I’ll Wear What I Want - A Criminal Minds Imagine
A/N: Hi! I’m so sorry for the delay on this one, life has been hectic and I’ve been awol again. This is a request for the reader always wearing oversized clothing, and having to defend themselves against body shaming.
Warnings: Slight body shaming
Your eyes skim over the bright, eye catching display lined up in the front window of the store, taking in the way the fabric encircled the mannequins, the way it fell into place and seems to catch in all the right spots. So different from the woman looking back at herself, the woman in the greatly oversized blouse and loose dress pants, “practically bellbottoms” Morgan had called them.
In the background of your personal pity bubble was a chaos-riddled scene, starkly opposing the side of the street you stood on. Looking over a particular piece one last time, you popped your sunglasses back on and turned around to face the music once more.
Police cruisers scattered the stained asphalt, some with doors still wide open, and men and women flashing badges weaved through them, trying to make some sense of what happened here. “Y/N, I could use some help if you’re not busy”, Rossi’s voice broke through the static of so many others and you quickly checked the street before making the quick walk over.
He was standing a few feet away from the victim, his eyes glued on the young man’s, and you quietly joined him in silent contemplation. “I keep seeing something wrong with this scenario.. Something’s..”, he stopped, unable to find the words, “just look it over for me, tell me what you feel in your gut”.
Your brow furrows, but you knew better than to question one of Rossi’s “feelings”, it was very rare that his hunch didn’t come to a head as a critical detail. Careful not to disturb anything, you take the pair of gloves he offers, and take a knee beside the man.
Rossi rattles off what the report says, slowly, but with emphasis on the details he’s questioning. “It says there’s no defensive wounds, which makes us turn to the idea that this young man was incapacitated, someway unable to fight back - but look at his feet”.
You’re instantly unsure of what he could possibly mean, his feet? Weren’t defensive wounds an arm/hand thing most often? But nevertheless, you appease his strange request and shift your weight over onto the other knee as you move to take a closer look.
“I see what you mean”, instantly it’s clear, and you turn to look up at Rossi who’s smirking. “There’s cuts that shouldn’t be there, mostly on the bottom and near the toes, but why do you think those would be defensive wounds?”. He offers a hand and helps you from your crouched position, letting you dust yourself off before he continues.
“Look at his wrists for me”, yet again you appease the man, but you were not going through the ordeal of getting on the ground again, so instead you lean over to look. As you catch sight of what he’s talking about, and try to deepen your stance to get a better look, you hear it.
There’s an uncharacteristic lull in the shouting around you, just brief enough for you to catch the tail end of the undeniable sound of your pants tearing. Quickly you shoot back up, your face in the midst of burning up with a furious look of embarrassment already, and tug your blouse down over your bum.
“Ligature marks, he was tied down, but only his hands and arms, leaving his legs and feet free to try and fight via kicking - you’re right that something’s off, why don’t you go tell Hotch?”, you prayed that your enthusiasm would send him running for answers, you prayed that he wouldn’t ask if you were okay, you prayed that he hadn’t even noticed, but by the look on his face you knew your prayers were going unanswered in this moment.
He clears his throat and looks back to his file, clearly trying to stall while he thinks of a way to address the matter appropriately, and you take a few slow, quiet deep breaths while he does. “That store you were at, is it expensive?”, he keeps his voice low, not wanting to draw attention, “because if it is, put it on this card and we’ll find a way to make it a work expense, okay?”.
You can feel tears prickling behind your eyes at his answer, you were grateful he’d let you do that when he could take the blame and have to cough up the money if it got flagged as an unnecessary charge. “Okay, but I don’t know if they sell my size”, that was the next hurdle the two of you had to jump, and it was one he really hadn’t thought of, as his expression changed to one of realization.
As the two of you mill over what to do in that situation, neither notices the female deputy approaching until she’s too close for comfort. “Hi there, are you two Agents Y/L/N and Rossi?”, you can practically feel the buildup of embarrassment in your stomach as you realize there’s no clear escape.
