People thought they could read Spencer Reid like a book. He was a nerd, plain and simple. Even his team thought they had profiled him to the bone. No one gave a second thought to the young agent. They thought they didn't need to. They were wrong.
He was a warlock. A magician, even. He mastered illusions just because he could. It wasn't hard anymore. All you had to do was let people believe what they wanted. The average human brain was more than capable of creating excuses for what it couldn't explain. People thought they were just tricks.
They weren't.
He could actually do magic. Not that anyone knew, aside from his best friend. And she had magic too. Sky was an exception to practically everything. And that was something Spencer could appreciate.
They had helped each other mutually throughout the worst times of their lives. She was the only one who understood. She was the one who could have been friends with the bastards who hurt Spencer. Instead she'd fight back at them. And she got hurt many times herself. That's something that still keeps him up at night.
She had been there for every one of his magically hidden tattoos. She'd even suggested a few. She was there for the breakdowns, the crap with his dad, the assholes at school. Even now, she's here.
Her ever present company is something that Spencer grew to need over time.
Everything in his life kept changing. Sky was the one thing that stayed constant.
The tattoos were meant to be exactly that. Something constant. Not an anchor, weighing you down.
Something you could always have, something you could go back to.
Spencer Reid has many achievements, but the ones he values are the ones with Sky.
They grew up together. Thy taught themselves to control their magic. A little later on, the word warlock came. But back then, it was just a couple of wild teenagers literally playing with fire. They were both successful; Sky became a doctor, and Spencer an FBI agent. But theor greatest acheivement:They survived.
Over time, his builds a sleeve of tattoos on both arms. They are nowhere else on his body, at least not yet. There are tally marks on each wrist. 23 on the right, 35 on the left. Only Sky and Spencer know what they mean. There is a tree, completely black with lights hanging off the branches. That one was Sky's idea. there is a phoenix, a pair of bleeding wings, and dice, to name a few. There are so many, and so few people ever see them, because they are always hidden.
When Spencer moves to Virginia they don't see each other, but they still talk daily.
Spencer thought he'd never actually see the person who helped him want to live again. He'd never thought the team would see her. Or his tattoos ever. This time, he was wrong.