Word count: 5443
Pairing: Spencer Reid x Trans Masculine Non-Binary Reader
Summary: While on a case in Tennessee, Spencer and Y/N accidentally reveal that Y/n is transgender to an unsub who has made it his mission to ride his small town of people he views as "disgusting rat"
Warning: Criminal Minds typical violence, bigoted beliefs about trans people and the LGBTQ+, the use of Transvestite once (It hurt to wright that), Mentions of injury, mentions of reader wearing a chest binder, that's all i can think off let me know if there is anything else
A/N: this is my first time writing in like 5 years so it's probably shit but I've wanted xreader fics like this for a while but could never find any, so I said fuck it and wrote it myself. This is also a submission for 's Pride fic Challenge so I hope people enjoy it. Again, this was also written as a self-indulgent fic, so the reader is written as a Trans Masculine Non-binary afab person who uses They/Them pronouns. Also Just putting it out there I don't hate Christians as a whole just the bigots who use religion to justify genocide. Anyways enjoy and let me know if you like it, I would like to get back into writing again so who knows there may be more to come.
The team had traveled to a small town in rural Tennessee that had seen a recent influx of homicide in the last two weeks. Four bodies had been found in different alleyways beaten and strangled, the only things connecting the murders was the cause of death and the fact that they were all disposed of by dumpsters as if the unsub saw them as trash. The local P.D. had called the B.A.U in order to find out why these victims and who is doing it.
The team had made the long flight all on edge because after the initial briefing their resident genius had figured out the one thing connecting all four victims. They were all members of the LGBTQIA+ community and that fact did not sit well as the newest member of the team was also a member of the community.
Y/N Y/L/N had joined the B.A.U roughly a year ago and they had become a very close member of the team. In half that year they had also grown very close with Dr. Spencer Reid and the both of them were exploring a relationship as they both shared an interest in Dr. Who and learning as much as they could about whatever they could. The nature of the case put both on edge, if it somehow became knowledge that Y/N was a trans masculine nonbinary individual and in a relationship with Spencer, it might make one or both of them a target of the unsub. Before they arrived at the local police station, Spencer and Y/N had agreed to try and keep their interactions professional when around anyone other than the team.
Upon arrival at the police station the team split up to go over everything they needed. Morgan and Prentiss went to the most recent crime scene, Hotch, JJ, and Y/N went to the police station to speak with the local P.D, and Spencer and Rossi went to talk with the families of the victims to find out anything they could about the victims. While in the small board room provided to them to work in, Y/N was making observations about the unsub and their habits.
"It seems the unsub view those in the LGBTQ+ community as less than himself and as something that needs purged from the world." Y/N said with an uncomfortable look on their face.
"It's highly likely that is the case, this is a small town in Tennessee, places like these aren't known for their overly welcoming tendencies towards people they view as different from the rest." JJ had responded back to them and confirmed what most of the team had been thinking.
As Y/N and JJ were finishing their conversation Rossi and Spencer returned from visiting the families. "The victims were all open about themselves so much so that they were ready to get out of this small town, the first two victims had jobs already lined up and apartments ready to move into within a week of when they were killed." Rossi had shared upon entering the room.
"So we know that the victims were ready to get out of the small town, the likely hood of the stressor that triggered these killings was likely a family member who was also part of the community left the unsub after being tired of getting treated poorly and finally made decided enough was enough and made the change." Hotch deduced before leaving to call Garcia, to have her look for anything that would correspond with the beginning of the murders.
After Hotch left the room Y/N leaned back in their chair to stretch as they have been wearing their chest binder for the past nine hours and stiffness was starting to set in around their rib cage. Being the ever attentive boyfriend that he is, Spencer noticed his significant other's discomfort and checked around the room to make sure it was only the team in the room as Morgan and Prentiss had both returned as well.
