[Criminal Minds] Just a kid
Title: Just a kid
Rating: G
Genre: Character study
Series: Moments in Time
Characters: Spencer Reid
Spoilers: 1x21 Secrets and Lies
Warnings: None beyond what's in the episode
Summary: Even a smart person like Reid could make a dumb move.
Disclaimer: All characters are property of CBS, Jeff Davis, Edward Allen Bernero and sadly not mine. I just take them along for the ride. Special thanks to my dear friend Sarah for all her help and encouragement and being a great beta. Thanks to everyone who read and/or reviewed one of my others stories.
“We can’t circulate a picture of a woman who’s supposed to be dead,” the CIA agent walking in front of Reid pointed out as they were making their way toward the steps leading down to the bullpen area of the CIA’s office.
The BAU team had been matched up one-on-one with their four suspects to try and figure out who was the mole, preferably before the missing family had been located. And Spencer was assigned to shadow Kruger Spence.
Gideon had told them that spies were some of the smartest liars in the world and had advised them to be smarter. So it was obvious why Reid had been paired off with this particular agent. Apart from the gap in age they were a lot alike; both had an IQ way above normal and had been recruited when they had still been pretty young. In short Kruger was a possible future version of the young profiler which made this pair-up the logical conclusion.
Because while it didn’t necessarily mean that a person with a high IQ was actually smarter in every way, those people more often than not had a different thought pattern and in order to follow that or at least trying to discern it, an equal IQ would definitely prove useful.
It didn’t help Reid however with another problem he found himself presented with.
Walking down the steps the younger agent started to reply, “I realize that, but-“, only to be interrupted by Kruger. “Look, I appreciate you have a job to do,” he turned around to Spencer briefly to emphasize his next point, “but so do I.” Reid kept silent at that, shoving his hands into his pants’ pocket in a wave of frustration.
They reached the bottom of the stairs and the CIA operative immediately addressed his team of agents. “All right, start looking where Aaliyah would feel the most comfortable. Arab-populated areas-“
“Actually,” Reid cut in, his hands now clamped together nervously in front of his upper body as Kruger’s gaze moved to rest on him for a second, “you might wanna start by profiling Summers.”
The CIA agent turned around fully this time, his annoyance as clear as day on his face. “Be my guest,” he challenged.
Spencer briefly broke eye contact under the intensive stare of the other man, surprised by that reply and momentarily not able to come up with anything useful under this kind of pressure.
“Aaliyah’s about to be brutally murdered in front of her children,” the older agent continued, and then paused for a moment looking expectantly at Reid who gazed away again, this time a bit longer. Apparently being proven right in his assumption by the obviously expected lack of response Kruger turned around to his agents again. “Now, where were we? All right, let’s put some teams together.”
There it was again, the problem Spencer had encountered more than he’d liked to and yet still had no way to resolve.
In a way he got it; he wasn’t what FBI agents typically looked like, appeared like. All that people saw in him was a young man, a kid really, too young to be in this line of profession. Like he had told Gideon a few months ago, he looked like a teacher’s assistant without his gun, pretty much the only visual indicator that he indeed was working in law enforcement.
And yet Spencer didn’t mind being called “kid” by Morgan or being treated like the baby of the group by his fellow agents - after all he was just that - because it was different. They respected him, knew what he was capable of, with them he didn’t have to prove himself.
He was starting to get why his mentor always introduced him as “Dr.” instead of “Special Agent” like the rest of the team. In this case though even that hadn’t resulted in the desired effect. He quite obviously wasn’t taken seriously by the older agent in front of him; he didn’t appear capable, competent in the man’s eyes.
And he saw only one way to change that.
“Summers was obsessed with his own security,” he interrupted the conversation again, louder and more firm this time.
Kruger didn’t even bother turning around when he countered, “Aren’t we all?”
Spencer ignored the clearly rhetorical question as well as the uninviting tone it was asked with. “He didn’t care about money or possession or family,” he continued in his usual fast-speed manner of talking with a slightly higher voice than before but at least managed to keep his normally wild gesturing at bay. “All he cared about was his job. He was a classic control freak, a meticulous paranoid.”
He almost missed the other man’s slight change in posture since he was waiting for another annoyed remark that never came.
Instead, while still not facing him, the CIA agent nodded slowly. “A loner who chose to live outside the community,” he agreed in a lowered voice, almost sounding like he was talking to himself.
And while Reid didn’t know why Kruger listened to him all of a sudden, seeming to finally take him serious enough to actually consider what he was saying, he couldn’t help but adding, “In an environment that he could control.”
He couldn’t deny a sense of relief, joy even, at the obvious change in the other man’s perception of his abilities.
Kruger’s right hand came up half-way as if to try and stop Spencer from disrupting his thought process by saying anything else.
“All right. So he would have placed Aaliyah outside the community in an environment that only he could control and have access to,” the older agent deduced, gesturing with both hands now.
And just then the profiler realized what he had done. Trying to back-pedal he replied, “Maybe. O-on the other hand he might-“
He didn’t get any further however when the CIA operative cut in, addressing his staff again. “All right, all right, new deal. I want you to search the areas surrounding Summers’ apartment. We’re looking for industrial sites, uh, storage spaces, warehouses.”
While the agents left to get started on their assigned task Kruger turned to face Reid. With a hint of a smile and a trace of something akin to condescension in his voice he said, “That’s good. Thanks.”
Spencer watched the other man go, knowing he had just made the team’s task even harder. Best case scenario, they could find Aaliyah that way before the mole would. Worst case scenario, he had helped the mole getting a head start in the search. Either way he may have moved up the deadline, possibly also her and her children’s.
Looking across the bullpen Reid wished for the first time that he’d been seen just as a kid.
