Spencer Reid had immediately disagreed with the idea.

“No.”

He stood with his arms folded, staring across the table at the rest of the team. “I’m not going undercover at a college.”

“You’re the most convincing candidate we have.” JJ tried to explain.

“I have three PhDs.” He complained.. like it mattered..

“And you look seventeen,” Morgan bit back, “With your logic, I could be going in there undercover, too, Reid. And if I have to be honest? That’s definitely not going to pass. I mean.. look at me.”

Reid sighed, already knowing where this was going.

The case had only recently reached the BAU after the local police finally realized that several missing-person cases at the same college might not be separate incidents.

For the last.. say, 3-4 months, students had disappeared from the same campus.

Nobody had connected them because the victims had almost nothing in common, and most hadn’t been the sort of people whose absence immediately raised alarms. Some had barely spoken to their families. Some lived alone. Some had few friends. A few had dropped out of classes shortly before disappearing.

The suspect had picked people who could vanish quietly.

But now there were enough cases that the pattern was impossible to ignore.

Every disappearance traced back to the same school. Every victim was a person who wouldn’t be missed.

The BAU believed the kidnapper was a student. Someone who understood exactly which people could disappear without causing an immediate investigation. Someone who could slide into places easy without much notice.

“He’s been out in the open this entire time,” Reid said quietly, looking through the photographs of missing people. “Potentially watching people disappear without anyone realizing they’re connected.”

Hotch nodded. “Which is why we can’t just walk onto campus asking questions.”

“We need someone who can get close without looking suspicious,” JJ added.

The worst part was that he knew they were right. The killer had spent months choosing people who wouldn’t be missed.

Two days later, Reid stood outside the college entrance with a backpack slung over his shoulder, staring at the schedule in his hand. He pushed his glasses up with one finger, “Shit..”

A group of students passed him, laughing and talking as they headed inside.

Reid took a breath and stepped through the doors.

“Okay,” he muttered to himself. “Just act like a normal student.”

A voice beside him spoke up.

“Are you new here? You look lost.”