I am so on a roll tonight. And, slightly angry because I can't watch the new episode of Criminal Minds tonight because my sister wants to watch the CMA's instead.

The things I do for the love of my family.

---

Alice's POV

Three weeks and I have made almost enough cash to start thinking about an apartment of my own. I'm still sick, which really sucks, since I am not throwing up at work. Katie, one of my coworkers, who is actually a pretty decent person, is worried about me.

"It's not normal, honey," she keeps saying as I flush the toilet, "It really isn't."

"Look, it'll go away," I tell her, going to look at myself in the mirror, "I've been sick before, and I always get better."

Yeah, being sick meaning lasting a mere 24 hours.

Katie puts her blue wig on over her auburn hair, "Well, we'd better get out there again." She looks at me, sadness in her eyes, "I still wish you hadn't taken this job, Alycat. You're way too young to be doing this dirty job."

I don't have a choice.

Just then, my phone goes off in my purse. Thinking it is Spencer, I quickly run outside into the alley, so the loud club music doesn't give me away. I turn on my phone and press TALK.

"Hello?"

"You dirty little piece of shit."

I freeze on the spot. My blood runs cold. I know that voice. I know that tone.

"Derek."

I know who that guy is. I will kill him if you don't come back to me."

"Derek, please, I can explain-"

"I will rip that skinny bastard into shreds if you aren't back by tonight."

A rush of courage comes suddenly, "I will not come back to you, Derek."

And he hangs up.

Spencer's POV

The case has taken up so much of my time that I haven't been able to really speak with JJ. The majority of the time I'm with either Hotch or Gideon. Or I'm in my office going over a million files.

At this particular moment I am in my office with the files.

"Dr. Reid? This came for you."

I glance up and see Jake place a brown envelope on my desk. I nod.

The writing is unrecognizable, and I know for a fact that my mother usually sends letters to my apartment. This is clearly from someone I don't know.

Curious, I open the envelope and find a dirty piece of paper with scribbled black ink:

DOCTOR SPENCER REID

I KNOW YOU HAVE HER

I WANT HER BACK

YOU HAVE TAKEN MY GIRL

NOW I WILL TAKE YOURS

I swallow. The writing is fast and frenzied, and I know the person writing this is angry. I can almost feel the energy in the paper itself. I don't know how they got the address, or how they knew who I was...but somehow, I have a bad feeling of who they might be.

"Hey Reid!"

I jump, seeing Morgan in the doorway.

He flashes one of his winning smiles, "No need to freak on me, man. Come on. Hotch wants everyone in the room in five." He sees the paper. "What's that?"

"Just junk," I tell him, crunching the paper into a ball and tossing it into my wastebasket, "Let's go."

---

It is almost midnight. I hurry up the stairs to my apartment, hoping Alice isn't worried about me. My cell phone is still on, as it has been all day, but the only person who has called me is Gideon. By the time I reach the top o f the stairs, I see something – someone- I thought I might never see again.

Long blonde hair, big blue eyes, silver dress, heeled boots and seductive looks. It was Lila Archer all right.

"Spencer," her lips curl into a smile, "Hey."

"What…what are you doing here?" I ask, sounding a little meaner than expected.

"Well, it's a special day, you know." Lila says with a pouty lip.

I frown, "It is?"

"Don't you watch the entertainment networks?" Lila crosses her arms, "It's my birthday."

I flush pink, "Oh, well, I don't usually-"

She steps towards me and I'm instantly forgiven, "I thought, would I rather spend my special day, getting trashed in a Las Vegas hotel, or…" Lila pulls out a bottle of red wine from her purse, "…getting trashed with you?"

I start to sweat. Lila couldn't have shown up at a worse time.

"Aren't you going to invite me in?" Lila gestures to my apartment door, "I mean, you do live here, right? This is the address you gave me way back when."

I fumble with the key in my pocket, "Yeah, but, umm…"

YOU HAVE A GIRL LIVING WITH YOU.

"…my roommate might be in tonight."

Nice save, Spence.

Lila isn't fazed, "Well tell him to go out for a little while. We might need some time, if you know what I mean." She twists her hair around her finger. I bite my lip.

My shaky hands turn the key in the lock, and we step inside the apartment. I drop my bag on the floor as Lila sweeps by, marvelling at the smallness of my home. I quickly check around the room for any sign of Alice, hoping to give her a forewarning. But before I can do anything, Lila grabs me by the shoulders.

"It's just you and me now." Lila whispers, licking her lips.

She pushes me down onto the floor near the entryway, "I missed you, Spence. I missed you so, so much…why didn't you call me?"

A little dazed from being pushed and sandwiched by Lila, I reply, gasping, "I, erm…I was busy." I struggle with her being on top of me, which isn't as exciting as she might think, "You know, BAU stuff…"

Lila starts to unbutton my shirt, kissing me as she does it, "You can make up for it now."

A red flag goes up, "Shouldn't we, you know, talk first? Catch up on lost time? It's been a while since we last-"

"Kissed? In the pool?" Lila smiles, "Spence, this is going to be so much better."

Her hand moves to my belt buckle.

I try to sit up, "Lila, I don't mean to be rude or anything, but this is a little awkward for me…"

"Are you a virgin?" she asks bluntly.

No, not since a couple nights ago.

"Aww, you are! That is soooo cute. The first time is always the weirdest, I know. But don't worry." Lila pulls me closer. "I'll be gentle."

"No, Lila, you don't understand, it's not like that-"

Lila takes my belt and tosses it at the door. At that exact moment, low and behold, the door opens and in steps Alice.

