I'd been thinking about writing a flashback, and then a reviewer requested one, so this was born. The first meeting.

Please don't be under the illusion that I have a storyline planned out for this. Just sort of making things up as I go along. It has turned into more of an amalgamation of show and book - I'm using the show's storyline, but drawing elements from the book universe as well.

I don't own The Magicians or Criminal Minds. Consider yourselves disclaimed.

MEETING OF THE MINDS

"I'm really not going crazy."

17-year-old Dr. Spencer Reid couldn't help but stare around in awe at the impossible things going on around him. Two friends bursting into laughter at an unspoken joke shared with their thoughts. Apples floating down from trees into waiting hands for hungry mouths. Is she-? Yup. She's flying.

"Why would you be going crazy?"

He jumped only a little, twisting around for the source of the voice before finally looking down to see a young woman lying in the grass behind the bench he was sitting on. He hadn't noticed her when he sat down a few moments ago.

"Because magic is real and I'm at a secret graduate school hidden away in New York to learn how to use it?"

She flashed him a half-smile, pushing frizzy black curls out of her eyes. "Is it really so crazy that there are still new things to discover in the world? I mean, you're some kind of genius teenage doctor, right? Surely that brain of yours is big enough to fit a little magic?"

He realized who she was then - Dean Fogg had mentioned how unusual it was to have two teenagers invited at the same time, and hopefully they'd do well there. This tiny, almost child-sized person was the other teenager he'd be learning with. She was almost startlingly thin, with tight elfin features and prominent hazel eyes.

"If we're the same age, wouldn't that make you a genius too?" He watched as she picked herself up from the ground and settled on the bench next to him, one leg tucked beneath her.

"I wouldn't know. I've never gone to school before."

"You were homeschooled?"

"No."

Spencer blinked. "Then where did you get your education?"

"I never got a formal education, just what I could get from local libraries."

Spencer blinked again, thinking back to the highly advanced math and science on the entrance exam. She must be entirely auto-didactic. "I'm pretty sure you're a genius." She shrugged delicately.

"If you say so. You are a doctor, right?"

"Uh, yes. Spencer Reid."

"Adelaide Burke. Del. I've been reading ahead in the text books, have you?"

"Yes, they're fascinating. I'm not sure what to think of Popper's Etudes, I don't think my fingers can move in some of those directions."

"What about the Complications? I wonder how specifically each spell has to be tailored to them, and what would happen if something weren't properly adjusted."

"I'm sure we'll find out."

They were silent for several moments, awkwardly sizing each other up, before they both started laughing.

"You're right, we're all going crazy," Del said. "We're at graduate school for Magicians!"

"I'm pretty sure I'll have to leave this off my resume for the FBI," Spencer chuckled.

"FBI?" Del asked. He glanced over - rather than making fun of him for an outlandish dream, she looked surprised and impressed. "What exactly are you a doctor of?"

"Mathematics and Chemistry. I was working on my Engineering dissertation, but as of this morning CalTech happily approved the three-year deferment I didn't know I submitted for. I also have B.A.s in Psychology and Sociology. There's a senior agent with the Behavioral Analysis Unit that's been scouting me since last semester. I'm not sure how I'll explain the sudden three-year addition to my studies, but I'd still like to work there in the future. What about you? What were your plans before you found out about his place?"

Del shrugged. "I didn't really have any - my life has never exactly been bursting with opportunity. But now...now I don't know. It's literally a whole new world for me now - who knows what magical careers exist."

Spencer's brow was furrowed. He didn't want to make any assumptions, but it was obvious she'd had a difficult life. Rather than push too far and alienate what might be his only peer in terms of both age and intellectual level, he glazed over his concerns and shrugged as well. "Well, you have three years to figure it out."

A dimple appeared in Del's right cheek as she smiled at him. "Looks like it. Want to walk to class together?"

Spencer found himself smiling back. "I'd like that."