Second Chance

"......It seems as though I have been in a bad mood a lot lately. There's NO WAY that I can update my regular story's right now...Pleaz R&R! Oh, takes place just after Retaliation."

Spencer Reid sat down next to Aaron Hotchner. Ever since the death of his late wife, things had changed for the team. They hadn't been out bar-hopping after cases, they hadn't been as talkative, and there hadn't been as much laughter. And now with Reid being shot, Prentiss being in the car accident caused by the UnSub, and the rough case involving Rossi's hometown, the BAU team had become even more on-edge. On top of that all, Strauss had told the team that two of them had to attend a meeting in which every unit of the BAU had to be represented. Strauss had told Hotch he had to come because he was the leader of the team, and suggested that he brought Morgan along. Unfortunately, Morgan had to leave Quantico because his youngest sister had gotten sick. Once Reid had heard about the opening, he had volunteered to go so the rest of the team could have their Saturday night free.

"Damn it, I thought Strauss was never going to shut up." Hotch mumbled under his breath.

"Who here even cares about what the pilots of the jets want? We all know they aren't going to quit! Their jobs pay better than ours!" Andy exclaimed next to Reid.

"Damn straight." another guy said.

"What do you think, Hotch?" Andy asked. Hotch glanced briefly at Reid, whose eyes were fixed on his glass. His young subordinate hadn't seemed himself all night, but he wasn't going to press the matter; after all that had happened to their team, no one had been themselves. Just before Hotch was about to answer, they guy from 5th floor accounting rushed up behind them.

"What is it?" Andy asked.

"It's Strauss; she's passing out pink slips!" he yelled. "I can't get fired; I need this job! My family needs this job!"

"Well, I heard that she was only giving them out to single fellas'." Andy mumbled. "Er, single meaning not married and childless."

"Which leaves Andy, that guy whose name no one knows from accounting, myself, Prentiss-" 3rd floor taxing guy started, but Andy cut him off.

"Nah, she's just laying off people who came tonight." he said.

"Fine,fine. Then the only other people who she might give the old slip-a-roo to would be Jamie Griffith and.....Reid." he ended quickly.

"How many are leaving?" Hotch asked, using the term leaving loosely.

"Three." Andy answered.

"Well, who do you think's leaving?" a Scottish fellow from the 2nd floor BAU team asked.

"5th floor accounting guy...." Andy started.

"3rd floor taxing guy....." the Scottish man added.

"And me." Reid said as he walked away.

"No, he wouldn't get rid of the kid; he's too smart! You know, they had to wrestle him away from the CSI units. He's too valuable to the unit." Andy gossiped with Samuel, the Scottish agent.

"I don't know; it seems like she's had something out against Hotchner's team...." Samuel remarked.

"Hmm." Hotch huffed. "If she has something against my team, it's my fault."

"She needs to get off her high-horse and go fu-" Samuel started, but Andy cut him off.

"She's coming this way!"Andy hissed.

"Excuse me, but have any of you seen Dr. Reid?" Strauss asked.

"I believe he saw you coming and ran to the bathroom crying." Samuel joked.

"Ha. Very funny, Samuel. Just keep in mind that I have one more pink slip that doesn't have a name on it." she warned. Samuel rolled his eyes as she walked away.

"Empty threats." he laughed.....

Half-way through the night, Hotch decided to hide out in the bathroom for a few minutes. But as he shut the door after his entrance, he heard a silent sobbing noise. "Hey, is someone in here?" he asked. The only response he got was more crying noises. Hotch went through each stall individually to see which one was occupied. Finally, he found the last stall was occupied- but the door was opened. He pushed it to, and found a heart-breaking sight. His youngest colleague was gripping hard on his leg, biting his tongue. "Mmm....." he cried as he it down on his lip, trying not to scream.

"Reid, what's wrong?" Hotch asked, concern seeping through his words. Suddenly, Reid rolled down on his side, gasping out. "Reid!" Hotch yelled as he dropped down next to Reid. "Is it your leg again?' Reid just barely nodded. Trying to get as much information about the pain as possible, Hotch kept asking questions. "Is it a sharp pain?" A nod. " Lower or upper leg?" A head shake. "Both?" Another nod. "Do you want some aspirin?" A panicked look. "I'll take that as a no." Hotch mumbled. Seeing the helpless look on Reid's face, Hotch decided it was time to intervene- no matter what Reid said. "You trust me, right?" Hotch asked.