Only, it's not the same Alice I've been around the last few weeks.

Her eyes are dark and caked with make-up, and beneath they look sad, almost hurt. She is wearing hardly anything, perhaps a very tiny underwear set beneath a jacket, along with thigh-high fishnet stockings and very high shiny boots. She stands there, gaping at us.

Alice's POV

It's bad enough that I have to work late at that stupid strip joint at night, but it's even worse when I'm working later. I guess I can't pass up an opportunity to make more money, since I want to move out so Spencer doesn't have to deal with me, but I suppose tonight I lost track of time. Now I'm paying for that.

I open the door to find Spencer lying on the floor, with a disgusting blonde on top of him. His belt has been thrown off, his shirt is slightly unbuttoned, and it seems as though I've interrupted something. My cheeks turn bright red as Spencer and I make eye contact.

"Oh. My. God," the blonde sits up, "You have got to be kidding me. A call girl, Spence? A call girl? THIS is what you've resorted to?"

"I'm not a call girl!" I snap.

"Lady of the night, then," the girl waves her hand, "Well?"

Spencer looks beyond embarrassed, "Lila, Alice isn't a call girl." He pauses. "I think."

Now I am genuinely hurt, "Spencer!"

"And she knows you by name, too," Lila shakes her head, "I get it. See ya."

Lila brushes past me and heads down the stairs of the apartment building. Spencer and I stare awkwardly at each other briefly.

"Alice, it's not…"

"I don't care anymore," I walk past him, "Go ahead. Go after her."

Spencer hesitates, but goes anyway. I try my best not to cry.

Spencer's POV

"Lila! Lila wait up!" I shout, chasing after the blonde head that is rapidly running down the street.

"Just go away!" Lila shouts back, walking faster, "Go back to your whore!"

I catch up with her, "Alice, is not a whore. She's my friend, and she's in trouble. I'm having her stay with me to protect her."

"Oh yeah? From what? Other customers?" Lila says with a glare.

I grow angry, "You're not listening to me."

"And you're not listening to me," Lila replies, "Spence, don't say it's not what it is. I saw the way you looked at her. It's the same way you looked at me…that day after Maggie was arrested. She's not just your friend."

I say nothing.

Lila shrugs, "I waited too long. I'm going back to L.A. And if you ever want to see me again…" She pauses. "…go to CBS on Thursday nights."

Then she walked away.

---

I close the door and nearly collapse. The past fifteen minutes have been some of the most eventful in my short twenty-plus years of living, despite other things. I knew Lila and I would meet again eventually, but not like this…

"Alice?" I call into the apartment, "Where are you?"

I hear a drawn-out groan coming from the bathroom. I quickly go to it to find Alice hunched over the toilet, throwing up almost violently.

"I-it's ok," she says in between breaths, "I've been sick, all day. And yesterday."

She goes to throw up again and I hold back her hair. I see there are tears in her eyes as I'm doing this. Alice is embarrassed and hurt. Once again, I don't know what to say.

Finished, Alice flushes and goes to wash in the sink. I stand behind her patiently, waiting for an explanation. At this point I feel like an interrogator in my own home. Funny what a life in the BAU can do to you.

"Please don't look at me like that, Spence," Alice shakes her head avoiding eye contact, "I already know how bad I look."

"I don't understand, Alice," I tell her, "What's going on?"

Alice finishes at the sink and turns to me. She shrugs.

"Well? What do you think? I'm not working at the library. I lied to you. I was going to put in my resume there but I couldn't because I saw Derek driving around nearby. So I took a cab to another part of the city and got a job elsewhere."

"As what? A stripper?"

"An exotic dancer, actually," Alice snaps, "I knew if it was far away from him then I could hide. And, I make really good money-"

Alice continues to talk, but I stop listening. I stare at her now, unable to believe what I am seeing. The girl I know is young, smiling, and happy. This isn't Alice. This stranger that I met by chance almost scares me. I want to know why she's chosen this life; what happened after she moved away. What happened when she stopped listening to that old song…

"Spencer? Are you even listening to me?"

I bite my lip, "You don't deserve this."

She looks rather confused, "Don't deserve what?"

"This life. That cruel boyfriend, that horrible, degrading job…"

"Hey. He's not my boyfriend anymore, Spencer. And for your information, that job pays well enough that someday I might be able to afford my own-"

"But it's not like you!" I almost snap at her, "Look at you. Look at what you're wearing. God, Alice, you're beautiful, and you shouldn't be showing your body to strangers like this. It's not fair to you. I don't care how much they pay, I'll pay triple the amount to keep those sickos away from you."

Alice looks at me with wide eyes. I shrug.

"Spencer," she whispers, her lip quivering, "I'm…I'm so sorry…"

Without warning, Alice starts to cry. She falls into my arms and I hold her while she sobs. It is always painful to see her hurt like this, but even worse when I don't know what to do. I try to think of what Gideon or JJ would do in the situation, but my train of thought is blinded by what Alice does next.

Her lips gently touch mine, and my eyes close automatically as she whispers, "What are we? Are we friends? Are we more?"

I whisper back, "I wish I knew."

Alice pauses, then pulls away. Her eyes are red from crying, but at least the black make-up is finally completely gone. She touches the side of my face with her hand.

"If it's not too much to ask…" Alice says quietly, "Can you sleep next to me tonight?"

I nod. She smiles.

"Good," Alice goes to walk out of the bathroom, "Oh, I've had a very rough day today, just so you know. I think I'll be needing a backrub this time."

I shake my head and smile. Alice Cleeland, I knew you were in there somewhere.