The orchard burned on a wedding night no one remembers fondly. Smoke rose into a black Virginia sky, curling like fingers around a forgotten name. By morning, there were only cinders, and one woman walking out of them like a ghost - Emery Vale. Sixteen years later, the ground stirs again. A murder. A signature. A heart carved into skin. The BAU is called in. For Aaron Hotchner, it's just another case - until he hears the name of the town. Until he sees her face again. Grace Haynes, a teenage girl, is found dead in the orchard. Her best friend, Calla Vale, doesn't cry. She sketches instead. And the face she draws? A girl named Ivy Hart. A girl she's never met. But the adults in Manassas, Virginia have met Ivy. They remember her. They just wish they didn't. The past is rising like smoke again. And this time, it's coming for all of them. OR when, The past is not only unresolved - it's alive, bleeding back into the present through ritualistic murders, buried trauma, and a long-forgotten death. The BAU arrives in Manassas expecting a case. What they find is a deeply personal reckoning for Aaron Hotchner, a haunting return for Emery Vale, and a chilling echo of Ivy Hart - a girl who died young, but may never have truly left.

"What exactly are you trying to prove?" He leaned in closer, his warm breath fanning over my skin, sending sparks of awareness coursing through me. "That the tension between us isn't just in my head." His fingertips paused at the curve of my shoulder, lingering for a moment longer like he was weighing the consequences of his next move. "That every time you challenge me, every time you push back, every time you get 𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒌𝒊𝒏 - it's because you feel this too." ‿̩͙‿ ༺ ♰ ༻ ‿̩͙‿ In which FBI agent Dr. Mira Andros, a 24-year-old with a PhD in Criminal Psychology, moves from a dark past of cult investigations to the BAU in Quantico. Haunted by secrets she can't escape, Mira joins the team to solve a series of brutal murders-only to find herself entangled in a dangerous game where the line between rivalry and desire with Spencer Reid becomes harder to ignore. What if your greatest threat isn't the enemy watching but the desire you can't deny? #1 - forbiddenromance (17/04/25) #1 - slowburnromance (08/09/25) spencer reid x oc trope: enemies to lovers, forbidden romance