beccathequeer

[beccathequeer]

This isn’t Like Her

Hello, people!

This is my first attempt at writing a Spencer Reid fanfic. I wrote this because I love his character so much and wish he had more than his mom for blood related family on the show. (Criminal Minds) This story is about Spencer Reid and what it would be like if he had a little sister to take care of. It may not be entirely on point for his character, so please, be constructive with the criticism.

TW: This story mentions the use of alcohol, and homophobia.

Here goes and I hope everyone likes it

Sydney drags her feet up the stairs, holding her paper in one hand, her bag draped over the other shoulder, letting it fall to the inside of her elbow. She stops at the top of the stairs, looks down at the taunting, red ink at the top right corner of her English literature paper. “How am I going to tell Spencer about this F? He’s already so worried about me,” she whispers, defeated.

Sydney unlocks the door, crumples the paper, chucks it at the floor, and lets her bag slowly fall onto the chair at the kitchen table. She grabs a glass and opens the fridge to grab the unsweetened iced tea. After pouring a glass she walks to her room and feels her back pocket buzz. It’s her older brother, Spencer Reid, who she felt was almost never home because of his role in the FBI. He’s a Special Agent with the Behavioral Analysis Unit. She hates and loves that he could always figure out how she felt by just watching her facial expression, her body language. 

A text lights up her screen. “Make sure to get some dinner, Syd. I won’t be home until late. I love you.”

“I will. I love you too, Spencer.” she texts back.

The mention of food always makes Sydney want to exercise, so she changes into her best, expensive Adidas gym shorts that she begged Spencer for when they were school shopping, hoodie, running shoes, and puts her AirPods in as she walks out the door. She plays some Cardi B as she runs to her favorite fountain in the park. She stops at the fountain and cups her hands, filling them with cold water. She brings her water-filled hands to her face and lets the water fall back into the fountain. She takes out her AirPods to enjoy the sound of the water flowing behind her and watches how the moon makes it shimmer as it pours down into the base of the fountain. A little girl walks over and throws a penny into the water. “One day, I want to be a baker and make millions,” and though Sydney feels it was a tad on the unrealistic side, she glances over at the girl. “If you really want to, you will.” Says Sydney. She loves to lift people up, especially little children.

“Yo, Syd!” she hears from across the park.  It was the friends she hadn’t seen for over a week. They came running over. “We all goin’ to my apartment ta hang out, ya down?” says her friend Ramona, obnoxiously chewing her gum, almost accidentally letting it fall out of her mouth. “Get this. I have an apartment now, no adults.” She winks.

Any other day Sydney would hit her friends with rational excuses not to go, but today, she needed to take her mind off the secret she was keeping from her brother. Sydney followed her friends to the car, and they cranked up the music.

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The keys jingle behind the door, the knob turns, and Spencer walks in. He walks to the table, stepping on the crumpled paper. He picks it up and opens it to find a big F on the corner. He’s confused because his sister always felt comfortable coming to him for things like essay help. Usually if she had homework questions, they would talk them out so she could understand them better. Spencer didn’t get mad at Sydney over grades, as he knew everyone was on their own level with academics. He was just concerned as she had always gotten A’s and it bothers her when she gets any grade lower than an A-. He started to read the paper and the title told him everything “Why Bullying is just Absolutely Stupid.” This also comes as a shock to him, as his little sister was so popular and never had trouble with bullies before.

He couldn’t believe what he was reading. He knew that being 16 changed things for her, but he didn’t think it was anything like that. He grabbed her bag off the chair and carried it to her room, opening the door to quietly put her bag next to her bureau. He loved to walk in and give her a kiss on the forehead as she slept every night. She wasn’t there. Her bed was still perfectly made and the clothes she had worn before changing were on the bed. He whips out his phone and calls J. J. 

“Spence, I just got home. What’s up?”

“J. J, I’m sorry, but listen, Syd is missing. She's not in her bed.”

“That’s not like her, I'll call Morgan and we’ll go check out the park we go for runs in. Oh, and Spence?”

