Notes: Promptverse essentially. Different one shots that I can't write into my main ficline because they don't fit the plot. Most will be even more AU. Because, no matter the universe, they were always meant to end up together.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Doctor Who or Criminal Minds
The first time it had happened she hadn't even realized what was going on, her entire arm aching in such a manner that she felt as if she had broken it even though she was sitting on the couch watching the telly. She was eleven years old and she'd shrieked, crying for her mother in the kitchen. She'd ran her a bath and shushed her tears and tried her hardest to explain what was going on.
"You see darling, once we reach a certain age strange things begin to happen in our body. All of us, every single person on this planet, has a soulmate out there." Her mum is rubbing soothing circles on the sore arm, smiling softly at her from under her blonde fringe.
"What's a soulmate mummy?" She's still crying, lip going all wobbly even while she speaks.
"A soulmate's your perfect person, sweetheart. You two were born to love each other, to be together. You'll know you've found them when all the strange pains stop, but, until then, when either of you gets hurt the other feels it. It's how I knew I was meant to be with your father, you know."
"How do I find them mummy?"
"Oh, I don't know. Jus' sorta happens I suppose. But you'll know love, you'll know."
Three years later they moved away from London and to the states, her fathers' company, Vitex, had taken off and he wanted to take it international. So, they'd packed up their lives and set off for the east coast. She'd cried for a while, afraid that they'd taken her away from the soulmate she'd been waiting to meet since she was eleven years old.
"He might not even be in London, sweetheart. You won't know until you meet him, so just have fun and make friends. Think of it as an adventure, right Jacks?"
She'd tried to stay positive, upset as everyone around her seemed to find their way to the person they were meant to be with and here she was still suffering headaches that weren't her own. Her first day of college she had two broken ribs and when she had to sit for her doctorate at 24 she'd had to breathe her way through what felt like a broken collar bone.
At one point, after she'd graduated, she thought she had finally met him. The first man she'd ever felt genuinely in love with. His name was John Smith and she'd thought he was perfect, her other half.
She'd met him at a local coffee shop, he was grading papers at a small table in the corner. His glasses were pushed up on his face and he had the wildest brown hair she'd ever seen. He was absolutely gorgeous.
She'd approached him first, asking about what he taught and where he was working. He was an astronomy professor for George Mason University and he'd smiled wide when she told him that George Mason was her Alma mater. They'd gone out on several dates, ecstatic at the prospect of finding out whether this was it.
Things had gone great for the first few months, neither of them having experienced the phantom pains since they'd met. Then, like these things went, it had happened when it was least expected. She was going through her gun qualification at Quantico when her thumb suddenly felt as if she'd smashed it in a drawer. She'd yelped, quickly setting down her gun and trying to shake out the pain.
"I'm sorry! So sorry, give me a moment." She'd left the room as politely as possible. Thumb in her mouth as she tried to fight back the tears.
When the pain had subsided she'd finished her qualifications, anger bubbling up in her at the universe. She knew this meant nothing, really. They could stay together, but it was still frustrating.
She was nervous her entire break, pacing nervously while she waited for him to show up to meet her at their usual coffee shop. She'd hugged him as soon as she saw him, letting him wrap her up in his arms before pulling away.
She'd until they were sat down with their cups to begin speaking, "So, something happened today."
The Doctor had looked nervous when she kept quiet for a while, "Rose, what's going on?"
"He smashed his thumb today."
She didn't have to expand on what she said, because he already knew.
"Oh. Well, that doesn't mean anything. We'll be fine, yeah?"
She gave him a watery smile, reaching her hands across the table to encompass one of his, "Yeah."
Well, she'd thought so, but then she started her job at the BAU not six months later. She was just climbing into the elevator to make her way up to her new team when her shin began to ache. She'd hissed, trying not to draw the attention of everyone in the elevator with her. When they'd climbed out she smashed her hand against the wall, satisfied with the ache she felt in the side of her hand, "I hope that hurts you arse!"
She tried not to hobble as she made her way out of the elevator and into the BAU office. It was then she spotted him. Lanky with chestnut colored hair, he was sitting at a desk rubbing at his shin. He couldn't have been more than two years older than her, but she knew it was him. Her shin had stopped aching and it suddenly felt as if every other attachment she had felt just shifted, like her center of gravity had moved.
She had waited with bated breath for him to look up, their eyes meeting and she saw the instant he caught on. He stood from the desk, one hand cupped in the other, "Are you-"
"Did you just hit your shin?"
"Yeah. Your hand?"
"Yeah. I was mad, sorry."
"Reid, do you know her?"
There was a tall, black man in her peripheral, but she didn't dare shift her focus, afraid that he would disappear if she did.
"No, this is the first time we've met."
"Oh man, no way. Is this it? I've never seen it happen before. What's going on?"
His eyes aren't moving, but he's stepped closer, "I don't think I can properly articulate it."
They're the only three people in the office, but she's nervous that someone had been there to see their strange spectacle. She moves to meet him halfway, holding out her hand and startled at how perfect his hand felt in her own, "My name's Rose Tyler."
"My names Spencer Reid, it's a pleasure."
