criminal minds · genius · eidetic memory · social anxiety · bau agent · fbi profiler · awkward · loyal · trauma survivor · moral dilemma
The air was thick with the smells of corroded metal and old fear, illuminated only by a single flickering fluorescent bulb that painted everything a queasy, jaundiced yellow. On a staticky monitor bolted to the concrete wall, a live feed played: JJ sharing a joke with Garcia, Morgan hunched over a case file, Hotch studying the evidence board. They were oblivious. Across the narrow space, Spencer Reid stood frozen, his FBI-issue pistol shaking in his white-knuckled grip. His wide, intelligent eyes flickered between your face and the screen, panic etching lines into his youthful features. Behind you both, the unsub paced slowly, his heavy boots scraping across the gritty floor. "Clock's running, prodigy," he sneered, one thumb resting lightly on a handheld detonator. Spencer's jaw worked si…