Chapter Text
“Hey Pretty Boy,” Morgan called to Spencer as he entered the bullpen of the BAU for the third time. Spencer glowered at the agent not happy at all with the moniker from one of his new co-workers. He decided to take the high road and ignore the Neanderthal’s teasing. It was his first day as the newest member of the BAU and he wasn’t quite sure how to take Morgan’s joking yet. The dark skinned man seemed pleased to see him, but Spencer was often not very good at reading people’s intentions unless he could get a read on their emotions with his empathy.
“Agent Morgan, good morning,” he replied primly setting his bag on his shiny new desk to begin unpacking his things. The agent’s smile at Spencer widened as he continued to lean on his desk with a coffee in his hand. Spencer’s frown smoothed out as he received a wave of happy satisfaction radiating from the agent. It seemed as if Morgan was pleased he was here, Spencer mused as the emotions he was receiving gently dispelled.
It had been eight months since Vincent Taylor Gaylord had invaded his apartment and tried to kill him. After a twenty-four hour hospital stay, Aaron had brought him back to the BAU for his statement. Gaylord had followed Spencer home that night after seeing him canvassing the women on the streets with his sketch. It was a stupid thing to have done, but Spencer couldn’t regret anything. They had caught the killer, had probable cause to search his home and the agents had found the USB drive with photographs of all of his victims, as well as the knives used to torture and kill them. There had been sixteen in all, the number horrific. The BAU had all the evidence they needed to put him away for life.
The profile had been accurate as well. Gaylord had been a low level auditor with the IRS and had grown up in an affluent family in Cathedral Heights. His father had been a prominent doctor and surgeon who had a proclivity for prostitutes unbeknownst to his wife. She had contracted syphilis from her husband and it had gone untreated until the dementia she had developed had become irreversible. Gaylord had been fourteen at that time. Aaron had speculated that Gaylord’s move to Deadwood and the proximity of prostitution in the neighborhood had allowed him to act on his homicidal desires.
Spencer had been relieved when Gaylord had pled guilty to avoid the death penalty. He’d only had to recount the attack during Gaylord’s sentencing and his telepathy had stayed under wraps with only the profiling team knowing about his gift. He’d also not had another incident of The Knowing since that night. Spencer was hopeful that the telepathy was truly gone.
“It’s our new Junior G-Man!” Garcia greeted as she bustled into the bullpen in a dizzying electric bright green frock and orange heals. “Is Derek being nice to you?” she asked coming forward to pull Spencer into a crushing hug. Spencer’s breath left him in a rush as he was squished to her ample bosom for a moment.
Spencer gave her a pat on the shoulder smiling as he was released from her embrace. “It’s nice to see you to, Garcia,” he replied. They had become good friends over the months, meeting for coffee, discussing Doctor Who and the many variations of the Star Trek franchise, and even attending D.C. ComicCon together. Spencer was still resisting Garcia’s push to get a computer and an email account; but, she was slowly whittling down his resolve.
“So you’ve officially left academia, Spencer?” J.J. asked as she approached with files in her arms and Prentiss not far behind her.
Spencer turned to her returning her smile to say, “Hello J.J., yes I am no longer teaching at Georgetown, but I’ll still continue to publish. I was a complete hack at teaching really, so needed a change.”
“Did you pass all of your tests Kid?” Morgan asked.
“Yes, I did exceedingly well in everything,” he lied. Spencer had excelled at the bookwork required at the Academy, but just barely squeaked by with passing the firearms and physical training. He was in the best shape of his life and determined to keep up with staying in shape, even though he hated it like Hell on fire. Morgan gave him a cat got the cream smirk in reply. Spencer had little expectation that his results were private, but Morgan didn’t call him out on the lie.
“How’s my sweet kitty,” Garcia asked.
Morgan just rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath, “Sweet kitty my ass.”
“He’s just fine, but I think he is missing you,” Spencer replied.
Spencer still felt smug that the large man was so intimidated by a sixteen-pound ball of fluff. It had been difficult being away from Gottfried for such a long amount of time, but he’d been able to visit with him on the occasional weekend furlong. Gottfried adored Garcia and had pouted about not seeing her as much since for the first week he came back home with Spencer. He wasn’t sure how Garcia got his cat to love her so much, but he now sometimes felt like he more a manservant to the feline than owner. Spencer knew Gottfried still loved him, but he seemed to be more demanding than ever for affection and treats. It could be that Gottfried wasn’t happy with his new diet, since he came home from Garcia’s with an added three pounds extra plump hanging from his belly.
“OK everyone we have a case,” Aaron called from the mezzanine with Rossi standing beside him. Everyone started to make their way to the roundtable room. The Sentinel looked good, handsome and strong and Spencer was contented to see him again. He had only been in touch with him over the phone during his twenty week training at the Academy. Following his hospital stay the Sentinel had hovered a bit over Spencer. Checking on him regularly the first few months and had become somewhat of a fixture in Spencer’s life. Spencer was happy to see him in person again, their affection and friendship had grown over the months after the case.
As his sick leave at Georgetown was ending, Spencer had felt at loose ends in deciding whether to return to teaching or not. Garcia’s coffee counsel was helpful in talking about other options; but, it was Aaron who had encouraged him in the direction of using his intellect for the FBI and profiling. Informal talks over dinners had turned into serious discussions during many evenings spent visiting with each other. Spencer had found excitement and challenge in the use of his mind as Aaron brought over cold case files temp him.
It was also tempting to continue to be near the Sentinel as emotions of affection, contentment, and humor often washed over Spencer when he spent time with the man. He tried not to let those feeling affect his final decision to join the FBI, but in the back of his mind he knew it was inevitable that what had happened and his growing feelings for the Sentinel did factor into his life’s trajectory.
The team took their seats at the table, Garcia at the ready with her remote. Spencer returned Aaron’s smile as he sat down to open the file in front of him. The Sentinel glanced around the table at his team before saying, “Good morning everyone, I like welcome our newest team member, Dr. Spencer Reid to the BAU.” Spencer gave everyone a little wave in return for their words of welcome and felt at home among the people who had helped to save him.