Strange Encounter - a Criminal Minds fic

Chapter 46

Amelia threw her things on the ground of her apartment. She'd left Spencer's earlier than she had planned, not wanting him to see the flowers that had arrived for her at his address. She knew he'd worry, and didn't want to upset him after the weekend they'd had. She held the vase in her hand, before running back outside and throwing the whole thing in the trashcan. Back upstairs, she got ready for the evening and settled into bed. Picking up her phone, she dialed Spencer. 

"Hey sweet girl. You settled in?"

"Mhm, made it home in good time."

"Good. Listen, what're your plans next weekend? I know you mentioned you and Miranda coming down to look at apartments, I was thinking-"

"Spence?"

"Yeah?"

"What happened to Christopher Regino?"

Spencer, who had been walking up the stairs to his apartment, halted mid-stride. He'd wondered when, or if ever, she would ask what had happened. He thought she'd suppressed everything, and wasn't prepared for the question.

"Well, he's in jail. Five counts of first degree murder, one charge of aggravated kidnapping, and one count of attempted murder. He's serving six consecutive life sentences. He's never getting out, Lee." He paused, hearing her breathing on the other end of the phone. 

"How come.. why didn't they need me to, like, testify? Or anything like that."

"Uh, well the other victims families were all there on behalf of themselves and for your case.. we had enough documented proof against him that the judge decided you didn't have to relive it."

"How did he come to that conclusion? I wasn't even approached about it."

"I, uh, might've mentioned to Hotch I didn't think you should have to sit through the trial. He agreed, and spoke to-"

"I don't think that was your place" she said softly. "What if I had needed to see the sentencing for, like, closure?"

Spencer sat on the floor in his hallway, unable to focus on anything other than this conversation.  "Lee, I didn't mean to overstep. I was just concerned, and I-"

"No, I know. It's okay. I gotta go though, I'll talk to you soon. Bye Spence." She hung up. 

Picking up her phone, she scrolled through her recent calls. She'd been getting at least five unknown calls a day, but she had assumed they were spam. Now, with a second flower delivery.. something didn't sit right. She quickly dialed Penelope's number.

"Hey Pen, could you do me a favor? And uh, keep it between us?"

♡

The next morning she rolled over, grabbing for her phone without opening her eyes fully. Squinting at the screen, she saw 3 texts. 

Spencer: I'm really sorry. Can you please call me back?

Spencer: Morning, let me know if you want to talk about it today. I miss you.

She grimaced, feeling a little bad. She knew he was only trying to protect her, she just wish he'd have talked to her about it before making decisions like that for her. She shot him a text back.

Amelia: morning baby. Sry if I freaked, it's all good. I'll call u after work. I love u, doc.

After hitting send, she opened the other text.

Penelope: Hi doll face! Looked into those calls to your cell. Out of the 22 or so, only 2 stuck out as personal numbers but they could've been wrong numbers. All the other appear to be spam! LMK if you need me to dig anymore 🙂