I do not own Criminal Minds.

Supervisory Special Agent Dr. Spencer Reid almost carelessly tossed his firearm aside as he slowly approached the visibly shaking young man, who brandished a gun of his own. With his hands held in the air, Spencer continued to edge his way toward the unsub while ignoring Morgan and Prentiss, who were both urging him to come back. The two older agents felt their hearts skip a beat when their unsub suddenly aimed his weapon straight at Reid, who finally stopped in his tracks.

"Eric," Spencer began. "I know how you feel."

"No, you don't!" Eric snapped. His eye twitched, and he looked like he was ready to take aim and fire any second. His arms shook, and his breathing was a little rapid. Derek and Emily could only watch helplessly on the sidelines as their young friend put himself in harm's way for the umpteenth time since they've known him. Once again, the young profiler felt that he could convince the unsub with words of understanding, but he didn't seem to take into account on part of Eric's profile, which showed that he would not hesitate to hurt anyone in order to defend himself, and a kevler vest can only do so much. Prentiss held her breath, it was like the Owen Savage case all over again, and she did not like it one bit.

"I hate when he does this." She muttered under her breath. Morgan nodded.

"Same here."

Eric Miller, age 17, had his father leave him when he was younger, something Reid could easily relate to. Though his mother died from cancer, which eventually landed him in foster care. He felt alone in the world despite encouragement from others, he ran away and ended up as part of a drug ring, and later killed a couple of the gang members. He'd been on the run for some time now, evading both the rest of the dealers who were after him, as well as the local PD, which is why the Behavioral Analysis Unit was called in to help.

"I swear," Morgan growled, watching as his friend spoke to the uneasy man. "If he makes it out of this alive, I'm gonna kill him!"

In a matter of days, they had created a profile, with the help of Garcia, and already knew most of his background. Now they had caught up to him, but it was just Morgan, Prentiss, and Reid. The rest of the team were on their way, but Spencer seemed determined that he could talk to the unsub, despite his teammates telling him not to. Apparently, the warnings of possibly being fired from Hotch, or the threats of bodily harm from Garcia wasn't enough to keep their youngest in line.

"I know that it must've been really hard for you when your father left." Reid said camly.

"Yeah, right." Eric snorted, keeping his gun pointed at the young profiler.

Morgan and Prentiss occasionally held their own weapons up, but every time, Spencer somehow always managed to get in the way of their line of fire. Eric didn't seem to be calming down at all to Spencer's words, which had them on edge. They knew that it could only take one shot to lose their young friend forever. The team knew Reid didn't do this to be a hero or anything, in his own eyes, he felt that he was doing the right thing. He just wanted the unsub safely in custody without anymore lives being lost, but he didn't seem to consider his own when it came to these situations. It was times like this that it was hard to believe that he was a genius, even if he knew what he was doing.

When the rest of the team arrived with a few police officers, Eric tensed when more guns became trained on him. He glanced around from person to person, knowing he would not win, and that it was a dead end for him. That long haired nerdy man a few feet in front of him was really getting on his nerves too. Ignoring orders to come quietly, as well as the babbling from that other guy, he wondered who he should try to take with him. That guy, who he recalled introducing himself as "Spencer" seemed like a good candidate. He didn't even have his gun with him.

With his gun already aimed at him, Eric began to pull the trigger hoping that it would also get him to shut up. Four shots rang out, and the first thing everyone present noticed was when a body fell, a grunt emitted from them upon impact with the ground, indicating that they were still alive.

"Reid!" Derek called out. The dark skinned agent rushed over to his friend, who hadn't moved from the spot he had been at. Spencer found it hard to do anything for a moment, he felt the bullet whiz past his face, barely missing his head. He looked down to where officers and eventually paramedics tended to Eric, who was lying on the ground. The first of the four shots was from Hotch, who's shot managed to shift the unsub's aim toward Reid off, just in time. JJ and an officer were the other two who fired besides Eric.

