Part 2

Nine years later

Spencer listened intently as Jason Gideon lectured the class. Gideon was very famous in certain circles as he was one of the first ever profilers and had been one of the first in the BAU or Behavior Analysis Unit and had in fact had helped form the unit.

He was now 19 and would soon be graduating from college in just over a year. He had several different degrees and was working on his last one now and he hadn't yet decided what career he was going to choose, although he was leaning towards joining the FBI, the BAU unit specifically, but hadn't yet fully decided. He did have his brothers to think about, but they were still only 13 and had no other family, well except for Shannon who had come with them when Spencer had gotten a full ride scholarship to college despite his young age in order to act as a sort of den mother to Spencer and his younger siblings. Spencer had received legal custody of his brothers as soon as he had turned 17 and had proved his financial solvency to the people that mattered. Spencer had explained to the people that had come to question him that his dad had committed suicide within three years of leaving his family and his mother was incapable of even taking care of herself, much less his brothers. Shannon had been present for the interview and had explained that she wanted to return to Las Vegas now that Spencer was almost legally an adult and one of the most responsible young men she had ever known. Spencer remembered Shannon's exact words thanks to his eidetic memory and it had gone like this, "Spencer is one of the most responsible young men I know, for he often helped me out with his brothers after he got home from school and spent a considerable amount of time with them. He read them bedtime stories, helped feed them and changed their diapers. His mother was very sick by that time with schizophrenia and rarely even recognized any of her children except Spencer as being hers. It was only due to his help that I was able to care for six babies all by myself."

"And what relation are you, Mrs. Tate?" asked one of the men doing the interview.

"I am a distant aunt of Spencer's and his siblings mother," Shannon had explained calmly knowing that the relationship would hold up. "I came to help out when I learned that my distant niece had six babies to care for and very little help. As I know how much work one baby can be much less that many I just decided that I would stay until the sextuplets weren't quite so much of a handful. When I saw how sick my niece really was I just decided I'd stay until all the children were grown up and it was a good thing I did because their father William Reid left when Spencer was just 10 and committed suicide less then three years later. He probably felt so guilty that he felt death was the only way out and I say good riddance for anybody who would abandon their family..."

The investigators had understood, Spencer remembered and they had passed the interview with flying colors, especially when all six of his brothers had said they had no other family besides, Spencer and Shannon at least that they knew about, except their mother of course, who was incapable of looking after them or anybody.

Ethen had told the two interviewers that Spencer and Shannon had raised all of them basically by themselves with very little help from their mother and none from their father that they could remember anyway, since he had left when they were only four years old.

The two interviewers had taken the sextuplets opinions into account for they had been 11 at the time and old enough to make their own decisions on who they wanted to stay with so long as that person could prove that he had the means to provide for them and was responsible, which was no problem for Spencer.

Class ended and Spencer remained behind as Gideon had indicated at the beginning of class that he would like to have a word with him when it was over.

"You wanted to see me Agent Gideon?" asked Spencer as he approached the brown haired man, who was balding.

"There is no reason to be so formal. You can just call me Jason or Gideon if you like," Gideon offered. "Is there somewhere we can talk privately?"

"Well," Spencer said considering. "There's a coffee shop I often frequent in between classes that's on campus and shouldn't be to busy this time of day, but that's about all the privacy you'll get, as going back to my place isn't going to work."

"Why?" asked Gideon genuinely curious.

"Because my brothers will be home from school at this time of day and I doubt they much that they won't listen in even if I tell them I want privacy," Spencer answered to Gideon's astonishment.

Spencer mouth quirked wryly, so that Gideon would see the humor of that statement.

"Oh, so you're living with your family?" asked Gideon.

"It's just my brothers and me," Spencer begin to explain as they walked towards the entrance of the college. "I couldn't leave them home when I came, because my mother is very sick, and she didn't really raise them and in fact she barely knows they exist."

