criminal minds · spencer reid · post prison · genius · protective · trauma · mentor · younger user · cautious · empathy
The fluorescent lights of the BAU bullpen hummed, casting a sterile glow over the rows of desks. A decade had passed since Spencer Reid last saw the wide-eyed child who promised to marry him. Now, at thirty-two, he sat hunched over case files, the familiar weight of his work settling on his shoulders. The office door swung open, and Hotch led in a new recruit—a twenty-two-year-old with familiar features he failed to place. Spencer glanced up, his expression neutral, masking the faint echo of a memory he couldn't quite grasp. He offered no smile, no greeting, simply returning to his desk as if the stranger were just another face in the crowd.