about her. Sometimes they wouldn't have to ask before Michelle would blurt out everything. It frustrated Anna-Jane, but she never told her mom that because she knew that her mom was just overly concerned.

AJ then glanced down at her wrist and cursed lowly, "Come on, mama, I'm gonna be late."

"They better be lucky that you're going at all," Her mother grunted, grabbing her bag and Anna-Jane waved her keys to signal her to hurry up. Her mom snatched the keys and left the house first and Anna-Jane followed behind so she could lock her door.

Spencer happened to be leaving the same time she was, so when she turned around, she met his gaze. She suddenly felt like a lump was in her throat. She didn't see him after the police let her get taken to the hospital, but she would always hear him open his front door, either leaving for work or coming home. She wanted to catch him one day while he was in the hallway to thank him, but as she stood in front of him with her mother beside her, she was speechless.

Spencer, however, gave a warm smile, "Hey, Anna-Jane." He greeted and she smiled back instantly, finding his smile to be contagious.

"Hey," She responded, clearing her throat slightly as it suddenly went dry, "How are you?"

"I should be asking you," He lightly joked, but glanced over to her mother, quickly meeting her eyes, "Hi, I'm Spencer Reid. I'm her neighbor."

Anna-Jane then leaned over to her mom, "He's one of the guys that saved me."

"Oh!" Michelle's eyes widened before she immediately reached out to Spencer and shook his hand, which was previously holding the strap to his satchel that was over his head, "Thank you so much for what you did!"

"It's no problem," He assured her, glancing at Anna-Jane, as she stood slightly embarrassed by her mother's forwardness, "My team and I were very devoted towards the case."

"So are you like a cop?" Michelle asked and Anna-Jane nudged her, "What, Annie? I'm just asking a question."

"Yes, but I have to be at work," She grunted and Spencer then furrowed his brows after releasing his hand from Michelle's to put it back on his satchel.

"Wow, back to work already?" He wondered and she hesitantly nodded, noticing this is probably the most they've talked since they've met each other.

"Yeah, testing the waters, see how I hold up," She told him and he nodded, causing her to look at her mom, "Can we go? I'm going to be late."

"Yeah, I have to go too," Spencer said, "It was nice seeing you, Anna-Jane. I'm glad you're doing well." She smiled at his response, watching as he brushed past Michelle to go down the steps and leave the building.

"He's cute," Michelle blurted out and Anna-Jane's eyes widened, "What? He is!"

Anna-Jane rolled her eyes as she went down the steps, "Come on, mama."

"You should invite him over for dinner," Her mom suggested, and she glanced back with furrow brows, "He saved your life, Annie."

"I know, but dinner?"

"Well, you can't give him some gift card as a way to say thank you for rescuing me from a serial killer," Michelle interjected and Anna-Jane rolled her eyes again as they got in Michelle's car. "Just think about it, okay? It's not like a date or anything."

"Didn't say it was," Anna-Jane grumbled, soon driving towards her job. When they reached her destination, Anna-Jane kissed her mom on the cheek and thanked her before getting out of the car. Once she closed the door behind her, she took a deep breath as her eyes trailed towards the parking lot.

"You're not Parker.."

She shuddered at the memory, fear instantly crawling up her back as she remembered that night vividly before she frowned, Parker. She didn't dare look at the news and she wasn't aware of what happened to him until she was freed. She wanted to break down and cry, but she was stuck in shock when told the news. She felt like everything in the past week was just a nightmare and none of it was real- that's the only thing that made sense besides the reality of it.

"AJ," A voice called and Anna-Jane looked back to see her assistant, Hilary, approaching her, "I'm so glad to see you."

"Glad to be here," Anna-Jane smiled back, glancing at the building she no longer felt comfort in. A loud sigh escaped her, preparing herself to walk towards the building.

"You know, if you're not ready-"

"I'm ready," Anna-Jane quickly assured, thought her fight or flight instincts were kicking in fast. After a moment, she let out a hesitated huff, "Never been more ready."