"And your father?" asked Gideon.

"He left when I was just 10 and my 6 brothers were just four," Spencer explained not going into any detail. "Less than three years later some policeman showed up at the door and told us that dad had committed suicide. I suppose he felt so guilty for leaving us in the lurch that he just couldn't deal with it any longer and so took his life, although I don't know that for sure of course, and it is just a pet theory I have."

Spencer didn't mention the fact his father was a werewolf and had been thrown out of the pack for his actions and as he had known since he was a small child a wolf without his pack never lasted very long and so it was less then three years later that William Reid had committed suicide. Spencer was actually surprised his father had lived as long as he did and hadn't killed himself within a year.

"It's logical," Gideon said not me reacting to the fact that Spencer had stated all this in a completely monotone, emotionless voice as if he didn't care, although he supposed it was understandable considering. He doubted very much that Spencer's six brothers even remembered their father at all since they had only been four when he had left. Gideon was surprised, that all six of Spencer's brothers had survived, especially since they had been born sometime in the late 80s and medical technology wasn't as advanced 13 years ago as it was now. He supposed that miracles did happen or perhaps, they had just been especially hardy unlike most babies that died from just about anything.

"So who took care of you since your mother was incapacitated after your father left?" asked Gideon.

"We had a distant aunt from my mother's side of the family staying with us by the name of Shannon Tate," Spencer explained calmly, although this time his voice was far from emotionless and Gideon took that to mean that he and this Shannon had bonded. "She raised us practically by herself, although I helped out with my brothers when I wasn't in school or doing homework. When I got a full ride scholarship at just 13 after finishing high school and sitting my SATs I couldn't leave them behind because as I said my mother was incapable of taking care of them and I couldn't let Shannon do it alone since they were still quite young at that time."

If Spencer had been 13, that meant his brothers would've been around 7 and therefore not capable of looking after themselves. Just because Spencer had been responsible at that age didn't mean his brothers were the same and having only one person looking after them, especially someone who was older, would have been nearly impossible until they were a little older anyway.

"Thank you for trusting me with a brief synopsis of your family history," Gideon said and Spencer shrugged.

"It's not like it's a big secret as you can find what I told you just by having a background check done," Spencer said with a shrug. "If you'll give me a minute I'll call my brothers and warn them I'll be late so they don't worry too much. They're 13 now so they're capable of spending a few hours by themselves and getting to and from school, which is only a few blocks from where we live."

"What about Miss Tate?" asked Gideon.

"Shannon left just as soon as I gained legal custody when I turned 17 two years ago," Spencer explained. "She missed her family and she knew that I was perfectly capable of looking after my brothers and handling any problems that might occur, but told me that if I needed her I could contact her. She missed her friends in Las Vegas and also her family, so as soon as she was sure we could look after ourselves she went back home. We still keep in contact through email and phone calls so she knows how all seven of us are doing."

There was silence for moment as Gideon sipped his coffee trying to figure out how to broach the subject that he really wanted to talk about. He had already had Garcia to do a complete background check, but he had just wanted basic information about Spencer himself and hadn't bothered to have Garcia give him the details like asking if he had any other family. Now he realized that he should have been more patient and not in such a hurry, because Garcia had reeled off the basic facts to him and then he had hung up on her without bothering to learn about what kind of family life Spencer had. When he had seen Spencer Reid in his old friend's criminology class he thought that maybe he was there as a special guest or something for he had looked way too young to be taking the course. He had learned Spencer's name in that first class and when the young man had asked some very intelligent questions Gideon had gone out of his way to learn as much about him as he could from his teachers. The teachers told him that he had started college at 13 and that he was absolutely brilliant with an IQ of 187 an eidetic memory and four degrees two BAs and two doctorates and that he was working on his final BA, which would be completed within the year. His teachers had also said that he was extremely clumsy and as unathletic as they come and Gideon knew that Spencer wouldn't fit anywhere else in the FBI, except the BAU, although most of his work would be done from behind the scenes since unless he passed his gun test he wouldn't be allowed out in the field, but still Gideon knew the young man would be an extremely useful part of his unit.

