Near the Holly

Chapter One

I Own Nothing :(

A/N: My first Reid/Hotch story.(: So, basically, Spencer likes Hotch A LOT but is too scared to do anything about it. He has his own problems to deal with, anyway, such as a past tragedy involving a girl named Hollis (hence, the title) and a serial killer (of course!). Meanwhile, the BAU team heads off to Nevada on a case, only to run into Detective Kimberlee Sota, a woman who Spencer grew up with when he was a little kid. She brings up Spencer's previously-mentioned tragedy, and he begins a solo investigation that will eventually get himself and Hotch in some pretty deep trouble with a very devious kidnapper. Enjoy!(:

Spencer Reid was finding it increasingly difficult to pay attention to what Hotch was saying. He was discussing something about the case, and Spencer was sure it was very important, but he was personally much more interested in his own thoughts at the moment.

Such as how Aaron Hotchner could quite possibly be the most attractive man he had ever laid eyes upon.

It was quite a possibility. Spencer found Hotch's appearance rather admirable. Spencer could get lost in his deep brown eyes when he spoke to him, which was what was happening at this exact moment as they were on the BAU private jet.

The more Spencer tried to listen to all that was going on around him, the more he seemed to get lost within the eyes of his superior.

Spencer shook his head and sighed softly. He had to concentrate at the task at hand. This case was important, and there was an unsub to catch before he harmed anyone else. Anyway, why in hell was he spending his time daydreaming of Hotch, of all people? Spencer chewed on his bottom lip in an attempt to control himself from thinking any more about Hotch's eyes or the smell of his shampoo in his hair that wafted into the air as he walked past, or the way he could stare into a person's soul simply by –

ENOUGH!

Spencer mentally screamed at himself to shut up. He needed to focus. Why did Hotch have to be so beautiful? Why did Spencer have to be so attracted to him?

Spencer was – finally – pulled away from his own mind by Morgan calling his name.

"Reid!"

Spencer's head shot up. "Yeah? Sorry, I was just…thinking."

"Obviously." Morgan flashed a grin. "I called your name three times."

"Oh." Spencer's cheeks quickly grew a shade darker. Way to go, genius. He scolded himself. "Sorry."

"What were you thinking about?" JJ jumped into the conversation.

"Uhh, I was just thinking about how it will be nice to be back in Las Vegas." Spencer replied, trying to keep the tone of his voice casual and steady. Ha, that was a good one. He told himself. In reality, Spencer hated cases near Las Vegas. Something always seemed to either go wrong or something personal came up. Spencer liked to have some privacy, thank you very much. He didn't need the team, as much as he loved them like a family, to know absolutely every detail about him and his past.

Hotch raised his eyes from the file in front of him and looked over to the seats on the plane across from him where Morgan, Spencer, JJ, Emily, and Rossi were all seated. "Can we please concentrate?"

"Yes, Sir. Sorry, Sir." JJ, Spencer, and Morgan all mumbled their apologies to Hotch.

He'll never love you back. Just get over this stupid crush and focus! Spencer managed to push his thoughts aside and – finally – listen to what Hotch was saying.

"The unsub is killing once every three days or so, with the last kill happening yesterday. It is crucial that we work quickly to avoid another murder." Hotch looked at his watch. "We should be landing in about twenty minutes. I hope I didn't bore you all too much." Spencer felt his pulse speed up, and his eyes widened. He swore he saw Hotch's glance land on him as he spoke his last sentence. Great, just what Spencer needed. Hotch knew that he had been daydreaming while he had been talking.

Spencer sighed. He hated this case already.

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The team arrived outside the Las Vegas Police Department a short while later and was greeted by a tall woman in her late thirties. She smiled largely at them, and removed her sunglasses, revealing her bright green eyes. She squinted when she saw the bright Vegas sun, but her smile remained just as large.

"Ah, the BAU. We've been expecting you." She extended her arm out to Hotch.

Hotch hook her hand and began to speak. "You must be Detective Sota. These are agents Morgan, Prentiss, Jareau, Rossi, and Doctor Reid."

Detective Sota shook each agent's hand until she reached Spencer. As Hotch spoke his name, she looked into his face, and let out a small gasp. Spencer's mouth was already hanging wide open in complete surprise.

