spencer reid x super mega sweetheart reader who wouldn’t hurt a fly. but she meets one of spencer’s highschool bully’s (they can be on a case or just like out on a date, you pick!) and she just goes absolutely off on the bully that spencer has to literally hold her back
I love sweetheart reader x Spencer so much.
—————
Sweet girls bite
|| sweetheart reader protecting Spencer against one of his high school bullies.
༝༚༝༚
w.c 2k
Warnings: none
~~~~~
The first time Spencer Reid met you, he thought you were too soft for the BAU. Not weak. Never weak.
You smiled at everyone. You remembered Garcia’s complicated coffee order after hearing it once. You brought JJ’s boys little dinosaur stickers from airport gift shops. You cried over injured children in case files and apologized to bugs before scooping them into cups and releasing them outside Quantico.
Morgan once watched you spend 25 minutes trying to save a bunny trapped in a fence on a case.
And Spencer
Spencer had fallen in love with you so quietly he almost didn’t notice it himself.
It was in the small things.
The way you’d sit beside him during flights because you knew he hated turbulence more than he admitted. The way you listened when he rambled. Really listened. Not politely or patiently. Enthusiastically. Like every fact coming out of his mouth mattered.
You touched him carefully, too.
Never suddenly. Never in ways that made him tense. A hand on his sleeve. Fingers brushing his wrist. Your shoulder against his during late nights in the bullpen.
The team called you their sunshine.
Spencer privately thought that was inaccurate.
Sunshine could burn people.
You never did.
Until Cincinnati.
The case itself was awful enough already- a series of murders tied to a private high school where students were being targeted one by one. The unsub had a fixation on “punishing cruelty,” according to the profile.
Which was how they ended up interviewing the teachers of the victims.
Including Todd Mercer.
The moment the man walked into the police station conference room, Spencer went still beside you. Not visibly, maybe. Nobody else noticed.
But you did.
You always did.
His shoulders locked.
His breathing changed.
And when Todd laid his eyes on him, he grinned. Actually grinned.
Spencer looked down at the table like he was 15 again instead of a twenty something FBI agent with three PhDs.
Todd Mercer was broad-shouldered and expensive-looking in the sleazy way certain men were. Perfect teeth. Overwhelming cologne. The kind of guy who peaked at 17 and built an entire personality around it.
“Well, what do we have here,” Todd said, staring at Spencer. “Reid?”
Spencer adjusted his glasses. “Mr. Mercer.”
Todd barked out a laugh. “Still talking like a robot, huh?”
Morgan’s eyes narrowed instantly.
You looked between them carefully.
Todd leaned back in the chair officers had set up for him. “Damn. Haven’t seen you since high school. You look…” He paused dramatically. “Less pitiful.” Like it was a compliment.
Spencer smiled tightly.
The kind of smile that wasn’t a smile at all.
“We’re here to discuss the case.”
“Right, right.” Todd snorted. “You were always such a freakin’ narc.”
Heat prickled up your neck.
You glanced at Hotch, expecting him to intervene, but he was watching Spencer carefully- gauging whether Spencer wanted help or not.
Spencer kept his voice even. “Did you know the victims well?”
Todd shrugged. “Some of them.” Then he smirked again. “Funny though, it’s crazy seeing you act confident after spending four years terrified of eye contact.”
“Okay that's enough.” You cut him off “You’re here for a case, so please Mr Mercer, be focused”
Todd looked at you then.
His eyes lingered.
“Oh,” he said knowingly. “No way.”
You raised a brow.
He pointed between you and Spencer. “You two together?”
Spencer immediately said, “That’s irrelevant.”
Todd burst out laughing.
Actually laughing.
“Oh my God,” he wheezed. “Reid pulled a girl like that? Jesus Christ, miracles are real.”
Morgan physically shifted forward.
Emily muttered, “what a dick.”
But Todd wasn’t done.
He looked directly at you.
“You know this guy used to get shoved into lockers almost daily?”
