This takes place at the beginning of season 6, right after JJ left. Also, in this, Remy was never banished from NO and is still a part of the Guild, ready to take over for this father


Nine Years Later

Nice years had gone by since that day in the Los Angeles sheriff's office. Nine years since a nineteen year old Spencer Reid had walked away from his old life and started his new one. There'd been plenty of moments over those years that Spencer had had cause to both celebrate and loathe the choice he'd made that day in that little interview room. Times where he knew for sure that he'd done the right thing and times where he'd regretted it more than anything else. Most of the time, it was a decision that sat inside of him, one that he didn't ever forget and that, in his more honest moments, he could admit he'd never quite come to terms with.

He had a job that he'd been surprised to discover he truly loved. One that was fulfilling and good and that he was good at. Jason had seen the potential in him all those years ago and he'd help to nurture and cultivate it. He'd encouraged Spencer to grow into the profiler that he was now. A good profiler, one who was a part of the elite team at the BAU. The years hadn't been easy ones; the team had their series of ups and downs. In some ways, Spencer could honestly say he wasn't sure which lifestyle had been more dangerous. The one he'd led before, or the one he was in now. He'd certainly come closer to death more times in this line of work.

The life he had now was so different than what he'd pictured back then. It was his life, though. Spencer had embraced it with everything he had, cutting ties to his old life just as he'd been told. He'd changed, reinvented himself, and he had left the person he'd been far, far behind. The people who knew him then wouldn't recognize him now, and the friends he had now wouldn't believe the boy he'd once been.

If sometimes he felt a pang in his heart for the loss of that life, or for the loss of the people who had been in that life, well, that was his own business. It was safer this way. Safer to stay apart. For all of them.

Little did Spencer know that the barriers he'd built between his old life and new wouldn't hold out forever. They were about to come down in a spectacular fashion and there would be no more hiding. The truth was going to come out and there would be no telling what would be left standing when it was all done.


"Come on, Reid!" Derek cajoled. "I'll owe you for it, I swear."

Spencer looked at his best friend with amusement and exasperation. For the past ten minutes Derek had been trying to convince Spencer to come out with him after work. It was kind of entertaining to see just how much effort he was putting into trying to convince him. Usually a simple no, or a few minutes of teasing, were all it took to get his friend to back off. Tonight, that wasn't enough. Derek was perched on the edge of his desk and was pulling out everything in his arsenal to try and get Spencer to agree. He'd even roped in Emily, who was sitting over at her desk watching them with a smile. It hadn't taken much to get her to chime in, though.

He knew why they were doing it. Ever since JJ had left, his friends had been worried about him. They all knew he didn't take to change or loss all that well. After the way he'd reacted when Jason left…well, they'd been prepared for just about anything. This time around they weren't going to let him hide out and mourn privately.

As much as he appreciated their efforts, though, he really didn't feel like spending an evening at a noisy club or bar. "I appreciate it, Morgan, I really do. I'm just not in the mood to go out."

"It'll be good for you, kid. You need to get out more."

"Large groups of people really aren't my thing." Spencer reminded him.

That didn't deter Derek in the least bit. "We'll get a booth at the back, just the three of us. It's us you'd be coming to hang out with, man, not everyone else."

This wasn't something that Derek was just going to let go. Spencer could see that. He sat back in his seat, grateful that his work was pretty much done for the day anyways. Resting his arms on the armrests, he folded his hands over his stomach and rocked back a little to look up at his friend. Derek was looking down at him so earnestly, it was damn hard to say no. And Spencer really, really wanted to say no. He didn't want to go out tonight. He didn't really want to go out any night. It wasn't just because of their recent loss of JJ, either. "Morgan." He held up a hand, cutting off whatever Derek had been about to say. "No, please. I know you're just trying to help, I do, but I just…" He blew out a breath and looked down, shrugging uncomfortably. "I'd just like to go home."

