Frienemies?

Stephie

My name is Stepheni Foster, I've worked at the BAU for 2 years, I started the same day as my least favorite person here; Spencer Reid.

Reid is a genius, with an IQ of 187 and he can read 20,000 words per minute with his stupid eidetic memory. He'll be the first to tell you that he has three PhDs and BAs, which is only two more than me. We're the youngest members of the FBI, maybe some of the smartest. I quote, "there was no test we could put in front of either of them that they couldn't ace." Spencer and I joined the BAU when we were both 22, he turned 23 not long after though so technically i am the youngest one here.With so much in common you'd think us to be friends, right? You couldn't be more wrong, we can't stand each other.

"Never gonna get it," I tease sitting on the edge of Spencer's desk sipping my coffee.

"What?" He pauses and then realizes what i'm doing. "Get off my desk," He swats at me and I lean away from him but his long spaghetti arms still reach me.

"Stop," I huff swatting back at him, he pauses and leans back in his chair.

"You're sitting on top of my desk Stephie!" He shouts and it must get Hotch's attention because he looks up at us and shakes his head.

"You two, enough bickering. You fight like an old married couple." Hotch walks by us swiftly and then looks back. I make a face of disgust.

"Stepheni, get off his desk," He demands and I groan. Buzzkill.

"I'll leave you to pine after the new girl," I'm referring to Elle Greenaway, she recently joined our team and it's so obvious that Spencer has the hots for her. He's just too awkward to make a move.

"Hey," Derek walks into the office and I lean my arm back on Spencer's desk to say hi back. It's not a secret i've had a crush on Derek since I started here, I mean can you blame me? He's hot.

"Hi," I hold my cup in one hand, trying to pose my body to look better.

"And i'm the one who's never gonna get it?" I hear Spencer scoff behind me.

"Okay, listen here you little rugrat." I turn around once Derek walks to his desk and set my cup down on Spencer's files.

"At least I stand a chance, when's the last time you even held hands with a girl? Oh right, never." I lean down and smile at him before taking my cup and going to my own desk.

Everyone always babies Spencer, like he's not a grown adult. He doesn't need babied, it drives me crazy. I'm only saying this now because I can see the glare Im getting from JJ whose sitting next to me.

"What?" I snap my head around at her.

"Really? Can't you just be nice to him for one day?" She sighs and I shake my head clicking my tounge.

"You guys don't get it, it's like a never ending competition with that guy. Imagine always being the smartest person in the room, and then this guy joins the academy, then you're going head to head all the time and suddenly you're not the smartest anymore. And then, he follows you to the place you work and continues to be a smartass. It's infuriating." JJ listens as I ramble on. I've seriously spent just about everyday around Spencer for the last few years. Right before she can say anything in response, Hotch is walking past us telling us we have a case.

As the team gathers into the briefing room, Hotch lays out the details of our newest case—a series of seeming random murders across several states, all with peculiar elements that suggest a potential pattern. Spencer, of course, has his theories ready, and i couldn't help but roll my eyes and his eagerness to show off.

"Maybe it's not one person, this feels like multiple people. How can our unsub kill the victim in Ohio and then get to the middle of Pennsylvania in just 2 hours to kill the second victim. There has to be more than one unsub." Spencer suggests and I disagree completely, that is until he points out the time of deaths of each victim.

As he goes on I can't help but notice that he's actually right, the rest of the team seemed to agree too.

"Okay, we're heading to Pennsylvania, the murders seem to bounce back and forth between there and Ohio, wheels up in 30." Hotch grabs the files off the table and then walks out of the room.

On the jet I can't help but notice Spencer staring at Elle, he used to have a thing for JJ, personally, I think he still does. Elle is just fresh meat.

I stand up and walk to get a water that way I can sit down next to Spencer when I come back. His head turns to face me with a confused look.

"I'm trying to help you Spencer, that girl will end you. Look at her, now look at you." I point out the obvious, as much as I don't like Spencer that kid does not need anymore embarrassment under his belt.

"Do you actually think that?" He whispers and I nod, I look back at JJ. She genuinely cares about Spencer, always yelling at me for being mean to him.

"Potential," I mumbled and look to JJ, who doesn't normally come with us for cases but this one she is.

"Why are you being nice to me?" Spencer sits up a little bit and cocks his head to the side, I shrug my shoulders.

"You're so pathetic it makes me feel guilty," I pat his back and then stand up to take my old spot across from him.

"Reid, Foster," Those words make me freeze. Why. Why. Why. "I need you two to work together, and try to figure out the MO here, can you do that?" Hotch glares at us as we both stand in front of him.

