A/N: And here it is. *gulps loudly* And yes, it's a little early. The FF gremlins were out last night.
Chapter 4
Hotch answered his emails that had piled up while doing his morning team reviews as he ate his lunch. One required his immediate attention which quickly turned into a lengthy conference call with the bigwigs at the JEdgar building and DOJ. His cellphone on his desk, he quickly sent a text to Reid while involved in the call. Sorry; hung up with bigwigs. We'll talk when I'm done.
Reid looked at the text on his cellphone and fidgeted in his chair. He studied the profile he was doing for the Grand Rapids, Michigan police department. Adding a few more words and correcting some grammar with his horrible typing skills, he sent his profile to Hotch and Rossi for their final approval.
Rossi involved with his own profile for the Albany, New York police, saved his work and read Reid's email. When he finished, he walked out of his office and looked over the balcony. "You got a second Dr. Reid," he asked, nodding Reid to take the steps up to his office. Reid got out of his chair, ascending the steps.
They walked into Rossi's office and Dave sat down. Reid did the same across his desk. "First off, your profile to the Grand Rapids PD was spot on; send it." Reid nodded, with a smile. "Second Reid, relax," Rossi smiled. Reid looked at him. "Hotch isn't blowing you off, making you sweat more about your review; he's dealing with the politics of his job."
"You sure Rossi?"
Dave smiled. "Who do you think sent me a text to deliver that very message?"
Reid stood up. "Thanks Rossi," he smiled, starting to walk out of Rossi's office.
"And kid," Rossi said. Reid stopped and looked at him. "Like I said: relax," he smiled. "Just be honest with Hotch."
Reid smiled. "Morgan told me the same thing earlier."
"Wise advice," Rossi smiled. Reid started to leave again. "Spencer, listen to that."
Reid turned and smiled at him. "Thanks Dave." He got the Rossi wink and he left his office, returning to his desk.
Twenty minutes later, Hotch walked up to his desk. "Reid, I'm so sorry….."
"Don't worry Hotch," Reid smiled. "Rossi," he nodded towards Dave's office, "explained it to me." He paused for a few seconds. "Can I add I'm glad I don't have your job," he asked with a small smile.
Hotch smiled back. "There are days I wish someone else had my job instead of me; today is one." Reid smiled. "Let's do this," Hotch added. Reid followed him up the steps to Hotch's office.
Hotch motioned him into one of the chairs, shut the door, walked behind his desk and sat down. He reached for a file and looked across his desk. "Reid, the only comment I have on your eval is how much you've improved on firing range quals. Who knew back in the day you'd get an eighty-nine percent rating," Hotch smiled.
Reid proudly smiled. "After what happened to Emily, I wanted to get better. I took your advice 'back in the day' and along with Agent Lowe, the most patient Range Master we've had around here, finally got what you tried to tell me."
Hotch shook his head. "All I care about is you backed my play with Philip Dowd then." Reid smiled at the memory. "But Reid," Hotch said, looking into his eyes, "both Morgan and I have noticed your growing scores; you're improving every time. That is why Morgan puts you in tactical situations more. And you had his back with David Cunningham with the case in Wisconsin a couple of years ago. Reid, I hate to sound trite or pandering; but I'm proud of you. You've really matured over the years."
Dr. Reid smiled. "I've felt that too Hotch. I realize I'm just not the brains of the team. I have more to contribute; and I like that."
Hotch smiled back. "So do I," he said shutting the file. "How are you really doing?"
"Hotch?"
Hotch shook his head. "Remember when I was doing the grief assessments for Emily?" Reid nodded. "Rossi hammered me over the head. 'You've lost more recently than all of us'." he quoted. He looked at Reid. "And he was right."
"But the past couple of years, you've surpassed me on that." Reid intently looked at him. "First Emily, even with her re-joining us but then leaving again; so did Blake. And then there's Maeve and Gideon."
Reid smiled at him. "I'm still going to the movies." Hotch smiled, remembering their conversation after the Owen Savage incident. "Because Emily came back with the circumstances involved, I could understand that." Hotch eyed him. "I know; I wasn't the most understanding with JJ at first. It takes me time to make sense of things." Hotch knew better than to interrupt him.
"That's why Blake leaving didn't hurt so much." He looked at Hotch. "Don't get me wrong; I miss her. But as I looked back, I saw the signs that she was starting to struggle. Remember the case in West Virginia with the feuding families? The unsub tried to drown Blake?" Hotch nodded. "That spooked her; when I got shot in Texas that was her undoing." He looked at Hotch. "Like you, I won't betray any confidences," he said. "But all that brought back some painful memories for her." Hotch nodded.
"Losing Gideon shook me worse than that Hotch," Reid said, looking at him. "Rossi is your mentor; imagine losing him." Hotch shook his head at the thought. Reid looked deeper into Hotch's eyes. "I know you can relate to that." Hotch nodded again. "Gideon was everything to me when I joined this unit as a scrawny, geek kid. He made you and everyone else introduce me as Dr. Reid." Hotch smiled. "He was my mentor, my confidant," Reid said. "My friend." He paused to think a bit.
"Yet Hotch, in a way, when he left the unit, it pushed me to grow. I no longer had my Linus security blanket." Hotch smiled, remembering the Charlie Brown and Snoopy comics that were a Reid favorite. "And like you said, I did. And no Hotch," he said, looking at his boss, "You weren't trite or pandering." Hotch looked at him. "Like everyone else around here, I took solace in solving Gideon's final case. That gave me closure."
Hotch looked at him. "Did the chess game help?" Reid looked at him. "Reid, what did Rossi sit down with when he challenged you?"
"His usual glass of scotch," Reid quickly answered.
Hotch smiled. "He gave me one before he sat down with you; and the jet is a small space that I'm sure you noticed." Reid smiled. "Who won the chess game?"
It was Reid's turn to smile. "Rossi turned out to be a better opponent than I anticipated."
Hotch laughed. "How many moves?"
"Nineteen," the young genius smiled. "Can I ask you something Hotch?"
"Sure," he slightly smiled.
"The scotch on the jet is part of the Bureau budget," Reid inquired. Hotch nodded with a smile. "I thought that would be one of the first things to go with the budget cuts."
Hotch shook his head. "With the job we do, travelling so much, the Bureau allows that small perk." Reid looked at him. "Trust me; it's small compared to other things in the Bureau budget."
They shared an awkward silence for a few seconds. "And Maeve?"
"Maeve," Reid said, shaking his head. "I'll never forget her." He eyed Hotch. "Maeve in a lot of ways is like Haley to you." Hotch looked at him. "We both lost our greatest love in our lives. You slowly move on, finally learning that life must move forward. But do we ever really accept it?" Hotch looked at him again. "I'm of the firm belief we never really can. There's a part of our hearts that will not accept that. But the brain tells us we must."
Hotch looked at Reid. "They will always have a special corner of our hearts. And we'll never let go of that."
"Exactly," Reid said. "Yet, like you, I've learned to move past that ache and loss. We now just hang onto the wonderful memories."
Hotch shook his head. "This is supposed to be your assessment." Reid smiled. "Bottom line; are you OK?"
Reid smiled more. "I'm OK Hotch."
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A/N: I think too much of my readers to make you dive into your CM iMDB link. Philip Dowd was the unsub in L.D.S.K. (S1). David Cunningham was the unsub in Rabid (S9). Do I really have to remind any CM fan who Owen Savage is? *whispers* S3 Elephant Memory. The West Virginia case was Blood Relations (S9). Reid getting shot and their shared secret with Blake was Angels and Demons (S9 final two episodes).