Forensic Psychology (Spencer Reid/Criminal Minds AU)

Six

As soon as we arrive, I hop in my old Civic and drive to my house. I live with four other people in an old tudor home. The other people living there all have jobs with long hours, so we decided that since we aren't going to be home often we might as well reduce our rent and all get this house.

The idea came from my friend (Katy) who is interning to become a surgeon so she is always on call. We found this really old house outside of Washington DC, making my commute to Quantico not so horrible. I brought in my friend Daniel who is an artist with "flexible" hours but he is a workaholic so he is always at his studio. Katy brought in her friends Tanner who is a field representative for political campaigns, and Josie who is an assistant to an architect at BBGM. I haven't had time to get to know Josie and Tanner but they have been pretty great roommates so I am not complaining.

I arrive at about midnight and there are three cars in the driveway so I park on the curb and walk in the house and throw my keys on to a table. I head into the kitchen and Josie is sitting at the bar eating cereal and looking at her phone. I start looking in the fridge for something to eat.

"Hey" I say to her.

"Hey, how was Tennessee" she asks.

"Well we caught the killer so you know, good. Did you just get home"

I settle on leftover pot roast and start to prepare it and put it in the microwave.

"Yeah, the boss had a sudden stream of ideas so I just had to come in" she said sarcastically.

"That sucks. Well at least one day you will be an architect that will call in your assistant late on a Thursday night" I assure her.

"You're right"

"Where is Katy? Did she get called in?"

"What do you think" she said. She always gets called in, I can't recall the last time she slept. Katy and I actually went to high school together. She was at the top of her class and was taking medical classes at the community college. Ever since she was little she dreamed of being a doctor. Me on the other hand, was a "troubled kid" as my teachers liked to say. As I walked down the hallway they either looked at me with sympathy, dissapointment, or an odd mixture of both. I still was in honors classes and I ended up being in the top 15% of my class. I was able to go to college on full scholarship and most of my grad school was paid for as well. My teachers didn't really expect much out of me, so they assumed I would fail. I tried as hard as I could but sure I slipped up every once in a while. Right now, I am proving those teachers wrong.

"Hey Quinn" Josie pulls me out of my thoughts, "how did you know you wanted to do what you are doing?"

There are two answers to the question. There is the really personal one that the only people in my life (right now) know are Katy and my family and there is the one I usually tell people, "I knew I wanted to help people. When I was little I want to be a lawyer but I realized the only way you can prevent a crime is to be out in the field going to the criminals first-hand. Why?"

"Well sometimes I wonder if I made the right choice, am I actually doing the world a service with this job"

The microwave beeps so I take my food out, grab a fork, and sit next to her.

I begin to tell her how much I appreciate architecture, "When I was little, my mom and dad would put me in a car and drive all over the country. Now you may be thinking that a four year old in a car for hours would be so bored. During the day I was, but driving at night was my absolute favorite thing especially when we would drive through cities. I would see these huge lit buildings tower around our car. That was so beautiful and artistic. So sure you aren't arresting serial killers or reviving people on a medical table but you are creating art. People need art or else they will go insane. By now I would have"

She thinks about my story for a while and she looks like she is feeling better, "so what is your favorite place that you have been to?"

"My parents took me to Las Vegas when I was five and I loved it!"