The sound of a glass wall. (Spencer Reid x Fem reader)

Chapter 18. Case fiasco.

   "Garcia. My office" Penny and I share a look before staring back at Hotch. "Which one sir?" Penny gulps, her anxiety leaking out of every pore. "Y/N." I scream internally as he says my name. "Yes sir, I'll be there in a moment." I state, sitting all my stuff on my desk. "Goodluck sugar." Penny says as I walk to Hotch's office. I rub my hands on my pants, wiping the sweat away. I reach for the door knob hesitating for a moment. "Garcia, it's important just open the door." I flinch quickly at the stern words behind the door. "Right, sorry sir." I choke, opening the door. "Close the door behind you." I nod quickly, turning around and closing the door. "Is something wrong, sir?" I question, walking slowly to the front of his desk. "No, nothing's wrong" He pauses, giving me enough time to breathe the air I didn't know I was holding. "Erin Strauss is going with us for this case." He sighs, "With all respect sir, what does this have to do with me?" I question, taking a small step back away from the desk. "She heard about your 'irrational behavior' with Mateo Walters. When she found out that you let your team get hurt leading our unsub to suicide by cop, you to be put in the ICU, and for Morgan and Prentiss to risk their lives, she decided to step in to see how you actually work." He states, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Oh.." I mumble, "I'm so sorry." I finish before walking out of his office, and running to the bathroom. I quickly open the bathroom door, closing and locking it behind me. "Oh god.." I gasp, tears streaming down my face. I slide down the wall, sitting on the floor with my knees to my chest. "How long has this been happening.." I continue to mumble to myself, "Is this the reason he's been so stressed lately. Have I been an issue for a while?" I cry harder, my hands shaking as I quickly wipe my tears. I hear a quiet knock on the door. "Y/N? It's Penelope.. Is everything okay?" I slowly stand up, unlocking the door, leaving it slightly cracked. "Can we go to your office?" I sniffle, wiping more of the tears away. "Of course honey, come on" I open the door quickly, keeping my head down as we walk to her office. "What's goin on? Why are you crying sugar?" She closes the door behind her before immediately wiping the running mascara on my face. "So for our case today, Erin Strauss is coming to observe my behavior. In her opinion she thinks that risking my life and the life of a criminal is reckless." I sob, pulling her into a hug. "Do you want me to talk to Hotch and ask if I can go on this case?" I shake my head at her, pulling away to completely answer. "No, you work your best in this environment. If anything happens I'll call you. But keep this between us, Hotch told the team that she's coming to help, not to observe me." I state, looking into one of her mirrors to see what I look like. "Okay. Here, Use my mascara to fix yourself up." SHe utters, grabbing her makeup out of a drawer. I grab the tube with a small smile before fixing the ruined makeup. "Alright, I have 10 minutes to get to a van. I'll talk to you later love" I rush, handing her mascara back. "Be safe okay?" I smile, quickly walking out of the office.

   I rush over to my desk, quickly grabbing my bag and running to the elevator. I press the parking garage button, impatiently waiting. I hear the elevator ding, and I immediately run to my car. "Come on." I groan, frantically grabbing my keys. I hop in my car, turning it on before closing the door. I pull out my phone, dialing Hotch's number.

Phone call

"Garcia?"

"Yeah, I'm on my way sir. Just running a little late."

"Hurry, the jets leaving soon"

   I hang up the phone, keeping my eyes on the road ahead of me. "Alright, don't let her get you off track. Do your job and everything will be fine." I pull up to the jet, groaning to myself. "This is gonna be great." I walk up to the jet to see Spencer waiting for me. "You're late. You're never late." He states, looking at his watch. "I got side tracked" I shrug, He grabs my arm, turning me around. "I called Garcia, she told me everything." He sighs, I curse her under my breath. "I'll be with you, okay? Everything will be alright." He reassures, rubbing small circles on my hand with his thumb. "I know.." I choke, holding back tears. "I love you, you know that right?" I stare in awe as my boyfriend says those words. "I love you too, now let's get on the jet before Hotch kills us" I laugh at the end of my sentence, walking with him to the jet stairs. "You're late Garcia." Strauss says as I walk into the jet. I see Derek and Spencer furrow their brows at her. I love the boys, one is the love of my life and the other is like a big brother, but sometimes they can be a bit too obvious. I sit next to Emily, across from the boys. Hotch told Spence and I we could be together as long as we don't make it obvious on the job. "I missed the rundown, can you guys fill me in?" I ask, looking through the file in front of me. "3 murders in the past month, all 3 men have been put in the woods with a bullet wound to the head and cuts on each side of the face to make them smile." JJ says, scooting over to see me. "Any victimology ideas?" I question, "All the men are in their late 40s, the only wounds they have are the cuts and the bullet through the head." Emily finishes off. "The unsub is most likely very disturbed, he's been through a traumatic event early in his life. But something recent must have been the trigger source" Spencer states. I see Strauss eyeing me as I talk with the team. She's taking down notes, shaking her head every now and then. I look out the window, bouncing my leg hoping I can ignore her. I feel Emily place her hand on top of mine, her, Derek, and Spencer exchanging looks. "So much for nobody knowing." I laugh sarcastically. "We're your family." Derek reminds me, a sad yet reassuring smile on his face, the same ones placed on Emily and Spencer. I smile weakly, feeling the tension everyone's giving. "We're landing. All of us will meet at the station, we'll make decisions from there." Hotch states, giving the four of us a look. "Garcia, do you mind if I ride with you?" Strauss asks, leaning forward to talk to me. "All four of us ride together ma'am. I'm sorry." Emily pipes up, the two sharing a glare. I nod my head in agreement. I'm never like this, I can always stand up for myself, I got shot twice for standing up to people. Why the hell am I letting someone like her break me down. I get lost in my thoughts, occasionally rolling my eyes, and huffing. "Y/N, we're leaving." Spencer says, standing up. I shake my head real quick to bring myself back to earth. "Right, sorry." I reply quickly.