Quantico, Virginia

"Someone owed David Rossi a favor and they fervently wish that they have paid their dues. I'm afraid that I can't say anymore."

Hotch stared at his computer screen, poring over information. It was the details of a case that Rossi had worked during the mid-eighties. It was proving to be particularly macabre, involving a group of deviants who resorted to cannibalism. The last victim had been a single mother who had been slaughtered only a few feet from her young son. Hotch wondered briefly if it was a blessing that the boy had survived, after having witnessed his mother's horrific death. Seven unsubs had been killed, three had escaped and fallen off the radar. He looked at the clock, any minute the others would start arriving. He saved it and closed it, leaving the office to wait for his team.

Penelope and Emily laughed. The sound of it reached Stephanie's ears as she left the elevator. She quickened her pace as she walked towards them. Derek continued speaking, "And you know, like the rest of them he didn't know how it got there."

"Good morning, everyone," Stephanie said, cheerfully. She held a blue binder against her chest with her arms wrapped around it. Derek made a mental note of this.

The laughter faded. A moment of awkward silence followed. Penelope glanced at her nonexistant watch. "I have to go to my office. Strauss wants me to pull information on the Leviston case." She drifted away. Stephanie sighed and looked at the floor.

"Yeah, I have to go too. Hotch called me last night, said he wanted to speak with me first thing. I have no idea what its about, " Emily told them, before leaving too.

"What's wrong, mama," Derek asked, focusing his attention on Stephanie.

"I've been part of this team for over six months and they still do that."

He shrugged. "It's going to take longer than usual for them to warm up to you."

She rolled her eyes. "They're not going to warm up to me. Especially Garcia. Because I'm not Dr. Spencer Reid."

"You gotta understand that's a tough act to follow."

"Apparently. Derek, I'm not sure I want to be here."

"I'm not even going to touch that one. You will find that if all you do is run away, you never actually get anywhere."

She rolled her eyes again. "Wow, Morgan that was really lame."

"Say, how about when we are done here, lets go to TCBY. As coworkers. I'll see if the girls want to come with," he suggested.

She gave him a skeptical look. "Is that really a good idea?"

"Things can't be worse than they already are." A pause. "Can I give you some advice?"

"I guess."

"Lighten up a little. You're worse than Hotch sometimes. And another thing: Know thy enemy." Stephanie said nothing for a moment and Derek found himself disapointed that she didn't start name the quotee as well as various obscure facts on that person. That was something Spencer would have done, he realized. He smiled wistfully. Stephanie returned it, apparently believing it was aimed at her.

"But what do you mean?"

"If you take the time to find out who Reid is, maybe you will understand why the others act the way they do. But don't tell any of them about it. Trust me, it'll only make things worse."

Las Vegas, Nevada

"Now I have studied philosophy, medicine and the law, and unfortunately, theology, wearily sweating, yet I stand now, poor fool, no wiser than I was before; I am called Master, even Doctor, and for these last ten years have led my students by the nose-up, down, crosswise and crooked. Now I see that we know nothing finally," Diana Reid read in a soft slow voice.

Dr. Jennsen stood in the door way. "I'm sorry Ms. Reid but we have to be getting back now. We're already late and you know how Marcus gets."

"Yes, I know but I just started reading Faust to him." Despite her protest she put the book to the side and got to her feet. She leaned over the bed and kissed her son's forehead.

Jennsen fidgeted impatiently. "We can come back on Friday."

"That sounds nice," Diana said, smiling at Jennsen's nervousness. "See you in a few days, Spencer."

Georgia waited in the hallway, watching Ms. Reid and her doctor leave. She returned to the room to check on her patient. There had been little change in the past few hours but she knew better than to fall into complacency. Aaron Hotchner would likely have her head and her career if she neglected her charge. She turned off the light and headed into the den. She carried on with various tasks, keeping an ear tuned to that room.