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Intro: This story uses my own character, Amy Garton. My first story, Introduction, did just that introduce her to the team (it might be worth reading first). Amy and Spencer were foster brother and sister. In this short a little more of her life before returning to the US is revealed.

It had been a hard few weeks. The case had been one of the hardest for a long time. Definitely the hardest Amy had faced since joining the team two months ago. She looked drained. Reid was worried. Amy always dealt with things better than anyone; he could see this had got to her.

"Who's coming for a drink?" Prentiss asked. Everyone seemed to nod except Amy. "You coming?" Prentiss put her hand on Amy's shoulder.

"No, not tonight, thanks" with that she grabbed her things and headed towards the door. They all watched her go.

"Think I give it a miss too" Reid added making every effort to catch up with Amy. "Wait" he called once they were out of the bullpen. Amy turned slowly.

"What?" she snapped.

"Want some company?" he asked.

"I'm going home to bed; go out with the team if you want company." Amy turned and walked towards the lift. Spence continued to follow her and entered the lift with her. He didn't say a word but as the doors closed her put his arm round her and pulled her close. Amy accepted the hug willingly.

Back at Amy's she got two beers out of the fridge.

"Thought you didn't want a drink?" Reid questioned. Amy shrugged; she hadn't said anything since leaving the office.

As she slumped down next to Spence on the sofa she mumbled "You didn't have to bring me home. I'm fine, just tired." Spence reached across and took her hand and looked at her. Letting her know he was here for her whatever and whenever she needed him. She sighed and move closer putting her head on his shoulder. Reid held her tight. Slowly he realised she was crying. Silent tears run down her face.

"Want to tell me?" He said quietly

"I thought I was ready. Rossi was so sure I'd be fine but I shouldn't have. . . I could lecture or something . . . " Her voice trailed off.

"What happened in England?" Amy couldn't look at Spence. Since she'd returned to the States she had known this day would come but knowing didn't make it easier as she knew what she was to tell him would hurt him too.

Spence could barely hear her at first. "There had been three murders, one a month. The MO and victimology was identical but each body had different DNA on it. When the fourth body turned up we had multiple DNA including a match on one of the previous bodies. It was obvious we had multiple unsubs, a gang, and they were starting to escalate. The first three had been badly beaten and raped but the fourth was kept for longer, she had burns too. We knew we had a month 'til our next victim would turn up." She paused

"I remember reading about the case. There were five victims in total. An undercover operation was used to capture the gang but an . . . officer . . . was . . .hurt . . ." Spence realised Amy had been the undercover officer. Amy knew he had worked out what she was going to tell him. Yet she had to tell him anyway.

"All the victims were uni students, all brunette and top of their class. We used a geological profile to try and work out where they would go next. We narrowed it down to two possible sites. We only had a month to get me in and established, less than that, as we assumed they spent some time watching, picking their victims. Corners were cut getting me into one of the places, but while I was there everything was put into place. We were wrong, they picked the other site. May Jane Preston, she was beaten, burned, raped and tortured for 24 hours before being dumped just outside the uni campus. They were taunting us, growing more confident and wouldn't stop unless caught." She paused not sure she could tell Spence what happened next. He held her tight and stroked her hair not saying a word. He knew what had happened, not the details, but the jist. He frequently read case reports from all over the world, seeing others cases and how they had been dealt with made him a better profiler – like he was trying to learn from others mistakes.

"I stayed in place and hoped we were right on their next venue. We were. Within a fortnight of Mary being found I was being chatted up by Dan Sheldon. He was bright, funny, charming and amazingly good looking. He could get any girl he wanted. I was certain it was him but it was decided we needed the whole gang so I would hold out until he took me to them. I started to wear a wire and tracker 24/7. Other officers were on site in the uni, following everywhere; this was the biggest risk we had ever taken but we had no evidence and I could be wrong about Dan. I wasn't. One night we'd arranged to meet off campus. I got into his car and he drove me to a warehouse. What I didn't know was everything that could go wrong had. These guys were good and figured us out; they had blocked the car that had been tailing us; so I was alone." She paused again staring straight ahead into the darkness outside her window.

"Once inside Dan turned, he was . . . I don't know how to describe it. In the room were eight men. One, Ron Waters, was in charge. He was much older than the others and sat with a video recorder pointing towards a table. Dan pushed me towards the table." Amy stopped, she couldn't carry on.

After a while Spence realised Amy was saying something " They found me two hours later. They had had trouble with the tracker signal. I was taken straight to hospital. My cheek bone was broken, three ribs and my right wrist were also broken. I was bruised and had marks where they had tied my wrists together. They had . . . " she never finished the sentence as Spence hugged as close as he could as if he could take away what had happened to her, he didn't need to hear the word to know what they had done.

Nothing more was said that night. Eventually Amy fell asleep in Spence's arms and he then allowed himself to drift off, vowing he would protect her for the rest of his life.

The blinding morning light came streaming through the window. Amy screwed her eyes up. She realised that Spence and her were still on the sofa; the two full beer bottles still on the table in front of her. Spence had his arms round her and was fast asleep. God knows what time they went to sleep last night, but at least she hadn't dreamed – first time since they started their last case. Flashbacks had terrorised her nights for weeks but right now she felt safe. Amy didn't want to move, so she just lay there, wishing she could stay here forever.

Reid started to stroke Amy's arm gently. "How you feeling?" he murmured. Amy shrugged. They both just laid there; both hoping that the longer they stayed still the more of what they had said/heard last night would go away. Amy knew she needed to box it back up and hide it away, as she had before. It was the only way she knew how to deal with things. It worked before, it would work again.

"Coffee?" she asked; being the first to make a move. Reid nodded and sat up watching her make her way towards the kitchen. He ached but that was a small price to pay.

After a while Amy returned with coffee and toast for both of them. Reid suddenly realised how hungry he was – they hadn't eaten last night. Both ate silently, Amy couldn't meet Spence's eyes, she couldn't risk seeing pity there, it would finish her. Finally she said "How do I explain this to the others? "

Spence shrugged "Try a watered down version of the truth. Tell them it was similar to a case you worked in England and it brought back bad memories. We're all human, we all have cases that affect us more than others." Amy knew what Spence said made sense so she vowed she would talk to the others; but only if they asked. She was starting to trust again but it was slow.