Plot Twist (Ep. 3)
Summary: Life was full of plot twists. You start off with a dream of making a difference in the world, becoming an Avenger. You turn away within arm's reach of your lifelong dream, spurred by the disappointing truth you discovered and deciding to choose a different path. Fate brings you back unexpectedly when the Avengers take a special interest in a powered unsub the BAU is chasing.
Fandoms: Avengers, Marvel, Criminal Minds
Pairings: Steve Rogers x BAU!Reader (primary), Spencer Reid x BAU!Reader (previous, secondary)
Word Count: 1.8K
Warnings: 18+ EVENTUAL SMUT. MATURE THEMES. slow burn, enemies to lovers, canon level violence, explicit descriptions of violence and murder, serial killers, strong language, Steve is still an ass and will still be for a while, some angst and hard truths
A/N: I couldn't resist not posting it already. I personally love this chapter.
No permission is granted to repost, steal, or translate my work. Not even a credit makes it okay. Tumblr is the only place I post my writing. If you see it anywhere else please report it.
Series Masterlist | Full Masterlist
Episode 3:
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It's dangerous to think of yourself as a hero and someone else as a villain. It gets in the way of empathy. - Megan Ganz
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You abandoned your stare down with Steve in favor of jumping back into the case with cold professionalism. Whatever his issues were with your team, that would have to wait. Saving people’s lives took precedence and you already lost another one to this maniac. You divided up the tasks as soon as Garcia said that another body had been found.
Morgan would go with you to the crime scene along with Steve and Sam. Reid, Garcia, Bucky, and Nat would stay to go over the information of the new victim. You needed to find the motivation and victim criteria that tied them all together in order to catch this unsub. Thankfully Steve and Sam took a separate car and you were able to use the time apart to calm the urge to shoot the Captain in the face. He’s been unnecessarily rude since you all arrived and you suspected that there had to be something more to it, but that will have to be a problem for later.
Getting out of the car, you promptly showed your credentials to the police officers manning the barricade. He nodded at you and Morgan, but you saw the scowl that settled on his face at the sight of the Avengers with you. You shared a knowing look with Morgan as you made your way to the body that was farther inside the alley.
“Not used to people looking at you guys with anything less than gratitude and adoration?” you smirked at Sam, who was looking like he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Sam was a decent guy as far as you could tell and you chose to not give him too hard of a time, but he needed to hear the truth. “The Avengers have saved the world more times than should even be necessary, but it’s always us downstairs who have to deal with the aftermath.”
“What do you mean?” he asked, halting his steps. You stopped too and faced him, a small sad smile on your lips.
“What do you think happens after you destroy a city protecting our sovereignty, Sam?”
Sam looked at you with confusion, obviously he’s never thought about it and why would he? Why would any of them? They would be exhausted, injured, dealing with their own version of paperwork, or already moving on to the next big fight. And the fights were always big. Those trivial things were below them and that was exactly why the rest of the justice system hated them.
“Crime rates triple afterwards, Sam. Riots, arson, robberies, murder. You name it. The moment right after you send packing the villain of the week is when that place is the most vulnerable,” you said, purposely making your tone more gentle. You weren’t saying this to hurt him. “Every single cop, firefighter, paramedic, and volunteer is out there dealing with the damage and helping anyone who got caught in the crossfire. Perfect opportunity to rape and shoot up your neighbor.”
“I had no idea,” he mumbled, looking horrified and conflicted at the same time.
“How would you? None of you ever stick around long enough to see it.” You continued walking again and felt the need to somehow comfort him a little. “Don’t worry, Sam. Nobody actually blames you for it. We’re grateful for what you do really. It just gets hard when we’re trying to pick up the pieces after.”
He nodded at you, but you could see on his face that it clearly bothered him. You felt a tinge of guilt for bursting his bubble, but that was reality. Reality wasn’t pretty and the harshness of it was written all over Steve’s face when he physically recoiled after one glimpse of the dead body. Sam quickly followed suit, shaking his head vigorously as if it would erase the image in his mind. Morgan scoffed and you shrugged as you approached with your demeanor unflinching, crouching down to have a closer look.
“Looks like it’s the same MO. Multiple stab wounds definitely, but we’ll need to wait for the ME report to get more detail,” you said as you pulled out the disposable gloves that you always had in your jacket pocket.
You turned the victim's arm slightly to see better the words carved there. Steve watched a good distance away, his stomach churning but still feeling in awe at how calm you were faced with this gruesome scene. It was a wonder to him how you and Morgan were unbothered as you assessed the body and shared observations. How could you not even flinch? He didn’t know that you had seen far worse.
“Ante-mortem,” Morgan said, referring to the words on the victim’s arm.
“Victim was still alive when he did it,” you nodded. “Same as the others.”
