A year after leaving the BAU, Spencer Reid is restless and struggling to adjust to civilian life. Not finding any fulfillment or respite in it, he decides to take a position with Homeland. On assignment he meets you, a former Master Gunnery Sergeant...
Summary: You visit Alijah after breakfast with the unit. Later, Spencer runs into Captain Mercer again...
Okay, my gif won't work here because I can't seem to make it small enough... rip. So have a pic of Spence being cute
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Spencer was waiting for you again when you stepped out of your CHU the next morning, dressed once more in cargo pants and a dark shirt.
His forearms were turning a blistering red, so you went back inside and grabbed a bottle from your footlocker. When you handed the sunscreen to him, he simply muttered a thanks and stuffed it in his pocket.
He looked better today, the circles under his eyes still dark but not quite so exhausted. You could see the outline of a book shoved in one of the large pockets of his pants, but you said nothing as you walked together to the DFAC.
As you approached, Spencer slowed, and you turned to look at him expectantly.
"Are we seeing Alijah today?" he asked hesitantly, shoving his hands in his pockets and shuffling his boots in the dirt.
"I am," you told him. Spencer swallowed thickly, and the disappointed look on his face almost made you wilt in the morning sun. "You have forty hours left to learn as much Kurdish as you can. Until then, you stay away from the prison barracks."
You turned to walk away, but his hand shot out to grab your bicep, gentler than it had been the day before. You still glared up at him, but his eyes were soft.
"What are you going to do?" Spencer asked quietly. The lack of trust in you was clear, but he was still learning. He didn't know you yet.
"Talk to her, like I've been doing since she got here." You tugged at your arm, but his grip was surprisingly firm, hardly budging even with your muscular frame. "What do you think I'm going to do? Torture her?"
"She's a little girl locked in a cell," he hissed, his anger hardly restrained beneath the surface of those deep eyes.
You sighed and just let him hold you with his calloused hands, trying not to focus on his warmth on your skin. "Where else is she supposed to go, huh? The barracks with the grunts? Into a CHU with us? Back in the desert? That cell is the only place she's safe, that's why I make sure I see her every day."
The pinch between his brows eased, as did his hold on you, but he still didn't let go. "You think someone might hurt her."
You looked away, shame rising in your cheeks from your distrust of anyone not in your unit. "I'd rather not find out. Nobody but you, me, the unit, and the two guards in front of her cell knows she's there."
You stood tall and set your jaw so he knew you were speaking truth to him, "I'm trusting you with this, with her, because Alvez promised me I could. Don't make me regret it."
