Imagine graduating from high school with Spencer Reid and years later working on a case with him.
Word count: 600ish
Look at that, a blurb that actually stayed a blurb.
Warning: smoking (herbal cigarettes) and mentions of teenage drug use
You had driven two hours to the middle of nowhere Georgia because your boss had invited the BAU into your investigation. It wasn't how you wanted to spend the day but you could either complain or catch your serial killer. Not both. You chose the second one, so you drove down from Atlanta to meet the BAU at the site of the newest crime scene in a spree of murders over the past year.
When you stepped out of the SUV you took in the scene.
There were small crowds of people looking in, not so many that it was distracting but enough that the local PD had to have officers keeping the crowd back.
You showed your credentials to get in and walked up to who you recognized as SSA Aaron Hotchner, the BAU's unit chief.
"Agent Hotchner" You called out, getting the man's attention.
"Agent L/N" Hotch greeted, shaking you hand and leading you to the where the rest of his team were huddled.
"Guys, this is special agent Y/N L/N from the Atlanta field office" Hotch introduced.
"Agent L/N, these are SSA's Rossi, Morgan, Jerau, Prentiss and Dr. Spe—" Hotch wasn't even able to finish before you cut him off.
"Spencer Reid. Wow, it has been a long time" You said and you saw him searching his brain for where you knew him from before recognition flashed through his eyes.
"Last time I saw you you were much shorter and had just gotten your first breakout" You said and his cheeks flushed.
"I was 12" He said quietly and you chuckled.
"I'm sorry, you two know each other?" Rossi asked and you smirked.
"We graduated high school together" You answered and Morgan looked very curious to ask what you were sure would be very embarrassing questioned before Hotch cleared his throat.
"Agent L/N led the preliminary investigation with the Atlanta field office and will be working with us on this case" He said and you all went back to work.
---
You stood on the roof of the local precinct, coat wrapped around you and a cigarette between your index and middle fingers.
"You still smoke" Spencer said as he walked across the flat roof to stand beside you.
"It's herbal, I quit tobacco a couple years ago" You told him and took a puff.
"Herbal cigarettes are actually just as harmful as tobacco products. Even without the tobacco the herbs in the cigarette burn and create tar, carbon monoxide and about 73 other toxins, 40 of which can cause cancer" Reid said and you laughed.
"Right, I'll put this out then" You said, putting out the cigarette on the edge of the roof.
"You didn't have to do that" He said but you shrugged.
"wouldn't wanna expose you to the dangers of secondhand smoking" You joked.
The two of you stood in a somewhat silence for a while. You'd just given the local police your profile and as soon as you finished you'd gone out.
"How's your mom?" You asked.
"She's good. Still back in Las Vegas. How's your brother?" He asked in return.
"He's good. He's in a band touring with some singer, I can't remember who" You said and then silence again.
"So, the team" You said and he flushed.
"I'm sorry about the questions" He said.
"Don't worry about it, they just wanna know more about you. It seems like you all don't tell each other much about your pasts— and you don't have to— they're just curious about you" You said and he nodded.
"High school's not exactly a time I like remembering" Spencer admitted and you nodded. You remembered what he went through. The bullying, the humiliation, you couldn't imagine it. Not that your high school career was particularly pleasant but his was so much worse.
"I understand" You said and smiled, deciding to find a lighter subject.
"But you grew up well, that height suits you" You said and you saw the blush rise to his cheeks.
"Thanks, you uh— you you look really good too" He said.
"We should get in, I can't tell if it's my compliments that are making you that red or the chill" You joked and Spencer was slightly too embarrassed to say anything as he followed you back into the precinct.
Hey! I've been following your stuff for awhile and I am obsessed! Keep up the good work and I look forward to the next time you post!
Also, I was wondering if you could write a fic where Will is sick and the reader playing nurse and just giving this man some much needed TLC.
Tender Love And Care
Will Graham x GN S/O
AN: Not sure if this is exactly what you had in mind when you requested this, but I hope that you enjoy it! Thanks so much for your prompt, I had fun writing this!
Word Count: 1,960
The last week had been a test of your patience, between Chilton claiming to have the infamous Chesapeake Ripper in his care, the death of one of his nurses, Chilton’s theory being disproved, the court case, Dr. Gideon’s escape from an armored transfer vehicle and now all the media attention, it was like a fucking circus.
At this point, you were running on nothing but copious amounts of caffeine and pure will power.
You tiredly shuffled into the already packed briefing room, feeling not unlike a zombie as you maneuvered through the crowd, muttering half-hearted apologies as you mindlessly bumped into some of the other equally exhausted agents on your way to the front of the group.
You had just gotten settled, having saved your most recent cup of coffee from being knocked out of your hand by a wayward elbow more times than you could count, when Jack Crawford finally entered the room, the crowd easily parting for him like he was a shark moving through a school of fish.
