Finley Reid

TW: Language

Finley P.O.V

It’s exactly four seconds past six PM when I slip in the doors of the school’s amphitheater to see Henry stumbling pitifully through ‘Sweet Caroline’. The ten year old is stuttering through the lyrics, practically whispering into the mic as his brown eyes fill with tears behind his blonde bangs and my heart falls to my stomach as I realize I messed up.

You see, Henry, unbeknownst to his parents or his godfather (My father Spencer Reid) has been getting bullied at school by a group of young boys, but namely a little turd named Jason. They’ve been picking on him because his mother, JJ, is never around as she works at the BAU section of the FBI with my father so Henry’s father Will has to bring Henry to everything. Apparently the little boys have taken this to mean Henry’s dad is gay and decided that’s a good reason to torment the little kid.

I met Henry when he was first born in the hospital when I was five, and he’s the only reason I know JJ, Will, and Emily personally. Or, knew Emily, she died in the field last year.

See, my dad isn’t a normal person. He has an IQ of 18, an eidetic memory, can read 20,000 words per minute, has three BA’s, and three PhD’s. We haven’t talked about it much, but I know he's autistic and he’s terrified of getting schizophrenia like my grandmother Diana has.

My full name is Finley Diana Reid, and I was born on October 31st, 1993 when my dad was only twelve years old. He thinks I don’t know how that happened, and gave me some bullshit story about how he was an idiot as a teenager and fell in love, but I know that’s a lie. Growing up around a federal profiler for the FBI, you learn a few things, namely how to snoop, and with that I learned the true reason I came about. Which has to do with a horrible eighteen year old girl taking advantage of my dad in his last year of highschool. 

It also doesn’t hurt in the snooping-on-my-dad department that I have an IQ of 200, can read 25,000 words per minute, and a photographic memory. 

Finding out my birth mother is a rapist isn’t the best thing in the world, but it surprisingly didn’t mess me up more than I already am. You see, my dad’s been through a lot in his 27 years of life, and so have I. He took care of his mom and me at the same time until he turns eighteen where he could apply for legal custody of me and put his mom in a special medical facility. I know he writes to her everyday and misses her, but I think he’s scared to go actually see her in person, and to be honest, so am I. She wasn’t the nicest person during her ‘episodes’ as my dad called them, especially after his dad left.

Dad took me with him to college when he was thirteen so I grew up surrounded by professors, and for a while, life was nice and dandy, until my intelligence started showing and I met Isabel (Issie) and Mary.

With my intelligence as high as it already was when I was seven and with dad searching to find us an apartment as he signed up to go risk his life daily in the FBI, it’s no surprise I developed a pretty decent amount of anxiety. For a while things were good, I had friends who helped take the edge off, along with an awesome dad, so I was okay.

But then Dad started getting into harm's way more and more on the field and I got more and more worried. Luckily I was able to hide it from him, but that didn’t stop me from jumping to grab the phone whenever he was off on a case.

We both agreed his team at the BAU shouldn’t know about me, and to this day only Emily, Will, and JJ know. We decided this was best, well really Dad decided this is best because of a few reasons. He doesn’t want criminals targeting me (he has a lot of enemies), and he doesn’t want me to see all the horrifying gory stuff at his work. Of course, that’s just what he says despite knowing that I always look at his case files he brings home while his back is turned, and also being aware of how strong I am after taking MMA lessons for the past ten years of my life. I know his real reason is that he thinks the FBI will recruit me, and he’s terrified that I’ll say yes.

In one certain case of his when he was twenty three,he got kidnapped, and it’s JJ who had to call and tell me that they were watching him get tortured by a guy with DID who kept injecting him with drugs. Ten year old me then went to stay with Isabel, but I practically tackled my dad as soon as he got home. Unfortunately, he got addicted to the drugs he got injected with, a certain drug by the name of Dilaudid, and kept using it after his capture. I, after finding out about this when I found the bottles in his room and realizing none of his coworkers had asked him why he seemed to agitated recently, lost my ever loving mind and dragged him to an addicts meeting the very same day which thankfully helped him quit.

Of course, Dad and I are used to helping each other out with stuff like that. With our combined intelligence, genetic chance for schizophrenia, and my ADHD, it’s a miracle we’re still alive. Nevertheless things were okay after that, until I turned twelve.

The year I turned twelve Mary committed suicide for reasons I still don’t understand. It may have been because Isabel, her, and I were always being bullied thanks to Issie and me being pretty dang smart (Issie isn’t a certified genius, but she has an IQ of 150 and is still damn good enough to be going into her last year of high school next year), but that never bothered Issie and I. I guess it bothered Mary though because in a single night in November she was gone.

Mary’s death hit me and Issie hard, and we both handled it in our own twisted ways. Issie started starving herself while I developed chronic depression and started sleeping a lot more, eating a lot less, and eventually self harming. When my dad found out about both of us, and we found out about each other, we all made a pact to help the other two get better, and we have so far.

And we’ve been doing pretty well. I had a pretty bad relapse last year when JJ told Spencer and I that Emily died. He resorted to barely ever sleeping and crying a lot, while I resulted in self harm again and eventually trying to throw myself off the roof of our building. Thankfully he found me, and we made another pact to help ourselves get over our grief while I was on suicide watch by Issie for three months.