After feeling confident there were no outsiders who would hear their conversation he walked over to Y/N and sat next to them. "Hey you've been wearing your binder since this morning, i can tell it is starting to bother you. I packed one of your baggie shirts and sports bras in my bag because you tend to forget you can't wear it longer than eight hours before feeling uncomfortable. You should really change. I don't want you to cause yourself any unnecessary pain." Spencer had said while handing them his satchel.
"I'm fine, I promise. Plus wouldn't it be a major hint that I'm trans if I've spent the whole day flat chested and wearing a button upland then all of a sudden being in a baggie shirt with tits. I appreciate the concern but I don't know if it's the right idea, I'll change as soon as we get back to the hotel I promise." Y/N responded while placing Spencer's bag on the ground.
"Fine, but as soon as we get back to D.C you are taking a couple days without it, just to give you a break from it and let your chest relax." Spencer responded out of concern for his partner's health.
What the young couple failed to notice was the young officer who walked by the cracked open door while they were deep in their own little conversation. Hearing that one of the FBI agents that was brought in to catch this serial killer in a small town is one of the disgusting people he was trying to remove from his community.
Shortly after the conversation about Y/N's binding choices, Hotch got back after speaking with Garcia. Apparently she was unable to find any families where a queer member had left the city around the time the murders started. So they were back to square one on what the trigger was. Without a trigger they were almost back to square one on the profile, all they know is that the unsub is a homophobic sociopath who was losing control and would likely be searching for their next victim. Even with a murderer on the loose, Hotch ordered the team to go to the hotel and rest for the night; they would need all the energy they could get for the coming days of hunting this bastard.
After the black SUVs pulled up to the hotel the team unloaded and headed inside. "Shit, I left my wallet in the car. I'll be up in a minute" Y/N said as the team entered the elevator of the hotel, Spencer made a move to follow them when they turned and insisted, they would be fine on their own. It was just a short walk to cars.
As Y/N reached the SUV and opened the door they felt a presence behind them. "Spence, I said I was-" They started as they turned around but were cut off by a blow to the side of their head knocking them unconscious and into the SUV. The unsub then closed the door to SUV and climbed into the driver's seat after taking the keys from Y/N's pocket and drove away.
That night Spencer sat up waiting for about twenty minutes for Y/N to get back from getting their wallet before deciding something had to be wrong. He jumped out of the bed and headed towards the other rooms, he went door to door waking the whole team trying to see if any of them had seen Y/N. To no avail, none of them had seen them since they left the elevator.
The team immediately started calling their phone and heading outside to the SUVs, only to notice that one of the three SUVs was gone. With no answer on the phone and the missing SUV Spencer started to worry about their safety. While looking around the area for any sign of what had happened Morgan saw something that made the whole team's stomachs drop.
"Hey guys I got blood on the ground where the SUV was parked." Morgan shouted and this did nothing for Spencer's anxiety. Hearing all of this, Hotch ordered Reid, Prentiss, and JJ to head to the police station to go over what information they have and try to figure anything else out that they could. While they did that, he, Rossi, and Morgan stayed at the hotel to try and find any other clues that they may have missed.
Meanwhile in Y/N was waking up tied to a chair in a room that was cold and dark almost like a basement. Their head felt groggy and almost like they had just spent the night drinking straight vodka. They looked around as best as they could in the dark and from what they could tell they were most likely in a basement. As they were trying to figure out any details they could about their location, a light appeared at the top of the stairs presumably from the unsub opening the door.
Y/N sat in silence as the unsub slowly made his way down the stairs, with the only light coming from behind the man the only thing they were able to make out was the fact that the unsub was taller and muscular indicating that it was most likely a man. The man got closer and realized that they were awake;
"Welcome back to the land of the living, you abomination." he greeted with a sneer. " I bet you are wondering how I figured you out so quickly, and to put it simply, next time your boyfriend wants to discuss something that is meant to be private information he should probably close a door first."