“Alright, listen up people.” He began when he came to a halt in front of a series of white boards, every single one of them covered entirely in case notes about, not only the Chesapeake Ripper’s greatest hits, but also Gideon’s own confirmed kills.
You knew every scrap of information, every little detail, every picture and notation on those fucking boards because you’d spent every waking hour over the past week adding to the steadily growing collection and meticulously studying every inch of data, like if you stared at it hard enough, then all the answers would suddenly come to you.
But alas, your job was rarely so easy.
“Our fugitive is Abel Gideon. Transplant surgeon. Convicted in the first degree in the murders of his wife and her family.” Jack stated to the room at large, his voice rough and tone serious, demanding nothing less than everyone’s full attention.
Though, even despite Jack’s commanding presence, you found your gaze wandering.
You lifted your cup of coffee up to your lips, taking a substantial gulp of the cooling beverage as your eyes scanned over the room, almost choking on your mouthful as you did a sudden double take when you spotted the man rumored to be Jack’s breadwinner.
“He’d been institutionalized at the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, where he killed a nurse and claimed to be the Chesapeake Ripper.” Jack continued his speech in the background as your gaze raked over the dark-haired man’s figure, your head tilted in blatant curiosity as you watched him.
He was hunched over against the wall, as if he were trying to make himself as small as possible, the man horribly pale and dripping sweat, his curly hair plastered to his head and neck. He was also shaking as if he were freezing cold, which was a cause for concern since the usually comfortable room was actually a bit stuffy because of all the people packed inside, each tremor that wracked his frame looking almost painful.
Your brows furrowed with thinly veiled concern as you tried to meet his gaze, his bright blue eyes glassy as they nonsensically darted about the room, almost as if he were tracking something that no one else could see.
You glanced around to see if anyone else had picked up on the man’s odd behavior, but either no one noticed or they just didn't care because they were all dutifully facing the front of the room, fully focused on what Jack was saying.
“Dr Gideon escaped this morning after killing three people. He is armed and dangerous. He is believed to be at large.” Jack’s voice became muted as you gave up on keeping up with the briefing altogether in favor of scrutinizing Jack's prized consultant.
You knew that his name was Will Graham, that he was a special agent and he had a truly insane clearance rate, but anything else about the man was shrouded in mystery. Though, the lack of general knowledge about the man didn’t exactly stop the rumor mill from theorizing about his personal life, if anything it only encouraged the more chatty agents.
You took a peek at Jack to make sure that he was none the wiser to your distracted state before beginning to slowly move through the group of agents, working your way over to the fringes of the crowd and towards the wall that the man was inelegantly slouched against.
You earned a few nasty looks when you had to impatiently nudge at anyone who wasn’t shifting out of your way fast enough, and it wasn’t long before you had reached your destination.
You stopped about a foot away from Will, not wanting to make him feel cornered, but he didn’t seem to register your arrival, his eyes still wildly shooting around the room. You frowned, reaching out with the intention of maybe grabbing his shoulder or nudging him, but you hesitated halfway through the motion.
Your gaze briefly scanned over the other occupants in the room to make sure that everyone was still paying attention to Jack and was none the wiser to what you were up to, before you tried to get Will’s attention, whispering just loud enough for Will alone to hear. “Excuse me? Mr. Graham?”
The man still showed no signs of having heard you, his gaze still worryingly distant, and you watched the man tremble and mutter unintelligibly under his breath for a short moment before taking a deep breath and resolutely moving your hovering hand, closing the distance between the two of you and lightly resting your palm on his shoulder.
“Uh, Will? You’re Will, right?” You asked quietly as you squeezed the twitching muscles beneath your hand, trying to rub out some of the obvious tension there. Will violently flinched at the gentle pressure, causing your hand to slide a little further up than you had intended, your fingers brushing across the delicate skin of his neck.
Your eyes widened when you felt the sheer amount of heat exuding off the man, but you didn’t have a lot of time to linger on the fact that he was worryingly feverish because then Will was blinking rapidly, his hazy gaze clearing as his pale blue eyes darted over to you, settling somewhere near your forehead before darting away just as quickly.
“I- yeah. Yes. Did you need something?” He muttered as he removed his glasses and rubbed his hands over his damp face, sounding a bit dazed and confused, and you felt your gaze soften at the tangible exhaustion in his voice.
“Well, no, not really. I was just wondering if you were feeling okay? You don’t look too good.” You stated with a weak shrug, scrutinizing every little expression that passed over his face as you spoke. Now that you knew what to look for, it was glaringly apparent that he was horribly sick, if his flushed cheeks, copious amount of sweat, disorientation and fatigue were any indication.
"I'm fine." Will said unconvincingly, your lips pressing into a thin line as you watched him fumble with his jacket, trembling hands delving into one of the pockets and clumsily rummaging around for a few seconds before emerging with a bottle of what looked like over the counter pain medication.
The pills inside rattled as his shaking hands attempted to get the cap off, Will giving a low, frustrated curse that sounded a touch too desperate when he couldn't manage to successfully open the child lock.