His teachers hadn't mentioned that he had six brothers, but then it was well possible that they hadn't known as Spencer struck him as a very private person, especially about his family life and Gideon couldn't blame him as he would want to protect his brothers as much as he could, since he'd had a major part in their upbringing. Gideon was very interested in the young man and having him join the BAU upon graduation.

"I wanted to talk to you to ask you if you have decided on a career for once you graduate," Gideon finally said after studying Spencer for what seemed like forever, but the young man wasn't giving anything away.

"Not yet," Spencer admitted, busily tearing piece of bread to pieces.

Gideon took this to mean that Spencer was nervous, although he probably didn't even realize what he was doing as it seemed an almost automatic, unconscious action.

"I know I can basically do anything I want with my life with all my degrees, but I need to do something that will support me and my brothers even though I still have plenty of my inheritance from when my father died, but I want to save that for my brothers, to send them to college, and get them started in their own careers once they finish."

"Well, I would like you to join the FBI, the BAU specifically. That's..."

"Where you create a profile to help local law enforcement catch serial killers, pedophiles, rapist..." Spencer quoted. "A profile…"

Spencer stopped speaking when he noticed Gideon's stunned expression.

"You'll soon learn that I like to learn new thing and once I know it I never forget. I can tell you the fastest way to get from here back to Las Vegas and what route would be the easiest according to the time of day or day of the week."

"I already know how intelligent you are," Gideon said and Spencer looked unsurprised at that revelation so Gideon took that to mean that the young man had expected him to check with his teachers. "In any case, your teachers gave you a glowing recommendation and I know your talents would be useful in the BAU."

"I've been thinking about it actually," Spencer finally admitted. "However, as I'm sure my teachers told you I am as clumsy as an elephant in a China shop and as unathletic as they come and there's no way I would pass the physical training, even though I intend to try if I do decide to go to the FBI Academy in Quantico."

This statement was said with a wry twist of Spencer's mouth and Gideon could see that that the young man had accepted that he was extremely unathletic, probably years ago and had just decided that it was part of who he was and moved on. He probably figured that his profound intelligence made up for it and since very view people had Spencer high IQ he would be right because being to perfect made a person arrogant.

"You can help the team from behind the scenes," Gideon said happy that Spencer had already considered joining in the FBI. "I know a lot of people at the academy and I'm sure I could get them to waiver the physical requirements. I intend to pull you directly into the BAU."

"But don't you have to spend at least eight to ten years in another department or even several before even being considered for the most elite department in the bureau?" asked Spencer.

"Normally, that would be true, but I have a lot of pull, and I see your potential, so I'm willing to call in multiple favors in order to get you into the BAU no matter how young you are as I believe you'll be a perfect fit and normally I'm never wrong about things like that."

"Alright then, I'll consider it," Spencer promised giving Gideon his phone number while Gideon did the same.

"You can contact me anytime," Gideon told him. "I hope to see you at the FBI Academy in Quantico next year when after you graduate."

