"My Spencer"

Sequel to Mistaken Identity

[CM, K+, Spencer Reid/OC (Melissa Martin)]

Thank you so much to 'Melissa' and 'Anna' (their real life counterparts for graciously allowing themselves to be immortified ™ here; to MGG for the obvious inspiration; and to my JittTwin, my conscience, my sounding board, my copy editor, CM expert, my very own Garcia, Diana….

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"So, wheels up in an hour," SSA Aaron Hotchner closed the file folder in his hand and dismissed the agents gathered around the conference room round table. He moved to speak to technical analyst Penelope Garcia.

"Garcia, if I may have a word," he motioned towards his office. Instantly, the hair on her neck stood on end, and she followed him anxiously. He held the door open for her, waited for her to precede him into the room and he shut the door behind them.

"Sir?"

"It's Reid," he said, his voice full of concern.

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"I could bring you back a Vikings' jersey," JJ teased, speaking into her cellphone.

"Hey! You forget where I'm from?" Will put on an offended tone, "Saints gear here, or nothing!"

"Well, there's an offer I have to admit to liking. You. In nothing."

"If you're similarly attired," he shot back.

"When I get back from Minneapolis, Will. Once Spence is out of the hospital, I'll see if he'll stay at home with Michael and Henry for a night, and we'll have a football night in a hotel room."

"Minus the football?" he drawled.

"Of course," she laughed and then grew serious. "I think it's important we let Spence know that we trust him with the boys. And that they want to see him again soon. Especially Henry."

"Absolutely," her husband agreed, "he's been asking about Uncle Spencer."

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SSAs David Rossi, Derek Morgan and Tara Lewis climbed aboard their jet. They settled comfortably into their seats just as JJ rushed aboard, coffee in hand.

She took a seat beside Rossi across from the others and each drew out their tablets, puzzled that they didn't have the customary case information from Garcia yet.

"Problem we don't know about?" Rossi asked.

Morgan got out his cell phone and called her. It went straight to voicemail. He gave the phone a surprised look and put it away, muttering 'Well, that's unusual."

As they spoke, Hotchner arrived, a more serious than usual look on his face.

"Aaron? Everything okay?" Rossi ventured.

"I'm fine, Dave. Everybody got their tablets? Let's go over victimology."

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"Come on, Anna, hurry up, you're gonna be late for school!" Melissa called out to her daughter again. She'd already filled the child's backpack with her lunch and supplies. Melissa strode down the hallway to the front door, and found Anna sitting there putting on her shoes.

"I'm almost done, Mommy," Anna told her, "Look!" thrusting out her foot. Melissa laughed, ruffled her hair and said,

"I thought you were still back in your room. You tricked me!" she laughed.

"Are you going to work today, Mommy?" She started tying the lace on her other shoe.

"No, honey, I don't go back until next week."

Anna's face fell. "Are you going to see My Spencer?"

"Yes, I am, sweetie," steeling herself for what she was sure would be coming next.

"Are you gonna do kissy face with My Spencer?" She was finished tying her shoes and now stood up, ready to leave.

Melissa turned her face away from Anna so the child wouldn't see her blush. "I'm going to visit him, he's still in the hospital, honey."

"Can I visit My Spencer after school?" Melissa took her hand and together they left the house. Anna was strapped into her booster seat and Melissa climbed behind the wheel and drove off to the school.

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He paced the room for the tenth time in ten minutes and sighed in frustration. Spencer Reid knew he wasn't well enough to be out of the hospital; his doctor had just made that clear during his earlier examination. He only needed the sling part time now, but he still needed to be careful. The physical limitations were bothersome but not nearly so much so as the idleness of his mind. He missed work. He could spend the time reading, he knew, but it didn't offer the challenge the BAU cases afforded.

Even worse was the quiet emptiness of the room. He missed Anna's presence: being called 'My Spencer'; the laughter of the child watching her cartoons and dancing around to her music; the rapt attention she paid when he read to her; her beaming face when she presented him with another piece of artwork.

And most of all, he missed Melissa. His heart ached missing her caring and gentle touch; the warmth of her love and embrace; the sweetness of her kiss; the simple pleasure of companionship and conversation. Was it possible to be this in love with someone he'd only known for a short time? He knew his heart rate always went up when she was around. His breathing would grow erratic and his posture would change. Logic said no, but Spencer decided to defy logic and go with his heart. His girls had only been released from Protective Custody two days ago, and already he found himself counting the minutes until Melissa would be back, with or without Anna.

He sat down on the sofa and pulled out the files Garcia had brought him once again. There was quite a stack of them, and Reid was pretty sure that Morgan and Rossi had somehow managed to sneak some of their paperwork into this pile for him to work on.

"I should be mad," he grimaced, muttering aloud as he shuffled through a few of them. "But I bet they thought they were doing me a favour, giving me something to do." He made a few notes on one, closed it and set it aside, then opened up another. Reading through it, he realised he'd been correct; Morgan had obviously slipped this one in for him to do, it was at least two or three months old and should have been concluded weeks ago. Smirking, he set it aside without completing it.