Thank you tannerose5 for reviewing! I couldn't have them not help her or risk having them seem heartless. I'll probably have an intervention some time soon about Reid's behavior.

Thank you Sue1313 for reviewing! Let's hope Spencer learns to trust her.

"This is home," Eglantine said as she and the three agents pulled up in a BAU SUV to her home. Eglantine got out with them and hurried to open the gate and door so they could get inside.

"Do you keep everything locked up?" Morgan asked as he inspected the gate's lock while the others headed for the spacious porch.

"You never know what might happen or who might be out there, so I try to keep me and my kids as safe as possible," Eglantine informed him as she unlocked the door, receiving loud barking as her keys jingled in her hands. Reid took a careful step away from the door at the deep barking, clearly not at ease at the sound of the dog.

"You have a dog," JJ pointed out with an uneasy smile as she too stepped back.

"Two actually," Eglantine told them as she slowly opened the door to reveal a tan colored dog and a black and brown colored dog that were both the size of a coffee table. "Bean, down. Jet, zuo xia."

Both dogs immediately sat down at her stern commands, though their tails were wagging and they clearly looked interested in their owner's guests. Eglantine knelt to pet the two as the three agents stepped into her home and glanced around the spacious entryway with impressed looks.

"Jarrell normally takes Jet with him when he takes the kids anywhere," Eglantine informed them, petting the brown and black dog affectionately. "He believes that a Doberman Pinscher is more effective at protecting people than a Southern Curr is."

"Why didn't he today?" Morgan asked, letting each of the dogs smell his hand so they could get used to his scent just in case he had to come here again.

"He was walking a boy home who is afraid of dogs home after Bean got a little too eager to play with him," Eglantine explained, frowning at the blonde dog who looked at her in return with sad eyes.

"Where's Jarrell's room?" JJ asked, peaking through one of the doors to see the dining room. Eglantine straightened from handling her dogs and motioned towards the other door.

"Upstairs with the other bedrooms," she informed them, leading the way. "The first floor consists of the kitchen, dining room, play room, and green house. The second floor has the bedrooms and most of the bathrooms while the third floor holds my office and the attic."

"Is your home open to patients?" JJ asked as they made their way to the second floor.

"Only for appointments. Most of my patients either come here on their own by means of the school bus or I will go meet them at their home upon their parent's request," Eglantine said as she opened the first door on the right to reveal a room clearly designed by a teenage boy. The walls were a bright red and the black carpet was a mess with various articles of clothing. The walls were covered in posters of basketball stars with a few pictures of scantly clad women hanging here and there. A stereo sat against the far wall between two pristine white doors with stacks of CDs and cassettes sitting on top of it. There was a basketball hoop hanging on the wall above his full sized bed that had plain red sheets on it. Eglantine frowned as they stepped into the room to look around and examine his things.

"Is something wrong?" JJ asked, glancing at the mother who was looking at the room like something was off.

"Jarrell always keeps his room clean, so the others will follow his example and keep the guest rooms clean," Eglantine explained, motioning to the mess all over the floor. "It's the one thing his friends tease him about since it's not normal teenage behavior."

"Do you think someone came in here and did this?" Morgan asked, looking at the room with a new light now that he knew the victim was normally neat.

"No one normally comes into our rooms when the doors are closed," Eglantine said thoughtfully as she watched the three agents go through her son's things. "We are the only permanent residents, so we try to keep our privacy somehow."

"You said that Jarrell didn't use drugs, right?" Reid said from where he was stooped over and looking through Jarrell's dresser.

"Yes I did, because my boy is as clean as a whistle," Eglantine said defensively.

"He must be a gym whistle then," Reid said, turning around to face the room as he held up a ziploc bag with a pipe and small shards of glass in it. Eglantine's eyes widened in horror at the sight of the bag as she dropped to her knees. "He has a federal offense in this bag."