Eric Miller was taken to the hospital for a single gunshot wound to the shoulder and later arrested. To the BAU, the case was closed and they had done their part. They could finally go home. This case had been a rather stressful one, but there was really only one reason why that was, and the team made that clear to a certain member of theirs.

"You could have been killed!"

"What were you thinking, man?"

"Spence, are you crazy?"

"We told you to wait, we were on our way over."

"Reid, could I speak with you for a moment, please?" Hotch asked.

Spencer nodded, knowing that he didn't really have any other choice, besides either talking to Aaron, or getting chewed out by his teammates. He followed his eerily calm boss to the front of the jet, while the rest of the team stayed gathered at the table. Reid didn't know what they were talking about, as he had bigger concerns at the moment. He sat down quickly in the seat across from Aaron, who stared back at him with his stoic expression, which was more serious than usual.

"Reid, haven't I told you before to not do what you did today?" The Unit Chief asked, his tone alone showed that this was no joking matter.

"Yes, sir." Spencer responded, nervousness was obvious in his voice. "You have."

"And what did I say could happen if you did it again?" The older man raised an eyebrow, Reid noticeably flinched.

"T-that you would... fire me." The last of his sentence came out with hesitation.

"Correct." Hotch said. "And considering that I already gave you a second chance, which you used up today."

"I-I know, sir." Spencer gulped. "I'm so sorry." His voice cracked as he hung his head in shame.

"Tell me," Aaron started. "What did you do today, which lead to us being here right now?"

"I put myself in danger." Reid sniffled, continuing to look at the floor.

"Because you wanted to help the unsub by giving him reassurance." Hotch concluded. The younger man nodded. "By abandoning your weapon, and ignoring your teammates." He finished a little more sternly, before seeing tear drops fall to the floor as they slowly came out of Spencer's innocent brown eyes.

Hotch didn't say anything for a moment, instead he watched his youngest cry silently. He then reached over to where a conveniently placed box of tissues sat and handed one to Reid as he slowly sat upright. Spencer accepted it and muttered a 'thank you' before blowing his nose. As he calmed down, the two sat there in an awkward silence, until Reid spoke.

"Hotch... Are you, um, are you going t-to fire me?" He asked fearfully.

The BAU leader seemed to be considering his options. He knew deep down that he should fire Reid, but he also felt that he would never be able to sleep at night if he did, as this job was practically everything the kid had. A third chance should be out of the question, but if he couldn't trust Spencer enough with it, that would be enough proof that he needed to go.

"As much as I shouldn't give you another chance to redeem yourself, I won't fire you this time." Hotch said.

"Thank you so much, Hotch, sir." The young doctor breathed a sigh of relief, tension he hadn't noticed in his body relaxed instantly.

"But," Hotch began. "One more chance is all you're getting, then you will be fired. Am I clear?"

"Y-yes, sir. I understand." Reid nodded quickly.

"Good." Aaron said with approval before standing up. "Now, I want you to sit here and think about your recklessness today. You not only endangered yourself, but everyone around you, not to mention scared us half to death."

"Yes, sir." Spencer said once more. Hotch went over to the table where Rossi, JJ, and Prentiss were. Morgan had passed out on the couch, the day had been too much for him. For all of them really, they almost lost their youngest, and now they were all upset with him because of it. Spencer sat by his lonesome, doing exactly what Hotch ordered. He nearly got himself hurt all because he wanted to help a teenager, who had killed people. Part of him felt he deserved to be fired, but that was the last thing he wanted. If he lost his job, his friends, his family, he didn't know what he would do with his life, despite being a genius where he had lots of opportunities. He could be a teacher but he wasn't the best with kids, or he could be a professor. No. He wanted to save lives, and by doing that, he studied murderers with some of the best minds on the planet; the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI.

He gazed behind him where the rest of the team were at, JJ and Prentiss had both fallen asleep, Hotch still sat at the table, he was on his phone possibly talking to Jack. It was then Reid noticed Rossi approaching him. The older man sat across from him, he seemed deep in thought.

"I heard you got in trouble earlier." He said, sounding more curious than upset compared to a while ago. Something Spencer hadn't quite expected.

