A/N: Well… this is what happens when you fall asleep reading Criminal Minds Fanfiction. Okay, so I had this dream, and it was a bit different. So it'll make sense with the OOC'ness in my dream, I will change it only a bit.

Warnings: None

Summary: Gideon's daughter, Melissa, is shot from a raid in which she was held hostage by someone who seemingly will not be able to forgive himself. With Melissa in the hospital on the verge of death, Gideon can't figure out how to make the shooter forgive himself.

Preread: I know this might not be accurate feelings, but this is mainly what happened in my dream.

They had ran into the house in a frenzy, knowing Gideon's 23 year old daughter, Melissa was taken hostage for the unsub to get revenge, unbeknownst to them the reason why, however. Luckily when they walked in, Melissa was there and alive, unluckily, so was the unsub with a gun. He hadn't had enough time to snatch Melissa up, but still had the gun pointed her direction. There was no question. Do not take any shots, do not take any chances. The silent rule.

"Agent Gideon," he had dark hair, was probably in his late 20s to 30s, and not all that tall. He spoke with a harsh tone compared to his size. He looked about the size of a freshman in high school. Under different circumstances, they all may have laughed.

"What do you want with her?" He yelled. She looked over, blindfolded of course. Melissa's hair was a brown with a tint of red and her body had slender features. Wouldn't have thought of her to be one of Gideon's. But who were they to judge?

"Isn't it obvious?" He spoke in a laugh-mock tone. "You put my father in jail. I was 10. Don't you remember? Austin Texas. The rest of the team didn't budge but Gideon looked ready to just shoot him, Melissa being the reason he hadn't already.

"So you're going to take an innocent's life and not the person you're angry with?" This time it was Reid that spoke up. They all averted their eyes to him in question what he was doing.

"What was that? I'm sorry, I didn't know you were any part of this. Would you like to take this bullet?" He smirked when he went wordless but frowned again when he spoke up.

"Actually yes I would." Hotch about boiled over at that, if young Dr. Reid made it out of this alive, he sure wouldn't last long in his grip. Oh no, did he never think young genius would ever dare a mentally unstable unsub to shoot him. "Be better than you shooting her. I mean, the guy who's helped me train for the FBI, don't you think I owe him. I'm sure he'd miss Melissa a lot more than they'd all miss me. Actually, they'd like it even more for me to be gone finally."

"Well that's quite a statement, but don't you think I'd take both you and this lil bitch out too?" He emphasized by yanking her head back.

"No offense, but you're not exactly in the position to do so. You shoot either of us and you'll be out before you'd be able to take another shot. You have one bullet in the chamber Shane. Who're you going to choose?" Reid negotiated. Hotch half wanted to smack the kid right there, but this was no time. Gideon, oh Gideon had about enough. He cared about Reid just as much as Melissa. Hell, would he have trained the kid all those years if he hadn't? He almost felt hurt at the sudden realization the kid didn't feel as though they cared. He only hoped he was just trying to get to the unsub…

"You really doubt me?"

"Yes." He stated plainly.

"Then why don't I reassure you." He took the two steps to Melissa and Reid shot Melissa in the shoulder, directing the attention back to him. The team winced as Melissa fell to the ground in pain. Just as Shane was about to turn to Reid, the entire team pulled the trigger. Shane dropped to the ground easily. As soon as they were in, they were out. Gideon, of course, rode with Melissa in the ambulance to the ER. It wasn't bad, but bad enough she'd have a nice stay for a couple days.

Hotch figured the kid had enough to deal with that day so he waited a few more days for the team to recuperate to talk to Gideon.

"I don't blame him. It could have been worse." Gideon said truthfully. He was pleased with the outcome, though he'd rather no one have been hurt, it wasn't bad.

"But he still should have waited. It was exactly a time of desperation. We had just got there." Hotch breathed. "He could have died, Jason."

Gideon put a hand over his face and sighed. "I know."

"And you're just going to let it go? Though we were lucky we might have not been. What do you think will happen next time? We're not always lucky." He just spoke Gideon's worst fear.

"No. I wasn't going to let it go in the first place. I still don't know. I think he's beating himself up over it all." Gideon said, knowingly contemplating the options of how to handle his protégé.

"I think you'll know what to do when the time comes." Hotch put a hand on his shoulder before he left. Minutes later, Gideon had pulled Spencer to his office.

"Yea, Gideon?" He said sadly.

"Sit." It was meant to sound stern but… it didn't turn out that way. Reid sat in one of the chairs. It was a long few moments before Gideon began. "It wasn't your fault." Everything stilled and seemed to go silent. Reid looked down with speaking. "Spencer… it wasn't your fault. I think it turned out well. But…"

"If I hadn't said anything, maybe she wouldn't have gotten hurt."Gideon closed his eyes and put his face in his hands. With a sigh he looked back up.

"But you don't know that."

"Now I think of it, the profile, he's a narcissist… he wouldn't want to come down like that. Most likely, he'd surrender without killing anyone. If I wouldn't have said anything maybe nobody could have gotten hurt." His words were harsh, toward himself, however. "How could I have been so stupid…" Gideon went to say something but he went on. "And who shoots a hostage."

