Author's note: This is an expansion of a piece I wrote during my collaboration with mabelreid. If you read that mini-series, the first chapter of this ficlet will be very familiar to you.

Warnings for brief, non-graphic mentions of child abuse. Also, spoilers through Instincts & Memoriam if you haven't seen those episodes.

Of course, I own nothing and likely never will!

"Agent Hotchner?"

Hotch turned to see a tall man with dark brown hair and familiar brown eyes. Though he was expecting to see him, Hotch was still caught off guard by the similarities. It's almost like looking into a weird, age-progression mirror.

"Mr. Reid," he answered.

"Please, call me William."

"I'm not sure I'm comfortable with that."

William nodded in response. "I can understand that. How is Spencer?"

"He's still in a coma, but the doctors are hopeful. His brain activity is exceptional, of course…" William smiled slightly at that-a very similar smile.

"I appreciate you calling me, Agent Hotchner. I know that you probably don't think much of me…" he held up a hand to forestall Hotch's protest… "but, I do care about Spencer very much."

"I don't think the feeling is mutual," Hotch interjected bitterly. I probably shouldn't have said that, but damn it the man needs to hear it!

"I'm sure it isn't," William confirmed calmly, and the acceptance in his tone surprised Hotch. "That's mostly my doing and I don't blame Spencer at all for being upset. I intended for him to be angry with me." Hotch's brain struggled to find logic behind that statement but none was forthcoming. When William didn't continue, Hotch spoke the first coherent thought that came to mind.

"What do you mean you 'intended for him to be angry'? You hurt him on purpose?" The long-held anger against Reid's father boiled to the surface as he contemplated the heartlessness of a man that could abandon a ten-year-old and an ill wife.

"No, nothing like that; look, would you mind if we go somewhere more private to talk? I'll tell you the whole story." Hotch nodded his agreement, and the two walked in silence through the crowded hospital lobby, down a nearly empty corridor to a vacant waiting room. Hotch shut the door behind them and they sat across from each other on the plush couches. Neither spoke for a few moments until William broke the quiet.

"It started when Spencer was nine…" The miserable tone in his voice caused Hotch to look up and study the man as he spoke. "Diana worried about him a lot. I did too, of course. We both worked a lot at the University, Diana with her professorship, me serving as Dean temporarily. Spencer learned to be independent early, but we still tried to keep a close watch on him. A child genius is big news in town, and in Vegas, well I'll just say we got numerous offers for him ranging from various studies to casino jobs to 'selective procreation'." Hotch felt his jaw drop at the thought. He'd never considered that aspect of Reid's childhood.

"Anyway, when he started high school, he wanted to ride the bus like the others in our neighborhood. Diana was adamant that he shouldn't so we drove him most days, or our next-door neighbor would take him on our early mornings. Then, our duties at work picked up so much that we were relying on Mrs. Jenkins three or four days a week. We decided that wasn't fair to her so we let him ride the bus a few times as a trial, and if things went well then he could ride in the mornings and Diana would pick him up on her lunch break. It seemed to go well so he ended up riding the bus a couple of mornings a week."

William paused for a long moment, and Hotch felt a surge of anxiety build up in his chest. He had a sneaky suspicion that he wouldn't like where this story was going, even though he had no idea which of the terrible things running through his mind was true.

"Then, one morning about three weeks later Diana came to my office, frantic. Spencer's school called her to say that he hadn't come that morning. We knew he wasn't been sick when we left and that he was supposed to ride the bus. We made phone calls to everyone we could think of- friends, neighbors, Mrs. Jenkins. Diana went to the school to make sure he wasn't hiding or stuck in a locker somewhere. That happened a few times before. I went home and canvassed the area between our house and the bus stop. After a few hours, we called the police. Of course, there was no such thing as an "Amber Alert" back then, but the LVPD got on it right away. Spencer was well known so they considered him a 'high risk priority'. The CSU scoured the bus stop, the bus driver went to the station for questioning, and Diana and I were interrogated for several hours apiece. I think they thought we were suspects until the ransom call came in almost two days later." Oh my god, he was kidnapped! Poor kid, no wonder he has issues. "By that time, the FBI had arrived and they were monitoring our phones and our house…"

William trailed off, lost in thought. The investigator in Hotch couldn't help but ask for details. "How much was the ransom demand?'

"$500, 000." For the second time that day, Hotch felt as if he'd been punched in the stomach. That much?

"Did you pay it? How on earth could they expect you to get that much?"

"Diana and I made good salaries from the college, so we had just over half of it between our savings accounts and investments and Spencer's college fund." He gave a small, rueful laugh. "Diana, she didn't want to take the money we'd saved for Spencer. It really bothered her to use it, but I finally convinced her that we had to get him back safely before he could go to college anyway. The rest we got through donations. As soon as people heard, money started coming. The university donated $75,000, as did several other colleges across the state. I'm sure they all had an ulterior motive of getting Spencer to go to their school, but it we appreciated the gesture. The lead agent advised us not to pay, but we gathered the money nearly six days we had enough. The police had no leads, no suspects, nothing. So when they called asking about the money, a sting was arranged. Things got messy but we got him back. The police arrested three men, who gave up the man behind the whole thing. They are all still in jail as of now…"

"What was the motive? Why did they take Reid?"