"With my life." Reid shot out quickly.

"Good. Now, lean your back up against the wall and prop your leg up on my lap." Hotch instructed; Reid obediently did so. "I'm going to have to roll your pant leg up a bit. I need to see if you hurt it anymore." Reid nodded, so Hotch proceeded. He rolled up his pant leg to about his mid-thigh, and immediately saw the problem. "Damn it." he muttered.

"What is it?" Reid gasped out.

"It's a large bruise covering your whole thigh. I'm assuming it's from the scar you got in surgery." Hotch concluded. Reid nodded, letting his back fall to the floor again. "Please, at least take an aspirin."

"No, Hotch." Reid answered quickly.

"Spencer, I know that you don't want to take any drugs, but it really will help. Strauss is looking for you to pass out a pink slip, and if she finds you like this? I can't help you. Please, take it for the sake of your job. I honestly doubt you'll get addicted to it." Hotch tried to persuade.

"Fine." Reid grumbled as he took the pill. He popped it in his mouth and dry-swallowed.

"I'm sorry Reid, I just don't want to see my best agent go." Hotch said.

"Yeah, I know." Reid replied, sounding out of breath as he leaned against the wall.

"Do you want me to stay?" Hotch asked. Reid shook his head no.

"I want to be alone for a few minutes, if that's alright."

"Of course." Hotch gave Reid one last meaningful glance, and he left him alone after that.....

"Agent Hotchner, I don't presume you've seen Dr. Reid?" Strauss asked.

"I haven't, actually. " Hotch answered shortly.

"Oh, that's a shame. I wanted to talk to him about something." she said curtly.

"Are you going to fire him?" Hotch asked.

"Why, this is none of your business, Agent Hot-" Strauss started.

"No, it is my business. Dr. Reid is a damn good agent, and he doesn't deserve to be fired. He is the smartest person in any given room, he has more degrees than I ever had in cars, and he is good at the job. He's done nothing wrong, and firing him would be an absurd idea. There are more than a few other agencies prying to get their hands on him, and if word gets out that you're even considering to fire him, they're going to snatch him up before you can blink." Hotch said.

"I do not appreciate that tone of voice, Agent Hotchner." Strauss shot back.

"Why are you firing people? Our BAU building was told we weren't being affected by the lay-offs because of our high success rates. Now, this is either a personal agenda, or someone's been laying." Hotch cut in sharply.

"What you are implying is absurd! " Strauss replied coldly.

"Now, either I am going to talk to your boss about some issues you've been having about keeping business and pleasure separate, or I will be talking to them about some fables I've been hearing from our head chief in command. Either way, I am sure that they will not like hearing another story in which Section Chief Agent Erin Strauss did not bid by the rules of the higher-ups, will they?" Hotch asked.

"Give this to your agent. Oh, and while you're at it, give this to Samuel." Strauss said, venom in her words. "I should have suspected that you were the one reporting me." she mumbled. Hotch took the papers from her, and watched as Strauss walk her vicious walk. He glanced at the papers he was handed; they seemed to be paychecks. He noticed that the seal had not been sealed, and his curiosity got them best of him. He slid the thin sheet of paper out of Reid's envelope. He smiled as he read it to himself. He read Samuel's only to find a the same paper, just with smaller numbers. Strauss had been playing them the whole time- keeping everyone on their heels. She was never going to fire anyone to begin with! He walked over to Samuel, and dropped down the paper.

"What's this?" he frowned.

"Open it." Hotch said as he walked away. In the faint back round, he could hear him chanting 'raise' with his friends. He smiled as he walked out of the crammed hall where the meeting was taking place- a look of triumph on his face.

Later that night, Hotch would think over his decision of leaving Reid in the bathroom alone with a bottle of aspirin and bad news on his mind, but when he would see the spring in his step the next morning as he got his check, he would just smile and say thank you. Because in the end, he would know things were improving- slowly, but steadily. And even later in that following day, when the team would be laughing in their newest hang-out, he would just smile again, knowing that in the end, everything had turned out as it was always destined to be...