Spencer went rigid beside you.
“Todd,” he warned quietly.
“No, seriously,” Todd continued. “Kid was weird as hell. Used to cry when people touched his books.” He laughed again. “Still does, don’t you Einstein?”
Your chest tightened painfully.
Spencer stared at the table.
Not speaking. Not even defending himself.
And something inside you cracked.
Because Spencer Reid- the kindest man you had ever known, the gentlest, brightest person in every room- was sitting there letting this man reduce him to a frightened teenager again.
Todd shook his head. “Can’t believe you bagged such a gorgeous girl. What’d you do, read her a dictionary?”
The room went silent.
Spencer inhaled softly beside you. Like he was preparing himself to endure this.
Endure.
Not fight back.
“Oh, shut the hell up.”
Everyone froze.
Including Spencer.
Todd blinked at you. “Excuse me?”
“No, actually, I’m serious,” you snapped. “Shut. Up.”
Morgan’s eyebrows shot up so fast they practically disappeared into his hairline.
Emily looked delighted.
Todd gave an incredulous laugh. “Whoa. Claws out.”
“You think tormenting a teenager makes you impressive?” you shot back. “You’re a grown man bragging about bullying someone in high school like it’s an achievement.”
Todd’s smile faltered slightly.
You stepped forward.
Spencer immediately grabbed your wrist gently.
“Hey,” he murmured. “It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not okay.”
Your voice shook with anger.
Not fear.
Pure fury.
“You made his life miserable for fun.”
Todd scoffed. “Oh my God, it was high school—”
“And?” you cut him off sharply. “Do you think that magically erases it?”
Spencer moved with you, trying to calm you. “Honey- ”
“No, Spencer, absolutely not.”
The entire team stared.
Because you didn’t get angry.
Ever.
Todd leaned back with a smug expression that made you want to throw the table at him.
“He survived, didn’t he?”
You lunged forward before you even realized you were moving.
“YOU- ”
Strong arms wrapped around your waist instantly. Spencer physically hauled you backward against his chest.
“Come on sweetheart-“ Spencer mumbled as he tried to calm you. You on the other hand were struggling against his grasp.
Not really trying to get free- just furious enough that your whole body vibrated.
“You think this is funny?” you snapped, struggling against Spencer’s grip as he held you against his chest. “You think treating people like garbage makes you important?”
Todd opened his mouth, but you didn’t let him speak.
“No, because let me tell you something.” Your voice shook now- not with fear, but fury so deep it hurt. “You don’t get to stand there and laugh about making someone’s life miserable like it was some stupid joke.”
Spencer’s arms slowly eased around you seeing you talk more calmly.
“Honey”
“You don’t get to act like it didn’t matter,” you continued, eyes locked on Todd’s. “Because maybe for you it was just high school. Maybe for you it was funny. But for him?” Your voice cracked slightly. “You made his life miserable just because you were an insecure little asshole.”
The room had gone completely silent.
Todd’s smug smile started slipping.
Good.
“You mocked him for being smart. For being quiet. For not fitting into whatever pathetic little box you thought people should fit into.” You took a sharp breath. “And now he spends every single day saving people who are terrified and grieving and broken, while you’re still acting like a 17 year old who thinks cruelty is a personality trait.”
Todd shifted uncomfortably. “Okay, wow, somebody’s dramatic- ”
“Dramatic?” you repeated incredulously. Your voice raising and stepping closer to him made Spencers arm back on your waist, pulling you backwards.
“You humiliated a kid for years and you’re calling me dramatic?”
Spencer looked genuinely alarmed now because your voice kept getting louder.
“You know what the worst part is?” you said. “He’s still polite to you. He still sat there and treated you with respect after everything you did to him, because that’s the kind of person he is.”
Todd looked away first.
“Coward” you muttered under your breath
“And you know what kind of person you are?” you whispered harshly. “The kind that only feels big when somebody else feels small.”
You lurched forward again before you could stop yourself.
Spencer physically hauled you backward this time, one arm locked around your waist.