After watching him needlessly struggle for a few seconds, you stepped closer, moving further into his personal space before reaching out to cover his unsteady hands with your own. Will froze, his eyes snapping up from your joined hands to your face, finally looking directly at you for the first time since you’d approached him.
You carefully coaxed his hands away from the stubborn bottle and twisted the cap open for him, tapping three of the chalky, white pills out into your palm before tipping them into the man’s unsteady hand. Will just stared down at the pills resting in the middle of his palm for a long moment, several different emotions flashing across his face so fast that you couldn’t keep up.
“Here. You look like you need it more than me.” You said, regaining his attention before you held your half full cup of coffee out to the man, assuming that the lack of something to wash the medication down with was what was causing the delay.
Will shoved the bottle back into his pocket before warily reaching out to take the offering, like if he moved too quickly, that the coffee cup would bite him or something. You couldn’t help the small smile that spread across your lips at the man’s odd behavior, Will pausing with the cup resting against his mouth when he noticed your amusement.
“What?” He asked a little defensively, but you didn’t take his tone to heart, merely shaking your head as he popped the pills into his mouth. The action was followed by a mouthful of the now cold coffee, the man grimacing as he swallowed before handing the cup back.
“Nothing.” You replied as you rested your back against the wall next to Will, your lips pursing when a thought that you couldn’t ignore came to mind. “You’re very sick. Any chance that you could take a day off to rest up?” You asked, thoroughly unsurprised when Will whipped his head around to shoot you an incredulous look in response.
“I wish.” Will grumbled bitterly as his features hardened into something alarmingly close to resentment, the venom dripping from his words catching you off guard.
“Yeah, I figured, but it was worth a shot.” You shrugged in easy agreement in an attempt to dissipate some of the tension that had descended over the two of you and you hid a smile behind your coffee cup when Will let out a breath as he realized that you were under no delusions about how fucking annoyingly stubborn Jack could get.
Nothing short of Will being on his deathbed would make Jack bench his best agent during such a high-profile case, no matter how ill Will was.
“Guess that means I’ll be seeing you around then?” You mused, the man looking startled by the question for a moment before his eyes narrowed, his calculating gaze scrutinizing you for what felt like forever, before he found whatever he had been looking for and the tight line of his shoulders eased.
“Yeah.” He replied as his shoulders slumped, like he was buckling under the weight of the world. You tilted your head at him, eyes flicking over his side profile before you offered him your coffee again. This time, the man didn’t hesitate to take it, sipping at the contents as you both watched Jack wrap up the briefing.
“Well, I look forward to working with you.” You stated with a genuine smile, pushing off the wall and letting him keep the rest of your coffee since you could just go get more whereas Will would most likely be at Jack's beck and call for the foreseeable future.
He looked a little lost for a moment, as if surprised by your kindness, before he pulled himself together enough to respond. “Likewise.”
You gave him an encouraging nod and a wide grin before turning on your heel, filling out of the room with the rest of the group once you were all dismissed in order to get back to your desk and go about your usual duties, completely unaware of the way that Will’s keen gaze followed you as you went, his hand clutched around the cup of coffee you gave him.
Another AU that I really like... Mob boss Loki and FBI agent Y/N
The FBI believes Loki and his gang are linked to child trafficking, so agents infiltrate his network and his home to find evidence. Y/N pretends to be a maid, wanting to go unnoticed.
But when Loki sees her for the first time, it's love at first sight. He falls madly in love, courts her and Y/N is a little under his charm too. Except that she doesn’t forget the mission and the accusations against him.
After a thorough investigation, the FBI discovers that yes, Loki sells weapons, drugs, he fights with other mob bosses, but he has nothing to do with the children. It’s one of his clients, Ego. Loki doesn't even know what he's doing. He wouldn't like it at all.
No need to watch Loki anymore, then all the agents are exfiltrated by making believe in their death in a terrible explosion.
Thinking that his dear Y/N has perished, Loki is heartbroken. Even though there is no body, he has a tombstone engraved for her and places flowers on it every day.
Later, at a reception where agents keep an eye on one of Ego's accomplices, The Collector, Y/N comes face to face with Loki, who is surprised, happy, until he realizes who she really is
Ashamed, because she knows what he did after his fake death, and she felt in love when learning he never did anything to kids, Y/N explains to him what happened, why she did this, but that she never wanted to hurt or manipulate him. Besides, she never used his feelings to obtain any information.
Even if he wants to believe her, Loki remains a mob boss, and Y/N an FBI agent... So can they really be together ?
Bring Your Kid To Work Day (BAU x Single Dad!Reader)
This turned out exceedingly long but I couldn't get the idea out of my head so I just had to write it out. I personally really wanna be a dad one day (with or without a partner) and seeing how the BAU parents handle their kids always warms my heart so much.
Wordcount: 5.4k
warning: kidnapping
Summery: Being a single dad is hard. Like really hard, and you thought that maybe bringing your son with you into work just once would be okay. Especially when his school was shut down but...
