Autistic Spencer Reid

Chapter 3

Spencer spent the next 10 minutes listening to classical music in his headphones. He didn't want another meltdown to come on so he slowly eased himself back into work. He got started on the geo-profile and tried to narrow down the Unsub's comfort zone. Unfortunately there wasn't much he could do because there were only two locations to go on. JJ had gone to comfort and talk to the victims families, leaving him on his own. He used that time to stim freely, knowing that when the team came back he would unintentionally mask again.

He stood in front of the white board, marker in hand, and pinpointed as many locations in relation to the case; all churches in the area, special education schools, the victim's homes and university. He was rocking on his feet and shaking his hands at his side to try and get all of his energy out, he didn't want it to build up too much. He began to click his tongue, creating a round noise, satisfying to hear. Spencer could feel his heart heating up at the pure joy he was getting from stimming freely and working on things he loves.

Hotch cleared his throat but Spencer didn't hear him with his headphones on, he didn't want to startle Spencer but he had to get his attention. Hotch saw Spencer stimming, hands shaking quickly, clicking his tongue, rocking on his feet, and he'd just started to stand on his toes when he rocks forward. He sat down behind Spencer at the other end of the table and observed him. He could see Spencer was very comfortable and happy to be there, he was scribbling away and had a smile on his face, contrasting his earlier frown.

Hotch had never seen him so free, so himself. Spencer turned around to pick up a different coloured marker and froze. He locked eyes with Hotch and his expression blanched, he hadn't realised that Hotch was in the room. That meant that he'd seen his stims, what would he think? Would he think he's childish, incapable of doing his job? Would he look down on him, treat him differently, or fire him? Spencer's thoughts raced and he instantly removed his headphones. He bit his lip and his hands grabbed the fabric on the sides of his torso, his arms crossing across his body. He hated that feeling, not knowing what people were thinking, it made him incredibly uncomfortable. His arms tightened around his stomach.

"What've you got Reid? You've been writing for a while," Hotch stated, he didn't want to draw attention to Spencer's stims, knowing he's embarrassed about Hotch seeing them. Hotch had noticed them years ago, they'd gotten more frequent recently but he put that down to Reid being more anxious lately. 

"Umm, not a lot unfortunately. He's only been to two locations so it just narrows it down to this area, all 15.49 square miles of it. There are much bigger and popular churches in the area that the Unsub could've chosen, signifying that this church holds a special meaning to him. And both of the victims were completing their placement for university in the same special education school, further indicating a connection to this area during his childhood . How long have you been here?" Spencer asked, worrying about how much Hotch had seen of his stims.

"Only a few minutes. I'll let the sheriff know that the Unsub is likely operating out of Burlington and has been here for a long time. I expect that he has lived here the majority of his life if the church holds significance to him as well as the school." Hotch stood up and walked off towards the sheriff.

Spencer sat down on a side unit, crossing his legs and fiddling with his hands. Is Hotch going to say something to him, or just ignore it? The question was eating at him now, so he decided to take a short break as his current task was as completed as it could be at this stage. He stood up and walked towards the exit, nodding towards Hotch to indicate that he's just popping outside for a minute or two. Hotch gave him an inconspicuous nod in return and resumed his conversation with the sheriff.

✩♬ ₊˚.🎧⋆☾⋆⁺₊✧

Spencer stepped out of the building and made his way to a bench to the left of the station. He sat down on the cold metal and took 10 deep breaths, allowing his mind to rest a bit. If Hotch was angry about his stimming then Hotch would've spoken to him in the room, there wasn't anybody there to interrupt them. That would set Spencer's mind at ease for a while. Spencer tried looking for 5 things he could see, 4 things he could touch, 3 things he could hear, 2 things he could smell and 1 thing he could taste. People walking around, the trees swaying in the breeze, the bright sun, the blue sky and cars parking in the car park. The tag on his cardigan, the itchy fabric of his new socks, the slippery lining of his pockets and his watch on his wrist. The birds tweeting, the constant chatter, police sirens. Cigarettes and cheap perfume. Coffee.