DAMAGED // spencer reid

1

My black stilettos click on the polished linoleum floors of the FBI headquarters in Quantico as I open the door into the BAU office. I made sure to dress extra professional for my first day at work, my black dress pants have not a single wrinkle and I am wearing my favorite lavender button-up dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to my elbows. Not to mention I spent twenty minutes taming the mess of long, dark curls on my head that are now, thankfully, resting unproblematically down my back. A touch of mascara and blush with a swipe of chapstick, not too much makeup or else you either seem like you're hiding something (especially in a room of profilers) or give off the impression that you're a stripper. I've never liked wearing makeup much, anyways. With my purse in hand, I march past several agents at their desks and up the stairs to Agent Hotchner's office. The door is open so I knock on his door frame and he looks up from his desk.

"Dr. Grant, it's nice to see you again," he says, getting up and crossing the room to shake my hand.

"You as well, Agent Hotchner."

"Call me Hotch, please. How is your uncle these days?" He asks, leaning against his desk.

"He's doing great, sir, thank you for asking." My uncle is a well-known retired FBI agent who headed many important missions. He's the one who encouraged me to join the FBI and vouched for me. He was always a father figure for me, especially once my actual father left.

"Well we're happy to have you join our team, everyone has heard a lot of good things about you. The team is gathering for JJ's morning overview right about now if you would care to join."

"Of course," I reply, following him down the hall to a room that's filled with four other people sitting around a circular table.

"Everyone, this is Dr. Adeline Grant, the newest member of our team." Hitch says, introducing me. They all stare at me for a moment.

"How old are you?" One guy, Agent Morgan, asks.

"Twenty-five."

"You look like you're not even able to drink legally. No offense, but I was expecting someone... more experienced."

"I assure you that I am experienced, Agent. I've worked with the Intelligence Branch of the FBI for three years as a Forensic and Criminal Psychologist after completing my PhD at Stanford and then earning a second one at CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice. I graduated high school at a younger age than most and same with both colleges I attended, so yes, I am twenty-five. But I can assure you that I am a very good doctor," I finish, looking around. After a beat, Agent Morgan starts chuckling.

"Would you look at that, she's Reid's twin," he says. My eyes wander over to Dr. Reid, of whom I have read a lot about, and he's smiling curiously at me. I've always been fascinated by him because we are the same age and he's been in the FBI for even longer than I have.

"I love her already!" Agent Garcia exclaims, clapping her hands together.

"Have a seat, Dr. Grant, and we'll begin the briefing," JJ says kindly. Hotch and I both sit around the table and she gets started.

"We have a murder running loose in Chicago, ten victims. All women, all in their twenties. From the coroner's reports, it seems as though they were all sexually assaulted and then lethally injected." JJ says, using a clicker to make images appear on the screen.

"So we have a sexual sadist on our hands," Morgan interjects.

"Yes, but what's interesting is that he chooses to inject them rather than torture them. It doesn't exactly correlate to the preferred method of inflicting pain that most sadists use." Dr. Reid replies.

"Well it means that our suspect is most-likely in the healthcare profession. Perhaps a doctor or nurse, but most-likely someone who works to put down animals. Once he sexually assaults these women, it is likely that he kills them through injection in order to preserve their beauty. All these women are in their twenties and pretty, so he must sexually assault them as his act of sadism and then, upon feeling remorse, uses lethal injection." I add.

"If this was an act of remorse, the killer wouldn't leave their bodies in their beds off the parents to find, he would take the time to bury them." Reid says.

"We'll discuss this more on the flight, we need to catch the jet." Hotch says, standing up and gathering his things. The rest of us do the same and I stuff the case file into my purse and sling it over my shoulder. Dr. Reid and I are the last ones out of the room, trailing behind the others.

"It's nice to formally meet you, you can call me Spencer," he says, extending his hand.

"It's nice to meet you as well, Spencer, you can call me Addie if you'd like, Adeline always seems much too formal." I shake his hand.

"Addie it is." He smiles awkwardly.

"I've read a lot about you, your published essay on forensic perpetrators was really brilliant."

"Really? Thanks, I mean. I've read a lot about you, too, once I found out you were joining us. You have a pretty impressive history."

"Yeah, well, when people can do the things that we can do, it's hard to not fall into this line of work," I say truthfully.

"That's for sure."