Author: Ren Kayashima

Genre: Family/Thriller/ Mystery

Rating: T

Disclaimer:

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Chapter One:

"Is this really necessary?" A teenager of seventeen asked her aunt as they walked quickly towards the FBI Academy. She was five foot six, with long black hair and striking green eyes. She was dressed casually in a pair of jean shorts that stopped mid-thigh, and a black graphic t-shirt. Large bass headphones hung off of her neck and were connected to an iPhone that stuck out of her pocket. A black messenger bag hung off of her shoulder and smacked against her legs as she quickly tried to keep up with her aunt's quick footsteps.

Her aunt stopped to look at the teen and sighed. "Rori, he's your dad," she stated tiredly. She had been trying to put this plan into action for two weeks, but the stubborn teenager was digging her heels into the ground and wouldn't leave the house.

"But, Aunt Kate, my mom didn't even want him to know I existed," the girl reminded her aunt for the sixteenth time in three days.

"Yeah, well, I'm not your mom," Kate said as they started walking again. She really needed to get this done while she had the courage to tell him. If she didn't do this today then she never would. "Besides, I can't take you to Italy with me, and I refuse to let you stay in a dorm."

The young adult stopped walking and looked at the older woman in front of her. Kate was in her late thirties. There had been a large age gap between Kate and Rori's mother, Christine. "Kate, you can't just walk into the BAU and into his office. What are you going to say? 'Hey Dave, I know we haven't spoken for eighteen years, but there are some important things I need to tell you. My older sister died two years ago with a big secret, and here she is! Tada, you have a daughter, she's seventeen, so here you go.' Come on Kate, he'll think you're on crack or some other drug. I don't know about you, but I would prefer not to be escorted out of the FBI Academy."

Kate looked around and sure enough people were starting to stare. "Rori, don't do this right now. Come on," she ordered

Rori looked around and spotted a bench about ten feet away. She pulled her headphones on and planted herself on the wooden bench. "Have fun," she said.

Kate walked over to her niece and placed her hand on her hips as she tried to look intimidating. "Rori Morre, get your ass up right now. You're coming into the BAU with me."

Rori looked up at her aunt unfazed. "Can't hear you. Have you changed your mind about letting me stay in a dorm?" Her tone was playful, but a frown started to form. "What if he doesn't want me? Did you ever think about that?"

Kate sighed; she was reaching her boiling point with the teenager, and now she had put her niece in a depressed mood. "Fine," she blew out a slow breath. "Don't you dare leave this bench. I mean it!" Kate pointed a straight finger at Rori's nose to make sure she understood. Rori wasn't listening to music, so she knew that the teen could hear her.

"No promises," Rori sang out as she pulled out six wooden pieces from her bag and started working on the popular wooden puzzle.

0o0o0o0

Dr. Reid was about to walk into the Academy when he found a teenager sitting cross-legged on a bench pulling apart and putting back together a simple star puzzle. He smiled when he remembered the story that Prentiss had told him. The teenager looked up at the young doctor and smiled gently. She pulled her large headphones off and set the puzzle down next to her. "Hello," she said.

"Hello," Reid responded. He gestured to the completed wooden puzzle next to her. "You figured out the star puzzle."

The girl looked at the wooden star and shrugged nonchalantly. "It's not the first time I've done it. I left my travel chess set at a friend's, so I brought this along to keep my hands busy while I thought about some things."

"You like chess?" Reid asked a little surprised. Not many people her age played chess. He knew a few teenage boys who played, but they participated in competitions.

The girl nodded. "Mostly because it involves strategy and meticulous planning."

"I keep a board in a drawer at my desk," Reid nodded. He liked to spend his lunch hour mindlessly playing on of his games. "Are you waiting for someone?"

"No, my aunt went to go talk to Supervisory Special Agent David Rossi," the teen answered looking around. The Academy grounds were filled with lush green grass, and wandering students.

Reid shifted slightly. "Do you want to come into the BAU? My desk is in the same area as Agent Rossi's office. It's a little hot out here don't you think?" Reid explained. The news this morning said that it would be hot and humid. It was the beginning of July and most people couldn't stand the humidity here.