"It turned out that the bastard had stalked Spencer for almost a year. He had pictures, newspaper articles, clips from local TV, all kinds of sick stuff. Apparently, he saw Spencer competing in the State Spelling Bee the previous school year and he became obsessed. He figured having his own personal genius was his ticket to the good life, or something like that. He just didn't realize how difficult a nine-year-old can be, particularly a terrified nine-year-old prodigy that knows more about absolutely everything than you can ever hope to and is afraid of the dark and has violent nightmares." So, he's always had nightmares…there's an interesting topic for Dr. Benson.

"After two days, he couldn't handle Spencer anymore and decided to get his money the easy way. I hadn't believed it when the FBI said that whoever had Spencer wouldn't kill him because they had an objective, but they were right I guess."

"When you got him back, how was he?"

"He was traumatized, obviously. He didn't speak for days and he jumped at any sudden movement or loud noise. He cried a lot, which was highly unusual for him." William's eyes took on a dark look, and his voice grew hard. The knot of fear in Hotch's stomach twisted. "I'm sure I don't know all the details of what happened during those days, but I know enough to go to every one of those bastards' parole hearings to make sure they don't see daylight except through a window. He was in the hospital for two weeks. He had a broken arm, bruised ribs, a concussion…and…'signs of abuse'-restraint marks and such. I'm sure you can imagine."

God, Reid! Hotch felt nausea rise in his throat and the familiar surge of sympathy for victims and their families washed over him. I don't know if I could get over something like that happening to Jack. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him and his anger rose so quickly that he barely had time to control it.

"Wait-you mean to tell me that less than a year later you abandoned a traumatized kid and his sick mother! What kind of man does that?" Hotch stood as he shouted, but he managed to put his fists in his pockets before they met William's face.

"Wait, Agent Hotchner, please hear me out! I didn't want to leave!" That was enough to keep Hotch interested, and he paced the room as he listened. "Spencer actually recovered better than any of us expected. He had extensive therapy, and his counselor was extremely impressed by his reaction. We were pretty close back then, and we talked a lot." Yeah, so close that you left him! "He told me about what happened, about the things they made him do, about how he felt. We talked about his nightmares. I guess he was able to process it on some higher level or something; I don't know. He's a tough kid. It was Diana that couldn't cope. That week took its toll on her; she was a nervous wreck. Once we got him back, she went into extreme over-protective mode. She barely let him out of her sight for months. She even wanted to home school him for a while. It drove him, and me, crazy. I understood her feelings but she just couldn't move on. She was seriously hindering Spencer's recovery, which is why we started taking her to doctors to begin with. Her paranoia got progressively worse; she started suspecting everyone for all sorts of things. She blamed me for Spencer's kidnapping, and she carried that anger to unreasonable heights. She got to where she didn't even want me to be around him. Life was miserable for all of us. Even after her diagnosis and medication, she was impossible. Finally, almost a year later, she told me to leave."

"She kicked you out?"

"Yeah. We argued for weeks and I tried everything to convince her to let me stay. My presence seemed to agitate her. The only one that could reach her at all was Spencer, which is why I couldn't take him from her. She refused contact with everyone else, and I know she would have died if he hadn't stayed. I wanted to take him, badly. I certainly didn't want to leave my boy in that position, but I couldn't have his mother slowly kill herself either. I needed Spencer to take care of her, and I didn't want him to resent her for making me leave. It made more sense for me to be the bad guy." William lowered his head and rested it on his hands. "I've asked myself if I made the right choice everyday for 17 years."

The weight of William's words settled heavily on Hotch. He felt enormous empathy for him. He knew all to well what it was like to wonder if you made the right decision for your child. The same question kept him up at night. Tears pricked the back of his eyes, but he wouldn't let them fall. He cleared his throat a few times before speaking.

"What did you tell Reid when you left?"

"I let him think I couldn't deal with Diana anymore. I didn't tell him she was forcing me to go; I told him it was my idea. He tried…tried to convince me to stay, quoted statistics on divorced households…" both men smiled slightly at that thought. "I yelled at him. I said that we weren't statistics and I left! Those were the last things I said to my son. What kind of father does that make me?'

"One facing a very difficult decision," Hotch replied honestly. He wasn't sure whom he felt worse for: Reid, for thinking all these years that his father willingly abandoned him, or William, who had to leave his son and wife because of things he couldn't control.

