#baureader

You look around, and you notice that you’re tied to a chair, in the middle of a cold, dark basement with strange drawings on the walls.

“Where the fuck am I?!” You snarl into the dark basement.

You hear a high pitched child-like voice say from behind you, 

“Just where I want you to be my love~.”

It was horrifying. You feel a shiver run down your spine as you feel the cold press of a blade on the base of your neck.

“I bet all your friends are looking for you, hmm agent? I bet they care about you so much.” It taunts.

You stumble across the courage to say, “They’re fast.”

It laughs while carefully caressing the knife over your face, lurking over you like a leech. You wait in agony as it teases you with the tip of the blade. 

Finally, walking in front of you. You see that it's a man, a full-grown man. Disheveled and disgusting. He has brown shaggy hair that hangs in greasy loops over his face. His skin looks rough and scarred. His eyes are staring maniacally into yours. Just by looking at him, you get the feeling you get when you see something you weren’t supposed to. He didn’t look right or sound right.

“What? You don’t like what you see?” he pouts while kneeling in front of you. You can’t shake the dread you feel hearing his voice. It’s so young. So child-like and sort of off. You don’t say a word. His face contorts into a smile.

“Well, soon enough you will.” 

He walks over to the corner and returns with a camera. He sets it up facing you. He turns it on. Waving at the camera with a wide infantile grin, he walks over to you.

The BAU

“I don't know what to do! Did anybody get any information about where she was going?” Penelope urged. Everyone was crowded in her office, scanning the monitors for any information that would lead to you. Spencer was the first to speak while he was pacing around the room,

“No- why didn’t she tell any of us! She should’ve known to tell us. God, why didn't she think!"

He sounds angry to the normal person, but to the rest of the team they know he’s desperately worried.

“Wait! Did you check his laptop? Like everything on it, what he was doing, stuff like that.” Spencer rushes over and questions Garcia. 

She quickly chimes back, “Obviously! Wait- oh my god. There was a page I didn’t open. You know how his parents told us he used to stream online? Maybe he still does.” 

Everyone is now huddled against Penelope.

“Oh my god.” Emily mutters. He was streaming. You were on the stream, sitting in a dimly lit basement with drawings of animals and candy all over the walls. A tall man standing behind you combing your hair, with a knife.

“Oh my god that piece of shit. Penelope can you track this? Please. Do it. Now.” Spencer hisses. He’s never normally like this. But with you in danger, something about him is feral. 

Penelope gets a little startled at his harsh tone but nevertheless stabs back with, 

“On it. Looking looking looking…..Got it! 2734 linktin ave.”

Spencer almost runs out the door. The team follows behind him but his urgency alarms them all slightly. 

Basement

You suddenly start to cry. You keep telling yourself that the team is coming and that they’ll find you. But you can’t lie that you’re losing hope. Fast. The man sets out some surgical tools on the floor and leans into your face. With a box cutter in hand, he grabs your wrist with a fierce grip and starts slowly dragging the knife into your hand, leaving you writhing in pain. You try your best not to show any emotion, hoping that maybe he’d stop. But to no avail. With a scoop of his finger, he takes your blood and asks you one simple question, “What do you wanna be?”

You wail, “What do you mean?!! What do you want!?”

“Hmm… I guess i'll decide for you!” he smiles and begins to dig his fingers into your wound, takes out the blood and begins to draw on your face, slowly with excruciatingly careful strokes he drips the warm blood over your skin. You shutter and cry when suddenly he screams,

“STOP CRYING! You stupid BITCH! YOU’RE RUINING MY MASTERPIECE!”

You wail in pain as he digs the knife into your hand, drawing agonizing lines once, another time, and another. Each time drawing more and more on your face and down your neck. He begins to pull on your lips, mimicking a smile- then quickly pulling them down into a frown. All while smiling.

The BAU

Spencer was pushing on the gas, speeding to get to you. In his mind, he kept thinking of your smile, your kind eyes, and all the things he loves about you. He hasn’t told you that he loves you yet, and he started to regret that decision as your absence progressed. He swerves into the man's driveway and immediately gets out running into the house. The door is locked. With a steady kick to the door, it swung sporadically open. He starts stalking inside, gun drawn. The team quickly rushes in behind him.

“Wait reid!” Derek insists. 

Spencer isn’t phased and opens every single door until he finds the basement. The basement door which was once locked, now lay battered and broken clinging to its hinges. The team quickly hurry down the steps yelling, “FBI DROP YOUR WEAPON AND PUT YOUR HANDS UP!”

The man quickly holds the knife up to your neck, taunting the team with his threat.

“Don’t you dare touch her. Put your hands up and drop the knife. Now.” Spencer snaps at the man. The man laughs, and then, in an instant, a gunshot rings throughout your ears. You feel the grip on your neck start to falter, and you hear the man's body thump on the cold ground behind you. The team's eyes beam towards Spencer and his gun. 

Spencer and Emily quickly undo your restraints, and as you try to get up, your legs wobble and Spencer catches you in his arms. 

