Next of Kin (Chapter One)
Word Count: 1.2k
Warnings: Spencer/ fem!Reader, pre season one, Gideon!Reader
Tags: None (If you wanna be tagged in the next one fill out my tag list form here!)
A/N: My first Spencer Reid fic! This is shamelessly inspired by @thyme-in-a-bubble‘s fic Snowdrop! (You should totally go read that one first!) I loved it so much I decided to write my own fic based off the Gideon!Daughter concept! I hope you have as much fun reading this as I did writing it! Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated! 💜
This was not the first time you had seen him. Nor was it the second, or even the third. And at this point, you started to think maybe it wasn’t just a coincidence that he continued to pop up in your life. The first time, you had been at the library. You were there looking for a book that piqued your interest while taking inventory at your part time job at the bookstore down the street. As you scanned the shelves searching for the title, you rounded the corner and to your surprise slammed right into the slender, yet solid, mass of another person just on the other side of the aisle.
“Oh, my apologies..” You didn’t look up as you spoke, instead deciding to fixate on the pair of black converse sat parallel to your own feet as you collected your frazzled thoughts. “I was so focused, I wasn’t looking where I was going and-”
“No, no you’re fine, it’s my fault for lingering so close to the corner..” His voice was soft, almost melodic in tone. “Are you okay? You took quite the hit there.” He quipped, slightly sarcastically as he let out a soft scoff-like chuckle.
You nodded, finally glancing up and pulling your eyes away from the twists and turns of his laces, yet still avoiding eye-contact. “I’m fine.. Thanks. Excuse me.”
As you move to walk past him, that’s when your eyes fail you. Just before your shoulders brush, in that split second, your eyes make contact with the most mesmerizing chocolate brown orbs you’d ever seen. He was staring back at you, his eyes emanating concern while his expression was pulled into a tight-lipped smile. You gave a polite nod as you made your way further down the aisle and refocused on your objective, continuing your search. That was the first time you saw him.
“Dad, it's been six months.. I’m not saying you need to rush it, but... Don’t you think it’s time to get back out there?” You smiled softly as you heard the hard sigh on the other end of the phone.
“They don’t want me back out on the field yet. Besides, I’m perfectly content here at the academy giving lectures instead. Plus I have plenty of downtime to spend bird watching.” There was sincerity in his tone, sure. But that wasn’t the whole truth. You knew he missed being out there in the field. Helping catch the bad guys, saving the victims. That was who Jason Gideon was. It had been six months and three days since the accident that put him out of work with the Behavioral Analysis Unit. Six months and three days since the bomb that killed six of your dad’s agents; which resulted in him taking medical leave, staying out of the field, and only being consulted by the team when they needed an extra opinion. He hadn’t talked much about the team since that day. You knew at least two agents remained from his former team— one of whom you had met before, years ago. Aaron Hotchner. Most of the team called him Hotch for short. From what you could gather of the limited information your dad gave you these days, it seemed that they had put Hotch in an interim unit chief position while your dad recovered. Beyond that, you didn’t know much about the BAU anymore.
“If you say so, dad. Sure, it’s nice to be able to have you over for dinner more. I’m just saying, you’ve been with the BAU for over 30 years. It’s a part of you at this point. You can only stay away so long before it starts to eat at you.” His silence on the other end, proved he knew you were right. “Just promise you’ll think about it? Consider talking to the director soon?” He hummed in agreement before responding.
“I’ll think about it. Now I gotta go. I have a lecture in the morning, and I’m going to be telling them about my experience with the footpath killer.” You chuckled to yourself.
“Cause that one never gets old...” Your tone dripped with sarcasm. “I’ll talk to you later, dad. I love you.” Even though you couldn’t see each other, you could hear the smile in his voice.
“I love you too honey. Talk to you again soon. We’ll do dinner together this weekend at your apartment.”
“Only if you’re cooking! Bye dad.” You said with a grin before ending the call.
The second time, you were on your way to work when you decided you might as well get some coffee to get you through the eight hour shift ahead of you. The jingle of the bell rang in your ears as you swung the door open and that's when you saw him, standing at the counter, fidgeting with his hands as the barista took his order. You froze in your tracks as you watched him finish his transaction, completing his order and smiling softly at the barista as he handed her his card. You glanced down at your watch and realized that you were already behind schedule as it was, and any potential (and inevitably awkward) social interaction would just delay you even further. So with that, before he could turn around, you spun on your heels and walked right back out the door, settling your mind on the mediocre breakroom coffee that awaited you at the shop. That was the second time you had seen him.
The third encounter, you had just finished ordering at your favorite Thai restaurant, thankful they were still open after your long closing shift at the bookstore. Exhausted and hungry, you were ready to get your food and get home. You smiled at the waiter as she took your menu and moved to the next table. But that smile quickly dropped as the man at the table behind you spoke his order.
“I think I’ll have the same thing she’s having. Yeah, thank you so much.” You glanced behind you, to see those same brown eyes meeting yours, gleaming in recognition and smiling softly back at you. A low chuckle emitted from your chest as he gave you a small wave and you fully turned to look at him. He acknowledged you. There was no backing out of this one. You might as well embrace it.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t library boy! Ya know, if I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were following me.”
His mouth fell open as he looked at you. “Following you? No, I‐ You know, statistically it’s pretty common to run into the same person more than once, especially if you live in the same city, more common than you’d think actually, and given the population size of this city the probability of us running into each other is roughly 1 in‐”
“Relax Einstein, I was just joking.” You let out another chuckle as you watched his face relax. “I’m y/n. What do they call you, brainiac?”
“I’m Do‐… Spencer. You can call me Spencer.”
Nodding in acknowledgement, you smiled just as your food was placed in front of you already boxed up, bagged and ready to go. You stood from where you were sitting and gathered your food. “Well it’s nice to formally meet you Spencer. I’m sure this won’t be the last time we see each other.” You pulled out cash to leave a tip on the table before moving to pay at the counter on your way out the door. That was the last time you saw him. Until today.