"We'll see," was all Spencer said noncommittally as he shook Gideon's hand in farewell before returning to leave the coffee shop Gideon watching him go.

~~~Spencer and Aaron~~~

Four years later

"Everyone I'd like introduce you to our new teammate Dr. Spencer Reid," Gideon introduced the young man who was now 23 and freshly out of the academy.

Spencer had been right four years ago when he'd told Gideon he was extremely unathletic because, although he'd tried he hadn't been able to pass those requirements. If it wasn't for Gideon going to bat for him and being with him every step of the way he never would have finished the academy. Gideon had convinced the instructors, that his intelligence would be extremely useful in the BAU and had called in numerous favors. Finally the instructors had agreed to waive the athletic requirements, when they saw how intelligent Spencer was and passed every test academic test put in front of him in less than an hour.

A lot of the cadets resented Spencer because of the special considerations that had been made for him and for the fact that he was pulled into the most prestigious department in the FBI, despite not having experience with another department first or even several. They resented him because of his intelligence and how he aced every academic test that he was given with absolutely no trouble and for the fact that the athletic requirements were waivered in his case.

Spencer had ignored all of the nasty little comments that were made when he walked into a room and even bullying in some cases. Spencer didn't tell his brothers how bad it could be and just told them that the athletic requirement had been waivered thanks to Gideon. His brothers were very intelligent though, so they probably knew the academy hadn't been a walk in the park, but they said nothing. Spencer had hated to uproot his brothers yet again to move to Quantico Virginia, but the brothers had agreed to it and told him that they didn't mind. He had promised them that this was the last time that they would be uprooted until they were out on their own and although they all knew that it would be difficult to make friends, especially so late, since they were 13 when they had moved after the school year was over, which meant that they only had five more years of high school after that. Spencer had bought a house that was big enough for him and his six brothers, although he and his brothers had to share four different rooms just like they'd had to while he was going to Caltech in Pasadena California, which they didn't seem to mind. This time though instead of renting the house like they had in California Spencer put down a downpayment on it once he had seen it, knowing it would be perfect. The house in question had four bedrooms, which meant that there would be no guestroom not that that mattered very much since Spencer didn't expect to have any guests, there were two bathrooms, a large kitchen, a small dining room, and a room that was relatively small that Spencer thought might have been used as a home gym or maybe an office by the previous owner. In any case, it was perfect, and Spencer knew he didn't need anymore space because it wouldn't be long before his six brothers finished high school and went off to college.

"Spencer, this is Derek Morgan, Jennifer Jareau, but you can call her JJ, and Penelope Garcia," Gideon introduced. "You have of course, already met your boss Aaron Hotchner."

Boy had he, Spencer thought his expression neutral. He had known the minute he caught Aaron Hotchner's scent that this was his mate, his True Mate, the one he had never expected to find at least until he was much older and yet the minute he had walked into the BAU this morning and been introduced he had known. He was going to have to be extremely careful about this and he and Hotch were going to have to get to know each other before Spencer could even think about revealing his secret to him. The only problem with that was that once a werewolf discovered their True Mate, it was very hard to stop from just taking them, as the scent of a werewolves True Mate drove them absolutely crazy as it was the most delicious scent that had ever been smelled as it made that werewolf's True Mate absolutely irresistible. Luckily, for him he was very good at controlling himself, Spencer thought even as he fought from letting his fangs from descending in full view of the humans. If there was one law that Spencer wasn't about to disobey it was letting any human find out about werewolves, except that werewolf's mate of course, if they were human.

"It's nice to meet you," Spencer told the rest of the team.

The team had already been warned how young Spencer Reid was, but they were shocked that he looked only 22 or 23 at the most. Everybody on the team trusted Gideon though, and knew that Hotch would never have agreed to let Spencer Reid on the team if he wasn't more than qualified, no matter how young he was.

The young man shook everybody's hand confidently and greeted them all very politely, although it was clear he wasn't going to give them any information or even fully trust them until they got to know each other. For someone who was so young, Reid was awfully wary and suspicious, but then it was possible that he'd had a similar childhood to himself, Morgan thought so it was better not to make a snap judgement on first impressions.