"Are you sure Pretty Boy?" Morgan asked solemnly as Reid passed the bag over to him to examine with a nod. Morgan looked at his two teammates for a moment before he turned to Eglantine sadly. "This changes the whole profile of the case. We are no longer looking for a kidnapped teen, but a fugitive."

"No!" Eglantine cried out, looking at them with pain filled but determined eyes. "Jarrell wouldn't do this just like this mess is not his! He is a good boy and knows better than the act like this."

"He may know to act better, but he clearly wasn't," Reid said with a humorless laugh at her reaction.

"Hey," Morgan said, frowning at Reid's treatment of the ailing mother. Morgan swiftly took Reid's arm and led him from the room with a nod to JJ to finish up. Morgan stopped at the end of the hall, hopefully far enough away from the women so they wouldn't hear, as he turned on Reid. "What was that for?"

"She was clearly delusional about how her son really is," Reid said with a shrug.

"That's not how we go about helping families and you know that, Reid," Morgan said, eyeing the younger man for any clue as to what was wrong. "What's going on with you? You've never treated a victim's family like this before."

"Nothing's wrong," Reid snapped at Morgan, frowning at the more muscular man. Morgan gave Reid a pointed look that told the genius that he wasn't buying into that. Reid contemplated his options for a moment before he decided to give in. "I don't want anything to do with her."

"So you treat her like crap?" Morgan asked with an eyebrow raised and an amused expression on his face. "Come on Pretty Boy, you need a better reason than that for why you've been so rude."

"It's the truth," Reid sputtered, eyes wide at the fact that Morgan thought he was kidding when he knew that he was one of the few people Reid honestly confided in. "I don't want anything to do with her and you guys keep forcing her on me."

"Why don't you want anything to do with her?" Morgan asked, frowning once he realized that the young man in front of him was being serious.

"Because she seems so fake to me," Reid answered after a moment of thought. "She's all smiles and happiness until something in her perfect world goes wrong and then she shatters like she was made of china."

"My world isn't perfect," the two men freeze at the sound of Eglantine's hollow voice, both turning to see her standing a few feet down the hall. She was looking at them with a pained and tired expression, one that didn't fit Reid's idea of her normal cheery self. "By no means is my world perfect, but I try hard to make people not worry about me so I smile and laugh even when I don't want to. Quite a bit like your mask, eh, Dr. Reid?"

Reid looked at her dumbfounded while Morgan looked back and forth between them worriedly.

"I've worn a mask to hide my pain for so long that I can see through most even though I don't always want to," Eglantine explained softly, trying to smile at them though it looked more like a grimace. "Your mask is very well made, Dr. Reid, and it's clearly refined from practice, but you can't hide everything, can you?"

Reid narrowed his eyes at her accusation and moved to leave the situation, but Morgan grabbed his arm to keep him there.

"Why do you need to wear a mask kid?" Morgan asked, clearly worried for his friend. "I understand in the field, but from the way she's talking it sounds like you wear one all the time."

"Because everyone already treats me like a child, so I don't need everyone worrying about me if they see every little thing I feel," Reid snapped at his best friend before he shook his arm free and headed for the stairs.

"I'm sorry for all of this," Eglantine said sadly once Reid had left the floor. Morgan looked at her and sighed.

"Nah, it's not really your fault," he said, giving her a weak smile. "We've all been noticing that he hasn't been quite himself since Maeve, so his blow up was bound to happen to one of us."

Eglantine nodded as she mulled over his words, following the agent as they headed for the others. "Agent Morgan?"

Morgan turned at the top of the stairs at her call, seeing her curious look.

"Who's Maeve?" Eglantine asked, frowning at Morgan.

"That's something only Reid can really tell you," Morgan sighed in clear indication that it was a heavy subject to talk about. Eglantine nodded slightly and followed Morgan to the bottom floor to meet up with JJ and Reid as they discussed something in muted tones. "What's going on?"

"We were talking about how we need to get back to help with the profile since there isn't much more we can do here," JJ explained, giving Reid a frown in indication that she wasn't happy with him. "But I'm not comfortable with leaving Eglantine here alone with the Unsub still out there. For all we know, she's the target and Jarrell was just a means of getting to her."

