Huge thank you to "spencersweater" who was so kind to let me write this inspired by this tumblr post:
https://spencersweater.tumblr.com/post/653574696752840704/i-think-my-favorite-headcanon-that-i-have-is-luke
<3
"Oh and Dr. Reid is walking around here somewhere maybe take the time to introduce yourself." Hotch advises Luke after they finished a conversation at his office about how they want to proceed working together. "He is probably in the conference room, if he is not there or at his desk please check with Rossi because then they both are doing everything but work right now."
"I will do that, Sir"
'Dr. Reid' is certainly a name that he had heard before as well as during the time he had been working now closely with the team and especially Rossi but also before already. 'Dude that Dr. Reid really did a number on that guy, not physically but that man's ego is definitely broken now'
'You heard about that Spencer Reid dude? Allegedly he was only 21 and already working at the BAU'
'Did you hear that about the Agent from the BAU, Dr. Reid or something? Poor kid couldn't save his own girlfriend from a stalker.'
'Did you see the press conference from the BAU last night? That Dr. Reid guy is something else'
"I am looking for a Dr. Reid"
"Oh you found him" With his lips pursed together Spencer turns around and smiles at him. "I am Dr. Spencer Reid but you know that already."
"Luke Alvez, no handshakes right? Your reputation proceeds you."
"So does yours, it says here that you caught Danile Collin three years ago." He slips into a ramble about everything he read about the killer in the files and ends his monologue with a question, insecure looking up at the new addition to the team. "Sorry"
"Oh now worries, I am happy to answer your questions."
"You don't have to"
"No no no, show me the file, what was the question?" Right when Spencer wants to repeat it he interrupts him. "Right,how did we finally figure it out, well he was always a suspect but we couldn't pin him down so my partner went undercover. I am glad I can asses you guys to bring him back behind bars."
"No time for small talk let's get to work." Rossi steps in and the conference room fills itself with the rest of the team and he takes place at the table next to Spencer who gives him a hurt look for a second. His eyes trailing down on the chair and then back onto the file on his desk, nervously shifting in his seat and then slightly pulling at his collar once before bringing it out.
"Morgan always sat there"
"Morgan?" Luke asks and Hotch steps in.
"Derek Morgan, he left the team a few cases ago, it's fine."
"No no no, I can switch seats-" Just when he gets up Hotch takes over again.
"It's been months, Spencer can pull himself together."
"We will just make it your new seat." Rossi adds and smiles at Spencer encouragingly while Luke has the feeling that he just signals him that they do not at all take what Spencer feels regarding Derek's leaving seriously.
But Luke is new on the team, maybe they are right, maybe it is something Spencer should get over with more easily and maybe Spencer is just someone that needs to be pushed like this and it's not really his business to get involved in their arguments yet so he just looks back on his file following the conversation at the table that neither he nor Spencer does engage in.
"I am sorry about the chair thing-"
"It's fine. I overreacted." Spencer tells him when they are about to leave the room. "People say I tend to"
Intimidated by the others Luke ignores Spencer's comment and grabs his files hurrying out behind to get his things to fly out to the case.
And over the course of his first official case on the team, he tries learning about his teammates but somehow his eyes and thoughts always travel their way back to Spencer.
Spencer who starts rambling on facts about the case until he is cut off.
Reid who shakes his hands out whenever he thinks no one is looking.
Spencer who looks always slightly to the side while someone speaks to him, his eyes focus on the person infront but often they drift of to the wall next to them, to the ceiling or their necklace.
Reid who looks for reinsurance at Hotch whenever he starts speaking waiting for the sign to stop.
"You wanna play?" Luke asks holding up a cards game when they are on their way back to Quantico.
Hotch is working at the back of the jet, on the couch next to him JJ is fast asleep while Tara and Rossi are too in their seats.
"I'd love to." An enthusiastic grin grows on Spencer face as he puts his book aside and makes space on the table for the game.
"I kinda have the feeling I am not winning this."
"You can try." For a moment Spencer looks disappointed as he reaches for the stack. "We are still gonna play right?"
"Totally." Luke ensures him. "If I just wanted to win I would have waited to play with JJ or someone 3else."
"JJ is really good actually. She somehow tends to beat me too sometimes."
"I am surrounded by professional poker players."
"I grew up in Vegas. I am banned from nearly every casino in the city because of my card counting ability."
"Belive me or not I have never been to Vegas." Luke tells him while looking at his cards. "Do you still have family there?"
