Two weeks after Reid's release, disregards the last five minutes of season 12. Mentioned in Chapter 4 of 'Fool me Once'.

Spencer Reid hugged a sleeping Michael close, keeping an eye on Henry who ran far head, keeping hold of his birthday hat. "Come on, Uncle Spence! Race ya!"

What had he been thinking? Reid had seen the doubt in J.J.'s eyes, the concern as she patted his shoulder. "It'll be fine," he had assured her when the question had been brought up. It had been his idea to take Henry out for a belated birthday after all. He wouldn't have picked the zoo, of course, but he wasn't about to disappoint the godson he hadn't seen in nearly five months. "You and Will deserve a day together. Go, we'll be fine."

He walked slowly, rocking the baby in his arms as his eyes scanned the crowd. 'I can get you anywhere' This was a bad idea. He was a magnet for trouble and he was going to take the boys down with him. Did Shaw mean anywhere or just within the prison? He must have had contacts on the outside, contacts who could be - anywhere.

No, it wasn't, it was a brilliant idea. Even if an unsub was following them, he'd never attack in a public setting. It took smart people to run drugs through a prison, smart people wouldn't do that. Unless he didn't need to attack. He looked back up at - the crowd. No birthday hat, no neon tie-dye shirt, no godson... "Henry!

He was just here. He ran ahead, leaving the stroller behind. Running with a toddler on his hip was... a bad idea. "Henry!"

He made it to the tiger enclosure, only to find. Nothing. No gangly godson smiling up at him. "Henry?" J.J. was going to kill him. Relax, he's got to be here somewhere. Henry wouldn't go off with strangers, never.

A buzzing sound from his pocket stopped him in his tracks. Of course his phone, it was the 21 century, not the '90s. "Spencer Reid, here."

"Hi, Uncle Spence. Where'd you go?"

Henry? The relief that washed over him was almost palpable. He sank into the park bench, releasing a breath he didn't even realize he'd been holding. "Henry, where are you?"

"At the pizza place."

Of course, he had promised pizza.

Thirty minutes later he had two arms full of godsons and a full stomach of pizza.

"Mom's gonna kill you." The little devil was smiling.

"You really think so? You think your mom's gonna turn into an unsub -" He stopped mid thought, shaking his head to dispel certain thoughts of a far away laundry room. 'Once you cross that line, you can never go back' Cat's voiced echoed in his brain. 'Watch me.' "Very funny, Henry, no churros for you."

"Awww, Uncle Spence."

"And no tigers!"

"What?" The boy looked absolutely indignant. The tigers had been the main attraction, the one animal he'd been talking about non-stop the whole drive over.

"Well that's what you get for making me lose your mom's stroller." He had reported the theft to the park security, but he wasn't going to lose sleep over it. He had the only thing that mattered with him. "Come on, my turn to pick."

"Okay." Head downcast, Henry trailed behind his godfather.

This wouldn't do for an un-birthday party. "Tell you what, kiddo, you stay IN MY SIGHT the rest of the day and we'll see the tigers on our way out. But you have to be good ALL DAY!"

He would be a terrible father, giving into the kid like that. But that was why uncles and godfathers had the best job in the world.

To an outside observer, Spencer Reid looked like any other bored father, but Luke Alvez wasn't just any park guest.

"Hey, man, how's it going?"

"Oh, you know, just fine." Spencer Reid had many useful talents - acting wasn't one of them.

"Just fine, right? So you thought it would be a great idea to...guard the entrance to the petting zoo with your back to the wall." Perfect surveillance position.

"Luke, I meant for you to meet me at the gate, you didn't have to -"

"Relax, man, I got you covered." He set the brand new diaper bag full of baby supplies into the rental stroller.

"So, the boys?"

"Are having a ball in the petting zoo. Perfect place to mask the dirty diaper stench. Seriously, you'd think they sell diapers around here. They'd make a fortune." He picked up the diaper bag and disappeared into the petting zoo. He came back several minutes later with a squirmy but clean baby.

"No!" The Terrible Twos were aptly named.

"Michael!" The baby was testing his last nerve, refusing to put his feet down for the stroller. "How does J.J. do it?"

"He wants to walk, Uncle Spence. I've got him." Henry took Michael's hand and walked him ahead of the adults.

If Henry was trying to score points with him, it was working. "Can we go see the tigers now?"

Yup, definitely trying to score back some points. "Stay in my sight!"

Reid was keenly aware of Alvez's eyes on him, tracking his every move. On any other day, he may have been at least slightly embarrassed by his paranoia, but not today - "Hey, I was thinking. Since you've got a ticket now. Would you -?" No. He couldn't ask. Why not? He was obviously willing. He was here, after all.

"Would I what, Reid? Take over?" Alvez had noted Reid's hyper-vigilance, yet another PTSD symptom.

"It's just - if I leave, then THEY will too." Damn he was starting to sound just as paranoid as his mother.

"Who, Reid, who will leave?"

"I don't know. I just, Shaw told me he could get me anywhere and Lindsey managed to stalk me on cases, this would be easy pickings for them. But they don't want the boys - they want me. I'm a danger to them, I have to -"

"Reid, they're in prison. They can't -"

"Can't get to me?" Reid snorted in disbelief. "Are you really that naive?"

"You're really scared, aren't you?" This wasn't just bogeyman fear. The haunted look in his eyes was real and the fact that he was afraid to take his eyes off the boys for even two seconds, even for surveillance.

"If you really want to go, I'll stay." Reid nodded in gratitude.

"Uncle Spence, you made it!" He let go of Michael's hand for the first time and dragged his godfather over to the tiger enclosure. "Isn't it amazing?"

Reid picked up the baby and handed him off to Alvez. "Yeah, amazing." If Henry noted his godfather's lack of enthusiasm, he made no mention of it. Reid was sure to the eyes of a little boy the massive cat must have been truly impressive, but all Reid saw was the dead look behind the eyes of the predator. With no where to run, the tiger practically glowered at the cheering crowd that had come from all across the world to gawk at him...like happy visitors at a prison.

Predator or prey? Which one are you?

He blinked back the tears, wondering when his life would be whole again.