Morgan nodded, looking thoughtful as he brought out his phone and keys.

"We'll see you later Doc," Morgan said nonchalantly as he opened the front door. JJ stepped out after him with a confused look, but smiled when Morgan slammed the door closed before Reid could follow them. "Protect the Doc well, Pretty Boy!"

JJ laughed quietly as the two headed back to their SUV, leaving their youngest member with his doctor in hopes that he opened up a bit after a night of forced co-occupation.

"You don't have to stay here if you don't want to," Eglantine said quietly to Reid's back as he stood by the front door, frozen from shock. "I'll be fine by myself."

"How are you going to protect yourself?" Reid asked in a tight voice before he cleared his throat and turned to her with a frown. "You're not exactly much of a threat."

"Says the skinniest guy I've ever met," Eglantine rolled her eyes and reached into her jacket to pull out a small hand held gun. "I have a license to carry a concealed fire arm. I've grown up fighting men larger than Morgan. And I have a knife under my mattress."

Reid could only blink at her with a stunned expression as she listed off her protection.

"It's in my blood to use weapons of every kind," Eglantine explained as she put her gun back in her jacket. "My mother's family has raised some of the best shots in the state of Florida while my father's side have been using blades for as long we can trace our family back, so I've been trained since I could hold each and every one of the weapons my family has owned."

"That's excessive," Reid managed to say through his surprise. Eglantine shrugged as she knelt to pet the dogs by her feet.

"It's part of life in my family," she said with a small smile. "If you can't defend yourself, then you can't survive. So, again, if you want to leave, I'm not going to stop you."

Reid nodded and picked up his phone, stepping into the adjacent room to make the call. Eglantine frowned in his direction before she headed the opposite way to her kitchen. She had hoped that her patient would have been willing to stay so they could talk through what made him dislike her so much, but it looked to be that those hopes were to be dashed quite quickly. She hardly glanced away from her tea preparations when he strode into the kitchen with a sour face.

"You aren't supposed to leave my line of sight if I'm supposed to protect you," he grumbled as he stood in the doorway.

"Then you are staying?" Eglantine asked, not turning to face him so she could hide the slight smile on her face and the second mug in front of her.

"Hotch almost chewed me out for suggesting coming back to the office without you, even after I explained your apparent qualifications," Reid explained with a sigh. Eglantine had to thank her lucky stars that the FBI leader seemed to be on her side. She turned around once the tea was done to see him sitting at her bar. She smiled at him as she slid her extra mug of tea towards him, receiving a curious look from him.

"It's only tea, Dr. Reid," she said, taking a sip of her own mug. Reid hesitantly picked up the mug and took a sip, a surprised look crossing his face at the taste. "I noticed that you like a lot of sugar in your coffee, so I made your tea similarly. Before you say a word, it wasn't much trouble for me since I make my tea very sweet to begin with."

Reid nodded and slowly took another sip of the tea. He wasn't quite sure how she could remember that he liked sweet beverages when she had only been to the office to see him once after their initial meeting and that was nearly a month ago. He looked at her and saw that she was staring out towards the windows and playing with her mug absently. He cleared his throat to draw her attention.

"Y-You should probably go get some rest," he suggested quietly. Eglantine smiled at him tiredly, reaching out to pat his arm.

"After all of the work you do, you have yet to realize that a mama does not rest until her baby is safe," she chuckled before she motioned to her tea. "I'll be alright with this."

"Is there anyone you want to contact that could possibly come stay with you?" Reid asked hesitantly.

"I left everyone that I could possibly call back in Texas," she murmured distantly, sadness clear in her eyes for a brief moment before she turned and smiled at Reid. "It's just me and Jarrell here in this big ol' house."

Reid frowned as he nodded, looking down at his cup to run a hand over the white ceramic.

"Do you have a family, Dr. Reid?" Eglantine asked, leaning on the counter in front of her to show that he had her undivided attention. Reid glanced up at her for a moment before he looked down at his cup.