“It’s left almost out in the open this time. They had to practically tape off the entire block,” Morgan said as he looked around the area. “The chef in the bakery upfront saw the body when he was throwing out the garbage.”
“He’s definitely gotten more brazen. He’s dumping them in broad daylight now and his cooling period has gotten shorter. Probably because we disrupted his last one. I’m willing to bet that he’s already hunting someone else right now,” you agreed, but your frown was deepening as you thought. “But why New York? Why now?”
“I don’t know, but it’s lucky we were already here,” he muttered before turning toward the cops to get more information.
Was it? Was it really luck?
The gears in your mind were turning and trying to grasp at a vague idea. Something was off. Something in your gut was warning you. You chewed on your lower lip as you went to where the two soldiers were, a habit that Steve remembered you always did when you were deep in thought and you were feeling unsure.
“Is it him?” Sam asked.
“No doubt it’s him. The signature looks to be an exact match, but we have a problem.”
“What is it?”
You whipped your phone out and sent a quick text to Garcia. They would need to get a headstart. This victim had thrown the profile out the window. They needed to find that connection now more than ever.
“The victim is male.”
“How does that make a difference?” Steve asked, clearly still uncomfortable with how near they were to an actual dead body.
“It makes all the difference, Cap. Once an unsub crosses gender lines that means it’s really the motivation to his killings that’s the key to finding him. There’s a very specific reason why he’s killing. His victims and locations are already all over the place,” you explained.
“It makes things more complicated.”
You were surprised that there was no trace of aggression in his voice this time. He wasn’t rudely questioning your findings. It sounded almost like he was agreeing with you. I guess a dead body was what he needed to sober him up to not be a douche.
“Morgan’s going to go to the precinct to talk more to the local PD and put a rush on the ME report. I need to go back to the Compound and hash this out with my team.”
“I’d like to stay and help Morgan if that’s okay with you,” Sam volunteered to your surprise. There was a determined set to his chin, the kind that said he wanted to do more this time. He wanted to do better.
You smiled and nodded at him, no longer feeling guilty about your earlier words to him. This meant though that you were stuck with Steve. The car ride back to the Compound was awkward to say the least, only momentarily broken when you made a stop to buy food for everyone.
“How do you do it?” Your eyebrow rose as you continued to drive, taken aback that he would choose to break the ice with this question. “How do you deal with this as your job?”
The Avengers have faced plenty of horrors in their line of work, but the ones that you faced were different. It wasn’t that one was more horrific than the other, it was just different. It was unsettling because this was everyday life that was disrupted. It was disturbing because a big part of your job revolved around victims and not just the bad guy. This was someone’s parent, sibling, child. This was a life taken too soon by someone who saw no value in it, perhaps even took joy in taking it. This feels more personal and a little too close to home.
“I threw up and cried a little when I saw my first body. All things considered, you and Sam did much better than I did,” you said with a dark chuckle, choosing humor to lighten the somber mood that was suffocating the car.
“I can’t imagine what you’ve seen. I don’t even want to,” he gulped, his throat suddenly feeling tight. “How do you go to work everyday knowing that’s what you’re going to see?”
You chewed on your lip again, trying to decide between honesty and a sarcastic quip. You sighed, your grip on the steering wheel relaxing a bit. “There are good days too, Cap. There are days that we save a victim just before it’s too late. There are days that we get to return a child to his parents. There are days we get to give justice to people who were too scared to trust authorities at first. There are days that we get to tell victims that they’re safe now.”
He watched you as you spoke, taking in the subtle changes in your expression. There was a warmth in your voice as you told him about the good parts of your job. There was happiness and contentment in your eyes, haunted as they were by all that you’ve seen. There was pride there too and he thought that you rightly should be.
But still he couldn't have you on this case.
"I still think you shouldn't take this case."
You almost choked at how hard you snorted. You really thought for a moment that you were maybe getting into more civil terms with the Avenger. You shook your head as the laughter bubbled in your chest, starting from a soft breathy giggle until it was a full loud laugh that had you slapping at the steering wheel. Steve was looking at you like you had completely lost your mind.
"What's so funny, agent?"
You took a few deep breaths to calm yourself, but the smile was still wide and bright on your face as you turned to him. Your eyes were dancing with a cheeky mirth that he both found attractive and threatening at the same time.
"Nothing. I just finally confirmed something I've been wondering about for a long time."
"What's that?"
"That your shield comes with a stick up your ass."
The dark murderous look on his face only made you burst into laughter again. The clenching of his jaw, the tight furrow of his brow, and the deep scowl on his face was only proving your point. The wild grin on yours further infuriated him.
"Loosen up, Cap. You're going to swallow the stick whole with the way you're clenching."
