"I KNOW I'VE only been home for an hour," leah said to her team members with a smile. "but how about we all go out tonight? have some fun, grab some drinks? i've missed you guys, and there's no work tomorrow."

"sounds like fun!" jj said.

"yeah, i'm in!" derek clapped his hands together, standing up.

the rest of the team stood up, nodding. they all walked to their desk, grabbing their coats and walking towards the elevator. spencer reid still sat in his seat in the conference room, though, leaving only him and leah.

"please tell me you're coming," leah whined. "you don't even have to drink, just please- come, be with me."

spencer smiled sheepishly at her. "i'll go, leah."

"yay!" leah smiled widely, and spinning in a circle in excitement, as spencer started laughing at her. they laughed together for a few moments before silence drew over them, and they just stared at each other and smiled.

"i really missed you, you know," leah told him, still smiling.

"i really missed you, too," he responded.

"well," leah walked towards him, holding out her hand to him. "spencer reid, i believe we have some people waiting for us. shall we be off?"

he laughed at her, taking her hand. "we shall."

they then left the conference room together, walked towards spencer's desk so he could grab his coat, and then towards the elevators. derek and emily were the only ones still seen, and they assumed the rest of the agents had already gone downstairs.

as spencer and leah made their way to the two, emily and derek looked up at them and smiled.

"well," derek started. "isn't this a sight for sore eyes?"

leah and spencer gave him confused looks.

"ah, yes, derek," emily sighed. "our little leah gray and our genius spencer reid, back together again."

leah rolled her eyes, "i hate you guys."

"you love us, 'noelle,'" derek stated as he wrapped an arm around her.

𖥸

spencer and leah walked into the bar with derek and emily. they had taken spencer's car since he wasn't drinking tonight. they saw hotch, rossi, jj and garcia already at a table with their drinks.

"there's our 'noelle!'" garcia announced as she saw them walk towards their table.

"guys," leah smiled. "please stop calling me 'noelle'."

"but why?" jj asked, laughing. "i mean- that's you. you're 'noelle.'"

leah sat down with a smile, although it was noticeably forced.

it's not that she didn't love the name. she did! but, that name wasn't hers. it was just an alias she lived under to escape a killer. she didn't want to be called after that. she wanted to be called be her own name- she just wanted to be leah gray again.

derek and jj kept teasing her as the rest of them laughed, not noticing that the smile leah had on her face was forced.

"a name based on your favorite song, too?" derek asked laughing. "original."

"that's not why i chose it," leah's smile faded as she said the words harshly. the smiles on the rest of the teams faces faded after hearing her harsh and hurt tone.

"i'm sorry," derek said. "yeah," jj said, grabbing leah's hand. "i'm sorry, we shouldn't have said anything."

leah sighed, "no, it's not your fault. it's just- it's complicated."

"so tell us, babygirl," garcia told her, standing up and taking the seat next to leah.

leah looked at the team before her, and all of their eyes were on her. she sighed once more before she started.

"'noelle' was just a name. i always loved the name, as derek said, it's a name repeated in one of my favorite songs. but- after being called by a different name for so long, you start to miss your real name. i missed hearing the name 'leah gray.' 'noelle' was an alias i used to hide from a murderer. but i'm not her, i'm not 'noelle' anymore."

jj squeezed leah's hand.

"okay, leah," derek told her. "we promise to never call you 'noelle' again."

leah smiled at him sheepishly, saying "thank you."

"now!" derek clasped his hands together. "let's party!"

"wait," leah laughed. "i do want to ask you guys not to get too drunk tonight."

"why not?" garcia whined.

"well, i don't know about you guys, but i want to remember this night. it's my first night back, i don't want to forget it."

the rest of the team exchanged looks and nodded to each other.

"oh, the things i'd do for you, leah gray," garcia whined.

𖥸

"so, ms. gray," derek morgan took a seat next to her. "on a scale of one to ten, how much did you miss me?"

they had been at the bar for almost two hours now, and she's danced with the girls, helped rossi find a new hookup, and talked to aaron hotchner about jack, who she missed so much.

her and spencer were talking about the things he did while she was away when derek walked over to their table.

"well," leah laughed. "i'd say a 10, mr. morgan."

"well, let's be honest, who wouldn't?"

spencer quietly raised his hand while trying to hold back a laugh.

derek pointed his finger at spencer. "you shut your mouth," he joked.

they all laughed for a bit before derek started talking again. "but seriously, how was england? i know it wasn't an ideal trip, but was it fun?"

"eh," leah winced. "i made one friend the entire time i was there, and he was my boss."

derek and spencer tried holding in their laughter, but leah hit derek's shoulder jokingly as she smiled.

"but he was great. his name was bryce talbert, and he was awesome. he was the only other one who knew about my secret."

"he knew?" spencer asked.

"yeah, hotch had told him because if he hadn't, i would be jobless, and we can't have that."

"oh, shit!" derek exclaimed. "that reminds me- your apartment! they- they sold it. do you need a place to stay?"

"oh," leah said, surprisingly relaxed. "don't worry, der. it's already sorted out."

the two boys gave her confused looks.

"well, i didn't take much with me to england furniture-wise. and i do have a completely furnished house already payed off for in my name."

"oh, wow," derek said, surprised. "i totally forgot, your parents' old house."

leah nodded. "that's the one."

"so, you always planned on coming back?" spencer asked her, with curious and hopeful eyes.

leah's breath hitched. "i knew this place would always be here if i were to come back. jason porter would have eventually died, and the second he did, i would've hopped on a plane. i didn't care how long it took."

spencer smiled at her, and she smiled right back.

"i don't know if i'd be able to do it," derek told her.

"i didn't think i'd be able to either. but there's not many options when a serial killer's after you."

"true," he laughed. "did you do anything, to-like- help you remember us and all the good times?"

leah's breath hitched once more, and her eyes moved from derek to spencer quickly, and then she immediately looked down.

"i- i wrote letters."

"to who?"

smiling, she looked at derek. "now, that, derek morgan, i will never tell."

derek morgan playfully rolled his eyes as he started laughing.

the next song started playing.

leah's smile faded quickly as she recognized the song. but moments later, she looked at spencer with wide eyes, and he looked back at her with the same look. a big smile formed on both of their faces.

they quickly stood up and ran over to the dance floor, telling derek they would be back soon.

they saw garcia, jj and emily on the dance floor, but they ignored them.

they both screamed the lyrics as they played, not caring who was listening.

"her name is noelle..!"

they screamed the lyrics and danced like maniacs until the end of the second chorus. when the second chorus ended, leah looked over to spencer, who was also looking over at her. they both had tears in their eyes and huge smiles on their faces.

as they stared at each other, their smiles faded a bit. not because of sadness, but just out of calmness and comfort. they took a few deep breaths, and then spencer walked closer to leah.

leah wrapped one of her arms around him, and held his hand with the other. he did the same.

they slow danced to the rest of the song. they slow danced to one of the most upbeat songs of all time.

but they didn't care. they had each other. and that's all they needed.