A look of realization flashed across their face when they figured out that the unsub had to be someone close to the investigation or at least an officer that was in the building when Reid was trying to get them to change out of their binder.
"You seem shocked, is it really that far of a stretch for the killer to be part of the police department, and wasn't it also you who said that the unsub would try to insert themselves into the investigation." the unsub responded to the unasked question present on Y/N's face.
" Well now I know you work for the police but that doesn't tell me who you are or why you are doing this, if you are planning to kill me might as well tell me your whole plan while you are at it." they responded trying to get any information they could out of this man. They knew that no matter what their team wouldn't let this man get away with taking them. Their team would do everything in their power to save them.
"You seem so sure that I'm just going to kill you like the others, oh no no, I have plans for you. How could I say that I'm making this world a better place by removing you pests if I didn't make an example of the rat who somehow made it into law enforcement with the FBI. I bet you did it just to try and get away with grooming people into believing that what you are is normal. How disgusting to think the FBI would let such gross creatures into their ranks, once I make an example out of you, I might go after that doctor you call a boyfriend." The unsub ranted not answering Y/N's questions directly but still revealing part of his plans.
The fear started to set in for Y/N as they realized that they were going to be getting the worst of this man's torture so far out of all of his victims, but they also began to fear for Spencer because once his crazed lunatic grows tired of them, he's going after the one thing Y/N cares about more than their own life. They have to truly hope that the team finds them before this man grows tired of them.
"Now enough with the chit chat," the unsub turned towards a table that Y/N hadn't seen at first and grabbed a tripod and camera while opening a laptop. "Get ready for that sweet boyfriend of yours to hear what it sounds like when a knife carves through your flesh."
As the man set up the camera all Y/N could think about was hoping that Spencer would never have to do this and the team would be barging into thai basement before he finished turning on the camera. But sadly luck was not on their side.
Meanwhile back at the police station Spencer was freaking out, all he could think about was how it was his fault for bringing up Y/N's binder without closing the door to the office they were sitting in. He kept pacing the office space trying to remember any face that appeared in the doorway during their conversation that could possibly be the unsub but came up blank. JJ was trying to calm him down while Emily was on the phone with Penelope trying to find any other connection between the victims.
"Spence this isn't your fault, any of us could have said something that let the unsub know. All you can do now is help us figure out where the unsub took Y/N." JJ said, trying to get Spencer to sit down and think rationally.
"JJ, how on earth am I supposed to calm down, an hour before they were taken I was blabbing my mouth at them because they needed to take off their binder so they didn't hurt themself, and then I didn't go with them to get their wallet and left them alone at night in a town where people just like them are being kidnapped and murdered, only for them to be KIDNAPPED. How am I supposed to be calm when the love of my life is probably experiencing the worst possible pain at this very moment?" Spencer went off at JJ. He wasn't trying to be rude, he's just so upset with himself that he can't think properly at the moment.
JJ was slightly shocked by his outburst because in the six months that Y/N and Spencer have been seeing each other, never has she heard either of them say the L word. It was a huge thing and changed the feeling in the room in an instant. Because now they weren't just looking for their friend and coworker, they were looking for someone who held Spencer's heart in their hands.
"Hey guys Garcia might have found a connection between the victims other than the obvious." Emily said entering the office space unaware of the declaration of love from the genius pacing the room. "Go ahead, you're on speaker."
"Ok, so I've done some digging and found that about a week before the abductions each of the victims had made a post to various social media platforms talking about how they've been the victims of hate crimes in the area. Each described that slurs and obscene images were posted on their front doors along with threats of violence if they didn't leave town. They also mentioned that when they went to the police about it, they were brushed off and told not to worry about it." Penelope explained over the phone.
"So the unsub had made contact with each of the victims before taking them and the Police didn't make the connection or just didn't bother to include the fact that each of them had received threats before they were killed." JJ said taking in the fact that this small town police department has done these poor people a horrible injustice by not taking threats seriously.
