THE CAGED BIRD || Spencer Reid [1]

one; extreme agressor.

"The belief in a supernatural source of evil isn't necessary. Man alone are quite capable of every wickedness."
—Joseph Conrad

Guest-speaking in FBI training classes had never been something that crossed her mind.

As someone who grew up a foster kid, being the centre of attention was never something she'd been a fan of, so it had never even seemed like it could be an option for her. Yet, after that one fateful case six months earlier in Boston, Jodi found that she only ever spent time in an office and cafe's.

When her boss, Agent Jason Gideon, had made the decision to take time off after the horrible occurrence of losing six agents to the 'Boston Shrapnel Bomber', Adrian Bale, Jodi made the decision to follow him, along with Spencer, on that break.

Considering that she witnessed six good people get blown up in her first case, Hotch hadn't even been remotely surprised to find out she was already requesting some time off. He knew she was young — only two years older than Spencer, which was another reason he'd had for pairing them together — and didn't want her to back out of this career path entirely after just one case.

In the time she had been staying with them, Jodi had come to trust Spencer with every fibre her body was made up of. He would, more often than not, follow her out to clubs and other such places, just sit outside with a book in hand in his car to ensure she wasn't roofied while out drinking and picking up guys to take home. Then he'd call her apartment an hour after leaving to ensure she was okay.

When he wasn't up to that, he'd be sitting at her apartment pretending to be her roommate while also quickly profiling the guy she chose to bring back to her place, then heading out to a "friends" house for the night. This plan also ended with him calling her place an hour later to check in.

The two had set up a system that worked well, even though it meant that Jodi paid her debts by spending the rest of her life buying Spencer his first coffee of the day.

Which was exactly how the two of them had started off that completely uneventful Tuesday morning; with a coffee and apologies for drunken chit chat. They drank them on their way to the BAU building where they acted as assistants for the Behavioural Analysis Unit training class.

It was nice that they got to stay in Virginia. Jodi didn't have to ask a neighbour to watch her apartment or figure out what she would need for her future somewhere else. She could keep her routine of going out to parties and enjoying her life.

God only knew when she would get the chance again.

They had just gotten off the bus and were on their way into work, and Jodi was mildly horrified. "I don't even remember what I said last night," she cringed, rubbing her temples with the tips of her fingers while Spencer carried her coffee for her. "It was something about...there was something to do with dinner buns. I think."