Spencer Reid walked into the bullpen of the BAU and silently walked over to the stairs that led to the upper level mezzanine and headed towards the office of his boss, Aaron "Hotch" Hotchner. He knocked twice and entered the room. He looked behind him at the bullpen just in time to see the reason for his decision enter the room and he closed the office door. Reid took a breath and approached his boss, who was silently observing him. Reaching into his messenger bag, he pulled out an envelope and looked at Aaron. With deliberate eye contact he handed the envelope to him in silence. With a curious look, he opened the envelope and pulled out the two-page resignation letter that Spencer had typed. Hotch read the first two sentences before he looked up at Reid in shock.

"You're leaving the BAU," Hotch asked, incredulous.

"Yes, Hotch, I am. And don't try to deny my request either because I will go over your head to get it approved," Reid answered, resigned.

"But why, Reid? You love this job," Hotch inquired.

"I just think it's time for me to move on. I accepted one of the transfer positions but I have it blocked so no one not even Garcia can get my new location. Honestly this is better for me anyway. Yesterday was my last day. All my paperwork is done. As soon as I clear my desk I am gone," Reid stated, never breaking eye contact.

"I will miss working with you Reid. I wish you the best of luck," Hotch said, and shaking Reid's hand they shared a silent look before Spencer turned and left the office.

After quickly clearing his desk of all personal items and placing them in a box, he grabbed the box and left the bullpen. He knew that if he didn't leave he would forever have mixed feelings and eventually he would end up doing something that would hurt the team. He quietly pressed the button for the main floor and stepped back to wait for its arrival. A low ding sounded and the doors opened to reveal the person who gave him the reason for his decision. A shocked look crossed the other person's face when they saw Reid standing there, a box in his hands.

"Reid?"

"Just get out of the elevator so I can leave. You want answers wait until Hotch does the daily briefing," Reid snapped and the two switched places.

Spencer pushed the button for the ground floor and took his chance to set the box down, so he could wipe away the few tears that had escaped. As soon as he exited the elevator he walked over to the doorway that led to the garage and swiped his badge just one last time to leave. He pushed the box into the back seat of his beat-up Nissan and closed the door before getting in the driver's seat and leaving the parking garage. He knew the only way to move on was to leave the past behind him and start over somewhere new. He would be forever grateful to his former boss for getting him the transfer position so quickly as well as the block on his file for access to his new location.

Spencer Reid was never going to step foot in the BAU again. And they only had one person to blame. And their name is Derek Morgan.

Sixteen years later…

Spencer Reid was woken up by the sound of his cell phone ringing. As he got up, he answered his phone and grabbed his work uniform.

"Reid," he said as he pulled on his work shirt.

"We got another body, Chief," a female voice said on the other end of the line.

"I'm on my way. Text me the location," Spencer said with a sigh.

After receiving an affirmative reply, he hung up the phone and made his way to the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee. Spencer knew that now they had a twelfth body that he needed to call in reinforcements for help, but he didn't want to have to face the team he left behind. However, he knew that if he was going to have any chance to solve this case that he had no other choice. Putting the cup to his lips he quietly made his way down the hallway to his son's room and opened the door. To his surprise he found the lights on and his sixteen-year-old sitting at his desk working on the last of his homework.

"This is a surprise," Spencer said as he entered the room.

"I figured since I was awake early that I would finish my homework before I leave for school today," the boy answered.

"Damien, I might have to call in my old team for assistance with this case," Spencer stated with a sigh.

Damien spun around in his chair and stared at his father in shock. Damien knew the potential problems that would cause. Especially since his other father had no idea he existed. And if anyone was to ask him if he cared about not knowing his other parent he would always answer with the same response, "He didn't care about hurting my dad so I don't care to know him."

"Dad do you have to," Damien asked quietly.

"I don't want to but I have no choice. I just got a call about another body. This killer is only escalating. I just wanted to warn you in case you were to run into one of them," Spencer replied.

"Okay. Be careful at work dad. And I will be at the station after school as usual," Damien said and Spencer smiled slightly.

"Okay. I will see you after school. I am heading out now," Spencer said and headed out the door.

Spencer climbed in the front seat of his cruiser and pulling out of his driveway he took a glance at the location listed in the text message he had received. The moment he saw the location he let out a sigh and turned his car in the direction of the High School. It looked like he was about to have a very long day and (unknown to him) one filled with tears. As soon as he arrived he made his way over to his deputy and the coroner who were examining the body of one of the local high school girls.

"Who is it," Spencer asked as he crouched down to get a look at the young woman's face.

"Samantha Jackson, 15. Her parents called last night in a panic because they couldn't reach her and when her phone was finally answered the person who answered said they found the phone on their front porch," the deputy responded.

"Who found the body, Michelle," Reid inquired as he straightened up.