"If the unsub was taking the time to threaten the victims before taking them, why did he just take Y/N. doesn't that go against his ritual?" Emily asked confused as to why the unsub would suddenly stop doing something that seemed important to his M.O.
"Because he knew he wouldn't be able to get close enough to Y/N in order to do that, He knew that if he wanted to take them, he would have to act fast." Hotch said as he, Rossi, and Morgan rejoined the group at the station.
"Ummm Guys you need to see this." Penelope said as a video feed started on her computer at Quantico.
" What is it, Garcia?" Rossi asked as the technical analyst sounded almost scared by what she was seeing.
"It's a live video, of Y/N, I'm not sure where it's coming from as its being routed through hundreds of servers so it hard to track but it is for sure Y/N" She said as started connecting to the laptop set up in the Office where the team was currently seated.
As the video feed popped up on the screen one this was clear, Y/N was tied to a chair in what looked like a basement. The team could tell that Y/N was looking at something or someone just out of line of sight of the camera with a hint of fear in their eyes. After a few seconds of just Y/N in the line of the camera a man walked into frame wearing a dark hoodie and with the hood up covering his face.
"Hello FBI, as you already know I have in my possession the filthy transvestite that managed to infiltrate your ranks, let this be a message to all those homosexuals who wish to justify their disgusting behavior, that justice will always find them. Without further ado enjoy the show, well except you Dr. Reid I suspect that this will be particularly painful for you to watch." The man stated and then turned towards the fear-stricken Y/N and held up a large knife to their chest.
The team watched as the unsub dragged the knife over Y/N's chest and down their torso cutting open their shirt and binder revealing their chest beneath both layers of clothing. After cutting through the only thing protecting Y/N's dignity and skin the unsub started making shallow cuts across their skin. Y/N did their best to keep their whimpers and whines of pain to a minimum, trying to spare their team the trauma of hearing their friend be hurt by this monster.
When the man realized what they were doing he took the knife away and turned to the table having thought of a better way to draw out cries of pain from his current victim. He reached for a different knife, this one being shorter in length than the first but having a serrated edge like a knife one would use to cut bread. Taking the new knife in his hand he turned back to Y/N and plunged the knife directly into their shoulder, drawing out the most nerve racking scream the team had heard in a long while.
Having watched enough of his love being tortured even though he knew the worst was yet to come, Spencer reached between the team who were all watching with their breath held and slammed the laptop closed and left the room. Shocked by the sudden outburst the team as a whole jumped and looked after the upset doctor as he left the room.
"Garcia, Keep trying to locate where the feed is coming from. Morgan go talk to him, we need his head clear to find this guy." Hotch ordered while the rest of them reeled from what they had just seen happen to one of their friends.
Back with Y/N after Spencer had slammed the laptop shut, the Unsub had proceeded to stab them again, this time in the leg. Y/N wasn't sure if it was from blood loss or just pain in general but black spots started to fill their vision. As they started to pass out the unsub set his knife back down on the table and turned once again to the camera to address the audience on the other side unaware that the one he wanted to cause the most pain was no longer watching,
"Looks like you're having trouble staying awake at the moment, I suppose I can give you a small break. I doubt your team is close to finding me, so enjoy this brief intermission" The unsub stated and then walked off camera, up the stairs and slammed and locked the basement door.
"Hold on just a little longer Y/N" Penelope to herself in her office, knowing they couldn't hear her but still hoping that they knew the team would not give up until they found them.
At the police station Morgan had managed to get Spencer to calm down, if only slightly, so he could help finalize the profile. They both knew that the best way to save Y/N is if Spencer is focused on finding the Unsub and not just on saving them.
With the whole team back in the office with the door shut, JJ made an observation that would significantly shrink the suspect pool. "I Just remembered that last night around the time you and Y/N were talking the only people who were in the station were us, a couple beat cops and a couple detectives. So, the unsub has to work in the station." She pointed out to Spencer and the rest of the team.
