𝑇𝑤𝑒𝑛𝘵𝑦–𝘵𝑤𝘰.

(content warning: borderline smut
towards the end of the chapter)

          Melanie sat with her nose stuffed in Cadell's case file to better her knowledge on the man who had tormented her life for years. If the team wanted to bring down the people responsible for so much grief and suffering, they knew that it needed to start with Melanie. This responsibility weighed heavily on her shoulders as she slouched into the seat cushion of the jet, nibbling on the plumpness of her bottom lip as she thought about how she should approach the interrogation.

Cadell was a criminal who found joy in the complex riddles that he created for those who pursued him. He was thoroughly delighted with every undisturbed moment he spent inside of his jail cell because he knew that the silence that consumed him was nothing compared to the sleepless nights and frustrating pushback that the BAU team endured as they attempted to take down the network he had created. Most of all, he enjoyed seeing how it all affected Melanie. He wanted her to be rattled, but not enough for her to not be able to catch onto the stratagems of his game. This was the part that confused Melanie most. Why her? Why Louise? What made them so important to him?

Her training told her that Cadell was only trying to use Melanie and Louise as vessels to harm in replace of the people he truly wished to destroy, and knowing who those two women were would undoubtedly lead her to the answers she needed.

Spencer indulged in a copy of Pride and Prejudice that had been translated to Russian, but even this couldn't distract him enough to drive his attention away from Melanie who sat on the opposite side of the jet from him. He wondered if she did this on purpose. He wondered if she had finally cut her losses and began to let him go. Despite how much he attempted to commit to the idea of wanting to keep a large distance from her, he knew that it would all come crumbling down in due time. Her mere existence was much like a siren call that he struggled to ignore, and he was unsure how much longer he would last under these conditions.

Spencer tilted his head as he watched her, his eyes were practically unable to come unglued from her. He wished to comfort her during her moment of internal chaos, but he was unsure how after he'd spent the two months attempting to convince himself that the connection they shared had withered past no return. "You'll do great," he uttered from across the cabin. Melanie's eyes diverted from the case file to meet him for the first time that morning. "If anyone is going to get the answers that we need, it's going to be you."

"I wish it was that easy," Melanie sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Looking a murderer in the eyes is hard enough, let alone your own sister's... I mean, what if I freeze? What if I can't do it?"

Spencer sat up and closed the book in his lap. "Mel... I know that my opinion probably doesn't mean much to you right now, but if there's one thing that I know for certain in this world, it's the fact that Melanie Lamont doesn't quit. You can't. Your brain may be telling you you can, but I know you. I know your heart, and your heart won't let you do it."

Melanie's gaze faltered slightly as she listened to him speak. I know your heart. She smiled at his words, a gentle smile that hardly upturned the corners of her lips, but it was enough for Spencer to know that he'd gotten through to her. Even with how difficult their relationship had become, she was more than comforted by the fact that he was still there for her. "It's just..." she paused. "It's difficult doing it all alone, Spence."

Spence. His heart tinged, but he didn't allow it to show on his face. "You're not alone," he shook his head as he stood up and crossed the cabin, the golden light of the rising sun illuminating him as he came to sit across from Melanie. "Look.. I... As much as I've tried to let go, we both know the improbability of my success." Melanie's eyes glistened as he spoke, her lips parting slightly as she looked back at him. "Wherever I look, wherever I am, I'm ardently bound to you." Spencer looked down at his lap. "And.. I know my timing with this sort of thing has never been perfect. I'm not trying to distract you by saying this, I just want you to know that you'll never be alone. Not while I'm still here."

Her smile stretched on her face as his words concluded. "Thank you," she voiced. "Achieving your honesty means more to me than you'll ever know." Melanie was subtly poking fun at him, but her words stood true. This was what she needed to feel strong enough to face Cadell. Spencer was what she needed.

Spencer nodded. "You know it hasn't been easy, Mel," he paused. "I know that there's so much for us to say. I just.. I just didn't know how to start again." Spencer's nose scrunched upwards as he brought his eyes to meet hers. "I just wanted you to know that I am willing."

"Willing to what?" Melanie genuinely questioned.

"I'm willing to try and start again," he voiced, the corners of his eyes crinkling as he spoke. "It may not be soon, it may not be easy, but I've spent long enough trying to ignore what I feel for you and it's just... it's not worth it, Mel. Existing apart from you will never be worth it. I've spent six months trying to convince myself that one more month was all I needed to let you go, but that would never be true. I'd never forgive myself if I let you go without at least trying."

Spencer was shaken awake by the landing of the jet. His eyes immediately darted toward Melanie who sat on the opposite side of the plane, her nose still stuffed in the case file. His heart sank. It was all a dream. He'd had a series of these disheartening fantasies for months on end, each of them drilling his separation from Melanie deeper into his mind. His soul ached as he recalled the events that he'd dreamt up, wishing that he'd taken the initiative to tell her all that had been eating away at his mind for months. His dream allowed him to come to terms with all that hoped would become his reality once Melanie returned. He didn't want her to let him go, and now more than ever, he was certain that he would never be able to do the same. Spencer needed to make things right between them, and being there for her as she faced her monster was the first step in doing so.