"What's your name?" the teen asked. She wasn't about to be escorted into a federal building by a man who at this point was nameless.

"Dr. Spencer Reid," Reid answered. He didn't know why he hadn't given his name in the first place. After all she was a teenager. She probably had a mother who told her not to talk to strangers or something like that.

"Rori Morre," Rori smiled. "So, you're not a medical doctor. What is your Ph.D. in?" she asked. There was no way he could be a medical doctor. He looked like a teacher's aide.

"Chemistry, Mathematics, and Engineering," Reid listed as he had many time before.

"Wow," Rori whistled. She only knew two people with . and they lived in California. They were friends of her mother. "I start at Georgetown in the fall," she said trying to earn some points with the doctor. Georgetown was a private school, and she had worked hard to get into it.

Reid nodded. Georgetown was a good school. He found this conversation easy. Schools were something he was familiar with. He searched high and low to find out what school he wanted to go to. He finally settled on Caltech. "Do you know what you might major in?" he asked.

Rori stood up and dusted her shorts off. "Maybe psychology and sociology. I'm not all that sure yet," she said as she slipped the star puzzle into her bag. The two began walking towards the entrance and Rori began to feel a little nervous. The building was tall and intimidating and knowing that some of the greatest criminal profilers were inside was enough to make the teen curl up in a small ball.

"What do you want to do?" Reid asked. Counselors had asked him that many times before.

Rori looked up as she thought about it. "Um… well I always imagined myself being a clinical psychiatrist. Then I found out about profiling and the BAU," she answered. She wasn't about to tell him how she came to find out about profiling. Not many thirteen-year-olds picked up books on serial killers.

"You want to work here?" Reid asked.

Rori nodded slightly as she interlocked her fingers behind her back. A small smile played on her lips. "Maybe, I guess I kind of look at profiling as if it was a superpower. You can get into the head of a criminal, and that's kind of cool. When I was little I wanted to be just like Wonder Woman. Tough, smart, and able to take care of herself. I guess it's childhood whimsy."

Reid nodded. He could kind of understand that. "And a clinical psychiatrist?" Not many people went into college thinking that they would work with mental patients unless there was some personal reason for it. Reid picked up a visitors pass from the front desk before handing it over to Rori. Rori clipped it onto her shoulder bag and followed the agent to the elevator.

Rori looked at the floor. "One of my best friends is a schizophrenic. She always calls me from the hospital when the voices start to act up. I want to be able to help her, but at this point there isn't much I can do except listen. I think the mind is so fragile and it can do so many things. I want to be there to help people like my friend. You know, let her know that there are people out there who want to help her."

The two exited the elevator and entered the BAU. Reid found the rest of his team looking up at Rossi's office. Muffle shouting could be heard from behind the closed door.

"What's going on?" Reid asked.

"Some woman came in about ten minutes ago," Morgan answered. "She and Rossi were talking, and now it looks like it's turned into a full blown shouting match."

Reid looked at Rori to find her looking at the ground as she messed with the cord to her headphones. "Your aunt?" he asked her.

Rori nodded but didn't look up. "Can I see your chessboard?" Rori asked. She wasn't about to explain why her aunt and Agent Rossi were screaming at each other.

Reid stared at her for a moment before walking over to his desk. "Do you know what they're arguing about?" he asked as he pulled the wooden board and pieces from his bottom drawer.

Rori took the items and sat down on the floor before nodding. She started to set the board up quickly as Hotch came out of his office. The team leader joined the other agents in the bullpen.

"Hey, do you know who he's fighting with?" Prentiss asked Hotch. She was kind of hoping it was an ex of some sort.

"No," Hotch answered. He looked down at Rori who was moving the pieces methodically across the board. "Hello?" he asked.

Rori looked up and but her lip before responding. "Hi. I'm… uh, Rori. Agent Rossi's arguing with my aunt. I'm sorry if it distracted you from your work. I'm sure it's very important."