I met JJ and Will when they made Dad Henry’s godfather, and to say they were shocked I existed is an understatement. I look enough like Dad with my wavy brown hair cut at the bottom of my neck in a messy bob-like hairstyle, my pale skin, and my tall frame. But that’s where the similarities stop. Whoever my birth mother is, I have a feeling she’s Italian thanks to how easily I tan in the sun and my bright blue eyes. I’m tall, yes, but I’m not super skinny and lanky like Dad. I’m 5’7, but defined muscles stand out on my arms, stomach, and legs, along with some slight curves. However all of this is usually covered up by flannels, oversized band t-shirts, doc martens, and ripped jeans.

Let me rephrase that, I’m bisexual.

Yup, my dad didn’t only get a depressed genius for a daughter, he also got a bisexual.

Dad doesn’t care though, he’s chill like that. Plus he came out to me as bi the day I told him I’m gay and we were both still for a moment before laughing and watching Love, Simon on the couch.

I met Emily by accident when I popped up at JJ’s house one day to ask if she had any coffee and she had been even more surprised than JJ to meet me. However, I immediately took a liking to her once realizing we shared the same fashion sense, and that she was a bisexual too. Which is why it crushed me when she died.

I snap myself out of it at the sound of Henry sniffle, and I turn my head towards Issie next to me.

My best friend’s brown eyes connect with me as she tucks a black curl behind her ear and her olive skin stretches into a grin at the look on my face. She then fixes the large black belt on top of her high waisted jeans before furrowing her eyebrows at me. “What’re you planning?”

I get distracted for a second at the sound of Jason whispering ‘He’s so lame’ to a little boy next to him, but quickly turn back to the stage as Henry runs off crying.

“Ah shit,” I say, staring at the little boy running away from the crowd before focusing my eyes on Issie. “Issie, can you do me a big favor? Can you get them to play that Big Sean song? Please?”

“Um, yeah,” Issie looks confused for a second, before a determined expression replaces it.

“You’re the best,” I breathe.

She winked at me. “I know.” She fixes the collar of my flannel before rushing off. I, meanwhile, sprint over to the side doors of the stage, ignoring the pointed looks at my back that I no doubt get from dad, Will, and JJ.

I kneel don in front of the sobbing Henry, ignoring the teacher on the stage introducing the next kid as I pry his hands away from his face.

“Henry! Henry, hey kiddo--” I say.

“Finnie where were you?” Henry sobs, and I cringe at the memory of the depressive episode that got me stuck in bed before Issie jammed my meds down my throat because I forgot to take them.

I wave off the question. “I can explain later, alright? It’s been a crazy day. But right now, kid?” I place my hands on his shoulders and force him to look me in the eyes. “We’re going right back out there.”

Henry’s tears are starting to dry but he still waves his hands around worriedly. “Finnie the rules are--”

“Screw the rules,” I say, pressing my forehead against his so he starts giggling. “We’re gonna go out there, and we’re gonna go sing that Big Sean song we’ve been practicing for a week to that group of assholes in the front row.”

“Wait, wait we are?” he asks, getting more excited by the minute.

A smile starts to form on my face without my consent as he places his hands over mine. “Yeah! Yeah, Issie’s working on it, okay? Just--” At that moment, the intro to the song starts playing and I give Henry an urgent look as he starts beaming. “Shit! That’s our cue. Come on, come on!”

We rush onto the stage, ignoring the gasps from the audience as I hand Henry the mic before rushing the stand off the stage and immediately sprinting back right as the words start.

The little boy gets into a stand with his feet shoulder width apart, one hand on the mic holding it to his mouth and his other hand pointing to Jason in the audience. “Jason, this is for you.” He then takes a deep breath before doing a little hop in place as the beat drops. “I don’t - fuck with - you!” 

I give a dramatic gasp, turning my head towards him and adjusting the half assed tie around my black collared shirt under the flannel. Try as I might, I can’t see any of the faces in the audience past the blinding lights so I have no idea how pissed off JJ, Will, and Dad are. However, I roll with it as Henry starts dancing.

“You little stupid-ass bitch, I ain’t fuckin’ with you!” He sings, glancing at me with a grin as I keep my shocked expression on before we both glance at Jason who seems shocked. 

“What,” I whisper-sing just loud enough for the mic to be heard.

Henry continues, looking adorable in his sweater vest, bow tie, and khakis. “You lil, You lil dumb-ass bitch I ain’t fucking with you!” On the last word he points at Jason  before going to dance behind me. “I got a million trillion things I'd rather fuckin' do,” he sings, popping his head our from behind me to the right as I lean to the left in perfect sync. 

“Alright, fuck it,” I say as he goes to stand next to me, giving me a huge grin. “This is what we’re doing? Alright.”