"My mother," he said quietly, not really wanting to give up too much information about himself but seeing no other choice. Eglantine looked thoughtful for a moment before she snapped her fingers and smiled.

"That's where I heard the name Reid from," she said, drawing his attention as she smiled at him. "I once went to a guest lecture at my undergrad school that was done by a woman named Diana Reid. It was a marvelous presentation and I had never been more thankful to be a member of the Classics Club than during that lecture. I was sad when I heard she was hospitalized and was only allowed to lecture every now and then."

Reid frowned at her. "My mother is Diana Reid."

"Well she's a genius, but I guess you already know that," Eglantine said excitedly, resting her chin on the palm of her hand. "I had actually thought about changing one of my minors to Classical Literature after her lecture."

"Why didn't you?" Reid asked, taking another sip of his tea with a small smile at how Eglantine was talking so in awe about his mother.

"I already had a minor in Chinese by that point and was working for a minor in Nonprofit Organizations," Eglantine said with a sigh. "My school would have let me do three minors, but I couldn't afford the fees that come with it."

Reid looked at her with a frown, thinking about the club she had mentioned. "Where did classics come in?"

"Ah, my student mentor my freshman year was a co-president of the club so she pulled me in to play Persephone in a play we did for some children and I never quit because I loved the club too much," Eglantine told him, taking her own sip of tea before she smiled at him. "What about you? What kind of clubs did you do in college?"

"None," Reid answered honestly, receiving a confused look from Eglantine. "I started college at thirteen."

Eglantine whistled, her face scrunching up as she tried to imagine it. "And I thought my baby sister was a genius."

Before Reid could question her on this, Bean and Jet began to bark from the back yard. Reid jumped up as Eglantine looked towards the commotion worriedly. The two dogs quieted after a moment and Reid relaxed back into his seat. He frowned when Eglantine started inching towards the back door, her hand reaching for her gun.

"What are you doing?" Reid asked, receiving a sign from her to hush as she inched closer to the door just as the handle began to jiggle. Reid jumped up and pulled Eglantine back, stepping in front of her as the door sung open.

"Oh for the love of-! You almost gave me a heart attack Ava!" Eglantine nearly shouted when she saw the woman that was standing in the doorway with a very confused look on her face as to why there was a gun pointed at her. The woman had on a tight red dress that showed off all of her curves with a black leather jacket over it to protect her from the night air. Her hair was long, auburn, and wavy as it reached her waist and her eyes were a dull green that was highlighted with a mass of make up. She was extremely tall for a woman so it was a wonder why she wore thick black high heels and showed off her legs so much.

"I'm sorry honey, I just thought you would need some company after what happened to Jarrell," the woman said in an almost false high pitched tone. Eglantine stepped out from behind Reid and placed a hand on his gun to lower it.

"It's okay, Dr. Reid. She's a friend," Eglantine said and Ava's face immediately lit up as she observed the young agent.

"Oh! So this is the new patient you were telling me about," Ava said, grinning wildly at Reid as she batted her eyelashes. "He's much more handsome than you were letting on, Ela, my dear. Were you planning on keeping him all to yourself like a naughty girl?"

"He's my patient, Ava, not a play thing," Eglantine said sternly, the only hint at her embarrassment the light blush on her cheeks. Reid looked at Ava nervously as he edged back towards the counter.

"Oh, but you can't tell me you wouldn't mind breaking those ethics rules you follow for this little squeeze," Ava said, winking at Reid flirtatiously. Reid cleared his throat nervously at the obvious flirting by the beautiful woman. Eglantine also cleared her throat as she led the woman in and sat her down at the bar before locking the back door once more. In the moment it took Eglantine to lock the door, Ava was already trying to chat Reid up and was flirting with him heavily.

"Ava, if you can't follow my rules, then you will have to leave," Eglantine said sternly, her eyes narrowed at her friend. "I allow you over because we are colleagues and friends, not so you can flirt with my patients like you did with my son."