"It's fine, Reid." Emily interjected. She, too, cut off Derek, giving him a sharp look and a quick shake of the head over the top of Spencer's head, where the young genius wouldn't see. When she spoke, her voice was full of understanding. "You just enjoy a relaxing night. We've all earned it and we're all entitled to spend it however we want."

Gratitude filled Spencer. He looked up and gave her a half smile. "Thanks."

He should've known better than to think that Derek would give up that easily on him. The man was determined to get Spencer out of his house one way or another. It'd be extremely frustrating if he didn't know the amount of caring that was behind it. "Okay, fine, no clubs or bars." Derek said. "What about my place, this weekend? I got the newest Iron Man movie. You bring the drinks, I got the movie and the pizza, and we can hang out, just the two of us."

Now that was definitely something more his speed. Spencer's shoulders relaxed and lost a bit of their tension. When he looked up at Derek, it was with an honest, slightly relieved smile. "That sounds great, Morgan." Though he did like his solitude, a day spent hanging out on Derek's couch watching movies, something he'd done countless times over the years, sounded absolutely perfect.

Derek looked pleased with himself for having found something that Spencer agreed to. "Great. Just drop by around lunchtime."

"Sounds great."

Pleased with his plans, Derek finally pushed himself up off Spencer's desk. He didn't get very far, though. Just as he reached his feet at the side of the desk, something caught his eye. "Well hello there." Derek murmured. He stood up a little straighter, eyes drifting over towards the bullpen entrance, and an appreciative smile curved his lips. "Who is that?"

Spencer turned absently to look in the direction Derek was gazing. He had to do a double take when he saw the woman walking in beside Anderson. The sight of her hit him like a fist to the gut. "Belle." He breathed out.

It'd been years since he'd seen her—nine, almost ten years—and though she'd aged, time had treated her well. There was plenty of the girl he'd known in the woman that she was now. There was a bit more fullness to those cherry red lips, a hint of something more in the ice blue eyes. Long blond hair was pulled into tiny cornrows that were pulled up into some elaborate twist on the back of her head, a few left cascading down to the bottom of her shoulder blades. Her tall, well-toned body was stunningly showcased in a black leather pencil skirt, a button up white shirt, and a wide belt over her slender waist. Her legs were bare between the skirt and the strappy sandals she wore. She never had liked stockings. That was a strange thing to remember, yet it drifted through his mind then. All in all, she looked just as gorgeous as he remembered, only slightly more mature than she'd been.

Pushing up to his feet, Spencer ignored the sound of Derek's voice beside him, the curious "Reid? Do you know her?"

Blue eyes found his the instant that he was upright and Spencer saw the relief flash. Completely ignoring the man escorting her, Belle made straight for Spencer. "Spencer!"

The two met halfway and Spencer was pulled into a hug that was both familiar and different all at the same time. Belle pulled him in just as tight as she'd always done, a quick squeeze, and then drew back to cup his face in her hands before giving him a quick kiss, another thing she'd always done. She'd done it back in the day to embarrass him and because she'd loved watching him blush. His reaction wasn't any different now. His cheeks were warm and he could actually feel the surprised stares of more than a few people around him. Only, looking at her eyes, there was none of her usual spark there, no humor at his discomfort. Just something that froze Spencer's insides.

His ability to feel one thing and show another hadn't been lost over the years. If anything, it'd improved. Right then he worked on projecting only happiness at seeing his old friend. The rest of it, he shoved down. "Belle. It's so good to see you." That, at least, was no lie. "What're you doing here? I wasn't expecting a visit." Talk about understatements!

Belle could bullshit with the best of them. She smiled, reaching out to clasp his hands in hers. Only he could feel just how tightly she squeezed him. "I was hoping to talk to y', but I didn't know where y' lived. Can y' spare a moment?" That was a blatant lie, he knew. Belle could find out anything she wanted. That included his address. Her eyes slid over the others nearby and then back to him, lips quirking in a flirtatious smile. "Somewhere a bit more private, oui?"