"Yeah." The younger agent replied, his red cheeks showed off his embarrassment.

"You know that Hotch is just looking out for you." Dave spoke softly. "He doesn't want you to get hurt, none of us do. Being that you're still so young."

"I know." Reid mumbled.

"We can't always help everyone that comes our way, victim or unsub." Rossi explained. "But we can always think about those who we have."

"I just wish we could do more." Spencer sighed, a lone tear drop rolled down his face.

"Sometimes, I do too." The Senior SSA agreed quietly.

(Spencer Reid!)

It had been almost a week when a new case came by. An unsub was killing both male and female prostitutes after having sex with them. The team arrived and did what they could, soon, a profile was established, and eventually completed. They found out that he was lurking around an empty street, awaiting his next target, and they figured someone would need to go undercover to get the unsub to come into a trap set up by numerous cops. But the question was, who would be the "lucky" one?

Stubbornly, JJ and Prentiss both immediately back away, and there was no way Hotch, Rossi or Morgan could pull it off, which left only one other person.

Spencer sighed as he was handed a plastic bag with clothes in it. Although posing as a prostitute to lure a killer was not something he was planning on doing, at least he'd be saving lives. And while he was getting himself in danger yet again, he actually had the team's consent. He slipped into a bathroom to change and pulled things out of the bag to examine the outfit he was given. First, a pair of tight dark blue jeans.

I hate tight jeans. Reid thought to himself with a groan. Replacing his slacks with the other pants, he pulled out the last article of clothing inside the bag, a stretchy white tank top. They're normally worn by muscular people, and Spencer was anything but that. Exhaling, he slipped off his dress shirt and tie and pulled on the tank top. It felt so weird wearing something that left him so exposed, and on top of that, having long hair, wearing snug pants with a stretchy tank top while he lacked any muscle or fat whatsoever, made him look downright feminine.

Turning away from the mirror, his cheeks flashed a significant red. He gathered his other clothes and stepped out of the bathroom. He noticed his teammates, even Hotch, snickering about something, he didn't think they were laughing at him, but it confused him as to exactly what they found so funny.

"What are you guys laughing at?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, nothing." Emily lied.

"Even Hotch was laughing, it couldn't have been nothing." Reid pushed.

"Some joke somebody told, but you can hear it later." Hotch said, causing Spencer to pout. "Right now, let's get to work."

They drove to the street where their unsub was believed to have been at. After they arrived, they saw from a safe distance, a suspicious looking man. When he walked under a street light, they made an immediate ID on him. Officers readied themselves while Spencer went over the plan once more, even though he had it memorized to the very last step.

"All I need to do is lure him over here, but if I can't?" He asked.

"We'll come to you." Hotch explained. Reid nodded, shifting around uncomfortably in his outfit.

"Remember, he kills his victims by strangulation, not by firearms, knives or any kind of weaponry." Rossi stated. "You'll be fine as long as you stay in our sight."

"Okay." Spencer said.

"What are you waiting for, Pretty Boy? Go get him." Morgan gave him a slight push, sending him on his way. The young genius worked his way around a building and into an alleyway, so it would appear that he came from there instead of a swarm of law enforcement. He took a deep breath before stepping into the street, clearing his throat, causing the unsub to spin around then stop and grin when he laid eyes on Spencer.

"Looks like this is my lucky night." He said, his voice sent chills down Reid's spine as he grabbed one of his hands.

"Um, yeah, I-I guess so." The young man responded nervously. He gazed down the street where his team was, they were safely hidden behind the shadows of the trees. The BAU watched as their unsub approached their teammate and pick up his hand, while a slight conversation seemed to pick up between the two.

"what do you say me and you have some fun?" The man's grin never left his face.

"Um, I know a place." Spencer swallowed, his mouth was becoming rather dry. "It's off over there." He pointed in the direction to where the trap awaited the unsub.

"Why not right here, right now?" He smirked, preparing to kiss the younger man on the lips. Reid whimpered and tried to pull away, but the unsub's grip was too strong. His weak attempts to break free only seemed to arouse the man.

