So it is starting to pick up some speed now.

Hotch leaned down and touched Nia gently. She flinched but stayed still. It was the only time Hotch had touched Nia but it was a milestone. Hotch removed his hand and watched Nia.

"Hey you come here." Garcia said walking around and holding her arms out for Nia.

Nia went to move but froze and looked at Hotch. Hotch dipped his head and Nia rushed to Garcia. Garcia picked her up and carried her over to the couch where Reid was sitting.

Garcia knew that Reid had been down lately and need someone to care for. Gideon had left him, so had Mauve. Reid needed someone that was not going to leave him and until he met that special someone Garcia thought that maybe he could connect with this youngster. They both had been held captive and Garcia knew that Nia needed someone who could show her that she could get through it.

Garcia walked right up to Reid who looked at her in surprise. "Lift your arms up." Garcia told Reid. Confused Reid did as he was told. Garcia plopped Nia in his lab and went to start cleaning up.

Reid and Nia looked at each other in surprise. The rest of the team looked at Garcia stunned. Reid kept his hands up afraid that if he moved them Nia would bolt.

"Talk to her pretty boy." Morgan said with a smile.

"Umm… okay. Did you know that 40% of adults owe what is called sleep debt? It is where you don't get enough sleep one night and when you don't get the missing sleep in 24 hours the body takes it in drossiness." Reid continued to spout random facts about sleep debt. Nia slowly relaxed. She moved so she was in-between Reid and the couch arm. She laid her head on his hip and sighed contently as she listened to Reid. When Reid had finished, they both were comfortable. Reid had lowered his hands and one rested on Nia's shoulder and the other on his thigh. They looked like they were fit for each other.

JJ and Emily helped Garcia clean up. The boys offered but the girls shooed them away. Garcia saw the connection forming between Reid and Nia. She had done her job perfectly. She had planned to have Nia live with her but she knew that she was at the office way too much for Nia. This way Nia would have someone else that could look after her.

"Alright let's go." JJ said as the girls grabbed their purses when they were done cleaning up.

"Whoa where are you three going?" Morgan asked.

"We are going shopping." JJ said as the three girls left.

Nia panicked a little when Garcia left. The guys looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders. Reid ran his hand over Nia's shoulder and down to her side and then back again. In no time she was relaxed again. Morgan shook his head.

"Pretty boy, you are a wonder."

Reid looked at Morgan. "What do you mean?" He asked.

"Reid you got Nia to calm down in only a few minutes when the whole morning we have been trying to get her to came near us." Rossi said sitting down in a chair that was across from the couch. Hotch took the other chair and Morgan sat next to Reid on the couch.

Morgan had a small piece of pancake and offered it to Nia. She picked her head up off Reid's hip and watched Morgan for a minute. She reached over and gently took the piece from Morgan without leaving Reid. Morgan smiled as she ate the pancake and then returned her head to Reid's hip.

Rossi chuckled. "Who would have thought that we would have come here looking for a killer and we are leaving with a dragon."

Hotch nodded in agreement. "You and Garcia are going to have to team up on keeping her calm on the jet." Hotch remarked.

Morgan and Rossi chuckled. "I think that they won't have a problem with that. Just look at what Reid can do right now."

Hotch nodded his head in agreement. There was a knock at the door interrupting their conversation. Nia jerked her head up looking at the door. There was another knock and Nia tried to hide behind Reid. Rossi stood up to get the door and Reid tried to keep Nia calm.

"Hello again agent please come in." Rossi said opening the door to the female agent from the day before.

"Please, Rylee." The female agent said to Rossi. He dipped his head in acknowledgment.

"So where is your new addition?" Rylee asked.

"Over here." Hotch said simply. Rylee walked over to Hotch but stopped when she didn't find Nia. Morgan cleared his throat getting Rylee's attention. When she turned around Rylee found Nia hiding by Reid.

"Can you pull her out? I need to take a look at her." Rylee said to Reid. For an odd reason, Reid didn't like this agent. Morgan noticed Reid tense just a little as Rylee approached. Morgan moved and tried to pick Nia up. He didn't want her to associate anything that Rylee was going to do with Reid. Nia flailed a little when Morgan got her away from Reid. Reid sat stiffly as he watched Morgan hold Nia.

Rylee kneeled next to Morgan and pulled out a pen light. She held Nia's eye open trying to look at it. Nia didn't understand why a light was blinding her and tried to get away from Morgan and the blinding light.

"Easy girl easy." Morgan said trying to hang on.

Hotch moved toward Nia who froze. Nia was hyperventilating and her eyes were wide. "Still." Hotch said in a stern tone.

Nia stayed frozen as Rylee continued. Rylee looked in both Nia's eyes and found them both responsive. When Rylee pulled out a syringe, Nia panicked again forgetting Hotch's order. Morgan was able to hang on to her but it was nowhere near easy. Reid moved to help but Hotch beat him to it.

"STILL!" Hotch said forcefully.

Nia saw the look in Hotch's eyes and finally calmed. Hotch put a hand on Nia which in effect kept her still. Rylee took a small blood sample and listened to Nia's lungs. She finished by looking at Nia's teeth.

"Wow." Rylee breathed. "This is incredible." Rylee said louder and releasing Nia. Rylee waved her hand signaling Morgan that she was done.