The blaring of the alarm woke you up from sweet elusive sleep.
You debated letting it ring but your arm went out to expertly turn it off.
7:09 A.M.
you wiped the sleep from your eyes and grabbed your phone from beside your alarm clock, being greeted by the single worst email you could have ever gotten. Your son's daycare was closed.
Your son attended a small local daycare, the entire facility had three teachers and two other employees, all off which —along with most of the kids as of recently— had come down with the flu. You sighed, discarding any thought of getting yourself ready before you found a solution to your childcare problem.
You had to be at Quantico in two hours and the drive alone took almost an hour.
You called every single babysitter you knew, you were desperate but none were able to come by on such short notice so for lack of a better option you got yourself ready as fast as you could and went to wake up your son for a trip to Quantico. You just hoped it wouldn't bite you in the ass.
When you finally walked through the glass doors of the BAU offices you were half an hour late and carrying a sleeping four year old on your hip along with a baby bag over your shoulder to go with your usual briefcase.
Your out of sorts appearance got the attention of your coworkers and while you tried to put everything away by your desk and balance your still sleeping son in your arms, Morgan came up to you.
"What's all this L/N?" He asked and you turned and smiled at him, a smile that looked more insane than kind.
"This, is my son who is still sleeping from the drive because his daycare is closed and I couldn't get a sitter in time" You said, an underlying warning tone to your words.
"What you forgot to book a sitter?" Reid asked from his place at his desk.
"I didn't forget, they just sent the email this morning. All three teachers came down with the flu... along with most of the class" You explained and Spencer scooted away from you and the sleeping boy in your arms.
"Calm down Reid, this kid's immune system is like something out of a comic book, he's fine." You said as the rest of your teammates came over to join the scene.
JJ along with Rossi coming to join the gaggle of profilers ignoring their work for the far more interesting show of their coworker with his son.
"Did you talk to Hotch about it? I mean, about him being here" JJ asked, pointing to the toddler in your arms and you nodded. As a fellow single parent Hotch understood enough to give you the okay to bring your son to work, after all it was supposed to just be a slow day to get paperwork done.
Just then he began to stir in your arms and you decided to sit down, adjusting the four year old so that he was sitting comfortably in your lap.
"Hey buddy, good morning" You said, moving some stray hair behind his ear so it wouldn't bother him.
The toddler didn't seem to enjoy being awake though, instead choosing to burrow his head into the crook of your neck, much to the amusement of the rest of the team.
"He's a cute little guy, I'll give you that" Rossi said and you chuckled. He really is.
"He is but he's also a menace once he really wakes up, I'm sorry ahead of time for that. He's a curious little thing and he still doesn't understand boundaries, like at all" You say, grimacing knowing in only a little bit you son would surely be running around trying to find everything he could play with in the bullpen.
Honestly the more you thought about it the worse of an idea bringing him to work was, not that you had much of a choice. It was that or take the day off and that wouldn't have been ideal either.
"Developmentally that's actually completely normal, kids can't actually conceptualize the concept of another person with no interest in them until they're a bit older—" Reid started to explain but Rossi cuts him off.
"You can take my office. That way the little sucker has a limited space to wreak havoc in" He said and you looked at him gratefully.
"You really don't have to do that" You said but he shook his head.
"Don't worry about it, it'll help all of us in the long run, just try not to let him trash the place" He said and you smiled.
"Thank you" You said and were about to transfer your files to his office when Morgan suddenly grabbed your baby bag and briefcase.
"Let me help" He said and you smiled again, thanking him and taking your still groggy toddler up the stairs and to Rossi's office.
About an hour later you went down to get yourself some coffee. It was the first time you left Rossi's office since you got settled and the italian man came up to you to see how everything was going. He'd moved his own paperwork to your desk in the meantime.
"How's the pipsqueak?" He asked and you smiled, pointing with your head to the office.
"He's great, drawing quietly on the floor— and don't worry if he gets crayons on your floor I'll clean it up" You hurried to say but Dave didn't look worried.
"Don't worry about it, are you managing to get anything done?" He asked.
"Yeah, he explored the office for a bit but now he's good. Thanks again by the way, it's a huge help" You said and Dave patted you on the back.
"That's good" He said but turned once he saw his office door open in his peripheral and you heard the soft pitter patter of small feet running down the stairs.
"Daddy! Daddy! Look what I drew!" Your son yelled as he ran into your legs and shoved a piece of paper into your hands.
"It's you and me in your office" He said, showing you the picture of a crudely drawn man and child holding hands in an office.
You bent down to look at the drawing at his level.
"That's wonderful sweetie but it's not my office, you see Mr. Rossi is letting me work in his office while you're here with me at work" You explained and pointed to Dave who gave a small wave at the boy.
"Hey buddy" He said and your son gave a small wave back.
The little guy's running got the attention of the rest of the team including one eccentric technical analyst.