Morgan did know that this Spencer Reid was very intelligent because he never would have been accepted into the BAU at such a young age if he had not been, so the least he could do was give the man a chance.

"So any other family?" Garcia asked Reid who smiled at her forthrightness.

Well, it appeared that Reid had a sense of humor after all, Morgan thought when he saw the younger man smile, a smile that lit up his face. Maybe Reid wouldn't be suspicious forever after all, but then he knew that his baby girl could get past anybody's defenses without to much trouble simply because of her upbeat personality.

"Yes, I do, 6 younger brothers actually," Spencer answered not giving any further information.

"Wow! That's a lot of brothers," JJ said. "No sisters?"

"No, I'm afraid not," Spencer said with a smile and a shrug.

He didn't mention having any parents, Morgan noticed, so either they were dead, or they didn't get along.

Well, getting information out of you was like pulling teeth, Garcia thought. She already knew most of Reid's life because she had done an in-depth background check, but she wanted him to volunteer the information on his own, which would probably take time as Reid would need to learn to trust them. She knew that his father had committed suicide when he was just 13, and that he had been helping take care of his six younger brothers who were all the same age. She knew that the father had left the family less than three years before his suicide.

"So are your brothers living with your parents?" asked JJ curiously, "Or are they already grownup?"

"All six of them are 16, going on 17 in a few months," Reid told them calmly, "and have full guardianship and have since I was 17."

"Sextuplets?" asked Morgan his astonishment plain.

"And you said you had full guardianship?" asked JJ.

"Yes, all six of my brothers were all born within minutes of each other," Spencer told Morgan quite calmly before he turned to answer JJ question, "Yes, I've had full guardianship since I was 17 as I just said and before that a distant aunt on my mother's side stayed with us, but I was still mainly responsible for looking after them, at least when I got older and wasn't in school."

"What about your parents?" asked Morgan.

"My mother was and is very sick and incapable of looking after them," Reid said, not bothering to mention his father at all. "Aunt Shannon looked after them while I was in school and then I helped out after I got home. The two of us are the only parents my brothers have ever known. Aunt Shannon went back to Las Vegas as she missed her family and her friends once I had gotten full guardianship, but we still keep in contact."

Spencer sat down at the desk that had been assigned to him and refused to answer anymore questions and Gideon could hardly blame him and he felt that Spencer had been incredibly patient with the rest of the team.

"So what are your brothers names?" JJ tentatively asked knowing she was being nosy and was relieved when Spencer looked around and smiled at her before taking out his wallet and withdrawing three photographs.

"The two with dark brown hair like mine, are Alban and Broderic, although they prefer to be called Al and Brock, the two with blondish brown hair are Bailey and Ethen and as you can see they are two sets of identical twins," Spencer said. "The other two are Logan and Jason, although Jason prefers to be called Jase and as you can see one has my dark brown hair and the other got his two brothers brownish blond and they are fraternal twins."

The whole team passed the photos around including Hotch as Gideon was the only one that had met Spencer's brothers before. Spencer's brothers looked a lot like the man himself, handsome in a boy next door sort of way, JJ noticed. Apparently, family resemblance ran strong in the Reid family because Spencer's six brothers looked a lot like like him except with a few differences like hair color, although they all had their brother's golden brown eyes.

"It's time for everyone to get back to work and quit bothering Reid," Hotch finally ordered firmly and Spencer shot him a grateful look, although there was something else in his eyes that Hotch couldn't quite identify. "Your teammate has a right to his privacy just like you all do and if he wants to volunteer any information about his private life then he is welcome to do so, but you are not to badger him. If he doesn't answer a question, that you ask that is none of your concern. We want to make Dr. Reid feel welcome, not annoy him with personal questions. Your curiosity is only natural, but just like all of you Reid needs to get to know you before he'll volunteer any personal information."

All the others looked sheepish, except for Gideon who was already in his office reading over some papers.

"Welcome to the team," Morgan told Reid who smiled and nodded thanking Morgan gratefully.

"Thank you," Reid said with a smile.

"You're welcome," Morgan told him and the other members of the team came over to welcome him as well, before going back to their own desks or in JJ's case her office.

