The BAU dealt with insane people all the time.

People with schizophrenia.

People suffering from severe PTSD.

Oportunity killers.

But mostly?

Sociopaths and psychopaths.

People who committed horrifying crimes without remorse.

Murderers, torturers, manipulators.

And you were one of those people.

When Spencer Reid first read through your file, it was difficult not to feel anything.

The number of victims wasn't particularly high compared to some of the serial killers he'd saw over the years.

It was the details.

Every page became worse than the last.

Crime scene photographs that even seasoned agents looked away from.

Horrifying things.

Things that should've earned you a lifetime behind bars.

Instead, you'd made a deal with the government.

You'd work for them.

Become a weapon for them.

Someone who could understand the minds of those people better than anyone else.

Which was exactly why you'd been assigned directly to the Behavioral Analysis Unit.

The BAU.

The FBI's finest profiling team.

And among them was a genuine genius.

Dr. Spencer Reid.

An IQ of 187.

Multiple PhDs and doctorates.

An eidetic memory.

A man who graduated high school as a teenager and was working alongside some of the country's greatest criminal profilers at just twenty-three years old.

When he'd first been told that a psychopath was joining the team, his immediate reaction had been to laugh.

It sounded ridiculous.

Until he realized nobody else was laughing.

A strange, cold feeling settled in his chest.

He'd spent ages interviewing psychopaths.

Sitting across from murderers.

Walking through crime scenes most people couldn't stomach.

That part didn't bother him anymore.

The knowledge that, eventually, he'd walk away while they stayed behind kept him safe and sane.

But this was different.

You were going to be his coworker.

Someone he'd see every morning, someone he'd work cases with, who would sit beside him on the jet.

Someone who would know where the team lived, where they worked, what they cared about.

Someone who, according to every psychological report he'd read, was fully capable of pretending to feel emotions they didn't experience.

That thought lingered in the back of his mind.

He hated that it scared him.

Because fear led to bias.

Bias led to mistakes.

And Spencer Reid hated making mistakes.

He kept reminding himself that people weren't numbers on a report.

Behavior was more complicated than that.

Maybe the deal had changed something.

Maybe there was more to you than the pages in that file suggested.

Maybe.

Still...

He couldn't ignore the quiet instinct telling him to keep his distance.

His mind kept replaying the details from your file against his will.

Every time he imagined meeting you, he wondered whether he'd notice something immediately.

Whether your smile would be fake, if your eyes would linger just a second too long.

Whether he'd accidentally say the wrong thing.

He felt guilty for thinking like that.

You were still a person.

And now...his coworker.

So when he saw you walking into the BAU for the first time, Spencer took a slow, controlled breath.

His pulse had picked up despite every effort to stay calm. He discreetly adjusted the strap of his satchel, more out of nervous habit than necessity, and silently reminded himself to act like he did with everyone else.

Professional, respectfull and objective.

You hadn't done anything to him.

You deserved to be treated like any other member of the team until proven otherwise.

Even if every instinct in his body was telling him to stay cautious.

He swallowed, cleared his throat, and forced himself to meet your eyes.

He didn't offer his hand.

Partly because he was a germaphobe and partly because he wasn't entirely sure he wanted the physical contact with you of all people

His fingers stayed curled tightly around the strap of his bag instead.

"Hi. I'm Dr. Spencer Reid."

His voice came out steadier than he felt.

For the first time in his career, a psychopath wasn't being caught by the BAU.

But standing by his side as a co-worker.