The prison library is a haven, for the few minutes he’s allowed to visit twice a week. It’s quiet, secluded, and full of his favorite things – books. The selection is nowhere near as nice as his personal collection at home, or the public library, but it’s better than nothing. Without words, he’d go mad. He needs stories to keep him sane, to give him a route he can escape by.
Today though, he’s startled to walk into the small space and find twelve other prisoners inside – accompanied by a face he’s never seen before. A woman. What’s even more surprising is that she doesn’t wear the uniform of a guard or an employee. Instead she’s in Converse sneakers and a lavender polka-dotted dress. It’s been so long since he saw that color – any bright color, really. But it’s his favorite and it isn’t until that moment that the realizes how much he’s missed the simplest of things. The sight of his favorite color. Bright images in dull spaces. Things that look hopeful.
Reid isn’t sure what’s going on, but the other prisoners seem to be too absorbed in the books to notice him. Just as he’s thinking he can back away quietly and return tomorrow, she turns around, smiling at the sight of him.
“Well hello there!” she says. “Are you Luis?”
Reid tilts his head, confused. How does this stranger know his friend? “Uh, no, no I’m not. I’m sorry, who are you?”
Her smile drops, though she doesn’t seem annoyed. Merely disappointed. “Oh. They told me Luis would be joining us today, but he never showed up. I’m Y/N. I’m one of the teachers here.”
Summary: Milburn Correctional Facility is a tough place to find hope in. But when Spencer Reid stumbles upon a GED class, led by a teacher with kind words and a smile that breaks through the dark, he thinks it might not be so hopeless after all. Spencer Reid x Reader. Set in Season 12. Prison!Reid
Content Warnings for discussion of prison/incarceration, correctional conditions, abuse, etc. Note that this story will feature a lot of real-life prison things. Reid and other characters may at times speak in a derogatory or judgmental manner regarding incarcerated folks, but those statements do notreflect my personal views (xoxo, your friendly neighborhood abolitionist fanfic writer).
STORY
Part I: In which Spencer Reid stumbles upon a GED class at Milburn and feels something like hope for the first time in weeks.
Part II:In which the Reader tries not to lecture Spencer before the lecture, and Spencer gets a nickname.
Part III:In which Spencer gets a visitor and the Reader’s kindness is repaid with a surprise connection.
Part IV: In which Spencer finds sugar bittersweet, and the Reader finds the same sentiment in her work when a student is hurt.
Part V:In which nothing is beautiful and everything hurts.
Part VI:In which Reid and the Reader both find themselves at the center of problems they just can’t fix… and the stakes are higher than ever.
Part VII: In which Reid finds himself in solitary confinement, and the Reader is simply trying to find him.
Part VIII:In which being free is harder than Reid expected and the Reader has an unexpected reunion.
Part IX:In which Reid realizes he might not be the only one falling, and the Reader has an important question to answer.
Part X: ✨✨ In which some statements are only true for so long, and Reid and the Reader get closer and… closer.
Part XI:In which Reid and the Reader finally say what needs to be said, and the Reader finds she has something in common with the BAU. aka, The End.
Epilogue: In which Spencer invites the Reader to make a move and the Reader starts a new chapter.
A little reminder that if you want some prison!Reid reading but with a twist, I’ve got 11 chapters (plus an epilogue) all ready and waiting for your enjoyment!
more people would be for prison abolition if they just tried to send mail to an inmate even once
for almost a year now i’ve been trying to send a copy of the literary magazine i edit to an inmate who requested one. his prison prohibits any written materials that so much as mention drugs, weapons, criminal activity, or malicious violence of any sort. i’ve been poring over what’s available of the 95 volumes my magazine has printed over the years, and of those found 3 that might pass inspection. the first two were sent back undelivered two months after i sent them because one had a short story that alluded to a playground fight, and the other a poem that used the word “fist” in a nonviolent context. The third was returned for the stated reason that its contents depicted the use of firearms. i reread the entire issue, there’s not a single gun mentioned in all its 120 pages.
while going back and forth with this guy trying to figure out how to get a copy of the magazine in his hands, two of my letters bounced back for unspecified reasons. i learned that inmates are not given their correspondents’ original letters, but scanned copies, often poorly reproduced and sometimes illegible. these people aren’t even granted the ink their loved ones used to pen their messages, or to hold in their hands the paper their loved ones held, if they’re able to receive their words at all.
