Chapter Text
“this might be what pushes him over the edge,” emily was saying to rossi as they stood in her office, trying to make a plan about how to break the news to spencer that his mother was kidnapped.
“then let me tell him.” rossi and emily both turned to the doorway of her office, where ashton stood. his hair was a bit longer, bleached from the sun, and there was a bit of scruff along his neck and jawline. his eyes were rimmed red, and he clutched his go bag tightly against him.
“ashton,” rossi said, immediately turning to give the kid a hug. he collapsed against him, feeling the embrace of dave. “when did you land? when did your undercover end?”
“half an hour ago. and two days ago. i had to do all the debreifing things, and there’s still technically paperwork that needs to be finished, but then sam pulled me aside and updated me on what had happened and i couldn’t just not come.”
“ashton,” sam had said, coming up to the desk the man was sitting at. “take a walk with me.”
ashton looked a little confused, but got up anyways, and followed sam into the gardens that hetty liked to frequent often herself. “what’s up?”
sam paused, as he debated the best way to phrase it. “some news came up while you were undercover, and because of how important the assignment was, you couldn’t be told until you got out.”
ashton stared, unsure of where this was going but anxiety growing in his throat nonetheless. “how long ago, sam? what happened?”
“almost eight weeks.”
“eight weeks?!”
“it’s about your boyfriend. he’s in prison.”
and ashton’s world stopped.
he tried to take a step forward, to open his mouth and say something, but his legs gave out, and the only sound that came from him was a sob. sam was there to catch him, leading him over to a bench. the sob was apparently loud enough to draw the rest of the team’s attention, because callen, deeks, and kensi were all there in a moment.
“i just heard,” callen mumbled, putting a hand on ashton’s shoulder as he sobbed, body shaking in sam’s grip.
deeks was still reeling from the news, not believing that spencer reid, the whip-smart boyfriend of ashton, was in prison. kensi stood beside them all, a look of pain on her face at the cries that left ashton.
“we fought it, a lot.” she spoke after a time. “when your team first reached out to us, sam and i argued the whole time that you should know, that you deserved to know. even hetty at the end agreed with us, but secnav wouldn’t budge. the whole compromising the mission bullshit.”
“we’ve got all the updates, though,” sam added. “they’ve been sending us everything, so you could be completely updated by the time you were out.”
“i’ve already got eric booking you a ticket,” callen said. “you’re going home.”
-
“lovely,” ashton breathed, watching spencer walk into the visiting room. “i’m so sorry.”
and it was like in an instant, spencer could remember everything about the man in front of him. flashes of memories played before him, and it almost seemed comical, how seeing the love of his life could help the memories break through the fog the drugs had built up.
“ashton.”
-
ashton opened the door, spencer looking tense and terrified of whoever could possibly come through the entrance way. he had relaxed the second he recognised ashton, but he still clocked it.
he stared at him, disbelief in his eyes of what his presence could possibly mean.
“we're taking you home, darling,” he whispered, and the joy in spencer’s face is something he’d remember forever.
he strode forward, wrapping his arms tight around his boyfriend, who instantly reciprocated, as if he was trying to melt his body into his. “i’ve got you, spencer, and i’m never letting you go again.”
-
“that’s why i didn’t let him go in alone.” emily was explaining, as the rest of the team listened to her plan for dealing with cat adams. “he’s got his partner, and his best friend.”
in the prison, ashton stood at his right side, face stoned against cat through the one-way glass. “by your side, always.”