"Do you know why they're yelling at each other?" Hotch asked curiously. The girl reminded him of someone, but he was having trouble placing it.

"There are two possible reasons for the argument. It's hard to tell which one they're on because I can't make out any words," Rori answered and she took her hand off of a black knight. "One, Kate never told him about the death of one of his ex-wives. I think she was the second wife."

"Christine?" Hotch asked. The pieces were starting to come together, and he didn't like what where this was going.

Rori nodded as she moved a white bishop across the board. "The second thing has to do with the fact that Christine was six weeks pregnant when their divorce was finalized."

"Is Christine your mom?" Morgan asked. Pretty much everyone seemed to be on the same page when it came to Rori and her aunt.

"Yes," Rori answered simply never looking up from the board. If she had, she would have seen all of the astonished looks on everyone's faces when she confirmed their suspicions. "Christine Morre is… was my mom. She died two years ago. I've been living here in D.C with Kate since then. Before I lived in California." She looked up and bobbed her head slightly as she mentally corrected herself. "San Francisco," she clarified.

Hotch took the lead in questioning the teen. "Why didn't Kate tell Dave earlier?"

Rori paused as she processed his question. So this guy and her 'father' were close. Everyone else called him Rossi. "Because Kate has a job here, she could take care of me. However, now, she's going to Italy, and I'm going to Georgetown in the fall. I have to stay here in Virginia for all my orientation and registration. Kate has to go to Italy for her job, and it's a yearlong position. Perhaps longer. We've come to an impasse when it comes to my living arrangements."

Kate came storming out of Rossi's office fuming mad. Rossi followed.

"You're unbelievable!" she shouted as she threw her hands up in the air.

"Can you not shout," Rossi stated as he looked around.

Rori peeked over the desk and slowly stood up when Kate came down the small flight of stairs. The older woman looked at her niece in surprise. "Rori, I thought I told you not to move from that bench."

Rori looked down at the chess set on the floor. She bit her lip again. "Dr. Reid has a chess set. He was letting me use it while you talked to Agent Rossi," she explained. "Well shouted at Agent Rossi," she whispered as she started to crack her knuckles out of nervousness.

"What happened to the wooden puzzle?" Kate asked.

Rori reached into her bag and pulled out the completed puzzle. "It's too easy, so I was just taking it apart and putting it back together as I listened to my music," she said as she started messing with the puzzle again.

Kate just stared at her niece in disbelief. "Rori, I know you're a genius, but can't you be normal for once," she huffed. It wasn't even time for lunch and she needed a nap.

Rori winced as she frowned. "You know that's difficult for me." She put the puzzle away and started cleaning up the chess board. She handed them to Reid quickly. "Thank you for letting me use it," she smiled slightly. She looked at her aunt as she held her shoulder bag with one hand. "Kate, I think I'm going to call Kenta and Kaoru, and see if they'll go to the park concert with me tonight. I'll stay at their place, so don't worry about leaving without me."

Rori quickly squeezed out of the teams tight group and made her way out of the BAU. She avoided everyone's gaze as Kate raked her hands through her hair.

Rossi walked over to Kate. "That could have gone better."

Kate turned her anger at herself towards Dave. "I'm not dealing with your crap, Dave! Living with her these past two years has been really hard. She spends her time at the house holed up in her room reading books and writing music. She doesn't talk to me, and I've had it. She rarely hangs out with anyone but her three friends, and she tells me every day that she wants to go back to California. She's the strangest kid I've ever met."

"Kate, she's a teenager," Dave said. "They will always be foreign concepts because the only people who understand all that angst are other teenagers."

Morgan looked at Rossi. "She's a genius?" he asked. Although judging by the way she played chess, it was obvious she was intelligent. She played herself.

Rossi nodded going on what Kate had told him only five minutes ago. "She has an established IQ of 179."

"Did you ever think that she doesn't hang out with anyone because she's smarter than them?" Reid asked. "It would be hard to make friends with people who don't understand the way her mind works." He was speaking from experience. Growing up as the local genius was hard.