"That would make sense with the fact that the victims had tried to make police reports about the threats they received and were told to ignore them. If the unsub happened to be the one taking the report, he wouldn't want people to be looking into it so he would brush them off." Emily said.
"So, we keep this between us, I'll have Garcia look into what officers were here before we left for the night and compare it to who the victims spoke to when they tried to report the threats." Morgan stated while calling Garcia.
"Hey Baby Girl, I need you to compare what officers were at the station last night to what officers were at the station when each of the victims tried to make reports." Morgan asked Penelope over the phone with a sense of urgency.
"I have two officers who were there at the same time as all the victims but only an officer Randy McNally was also there last night, doing a little digging, Randy McNally is a conservative Christian man who openly detests the LGBTQ+ community. To top it of three weeks ago his wife left him after coming out as bisexual and since then he has made numerous posts about how the people of the LGBTQ+ community are vermin who need to be eradicated." Penelope said with a grimace.
"Sounds like we found our guy, Garcia send the address." Hotch ordered as the rest of the team prepared for apprehending this psychopath.
"Already sent. Guys please hurry, Y/N doesn't look too good." She responded before hanging up the phone for the team to do their job.
As the team was loading up in the SUVs Hotch called Spencer over to him, "I want you to stay in the car when we get there, I don't need you being reckless. The rest of us will go in and get them, you will wait outside with the paramedics and go with them to the hospital. Understood?"
"How am i supposed to sit back while you guys go in there, I need Y/N to know that I came for them. I can't sit around and wait." Spencer responded antsy about saving his partner.
"You do not have a clear enough head to be going in there. I want to save them just as much as you but we need the people going in to be able to arrest McNally so he can face justice for what he has done. I can't risk you seeing the state Y/N is in and just shooting him on the spot." Hotch responded as they pulled up to the house, they knew their friend was in. Spencer just let out an exasperated sigh but agreed with Hotch, although he did get out of the car to wait by the ambulance for them to bring out his love.
Upon entering the house, the team was faced with a shocked Randy McNally who froze in place as the B.A.U and swat team moved in. It was obvious he wasn't expecting to be caught so soon as he was still wearing the blood covered hoodie he was wearing while torturing Y/N. Hotch moved forward and handcuffed McNally.
While Hotch and Rossi moved Randy out of the house; JJ and Emily moved towards the upper floors to make sure no one else was in the house. Morgan made his way to the basement door intending to find his friend and bring them back to relieve the stress of one of his closest friends. As he descended the stairs into the basement, he could see them hunched over tied to the chair, seeing them he put his gun down and moved quickly to untie them, while speaking into his comms.
"I found Y/N, they're alive but they've lost a lot of blood, I need the paramedics to meet me at the door to the basement." He said in only slight relief. On the other end of the comms Spencer let out a sigh of relief if only for a second, they had made it in time Y/N was alive. But as quickly as the relief came it was gone with the other part of Morgan's message, they had lost a significant amount of blood, they needed to get to a hospital asap. With the realization he told the paramedics to go meet with Morgan so they could help save the love of his life.
As the paramedics and the rest of the team emerged from the house Spencer was quick to meet with the paramedic to see with his own eyes that Y/N was in fact breathing. Their chest was moving slowly as they were being pushed to the ambulance, but it was enough for Spencer to have at least a small glimmer of hope that everything would be fine. Once they had Y/N loaded up in the ambulance Spencer hopped in with them after sending a nod at the rest of the team confirming they will see each other at the hospital, and he will keep them updated on Y/N's condition.
Roughly three hours later the team was sitting in the waiting room, hoping the doctor would be out soon to tell them that everything is okay, and that Y/N will make a full recovery. Emily and JJ were on the phone with Penelope keeping her updated, Morgan was trying to distract Spencer from the intrusive thoughts clouding his mind, and Hotch and Rossi were both just sitting quietly when the doctor finally came to speak with them.