"It was strategic." Gideon finally spoke up.

"Strategic, not smart." Reid added in. He didn't know why he was doing this to himself, but it was Gideon's daughter he had hurt… Gideon. The man who took him in and trained him for the FBI… He owed this man and he hurt his daughter.

"Bottom line, even if it wasn't smart, it worked." The tables turned at the point. Almost too sudden.

"So… am I…" He was cut off.

"You're still in trouble, yes. You're not in trouble for hurting her. You're in trouble for breaking the rules." Reid nodded. Gideon studied him up and down for a moment. "I'll drive you home after work." Gideon quieted down a bit, almost sighing. That's how Reid knew he made a decision. In his mind, which is probably a good thing, he deserved whatever was coming.

The work went by quickly, having enough time toward the end of the day to talk to Morgan, Prentiss, and JJ. By nine, they were all headed home, and Reid was in Gideon's car. It wasn't silent, more of the opposite. They talked about things. Well, Gideon did, Reid answered with a yes or no when asked a question. Still sensing the fault Reid felt, he sighed.

"I wish I was enough." Gideon said. Reid looked over.

"What?" Reid asked confused.

"You're like a son to me. I should be able to protect you both. You had to protect my daughter… it's not your job."

"It is. It was our case. I did whatever I could to make you proud… being the know it all everyone hates…"

"Spencer Reid." Gideon looked over at him and Spencer slouched in his seat in defeat. "I am always proud of you. No matter what happens." Gideon turned his eyes back to the road. "And nobody hates you."

"Doesn't mean everybody likes me either." He mumbled, barely enough for Gideon to hear.

"Spencer… you're pushing it." The rest of the ride was silent. About five minutes later they arrived at Reid's apartment and walked inside. Spencer went to the kitchen and got a glass of water. He didn't say a word when Gideon followed him in. "How've you been sleeping?"

"And that matters why?" Reid said defensively. Gideon looked at him with half amused, half annoyed eyes. "Good enough considering the circumstances. Hard to sleep with a… uh… darkened mind." He said and looked down.

"What does that mean?" Gideon asked annoyed.

"…I shot a person, Gideon. Your daughter…"

"She isn't hurt." He reminded the young agent.

"She could have been… and I know that there's always the chance and it turned out better than it could have been… would have been… if I hadn't done what I did. Well, maybe. But it doesn't help much knowing I hurt her. Circumstances or not, it hurts." Gideon took it all in. "If she isn't hurt and you know I was right, then why am I being punished for it again?" Reid asked harshly.

"Because genius or not, you might be wrong sometimes. You broke a well known rule. Don't take chances with a hostage." Reid looked down, realizing he was stuck, but that didn't mean he was going down without a fight. Noticing this, Gideon walked back to the living room and sat on the couch. Reid walked back to the living room but kept his distance.

"This is stupid. You just said it was okay, now you're not?" Reid knew the difference and what he was being punished for and not for, but he was hoping to get out of it this time.

"Oh c'mon Spencer, you actually think I believe you're stupid? You're better than that. Now come here." He stayed planted on his spot.

"You can't prove I know why though." Reid spoke up defiantly.

"Then let me show you. Obviously talking isn't helping you to understand." Reid stood there in utter loss of words or defiance but he'd throw whatever he could.

"This is complete bullshit…" he turned to walk to his room.

"Okay, Spencer. Go cool off but realize coming back in here is telling me you're ready to understand you're not getting out of this."

He didn't say anything back, just closed his door. Gideon laughed and shook his head. How stubborn could a young genius be? This was obviously his answer.

About an hour later Reid walked out of his room. "You're still here." He said sadly.

"Quit playing dumb Spencer. You knew I wasn't going to leave."

"So?" Reid asked.

"So, you're ready to talk?" Gideon inquired.

"Nope."

Gideon had enough. He stood and grabbed Spencer by his upper arm and dragged him over to the couch. He pulled Spencer over his lap and pulled his pants down, leaving his boxers up though. Spencer was still struggling so Gideon wasted no time bringing his hand down, immediately stilling him.

"You SWAT knew this was going to happen. Now Tell me what you SWAT you're being SWAT punished for." Gideon demanded.

"Ah! SWAT. Because I didn't SWAT follow a SWAT rule. Please SWAT stop, I won't SWAT do it again!" Gideon laid swat after swat despite Reid's pleas. He was crying by the time Gideon decided to finish it. He tipped Reid forward and started spanking his sit spots.

"Next time I expect you to follow rules. Even though you think you're right. You're not a narcissist, Spencer. He nodded and Gideon stopped spanking, lifting his pants up. After a minute the crying slowed and by that time Gideon had held Spencer upright and repeatedly told him it was alright. Gideon had a feeling the spanking had helped him get over shooting his daughter also, which he was glad. It wasn't his fault and never blamed him, but obviously Spencer did think it was.

"I'm sorry, Jason." Reid said sadly.

"It's alright, kiddo." Go up to bed. He nodded and went to his room to peaceful sleep, well, besides the fact he had to sleep on his stomach the next few days, his nights were as normal as they could be. He could only thank his 'dad' for not giving up.

A/N: Okies. I hope it was okay. Haha Please review.