F O U R T Y  O N E

TWO MONTHS LATER

SCOUT AND SPENCER sat across from each other with only the sounds of the BAU jet filling their ears.

It was a comfortable silence between the two: Spencer sitting with a book in hand and Scout, with her legs draped across his lap, was occupying herself with an old GameBoy. Neither of them said anything to each other and that was okay.

For the past two months, everything was okay.

Towards her left side, she heard the ringing of Hotch's phone before he mumbled a few things into the device and felt the sudden presence of their leader getting up from his seat. Whatever small talk conversation was going on between JJ and Rossi was stopped and Morgan pulled off his headphones.

"I just got a call from Sheriff Yaw and it seems like Ellie is going to make a full recovery. Thankfully, her and her baby are going to okay."

Scout sighed a breath of relief that she felt like she had been holding in ever since take off. It was like a weight was lifted off her shoulders but it didn't get rid of the guilt she carried. Their most recent case that the BAU closed was difficult one, especially for her.

A woman by the name of Alexa Rumen was having trouble to conceive and after several years of trying, she finally snapped. She would kidnap newborn babies from the hospital and try to pass them off as her own. Now, if that had been all then the BAU could've dealt with the case in a simple fashion but with her team, easy was never really a favor they faced.

Rumen's husband, who was just as psychotic as his spouse, didn't want to have children so he would kill the babies in cold blood. Scout felt a stiff lump form inside her throat as she thought back to the pictures of the disposal site where babies were left on the side of the road like trash.

7 newborns.

It took 7 innocent newborns before the BAU was able to apprehend the Rumen couple and throw them behind bars.

A sudden knot in a stomach formed as she saw the faces of crying parents, mourning the death of their babies who were taken away far too early in their lives. Some didn't even have a full day to express or show these new human beings love.

Scout felt guilty and it was a perverted situation she was placed in.

She had to comfort broken mothers and tell them that everything was going to be okay when in actuality, they both knew she was lying.

She felt like a hypocrite.

"You okay?" Spencer looked up from his book when he noticed the brown haired girl was no longer playing her video game.

Scout nodded and shut her device, "Yeah, it's just - the screen is making me feel kind of nauseous. Like that moment you feel dizzy when you read in the car. Did you ever get that?"

"Not really," He paused to think about it. "Motion sickness could never get in the way of a good book."

"Of course not, Doc." She rolled her eyes and chuckled.

There was another pause as Scout stuffed her GameBoy into her bag and pulled out a notebook in which she started to rip out pages.

Spencer cocked his brow, "You sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine, shaken and stirred like James Bond's martini but fine."

It was his turn to snort back a response but returned to his book, hoping to finish it and start the next one on his list. Scout continued to rip the pieces of paper until she began to fold them in intricate way, her hair falling in her face as she concentrated.

Spencer peered over his book every few seconds, curious as to what his girlfriend was doing exactly as he hadn't see her do it before. After some time passed, he looked again and saw several cranes formed in paper.

"Origami?" He inquired as he picked one up.

Scout nodded, "Yeah. I always like the story about origami cranes so I taught myself how to make them when I was in middle school. It was kind of dumb really now that I look back on it."

His eyebrows scrunched together in confusion.

"You never heard the story about the 1000 origami cranes?"

"S - Sure I have," He stuttered and closer her book, letting it rest on her leg and he looked closer.

She raised her brown inquisitively, "Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Then tell it to me."

"What - like now?"

"Uh huh."

Spencer's lips puckered together shut and he glanced away, "I can't remember."

"You can't remember? Coming from the guy who has an eidetic memory and has the Bible memorized, in every version ever made too? Spencer Reid and forgetting something does not go hand in hand."

Morgan chuckled with his eyes closed and his chair leaned back, "She's got you there, Pretty Boy."

"Butt out!" Spencer whined, dropping any ounce of confidence he had before sighing and turning back to Scout, "What's the story then?"

"An ancient Japanese legend promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by the gods. Some stories believe you are granted happiness and eternal good luck, instead of just one wish, such as long life or recovery from illness or injury. I learned about it in a short story when I was younger where this young girl was diagnosed with leukemia from radiation caused by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Her wish was simply to live through her disease."

"And what happened?" JJ voiced from across the jet, the entirety of her team now listening to Scout's story.

"She managed to fold only 644 cranes before she became too restless and tired to fold any more, and she died. Her friends and family helped finish her dream by folding the rest of the cranes, which were buried with her and filled her casket. The crane in Japan is one of the mystical or holy creatures and is said to live for a thousand years: That is why 1000 cranes are made, one for each year."

Rossi nodded after the team sat in silence when she finished her tale, "Children are not things to be molded, but are people to be unfolded: Jess Lair."

Scout gave him a sad smile and continued to fold the pieces of paper into cranes in the comfortable silence.

Her mind trailed back to the two months of comfortable warmth with Spencer. After her birthday and the sudden reveal of her ancestry towards Xander, he was suspiciously silent on his end.

She hadn't gotten a single text or call since that night.

And Scout was grateful for that. To be honest, she didn't know what she would say to his face when that time would come and she certainly didn't want to spend time thinking about it.

But he was her uncle. And she didn't know the entire time. Of course, she wasn't very shocked after she had some time to fully think about it. It made sense to her.

Xander strategically formulated himself into her life after her father's death, saying that it was his duty to look after Scout and her mother but that he wouldn't do it for free. And the two women didn't know what to do, they couldn't live by themselves, they weren't prepared for it. Money was already had to come by and Harper, being newly disabled, had too many hospital bills to be covered.

So Xander, in his planning, devised the plan to train Scout in combat and firearms. And they couldn't disagree, they were indebted to him.

The sudden smell of intense stench overcame her area and she grimaced as her eyes made contact with the sandwich held in between Morgan's hands. Her stomach began to furiously bubble, tumbling in waves making a feeling of nausea she was all too familiar with after these past two months.

"You want a bite?" Morgan held out his food as he noticed her staring, "Egg salad sandwich, I got it from the airport before we left."

She shook her head and slightly pinched her thigh to not focus on the smell. But soon the overpowering waft became too much for her to handle and she scurried out of her chair, leaving a confused Spencer watching her move to the back of the jet and into the bathroom.

Scout quickly tied her hair back and knelt down to the level of the toilet, feeling the sensation of gagging and her stomach emptying itself of her breakfast. The burning in her throat was never something she could get used to, she thought as she picked herself back up and stared at the reflection.

The image of a short brown haired woman with dark eyes was all too familiar for her. But underneath the eyes were deep imprints of purple bags, splotchy and rather uncomfortable for her to see.

They were a result of too many nights laying awake, wondering how she could say the two words she wanted to scream at Spencer every day.

But every time she tired, they disappeared.

Scout placed a hand on her abdomen, feeling the small protruding flesh that no one could really notice as anything more than water weight. But she knew deep down, these two months would turn into three and then four and then she couldn't hide it anymore.

Inhaling and exhaling sharply, she turned to her reflection, never breaking eye contact with herself and whispered the words:

"I'm pregnant."

If only she had enough courage to say it to Spencer, then maybe it would actually feel real.

Please consider voting/commenting if you like this story and want show your support for more content.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:
I know I should've waited longer to update since the last two chapters did terrible in comments and votes but I couldn't help myself.
So please, share the love and vote/comment because it means the world to me. NUMB has been statistically going down hill in numbers, but I'm blaming the finale of Criminal Minds tbh.

And Scout! What! The! Hell! Are! You! Doing!
I've had this whole book planned out for years and I'm so ready to share it all.

a special thanks to readers who comment:
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