"Well what do we have here?" Garcia asked as she along with Reid and JJ came up to the three of you.
"Aren't you a little cutie" Garcia said, kneeling down to pinch your son's cheeks.
"Guys, this is my son Danny, Danny these are my friends Ms. Garcia, Ms. Jereu and Doctor Reid, and of course Mr. Rossi whos letting us use his office" You said introducing the team to your son but also your son to your coworkers.
"You look a little old to be friends with my Dad" Danny told Rossi and the rest of the team that had gathered around burst out laughing.
"Danny! We don't say that. That's very rude" You scolded him but he looked confused.
"But he looks old, like grandpa" Danny said and you had to hold back from laughing because he had a point.
"Danny, those are the kinds of thoughts we keep inside our heads, not outside" You told him and he nodded. It was a conversation you'd had multiple times before and was easier for him to understand than social rules at this stage.
"Can you apologize to Mr. Rossi?" You asked and he did exactly that.
"I'm sorry" He said and Rossi smiled.
"It's fine kid, I am a relic of a better time" Rossi said humorously.
"Hey Danny do you wanna see something cool?" Garcia asked and that got the four year olds attention.
"Yeah!" He yelled and you were about to remind him to use his inside voice when instead Garcia took his hand and lead him to her famously cool batcave. But of course just as things were going fine the universe had to turn the tables.
"Guys, conference room now, we have a case" Hotch said, coming out of his office and you sighed.
The rest of the assembled team looked at you before heading to the conference room, leaving you alone with Rossi.
"Well that's just great" You said, massaging your temple.
"It'll be fine, we all understand if you stay back this time" Rossi said, walking with you to the round table room.
"I still feel bad about it" You said.
You were about to grab Hotch to tell him you'd do exactly what Rossi suggested when Reid came up to you. He hadn't actually entered the conference room yet and had heard your short conversation.
"You're gonna stay back?" He asked you.
"It's not like I have much of a choice, what am I gonna do? take him with us?" You asked and though it was rhetorical Reid answered.
"You could. You could stay at the local precinct and help me with the geographic profile" The younger man said.
"Reid, I can't just bring bring a four year old with me on a case" You tried to explain.
"But it's obvious you can work while he's around. Besides not having you there with us would throw off the entire balance of the team" To a point he was right. You'd been with the BAU for over a decade and in that time you'd only missed a small handful of cases (most of which because you were too sick to work). The team was used to relying on you.
"Besides most hotels have babysitting services and we'll be there to help you" He continued.
"I'm really not sure, it was enough of a stretch just to bring him here" You tried to say but Hotch came out to tell you both to join the team.
"Hotch—" You started to say but he cut you off.
"I heard part of the conversation, do whatever you feel comfortable doing but your input on this case would be invaluable. The decision is up to you but I'd appreciate it if you joined us for the briefing anyways" He said and you nodded.
"Okay, I'll just go get Danny set up" You said.
"Garcia already set him up with markers and coloring pages in Rossi's office" He said and you nodded, taking a deep breath you joined them for the briefing.
As soon as Hotch began introducing the case you realized why he said your input specifically would be useful. Someone was abducting parents in Seattle but had recently changed his MO and began abducting the kids with them and most recently, just a kid. Hence why the BAU were called in and Hotch was hoping to use your experience from the crimes against children unit to work the case. You'd worked in crimes against children for 6 years before joining the BAU and had the most experience working child abductions. If the unsub had started going after kids you were the the best person for the case. Except of course that you had your own child to worry about.
"Wheels up in 30" Hotch said as everyone dispersed and you went to tell him your decision.
"I'm going with you" You told him.
"And Danny?" He asked.
"If it's okay with you I'll bring him with me. He's a well behaved kid, he won't bother us, I promise" You explained and Hotch nodded.
"Okay" He said.
When you told Danny he would be coming with you he was over the moon. Of course he didn't really understand what you would be there to do but he was so excited he was jumping around Rossi's office.
"Do I get a badge like you do daddy?" He asked and you chuckled.
"Yeah, we can get you your own badge if you want but you have to be on your very best behavior okay buddy?" You asked and he nodded feverently.
"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!" He said.
He was so excited when he saw the jet and then even more so when you pulled a few strings to let him sit with the pilot in the cockpit (mostly so he wouldn't hear the team discuss the details of the case and their theories).
When you made it to the local precinct Danny was so tired from the six hour journey he couldn't walk on his own so you carried him in your arms. You could feel the strange looks of the local officers but you didn't care instead you found a small couch you could lay Danny on until he woke up.
"What's with the kid?" The detective in charge of the case asked Hotch.
"For agent L/N to be here he has to as well" Hotch said and the detective nodded, mostly because you were approaching and he didn't want to be rude and continue asking questions.
"Agent L/N, this is detective Alden, detective this is SSA Y/N L/N" Hotch introduced and you shook detective Alden's hand.
