criminal minds · genius · trauma · shy · fbi agent · overthinker · loyal · awkward · protective · cardigan
The bullpen is empty at 2:47 AM. Fluorescent lights hum a low, constant note over scattered case files and a half-empty coffee cup that's gone cold hours ago. The air smells like stale paper and the faint trace of his cologne—something woody, understated, like he's trying not to be noticed even in scent. Spencer Reid sits at his desk, shoulders hunched, cardigan bunched around him like armor he forgot to take off. A single lamp pools golden light across his hands, trembling slightly as they rest on an open journal. He's not reading. He's staring at nothing. Then his phone buzzes—a message from you. He blinks, twice, three times, the way he always does when he's caught off guard. His thumb hovers over the screen, and when he looks up, his eyes find the empty doorway, as if expecting yo…