“Yeah?”

“Take some deep breaths. We’ll find her, okay?”

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“God, I’m so tired. What would Syd be doing out this late?” says J.J.

“I don’t know J.J, but whatever is bothering this girl has got Reid chewing his fingernails down to nothin’.” Says Morgan looking around.

J.J may not be a daughter mom, but she knows that Reid, even with an IQ of 187, is clueless about girls sometimes. Even though Reid knows her better than herself at times. She takes out her phone and dials Sydney’s number, it’s ringing, and she hangs up. There she was. Sydney. She was stumbling, weak. Which J.J could only assume meant she was drunk or drugged. She runs over to Sydney and catches her before she falls on the ground. 

“Sydney Reid! Are you drunk?”

“No,” she scoffs, blowing in J. J’s face. J.J and Morgan look at Sydney, then each other. 

“Liar, I can smell the alcohol from here now let’s go.” says Morgan picking her up into his arms.

On the way to the apartment, J.J calls Reid. “J.J! Did you find her? Is she okay?”

J.J looks over at Morgan “You can’t tell Spencer, he’s gonna be so mad at me. Please!” says Sydney crying into Morgan's shoulder.

 “Syd, he probably just heard you,” Morgan whispers to Sydney.

“What? Don’t tell Spencer what?”

“Spence let’s just say, whatever lecture you have planned might have to wait. We’re almost up the stairs. OK. Bye.”

The door opens and Reid walks out to grab his sister. “Morgan, J.J, thank you so much I will pay you back somehow. I’ll buy drinks after the next case.” Says Reid, taking his sister from Morgan. 

“Reid don’t worry about it. I hope everything turns out okay.” Replies Morgan, grabbing Reid’s shoulder. 

Reid waves bye to J.J and Morgan and closes the door. He brings his sister to bed and covers her up. “I will be right back,” Reid says, walking into the kitchen. He opens the cupboard and gets a cup of water for his little sister. “We’re going to have to talk about this tomorrow morning, Syd. What you did was dangerous.  You could have gotten grabbed walking around drunk like that. Good night.” He turns off her light and closes the door. 

Reid walks over to the couch and sits down with a loud sigh. He opens the drawer in the table next to him and pulls out a photo book, cutely labeled ‘Spencer & Syd’s Magical Memories’. Spencer smiles and opens the front cover to find a selfie from when he let Sydney buy her first iPod with money that she spent a whole summer earning. He remembered the moment right before that. A very important conversation that he knew would be important for how she viewed becoming a woman. Spencer takes a drink of his tea and admires the smile on his baby sister’s face. 

“Spencie, can I talk to you for a minute? It’s important and I need for you to not freak out.” Sydney said, as she climbed up onto the stool at the end of the counter, where Spencer had been making a PB&J sandwich for his little sister. 

“Syd Everyday I see multiple mutilated bodies. What could you possibly say that would freak me out?” Replied Spencer, looking at Sydney now giving her his undivided attention. 

“I um… Think my first period started today and I am a little freaked out.”

“Wow, I can’t believe it… You’re growing up so fast.  It is completely normal to start menstruation at your age. I was aware this day would come soon, but I can’t believe it. I’ll be right back.” Spencer said as he walked quickly out of the kitchen. He returned with a bag of pads and tampons, layed the packages out on the couch, and gestured for Sydney to walk over to the couch. “I am going to put these under the bathroom sink and they will be there whenever you need one. When you go to school on your period it would be a good idea to take a couple along just in case.”

“I feel awkward asking this but-”

“I know it can’t be easy not having a woman here to talk to, but I’ll tell you what. I will talk to J.J and see if she feels comfortable coming to talk to you about everything hygiene related. Would that be something you would be interested in?”

“Yes! I’m sorry I feel so awkward talking to you. -”

“No, no! Don’t feel bad. I think it’s safe to say some conversations are most comfortably had between girls.”

“What do I do about my bloody underwear?” Sydney said, staring awkwardly at her foot moving back and forth on the carpet.