"You can use my office, Reid." Derek interjected.

That offer didn't come without a price tag. Spencer knew his friend would want to know what was going on later. But it was also an offer that Spencer wasn't going to refuse. Derek's office was watched by cameras but it had no audio in there. It was their best chance at privacy.

Holding his arm out, Spencer offered his elbow. "Right this way."

She slipped her hand into his arm and smiled up at him as he led her away. "I think we've caused quite de stir, here."

"They're not exactly used to seeing me with such a beautiful woman on my arm."

"Flatterer." She tipped her head to smile at him as he led her out the bullpen doors. "Good to see some things haven't changed. Y'r still sweetly shy and endearingly polite."

"My mother taught me the proper way to treat a lady. I don't know any other way to be." Spencer said simply.

She leaned in against him, bumping her hip to his. "I remember a time when y' could barely talk to me wit'out stuttering and stammering and turning so deliciously red. Y' was a sweet thing back den."

He gave a low hum that could've been agreement and led her down the hall to the door to Derek's office. It wasn't until they were inside and the door firmly shut that he finally spoke again. He turned around from the door to find her sitting on the desk, hands resting on the edge and legs crossed. The mask was gone from her eyes, though. So was his. He straightened up a little and met her gaze head on. "What's going on, Belle? What are you doing here?"

"Right to de point den, huh? Not even a 'how y' do' f' an old friend?" She arched one pale eyebrow at him.

He pushed a few steps away from the door but didn't come in any closer. "I haven't seen you in nine and a half years and you suddenly decide to show up, at my work, though we both know it would've taken you seconds to find my home address. In fact, I'm betting you already knew my address before you even came here. That tells me that either time is of the essence, or...going to my place isn't safe. Neither one of those is a good option. Now, I repeat, what's going on?"

The smile on Belle's lips grew wider and she huffed out a soft laugh. "Y' always did see de things others didn't. I always liked dat about y'. All right den, straight to de point. When was de last time y' saw Remy?"

That threw him. He blinked at her a few times as his brain processed her question. "I…you know when I left, Belle. You know when and why better than anyone else. I know Remy would've told you."

"Oui, he did." Belle agreed. Her gaze was sharp, locked on his and not backing down. It dared him to lie to her. "I aint stupid, Spencer, so don't try acting like I am. I know de story behind why y' left, just like I know y' and Remy have seen one another since den. Who do y' think help covers on his end when he vanishes, hm? So don't play dese games with me. When was de last time y' saw him?"

That feeling of wrongness inside of Spencer grew. This wasn't good. It wasn't good at all. If Belle was here, asking about Remy, about when he'd last seen him—she wouldn't do that unless it was a last resort. Unless she hadn't been able to find him anywhere else and she was desperate. "It's been almost a year." Spencer finally said. His voice was empty, flat. "When I was shot. I woke up from surgery and he was in my hospital room. That's really the only time I ever see him—when I end up in the hospital."

"He keeps track of y'. Y'r safety's important to him."

"His safety's important to me, too." Spencer snapped back, life returning to his voice, a defensive note creeping in.

The smile Belle gave him was surprisingly gentle. One that very few would ever get the privilege to see on her. "Je sais."

Just those two words, yet they diffused some of his temper. She did know. Belle was one of the only people who really knew just how much Spencer cared. She understood just how much of a sacrifice he'd made when he walked away.

Blowing out a breath, Spencer ran a hand through his hair, pushing it back from his face. "What's going on, Belle? You wouldn't be here asking me about Remy unless you'd exhausted everything else."

