Only a Human (spencer reid x oc) ✅

replication

Getting a call at five in the morning seemed to be a common wake-up call once I started working at the BAU, but that doesn't mean it was always easy to be pulled from your slumber at a sucky hour.

But hearing that the case we just picked up had Hotch's brother involved, we were wide awake and ready to help. The case seemed intense. People were unknowingly drugged with a deadly type of ecstasy which caused them to die a pretty graphic death. Strauss was also coming with us, which meant that this case was going to be pretty serious if she was involved.

The more we dug, the more complicated the case seemed to get. There were ties to a club called the Edinburgh, the club where Sean Hotchner worked at. I could tell Hotch was getting frustrated with his sibling the more we dug up about the club. So even though I was a bit nervous about it, I decided to try and talk to Hotch, maybe calm him down a bit about this whole ordeal.

He looked confused as to why I came to talk to him about something that didn't have to do with the case, but he let me speak anyway.

"I know it isn't really my place to speak, but I understand how frustrating this is. I of all people know just how tough family can be. I guess I just want you to know that we're here to help and I completely understand what you are going through."

He seemed shocked that I spoke to him like that. But the slightest hint of a smile on his face brought some ease to my mind. "Thank you, Ariel."

I sent one more smile his way before reconnecting with the team to see what they had found. The case was getting more and more tricky with the more victims that popped up. Spencer, being the genius that he is, discovered that the drug was put into the wine that the couple bought. That sent us into a bit of a panic, considering that this could mean that hundreds of more people could die because of this attack.

After sending Sean in an undercover situation at the club, we discovered that the wine had been sold to a convenience store. But after Morgan and Spencer went to talk to the owner, they found out someone bought back the wine. Even though we didn't have an answer on who exactly it was, we all knew who bought it.

After doing some more digging, Garcia helped us find a man who worked at an airport that was behind all of this. He was upset that his daughter died from drug use and wanted others to feel that same pain.

The case had wrapped up and we were going to stay the night in the city before leaving on the jet tomorrow morning. I was exhausted and couldn't wait to curl up with Spencer in the hotel bed and pass out until morning.

But everything was thrown to the wind when we got a call from Garcia.

The Replicator hacked into her system, flooded it with pictures of us, including new ones of Hotch in front of his girlfriend's apartment, and 'Zugzwang' written hundreds of times. She felt horribly guilty, but we managed to reassure her that it wasn't her fault.

I was in the car with Hotch, Rossi, and Spencer as we raced towards the hotel everyone was meeting at. I was on the phone with my dad, explaining that agents were coming to the house to watch them. Whenever we had to send security details to the house, it always made me extremely anxious. My dad had reassured me that they would be safe and that Delilah was going to be okay.

I hung up the phone and reached over to grab Spencer's hand, trying to calm myself down somehow. He gave my hand a squeeze, trying to tell me that everything was going to be okay with that seemingly small interaction.

Once we all got to the hotel, we discovered that Strauss was gone and that the Replicator broke into her room and forced her to drink. We split up to look for her, but my mind seemed to be miles away. Strauss wasn't always the most likable person, but hearing about how she was overcoming her drinking problem showed me just how strong of a woman she was. I knew exactly what she was going through and it was dragging unpleasant memories to the surface.