DAMAGED // spencer reid

30

Spencer's POV:

Addie's presence still seems surreal. I mean, it's one thing to come back for a visit, but a totally different thing to permanently move back and join the team again. Not that I didn't want her back, of course it did, it was just... unexpected. I didn't really know how to feel about it to be honest, my heart was screaming yes but my head was screaming no. It took me a long time to feel somewhat whole again, I know that Addie being here could ruin all my progress. But then again, I haven't truly felt whole since she left. I still love her, of course I do, there's so much history between us. In the end, I'll always come back to her, no matter how damaged we both may be.

Sitting next to Addie on the plane sent a wave of nostalgia over me. She looked a little different, though: her curly hair was slightly shorter, her skin sun-kissed from the California sun and the freckles across her cheekbones and nose were more prominent. The smile lines around her mouth and eyes were more noticeable as well, and I observed that she was more fidgety with her hands than she used to be. She wore flowy gray dress pants with the same black heels she always wore and a black tank top to combat the heat of the summer. Her slender arms were slightly more toned too, and I frowned when I realized that she seemed skinnier than she used to be. Not that it mattered what she looked like, she's the most beautiful girl in the world to me, but I just wanted to make sure she was taking care of herself. I guess that isn't really my job anymore, though.

We landed in New York shortly.

"Garcia will accompany me to the precinct to work on retrieving surveillance footage while I speak to the Captain and the detectives. I want the other three of you to head straight to the scene of the last shooting, there will be officers there to offer their services," Hotch says, "I want you to stay vigilant and careful, I have an uneasy feeling about this one. There are a lot of easily-corrupted cops in the NYPD, so try and stay together. If you can't, tell someone on the team where you are going immediately, that's an order."

Everyone nods and I spot Addie giving a reassuring smile to a slightly shaken Penelope. We split up and Morgan drives Addie and I to the most recent crime scene. The subway is cleared out as we head down the steps. I hastily clip my badge to the waistband of my trousers and I see Addie do the same.

"Agent Morgan, BAU. This is Dr. Reid and Dr. Grant, my colleagues," Derek introduces as we greet a huddle of officers.
"Nice to meet you gentlemen—and, er—lady. I'm Officer Yardly, the lead on this shooting. We appreciate you coming up here, but I'm going to be honest, I don't exactly see how your expertise can help us here," a tall and muscular cop says. He can't be older than 35, but you can tell that even the older officers respect him. Or maybe they're intimidated, it's hard to tell.

"We actually analyze crimes from a behavioral perspective by focusing on the traits and motives of the perpetrator, which we prefer to call the unsub. By conducting a detailed and thorough analysis of the unsub's tendencies in addition to his/her likely background and what information we can gather from the scene of the crime, our team is able to create a profile that will tell us why the unsub committed the crime and how we can catch them. By studying these unsubs, we're able to understand—" I ramble on before Morgan lays a hand on my shoulder.

"I think they get it, kid," he says quietly. I feel my face heat up as the officers stare at me with blank faces. Officer Yardly looks as though he is trying to contain a smirk, which makes me dislike him even more.

"Your opinions have no effect on our presence here, Officer, so I suggest that you start doing your job rather than questioning ours," Addie states sharply, her eyes narrowed at Yardly. I can tell she doesn't like him either, but she's definitely more upfront about it. Addie always did have a smart mouth.

"Walk us through the shooting," Derek requests, leading the way. The heat of summer in New York City is almost unbearable, even underground. I roll up the sleeves of my button-down and I see Derek wiping his brow and Addie tying her hair up in a bun, putting her defined shoulders and collarbone on display.

Jesus, Spencer! Stop thinking about her fucking shoulders and focus!

"Victim was shot right about here," Yardly says, standing in the middle of the platform, "single bullet to the back of the head, just like our other four victims earlier this week. From what we've gathered from the minimal CCTV footage, the perpetrator—er, what do you call them again?"

"Unsubs," Morgan replies stiffly, obviously getting irritated at Yardly's relaxed tone and mannerisms.

"Right, unsubs. The unsub was wearing all black and used the same gun at all the other murders. The sound of the gunshot wasn't even heard, the subway was too noisy," Yardly finishes.

"Wait, how much time between the fourth and fifth shootings was there?" I ask, confused.

"Eh, I'd say less than 24 hours. Between the third and forth was only a few hours, though."

"It's unlikely that an unsub would strike twice within the same day," Morgan frowns.

"Yes, especially within hours of his/her last crime. A single shooting should be able to provide a sadistic unsub with enough adrenaline and gratification to last longer than that, so there isn't a need to kill again so quickly," I add.

"All of these subway shootings were located in totally different parts of the city, there's no way that the unsub would've been able to shoot the third victim and then make it across the entire city in time to kill the fourth," Addie says, looking down at the case file in her hands, "it couldn't have been the same unsub, even if they were traveling by subway with no stops or in a taxi with limited traffic, they still would've been approximately 23.4 minutes too late. This means we're looking at at least two unsubs, if not more."

This just got a lot more difficult to solve.

Addie's POV:

It's safe to say that I want to slap that ignorant smirk off of Officer Yardly's smug and punchable face. He obviously cares more about looking good in front of his colleagues than he does about the series of murders in his city, which is unbelievable. But he really crossed a line by questioning our capabilities and authorities, as well as sneering after Spencer tried to explain our job. Now, that? That really pisses me off.

We've arrived back at the precinct, Morgan going off in search of Penelope as Spencer and I enter the Captain's Office where he and Hotch are conversing.

"Reid and Grant, this is Captain Bower," Hotch introduces.

"Nice to meet you, sir," I shake the Captain's hand as Spencer simply gives him a nod.

"Thank you agents for coming on such quick notice. I assume you've already met Officer Yardly at the most recent crime scene, trust me when I say that you are in good hands with him, he's one of our finest," the Captain says. I fight the urge to roll my eyes.

"Yes sir, we did already meet with him," Spencer replies.

"Quite a charmer," I mutter under my breath.

"Well, I'm glad to hear it. Let me know if you need anything, our resources are available," the Captain says. Hotch shakes his hand before we all file out of his office.

"We need to start this profile ASAP. Something seems off, and I have a feeling the Captain isn't telling us everything he knows about this case," Hotch breathes, quiet enough for Reid and I to barely hear him as we walk through the precinct.

"Yeah, you might want to add Yardly to that list," I murmur in response. It's getting to be later in the evening and we're all in desperate need of sleep, I only hope that we won't wake up to another murder.

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