"It's nice to meet you" You said, the rest of the team were already divvying up the work with Reid starting a geographic profile, JJ and Morgan going to analyze the most recent crime scene and Rossi at the ME's looking at the the most recent body. This of course left you and hotch to interview the family of the most recent missing child.
"Do you uh— need anything for the kid?" Detective Alden asked.
"No thank you, Doctor Reid's keeping an eye on his as he's working while Agent Hotchner an I interview the family" You explained and the detective nodded.
"Right, well the most recent vic's parents are waiting in an interview room if you wanna talk to them" The detective said and pointed you in the direction of the room.
Spencer was so far into his mind he didn't even realize that Danny (whom was resting on a couch in the room with him) had woken up until he suddenly felt a pull at his tie.
Looking down, it was Danny. The little boy was wiping the sleep from his eyes as he started to speak.
"Where's my dad?" He asked. Spencer smiled and turned to give the boy his full attention.
"Your dad's working right now but he'll be back soon. Do you need something? Are you thirsty? Hungry?" He asked and Danny nodded.
"I want juice" He said and Spencer smiled, remembering you'd told him everything he'd need would be in the baby bag.
"Do you know in what pocket your dad keeps the juice?" Spencer asked but Danny shook his head.
"That's alright, we'll find it together" He said.
Once they did, spencer helped stick the straw into Danny's juice box and gave it to him along with some pretzels he found tucked away with other snacks in the same pocket.
"What were you doing?" Danny asked.
"Oh— I was creating geographic profile" Spencer answered and Danny tilted his head in confusion.
"What's that?" He asked.
"Well it's one of the things we do to find out more about the bad guy we're trying to catch" Spencer said, trying to keep it as kid friendly as possible.
"Are you trying to catch a bad guy now? Is that what my dad is doing?" Danny asked and Spencer nodded.
"Yeah, it's what all of us do" He said and that got Danny excited.
"Does that mean I get to help catch a bad guy?" The little boy asked and Spencer started to sweat, he didn't want to disappoint the boy by telling him was in fact not going to catch the bad guy but he didn't know what else to say. He wasn't going to lie.
"Well..."
"Reid!" Hotch called from outside the room and Spencer had never been happier to see what was going on.
"Just a moment Danny" He said and went to talk to his boss.
"Another body was just found behind the North Star diner on Greenwood Avenue" Hotch said.
"The most recent abductee?" Spencer asked.
"Local PD haven't ID'd him yet but it looks like it" Hotch answered.
"Greenwood is only 1.8 miles from here, it's way outside his comfort zone"
"I know, see if there's any connection between there and any of the other locations" Hotch instructed and Reid nodded, getting back to work.
"Dr. Reid, I'm bored" Danny said once he re-entered the room. For a second Reid completely forgot the four year old was even there.
"Don't you wanna draw?" Reid asked.
"Not anymore" The toddler said, shaking his head.
"I want my daddy" He said.
"Uh, well—" Almost as if on cue one of the rookie local officers came in with you and Danny ran into your leg. Meanwhile the rookie gave Reid some files Garcia had sent over.
"Daddy!" Danny said and you smiled, petting his head.
"Hey buddy, have you been good for Dr. Reid?" You asked and he nodded.
"But I'm really bored." Danny said.
"Well I have to work but maybe you and officer Parker can go to the library across the street? Get something to read?" You suggested. Officer Parker had brought in the parents of the most recent victim. She'd only been on the force for a week and you could tell she was a bit faint when it came to this case.
"Okay!" Danny said and went over to the rookie cop.
"Are you sure?" Officer Parker asked and you nodded.
"Call me if you need anything" You said, you trusted her enough to spend half an hour with Danny and the library was only a two minute walk from the station. Besides you had to go to the crime scene and Reid was obviously out of his depth trying to both work and entertain a four year old.
"Alright" She said and led Danny out of the precinct.
"You seem a lot calmer" Reid pointed out.
"we're getting closer to getting this guy and that means we can get back to D.C sooner" You admitted and he nodded.
When you got back from the crime scene you were able to finally give the profile.
The entire team along with most of the precinct were assembled and Morgan started you off.
"We believe our unsub is a white man in his late thirties to early forties with some kind of fantasy revolving around parenthood."
"He's moved on from kidnapping parents alone to parents along with their kids and most recently just the kid. This means his fantasy's evolving and with it his MO. The first victims were on their way to pick up their kids from school, then two parents out on a date, a family on an outing and most recently a child walking home from a friend's house." JJ continued.
"He holds his victims for up to three days before he kills them, we think this for them to participate in his fantasy" Hotch said.
"And when that doesn't work or they don't cooperate fully he kills them by slitting their throats" Rossi finished.
"This man is already looking for his next victim. following this evolving pattern he seems to have realized he can get what he wants best by abducting only the child so warn parents and schools and question any adult acting suspicious in areas with unsupervised children" You said.