~~~Spencer and Aaron~~~

A year later

Spencer was in the middle of a team briefing, when Spencer's phone buzzed from his pocket. He immediately took it out and look at the number that was displayed, while he continued to listen to the briefing.

In the year he had been a member of the BAU he had made friends with his other teammates and they had been joined by Elle Greenway. He and JJ were like brother and sister and she was the only one that called him Spence, except his brothers. He and Morgan had also gotten much closer and were like brothers as well. They teased each other all the time, although Spencer's humor tended to be rather dry and sometimes so scientific that Morgan didn't know he was being teased, until he'd had time to think about it. As for Gideon he was like the father that Reid had never known as is own had resented his son when he realized how clumsy and super intelligent he was as he seemed to take offense that his son wasn't a little carbon copy of him. Spencer had accepted long ago that his father had really never known his own son and that he had other gifts, ones that were different from his.

Spencer thanked the pack of Las Vegas every day for the care they had taken with him and his brothers and how they had shown all of them love and attention that all children deserve. It was the Alpha of the pack that had guided his brothers through their first transformations into werewolves when they were five, as a child's body wasn't strong enough to survive it until then. That first transformation was quite painful, Spencer remembered with an inner shudder, although his expression did not change. Most werewolves forgot their first transformations since they were so young when it occurred, but as for him he well remembered every moment of pain as his bones reshaped themselves, to turn him into his werewolf form that was still in the puppy stage.

Spencer had been there as his six brothers transformed for the first time and that Alpha had gently guided them through it until they to were in their wolf forms. Once you were in your wolf form it was as natural as breathing as he hadn't had any trouble learning how to walk on four paws instead of two feet as the wolf's instincts just took over, so long as you let it. After the initial transformation, additional ones weren't quite as painful as the body seemed to deaden the pain for you. Oh, there was still some pain as the bones reshaped, not to mention the itching as the fur came in, but it really wasn't too bad especially compared to the first time a werewolf changed at five.

Luckily, for him a wolf didn't necessarily have to change for the full moon because he wouldn't've been able to join the BAU if that had been the case since they were often gone out of town during them. In a way their species were more like shapeshifters then true werewolves because they could change anytime they wanted after that first time. Spencer and his six brothers often went running in the forest that was behind the house he had a bought, which was the main reason he had bought it in the first place. There was nothing better then running through the forest, with others of your pack and sometimes they were even joined by some of the local wolves. Technically, Spencer and his brothers we're now members of the Washington pack as well as he had contacted the Alpha that was leader of the local wolfpack as soon as he and his brothers had arrived. After a brief meeting, where all the formalities were observed the Alpha had welcomed them warmly to the Washington pack and told him and his brothers that they were welcome to run with them anytime they liked on the full moon and that he hoped to see them there. Spencer and all six of his brothers enjoyed running with the local pack when they had time, which wasn't very often in his case since he always seemed to be out of town on the full moon, but his brothers on the other hand who were 17 almost 18 now, and had bought an old beat up van so they could get places easier often went out to pack lands and ran with them on the full moon, unless it was a school night the next day.

He was always constantly calling his brothers to check up on them when he had a few free minutes when he wasn't busy and his brothers made sure to always leave him a message if they were going to be out of contact, running with the pack.

Once the briefing was over a few minutes later Spencer immediately dialed the school that had tried to contact him to find out what the problem was.

Spencer nearly panicked when the principal who had tried to contact him told him that his brother Brock had been hurt. He calmed down when he was told that it was just a bump on the head and multiple contusions with no broken bones, but he should get an x-ray for his skull just in case. He was also requested to come to the school and Spencer said he would be there soon as he had informed his boss that he was leaving.

"Is something the matter, Reid?" asked Morgan in concern.

"My brother Brock ended up in the school infirmary," Reid told Morgan. "He doesn't seem to be too badly hurt just a bump on the back of the head and multiple contusions. Still the principal wants me to come to the school, so I'm just going to go inform Hotch that I'm leaving."

"Tell your brother I hope he gets well soon," Morgan said, which Elle echoed when she heard there was a problem with one of Spencer's family.