"Well I'll be!" Detective Sota exclaimed. "Spencer Reid, is that really you?"

The agents standing with Detective Sota and Spencer shared an intrigued glance.

Spencer gave a small smile. "Uh, hi Kimmie."

Detective Sota wrinkled her nose. "Oh, no one's called me that in years! Just call me Kimberlee now." She put a hand on her hip. "Well, who would've thought little Spencer would grow up to be in the FBI?"

Spencer smiled again. "Who would've thought you would become a detective?"

Kimberlee shrugged and smiled. "I guess it's been too long since we've seen each other. How long has it been? I haven't seen you since…" She trailed off as she remembered, and the smiles fell off of both of their faces. "Oh. Well, it's, uh, it's been a long time since then."

"Almost twenty-three years." Spencer said softly. Kimberlee chewed on her bottom lip, and an awkward moment passed as the team watched, wondering what was going on.

Kimberlee cleared her throat. "How's your mother doing?"

"She's well." Spencer said quickly. His mother's health was not necessarily a topic he liked to discuss.

"Good." Kimberlee paused and looked Spencer over. "Well, it's nice to know that you're doing okay." Kimberlee seemed to be silently having a secret conversation with Spencer, and Morgan and Emily shared a glance.

It's nice to know that you're doing okay. Spencer thought over Kimberlee's sentence.

In other words, it's nice to know you aren't crazy like your mother.

In other words, it's nice to know you aren't a runaway like your father.

In other words, it's nice to know you aren't dead like –

Spencer cleared his mind as Kimberlee began to speak once again.

"Well, anyway, back to the case." Kimberlee clasped her hands together. "We have a little meeting room set up for your team inside. Follow me, please." Kimberlee led the agents into the building, pausing when she reached a door at the end of the hallway. "Here we are." She opened the door to reveal a room filled with a large table surrounded in chairs, along with a white board and corkboard near the front of the room.

Hotch looked inside the room and nodded. He stepped inside, and the rest of the team followed suit. They all stood near the front of the room, near the large map of the area and the water machine. "Thank you for setting this up for us."

Kimberlee gave him a small smile. "Of course. Anything we can do to help. You're certainly helping us with this case, after all." She ran a hand through her long, curly, auburn hair.

As Kimberlee spoke, Morgan nudged Spencer in his hip.

"Ow!" Spencer pulled away from Morgan with a yelp. He looked around the room and became relieved upon noticing that, surprisingly, no one else on the team had seen his reaction.

Morgan snickered at Spencer, and the young man scowled. "Not funny, Morgan." He whispered. "What was that for?"

"I just wanted to get your attention. I didn't mean for you to go all psycho on me, man." Morgan held up his hands in defense. He titled his head in the direction of Kimberlee, who was talking near the front of the room. "So, tell me about her."

"Kimberlee?" Spencer furrowed his brow, confused.

Morgan rolled his eyes. "No, I'm talking about JJ." He said sarcastically. "Yes, I mean Kimberlee!" He whacked Spencer in the back of the head, and Spencer scowled at him once again. "Or should I say, your past fling?"

Spencer frowned. "What are you getting at, Derek?"

"C'mon kid." Morgan smiled at Spencer. "Don't pretend to be all oblivious about it. You two were a 'thing' growing up, weren't you?"

Spencer's cheeks grew red. Morgan couldn't have been more wrong. If only he knew…

"She's eight years older than me." Spencer pointed out. "And I haven't even seen her since I was, like, twelve years old. She wasn't my girlfriend, thank you very much."

Morgan nodded slightly, but the twinkle in his eyes told Spencer that he didn't believe him. Spencer sighed and faced Kimberlee once again, who had been talking to them all about the case. Great. Spencer thought to himself. Now I don't know anything she's just said about the case. I hate cases in Las Vegas.

He fixed his gaze upon Kimberlee. He hadn't seen her in over twenty-two years, almost twenty-three. He had been only eight years at the time, and she was sixteen. After The Accident, he stopped seeing her around their neighborhood. She was in the hospital for quite some time, and then her parents had her homeschooled to make up for the school time she had missed. And by that time, Spencer was twelve years old and preparing to enter college.