"The football coach found her. He thought she was asleep until he got close enough to see that her shirt was covered in blood and her eyes were wide open. The moment he saw the blood he called the station," Michelle replied as he turned to face her.

"We will have to close down the school for the next few days. This whole place is a crime scene and it will stay that way until we catch whoever is doing this," Spencer decided and Michelle nodded as she made her way to the front of the school to lock down the whole building.

Spencer sighed and pulling out his phone he called his son. Spencer knew that Damien would be disappointed that school was being shut down but he also knew that Damien understood the importance of preserving a crime scene. By the time Spencer had been able to reach Damien, Spencer had already seen him arrive with one of his friends. Spencer made his way over to the car that Damien was getting out of and stopped him as he went to grab his bag.

"Damien, you and your friend have to go home," Spencer said reluctantly.

"Why," Damien asked.

But before Spencer could answer Damien saw the tape that was blocking off the football field and looked at his father in horror. Spencer knew that he was about to see his son's infamous temper and therefore led him away from the car. Spencer wrapped his arm around Damien's shoulders and led him to a bench near the back entrance to the school. They sat down and Damien turned to look at his father.

"Who," Damien whispered as he tried to hold in the pain.

"Samantha Jackson," Spencer replied and watched as his son's eyes widened in disbelief.

"No that's not possible. You're lying! I just saw her last night when I walked her to the bus station. Please tell me you're lying," Damien cried as the words sank in.

"I wish I could Damien," Spencer said quietly as he watched tears fill his son's eyes and run down his face.

"Why did it have to be her? We just started dating. We were going to the Sunset Drive-in on Friday after the game. Why did this have to happen to her and anyone else? Please catch this guy dad," Damien sobbed as he buried his face in his father's shoulder.

"I will, Damien. I promise," Spencer promised his heart breaking for his son's pain.

Half an hour later Damien was laying on the couch in his father's office fast asleep as Spencer typed up the report for the file he had to send to the BAU. With a deep sigh Spencer printed off the report and added it to the file on his desk before he got to his feet. He looked at his son and a small smile crossed his face. Picking up the file he made his way towards the fax machine and placed the file next to it. With a quick glance at the clock, Reid pulled out his phone and made a quick call to someone he hadn't spoken to in almost a year.

"Hotchner," the man on the other end of the line said, in lieu of a greeting.

"Hotch," Spencer said a smile curving his lips.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

Aaron Hotchner was sitting at his desk when his phone began to vibrate. Thanking whatever deity that was in existence for the reprieve, he answered the call without bothering to check the screen. He placed the phone to his ear and answered with his usual response.

"Hotchner."

"Hotch," the man on the other end said.

"Spencer, how have you been," Aaron asked a smile crossing his face.

"I have been good. Damien keeps asking when you are going to come and see him," Spencer answered.

"Tell him the next time I get my AL that I will come and visit him. But I know that's not the reason you called me. What's going on," Hotch stated as realization of the time hit him.

"I have a serial killer loose here and I can't get a decent profile on the UnSub. We just got hit with our thirteenth victim this morning and that is in the past two weeks. I need help and if it means facing Derek after all these years then I have no choice. I plan to send the case file to your fax machine in your office. Will you take the case?" Spencer inquired and Hotch could hear the desperation in his voice.

"Send me the file and I will brief the team on the jet. We will be there as soon as possible."

"Thanks, Hotch. I will see you soon."

"Bye Spencer."

"Bye Hotch."

Aaron hung up and waited for his fax machine to start running before he got to his feet and headed over to it. He knew for Spencer to risk Derek finding out about Damien after sixteen years that something was extremely wrong. And Aaron truly hoped that nothing about this case was going to affect Damien in any way. After picking up the pile of papers from the fax machine Aaron placed them in a manila folder before picking up six empty folders and his phone. He made his way to the copy machine and proceeded to make the necessary copies. While waiting for the copy machine to finish he called his team and told them to meet at the airstrip so they could be briefed on the jet.

As the last copy was finished, Aaron sent a prayer up to whatever entity existed that he hoped Spencer knew what he was doing. Because Aaron knew once Derek had him in his sights it was going to be hard to ignore everything that had happened between them sixteen years prior.

As the jet took off from the airstrip, Hotch passed out the casefiles to each of his team members and gave them a few moments before he began the briefing. He knew they would probably recognize the signature at the end of each report but he also hoped they wouldn't. After they had finished looking at the file Hotch began to speak.

"The Chief of the Aurora Police Department contacted me this morning with a request for help. The UnSub targets young women between the ages of 15 and 20 with blue eyes and brown hair. So far each of the victims have been raped and stabbed at least twenty times. The unsub then dumps the bodies in public places, like the high school football field. Now the most recent victim was found by the high school football coach at four-thirty this morning. Her name is Samantha Jackson. Apparently, her parents reported her missing to the police last night when she didn't return home. Ms. Jackson is the thirteenth victim in two weeks. According to the chief he's desperate to catch this unsub. So, the sooner we can get a profile the sooner we can catch this unsub."