"Yes sir," Spencer pipes up and nod my head, following Spencer to a glass windowed room. We spend the next two hours clashing over theories and approaches. Our arguments were sharp, each of us trying to outdo the other. But amidst our bickering, I couldn't deny his dedication and sharp intellect.

"Revenge," I say staring at the files in front of me, Spencer is staring at the board he'd created.

"Revenge?" He questions turning around to face me as I stare like I just solved the hardest case in the world.

"Check this out, all of our vics went to the same highschool, graduating in the same class." I point to their high school graduation years and Spencer nods his head.

"So, what if our unsubs were high school bullies coming back to really finish the job?" I suggest but Spencer of course disagrees with me.

"What if our victims were the bullies, our unsubs being the bullied and coming back to finally get revenge." I wish I could disagree with him but I can't.

"You're right," Spencer cuts me off with a huge grin in his face, I already regret saying that.

"Oh, I'm right? Did the Stephie Foster just admit that I'm right?" He teases, I roll my eyes at him.

"Do not flatter yourself, Reid." I pause and analyze his board. "Maybe we should cross reference the victim profiles with local new archives," Spencer nods in agreement, seamlessly picking up where I left off without a hint of condescension.

It was strange working in harmony with someone I've spent years clashing with, but beneath our constant banter and sniping there was a grudging respect forming, perhaps the foundation of something deeper, though neither of us would ever admit it.

The moment of clarity hit us like a lightning bolt when we found a news article detailing a tragic incident at the high schooler reunion just two months ago. Our victims had been publicly humiliated by their peers, only issue is the picture shows four people and we have three victims. We have to find this guy. Spencer's sharp mind immediately draws parallels to psychological studies on long term effects of bullying.

"Okay, Reid, enough. Seriously." I shove my hand in his face and he backs up being the germaphobe that he is.

"We need to find our organized that reunion." Spencer declares, his voice firm with conviction, I nod, already pulling the contact information for the schools alumni association. The hours ticked by, the urgency of our task pushing aside any lingering animosity. By the time Hotch joined us with the rest of the team, we had a solid profile of our unsub.

"You two actually worked together without tearing each other apart?" Morgan teased as he leaned against the doorframe. Spencer tried to hide a grin while I rolled my eyes.

"We found a common ground," Spencer replied, his tone surprisingly neutral.

Hotch's nod of approval was all the acknowledgment we needed as we prepared to give our profile. I caught JJ's approving smile in the background.

"Two months ago, a group of four local high school alumni had pigs blood dumped on them at a reunion party. Just five weeks later our first victim was found, Jake Clearwater. He was one of the four that got humiliated. Our other two vics, same outcome." I look to Spencer to finish the explaining.

"Right, uh, we believe that whoever was behind the pigs blood prank is behind the killings, and if so we need to find Janet Cline, she's the only one left. She also may be the only one who knows who the unsubs are." Spencer fidgets with his hands a lot when he speaks, he has social anxiety. Which is weird because he actually never stops talking.

We were able to solve the case, Janet survived, both unsubs were caught and now I get to listen to Spencer complain about Gideon beating him chess. Again. So, pardon me for clapping when the jet finally lands.

"Reid, hey," I run to catch up with his fast walking pace into the building.

"You know, i've been thinking, and i guess I just want to apologize for not always being easy to work with." Spencer kind of chuckles and it completely throws me off guard when i finish talking.

"Sorry, it's just, not being easy to work with? Stephie, you're the most difficult person to work with on the planet. You're awful to work with actually." He corrects and I almost feel offended by his words even though he's right.

"You know what? Forget it genius," I turn around but Spencer's voice stops me by calling out for me.

"Stephie?" He sighs and I grin knowing I've won.

"Let's call a truce, not to be or anything, because I still can't stand you. But frienemies," I suggest.

"Frienemies?" He repeats me, his expression is perplexed.

"Friends who are also enemies," I validly to which he reluctantly nods.

"Is this our agreement then?" He asked, adjust his bad as I extend my hand out. He eyes it warily, prompting me to retract it with a chuckle.

"Right, you're a germaphobe. You just get weirder and weirder, Reid." I sigh as we make our way into building and Spencer goes on about germs, suggesting it would be safer to kiss than shake my hand. I quickly shoot him a look or horror.

"Never. In a million years. Use those words together again." I point sternly at him trying not to laugh at his earnestness.

"It's fact! I would, uh, I would never want to kiss you Stephie. You'd have to hold a gun to my head, you think you're the only one with a grudge here? I'm not really your biggest fan myself," Spencer admits and I pretend to be taken back by his comment, pulling out all my favorite dramatics.

——————————AN: Short chapter IK!! The chapters will be longer after this one!

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