"Remy'd be furious if he knew I was here talking with y'." Belle agreed. She sighed out a breath and her body slumped slightly, giving him a glimpse of the true worry that she was carrying. It didn't ease his own tension any. She wiped a hand over her mouth and then dropped both hands to her lap. Moving closer, Spencer went up to the desk, hitching one hip on the edge. He laid a hand hesitantly on her arm, never one quite comfortable with offering physical comfort. She knew and understood that. Her hand came up, catching his to give a brief squeeze, and her lips curved up just the slightest bit. Then she dropped her hand again and straightened up, squaring her shoulders with that inner strength she'd always possessed. "It's been three weeks since anyone's seen hide or hair of Remy. He just up an disappeared without a word to anyone. De last anyone knew, he was on a job in Seattle. Got it done, an he told me he was gonna be on his way home dat night. But dere's no record of him getting on his plane. Once he left de hotel, it's like he vanished. We can't find any trace of him. Not de t'ieves, not de assassins, none of us."

Something inside of Spencer twisted. He pushed it down, fought back the nauseous feeling. Licking dry lips, he tried to think, tried to be logical and not let his imagination run away with him. Tried not to think of all the things that could've happened. "Is…" He paused, clearing his throat, and his voice was just a bit stronger when he tried again. "Is there a chance that he decided to take some time off? Or go underground? He always was known to go his own way with things."

"Non." Belle shook her head. "Not wit'out telling me. Ever since he started taking over more and more f' his Papa, he's been a bit more serious about things. Even if he doesn't tell me where he's going, he always makes a point to at least let me know dat he is going. He says his Papa taught him dat. Never disappear wit'out at least letting someone y' trust know dat y'r going. Den dere's someone who might know if y' go missing. Like wit' dis."

That sounded like Jean-Luc's advice. It made sense, too. Okay, so things just got a bit worse. Spencer curled his one hand against the edge of the desk. That meant that this wasn't just one of Remy's retreats when things got too crowded or too hot. "I'm assuming that he has a discreet way of contacting you if he's been forced to go underground for some kind of threat?"

"Oui. We've got a system set up. Even in de shittiest situations, he would've found a way to follow it. Three weeks, Spencer. A week, I wouldn't have stressed. Two was pushing it, but I was willing to just keep quietly looking. He could've just been trying to lay low. But three? Dere's something wrong here. Something big. And I don't know who de hell to trust." She lifted her head and locked cool blue eyes on him. In them was more emotion than she ever let show there. "I need y'r help, Spencer."

"Of course." There was no other answer he could give. No way that he could walk away from this.

Wiping a hand over his mouth, Spencer tried to think of what he could do that the others hadn't already done. The resources of thieves and assassins were immense. The amount of favors they could call in on something…then again, Belle had probably tried to keep that down to a minimum. She'd said that Remy was taking over more and more for Jean-Luc. That meant that he was in a position of authority. If word got out that he'd up and vanished, it could open them up for a lot of trouble. This was something they were probably going to try and keep quiet. The thieves wouldn't want everyone knowing. They'd want to keep this quiet and handle it in-house. That meant there were some things they might not have been able to do.

He had to handle this carefully on his end, too. He needed to be as discreet as they were. Not just for Remy's sake, but for his own, too. With Jason no longer here, there was no one on the team that knew about Spencer's past. They had no idea whatsoever about any of that. Jason had made good on his word when he'd brought Spencer here. He'd helped him start over, without anything from his old life hanging over him. Spencer had reinvented himself. To the people here, to his friends, he was nothing more than the shy little genius from Vegas. They knew about his mother, about her being in Bennington, but only because a case had brought it to light. They had no idea about the rest of it and Spencer wanted to keep it that way. If the truth came out now, it could destroy the life he'd built here.

What kind of help could he offer, here? What could he do that Belle hadn't already had done? Running Remy's name through the system would throw up a ton of red flags. Besides, Remy wouldn't be dumb enough to use his real name for anything, and Spencer had no idea what kind of aliases he was using these days. Maybe he could look at the hotel. There had to be some kind of footage from there to show that Remy left. If he could plot out the man's route, maybe find where exactly Remy had vanished from, they might be able to have some kind of starting point.