"I'm guessing you are the ones here for Ms. Y/L/N?" the doctor said not registering the mistake in pronouns but continuing with speaking to the group. "The surgery went well; we were able to repair the damaged tissue in her shoulder. She should be awake shortly, so you are free to go in and visit her." He said and started to turn away after giving them Y/N's room number.
Spencer was about to correct the doctor on his lack of respect for pronouns when Morgan put his hand on the younger man's shoulder. "Kid let it go, you know where we are, they don't care about that stuff, you can be upset about it but what's most important right now is you being there for Y/N when they wake up." He said knowing exactly what the young doctor was going to say but pushed him in the direction of something more important than an ignorant doctor.
With that Spencer made his way to the room where his significant other was sleeping after going through what was probably 24 hours of hell. He noted that they looked peaceful and sat down in the chair by the bed while holding their hand. It was probably only five minutes later that they started to open their eyes squinting at the harsh lights of the hospital.
Once they adjusted to the light, they noticed a weight on their left hand and turned to look at who was sitting there. Upon seeing Spencer, a gentle smile spread across their face, "I knew you would find me."
"Of course, I could never leave you like that. But how are you feeling? The doctor said you lost quite a bit of blood, but you should be good to fly home in two days." Spencer responded to them with a gentle smile of his own.
"I'm ok, just a little groggy but that's probably thanks to the pain meds. Though I can't wait to get back home and cuddle with my favorite brainiac." They said with a slight giggle in their tone.
"God, I'm so glad you're okay, I was so scared of losing you and when he stabbed you, I thought I was going to lose you. Never do anything like that again. If you forget something in the car let me, go with you. I don't know what I would do if I lost you, I just love you so much." Spencer rambled not noticing that he said the L word to them in his attempt to get his point across. He didn't notice until he saw the look on Y/N's face when he turned towards them.
"Do you really mean that?" they asked still in shock that this beautiful genius just said he loved them.
"Well... I– Yes, I do, I really do mean that. You can even ask the team I almost lost my mind when I found out you had been taken. But if you don't feel the same that's ok. We can just forget I said anything. It's not a big deal." Spencer kept rambling thinking he said something wrong by admitting his feelings.
He was halted by Y/N's response "Good because I love you too. I don't want to forget about this. The only thing that kept me alive was knowing that I had you waiting for me."
Spencer was about to respond when a knock sounded from the door as the rest of the team entered. There was an obvious look on everyone's faces that they knew they might have interrupted something, but they ignored it in favor of greeting their friend who was now sitting up in the hospital bed with a smile on their face.
The team sat and spoke with Y/N for about an hour filling them in on how they arrested McNally, and how they figured out it was him. There were also a few playful jabs at Spencer for how desperate he was to save them, mostly from Derek. Towards the end of the conversation, they had called Penelope on video chat so she could wish Y/N well, before the team bid farewell for the night to leave the two love birds alone.
"It's getting late, we should really be headed back to the hotel, you guys rest, don't spend the night talking. And again, I'm glad you're ok Y/N" Hotch said as he motioned for the team minus Reid to leave the room.
"Yeah, go easy on them pretty boy, don't want them popping their stitches." Morgan snickered as he left the room seeing how the pair turned red in embarrassment.
"Good night, guys, Thanks again for saving me." Y/N responded by trying to ignore Morgan's comment.
With that the team was finally out of their hair for the night. Y/N reached over and squeezed Spencer's hand, "thanks again for finding me. And I really do love you Spence."
"I love you too Y/N, now get some rest I'll be here when you wake up." Spencer responded with a smile on his face, still glad he didn't lose the best thing in his life. He knew that he would be able to sleep soundly tonight even if it was on a shitty hospital chair. "Good night, Love."
"Night Spence." With that they both fell into a peaceful sleep, knowing they would still have each other when they woke up.
A/N: anyone who gets my reference with the unsubs name you get a figurative cookie.