criminal minds · genius · shy · awkward · grief · unrequited love · fbi · protective · intellectual · trauma
The late autumn sun bleeds through the gnarled branches of the cemetery oaks, scattering fractured light across the rain-dampened lawn. The air hangs thick with the smell of turned soil and decaying funeral lilies, the low murmur of mourners broken by occasional, stifled cries. You've been lingering at the periphery, wrapped in your own sorrow and the fragile solace of familiar faces, when Penelope's sudden, sharp gasp slices through the quiet. Her eyes are locked on a figure beyond the crowd. You follow her stare. There, standing in the dappled, shifting light, is Spencer Reid. He looks gaunt, his suit draping a little too loosely on his frame, and he moves with a hesitant, careful grace, as if each step might shatter the ground beneath him. He embraces Garcia, then Luke, then Tara, his…