Kate looked at Reid and shook her head. He couldn't possibly understand what she had been through. "You know what, I'm done. I have to find Rori and figure something out."

"She told you where she was going to be. I don't think you should worry. She has a cell phone that you can reach her on. Just go home like she told you too," Rossi stated trying to be the better man in this situation. Being angry would get him nowhere, and he needed answers. "If it bothers you that much, I can go looking for her. Perhaps she can answer my questions without screaming at me."

0o0o0o0

Rori sat in a small secluded picnic area of the Academy. She was looking at the pages of a large book, but didn't seem to actually read them. Rather, she was in deep thought. Nobody actually seemed to notice the small hiding spot, and Rori was okay with that. She wanted to be left alone, left to her thoughts. She finally blinked and started to read again.

0o0o0o0

Reid stood up from his desk at twelve. It was time for him to get out of the desk chair and head to his favorite lunch spot: a quiet table where he could read and eat in peace.

When he actually arrived at the small table, he was disappointed to find that his table had been discovered by someone else. He sighed and walked over to get a better look.

"Rori?" he asked as he looked at his sandwich and soda.

Rori looked up from her book and smiled. "Hey Dr. Reid," she greeted.

"Agent Rossi is out looking for you," Reid told her. He hoped this would get her talking.

Rori shrugged as if she didn't really care. Actually it made her mentally smile. She thought about Reid's three Ph.D.'s and looked up again. "Growing up for you was hard too. Right?" she asked.

Reid looked at her and sat down next to her. "What do you mean?" He knew what she meant, but it didn't hurt to hear it from Rori's perspective.

"You're like what twenty-seven, twenty-eight. There's no way you could have three PhD's unless you were a genius. This means graduating early and being a kid who's just started to go through puberty while in college,"Rori deduced. "That can't be easy socially can it?"

"It wasn't," Reid admitted. "What about you? You didn't graduate early."

"My mom wanted me to have some semblance of a normal life. She wanted to make sure that I could function in regular everyday life. Except, I've never really been good at that kind of thing. Mostly I'll say something that will receive weird looks."

"People look at you, as if you're from a different planet," Reid nodded. He could relate. It happened more times than he cared to admit. "You feel compelled to blurt out that extra piece of knowledge."

"Being smart sucks. You remember everything and you tend to know exactly how something is done. Thus, ruining any and all future magic shows you want to attend," Rori laughed slightly. She closed her book and leaned into an open hand. She watched as people rushed by carrying bags of lunch for friends and other trying to get to lunch. "I bore easily, so my mom would have me learn a new language when I had become fluent in another. It kept me out of trouble, and gave me something to do when I finished my homework."

Reid nodded. Not every genius was alike. They all didn't excel in math and science. Others found languages, art, and music easily accessible. From the sound of it, Rori was one of many geniuses who could pick up a language rather quickly. "How many languages can you speak?"

"Five," Rori answered. "A couple romance languages, some Asian tongues."

"What did you like about school?" Reid asked.

"I really liked my digital video class. We made short films, and it was a lot of fun. I like drama and Orchestra too. It didn't matter how smart you were in those classes, so they were easier to enjoy. All that mattered was how well you acted, played, how good your movie was."

Reid smiled. He wished he was musically inclined. Maybe than he could have made some friends who like music? "What instrument do you play?"

Rori held up three fingers. "I can play the violin, cello, and piano. In school I stuck to the piano though."

Reid looked at her. He was almost certain that she hadn't eaten since before her arrival at the Academy. "Aren't you hungry?"

"Starving, but I'm trying to ignore it right now."

"There's a vending machine in the BAU. You can get something there."

Rori perked up and smiled. "Do they have Chex mix?" she asked hopefully.

Reid nodded. He himself would get a bag when he needed a little pick-me-up in the afternoon.

"I guess I could come back inside," Rori sighed. Going in would inevitably mean seeing her dad after she ran away. Not the great first impression.

"We could play chess," Reid suggested. Chess was a great bonding activity. Well, for him it was.

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