Melanie inhaled sharply as she stood on the other side of the double window in the interrogation room, looking in as the prison guards brought Cadell into the room. A sinister smile played on his lips, almost as if he saw right through the glass and was staring right back at her.

"I've been waiting for you, Miss Lamont," Cadell mocked from the chair he sat in. The metal chains around his wrists rattled as he waved at the double glass, knowing how much it was going to affect Melanie.

A shiver raced down Melanie's spine as she frantically shook her head. "I can't do it," she breathed, her eyes glossing over with tears. She instinctively turned and stepped towards Spencer, his eyes widening slightly as she did so. "Spence... I-I can't do this." Her breathing had become erratic, almost as if she was nearing a panic attack.

Spencer shook his head and stepped forward, his mind losing all power as he took her hands into his. "Hey, hey, hey," he repeated himself in a soothing tone, the pads of his thumbs tracing Melanie's knuckles. "Breathe, Mel."

"I-I can't, Spence, I-"

"Mel," he repeated. This finally got her attention and she finally met his eyes, waiting for him to continue. "Breathe in four, hold for seven, exhale for eight. Ready?"

Melanie nodded, doing the breathing exercise in synchronization with Spencer. Her nerves relaxed and her heartbeat slowed, her eyes shutting as she shut out all of the memories that had begun to cloud her thoughts the second her gaze landed on Cadell. Within a few seconds she opened her eyes again, only to be met with the dark worried eyes of Spencer looking back at her.

"Thank you," she said calmly. "I.. I'm really glad you're here."

"You don't need to thank me," he replied, his eyes darting toward Cadell who sat in the interrogation room. "You're strong. You're going to do great there, Mel. You got this."

Melanie nodded once again, swiping her thumbs over Spencer's hands a single time before releasing the tight grasp she had on them. "You're right. I got this," she repeated to him. She put her hand on the doorknob to enter the room but turned back to look at him. "Don't go anywhere."

Spencer nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

With that, Melanie sucked in a deep breath before entering the room. Her faith in herself had been restored. This was made evident by the fact that her gaze didn't so much as waver as she took a seat across from Cadell, her demeanor remained ice cold as she stared at the man who had plagued her life for over a decade. His behavior indicated that he was surprised by her lack of sheepishness, something he masked by sitting up taller in his chair in an attempt to intimidate her.

"I'm not afraid of you," she voiced, aware of his tactic. "I suggest you relax before you pop a blood vessel. Or better yet, don't. It'd only make the world a better place."

Three seconds later, Cadell defeatedly relaxed into his seat. "You've found your courage, haven't you now, Amelie?"

"Agent," she corrected him.

"Please, you and I both know-"

"Disrespect me one more time by disregarding my title and I'll give the warden my order to place you in solitary confinement for the rest of your miserable existence," Melanie snapped back, her demeanor remaining calm and collected. This alone even horrified Spencer who stood behind the double paneled glass.

Cadell swallowed the lump in his throat and his gimmick of seeming amused by her presence had finally ceased. He gritted his teeth harshly, making sure to not break eye contact with Melanie. "I know why you're here, Agent."

"Enlighten me," she egged him on.

"I know that you and your team have been attempting to take down the network of killers that I have been involved with for decades," Cadell answered. "My... sources... have informed me about Montolo's capture."

Melanie's eyes narrowed slightly. His sources? How was he still managing to have contact with the outside world? The news of Montolo's being seized by the FBI hadn't been released to the public or anyone outside of their own task crew. Only someone inside of the network would have caught onto his disappearance, but how would they have managed to inform Cadell from inside of the prison?

"Who are your sources?" she questioned.

"Oh, you stupid girl, you nearly made me pity you." Cadell smiled wickedly as he folded his hands on top of the table, the clanking of the chains catching his attention. "Did you truly believe I'd offer up information without anything in return?"

"Ask him what the nature of his deal is," Spencer voiced in her earpiece.

Before she managed to do so, she clicked her tongue after hearing Cadell disrespect her once more. "That's twenty-four hours in confinement. Wanna get to the part where you tell me what you want in exchange, or should I just make it forty-eight?"

Cadell exhaled angrily, his nostrils flaring as he did so. "I want the death penalty to be removed from my sentence and a relocation to a prison that overlooks the sea to be ordered immediately," he bargained. "That is what I want in exchange for the information I hold."

Melanie scoffed, a disbelieving smile on her lips. "Not gonna happen." Cadell shrugged, announcing that he wouldn't budge from these conditions. She shook her head, standing up from the seat and approaching the door. "I think we're done here."

"Which of your friends will have to die before you come to realize that you won't be able to take us down without my aid?" he said through a cocky chuckle. "Shall it be Penelope Garcia? Aaron Hotchner? Spenc-"

"That's thirty-six hours," she cut him off and exited the room, slamming the door behind her.

The jet ride back to Quantico seemed even quieter than the one they took during their departure. This was the result of both the ultimatum that Cadell put over Melanie's head and the tension that only continued to arise between the two agents who sat on opposite sides of the cabin. Albeit, they sat a considerable amount closer to each other this time around.