“You’re safe now, let's get you to the doctor.” 

“Wait- let me see my face-.” 

Spencer nods and lifts you up, taking you to a mirror. You look in the mirror, horrified. You finally understand what the man meant by ’what do you want to be’. He was doing face paint. There were long thin lines that resembled grotesque clown lips and nose, eye liner, blush, and detailed lines. How could he have done this? With blood and a blade. It was brutal. You begin to sob at your reflection.

Up in the driveway you’re greeted by paramedics who cater to your wounds and sit you down in the ambulance. Once you’re all patched up, Spencer walks over to you, wrapping you in a blanket and sitting beside you.

“I’m so sorry.” He mutters.

Due to the loss of blood which was getting fixed by the iv in your arm, you felt hazy.

“It-’ts okay.” you mumble.

“you're safe.” 

“mhm-mm” You hum while leaning your head down on his shoulder. You were too tired to understand any of his words.

“I love you. And I'm sorry I didn't tell you before.”

“M-mn yea.” you mumble.

"Hey Aaron is everything alright? you don't normally call out of nowhere.” you say, a little more excited than you should've. 

"Yeah Y/n everything is fine except one of our teammates got injured in the field and is currently in the Hospital. I was wondering if you could fill in for her? That is, if you’re not too busy.” He says in a timid voice. 

“I would love to fill in, how is your teammate? Is she alright?” you respond. 

“She’s in stable condition as of now. Her name is Agent Jareau. You were also wondering if you could come in today. You already knew where the office is.” he replies. 

“Of course, I'm on my way.”you say before hanging up and almost running to grab your keys. 

In the car you're starting to get nervous. Are they gonna like you? Well, they don’t even know you, and you're filling in for their hurt friend. You wouldn't exactly be chipper to meet you if you were them. 

Arriving at the office, you're met with an elevator with a lot of floors.

“Shit”, you mumble under your breath. You pull out my phone and send a quick text to Aaron saying,

“Which floor is it again? So confused.”

he responds saying, “6th.”

You press the button and hope that you make a good impression. 

You walk in and meet a very nice woman with colorful clothes you learn whose name is Penelope Garcia. She walks you to Aarons office but she calls him Hotch. You guess now you would have to as well.

“Y/n!” Aaron said brightly “It's great to see you, I see you’ve already met Penelope” he added gesturing to Penelope who was peeking through the doorway.

“It's great to see you too Hotch, thank you for this opportunity!” you say with as much pep as you can muster.

 “Let me call a briefing,” he said with a stern tone. 

“Sure, just let me put my things away.” you say having no idea where to put them. 

“I'll show you where you can” Penelope squeaks from the doorway.

“That would be great thanks!” 

After putting my things down and chatting with Penelope, she leads me to the briefing room. You walk in and are instantly met with eyes all over you. 

Hotch begins, “Team, this is Y/n L/n and she is filling in for JJ.”

“Hi everyone” you say with a meek voice.

“These are agents Derek Morgan, Emily Prentiss, and Dr. Spencer reid.” Hotch continues as you shake everyone's hands, everyone except for the Doctor. Everybody sort of stares at you and snickers as you look like an idiot holding your hand out in front of him. 

“He doesn't shake hands,” Hotch says.

“Oh I'm sorry,” you say quickly. 

“No worries,” Spencer says.

You take my seat wondering about the Doctor but, you don’t have much time to think as the briefing starts. Penelope starts with the briefing and you're listening intently.

 After Penelope is finished, Emily says, “I get he's lighting them on fire but, how are the flames green in the picture, is it a glitch”?

 you hear Spencer start to explain but you quickly say back,

“You can make green fire by mixing together borax or boric acid with methanol to make green flames, and its copper compounds that make flames green, sodium compounds that make them yellow, and calcium compounds that make them orange. Or this guy could have sprinkled some chemicals onto the fire to make it green.”

Everybody looks at you like you're insane. You fucked up didnt you? Spencer especially looks at me intensely. 

“What?” you say confused.

“Thanks,” Prentiss says, sounding surprised.

After the briefing is done and my embarrassing moment is hopefully a far away memory, you go to collect you're things when Hotch says  “Wheels up in 30.”

You Walk over to my desk you were recently given to pick up your things, when somebody approaches. 

“How’d you know all that stuff?” Spencer asks, taking you by surprise. 

“Oh uh about the fire? I read about it a while ago.” 

He smiles subtly and responds with a soft, “Me too.”

After you take your seat on the plane, you feel like you screwed up your first day, that you haven’t even finished. 

Someone sits down next to you to your shock and a little discomfort. It’s Spencer, which makes me extra shocked. 

“Do you mind if I sit here?” He asks softly while avoiding eye contact.

You can’t help but hear Morgan and Prentiss stifle their giggles. 

“Yeah of course.” you reply sweetly. 

There's a few minutes of horrible silence before it's broken by Morgan saying,

“So what do we know about our unsub?” 

“What we do know is he killed 3 people by burning them to death.” Prentiss says.