Rating: G
Genre: Character study
Series: Moments in Time
Characters: Spencer Reid
Spoilers: 1x21 Secrets and Lies
Warnings: None beyond what's in the episode
Summary: Even a smart person like Reid could make a dumb move.
Disclaimer: All characters are property of CBS, Jeff Davis, Edward Allen Bernero and sadly not mine. I just take them along for the ride. Special thanks to my dear friend Sarah for all her help and encouragement and being a great beta. Thanks to everyone who read and/or reviewed one of my others stories.
“We can’t circulate a picture of a woman who’s supposed to be dead,” the CIA agent walking in front of Reid pointed out as they were making their way toward the steps leading down to the bullpen area of the CIA’s office.
The BAU team had been matched up one-on-one with their four suspects to try and figure out who was the mole, preferably before the missing family had been located. And Spencer was assigned to shadow Kruger Spence.
Gideon had told them that spies were some of the smartest liars in the world and had advised them to be smarter. So it was obvious why Reid had been paired off with this particular agent. Apart from the gap in age they were a lot alike; both had an IQ way above normal and had been recruited when they had still been pretty young. In short Kruger was a possible future version of the young profiler which made this pair-up the logical conclusion.
Because while it didn’t necessarily mean that a person with a high IQ was actually smarter in every way, those people more often than not had a different thought pattern and in order to follow that or at least trying to discern it, an equal IQ would definitely prove useful.
It didn’t help Reid however with another problem he found himself presented with.
Walking down the steps the younger agent started to reply, “I realize that, but-“, only to be interrupted by Kruger. “Look, I appreciate you have a job to do,” he turned around to Spencer briefly to emphasize his next point, “but so do I.” Reid kept silent at that, shoving his hands into his pants’ pocket in a wave of frustration.
They reached the bottom of the stairs and the CIA operative immediately addressed his team of agents. “All right, start looking where Aaliyah would feel the most comfortable. Arab-populated areas-“
“Actually,” Reid cut in, his hands now clamped together nervously in front of his upper body as Kruger’s gaze moved to rest on him for a second, “you might wanna start by profiling Summers.”
The CIA agent turned around fully this time, his annoyance as clear as day on his face. “Be my guest,” he challenged.
Spencer briefly broke eye contact under the intensive stare of the other man, surprised by that reply and momentarily not able to come up with anything useful under this kind of pressure.
“Aaliyah’s about to be brutally murdered in front of her children,” the older agent continued, and then paused for a moment looking expectantly at Reid who gazed away again, this time a bit longer. Apparently being proven right in his assumption by the obviously expected lack of response Kruger turned around to his agents again. “Now, where were we? All right, let’s put some teams together.”
There it was again, the problem Spencer had encountered more than he’d liked to and yet still had no way to resolve.
In a way he got it; he wasn’t what FBI agents typically looked like, appeared like. All that people saw in him was a young man, a kid really, too young to be in this line of profession. Like he had told Gideon a few months ago, he looked like a teacher’s assistant without his gun, pretty much the only visual indicator that he indeed was working in law enforcement.
And yet Spencer didn’t mind being called “kid” by Morgan or being treated like the baby of the group by his fellow agents - after all he was just that - because it was different. They respected him, knew what he was capable of, with them he didn’t have to prove himself.
He was starting to get why his mentor always introduced him as “Dr.” instead of “Special Agent” like the rest of the team. In this case though even that hadn’t resulted in the desired effect. He quite obviously wasn’t taken seriously by the older agent in front of him; he didn’t appear capable, competent in the man’s eyes.
And he saw only one way to change that.
“Summers was obsessed with his own security,” he interrupted the conversation again, louder and more firm this time.
Kruger didn’t even bother turning around when he countered, “Aren’t we all?”
Spencer ignored the clearly rhetorical question as well as the uninviting tone it was asked with. “He didn’t care about money or possession or family,” he continued in his usual fast-speed manner of talking with a slightly higher voice than before but at least managed to keep his normally wild gesturing at bay. “All he cared about was his job. He was a classic control freak, a meticulous paranoid.”
He almost missed the other man’s slight change in posture since he was waiting for another annoyed remark that never came.
Instead, while still not facing him, the CIA agent nodded slowly. “A loner who chose to live outside the community,” he agreed in a lowered voice, almost sounding like he was talking to himself.
And while Reid didn’t know why Kruger listened to him all of a sudden, seeming to finally take him serious enough to actually consider what he was saying, he couldn’t help but adding, “In an environment that he could control.”
He couldn’t deny a sense of relief, joy even, at the obvious change in the other man’s perception of his abilities.
Kruger’s right hand came up half-way as if to try and stop Spencer from disrupting his thought process by saying anything else.
“All right. So he would have placed Aaliyah outside the community in an environment that only he could control and have access to,” the older agent deduced, gesturing with both hands now.
And just then the profiler realized what he had done. Trying to back-pedal he replied, “Maybe. O-on the other hand he might-“
He didn’t get any further however when the CIA operative cut in, addressing his staff again. “All right, all right, new deal. I want you to search the areas surrounding Summers’ apartment. We’re looking for industrial sites, uh, storage spaces, warehouses.”
While the agents left to get started on their assigned task Kruger turned to face Reid. With a hint of a smile and a trace of something akin to condescension in his voice he said, “That’s good. Thanks.”
Spencer watched the other man go, knowing he had just made the team’s task even harder. Best case scenario, they could find Aaliyah that way before the mole would. Worst case scenario, he had helped the mole getting a head start in the search. Either way he may have moved up the deadline, possibly also her and her children’s.
Looking across the bullpen Reid wished for the first time that he’d been seen just as a kid.