William nodded miserably. "You know, I tried to keep in contact with Spencer for a while. However, if Diana found out she got furious. If I came by the house, she'd yell and threaten to call the police. If I called, she'd hang up on me. I tried to get her to let me talk to Spencer but she wouldn't have it. I even went to Spencer's school to see him but she took me off the approved visitor list. I could have fought her for visitation, but what kind of man takes his mentally ill wife to court? I figured it was better for both of them if I made a clean break. I still helped support her all these years, and between my insurance and her pension, most of her care is paid for. I've followed Spencer's career also. I saw that he joined the FBI, and to be honest it scared me. I thought about calling him then, but I didn't think he'd want to hear from me after all of these years. I figure with his connections, he can look me up when he's ready."

Suddenly William's head flew up, and he looked at Hotch with realization in his expression. "I remember he was abducted a while back! I saw it on the news." When Hotch nodded, he continued. "I called the FBI headquarters and told them who I was. The only thing they said was that they couldn't tell me about an active investigation. I begged, and pleaded, and pulled every string I could, and the best I could get was being allowed to leave a message for the lead agent…" he trailed off and his eyes widened. "That was you, wasn't it?"

Hotch winced internally. He suddenly recalled a message from headquarters about someone claiming to be Reid's father. He'd brushed it off at the time, having other things to worry about. "Yes," he responded guiltily, "it was me. Honestly, I thought it was just another reporter trying to scoop out an exclusive. JJ fought of the press for days, but still a few managed to get through and get some minor details. Things were pretty hectic then, and I just didn't have time to deal with it."

"That's understandable, and I'm not upset with you. I'm glad you were there for Spencer. Actually, an Agent Gideon returned my call a few days later. He didn't tell me much, but he let me know that Spencer was ok and was being cared for. That was true, right? He was ok, is ok? You took good care of him?"

Hotch nodded hesitantly. "He's ok, now, or well, he was before this," he indicated their surroundings. "He did have a rough patch afterwards. Do you know anything about what happened?"

"Nothing other than what was on the news."

"The unsub, suspect, Mr. Hankel had Disassociative Identity Disorder. One of his personalities, Charles, was a religious zealot who wanted to punish people for what he perceived were their 'sins'. He would watch them until they committed some wrongdoing, then he slaughtered them. Tobias, who was the real personality, worked as a tech support operator. He would gain access to their webcams, record the murder, and then post them online as a 'warning'. His third personality was Raphael, an "archangel" who made sure that "God's will" was carried out. He called in the murders to the police just before they happened."

"My god and these are the people-the person-that took Spencer?"

"Yes." He studied the floor near his feet while he spoke. "I sent Reid and JJ out to interview Tobias, who we thought was a witness to some prowling incidents in the area near one of the murders. While they were gone, we received the latest video. The sheriff recognized the dogs that killed the woman as belonging to Tobias. That's when I realized I sent them straight to the killer without backup." Hotch could hardly believe that he was talking so freely about this. Only in therapy had he been so open about that incident. He does have a right to know the truth though. He should know what role I played in this. He met William's eyes, and the understanding and sympathy in them surprised him.

"You couldn't have known," William stated softly.

"I know that, logically. It took us over an hour to get out to the farmhouse. By that time, Hankel was long gone with Reid and JJ had shot three killer dogs in the barn. Hankel deliberately kept trying to throw us off the trail. It took us two days to find him, and he gave us most of the clues!" William looked shocked and pleased at that revelation. It reminded Hotch of the pride he'd felt when he realized Reid had given them the vital piece they needed.

"Charles tried to beat Reid into confessing. We saw some of it on videos. When we got there, he had a broken foot, bruised ribs, a major concussion, and had suffered cardiac arrest."

"What! He died?"

"Yeah. Tobias drugged him with Dilaudid to "help him". The drugs combined with the beatings, the stress, low blood sugar, and dehydration caused him to have a seizure. His heart stopped for almost two- minutes…I…we…we thought he was dead…" Hotch closed his eyes and pushed down the sense memory of the panic and despair he'd felt in those minutes. "But, fortunately, Tobias came in and gave him CPR. The hospital said it was just short of miraculous that he survived."

"God, Spencer!" William shook his head in disbelief. "I don't know how that boy survives the things he does."

"Me neither," Hotch agreed. "He struggled for a while. Dilaudid is a form of heroin, and is highly addictive. The kind Reid was given had been cut with a psychedelic so it was even harder to break. It took some time but he finally got past it. I think he reached his year mark a few months ago. He doesn't like to talk about it much, but he knows how proud we all are of him."

"That's incredible. He's incredible." William smiled at Hotch. "You all are really like a family huh?"

"Absolutely," Hotch replied firmly. As he spoke he realized this was the first time he'd ever admitted it to anyone. He had no doubt that the words were true though.

"I'm glad Spencer has people in his life to care about him. He deserves it."

"He certainly does. He's a remarkable young man. You should be proud of him."

"Oh I am. I always knew he'd do something amazing. He has so much potential." A look of fear and anguish crossed William's face as he gazed around the room. "At least, I hope he still has potential," he stated sadly.

"He does," Hotch commented. "I have full confidence that he'll make a spectacular recovery, just like he does everything else."

William smiled at that. Hotch went over and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, I'll take you to see him for yourself. Maybe you can tell me more about what it's like to raise a child genius."