"What do you think we should do, Mel?" Spencer broke the silence, his eyes focusing on her.

Melanie shook her head, resting her head on her hand as she stared back at him. "I'm really not sure. I mean, a part of me wants to comply with his wishes in order to ensure that we receive information to help us take the entire organization down, but... what good does that do to his victims? I don't know... I think I'm too distracted to even take a firm stance on the issue."

Spencer nodded as he followed along with her words, stopping once her words trailed. "What's distracting you?"

"To be honest..." she paused, bringing her gaze to meet his as she stared at him through her thick lashes. "You." His heart skipped a beat at her words, but she continued before he had the chance to form a reply. "I can't focus much with our situation lingering over my head, and judging by your lack of involvement with our past two cases, I can tell that you haven't been able to focus much either."

Spencer had yet another opportunity to right his wrongs with Melanie, and this time he wasn't going to push her away. "You're right. We need to talk about.. us."

Melanie's eyes widened as she nodded. "Yeah. If you couldn't tell already, there isn't much of an us anymore, Reid."

He reluctantly nodded in agreement. He stood, crossing the room to sit beside her. "I know. I've kept you waiting for me to change my mind and make amends on my own terms. My lack of communication has been unfair to you and I recognize that now," he replied. "I just.. I kept telling myself that had you been gone one more month, I might've been able to get on with my life. But I was wrong. I was so, so wrong, Melanie. And now I..."

"Now you what, Spencer?" she asked, her eyes blinking as she adjusted to his close proximity. She fought an internal war to keep her eyes off of his pink lips as he spoke, but that was proving to be an increasingly difficult task.

"Now I know that I can't keep pretending that I don't love you," he voiced sincerely. "Because I do. I really, really do. So much so that being apart from you has driven me to the brink of insanity."

This moment felt so surreal to Melanie. She couldn't hardly believe her ears. "This was difficult for me too, Spencer. I hope you don't think that a part of my reason for leaving was to forget about you," she voiced, her hand moving to cup the side of his face. "I've tried that for months, and I just can't do it anymore either, Spence. I want you more than I've ever wanted anything in my life, and I..."

Melanie's words were cut off by Spencer closing the distance between them by pressing his lips against hers. The kiss was soft and gentle, he was sure to allow Melanie time to react to the contact before anything progressed. She melted into his kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck to pull him closer to her. He swiped his tongue along her bottom lip and pulled her body closer to him by grasping onto her hips. Her hands found themselves tangled in his long overgrown locks of hair, using it as leverage to pull his head backwards slightly and allow her to pepper kisses along his jawline. He let out a groan and pulled her into his lap, gripping the smalls of her waist to hold her as close to him as she possibly could be. Spencer was relishing in the fact that months of pent up emotion was now being released with every action of affection that they shared in this moment.

Spencer's hands rubbed along Melanie's thighs as she reconnected their lips, gasps leaving their mouths as they attempted to make up for the loss of oxygen. Neither of them wanted to ever leave this moment. So lost in each other, they'd hardly forgotten that they were miles in the sky, sitting in a government-owned jet that was transporting them back to their place of work.

          Despite this information lingering somewhere in the back of their memory, the pair couldn't help but let their thoughts run wild as all of the dirty scenarios they'd thought up during their months of sexless separation came flooding to their minds. One of Spencer's thumbs began to circle at her mound through her slacks, and that friction alone was enough to earn a moan from Melanie. They'd had sex before, but never had they experienced such a deep longing for the other similar to this. Both Melanie and Spencer were eager to celebrate their love after putting off their proper reunion for months, and nothing would be able to stand in their way.

"I missed you so much," he spoke against her lips, tugging on the tight button up blouse that clung to her skin as a way to ask for her permission for it to be removed. With a quick nod of approval from Melanie, Spencer began to unbutton her shirt and slid it off her person faster than lightning. He discarded it somewhere on the jet floor all while ensuring that their lips never diverged, lovesick by the way her soft lips felt against his. "So much."

His hands explored her newfound bareness, one hand remaining at her waist while the other began to palm at her breast desperately. Melanie tugged and loosened his purple tie, letting it hang on messily both sides of his neck. She then began to unbutton the black dress shirt that he'd been wearing, and a soft whimper departed from his lips as she left his chest bare. He lowered his mouth to connect with her collarbone, leaving sloppy kisses as he trailed upwards to suck on the sensitive skin beneath her ear. His erection only grew with each movement she made above him, something she acknowledged by swiveling her hips in a prolonged circle. Neither party we're sure how much longer they'd be able to last with only this small amount of contact, but the dinging sound of the jet's intercom forced scared gasps to escape their lips.

"This is your captain speaking. We will be arriving in Quantico in approximately four minutes. Please buckle your seatbelt and prepare for landing."

Oh, shit. They'd managed to forget all about the setting they were currently in and the fact that they still had a long day of work at the office ahead of them. How on Earth would they be able to survive this?

Notes.
get robbed LOL🫵🫵🫵😹😹😹😹🤣🤣😂😂 (please don't hunt me down) (i promise you will be fed next chapter)

thanks so much for reading and interacting!!!!!! peace out girl scouts <3