Unbelievable - Dr. Spencer Reid

Six

After the small interaction between her and Reid, she quickly apologized to the rest and hurried home. Only there did she let her tears run free. The brief touch with him burned on Y/N's skin as if she still had her hand on his arm. Her thoughts could not be sorted. Something had triggered his words in her, moved her. They echoed in her head, leaving a heaviness around her heart. She did not want to be indifferent to him, she knew that. She wanted him to like her and she wanted to build up a relationship with him, even if the chances of that seemed slim.

The last few days she swallowed her frustration and did her job. They had solved a case so far and at the moment it was quite quiet around the BAU. When Spencer didn't ignore her, he provoked. Intentionally or not, she didn't know that, but he didn't let a moment go without discrediting her. He didn't trust her and constantly communicated how young and inexperienced she was. As if she was an annoying appendage, a tick that only stopped the agents and which had to be got rid of. In some cases, he even became really insulting and hurtful with his words. It started to get down to a personal level. At first, Y/N was still able to handle it quite well, ignoring his biting remarks or simply countering back. But meanwhile she got hit by every single word. It took her all the effort to keep on doing her job and not to just throw everything away, to come back to the office in the morning and not to crawl into her bed crying. Not to let herself be defeated and not lose her laughter and seriousness. Because that's not how she wanted to be. Because she wasn't like that. No matter what stood in her way, she defied that. She was a strong and independent woman and wanted to be a part of this team and so she tried to keep her head up, against all odds.

What bothered her most was that she couldn't just loathe him. No, inexplicably she liked him. Or at least who he was when it wasn't about her. Among the others on the team, he was the kindest and most caring person. He laughed, showed them that he loved them and that they were his family, the most important thing in his life. In the quieter moments, Y/N watches him. Over time, she was able to identify more and more character traits and recognized small quirks and behavioral traits. She noticed his dimples when he smiled. How he wrinkled his nose when he was thinking or revealing his knowledge. She could tell if he had slept little or was late in the morning because he had spent his time with his books again. His hair was even more tousled on those days, his eye rings darker and he looked as if he wasn't really present. He was more dispersed than usual. These were also the days when he was continuously talking about statistics and scientific facts. Moments that made everyone else feel either annoyed or stupid towards him. They would then tease him and everyone would laugh together about it. Not maliciously, on the contrary, it was their way of expressing love.

It was clear that this evening in the bar had definitely triggered something in her, although she tried not to let it get too close to her.

When a new case came in, the Unit's mood was tense. The others noticed that Reid's taunts got close to Y/N and were causing her trouble. They didn't interfere, but they let her know they were there for her if she needed help. Her boss was not impressed by Reid either, giving her every chance she needed and deserved.

They had just delivered the profile of the current Unsub and now wanted to discuss their next steps. They were able to use their own offices as they had nowhere to go. The murders took place in Washington. Emily was about to split her agents in groups of two to follow different leads and asked Y/N to speak to the rather difficult police chief alone when Dr. Reid intervened:

"I don't think we should let her talk to him alone. It only causes us problems," he seemed annoyed and Y/N could bet he wouldn't find any task good enough for her. "She can stay with Penelope and go through the vita and connections with her," he suggested.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not a technical analyst, I'm a trained agent specialized in communication. So, who better to smooth things over but me?" slowly her patience was wearing thin.