nina cried power [SPENCER REID]

one.

CHAPTER ONE:
AND SMILE FOR THE CAMERA

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"Is this... A none-disclosure agreement?"

Spencer doesn't know why he's asked. He can tell from the title of the thick document, encased in the familiar manila folder to conceal it as a normal case, that this is a contract to keep him silenced. Aside from the few contracts he signed when he first started his job, this is the first one in years -- three, at the very least.

"This case outranks us, but they've asked for our help," Hotch says, looking up through his eyebrows at Spencer and an equally reluctant Derek, sat side by side at the glass round table.

"Who's they?" asks Reid.

"Sign it, Reid," JJ says.

Reid. Last name.

This is serious.

He glances at Morgan, then, mostly out of curiosity, starts to read. Standard stuff: when the case is closed, the documents will be sealed from the public, orders of the Secretary of State (At this, Morgan whispers, "Christ. That's high up shit.") and won't be available to the public or even the media until 2020. Thirteen years. It's the sort of secret-keeping that makes his stomach turn.

At the last page, he signs after a short pause, then flips it closed and looks up. Lips pursed and waiting, JJ, Hotch, and Rossi are already looking at the three of them: Derek, Emily, and him.

"What is it?" he asks finally, the words exhaling from him eagerly. He supposes the curiosity makes him a bit morbid -- this can't be good, after all. But he supposes he has a right to be curious, considering the dramatic build up.

"This has come far, far down the chain of command to reach us," Hotch begins. He nods at JJ, who flicks on the screen with her remote, and an image flashes up. Then another. Then another.

Spencer squints.

"Are those stones?" Emily asks exactly what he's thinking about.

They are, he realises after he's asked the question. On the three dead bodies pictured on the screen, over bloodied eyes, smooth grey pebbles have been placed, hiding what is no doubt caverns where the eyes used to be. Two of the bodies are male, one female and dark haired, and their skin is white with death. Their bodies are covered up to the chin with white sheets, only their faces revealed.

"They had them in their mouths, as well," Rossi says simply. "Do you recognise them?"

In his peripheral vision, he sees the others shake their heads. But Spencer knows them. He remembers shit like this -- it's why he's useful, he knows that. "The left is Aleksandr Lebenov," he says, then looks at Hotch for assurance, who seems just as surprised as the rest of them that anybody knows the identities of the dead. "He works for the Putin administration."