Spencer's eyes traveled along Kimberlee's face. While she still was similar to her sixteen-year-old self, she did look quite a bit different. After all, she had to have quite a bit of plastic surgery after The Accident. Her nose was thinner, and Spencer noticed the faint, thin, white scar that traveled down from Kimberlee's right jaw to –

"Reid!"

Spencer had been so lost in his thoughts that he didn't hear Hotch calling his name. Finally, after Hotch had said his name three times, Spencer snapped out of his own mind and looked over at his superior. The entire team – and Kimberlee – was staring at him. Spencer felt his entire face growing hot, and he attempted to respond to Hotch.

"Sorry, I – I was just, I mean, I was, um – well, I was trying to –" Spencer trailed off and swallowed hard. "Sorry." He managed to squeak out. He swore he heard Morgan snicker next to him.

Hotch's face showed a glimmer of a worried expression, but just as soon as it appeared, it went away. In its place was Hotch's regular, emotionless, serious expression. Normally, Spencer would have admired Hotch's face, but he was too busy trying to stop himself from blushing like a crazed fool.

"I want you to try and find the unsub's comfort zone on the map." He said simply. Spencer nodded and let out his breath.

"Morgan, you and I are going to where Brianna Tyson's body was dumped by the unsub. Dave and Prentiss, head over to the morgue and analyze the bodies. JJ, stay with Reid and wait until he has the comfort zone located before contacting the media. Kimberlee, I'd like you to stay as well and fill Reid in on everything you know about the case. It could help with narrowing down his location."

The team mumbled their approval, and everyone began to disperse. Spencer turned toward the map, but, before he could begin to work, he heard Hotch's voice behind him.

"Reid, could I have a word with you?"

Spencer felt chills run up his back as Hotch spoke his sentence, and he spun around, nervously. Hotch motioned for Spencer to follow him into the hallway. Morgan gave a confused look. "I'll, uh, I'll wait in the car." He finally said, and he left as Hotch and Spencer exited the room.

Away from earshot of the others, Hotch began to speak. "You seemed to have a problem concentrating earlier. Is everything alright?"

Spencer blushed slightly. "Sorry. I got distracted. It won't happen again."

Hotch hesitated before responding. "Is it…because of Kimberlee? Do you have a problem working with her?"

Spencer had to use every ounce of self-control in his body not to let his mouth fall open. No, no, no, no, no! He thought to himself. Hotch thinks she's your ex-girlfriend, too! Spencer made an irritated noise in the back of his throat, which caused Hotch to raise his eyebrow at him. Spencer's heart began to flutter. Why did Hotch have to mess with his emotions?

"I know what you're getting at, and I have no problem with Kimmie – I mean, Kimberlee. Trust me." Spencer crossed his arms in front of himself defensively out of instinct. Hotch seemed to be unsure whether or not he believed him, and Spencer inwardly sighed. It isn't Kimberlee who is upsetting you. The little voice in his head mocked him. Spencer knew that it was the truth.

"Okay. Get back to work." Hotch finally replied. He walked off down the hall, and Spencer watched him disappear before re-entering the work room.

If only Hotch knew the truth…not just about Kimberlee, but about my feeling toward him…

When Spencer entered the room, he found JJ and Kimberlee talking to one another as though they had known each other for years. He shook his head to himself. How were girls able to do that?

"Oh! Hey Spence." JJ spoke up as she noticed Spencer. She pointed towards the door Spencer had just entered from. "What was that about?"

Spencer rolled his eyes. "If by the word 'that' you mean Hotch's speech, then it was about me not being able to concentrate."

JJ and Kimberlee both smiled, and JJ replied to Spencer. "Eh, it happens to the best of us. Don't worry about it."

Oh, trust me, I have much bigger things to worry about, and they don't include my lack of attention. Spencer thought.

He walked up to the map, and picked up a file lying nearby. At least he had something to take his mind off of Hotch, Las Vegas, and his personal life. However, it was rather hard to concentrate when there were two women chatting away next to him as though they were best friends who hadn't seen each other in fifteen years. Spencer sighed. It was going to be a very long day.

TO BE CONTINUED

A/N: Well, this chapter was kinda shorter than I expected, but I hope you all enjoyed it! (: Next chapter things will begin to get interesting, I promise. (: