FREAKING OUT ² ➢ spencer reid

XLV

"Hey kid, what's taking so long?" Cooper gave me a narrow eyed look as he peeked over my shoulder.

I jumped at the sound of his voice, letting out a tiny gasp as I turned to face him. As I did, I tightened my grip on the scalpel in my hand, moving it towards him threateningly. "Jesus, can you knock?"

He pushed down my hand, letting out a low chuckle as he adjusted his stance and took a step back. As he did, he brought the clipboard he was holding out from behind him and flipped through the pages, curiously scanning the information it held. "Benson wants that tox report from yesterday."

I rolled my eyes and pointed to the desk. Without a word Cooper walked over and found what he was looking for, raising it into the air as he muttered a quick thank-you and returned to my side. "There's isn't a whole lot to go off of. The guy had a shit ton of alcohol in his system, but that was pretty much it," I told him.

"No drugs?" Cooper questioned, raising his brow.

I shook my head and glanced at the body in front of me. "I know they figured overdose, but both guys are clean. If they were drugged whoever did it used a synthetic."

Cooper let out a groan and shook his head, taking a couple of steps towards the body on the table. He gave it a good look, his gaze lingering at the bruises along the man's face before eventually falling to set of defensive wounds along the right arm. "So, clearly there was a struggle," he stated.

"I wouldn't say struggle," I responded with a sigh, "the guy got his ass kicked." I pulled back the sheet to reveal the man's stomach, which like his face, was covered in the same discoloured splotches.

"Huh, poor guy," Cooper gave me a surprised look.

"Maybe let Benson know there's potential evidence he's got a serial," I replied.

Cooper gave me a nod and grabbed the sheet, throwing it back into its original place. After that he sighed and looked at me tiredly, flashing me a look of annoyance. "I swear to god if we get one more body I'm gonna lose my mind." He ran his hand along the length of his face, stopping to grip his chin.

"Yeah well at least we're not in Vegas," I retorted with a smirk.

"What do you mean?" Cooper asked, raising his brow.

"Reid's there. Local PD found some mass grave out in the middle of nowhere." I gave Cooper an uncomfortable look as I recalled the details. After the team had settled in for their first night, Reid called me from the hotel room. It was nearly two in the morning and despite how tired I was I stayed on the line, listening to him ramble about the case and how weird it seemed. According to him, not only were the bodies unidentifiable, but there was also a big indication of overkill, which was obviously never a good sign.

Cooper cringed and shook his head. "I swear, you profilers must be pretty fucked in the head to want to work against a bunch of serial killers."

"You literally cut people open for a living," I retorted with a laugh.

He rolled his eyes and tossed his hand into the air nonchalantly. "Yeah, well, I'm a scientist, not a butcher."

"Yeah, o-"

Before I could finish a knock appeared at the door, causing Cooper and I to look. Immediately after, Prentiss pushed it open, flashing us a sheepish smile as she snuck inside and closed it back up.

"What are you doing here?" Cooper asked.

I shot him a glare and elbowed his side. "Be nice, Dick."

"I am nice," he retorted, holding out his hand defensively, "I was just asking."

Prentiss chuckled and shrugged him off. "Hello Cooper, nice to see you, too."