[redamancy]: the act of loving in return
Dr. Spencer Reid did not need a therapist. But after the events of Tobias Hankle and his subsequent reliance on dilaudid, his friends at the BAU disagreed. For the sake of his career, his friends couldn't jus...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
prologue | before: season 2, episode 14 "the big game"
Sticky floors, sweat permeating the air, and the faint smell of peanuts.
Megan Brooks held tight to her sister's hand as they pushed through the packed D.C. bar. Super Bowl Sunday had never been of explicit interest to Meg considering that she never bothered to learn the rules of football, but Haley and Aaron had finally convinced her to get out of the house for one night with the excuse of meeting her brother-in-law's coworkers that he spoke so highly of.
The two blondes finally tracked down the group when Aaron lifted a guiding hand in the air. "You actually took my advice?" he asked when his eyes landed on Meg.
"Ha, ha. Very funny," she deadpanned, bumping his shoulder.
"Megan, these are Agents Derek Morgan, Emily Prentiss, Jennifer Jareau, and Dr. Spencer Reid. And that's our technical analyst, Penelope Garcia." Hotch gestured to each of the team members in turn as his sister-in-law would shake their hand or kindly greet them all in turn. "You all of course know Haley, but this is her younger sister, Megan."
"Call me Meg," she offered. "And did you really have to introduce us like you're out on a case, Aaron?"
JJ snorted just as she was taking a sip of her beer while Emily couldn't help but let out a peel of laughter. "Hey, man, she got you there," Derek chuckled, patting JJ's back as she coughed.
"No talk of anything case-related tonight!" Penelope ordered, coming around the table and grabbing Meg's hand. "Now, I couldn't help but notice you're missing the point of the evening: alcohol! Follow me!"
Meg quickly waved back at the table as she was pulled away to the bar. Aaron almost smiled in amusement as Haley settled into the seat beside him.
Spencer looked from his boss to the bar where Meg was already chatting easily with Penelope. And before, in the seconds that she was in front of the group, she'd already gained their favor by making them laugh. A pang of envy shot through him that she was so personable to get people to like her so quickly.
He was sure it was more than her quick wit and ability to converse so easily that made her so likable. She was pretty. That much was obvious. With silky, blonde hair like her sister's, but grey-blue eyes completely her own, her charm was undeniable. Her style was polished as she wore an oversized, criss-cross patterned blazer over a brown, turtleneck dress that matched the shade of calf-high boots. Her smile, however, outshined her put-together appearance. It was genuine and contagious in a way he couldn't quite put to words.
Derek caught Spencer still staring after the girls at the bar and nudged his friend. "See something you like?" he asked quietly.
"What?" Spencer startled, quickly shaking his head and returning to the beer in his hand. "Huh? No. I just- No."
