Title: Salutarem Via

Summary: After an international mission comes into light, Reid has to face the fact that his team will now need to know one of his biggest secrets: his life way from the BAU.

A/N: Hello, friends! I have not been away for very long, but I just could not get this story out of my mind…so I decided to write it. I will not be publishing in a scheduled manner, but I will try to put them up as soon as I am satisfied (aiming for a chapter a week but it might become a chapter every other week).

If you want to know more about the backstory for what I call the Lancaster Universe of Criminal Minds, you can either PM with questions or read Hidden Away. You can also leave questions or comments in a review. Thanks for taking the time to read.

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds or any of its characters. I do however own the Lancasters and their families, the team for the mission, and the unsubs of the case. They are all fictional characters and are not meant to imitate anyone in real life. If they have the same names, it is mere coincidence. If I offend anyone, I apologize in advance.

Prologue

Everyone gathered their things organizing themselves to leave behind their office work entirely ready to go back home to their families. The laughter grew as the team spoke about their home lives…

"Yep, just the other day Henry said he didn't want to go to school, and when Will asked him why he wouldn't say. It wasn't until later that week we found out it was because of a girl in his classroom. Henry is having his first crush," JJ told the story with both genuine worry and thrill at the aspect.

Morgan was the first to leave saying, "As much fun as all of this is, I have to get going. Savannah has the night shift tonight, so I want to be home before she leaves."

Rossi and Garcia were quick to follow with both agreeing it was best to leave the bullpen as soon as humanly possible. The case had been extra difficult for them, especially for Garcia as she had to continually watch video feeds of bombings around the world that could be connected to the one they were investigating. It was fruitless. They did not catch the culprit and their laughter currently singing in the air did not catch the usual sparkle they tend to have in their eyes.

There was no sparkle.

Only JJ and Reid were left in the bullpen with Hotch speaking with Cruz in his office. Both JJ and Reid sat at their respective desks: Reid dazzlingly flipping through some form of foreign literature and JJ simply staring at Reid. No one really noticed how much this case affected Reid for they were all preoccupied with catching the sick excuse of a human being, but now, JJ could not escape the negative energy irrupting from Reid. Something was clearly off, and she could not put her finger on it.

After half an hour of her doing nothing, she decided that it was best to go on home. She bid Reid farewell commenting, "Hey, Spence, you okay?"

Brought out of his workaholic zone, Reid jumped slightly before replying, "Yeah, I'm fine," with a curt nod.

JJ, unbelieving, added, "You sure. I don't want to leave you here on your own, if something is bothering you?"

Reid gave the most convincing smile he could handle and said, "You go ahead home, JJ. I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, and besides I am fine, just a little tired."

JJ got up to leave responding, "Okay, I'm off then. Don't stay here all night, Spence. Go home and get a good night sleep. You earned it this time."

Reid nodded as sign of his agreement. He really did earn it. The case had been grueling and most of the effort came from a tag team made of him and Garcia. Even with the two geniuses combining efforts, they could not solve the case. Forced by circumstances to leave Maryland, the team left completely unsatisfied with their performance.

JJ walked into the elevator, as Cruz stumbled his way over asking her to hold it for him. Both of them on their way to their lives, the only ones left in the office space were Hotch and Reid.

Hotch's face declared that he would be adamant that Reid go home before his voice even spoke out, "Reid, what are you still doing here?"

With no hesitation, Reid announced his intentions, "I'm going to stay a little longer to get some paperwork done. You know the rest of the team sneaks some on my pile all the time. If I don't stay, I will fall behind on paperwork."

Hotch shook his head proclaiming, "You really shouldn't let them do that. Don't stay too late tonight Reid. We all need a good night's rest including you. Go home."

Reid gave a hard grin in response, "Yes, sir."

After Hotch's departure, the only noises that could be heard consisted of squeaking from a chair and the rapid turning of pages creating a soft symphony of familiar sounds. Darkness rang through the mostly empty room but a single desk light shined on the stack of files waiting to be read.

Reid contemplated the case numbly. He could not shake it the way the others had. Seventeen people died in that bombing with twenty-three laying in a hospital with little hope of survival. He failed them and their families.

Two hours passed in the silence of him just going through the files on his desk before a phone interrupted his routine.

Reid utterly confused by the sound fumbled through his things until he found an unfamiliar cell phone hidden within his belongs. There was only one person in his acquaintance capable of sneaking the phone in his messenger bag.

Picking up the phone with a sigh, he answered, "Reid."

"Hello, Reid."

The voice on the other line filled his belly with a strange sensation of unusualness and familiarity. He knew this voice extremely well, but he also knew that it should not be the one on the other side speaking to him. Despite the uncomfortable feeling in the pit of his stomach, he could not deny the jolt of pleasure that course through him when he heard the voice.

The pleasure drained, as soon as the next words were said, "They're watching us and they're close."

Reid paled and his breathing began to trouble him, as the beating of his heart doubled in speed. His next words fumbled on his tongue, "Are you positive?"

"Yes."

Reid shut his eyes in frustration and because of the nauseated feeling coming upon him before questioning further, "How can you be positive? You can't be a hundred percent sure. You just can't…"

Disrupting his chain of thought, the voice declared, "Keller's dead and Schneider's missing, so yes we are sure. They are watching you, Spencer. You have to be extra vigilant and act as normal as possible. You don't want to alarm anyone around especially them that you know that they are watching."

Reid sighed, "Okay, don't worry. This isn't my first time around the park. I know protocol, and I know how to act when this happens."

"I know. I have warned you, and now I am putting us in physical danger to tell you all of this. They didn't want you to know out of fear that they would find you. I don't care about that. It's much more dangerous for you walking around without knowing."

Reid's frustration saw the light with his words, "Seriously, Adds. Sometimes, it's okay to think about yourself first, but thanks for the heads up. I'll keep an eye out for them or any hints of where they might be."

Sighing, she finished their conversation with five simple words that showed all of her feelings for the man listening, "Please be careful, Billy boy."

Reid gently smiled and replied to no one as she already hung up, "Always."