The rest of the team nodded in affirmation and they spread out to look over the casefiles more in depth. Hotch took a deep breath and looked around as he pulled out his phone. As he looked around his eyes landed on Derek Morgan who was frowning down at the file in his hand as he flipped between a couple of pages. It was then that Hotch realized he was looking at the signatures on the reports and he found himself hoping that Morgan didn't ask questions. Aaron looked away and sent a text to Spencer.

{Hey, we are on our way. The jet will land at 9:45. Are you going to meet us or are you sending Tucker? ~H

Tucker will pick you guys up. I have Damien here at the station with me. The recent victim was dating him. ~S

Damn! How is he holding up? ~H

He's asleep right now. But I need to be here in case he wakes up from a nightmare. How do you think the reactions will turn out? ~S

Don't know about the others, but we both know that Morgan's reaction will be bigger than a bomb going off. ~H

Don't I know it. See you when you guys get to the station. Tucker will come and get me from my office once he settles you guys into the conference room. And thanks for keeping my secret Hotch. ~S

Not a problem. See you in an hour. ~H}

After receiving an affirmative response Hotch put his phone back in his pocket and opened the file in front of him to the picture of Samantha Jackson. He could only imagine the pain Damien was going through. And that was one thing he would never wish on anyone.

Half an hour after Spencer exchanged text messages with Hotch, he got to his feet and made his way into the bullpen where he knew Tucker would be. Looking around the room, he caught sight of Tucker over by his wife's desk and made his way over to them. As he neared them, Tucker looked up and made eye contact with him.

"Tucker, I need you to go and pick up the BAU team from the airstrip. They land in twenty minutes," Spencer said.

"Yes sir. Do you want me to get you from your office once they are settled in the conference room?"

"Yes. I will see you when you get back."

Tucker nodded and with a quick kiss to his wife's lips, he headed out the door to the SUV parked in the front of the station. Spencer shot a glance at another officer and he nodded as well before heading to the second SUV. Spencer watched the SUV's leave the parking lot and made his way back to his office in silent contemplation. He knew he was risking a whole lot of heartache and pain, since his ex was still with the BAU and would be with the team that would help solve the case. Yet he knew that it would have happened eventually. He had only hoped that it would be in a different way than what was happening. Closing the door to his office he looked over at his sleeping son and smiled as he moved towards the couch.

Sitting down on the edge of the couch, Spencer reached out a hand and brushed his fingers through the thick, dark curls of hair on his son's head. Damien shifted and opened his eyes as he began to sit up. He looked at his dad and moved closer to him as his eyes began to fill with tears. Spencer wrapped his arms around his son and held him tightly as he cried. After ten minutes, his tears subsided and Spencer lifted his head to wipe away the tears on his face. Spencer opened his mouth to say something when there was a knock on the door and Tucker entered the room.

"They're in the conference room, chief. Are you ready," he asked as Spencer got to his feet.

"As ready as I will ever be. I just need a minute and then I will head over there," Spencer said as he looked back at his son.

"Okay, chief. Good luck."

"Thanks Tucker."

The door closed behind him and Spencer looked his son over before holding his hand out. Damien got to his feet and allowed his father to pull him into a bone crushing hug. Damien extracted himself from the hug and went to sit down when his father spoke.

"I want you to come in the conference room with me."

Dark brown eyes snapped up to meet Hazel and Damien stared at his father in shock. It wasn't until Spencer opened his office door and gestured for him to follow that Damien realized that his father was being serious. He walked out the door and waited for his father to close the door before he began walking. As they neared the conference room Damien noticed that the door was open and quietly stepped behind his father so he could enter first. He entered the room and stayed by the door and watched as everyone turned to look at him and his father. Out of the seven people in the room only two people smiled at him. Of the other five, four gasped and the other said, "Spencer?"

"Hi guys."

Derek Morgan was talking with Emily Prentiss when out of the corner of his eyes he saw two people walk into the conference room. As the rest of the team turned to look at the newcomers, Derek found himself only able to utter one word.

"Spencer?"

"Hi guys," Spencer said as he looked around the room.

Derek noticed that Spencer only spared him a single glance before looking over at both JJ and Hotch, with a genuine smile on his face. While Derek had the chance, he looked over the boy that was standing by the door and quickly profiled him. The first thing Derek noticed was that the boy was nervous and seemed to be afraid of the people in the room. He also kept his eyes on Spencer and made sure that he stayed by the door as if he would need to escape from something. It wasn't until Hotch spoke that he turned away from profiling the teen.