"I will," Spencer told his two friends with a distracted smile as he headed for Hotch's office immediately knocking on the door.

"Come in," Hotch called.

Hotch had been expecting Spencer to knock on his door anytime now as he had seen the younger man look at his phone doing the briefing and the panic in his eyes when he read number that was displayed. Hotch knew that the only thing that was likely to panic the younger man was if something had happened to one of his brothers that he cared for and loved deeply as most things didn't disturb Reid at all, not even grisly crime scenes.

Hotch had always been amazed at the way Spencer's scientific mind worked for the nature of some of the teams cases could be quite gruesome a lot of times and yet not even once had Spencer been anything, but calm or lost whatever food was in his stomach.

Hotch had spent an exorbitant amount of time watching Reid as unobtrusively as possible over the last year as if he was trying to figure out an extremely difficult puzzle. Really, Reid was a bundle of contradictions, as most the time he was mild and inoffensive, and yet Hotch had seen him lose his temper badly a few times even when someone with such a mild personality normally never lost their patience with others. It wasn't that someone with Reid's mild personality didn't have a temper, but it was usually just as mild and burned out quickly, but with Reid, while he forgave his teammates quickly, his temper was like a blast furnace that you didn't want to have pointed in your direction. Also Hotch had noticed Reid looking at him quite a few times now when he believed no one was paying him any attention and his expression was one that Hotch couldn't decipher, at least not completely, although he felt part of Reid's expression was longing, although what that longing was for Hotch didn't know. He could however, make an educated guess and that was he thought his subordinate had a little crush on him and had since the day he had arrived and been introduced.

Another weird thing he had noticed, about Spencer Reid was he was sure he had seen his eyes change color completely on a couple of occasions, but he always put it down to a trick of the light as they were always back to their normal golden brown when he got a more direct and closer look.

Hotch shook his head as he thought about Spencer Reid who had come to mean so much to him over the last year although he had never told the younger man so. He had never told anybody this, because he knew it wouldn't be received well in the kind of high, uptight society he had originally come from, but he liked both men and women and there was something about Spencer Reid that he felt drawn to. He liked the gentleness in the younger man who never seemed to let life get to him down. He also knew that Reid might have a very mild and gentle personality, but he also had a stomach of iron and airtight ethics and principles, which not many people could say anymore as a lot of humans were willing to bend the law even if it wasn't in a major way.

Reid had impressed him a lot over the last year with the way his logical and scientific mind worked. They had a higher percentage of solving cases then ever before, thanks to Dr. Spencer Reid who was a genuine genius and a nice guy. Reid really was a godsend because he was an expert on geographical profiling, and while Hotch could do that kind of thing he wasn't even half as good as Reid was so just in that one way he was an asset to the team, but he also had many more talents like also being very good with linguistic and handwriting analysis. Also Reid seemed to have more facts and figures stored in his immense brain then any 30 people and a lot of it was obscure trivia that wouldn't be of interest to most of them, but had come in handy on more than one occasion in the last year alone during a case.

"Yes, Reid, what can I do for you?" asked Hotch mildly his expression not changing as the younger man stepped into his office.

"I'm going to have to take at least the rest of the day off, Hotch," Reid told the older man trying his best to ignore his boss's enticing almost irresistible scent like he had been doing for the last year.

"What's the problem?" asked Hotch with a raised eyebrow.

"My brother, Brock has been injured, although the principal didn't exactly explain how that occurred. He said he would tell me how it happened once I had gotten to school as he didn't want to talk about it over the phone. I get the impression that he's going to read me the riot act, although I doubt very much that Brock is at fault or that he started it."

"Why do you say that? He is 17 after all, and a lot young men his age get into fights," said Hotch.

"Because out of all my brothers," Reid started to explain, "Brock is the peacemaker. Now if we were talking about Ethen or Bailey, my answer would be different."