“That would be us, how can we help you?” you thank your lucky stars that he takes the lead, and the petite woman turns her focus to him, allowing you to breathe for a moment.
“My supervisor said you had a little bit of a difference in opinion about my report, so I wanted to come over and introduce myself and talk to you personally about the problem”, she smiles, extends her hand, and the two of you take turns shaking it briefly.
You hand the file back over to Rossi, and he nods as he flips through, his finger dancing along each sentence until he comes across the line he wants, and then he turns to look at you quickly, “actually, Agent Y/L/N was just going to head over to that store and see if they have anything to give us, why doesn’t she do that while we discuss?”.
She smiles and nods in agreement, “efficiency at its finest, of course, but don’t get your heart caught up on any one thing in there”, she pauses, just long enough to look you over from head to toe and say, “cause honey, I don’t think they sell that size”.
It’s like she sucked every ounce of oxygen out of the atmosphere, and you stare at her with an unwavering look of anger and disgust. “Excuse me?” you spit out, waiting for her to try and recover from what she said, but to your disbelief she digs a deeper hole.
“Well, I was just saying cause they sell really nice stuff, but I see what you’re wearing and they don’t sell things that big so I’m just trying to keep you from getting hurt”. You couldn’t believe the downright audacity of this woman, trying to pretend like she was some saving grace.
Without another word, you roll your eyes and, making sure the tear in your pants is covered, walk heavily toward the store, your footfalls strong and determined. As you step into the store, an associate motions at you to come over, and starts into her sales monologue, but you cut her off.
“Look, I’m really sorry but I don’t have any time to waste, I just need to know where your size (INSERT YOUR SIZE) are, and if this is gunna cost me an arm and a leg”, her eyes widen at your to the point speech, and she just points in the direction of what you’re looking for.
“We have a sale on right now so it shouldn’t be too bad” she mumbles, probably the sale she was trying to talk to you about two seconds earlier, and you head off toward the back.
Scouring the seemingly endless shelves, you pull out a pair of black dress pants and stare at how tapered the legs were, could you actually pull this off? That fleeting moment of doubt was followed by the idea of the look on that woman’s judgemental face, and you were filled with a confidence like never before.
It only took you five minutes to find an outfit, and save for the time you spent overanalyzing in the shop’s fitting room, you were in and out fairly quick and without any suspicion or asking where you were. As you slip your sunglasses back on and tuck a loose lock of hair behind your ear, you throw open the door and take a deep breath.
Looking out at the sea of never-slowing people, you take one step, then two, and before you know it you’re power walking through the mob, straight toward Rossi and the “they don’t sell your size” melted away as the team caught notice of you strutting across the tarmac, head held high.
“So the storeowner said she handed in the video from her surveillance cameras, and there’s nothing more to report” you say nonchalantly, as if you hadn’t just become a different person in front of their very eyes.
Rossi’s face breaks into a grin, the first since he’d been frustrated with the lack of attention to detail in the report, and he claps a hand on your shoulder, “well done, thank you”. You smile back, and have to hold back laughter as you watch the officer eat every word she so quaintly spit out, and reach out a hand, to which she limply accepts to shake.
“I have better things to do, more helpful things for the case, so I’ll see you around”, you turned on your heel and headed toward where the rest of the team was standing, sure that Rossi wouldn’t be too far behind now that the point was made.
Spencer is the first to lock eyes with you, and his jaw drops slack for just a moment before he catches himself and shuts it, replacing it with a smile. “Wow Y/N, you look incredible”, JJ points out the way your shoes coordinate with the top you chose, and you smile sheepishly as you hadn’t even been trying to do that.
“I didn’t think you wore anything your size Y/N, about time you gathered your confidence” Morgan teases, but Reid shakes his head and looks to you.
“She’s always had confidence, she looks beautiful in anything she wears, she just needed to have a point to prove it”, the corners of his mouth turn up into a gentle smile, and you can’t help but return the gaze.