“Honey,” he said weakly, somewhere between horrified and stunned, “please do not commit felony assault in front of the local police department.”
“He deserves it!”
“You are threatening a civilian.”
“He spent years taunting you!”
The words ripped out of you so fast your own eyes stung afterward.
Because that was the real issue.
Not the insults now.
The fact that Spencer had looked down at the table the second Todd walked in.
Like some part of him was still that lonely 16 year old boy expecting people to laugh at him.
Todd looked unsettled now. Actually unsettled.
Possibly because the sweetest person any of them had ever met looked genuinely ready to claw his eyes out for Spencer Reid
“You know what?” you snapped at Todd. “I hope every time you try to sleep at night you remember exactly the kind of person you were. A fucking scumbag.”
The room fell silent.
Todd looked away first.
Hotch finally stepped in smoothly. “I think this interview is over.”
Todd muttered something under his breath and stood quickly, escorted out by a uniformed officer.
The second the door shut behind him, the room exploded.
Morgan doubled over laughing.
JJ looked stunned. “I have never seen you yell before.”
“I didn’t know she could yell,” Rossi admitted.
You were still breathing hard, face burning with leftover anger while Spencer slowly loosened his grip around you.
Then realization hit.
Oh shit.
You had just nearly attacked someone in an interrogation room.
In front of your boss.
You turned toward Spencer immediately, horrified. “I’m so sorry.”
And somehow that made him look even more shocked.
“What?”
“I shouldn’t have- I just- he was awful to you and I- ”
Before you could finish, Spencer kissed you. The entire room went dead silent again.
Spencer Reid was not usually a public affection kind of man. But he cupped your face with both hands and kissed you like he couldn’t help himself.
Like he’d been wanting to do it since the moment you stood up for him.
The rest of the team slowly left the room to Continue asking Todd the questions, leaving you and Spencer alone.
When he pulled back, his cheeks were pink.
“You were going to attack him for me,” he said softly.
You frowned immediately. “Of course I was.”
Like it was obvious.
Because to you, it was.
Spencer stared at you for a long second with this unbearably tender expression.
“You’re insane,” he whispered.
“He was being a dick, I wasn’t just gonna stand there and let him” you said, still upset about it.
You looked appropriately ashamed for approximately three seconds.
Then you muttered, “He deserved worse.”
Spencer made a startled choking noise that sounded suspiciously like laughter.
Later, after the case wrapped and they finally made it back to the hotel, Spencer found you sitting cross-legged on the bed still stewing quietly.
The second he walked in, you said, “I hate him.”
Spencer shut the door behind him carefully.
“I gathered.”
“He hurt you.”
The softness in your voice now nearly undid him more than the yelling had.
Spencer sat beside you slowly.
“I’m okay.”
“But you shouldn’t have had to be.”
God.
You looked genuinely heartbroken over something that had happened to him years ago.
Spencer touched your hand carefully. “You know, statistically speaking, most people wouldn’t threaten bodily harm over high school bullying.”
You glared at him instantly. “Don’t use statistics right now.”
He smiled.
A real one this time.
“I’ve spent most of my life being the person people protect last,” he admitted quietly.
Your expression softened immediately.
“And then there’s you.”
You leaned into him without hesitation, arms wrapping carefully around his waist.
“Always,” you mumbled against his chest.
Spencer closed his eyes.
He thought about high school him.
Awkward. isolated. hurting.
If someone had told that boy one day a girl this kind would love him so fiercely she’d nearly throw hands in an interrogation room for his sake?
He never would’ve believed it.
Spencer pressed a kiss into your hair.
“You know,” he murmured, “for someone who ‘wouldn’t hurt a fly,’ you’re terrifying when motivated.”
You pulled back just enough to look offended.
“I still wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
A pause.
“Todd Mercer, however-”
Spencer laughed so hard he had to hide his face in your shoulder.
——————-
Taglist: @craftyglitterluvr @teenagepenguincollectorfan