Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds. No copyright infringement is intended.

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"Checkmate," Reid said as he moved his knight into position to capture his brother's queen.

"Aargh," Evan yelled, "I'm never gonna win at this game." He looked at his older brother with a mixture of annoyance and respect as he began to collect the chess pieces and place them on the board in their proper places.

"Yes you will, you haven't been playing chess that long. You can't expect to win right away."

"Yeah but you're a genius, what are the chances of me ever winning?" He asked the profiler in a disheartened tone. "Don't answer that," he said before his older brother was able to respond. "You're probably the one person in the world who could tell me what the chances are."

"Hey, don't let the fact that I'm a genius influence you. Gideon used to beat me all the time." The words escaped his mouth before he realized it. He had hardly spoken of his mentor since the man left him and the BAU a couple of months ago, with nothing more than a note.

"I wonder why he left. He didn't even say goodbye. Well, he sort of said goodbye to you in the letter." The fourteen year old looked at his brother's face where he so often found the answers he was seeking. This time, however, the answer could not be found in a book or a statistics chart and Spencer could not articulate an easy explanation.

"I think," his hands fiddled nervously with the black queen, "After his friend, Sarah, got killed by an unsub he felt he'd let get away, he blamed himself. He became disillusioned with a job that had become his whole life. Do you understand?" Reid hoped fervently that his brother did understand because he wasn't sure he understood himself.

"Yeah, I guess so. Sort of like you felt guilty over Randall Garner." Reid nodded and the boy carried on. "Dad gets locked up in prison and now Gideon's gone. Dad was, well, Dad and Gideon was like a father figure to both of us. I got Mom but what are you gonna do?" He looked at his brother, his chocolate brown eyes full of concern.

Reid looked for a few moments at the chess piece still in his hand, and then looked again at the boy. "I was really angry at first. Gideon was my mentor, my role model, he was practically like a father to me. I felt abandoned and betrayed, just like when Dad left when I was ten. Then Emily told me to reread the letter. I reminded her I have an eidetic memory, the letter was ingrained in my brain, why would I need to reread it. But I did read it again and although I already knew what the words were, it seemed to sink in more. Maybe it was looking at his handwriting. Being an analyst, I was able to see his mood in the way he wrote. It was a big help to me."

Evan looked surprised, "What did it say that you didn't already know from reading it the first time," his brother queried?

"Some of the words made me remember things, sometimes just a look or a pat on the back. I remembered how he looked at me when I gave you the chess set for your birthday. He nodded at me and smiled as if to say he'd passed on all he could to me, now it was my turn."

"You mean sort of like a teacher, once you finish one grade they pass you on to the next," Evan asked.

"Yeah something like that," Reid nodded. "We learned so much about and from each other over a chessboard and he realized when I gave you a chess set that the lesson had been learned and the torch had been passed. I also noticed in the letter, the way he wrote my name. He made the S really big and dark. One usually does that with the first letter of their last name. It stands for family and pride. He considered me family, he was proud of me and he knows I'll be okay."

"What about the new guy, do you like him?"

"Well, I don't know David Rossi very well yet. I don't dislike him. I've read all the books he wrote. He's got a lot of experience. I'm sure there's a lot I can learn from him." The young agent hoped he'd answered his brother's question.

"But he's no Gideon, huh."

"Nobody is," Reid said quietly. He then nudged Evan, saying, "Are you going to make a move or just sit there like a bump on a log."

"Yeah, okay, okay, I'm going," the teen stated as he moved his pawn forward, beginning yet another game.

Reid countered, moving his own pawn when Evan remarked, "I was thinking about something last night."

"Let me guess, Bethany," Reid laughed.

"No, this is serious." The boy was not smiling and Reid sensed he had something weighing heavily on his mind.

"Okay, what is it; you know you can talk to me about anything, don't you." Reid looked at Evan, the game momentarily forgotten as he tried to get his brother to tell him what was on his mind.

"Okay, it's like this," the boy sighed heavily, "I was thinking about Dad. I want to go see him." Spencer sat still for a moment, he had not expected this. He looked at Evan who appeared almost afraid of how his brother would respond.

"You want to go to Leavenworth to see Dad?"

"Yeah, can you take me sometime?" The boy looked like he had asked nothing more than to be taken to the mall or the library.

"Evan, going to Leavenworth is not an easy thing. Firstly, it's a fair ways away, we'd have to fly. Secondly, a prison is not really the proper place for a kid, and don't tell me you're not a kid anymore. I know you're fourteen but that place is full of the worst our society has to offer and I really don't want to see you subjected to that. Thirdly, things haven't been easy for Dad in there and I don't know if he'd like you to see him that way."

"What way," Evan said suspiciously, "What's wrong with Dad?"

The key turned in the lock and Allie burst into the room. "Oh good, I'm so glad you're home. Have I got the greatest news for you!"