"I know that a few of you have a lot of questions, but I ask that you hold off until after the case is finished. We need to remain professional no matter what is going on. Now Chief Reid is going to explain everything that they know so far and it should help us narrow down the profile. After that I am going to send two of you to the medical examiner's office and three of you to the last crime scene. The rest of you will stay here and help with the profile. Understood?"

A chorus of "yes" sounded from everyone in the room and Hotch turned his attention to Reid as he sat down.

"Two weeks ago, I got a call to come out to the construction site of a new store with a report of an unconscious woman in nothing but her underwear laying near a stack of wooden boards. Soon after I got another call about the same woman but this one was an update of the fact that she wasn't unconscious but in fact dead. Three days later I got called out to a double homicide and found that like the previous victim the women were brunette with long wavy hair. They had blue eyes and were between the ages of 15 and 20. The pattern of course continued with them being dumped in open places but out of all thirteen victims only five of them were dumped with no clothing.

"This morning however the killer deviated from the pattern as you can see from the information in the files. The previous twelve victims were cleaned of all blood and whatever clothing they did have on was neat and in one piece."

At this Spencer looked back at the kid by the door and gestured for him to leave the room. The kid nodded and practically fled the room as if someone would try to keep him there.

"Samantha Jackson's clothing was torn and bloody as if she had fought with her attacker. And as with the other victims, she had been raped shortly before she was killed. I have not been able to get a profile on this guy and it has made me desperate. That is why I called you guys in. I need help and these families need closure."

"The mighty genius is unable to get a profile on an unsub? No way! I don't believe you," Prentiss said a joking smile on her face.

"Good to see you still have a sense of humor Prentiss," Reid smiled and gestured for Hotch to take the floor.

"Okay as I said I am splitting you guys up. Rossi and JJ go to the Medical examiner's office and see what else they can tell you. Prentiss and Agent Ridge go to the dump sites and profile them. See what you can gather about the unsub's disposal sites. I want a preliminary profile at least by four this afternoon. Garcia, Morgan, and I will stay here and work out a geographical profile. Let's get started," Hotch spoke and everyone went to their respective locations as ordered.

"Chief?" Morgan said in disbelief.

"Yes, I was promoted about seven years ago. It gives me the time off I need in order to take care of my son. Now if you will excuse me I should go check on him," Spencer said and made his way back to his office.

As Spencer expected, Damien was curled up on the couch with his old Chicago Bears blanket wrapped around him and tears streaming down his face. Spencer walked over and sat down beside him before he pulled him into his arms. Spencer knew from experience that the loss of a loved one was hard to bear and knew that the tears falling from his son's eyes were only the calm before the storm. Spencer heard a quiet knock on the door and looked over to see Hotch standing there with a questioning look in his eyes.

Spencer nodded and with that Hotch made his way into the small office and over to his young godson. Quietly taking the seat on the other side of the teen, Hotch wasn't surprised when Damien turned and threw himself into his arms. He wrapped his arms around the boy and looked up at Spencer a sad look deep within his eyes. The three men sat there for about an hour before Tucker came and knocked on the door. Spencer looked towards the door and getting to his feet he saw a regretful look on his SIC's face.

"We have another one chief," Tucker said his voice low.

"Damn it," Spencer swore as he looked back into his office.

Hotch upon seeing the look on Spencer's face disentangled himself from his godson's arms and laid the now sleeping teen on the couch. Quickly approaching the two men Aaron could tell by the look of pain and despair on their faces that they now had a fourteenth victim. They quickly made their way to the conference room to collect Morgan and the four of them headed to the new scene. Spencer pulled the car up to the curb and cut the engine before he got out and slammed the door behind him. He made his way over to the other officers under his command with Hotch, Morgan and Tucker following behind him. The three men watched as Spencer ducked under the police tape and approached the body of the young woman. The three had barely made it to the tape when Spencer made his way over to them and stopped in front of Tucker.

"It's two different victims. The first is Shannon Thomas. She went missing a week ago. Her parents wanted me to inform them if she was found. Tucker, you know how to handle this type of thing. Can you inform her parents for me?"

"No problem chief, I will see you back at the station."

"Thanks Tucker."

"Before you go the second victim is Sheryl Mason. She fits the victimology and was dumped recently. However, Shannon Thomas was dumped probably a day or two after she was reported missing. Her body shows the beginning signs of decomposition. Therefore, Shannon Thomas' case will stay separate from our current case. We focus on finding our current unsub and then we can put both cases to rest.

Tucker you can go inform the Thomas family now. All though I would have preferred better news for them," Reid said and looked over his shoulder where they could just make out the body of one of the two victims.

~SR&DM~

For those who are following my other stories please know that they are not abandoned. I am currently working on new chapters for them. However due to writers block for that particular category it will be a while. Please bear with me and I will have a new chapter up for them as soon as possible.