Under My Skin - A Spencer Reid Fanfiction.

Chapter 10: Confessions

The song for this chapter: Terrible Love - The National 🎵

"And I can't fall asleep, without a little help

It takes a little while to settle down, my shivered bones

Until the panic's out — It takes an ocean not to break,"

📖

There I stood.

The harsh fluorescent lights buzzing overhead illuminated the stark white walls of the interrogation room. The air was thick with tension, a sense of foreboding constantly reminding me about the unknown I hoped to unhash.

I had refused to let anyone take this opportunity away from me. I needed to confront this man— the one that so easily shot at me— to pry into the shadows of his mind and extract the truth buried deep within. I needed him to undergo that sense of entrapment, for him to understand how the poor victims who were subject to the cult's conniving plans felt.

The unsub, a wiry little man with sunken eyes and a defiant tilt to his chin slumped in the metal chair across from me. His wrists were shackled to the table, ensuring that he was not able to get away again. An expression danced on his face— one that ignited a fit of unfathomable anger within me— calm arrogance as if he believed he held all of the right cards in this game.

Spoiler: he did not.

I took a deep breath, steadying myself before I spoke. "Before we start, I want to make one thing very very clear."

The man's eyes met mine, a glint of curiosity piquing within them as I leaned slightly closer. "You think you're in control here, but you're not. You're just a small, almost insignificant — really— pawn in a much larger game of villains."

His smirk deepened, a sickening grin that made my blood boil. "You think you can intimidate me? I've seen worse things than you."

I tipped closer, my heart pounding with determination. "I doubt that. You may have survived the darkness, but you're about to find out what it's like to face the light."

I watched as his bravado faltered, just for a moment, and I seized that opening. "Tell me about the cult. Who leads it? What do they want?"
He scoffed, shaking his head defiantly. "You think I'm going to give you anything? You have no idea who you're dealing with."

I could feel Reid watching me intently through the one-way mirror, his gaze boring a hole into my back. I ignored it, trying to focus on being entirely professional and dismantling the unsub's pretentious persona.

Letting a smirk envelope the lower quatrain of my face, I leant back slightly showcasing a relaxed demeanour. Although I was in fact not relaxed on the inside— I had a lot of experience in pretending to be so.

"Oh, I think I have a very good idea," I shot back. "You're scared. You're hiding behind bravado and false confidence because deep down, you're absolutely crapping yourself. Just like the people you and your little 'cult' hurt. You're at the bottom of the food chain, you know they don't care about giving you up right? They'll find someone else to replace you in an instant as you rot in jail for shooting at a federal agent."

"Dumb decision— by the way." I ribbed, my voice toned as if I was speaking to a child.

His expression shifted from arrogance to irritation, the edges of his confidence fraying under the weight of my words. I could see the flicker of doubt in his eyes, and I pressed on, feeling a surge of satisfaction.

"You think you're untouchable, but look where you are now," I continued, leaning in slightly, my voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "You're just a cog in a machine that's about to grind you into dust and keep turning even though you're broken. They'll throw you away like yesterday's news, just like the lives you ruined. They've probably already picked out your replacement, haven't they?"