Rec: Defect by kikkimax (Criminal Minds/Supernatural crossover)

[risha]

My friends lists these days are overflowing with massive (and well deserved) Criminal Minds love. And yet good fanfic remains frustratingly hard to find. Rather than commenting yet again as yet another person discovers the series, I thought that I'd actually post my recommendation here.

Defect by kikkimax (also here) features a pre-Hell Dean Winchester caught by the FBI; the problem is, the BAU is needed to figure out what crimes he's actually guilt of. Gen.

The characterizations are spot-on for both series, and it's fabulous to view Dean through the agents' eyes.

"Got any cards?"

"No. I’ve got a chess set."

"No. No way. Even if I knew how to play I wouldn’t play you. Hey, that was a compliment," Dean insisted at Reid’s hurt look. "You’d kick my ass. Wanna arm wrestle?" he teased.

"I don’t think so," Reid laughed nervously. "We don’t have to talk about the occult anymore. Why don’t you tell me about your childhood?"

Dean hastily waved off that suggestion. "I’m tired of talking about me. Let’s talk about you. So you graduated high school at twelve, huh? What’d you do at college?"

"I read. And studied."

"That figures. And now you’re an FBI agent. You are an agent, aren’t you? Or are you just some kind of psych expert?"

"No, I’m a real agent."

"Cool. Do you carry a gun?"

"Not at the moment, weapons aren’t allowed in interrogation for obvious reasons, but yes. I carry when we’re out in the field."

"You a good shot?"

"Not really," Reid admitted self-consciously. "But I can usually hit the broad side of a barn when called for."

"Lot of rogue barns out there?"

"You know what I mean."

"Yeah. I can probably help. Show me your stance."

"My what?"

"Your stance. Your stance. You know, how you hold your gun when you’re shooting at barns."

"I told you I don’t have my gun," Reid protested, standing straighter when Dean came around the table towards him.

"Use your finger. Didn’t you ever play cowboys and Indians when you were a kid?"

"No. Did you?"

"I didn’t have to pretend. My dad had me shooting when I was pretty young. Show me."

Reid made a half-hearted attempt, pointing his finger at Dean.

"Whoa, hey, safety first. Point that thing at the wall."

"Sorry," Reid immediately adjusted his aim.

"Dude," Dean laughed. "I was kidding, you crack me up. No, no, no, show me," he encouraged when Reid put his imaginary weapon down.

"I feel silly."

"You look silly," Dean agreed. "That’s no way to hold a gun. Hold it like this." Dean demonstrated a proper stance, ignoring Morgan who now loomed in the doorway.

"Like this?" Reid mimicked Dean’s stance.

"Yeah. How’s that feel?"

"It’s good. I’m not sure I can fire this way, though."

Dean walked around and took in another angle, ending up behind Reid. Morgan watched like a hawk, moving further into the room.

"Does your hand move up or down when you fire?"

Reid pretended to shoot. "Um… Up, I think."

"Does the gun feel too heavy for you?"

"He needs his nine mil," Morgan said. "Anything smaller isn’t going to cut it."

"I know, I wasn’t going to suggest a smaller gun," Dean agreed as he put a hand on Reid’s arm. "Pull this elbow in towards your chest and drop this one."

Reid allowed Dean to position his arms. "Like this?"

"Yeah, try that. Practice that way and I think you’ll be able to control the recoil better."

"That shortens his stance too much," Morgan argued.

"For you and me, yeah, but Reid needs the extra support. I’m telling you, I’ve been shooting since I was like six. I never shot no pansy ass pea shooter, either. Practice with him, okay?"

"Yeah," Morgan agreed readily. "I will."

The sequel is Hell, and Back.

While I'm here, another great CM/SPN crossover is Haunted Minds by buffyaddict13, in which the BAU investigates what happened at Cold Oaks. Unfortunately, it's a WIP and seems to be on indefinite hiatus.