"This unsub has left his comfort zone, perhaps because of police presence and is devolving. He's holding his victims for shorter periods and it is likely his kills will become more erratic." Reid said.
"It's imperative we catch him now before he has the chance to take another victim" Hotch added finally before dispersing the crowd of officers.
You checked your watch, it's been almost an hour since officer Parker left with Danny.
"Have you seen officer Parker?" You asked one of the officers close to you and he shook his head.
"Is everything alright?" Hotch asked.
"I told officer Parker to take Danny to a library across the street, she was getting too nervous to be of any help and Danny really wanted to go out and do something but they haven't gotten back yet and I haven't heard anything from Parker" You explained.
"She has your personal number?" Hotch asked and you nodded.
"Something's wrong, I told her to call if anything happens" You said.
"Go over there, make sure everything's okay, we'll call if anything's urgent" Hotch said and you nodded a thank you.
"I'll only be few minutes" You said and left, trying to tell yourself everything was fine.
Everything was in fact not okay and when you got to the library you saw a police radio on the ground along with a book.
"No, no, no, no" You muttered to yourself as you dialed Hotch as quick as you could.
"Agent Hotchner—" He said once he answered but you cut him off.
"They're gone" You said, panic in your voice.
"What?" Hotch asked.
"They're gone. There's a police radio and a book matching Danny's reading level on the ground but they're not here and— Hotch they're gone!" You said.
"We're on our way" He said. Within minutes the team as well as multiple officers were at the library. The scene was photographed and morgan and JJ went inside to see what could be seen on the security cameras.
Hotch was speaking with detective Alden since one of his officers had also disappeared and Reid and Rossi were trying to keep you calm and walk you through what you knew.
"Did you give them a time frame for when to come back?" Rossi asked and you shook your head.
"No, but I told them to go get something for him to read, it doesn't take long, it— they should have been back" You said and Reid gave you a cup of water to help you calm down.
"It'll be okay, we know he keeps them for up to three days, we'll find them Y/N" Rossi said, trying to comfort you.
"I thought it would be fine, it was only across the street and we're nowhere near his abduction comfort zone, I— I thought he'd be safe" You tried to say.
"I knew this was a bad idea, I should have stayed back, I could have helped you from Quantico, I—"
"Y/N it's not your fault. We'll find them and they'll be fine. JJ and Morgan are going through the security tapes now. If he took them from the street we'll find him" Reid said, putting a hand on your shoulder, something you knew was hard for him.
"I'm a terrible father" You murmured but Rossi heard you.
"You are not a terrible father. You did what you thought was best and as soon as you realized something was wrong you acted on your instincts. You did everything right" Rossi said but you shook your head.
"I brought my four year old to a city with a devolving sociopath kidnapping and murdering children" You replied.
"He has officer Parker with him, the unsub took both of them probably under the assumption that Parker was his mother" Rossi reminded you.
"Yeah, Danny has her until our unsub realizes she isn't his mom and he kills her because she doesn't fit into his delusion." You reminded him back but you didn't have any more time to argue or spiral into your fears because Morgan and JJ came back out of the library with a photo.
"We found him" Morgan announced and you ran over to him.
"Garcia's running his image through facial recognition but this is him, there was clear footage of him using a knife to Danny to force Parker to put down her radio and follow him." JJ said but she saw this wasn't calming your nerves.
"We'll find them Y/N" She said and you nodded, you had to believe her because the other option wasn't something you could even bring yourself to imagine.
Danny sat, huddled into himself in the corner of a dark room. He wanted to scream when he felt the strange man's hands around him in front of the library but his mouth was covered by the man's hand. Now all he could do was cry, hoping you'd come to save him.
"I want my daddy" He cried when officer Parker—whose name he found out was Jenny— woke up. The strange man had knocked her out with the back of the knife once he had her in the back of the car.
"I know, we'll get out of here and he'll find us. Don't worry Danny" She said and Danny nodded. He didn't have any other choice, his young brain couldn't comprehend the alternative.
Soon the door to the small room they were both locked in opened and a man came in. He was pushing 40, with a receding hairline and a salt and pepper beard.
"Hey there little guy, how are you feeling?" The man asked but Danny just cowered into the corner.
"Don't be scared, look what I brought you" He said, pulling out a teddy bear.
"Isn't it nice what daddy brought you?" He asked, crouching down to Danny's height to give him the toy.
"You're not my daddy" Danny said quietly and that seemed to upset the man.
"You shouldn't say things like that, that's very mean. You should say you're sorry" He said, slowly standing up to tower over the young boy.
"I, I— I want my daddy" Danny cried and the unsub gritted his teeth.
"Don't you dare touch him" Jenny said, pulling together all her courage.
"Oh, is mommy getting protective?" The unsub asked, stalking towards where Jenny was laying, hands tied behind her back.
"I'm not— Just don't touch him. You are in so much more trouble than you know asshole. His dad's an FBI agent and when he finds out you took his son—"
"I'm his dad! I am! And if you're not his mother you're not of any use to me" He said, taking a knife out of his pocket.
