Chapter Text
(This work is inspired by my original novel, Throne of Lies. This character is based off of the main character– so she’s a mix of an OC and a reader-insert. For these reasons, I will be tagging this story as x OC and x reader. This means that I will be using a fake language and a country for Cipher’s backstory.)
THE CIPHER.
YOU’RE THE KIND OF PERSON THE BAU STOPS.
You have more blood on your hands than any unsub you’ve come across– you’re sure most people who get to read your unredacted file consider you an unsub.
HE FOUND YOU WHEN YOU WERE NINE.
You ran away from your family, your home, everything you’d ever known to get away from the abuse. When he looked at you, a kid, shivering on the streets– he saw potential, not a child.
YOU GOT CAUGHT AT SIXTEEN.
He abandoned you, took the guns, the weapons– left you defenseless and a scapegoat for everything he’d ever done. He knew you wouldn’t say anything. Not to the feds, to your parents– not to anyone. He was right, and now you’re stuck paying for crimes you did commit, and crimes you didn’t.
YOU’RE TWENTY FIVE NOW.
You had two options– work for the FBI or get the death penalty. You chose the only thing that could keep you alive– but you’re still paying for his felonies. Legally, you’re not allowed to have any weapons. You’re too good at using them– you could kill everyone on your team in an instant. Realistically, that makes you a liability– but you’re even better at getting into people’s heads, which makes you a valuable asset. But, maybe, if you’re docile enough, if they force enough pills down your throat– you’ll get your gun back and be the perfect government soldier.
AGENT HOTCHNER KNOWS EVERYTHING.
He knows what you see at night. He knows about the itch. He remembers you. The underfed, aggressive, child assassin– who he made a deal with. Instead of prison, you get to work yourself to death for a Bureau that will look for any reason to put you down like a rabid dog.
SPENCER REID HATES YOU.
From day one, he knew something was off. You’re emotionally volatile, but you’re obedient. All it takes is a harsh yell, and you comply. It doesn’t add up. Of course, your lack of formal education and any footprint– digital or otherwise, he checked– alarms him. You didn’t exist before the BAU. How did you get into the FBI? Hotch trusts you, so you’ve got credit there– but for now, he’s keeping you at arms length.
YOU DON’T REMEMBER YOUR NAME.
On your file, it reads ‘unknown’. He taught you– he conditioned you– to forget everything before him. You don’t want to remember. He convinced you that he was your king, that he was the deity you should worship. All you know is that you crave to be on the receiving end of his tenderness again, no matter how badly he hurt you. The bruises, the scars, the wounds that still made you flinch– would all be worth it if he held you one more time.
HE CALLED YOU REVENANT.
He said that it meant you were beautiful, sacred– and deadly. You believed him. You were too naive to see his web of lies.
THEY CALL YOU CIPHER.
You’re a code they can’t crack, and technically a spy, so the name fits. You’re fine with it– something inside you has longed for a name since you lost your first title. The hungry, disgusting, filthy killer locked deep down.
CAN YOU MAKE IT OUT ALIVE?
You’ve decided that you won’t– that you’ll be dead before thirty, maybe by an unsub, maybe by his hand. Maybe by a bullet from Agent Hotchner’s gun, if you’re lucky. He had always told you that pretty girls like you don’t make it very long.
there will be an updated list of trigger warnings with every chapter
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