"Oh fine," Ava deflated before she looked at Eglantine tearfully. "Honey, how are you doing? I heard Jarrell was kidnapped and I know how important he is to you."

"I-I'm doing alright actually, considering," Eglantine sighed as she went back to her mug so she could take a sip. "I have some wonderful friends who are helping me look for him since the police didn't seem to want to."

"That's good honey," Ava murmured, reaching over and patting her hand sympathetically. Reid frowned as he observed the woman for a moment.

"Are you a transvestite?" he asked her, genuinely curious. He had seen many transvestites in his years because of where he grew up, but he hadn't really seen any since moving to D.C. Eglantine sputtered into her mug at the question even though she shouldn't be surprised if she thought about it since he had asked if she had been raped after finding out about Jarrell. Ava laughed off his question in a rumbling laugh that was fit for a man.

"Transgender actually," Ava answered, smiling at Reid with no hint of flirting in it. "I just don't have the money for the treatment and surgery yet."

"Says the man who stole his sister's birth control to get estrogen doses," Eglantine said softly, glancing away from Ava as the woman glared at her. Eglantine took a sip of her tea before she smiled at Reid. "Ava's name used to be Aron, but she changed it when she moved here and started to dress and act as a woman."

"As I should because I am a woman," Ava snapped at Eglantine, pushing up her small breasts as if to prove it. Eglantine rolled her eyes before she smiled at Ava.

"I know you are, that's why I support you in your lawsuit," Eglantine said softly and Ava smiled back at her. Reid looked back and forth between the women for a moment before he stood and headed for the other room, pulling out his phone as he did so.

"Reid, if you ask to come back to the office, I swear to God I'm going to hurt you," Morgan said the second he answered Reid's call. "It's almost midnight and you are the only one in a position to sleep."

"I'm not sleeping here," Reid snapped at his friend before he sighed, glancing back towards the kitchen where he could hear the two women chatting. "I need Garcia to look something up for me."

"What do you need?" he heard Garcia ask, knowing immediately that he was on speaker phone by the way her voice sounded distant.

"Can you look up someone named Ava for me?" Reid asked quietly so the women couldn't hear him.

"I'm going to need more than that if you want anything specific," Garcia told him though he was able to hear the clicking of her keyboard in clear sign that she was searching anyway.

"She's transgender and her name used to be Aron," Reid said, giving the only information he really knew about the woman. "She's here right now and she's apparently one of Eglantine's friends."

"Something feel off about her?" Hotch asked and Reid suddenly felt grateful that the whole team was there, since he knew that, if Morgan, Garcia, and Hotch were there, the others would be too.

"Eglantine said something about her flirting with Jarrell," Reid said, recalling the conversation quite well even though he was a little stressed by the transgender's flirting. "See if she has a background."

"I've got two Ava's that used to be Aron's in the area," Garcia informed the team, surprising them with how common that description actually was. "Anything else that can tell me which one it is?"

"She has an active lawsuit going that Eglantine is supporting," Reid told them, glancing back towards the kitchen. "I don't know what it's about, but it probably has something to do with transgender rights."

"I've got her," Garcia said cheerfully. "Ava, a.k.a. Aron, Goldbell, 35. Lives in D.C. by herself after growing up in Florida for most of her life. Has a Ph.D in Pharmaceutical Psychology from Florida State and, wouldn't you know it, has a record for molesting a little girl, but didn't serve any time because of police brutality. She is now suing the state of Florida because of how she was treated as a transgender in their criminal justice system."

"A girl?" Reid repeated, frowning at Garcia's words and ignoring the lawsuit part. "Are you sure it was a girl she molested?"

"Very sure," Garcia said, pulling up the file and gasping quietly. "Chubby brunette girl that was only 13. And here I thought child molesters only went after the princess types."

Reid jumped when he heard a crash from the kitchen, hanging his phone up as he rushed back to the room. He paused just outside the entry to draw his gun before he slipped inside. The sight before him made him stop and stare.