What did you bury before those hands pulled me from the earth?

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

DECIDING WHAT YOU WANTED your life to look like was one of the greatest challenges you could face when growing up. It was a rite of passage, almost. One that, if you were unlucky enough, would seek to maim you at every turn. Life wasn't supposed to be easy, but Gwen Cadigan had always believed she could overcome whatever it put in her way. Every ache and pain. Every high and low moment. She knew what she wanted and she'd be damned if she didn't get it.

A job with the Behavioural Analysis Unit? No less, a job that kidnapped her sister, killed her father and broke her mother's heart? Not quite what she had in mind. But, just like life, plans changed and suddenly it became the air she breathed. Joining the BAU channelled her feelings into something that made a real difference. She got to save people like she wished she had been saved, and that was what mattered. Not her hopes of becoming a published author. Certainly not her dreams of having a family of her own someday, like her older brother and his husband with the girl they'd just adopted. Gwen was truly her father's daughter, and there was people out there that needed someone like him more than they'd ever need Gwen.

Spencer Reid was one of the smartest men she knew and the BAU wouldn't have functioned the same without him. Gwen had always admired him, like anybody else would appreciate their colleagues, but he certainly wasn't one of those people who needed her. Spencer and Gwen were friends at a stretch, but definitely not anything more. They had a job to do, lives to change, and that would always come first... right?

Maybe Gwen wasn't so sure who she was or what she wanted anymore.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

( LIKE REAL PEOPLE DO )

STARRING. . .

PHOEBE DYNEVOR
as GWEN CADIGAN
❝You don't get to decide this for me.❞

MATTHEW GRAY GUBLER
as SPENCER REID
❝I won't apologise for caring about you.❞

FEATURING. . .

tom hardy as michael cadigan †

brianne howey as natalie cadigan

finn cole as noah cadigan

ruby stokes as felicity cadigan †

bill skarsgard as thomas cadigan

avan jogia as dominik cadigan (neè sharma)

jenna ortega as isabel alvarez

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds. All rights belong to CBS and their series. I only own my original characters, as listed above, and any plotlines you're unable to recognise.

Dedications!

obliviates -trojanwar pillowzzzzzzzzz -eddiemunsons laevinics biscuitlollies ollienation forbiddenfruiits

Author's Note!

Hello and welcome to what the inside of my brain has looked like since I started watching Criminal Minds earlier this year. Gwen is my first baby I've had the nerve to publish and I hope you guys love her just as much as I do. For reference, I've decided to list the ages of Gwen & my other ocs down below so it all makes sense. Please ignore the fact that some of the faceclaims (Brianne my beloved) definitely don't match their character's ages; this is just who I envision the most. Let me know what you guys think!

Gwen — twenty-five
Michael — forty-seven (would be fifty)
Natalie — forty-seven
Noah — twenty-two
Felicity — fifteen (would be nineteen)
Thomas — twenty-seven
Dominik — twenty-nine
Isabel — fifteen