"Please, let go." Spencer pleaded. He didn't have his gun and the team was supposed to come if he couldn't bring the unsub to them. The man pushed him until his was against a pole and began kiss him. Reid continued to struggle, but it only made the man tighten his hold on him. Where was the team? They should be coming out and helping him!

"You're a beauty." The man said dreamily as his lips came in contact with the taller man's. His dark hair smelled bad, and his emotionless eyes were hauntingly frightening. The bombardment of kisses continued, Reid was just thankful that he wasn't doing something considerably worse.

Oh, God, where were his friends? Wait, what is this guy trying to- Oh no! Help!

Finally, several figures burst out of the bushes, including the BAU. Their guns all drawn as they ordered the unsub to let go of Reid. He obeyed without hestiation and was quickly taken away in handcuffs. Spencer's legs wobbled as he leaned against the pole, finding it hard to believe what just happened to him, and what almost did.

Things felt like they just flashed by for a while, but the profilers found themselves on the jet, heading home. Reid briefly remembered a hotel being suggested, but he was given the choice, so he chose to fly home right after the case, he'd had enough of this place for a while. He walked out of the bathroom, in clothes he was more comfortable in. He wanted to be alone but every spot occupied a team member, meaning that unless he sat in the bathroom, he'd have to sit with someone.

He settled at the table, where Hotch was reviewing the case file. He started to fiddle with his fingers when the Unit Chief looked up from the papers in his hand.

"How're you doing?" The stoic faced man asked.

"Fine, I guess." Reid mumbled, though he wasn't quite sure, but he thought he heard something else in his boss' voice. They sat there in silence as Spencer looked around the jet. Morgan was listening to his MP3, Rossi was talking to Garcia, JJ was reading a book, and Prentiss appeared to be asleep. Something really felt off, and the young agent couldn't quite place it.

That is, until he saw Hotch snicker.

Now, it wouldn't take a genius to figure out that whatever the BAU leader found funny, couldn't be in that case file in his hand. Curious, Spencer couldn't help but ask.

"What's so funny?"

"Reid," Aaron calmed down. "Let tonight be a lesson to you."

"What do you mean?" He asked, clearly confused as to what the older man just spoke.

"He means when you and the unsub made out back there." Morgan laughed, Reid blushed.

"That's not funny." Spencer squeaked. "He pinned me, and you guys were supposed to come help me. Who knows what else he would've done had you not."

"Now you know how the rest of us feel whenever you put yourself in danger with unsubs, Spence." JJ smiled.

Reid's jaw dropped open. "That's what this is about?"

"Exactly." Derek grinned.

"Wait, you guys let the unsub kiss me a whole bunch of times and you just stood and watched?" Spencer asked in pure disbelief.

"Well, Reid, knowing you, you probably would have gone against my warning anyway and endangered yourself again eventually." Hotch said. "And after what happened to you tonight, I'd imagine you would think twice before doing it again." He finished with a smirk. The young doctor just stared at him blankly.

"I don't understand." His cheeks flushed once again.

"I'll just say this," Aaron began. "At least I should now have one less reason to fire you."

"So, you guys sat me up with that undercover thing, watched the unsub coddle me and do nothing about it, just to get me to not... do what I did during the last case?" Everyone seemed, to nod at what he said, including Prentiss who appeared to have recently woke up.

"We don't want to lose you, my Junior G-man." Garcia smiled through the webcam.

"Still..." Reid sighed. "Did you guys have to do this?" He gestured to the tight jeans and white tank top that had been carelessly tossed to the floor.

"Yes." They all said in unison.

Spencer just pouted while he folded his arms. "I'm never speaking to you guys again."

"You know what, Pretty Boy?" Morgan grinned as he sat down beside the younger man, wrapping an arm around his shoulders.

"What?" He grumbled.

"You're a terrible liar."

The End.

This came out much longer than I expected it to be, and about one-third of it was made up as it went along. :P