"I see," Hotch said finally see where we was coming from. Peacemakers preferred to avoid an argument, although they would step in between two fighting parties to try to get them to see sense and try to resolve differences if it was necessary to do so.

"The only way I could see Brock getting involved and getting himself hurt like that is if he was trying to defend someone else that was being picked on and either he got knocked around by mistake, or the bully beat him up, for interfering. If that's the case, I'm going to read the principal the riot act and promise to look into his school more closely as I don't want another one of my brothers ending up in the infirmary or on suspension just for trying to help someone else. I am not naïve like a lot of people believe just because of my mild personality and the principal will probably believe that he can convince me that Brock was at fault unless I am misreading the man completely."

"So you have met the principal of your brother's high school?" asked Hotch and Reid nodded confirmation.

"When I first enrolled my brothers the principal wanted to see me as this was the second school for my brothers and he just wanted to make sure that they hadn't been enrolled at his school because they had gotten into trouble at their other one. He told me that transcripts never told you the whole story. He also wanted to know why I was moving when my brothers only had three more years of high school before they were grown up and explained that it would be hard for them to be the new school so late in their school careers. He said that I wasn't military and therefore there was no reason for me and my brothers to move around. I knew all this of course, and told the principal so and then explained that I had finished college having gone at an early age and that I was now living in Washington for work. I told him that I was my brothers legal guardian and also said that my parents weren't available letting him think what he wanted, as it's really none of his business and goes outside his role as principal of the school."

"Yes, I agree," Hotch agreed with a nod, "but you had better get going and if you need any help let me know."

"I will," Reid promised touched by the offer, but then again he knew that his boss was a former federal prosecutor so if anybody could be helpful in this kind of situation it was him. "I'll call you if I'm not going to be in tomorrow."

"You go and just look after your brother," Hotch told him feeling a rush of warm affection for the most gentle, compassionate man he had ever known. Spencer nodded turning his back on his boss so he didn't see Hotch's expression change to one of sudden dawning realization.

He was in love with Spencer Reid and he was just now realizing it. Hotch went back over every instance of him and Spencer interacting over the last year including that first meeting in his office and he realized he had been in love with the younger man from the moment they had met, he just hadn't realized it until just now.

Hotch sighed and tried to figure out if he should make a move on the younger man that he was pretty sure had at least a major crush on him. He had often wondered over the last few years if he would ever fall truly in love and didn't particularly care if it was man or a woman since he swung both ways as he had discovered as soon as he begin to notice such things as the opposite sex. It had taken him only a few months to realize that he liked both girls and his own sex, because he had always been really observant, even as a teenager, although he had refined his skills in the last several decades. Hotch remembered being stunned at first as his whole perception of himself had changed. He had decided immediately not to mention his liking for boys as he knew his mother would only scream at him and lecture him to death. That was then though and this was now. He no longer feared his mother's reaction or cared what she thought about him as he had been on his own for years and never went home anymore as his mother always badgered him about when he was going to get married and give her grandchildren.

Numerous girls had tried to get his attention in high school and college including one in particular whose name was Haley Brooks and she had been particularly insistent. They had dated for awhile, but there had just been no spark there and so the relationship had broken up after over a year of dating. Haley had been disappointed but Hotch had realized that she didn't really love him and that she only wanted to date him because he was on the football team, and because she could see that he was going places. Unlike a lot of boys on the football team Hotch had kept his grades up and had gotten a full academic scholarship to a good collage and although he had still played sports he had also studied hard and hadn't partied. Haley had wanted to be a trophy wife and stay at home while he worked and Hotch considered that lazy, although he would have understood her not working if she had been pregnant or had a child to take care of, although there were certainly other options for childcare in what was the late 20th century.

Hotch sighed again and decided to think about it at a later date as he still had a lot of paperwork to finish, but didn't he always?

~~~Spencer and Aaron~~~