The Soft-Spoken Intern | Spencer Reid AU | Age Regression

ch. 4 | the first case

warning: some *thoughts* that spence has about aria (seggs)

Spencer's POV

Aria is asleep on my shoulder as "Prince Ali" from Aladdin plays through the earbuds we're sharing. She is so small that she looks like my jacket is swallowing her whole, and I've noticed that she curls into a ball, trying to make herself as small as possible. I keep a note of it in my mind (though I could never forget it, due to my eidetic memory) along with how she reacted to Morgan responding to her question in the round table room; she immediately looked away and moved closer to me as a reflex. I try not to predict exact moments or traumas in others' lives, and that won't be different with Aria. 

As I watch her sleep (in the least creepy way possible), I notice how tightly she is gripping onto my shirt as if I'm her lifeline; I'm not complaining at all, it's nice to feel needed by someone. I want to be her caregiver, and I want her to be mine - and not just in the caregiver or platonic sense; I'm already developing feelings for her and am very protective of her. I will never let anything happen to her when she is beside me. 

I rub the back of her hand with my thumb subconsciously and look around the rest of the jet. Morgan's wearing headphones and is trying to sleep sitting up, Rossi is reading a book, Hotch is reading through the case file, and Emily and JJ were on the couch of the plane talking. No one seems to notice us or say anything, which makes me feel relieved. I'm not embarrassed by Aria, not at all, but I know that she feels much more comfortable when the attention isn't on her. 

Other things I have noticed about Aria are that her favorite color is purple (possible hyper fixation associated with neurodivergent people), she loves Aladdin (the Aladdin soundtrack takes up the majority of her Disney playlist), and she enjoys contact when she is regressed. I'm so excited to learn more about her. I softly smile as I look down at her, and then I feel a tap on my shoulder, and it's JJ, saying that we are about to start discussing the case. 

I nod and start lightly shaking Aria, as to not scare her, and whisper, "Aria, we're about to start discussing the case more." She lifts her head with her eyes half-open and nods slowly. I chuckle and pull out my shoulder bag, taking out the case file, her notebook, pen, and pencil as well. I hand her them and she smiles at me gratefully. 

We move to be closer to the rest of the team, and she sits on my right, while everyone else is more toward the left of me; she's isolating herself from the rest of the team, staying out of the way. Is that for the same reason as to why she sleeps curled into a ball? 

I shake away the question, deciding that she will tell me when she is comfortable. 

She opens her notebook to the page where she was taking notes about the case, resting it on her lap, slightly struggling to write, but she makes it work. She follows along with what everyone is saying, making bullet points and drawing arrows connecting things. 

I've noticed she pays special attention whenever Sammy is mentioned, having a separate section of the page dedicated to Sammy's autism, the blood spatter, and she circled the word "piano" a few times. 

We wrap up any other theories, Aria noting them, then get back into our seats since the jet would be landing soon. When Aria and I got back to our seats, she took the note page out carefully, leaving the ruffles on the edge of the paper in the rings of the notebook, then starts to rewrite them on another page with multiple pen colors and highlighters. She marks the most important points in purple, the second most in blue, and the third most in green.

I notice her subconsciously wrinkle her nose slightly at the color green; it's her least favorite color of the three. 

When she is finished rewriting her notes, she neatly folds the first page in half and sticks it in the pocket in the front of the notebook, closes it, and puts her pens, highlighters, and pencil next to it. 

I notice we are getting ready to land, so I help her buckle her seatbelt, both of us blushing when I clip it in for her. Our eyes met for a moment and she looked away first, blushing more with a small smile. This made me chuckle and smirk, seeing the effect I have on her. 

I want to see her blush from other things too. I want to see her face and reaction when I-

I stop my thoughts right there before it got out of hand; it's too soon, and she could have no interest in that scene. 

As I am trying to calm my mind racing with thoughts of Aria in my bed, I feel her grab onto me again and her breathing was shaky. She could feel the jet start to land, so I grabbed her hand again and rubbed the back of it with my thumb. I think she likes when I do that, because she physically relaxes, having her mouth slightly open. 

I want to see my thumb between her lips. 

Holy shit, calm down Spencer.

The slight bump of the jet landing made her jump as well and she looked at me frantically. "We didn't crash, Ari. We landed, we're okay. Everything's okay. You did it! That was your first jet ride! You did so well, I am so proud of you!" I whispered to her, and her eyes lit up with praise and she wiggled happily. 

I pack up her things into my shoulder bag and she starts to get restless, wanting off the jet. "Hold on, Ari, we've gotta wait just a little bit more, okay?" I could tell that she wanted to whine but she didn't, just nodding her head. "Good girl," I whispered without even thinking; I was about to apologize, but then I saw the look on her face. 

She liked it. 

a/n

hi im alive. kinda. this semester has been insane so far, so i needed to write to escape for a bit. im really sorry about not being able to post. but, my semester ends next month, and i will only be doing one class (sociology ew) over the summer along with working. 

i got a new kitten! her name is ginny and she was born without a tail and she is such a sweetheart. she has some trouble walking so im being very gentle, and once she is ready to be separated from the mom (the kittens were born at my house), im going to take her to the vet to be looked at to see if she'll be okay and to get shots and stuff. 

also im sorry if the thoughts that spence had were awkward and cringey, ive never written smut or anything before, but i tried my hardest - do you guys like when the love part of the story moves quickly or slowly? i believe in soulmates, so i believe in love at first sight, but if it's too fast, please let me know :))

thank you so much for your support on this story, i feel so happy whenever i see a new vote on the story, or a new comment, or it being added to someone's library. it really makes these past few months a bit easier. 

i love you all, stay safe. make sure to drink water and eat something today. you are wanted, you are needed, and you are loved. <3