“Than to be fuckin with you,” Henry continues, going to do our quick fist-bump hand-slide handshake. “Lil stupid ass,” he starts, and as soon as he says the next line we both do a little jump and start whipp-neigh-neighing to the beat. “I don’t give a fuck, I don’t give a fuck.” We jump and start to do a twisted version of the macarena that ends with throwing a hand in the air as he continues. “I don't I don't I don't give a fuck. Bitch, I don't give a fuck about you or anything that you do.” We switch and start whip neigh-neighing on the other side. “Don't give a fuck about you or anything that you do. I heard you got a new man, I see you takin' a pic.” I start bouncing next to him, knowing full well I look like an idiot but finding it worth it. “Then you post it up, thinkin' that it's makin' me sick, brr, brr.” We cross our feet and cross them back real quick before whip-neigh-neighing once again as Henry goes off. “I see you calling, I be makin' it quick. I'mma answer that shit like "I don't fuck with you".” We start breaking our knees before turning back to back and sort of bouncing once again while half-twerking as I snap my fingers to his words. “I don’t fuck with you.” He switches to a whisper. “Ya lil, ya lil dumb-ass bitch I ain’t fucking with you.” I smirk at the little bastard in the audience, pointing with two fingers from Henry back to him right before I freeze in place as the music cuts off.

But Henry keeps going.

“I got a million trillion things that I’d rather fucking do,” he continues.

“Kid,” I whisper, trying to wipe the smile off my face. “The music stops.”

But he doesn’t seem to hear me as he continues to vibe. “Than to be fucking with you.”

“Yup,” I shrug, quickly giving in and going to dance horribly with him.

Finally, after a few more verses where I try to tell him it’s over, he stops before turning to Jason. “Who’s the loser now Jason?” Henry asks, almost innocently before holding up his middle finger. “Bully this, bitch.”

I can’t help but snort at the blunt sentence and do my best to cover it as Henry drops the mic on the ground. Bending over, I grab it quickly before holding it up to my mouth.

“Oh my,” I say, smiling sheepishly. “I was unaware of the lyrics… a-and the strong language in that song.” I do my best to cast my gaze over the audience, but I really can’t see anything with the lights past the second row. “So I do apologize. But, uh,” I glance at Henry who looks happier and more confident than he has in months before turning back to the crowd. “You know what? I apologize for nothing else.” My head whips over to Jason and I hold up my middle finger at the same time as Henry. “Screw you Jason. Next time you call someone’s dad a faggot, make sure they don’t have a strong-ass friend to help them choregraph an amazing dance routine.” I then drop the mic too, doing a ‘boom’ motion with my hands before throwing an arm over Henry’s shoulders and leading him off the stage.

It’s silent for a second as we stand in the wings of the stage, before suddenly every kid besides Jason starts up and starts screaming their approval. They stomp their feet and clap their hands, whooping so loud it sounds like the Purge is starting.

“YES!” I hear Issie shout over the crowd with what I assume is tears of mirth in her voice.  I poke my head out of the curtain to blow a playful kiss in her general direction, making the cheering reach an uproar before I turn back to a giddy Henry.

“Yes! We did it!” I cheer, catching him as he throws himself at me in a hug, beaming ear to ear. “Way to go, kid!”

“Thanks, Finn! I’m gonna be a rockstar here now!” he exclaims, and I feel my smile freeze before a sheepish one overtakes it.

“Yeah, nah, nah I think you’re gonna be expelled,” I say, the smile completely gone at the end of the sentence.

“Oh,” his face falls slightly, and I stare at him for a moment, before I’m suddenly on the move, grabbing the mic from the stand once more.

“Attention ladies, gentlemen, others, and Issie!” I exclaim, hearing a friendly ‘screw you’ from my friend as the crowd slowly goes silent. “We wanna thank you for coming out tonight to see these kids perform, but I have an announcement to make. Everything that Henry just did was entirely my fault! This little turd,” I jab a thumb towards Jason, ignoring his gasping mother next to him. “Has been tormenting my friend Henry for months! And so, a week ago I decided, all on my own with no help from Henry, that revenge was needed. Every word from that song, every dance move, every lewd gesture, that was all me!” I lie easily through my teeth, straightening up slightly and cracking my knuckles. “So, if any of you have a problem with what just happened, or want to expel that innocent ten year old boy, you can come talk to me in the parking lot. Capiche?”

“Capache!” All the kids in the audience scream back, and I grin for a moment at the memory of teaching all of them - except  Jason - to respond with that.

“Goodnight DC! It’s been dope,” I shout, clicking the microphone back into the stand for once before going back to the wings just in time to catch Henry.

“Thank you, Finnie!” He squeals, hugging the air out of me as I catch him and start to carry him into the exit doors that lead into the crowd part of the ampitheatre. “But why did you lie?”

“I don’t want you to get expelled, kid, it’ll look bad on your record,” I explain as I push open the door with my hand, making my way through the entryway without taking my eyes off the kid I’m carrying. “Besides, what’re your teachers gonna do? I’m graduating highschool in a few months.” 

He gives me a grin and losens his grip so I let him slide to the floor. We then both look up at the same time to see a furious JJ, Will trying to stifle his laughter, and my Dad looking concerned. However I don’t understand his look until I realize his entire BAU team is standing behind him.

“Shit,” I say as I realize something.

I’m screwed.

********