EIGHT SPOILED

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THE LITTLE TREE INN
That Night.

Tensely was standing in a shitty motel room with her uncle and she wasn't sure this was happening. Last week had been her first week without seeing Teddy for the first time in a decade — ever since he took guardianship of her. It was without a doubt one of the worst weeks of her life.

"You shouldn't be here," Teddy told her as he sat on one of the motel beds with his head in his hands. "I wish you didn't have to see any of this. See me like this. You deserve better."

"All due respect, Teddy, you would still be in a cell if it wasn't for me," she scoffed, crossing her arms. "I'm the one who got in touch with Spencer and got the BAU to take your case. They would have been happy to put you away if it wasn't for me." 

Surprisingly, Teddy laughed at this. It wasn't mocking, it was more of a comforting chuckle as he looked up at her. "Okay, fair enough. Still, you should have gone home with Marie. She can take better care of you than I can right now. I'm being accused of murder, Coca-Cola, that doesn't exactly look good for CPS."

"I'm not calling CPS if you aren't," Tensely shrugged as she flipped down onto the other bed, picking the remote off of the nightstand and flicking on the TV. It was on one of the movie channels, some hold Hitchcock film splayed across the screen.

"I hate this movie," Teddy sighed as he leaned against the headboard, kicking off his shoes, "They never explain the birds! Why were they so angry?"

Tensley just laughed, "I think that's the point. Aren't most Hitchcock movies about unexplainable stuff?"

"I dunno, this is the only one I ever watched," her uncle shrugged as he got comfortable. "You hungry? I'm kinda hungry. I think I saw a McDonald's on the way back here."

"You know my order," Tensley smiled at him as she pushed the comforter off of the bed (They never wash those things) and got under the covers. "I'll deadbolt the door, I'll be fine. I'm tired and don't wanna go out."

"Spoiled," Teddy laughed, but obliged her wishes as he grabbed his wallet and keys, kissing her on the forehead before heading out the door.

As soon as he's gone, she deadbolts the door and pulls out her phone. She dials the number she was given — technically it was only for emergencies, but oh well.

"Tensley?" Spencer Reid's voice fills her ear and she feels slightly relieved. "Did something happen?"

"No, no, Teddy's gone out to get some food," Tensley explained, "You and my uncle had a conversation earlier. It looked serious and I'm worried about all of this. What... what were you guys talking about? Is it important to the case?"

"I understand you're worried, but my boss might kill me if he finds out I was sharing details of a case with a fifteen-year-old. Not to mention one that is extremely close to a suspect," Spencer sounded exhausted, "I gave you this number for emergencies, you know, like if Teddy — Theodore, said anything or if anything happens to him."

The girl groaned, letting herself rest against the headboard, "What if I'm about to die from curiosity? Besides, I'm pretty nosy, you really should have seen this coming. Also, you can call him Teddy, you know. I know you guys were friends once."

"It's been a long time since your uncle and I were friends, Tensely," Spencer says with a quiet sigh, "Please only call again if you have any information."

"I think it was Wren," she burst out, "After Teddy got arrested, she kept trying to reach out to me to have me stay with her. I told her I was safe with my friend and stuff, but she seemed to really want me to be with her. I can send you like... screenshots and stuff."

Spencer was quiet for a moment, "Okay. Send them to me and I'll forward them to Hotch. Thank you for having actual information. That might be helpful."

"I hope so," she mumbles, "Bye, Agent Reid."

"You can call me Spencer," he says with a sigh. He hangs up the call and she sighs to herself. She hopes the information was helpful and that Spencer wasn't just saying that. She didn't want to accuse Wren of anything, but as she went back through the text messages to take pictures of them, it seemed awfully interesting. She had been eavesdropping on the agents' conversations earlier and she knew Wren had a miscarriage a few months ago. She also knew they were supposed to be having a girl. If Teddy had gone away for Jameson's murder, that would leave Tensley with no other guardian. Things would fall perfectly into place for Wren to have the daughter she wanted. It just... rubbed her the wrong way.

She tried to focus on the movie playing on the screen, some other Hitchcock movie she had never seen before. It seemed whatever channel this was happened to be doing a marathon. Tensley sighed and flipped the channel, not super interested in seeing a bunch of horror and murder on her screen.

Moments later, there was a knock on the door. She looked through the peephole and saw Teddy holding a McDonalds bag and she breathed a sigh of relief, unbolting the door and letting him in. She was starving, but she couldn't imagine how Teddy felt right now.

"Hey, kid, you hold up okay?" Teddy asked, handing her the bag to grab her food out. His eyes flicked to the television, "Cartoon Network?"

"Better than Hitchcock," she shrugged, hoping he got the message.

"Cartoon Network it is," he said with a smile as they settled down with their respective food and watched the television in a comfortable silence. She knew Teddy probably didn't want to watch Totally Spies! with her, but she appreciated the gesture. She didn't tell him about her phone call with Spencer. She didn't want Teddy to worry.

Tensley knew her uncle wasn't a murderer. That man couldn't hurt a fly. Not to mention, Jameson was one of his best friends, they had known each other for years. Sitting beside Teddy, the girl felt nothing but safety. She looked over at him and he caught her gaze and smiled. She really, really hoped her gut was right about this one. She didn't know what she would do if it wasn't.