THREE COLD SWEAT

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     Tensley woke up in a cold sweat as someone was knocking at the front door of her best friend's house. She panicked, having a sickening feeling that it was CPS coming to relocate her to some random relative where she wouldn't be able to get to Teddy or keep an eye on the investigation. She had been doing her best to keep her ear to the ground, but you can't do much around a police station when you're fifteen and emotionally attached to the suspect.

"Tensley!" Annika's mother called up as the girl was busy trying to catch her breath. She hated the guest room in this house. Not because it was anything terrible, she just missed Teddy's house. It was the closest thing she ever had to a home and now she couldn't even stay there when it was the only thing that was helping her feel close to her uncle. She rubbed her eyes with a deep sigh as she let herself catch her breath before her legs swung over the side of the bed and the chill of her bare feet hitting the hardwood floor shot up through her body. She wiped her forehead, her hand coming away wet with sweat. With a grimace, she wiped her hand off before grabbing a hair tie off the nightstand and pulling her hair into a ponytail as she walked so she could get her hair off of her neck. Baby hairs stuck to her nape, but she was going to have to deal with that. Nervously, she pulled Teddy's shirt closer around her form as she trodded down the stairs, anxious to see who was waiting for her.

"Tensley, there you are, sweetheart," Annika's mother greeted her at the bottom of the stairs as she wrapped her arm around the girl's shoulders and placed a protective hand against the back of her head. "This is Spencer Reid, he's with the... what was it? BUO?"

"BAU, the Behavioral Analysis Unit with the FBI," a tall man with scruffy hair and an olive green button down tucked into dark brown pants greeted her. So, this was the Spencer Teddy went to high school with. "Hi, you must be Tensley. You're the one who wrote me about your uncle?"

The man leaned down to get on her level with a small smile as he reached out a hand. She shot a worried look to Annika's mother before reaching out and shaking his hand. "How — what are you doing here? I-I didn't even know you got my letter."

"The rest of my team is in Winter Park trying to get to your uncle so we can get his side of the story and figure out who really did this. I requested to come out here so I could meet you personally," Spencer explained. The way he spoke was very precise, but somehow he was still putting on a show of being overly calm — like he could sense her nerves. He looked up at Annika's mother, "Mrs. Gardner, is it okay if I speak with Tensley alone?"

"If she's okay with that," Annika's mother answered with no hesitation, looking to the girl. Hesitantly, Tensley nodded and the woman sighed. "Alright, well then, I'll go whip up some breakfast for everyone."

She placed a quick kiss to the girl's head before leaving for the kitchen. Once she was gone, Spencer motioned to the couches and Tensley took a seat.

"Is that shirt your uncle's?" Spencer asked with a forced smile as he sat facing her. He was wringing his hands together like this was nerve-wrecking for him, too.

"You can drop the act, I'm fifteen, you don't have to talk to me like I'm ten," she snapped. Part of it was irritation from just waking up, but part of it was the fear that had been coursing through her veins since she first found out about Teddy.

Spencer sighed, but he listened, "This case is odd for us and that's saying something. I'm not sure how much we'll be able to do for Teddy if we can't catch the person who actually did this. Do you understand that? We're not lawyers, if the police want to use him as a fall guy, they will."

Tensley scoffs, "I guess now I know why they say fuck twelve because this is bullshit."

"Actually, fuck twelve was a term popularized in Atlanta to represent the drug unit and specifically, twelve narcotics officers. The only drug involved in this case was whatever Theodore was dosed with to make him blackout," the man spout, but he seemed to catch himself, "Sorry, but yeah, fuck twelve."

"Aren't you technically a cop?" Tensley asked, leaning forward as she squinted at Spencer, "Why should I trust you?"

"I don't know, you're the one who wrote me," the man shot back with a casual tone, "I want to help Theodore, I really do and you could help me do that. At the very least, we can use you as a character witness. I'm here to ask that you come to Winter Park so we can ask you a few questions to find out what you might know and if you can help us get Theodore out and the right person going away for this."

Tensley visibly relaxed at this, but she was still on edge. She knew she brought this on herself, but she had been sleeping with one eye open ever since she got the news about Teddy. It had been a week since he was gone now and she was getting worse and worse. 

"Can you stop calling him Theodore? He hates when people call him that. Makes him feel old," she spoke softly, avoiding looking at the man in front of her. Her eyes trained on everything in the room except for him — from the family photos on the shelves to the chips in the wood flooring beneath her feet. "You should know that, shouldn't you? Weren't you guys friends?"

"Best," Spencer corrected, "We were best friends. I knew him as Teds, though, not Teddy. Teddy suits him more, though, doesn't it?"

Tensley nodded, finally being able to look at Spencer, "It reminds me of a teddy bear. He's always been a gentle giant."

"Trust me, I know," the man affirmed with a small, nervous smile. "So, will you come to Winter Park? You can bring your friend and her mother with you if you'd like, we'd prefer you to have some sort of adult with you."

"Will I be able to see him?" she asked, the disparity in her voice no longer being disguised. "He's... he's all I have."

"I can't make any promises, but I can try my best."

Tensley shook her head, "I'm not going if I can't see him."

Spencer considered this for a moment, his eyes meeting hers. She knew she could trust him, she felt like she could, but who could she really trust in a situation like this? Her world was falling apart right now, but here was what looked like a helping hand.

"Then I'll make sure you see him," the man confirmed and something in his eyes told her that he was telling the truth.

After a moment, she nodded. "I'll go."

ahh we finally meet tensley! she's a little annoying but i think you guys are gonna like her!!