Chapter Text
It could never happen to you. It could happen to anyone else, but not you. There’s no way, no way! You’d never be dumb enough to fall for such a simple, trivial emotion like love….
…right?
—
You rest your chin on your palm, eyes gazing across the room. ‘At whom?’ You may ask. Spencer Reid, the young, absolutely brilliant doctor on your team, of course. He is bouncing between desks, wishing people a good morning with that small genuine smile of his. His energy is without bounds, even this early in the morning.
With a soft sigh, you tear your eyes away to focus on the task at hand. Hotch will have your head if you aren’t prepared for the morning debriefing on the latest unsub. It was your job to begin the profile, so he’ll be expecting you to have the files ready. The unsub, you believed him to be a man, likely between the ages of 21 to 30, had already killed six people within the past six weeks. The police from the area just recently contacted the BAU to ask for assistance. J.J. got the call last night, after everyone went home, and you took the opportunity to prepare the case on your own, with Hotch’s okay of course.
You shuffle your papers together, tuck them against your chest, and dash off to the meeting room. Emily is already there, sipping from a coffee cup. She sends you a warm yet tired smile which you return as you take a seat next to her.
“How was your weekend?” You ask her softly, hoping to pass the time until the rest of the team joins you.
“Busy, but good.”
You both chatter for a bit and the others eventually begin to trickle in. Hotch is last and he shuts the door behind him. The room goes quiet as he pulls a chair back and sits with his fingers stapled in front of him.
“So, (y/n), what have you learned about the latest unsub?” He prompts, bringing all the attention to you..
You cough nervously, flickering your eyes around the room (they don’t linger on Spencer, definitely not) before you begin, “Well, I’ve come to the conclusion that our unsub is a man in his mid to late twenties. In each instance, there have been two victims, one male and one female, assumably partners. The locations are all remote.” You flip through the various images that were sent to you, each image more gruesome than the last. “The attacks are becoming increasingly violent based on these pictures, and there is less time between each set of victims. He’s escalating quickly. It’s likely we only have a few days until he attempts to attack again.”
You go on to explain the general matching aspects of the crime scenes. Each time, the victims are found in a remote area, the most recent being an abandoned greenery. The victims are always restrained in a small room, facing each other from opposite sides of the room. The woman is gruesomely mutilated and the man’s throat is slit. You have collected all of this based on the pictures of course, which are not all together that detailed.
“It is hard to tell, but based on these, the injuries inflicted on the women are nonlethal, but definitely would have caused a lot of pain. The authorities in the area said they would give us the autopsy reports once we arrive, which hopefully confirm this.”
“So wait, he tortures the girls ruthlessly and then kills the guys in one of the quickest ways possible? Why?” Morgan jumps in.
“It could be that he has struggled with women in the past. That would be why most of the aggression is inflicted on the women. Constant rejection and humiliation could have caused him to act out in this manner.”
You cannot help but stare at Spencer as the words tumble from his mouth. It’s almost like he doesn’t even have to think about what he says. It took you a few minutes of analysis to come to that conclusion, but the knowledge just spills out of him, like it’s as familiar as breathing to him. The only reason you snap out of your trance is because Emily elbows your ribs sharply. You flinch and spin in your chair, intending to glare at her, but then notice that she is glancing rapidly between you and Hotch, who is staring at you with a raised eyebrow. Snap, you missed something.
“Sorry, sorry sir,” you apologize quickly, stumbling over your words, “What did you say?”
“I said you did a good job, (l/n),” Hotch repeats with an amused lilt in his voice, causing heat to rush to your face in embarrassment and joy over the praise. That’s rare. “I think we’ve covered all that we need to. We’ll be meeting at the jet in thirty minutes, everyone be ready. It’s been a few days since the latest murder, so the scene may be disrupted.” He wraps up the debriefing nice and neat, then takes his leave.
You gather your things once again and follow the others as they leave the meeting room. You face is still burning, but now it’s because you realize that Emily caught you staring at Spencer like a dumb teenager. It’s not your fault really, anyone would given the opportunity, but it’s still embarrassing.
Your heart nearly jumps out of your chest when Spencer slides up beside you with that smile on his face. If possible, your face turns an even darker shade of red. Hopefully he doesn’t notice.
“That was incredible, (y/n). Didn’t we get those files yesterday? Did you work on them all night?” He asks, looking down at you with those warm honey eyes appraisingly.
You brush some hair behind your ear and nod, tucking your papers even closer to your body.
“Yah, I didn’t really have much else to do, so I figured I’d get as much done as I could,” You murmur, biting your lip to suppress a grin.
Spencer’s smile widens and he looks as though he’s about to say more but is interrupted when J.J. calls his name from across the room. He casts you an apologetic look before darting off towards her. Your previous smile fades as you watch them begin to chatter happily.
A fleeting itch burns in your throat as you flop down at your station. You clear it with a small cough and dump the papers onto your desk.
Pushing away the negative emotions that clouded your mind, you begin to put everything you’ll need for the investigation into your bag. Since you have the most knowledge on the case, the team will probably expect you to take the lead at the scene. Hopefully all goes well.