The last thing Jenny heard was Danny's screams.
An hour later Jenny's body was discovered at a public parking lot at 63rd avenue. Her throat had been slit.
By then Garcia had found a match for the unsub.
The man who took Danny was one Edward Pugh, a 43 year old now single white man. He worked as a part time security guard and was living out of his late mother's old house on 39th avenue in Wedgewood. It was close enough that he could easily drive between his home (which was most likely the secondary location), the abduction sits and the dumpsites. As soon as you had his address everyone was getting ready to head there. You included. You strapped yourself tightly into your bullet proof vest and made sure your gun was loaded.
"Are you sure you want to be there?" Rossi asked and you resolutely nodded.
"There is no way in hell I'm not the first person my son sees once he's out of this mess" You said.
"But Rossi, I want you to lead the negotiation. Everything about this guy tells us he's not going to just give Danny up so, I want you to be the one who talks him down" You said and Rossi nodded.
"Of course, I'll tell Hotch" He said.
When you arrived outside the house the local PD already had the place surrounded within minutes Morgan was kicking down the door and you were faced with the most horrifying sight you've seen on the job.
Edward Pugh held Danny in his grasp, a knife to his neck as he backed into a corner.
"Don't move!" He yelled.
"Don't move or I'll kill him! I'll do it! Don't make me!" He said and you could see the fear in Danny's eyes.
"Daddy" He called and you could see Edward's hold on him tighten.
"Shut up!" He yelled at the boy.
Rossi came up, his gun lowered even as everyone else kept Edward in shooting range.
"Edward, put the knife down" Rossi said slowly.
"No. No. You're going to take him away" Edward said and you had to bite your tongue to stop yourself from speaking. He was right, you were going to take your son back.
"You care about him, don't you? You don't wanna hurt him" Rossi continued and Edward nodded.
"He's my son" Edward said. "But I will hurt him if you don't leave us alone"
"Edward, we just want the boy to be safe. Put the knife down and we can talk—"
"No!" He yelled and you could see blood start to drip down Danny's throat.
"You're hurting him Edward. Put the knife down." You said, repeating Rossi's words.
"We won't take him. We just don't want anyone to get hurt. Okay, put the knife down, he'll stay with you just, put the knife down Edward" Rossi said and slowly he did so, though he still had his arm wrapped around Danny's shoulders.
You took a big breath of relief, at least there wasn't a knife held to his throat anymore.
"Daddy, please help me" Danny said, his big eyes watering as he looked at you and you smiled at your son.
"It'll be okay sweetheart. Just do what he says, you'll be okay" You told him. Making sure not to acknowledge his words, knowing it would only enrage Edward.
"You're doing this because you wanna prove you're a good father right?" Rossi asked and Edward nodded.
Garcia had told you all that Edward's wife had divorced him a few years back and right before the killings began she got full custody of their son.
"The thing is Edward, you have to prove that with your own kid. You can't prove you're a good father by taking someone else's child. This won't prove to your wife that you can be a father and it definitely won't prove it to the court" Rossi explained.
"Let the child go Edward. Let him go back to his father" Morgan said. carefully lowering his gun as did the rest of you.
"You did good Edward. Cooperate and that just might change your wife's mind" Rossi said and slowly Edward's arms fell from around Danny's shoulders.
You quickly holstered your gun and dropped to your knees, arms wide open allowing Danny to run into your embrace.
"Daddy!" He cried, all the fear and pain coming out in sobs. You heard Morgan cuff Edward and the police take him away but your focus was entirely on your son.
You pet his head and back, kissing his cheeks and whispering comforting words until he slowly calmed down enough for you to take him to the medics.
He refused to let go of you, something you very well expected along with the sudden shyness and anxiety around anyone he didn't know. Surprisingly enough when Reid came to check on you both he ran into his arms and hid his head in the crook of his neck, just like he did with you. It seemed the time they spent together in the precinct firmly situated Reid as someone safe.
Once Danny was cleared by the medics you took him back to the precinct sitting with him, playing with some of the toys you kept in his baby bag.
"Y/N" Hotch said, coming into the room and getting both your and Danny's attention. Danny scooted closer to you but didn't do anything else as you stood up to meet your boss eye to eye.
Hotch tilted his head towards the door, he wanted to talk outside but as you were about to follow him out Danny grabbed your pant leg.
"No! Don't go!" He cried and you had to steel your face so you wouldn't begin to sob all over again.
"Don't worry buddy, I'll be right outside" You tried to explain but he wasn't having it.
"No! No! don't go!" He cried and you sighed taking him into your arms to try to calm him down.
"Is it urgent?" You asked but Hotch, somewhat surprisingly shook his head.
"We'll talk about it on the jet" He said and you smiled thankfully.
He understood. So did the rest of the team when you began taking more days off, sometimes because like before childcare plans fell through and sometimes simply because you needed time with your son. But either way they understood.