"Yes my mum and my dad live there too but we don't talk."
"Oh I am sorry?"
"No it's okay" Spencer responds and places his card down. "Does your dad live in the city?"
"Oh no I moved here for the job but it's not far." He notices how Spencer leg moves up and down under the table and how his one finger repeatedly tips the cards in his hand. "But I have family in Washington. My aunt moved there when we were teenagers and we would spend our holidays there sometimes."
He waits for an answer while they continue to play so eventually Luke chuckles to over play the uncomfortable silence making Spencer look up at him frowning slightly.
"What's wrong?"
"Why did you laugh? What did I do?" Worried he looks down on his shirt and then on his card and back to Luke who feels now insensitive for doing that.
"Nothing, you are all good."
"Did I miss something?"
"No, No!" Apologetic Luke places his cards upside down on the table and explains to him that he only laughed to fill the silence and that he didn't mean to make fun of him.
"Thank you for clarifying that."
"No problem"
He continues on watching him and hopes he keeps it not at obvious as it is and a few weeks later Garcia warns him about pining over the 'boy wonder' and that she will 'hide his body so good nobody will ever find it' if he hurts him and Luke only now realizes that he is maybe not only looking at him to profile him.
"I wasn't staring, calm down."
"You were Luke Alvez, don't lie to me. I recognize an idiot when I see one." She threatens and walks away into the conference room where they gather for a new case.
"Where is Reid?" He asks into the round when he sees the empty seat.
"I don't know he will join us in any minute I hope." Hotch excuses the delay not seeming especially worried.
"Now that I got the chance" Luke speaks up standing at the table his back facing the door. "I didn't get a chance to talk to him about it but is Reid autistic?"
"Yes" Hotch states not elaborating further.
"What kind of resources do you guys have for him? I know he doesn't like touch but is there anything else I should avoid?" The room stays quiet for a moment before JJ interferes.
"You know he deals with it on his own."
"We just ignore it it's better for him." Garcia adds.
"You what?"
"He knows how to deal with his on his own he is fine." Rossi supports his teammates right before Spencer walks in, clearly stressed out and embarrassed that he is late for the meeting. "There he is"
"Sorry, Sir"
"No problem, sit down let us get started"
"Spencer!" Luke calls after him and the man happily holds the elevator doors open for him. "Thank you man"
"No problem"
"You aren't walking to the train station are you?" He asks him when he sees him walking to the back exit instead of to the one leading to the parking lot.
"I am why?"
"It is pouring outside."
"I will just walk fast." Spencer assures him, his hands gripping the string of his bag.
"No"
"No?"
"I mean I will drop you off."
"You don't have to."
"It's okay, I promise it's not a big deal."
"I don't want to intrude-"
"All I have planned for the evening is to sleep. Belive me the ten minutes or what it may be that it takes me to drop you off aren't a problem." Gradually a smile forms on his face and he follows Luke out to his car and is immensely relived that he does not have to walk through the rain and have his close soak through and clinch to his skin.
"I sorry to get your floor mat all dirty." Spencer stumbles out as he sees his dirty converse.
"I have a dog belive me I don't mind."
"Can I meet her one day ever since I met Morgan's dog, I-" He interrupts himself, hugging himself tightly. "Sorry that was overstepping."
"No not at all. Tell you what" Luke starts while driving. "If we don't have a case by Sunday I will pick you up and we drive out to the forrest with her."
"I am not really as fast as you."
"Not to train I promise."
"I would love that"
To Luke's disappointment it takes weeks till they can go on their not date they both claim to Garcia and Tara who keep joking about it and all this time Luke proceeds to watch him.
To notice the little flinch when someone raises their voice, the stern look Hotch gives him when he is moving to much in his seat, the screwing with his eyes whenever they are standing in the sun or work in a building that has this bright clean white light that can't be dialed down and Luke finds himself to always offering his sunglasses, boring his headphones pretending to want to show Spencer a new record he recently heard and to take him out for coffee when he sees Spencer starting to get nervous.
"Can I ask you something personal?"
"Considering I am walking through the woods with you and your dog I would say yes." Spencer answers beaming at him, he had catched him flapping his hands when they walked down the stairs this morning and first he got scared that Spencer is not as much as a fan of the idea as he lead on but then remembered how his cousin would not only flap his hands when he was nervous or anxious, it can also just mean that he is excited and happy.