"All right, let me see what I can do." Spencer said. He straightened up from the desk, pushing his hair back from his face again. "It's going to be a bit tricky if I want to keep everything discreet, and there's not a whole lot I can do without more details, but here isn't the best place to get into that. I get off in an hour and a half. Where can I meet with you at?"

"I'm staying at de Ritz-Carlton in Georgetown, in de Potomac suite. We can meet up dere. I've got a few of m' most trusted people wit' me."

"Okay, you head back there and I'll wrap up things here at work and try to get out early. When I get off work, I'll head over and we'll talk a little more openly and build a plan." He reached out to her and Belle reached back, their hands catching together. Her fingers felt so delicate in his, yet he knew just what kind of damage they were capable of. Holding on, he gave them a gentle squeeze. "We'll find him, Belle. Whatever it takes, we'll bring him home."


After he escorted Belle back to the elevators, it was time for Spencer to try and figure out what he could do. There was no time for the panic that was curling inside of him. He needed to finish up his work and get out of here as quickly as possible. All of the things that he could think of to try and locate his friend weren't things that he could really do here. Not without tipping off his team.

There was a little voice inside of him that was screaming underneath this calm and cool exterior. Remy was missing! Remy was missing! There was no way he'd just up and vanish for three weeks straight without telling someone. Spencer didn't care how long they'd been apart; he knew that with absolute certainty. Belle was right to be worried. Remy wouldn't do this, not willingly. Someone had to have taken him. Orno. No. He wasn't going to think that. If someone had killed him, it would've shown up in the system and Belle would know. Remy's unique physicality would mark him even if he was labeled as a John Doe. His eyes would give him away every time. Unless there wasn't anything left for anyone to find, a voice inside whispered.

Spencer shoved that down with a shudder. No, he wasn't going to think like that, because if he thought like that, it would mean that there was nothing he could do and he absolutely refused to accept that. Someone had taken Remy. And if there was no sign of him yet, no ransom, no demands, no anything, then it meant that he was still being held somewhere, still alive. All he had to do was figure out which one of Remy's multitude of enemies had done this. Then, he would figure out why, and he would bring Remy back home. Alive. There was no other alternative.

When he made his way back out to the bullpen, he wasn't really that surprised to find that Emily and Derek were waiting for him. Nor was he surprised when Derek practically pounced on him the minute he got within speaking distance. "Well, well, well, pretty boy." Derek drawled out, his face alight with humor. "You've been holding out on us."

"It's not what you think." Spencer said automatically. He brushed past his friend and went right to his desk, slipping down into his seat.

Emily was watching him as well, but not with the same amusement that Derek was. Her expression was more worried. "Is everything all right, Reid?"

He'd already thought on his way in here about what he would say to his friends. Keeping it as close to the truth as possible seemed the best route. He didn't want to lie; he always tried to avoid lying to them at all costs. Instead, there was just plenty that he hadn't told them. He blew out a breath and folded his hands on the papers on his desk, gathering himself. "I'm okay." That part was automatic, no matter what the situation. "I just…I've known Belle since I was in college. She came to ask me for a favor, that's all. It's fine."

His serious tone had effectively taken away any of Derek's teasing attitude. His friend was just as worried looking now as Emily was. "Is there anything we can do to help?"

Spencer looked up at them both and gave them a soft smile. "No, but thank you. I appreciate the offer."

They'd all known one another long enough, had worked together and been through various hells together, that they'd all learned how to trust one another, and when to push things or when to back off. The two agents could see that this was something that was best left alone for now. Pushing Spencer when he didn't want to talk about something was a quick way to get his back up and to piss him off. That wasn't what they wanted. "All right, kid." Derek said. "But, you need us, you know where we are, okay?"

"Thanks." Spencer said.

His friends left him alone after that and Spencer appreciated it. He was having a hard enough time trying to focus on finishing the work in front of him. His mind only wanted to focus on one thing. Please let him be okay, Spencer thought to himself, bending low over his work. He closed his eyes and sent up a fervent prayer to deities he didn't even believe in. Please, just let him be okay.