Special Stranger - (Lexie Grey x Spencer Reid)

chapter two - spencer

I walked to the waiting room, trying not to get lost. This hospital was a maze. Finally, I made it to the waiting room, where my team was sitting. They all looked nervous.

I sat down next to JJ, clasping my hands together.

"Where were you?" She asked quietly.

"I was uh, talking to the doctor." I stammered.

"You mean that girl?" She said, smiling at me. "What's her name?"

"Lexie." My face got hot.

JJ grinned. "She's cute, huh?"

I glanced around nervously. "Sure, I don't know." I found myself wanting to talk more about her. She was, indeed, cute. She was beautiful. The way she looked at Mark, it even made him feel a tad jealous.

"Did you know she has a, uh, a photographic memory?" I said, turning to look at JJ. Emily looked up, seemingly interested.

"Huh. Match made in heaven." She teased quietly.

"We're-she's nice. She's easy to talk to." I was starting to get embarrassed.

"Go find her! Go talk to her! The doctor came out-uh, Dr. Grey-and she said that Derek's going to be fine. But they're going to be in there a few more hours, so go do something!" JJ slapped my shoulder.

"She's at work. She's busy." I gave her a sideways smile. "She said she would talk to me later. Did you know that the Dr. Grey is her sister?"

"She told you that?" Emily raised an eyebrow at me.

"I kind of guessed. Apparently she had a thing with the doctor from before. Dr. Sloan."

"You mean the hot plastics surgeon? Whew." JJ chuckled. "Go get her, Spence. We'll be fine here."

"Uh, I-I'm not sure where she is." I sat up.

"I do." Hotch said, pointing. I followed his finger to see Lexie standing at the coffee station in the waiting room, laughing with some other doctor.

"Sir, I didn't know you were listening- I need to stay here. For Morgan."

"Morgan's going to be fine. Get your girl." He smiled at me.

I hesitated, then glanced at Lexie, who was alone now.

"Thank you, sir. Call me if you hear anything, please."

JJ nodded. "Go!"

I swallowed then headed towards Lexie. I was sort of nervous, but more excited. This girl was different than any other girl I've talked to.

She grinned at me. "Hey."

"Hey," I poured myself a cup of coffee and watched as Lexie shook sugar packets into hers. There were already a couple empty ones on the table.

"That's a lot of sugar," I remarked, glancing down.

"I like it sweet." She giggled.

"So do I." I grabbed five packets and poured them in, one by one. We were so alike, it was crazy. Cut from the same cloth, like Gideon used to say.

She watched as I poured them in. Her hair was bleached blond, and recently, by the color of her roots. I immediately started profiling her again. She said that she had just broken up with the Sloan guy. The hair color change must be her defense mechanism, or her trying to move on. He knew she had more than a "thing" with Mark. She was in love. Or still is. I finished pouring his packets in, and we sat down.

"When I was little, like 8, I got really mad at my mom. And I read somewhere that saccharine can kill you, you know. If you ingested a lot of it at once."

"Yeah, saccharine overdoses happen occasionally. If you consume over 1,500 milligrams in a day, it causes a spike in blood pressure-" I stopped myself, embarrased, but Lexie was smiling. "Sorry." I apologized sheepishly.

"No, it's okay. I do that, too." She said, laughing. "I know how it feels. It's like you have to get it out. Like an itch, or something. My friends make fun of me."

"Yeah, so do they." I pointed to my team across the waiting room. JJ gave me a subtle thumbs up. "You poisoned your mom?" I asked, trying to get her to continue the story.

"I didn't. I stopped myself. Don't worry, no need to arrest me." She sat back in her chair.

"Your sister, you two are close? You know, happy family?" I mumbled casually. She didn't seem like a happy family type girl. "I don't mean to pry, you know, if-"

Lexie smirked. "It's fine. We're half sisters. Same dad. My other sister- my full one, I guess- lives in Bahrain with her husband. And kid. She's younger. Meredith's older."

I noticed she hadn't mentioned her mom. I tried to gauge from her expression what happened. Not in the picture? Abusive? Dead? I was hesitant to ask, but also burning with curiosity.

"And-and your mom?" I asked quietly.

Lexie took a deep breath and looked up at me. "I thought you would be able to profile that out of me."

I opened his mouth to say something smart, something pulled out of a book, something like you can't "profile things out of people", but I stopped himself. Instead, I just stared at Lexie with as much sympathy as I could muster, waiting for her to say more.

She took a sip of her coffee. "She died a couple years ago."

So that was her damage. He guessed her dad took it hard, maybe became a drunk, or depressed. Her sister must be her best family at the moment.

"Did you and your sister grow up together?" I blurted in an attempt to change the subject.

"No, we met a few years ago." She sat up a little more. I could tell she really looked up to  her sister.

"But you guys are close now?"

She nodded, the sparkle returning to her eyes . "How about you? Do you have parents?" She clamped her hand over her mouth. "We just met. I'm sorry."

"No, it's-" I started. But a voice interrupted me.

"Spence!" JJ shouted from where they were sitting, waving me over. Hotch was shaking the trauma doctor-Dr. Hunt's- hand, and they were smiling. Morgan was out of surgery.

"I have to go. It's a long story."

Lexie nodded.

"Wait." I pulled out my business card. My friends had made fun of me, but the few victims I connected to, I liked to keep in touch with.

"Are you giving me your number?" Lexie grinned.

I nodded. "You'll call me?" I asked awkwardly, trying my best at flirting.

"Yep." She waved me off. "Go. Go see your friend."

I sighed. "Thanks."