Eidetic - A Criminal Minds/Spencer Reid Story

Chapter One - The New Girl

"Let go of yesterday. Let today be a new beginning and be the best that you can, and you'll get to where God wants you to be." - Joel Osteen

ONE MONTH LATER

*Spencer Reid*

It was a bad morning. I had woken up ten minutes late and therefore wasn't able to get my usual morning cup of coffee before heading on the Metro. Hotch was usually pretty understanding when it comes to being late, but it was a habit I didn't want to start having. Besides, I get cranky when I don't have my morning coffee.

When I arrived at Quantico, I rushed into the elevator, burst through the BAU doors, and ran into the conference room to find everyone but Hotch there. JJ was giggling and Morgan looked like he was about to burst out laughing. "Did someone just run a marathon? You're panting like crazy, Pretty Boy," he said with a grin. I took a few seconds to catch my breath before I sat down and put my bag down on the ground next to me.

"Where's Hotch?" I asked.

"He's in his office with the new agent," Rossi replied. "She transferred here from the San Francisco office."

"Well, I'm just glad it's another girl and not a guy," JJ added in.

"You got something against us?" Morgan joked. JJ shrugged.

"Too much testosterone is overwhelming at times," she replied.

"I heard she was recruited right after she graduated from college," Garcia said and we all looked at her. "What? I may have done some digging. I'm not just going to let some new agent travel with my babies and not know who she is."

Somebody cleared their throat and we all turned to the doorway to see Hotch standing there with a young woman next to him. "Everyone, this is SSA Vivian Santos. Her transfer was just made final a week ago," he said, introducing the woman.

"Please, Viv is fine," she said shyly.

"Welcome to the team," Morgan said. She replied with a smile and sat down in the seat across from me. I didn't know what came over me, but I couldn't take my eyes off her. She was just so...beautiful. She had piercing hazel eyes and long brown hair that curled slightly at the ends. Her smile was soft, yet I somehow felt intimidated. She glanced at me briefly, and I turned my gaze to the file that was in front of me. I felt Morgan elbow my side and I glared at him from the corner of my eye.

"Now that we are all acquainted, Garcia, let's get started," Hotch said, sitting down next to Vivian. Garcia made her way up to the front of the room and pressed a button on her remote. Three pictures of dead bodies popped up along with the corresponding DMV photos of the victims.

"Crime fighters, meet David Hadley, Samantha Johnson, and Clara Wilcox. They were all found three days apart from each other in Thatcher, Arizona with the latest victim being found three days ago. They were all students at Eastern Arizona College which is a two-year school. They all died from blood loss and had their eyes removed and once they were dead," Garcia explained.

"Why are we being called in now when the last victim was found three days ago?" Morgan asked.

"It says here that they were abducted from their off-campus apartments. None of them had roommates so nobody knew they were missing until it was too late," Rossi said.

"That's incredibly bold to take somebody from their own home. The unsub must've stalked the victims and learned their routines," I added in.

"That means he's disciplined and patient. He's able to control himself and wait for the perfect time to take his victims," Vivian said. I looked at her again and felt that same nervousness and intimidation that I had felt only moments before. I quickly looked down again before she could catch me staring at her again.

"If our unsub is sticking to his timeline, we're going to find another victim today. Wheels up in thirty," Hotch said. With that, everyone stood up and hurried out of the room.

Maybe it wasn't as bad as a morning as I thought it would be.

*Vivian Santos*

I was the last one to board the jet. Everyone was seated near the front of the plane, so I made my way towards everyone else and sat down in the only available seat which was next to Reid. He smiled at me shyly when I sat down, and I felt the color rise to my cheeks. I looked down at the floor and prayed to God that he hadn't noticed.

When Hotch told me about Dr. Reid, I was expecting a man who was older, wore spectacles, and was somewhat balding. I wasn't expecting him to be, well...him. The actual Dr. Reid was young, handsome, and adorably socially awkward. There was a knot in my stomach and I opened the case file in front of me to distract me from looking at the man who was seated next to me.

Once we had taken off, we started to go over the case in more detail. "Is there any connection between the victims at all?" Hotch asked.

"Besides the fact that they all attended the same school, there doesn't seem to be much overlap. They all had different majors and took different classes," JJ said. I continued to flip through the file.

"They're not even all from the same part of Arizona. David Hadley was from Phoenix, Samantha Johnson was from Mammoth, and Clara Wilcox was from Maricopa," I added in.

"So they might be victims of opportunity," said Rossi.

The computer that was resting on the table beeped and Garcia popped up on the screen. "Bad news, superheroes, James Dudley was just found right outside the Eastern Arizona Campus," she informed us. "He was killed with the same MO and his eyeballs were removed."

"What is he doing with the blood and the eyeballs?" I asked curiously. I heard Reid clear his throat and I turned to look at him.

"It can be for a number of reasons. In 2009, Earl Bulford took the eyes of his victims and used it for his taxidermy work and in 2013 Brian Hughes painted with his victims' blood. There is also the option that he is eating the eyeballs and drinking the blood," he rattled off. My stomach turned and I scrunched my nose.

"That is disgusting," I replied. Reid shrugged nonchalantly.

"You asked."

Hotch got everyone's attention again. "When we land, Morgan and JJ, go check out the dumpsite. Dave and I will get set up at the station. Reid, you and Viv can go meet with the medical examiner and she if anything else stood out. Once we had finished debriefing, I stood up and walked over to the coffee station to pour myself a cup. Just as I pouring in my usual two packets of sugar, I heard footsteps behind me and I looked up to see Reid walking towards me.

"Is this the line?" he said. I gave him a shy smile.

"It is now," I replied. I moved aside so that he could pour his coffee.

"So, um, I heard you transferred from the San Francisco office," Reid said, trying to make conversation. "How was it there?" I took a sip of my coffee before answering.

"Well, for one thing, we didn't have a private jet," I said jokingly. Reid was looking down at his cup, but I heard him chuckle. "But really though, I never had a case like this when I was over there. How do you not let it get to you?"

Reid looked up at me and smiled softly. "Everything gets to you a little bit, but the trick is to not let it take you over completely. The lives we save is worth all of the terrible things we experience," he replied. I nodded and walked away awkwardly, not knowing how to end the conversation.

It was only my first day, and things were already starting to get interesting.

"The good times of today, are the sad thoughts of tomorrow." - Bob Marley