"I talked to the team about it once or well I just asked and they told me about your autism and-"
"Let's not talk about that." Spencer takes on more speed walking slightly in front of Luke.
"We don't have to but you maybe want to know that I don't share their option."
"I don't want to talk about it."
"Okay I won't bring it up again." He really doesn't but it's not like Spencer doesn't notice the stim toy that is placed in the kitchen when he is over at his house, or the one that suddenly appears in his car, that he regularly is invited in to drive home with in or that he doesn't notice how Luke's new headphones are noise cancelling or that the new blanket on the jet is a lot softer than the old one.
"Why are doing all of this?" Spencer asks when they are at a precinct, it's the middle of the night and the two were just about to get back to the hotel when Luke pulls his key out of his pocket and the stim toy from the car falls out.
"What?"
"The stim toys? The headphones? The sunglasses you always borrow me? Don't you think I know what you are doing?"
"Spencer-"
"No! Everybody keeps making fun of me and not taking me seriously - I don't like that. Stop that." Discouraged Spencer looks at Luke, tears forming in his eyes and the man needs a moment to process what Spencer means with his statement.
"Spencer I am not making fun of you."
"Why do you buy those stupid toys then?"
"I thought I was helping you with these, I am-" Timid Luke takes a step towards him while Spencer starts crying even more. "I am so sorry I didn't mean to hurt you even more."
"Can't have toys at work."
"Would you want to?" Unsure if that's the right thing to do Luke places one hand on Spencer's upper arm but the man steps back.
"I don't know"
"Technically they aren't toys it's just the name, if you want to try if these help I don't think anybody can forbid you that."
Spencer hitches for air once and slightly starts rocking back and forth on his feet and Luke can tell how it takes him every strength to not do it so he walks over and closes the door and blinds of the small conference room and pulls a chair back for him to guide him down in and the moment he sits he starts rocking back and forth.
Luke gives him the privacy he deserves and backs of sitting down at the end of the table and looking down on the file in front of him pretending to read it and only asks if he needs something when he is sure Spencer has the chance to process the question.
"No"
"Let me drive you back to the hotel, it's late."
"I am sorry"
"About what?"
"This"
"It's not your fault."
"It is"
"I promise you it's not."
"I know it's wrong." Spencer tells him one evening, sitting on the couch at Luke's apartment, his feet shoved under Luke's thighs, a blanket draped over him while they watch TV.
"What is?"
"Me masking all day." Luke puts his phone away facing Spencer sensing that this is not gonna be a two sentences conversation. "I know it's not healthy and it hurts me. And it exhausted me but I am used to it and - and Hotch - they all just - ignore it."
"Have you ever tried talking about it with them?"
"I didn't mask at much when I first started working there, the person who got me into the FBI was always encouraging me not to but the rest of the team didn't like it and it eventually became Morgan's joke material and Hotch's excuse to snap at me."
"Snap at you?"
"He would never yell at someone irrationally so he just picked the most annoying thing around and let his anger out on that and that was just often me. And my stimming."
"That's not okay I hope you know-"
"I am not telling you this for you to get mad" He interrupts him. "Please don't."
"I am not getting mad." Luke pulls Spencer closer to him one hand around his waist his legs over his now. "Tell me about the jokes."
"Morgan would always make jokes in front of strangers to not be so embarrassed by me. He once said when he started a search party that if they ever stop hearing a humming, I got lost and they should turn around or that I am not talking because I am to smart for them." Quickly Spencer reaches up wiping a tear away. "Please don't hate him, he is my best friend."
"These jokes aren't okay-"
"He is still my friend. Let me have him as my friend."
"I would never tell you to quit your friendship with someone." Luke let's his hand stroke up and down on Spencer's legs. "First of all, you don't ever have to mask around me. Belive me I couldn't care less, I don't find it annoying and it's not rude or embarrassing. Second of all, if you want to stim at the office belive me no one is going to make a joke again while I am there and I do respect Hotch but if he is going to tell you off for it, I won't let him."
Spencer chuckles once, they both now Luke does not have the courage to do so.
"Alright but I think that if you talk to them, like really talk I don't think they would act the way they do. I think you all just kinda ignored it hoping it will never become a problem. But I also know that Hotch worries about you even if he shows very less understanding for the things that in his eyes make you seem unprofessional."
"He doesn't."
"Believe me that man does, I thought I was about to lose my life when he found out we are dating."