“Right… that. Um…Let’s see. Let’s try putting them in the washer and running it on cold. That should do the trick.”

“Okay, I’m gonna go take care of this… I’ll put the underwear in the washer.” Sydney grabbed a pad from the bag and ran to the bathroom door. “Thank you for being so chill about this, Spencie! You’re the best big brother a girl could have!” She shut the bathroom door to do her thing.

“I’m glad I could help you out, Kiddo!” Spencer replied, as he stood proud that his sister felt comfortable telling him one of the most important moments in a girl's life.

“Spencer. Spencer. SPENCER!” Spencer jumps off the couch realizing his sister was probably calling his name for the last 5 minutes. He tosses the photo album on the couch and runs to Sydney’s room.

“Sydney, what’s wrong? Does your head hurt? Do you feel sick?” Spencer says sitting on the edge of her bed, running his fingers through her wavy brown hair. 

“Both. Oh my god I wanna die!” Replies Sydney grabbing Spencer’s hand with her right hand and holding her forehead with the other.

“Did you eat anything last night before you went for a run?”

Sydney knew if she lied, Spencer would know. He did, after all, study human behavior for a living. Nonetheless, she lied anyway.

“Yeah, yeah. I had a um… A PB&J…Oh god. I’m gonna puke.”

“Oh. Let’s get you to the bathroom.” Says Spencer, taking his sister onto his back and carrying her out of her bedroom, into her bathroom.

Spencer sets her on the floor next to the toilet and walks out of the bathroom to grab another glass of water. He grabs his phone to see if he has any more texts on his phone. He sees a text from the Technical Analyst at the BAU, Penelope Garcia, whom everyone calls Garcia. 

 Garcia: Reid, please call me ASAP!

Spencer dials Garcia’s number and pushes talk, waiting for her to answer. Not one ring in Garcia picks up the phone.

Garcia: Oh my god, Reid! Morgan told me what happened. Is my sweet, sweet Sydney okay? How bad did the alcohol hit her? Is she sick? I can stay with her for the next case. I’ll ask Hotch if I can work from your apartment and make sure she is well fed and well rested. -

Spencer: Garcia… That’s really nice of you to offer but that would be way too much to ask of someone. I can just tell Hotch that I need to stay home with my sister. Really, it’s…it’s okay. 

Garcia: Reid, no! You don’t have to figure this out alone. You’re young and you’re raising a teenager. A teen! She is half your age! C’mon I wanna help you. Maybe have a heart to heart with her. Has she talked to you yet?

Spencer: She’s… She’s been so distant lately. She’s always been so close to me, ya know? She never kept anything from me until just recently and I wanna know what I did wrong. 

Garcia: Reid! You didn’t do anything, my boy genius! She’s sixteen. It could just be a boy! Oooh any new boys in her life lately?

Spencer: I highly doubt that. She didn’t hang out with her friends until tonight night. She couldn’t possibly feel comfortable talking to boys if she wouldn’t talk to her own friends. She seems to be letting up on the vomiting right now. Okay… I guess it couldn’t hurt to have another woman in the apartment right now. Set it up in the morning and I’ll head to the office when you get here.

Garcia: You got it, my boy genius! 

Spencer: Oh! Garcia, I may not have time to get to the donut shop and back here in time. Would you mind picking her up some donuts? She didn’t eat before drinking. Her favorites are chocolate frosted with sprinkles and Boston creme. 

Garcia: Oh, good lord! Every girl learns that one the hard way. Yeah, I’ll bring her some coffee too. I’ll pick her up some bath stuff too. 

Spencer: Okay, but don’t spoil her too bad. Have a good rest of the night, Garcia!

Garcia: Good night, my furry friend!

Spencer puts his phone back in his pocket and walks back to the bathroom. “Let’s get you back to bed so that we can both get some sleep.” Reid once again carries his sister on his back and lays her in bed. He gives her a kiss on the forehead, turns off the light, and closes the door gently. He gets her another glass of water and some Tylenol and leaves it on her nightstand.