“We also know he killed only men, in their twenties, and they all went to the same University, North Carolina state ” you add reluctantly.

“And that’s where we’re going.” Hotch adds while coming to take a seat closer to everyone.

“This guy didn’t want to be seen, he only killed at night and was probably covered in a hoodie or dark clothing. He waited until these kids were out drinking and followed them out. When he cornered them, he would pour a methanol and boric acid mixture on them and set them on fire with matches.” Spencer states.

The rest of the plane ride went smoothly, other than the little looks you and Spencer kept sharing. Why did he keep glancing at you? And why did you keep glancing at him? 

We arrive at the college and split up into groups. Of course you and Spencer are in a group together. We begin interviewing the students, everyone seemed shaken up. Poor kids. You finish at the college and follow some leads. All of them lead to dead ends except for one. A girl you had met in the science room, as you talked to her, you couldn't help but notice her journal, which was covered in drawings of flames, but they were all different colors. She even wrote out the instructions to make each flame. 

You glance up at Spencer, who returns your look of worry. 

“What are those drawings about?” you ask her politely. 

“Oh. These are just for a science project.” She says a little impudently while closing her book and placing it into her bag. 

“Thanks for the information.” Spencer says before walking off. You follow closely behind.

 “Hi, is there anything else you need?” The teacher asks. 

“Yea. Have you been working on anything to do with flames, or different compounds for different colored flames?” Spencer says quietly.

“Flames. flames… Nope, Sorry nothing to do with flames.” She replies.

You walk off feeling more and more suspicious of the girl with the book. After heading back to the station you look further into this girl's life. Her name is Mikalya Sterman, and from what you can tell she’s your criminal.

 Suddenly Hotch rushes in while saying, “There’s been another victim, same college, same gender, and age. We have to go now.”

Rushing to the car, you somehow are sitting with Spencer. You are solving a crime yet you still can’t get the adorable Doctor out of your head. 

“How are you feeling about this case?” you ask desperately to break the silence.

“I think it's the girl we met, I mean, the drawings, the behavior, everything. She has to be our criminal.” He utters.

“Yea, I mean why else would she lie about those drawings. Also, I like your tie.” you say and immediately want to jump out of the car.

The car stops and Hotch and Prentiss get out of the driver's seat and you quickly follow. You try to run away from Spencer by speed walking to the scene and hiding your face. It doesn’t work. 

“Thanks, I typically wear ties that match the rest of what I’m wearing like- this. So uh thanks.” He says holding out his sweater. 

“Cute.” you add with a smile. 

“Lovebirds, time to solve a crime!” Morgan states from the scene while Prentiss is laughing her ass 

off.

Hotch rolls his eyes. Spencer and you quickly walk to the scene.

While examining the body you find a pendant hanging across the victim's neck.

“This belonged to Mikalya. I remember seeing her wear it while we were talking.” you tell everyone.

“Yea she was definitely wearing it.” Spencer adds on. 

“Well what does this mean?” Prentiss asks. 

“It means we need to find our killer.” Hotch states.

He sends you out in groups except, this time you're with Prentiss, not Spencer.

“Soooo- Spencer.” She says coyly. 

“Spencer’s sweet.” you mutter back.

“Mhmmm” she insists “and what else?”

“Okay okay, he’s super cute and sweet and smart and nice, and sweet, an-.” you sputter before she cuts you off with, “Ok ok ok ok! I get it, he’s amazing. Sooo- what are we gonna do about this?”

“Nothing! Jesus, actually- nevermind! I don’t know!” you spit.

“We are looking for a murderer and you’re thinking about my kind-of-crush!” you whisper-yell at her.

“Oh please, they already caught the killer.” She says pointing to where they had, in fact, already arrested the killer.

“B-but! How? I was- WE were right here.” you say.

“Yes but your kind-of-crush was so distracting, you couldn’t even solve a crime!” she laughs.

“Oh my god. What have I become? Emily, help me.” you say sarcastically.

“I’m gonna ask everybody to go for drinks- wait- how about, you ask everybody to go for drinks, I’ll tell everybody else but Spencer to decline! I’m a genius.”

She says slyly before you add “No- yes- wait-okay, fine I’m on board.”

“YES!” she shouts a little too loud for comfort as we both walk back to the cars.

Driving back you weren't in the same car as Spencer despite Emily’s suspicious efforts to change that.

We get back on the plane and Spencer sits down next to you again.

“It’s still okay if I sit with you right?” He mutters.

“Of course Spencer, you don’t need to ask.” you reply with a reassuring tone.

He smiles shyly at your comment and you swear you see him blush.

Back at the BAU everybody gathers and you ask, “Hey does anybody want to go get some food or drinks?” 

Emily winks at you and she's the first to say, “Sorry, I'm so tired. Maybe another time?”

Everyone else goes along with their excuses until Spencers the last one to speak.

“Sure! I'm starving.” He says while putting on his jacket and walking toward you. 

“Great.” you say smiling. We both walk out, and you swear you can hear Emily and Derek chortling from the elevator.