Morgan released Nia and Hotch removed his hand but she just stayed there. She glanced at Hotch but stayed where she was.

"Go." Hotch said simply.

Nia rushed over to Reid. She crawled into Reid's lap and looked at Rylee scared. Reid put his arm around Nia who snuggled into him.

"Now what is it that has you so overwhelmed?" Rossi asked leaning on forward.

"Her age. The oldest one we have been able to save was 5 years old. From what I can tell she…" Rylee said pointing at Nia. "Is at least 10 years old. Almost 11 if I had to guess." She explained.

"I do see how that is wowing. Do you happen to know how old they can get?" Rossi asked.

Rylee thought hard. "We have some really old records where they have found remains of dragons that were in their 60's. The records say that they were healthy adults but the thing is. We haven't been able to keep any alive longer than 30 years old. The best explanation we have is that they just give up." Rylee explained.

"They usually die from injuries or malnutrition by the time we get to them. We are hoping that the two year olds that you first found will survive and help us learn about them."

There was a small whimper that came from Nia. Morgan looked over at her and saw that she was shifting uncomfortably.

"Reid why don't you come help me change her bandage?" Morgan asked.

Reid nodded grateful that he could remove Nia from the room with the female agent. Reid carefully picked up Nia. She tried to get closer to Reid as he carried her away. Reid remembered what it was like to be held hostage. He paused at the doorway between the living room and the bedroom when he heard Hotch ask a question that had been on his mind.

"Do you have an idea for how long she was in captivity?"

Rylee sighed. "From a very young age. We don't know where they get the young but we do know they usually get the dragons when they reach a year old."

Reid did the math quickly in his head. Nia had been in captivity for nine years at least. He had only been captive for a few days. Reid moved on and set Nia on the bed. She whined again. Reid sat next to her. Nia tried to crawl back into his lap but Reid gently pushed her away.

"We need to look at you alright." Reid said. Nia sighed and settled with just leaning against him. Morgan grabbed the supplies and was back in moments.

"Let's look at that side of yours." Morgan said. Nia looked from him to Reid. Reid nodded his head. Nia looked back at Morgan, watching him for a moment. She seemed to hold him accountable for the crazy woman in the other room.

Morgan held his hands up. "Don't look at me. I did what I had too so you could get it done and over with." He explained.

Nia tilted here head contemplating whether she should forgive him or not. Morgan wasn't sure if she would until she leaned her head over and placed it under his free hand. Reid and Morgan looked at each other with bright smiles.

"Come here." Morgan said laughing a little.

Nia moved closer to Morgan and laid down on her side. Morgan gently removed the bandage that covered her wound and immediately saw the problem. Sometime while she was trying to escape from Morgan she had pulled a few stitches and her wound was bleeding a bit.

"Reid I need to clean this up and see if we can close where she opened it again. It is going to hurt." Morgan informed Reid.

Reid looked it himself and agreed with Morgan. Reid laid one hand on Nia's neck and ran his other along her back. Morgan gave Reid a nod as he started to clean the wound. Nia flinched and whimpered. Reid began telling Nia about how one could make their own home made toaster from things you could buy at a store. Morgan smiled as he listened to Reid talk. It had been too long since Morgan had heard Reid this talkative.

As Morgan was cleaning up the wound, he noticed it really wasn't that bad it just probably hurt a lot. He used a butterfly band aid to close where she reopened the cut and then bandaged it. He gave her a soft pat once he was finished.

Nia picked her head up and looked at her new bandage. She got to her feet and looked at Morgan. He smiled and sat patiently. Nia picked up the used towel he used to clean and set it in his lap. In what looked like a smile, Nia looked at him before she went back over to Reid. She stood up on her hind legs and used her front for support on Reid as she swiped her tongue on his cheek. She got down and sat as close to Reid as she could without being on in his lap.

Morgan laughed at Reid's shocked expression.

"Come on Pretty Boy let's see what they old farts are doing." Morgan said jokingly. Reid nodded and followed Morgan. Nia carefully jumped off the bed and was right on Reid's heels.

Hotch turned his head a bit when he saw them returning and he looked at Reid. Reid gave him a smile and looked down and Nia who was staying behind him.

Rylee and Rossi halted their conversation about dragons when they finally saw them return. Rylee pulled out what looked like a dog treat and held it out for Nia. Nia gave Rylee a glance but ignored her to look at Hotch.

Rylee frowned and let her hand fall to her side. "Strange. Usually whenever I pull one of these out, a dragon would be all over it."

Hotch looked at Rylee confused. Yesterday she had told them that dragons could be as smart as humans but she just made a comment that said that dragons were pretty much dogs. Hotch noticed Reid narrow his eyes at the female agent. Nia looked at the 'treat' and wrinkled her nose.

Rylee held out the 'treat' again but Nia actually backed away from her.

Rossi stood up. "I believe if you have everything you need, we should really get going."

Rylee nodded like that was logical. She gathered her things and walked out the open door. She was just about completely out when she turned around. "Call me if you have any questions." She said handing Morgan a card.

He thanked her and closed the door as soon as he could. "Is it just me or did she just get really weird?" Morgan asked leaning against the door.

"Something was definitely fishy but let's not make any conclusions just yet. They have to act like that with their job." Rossi said trying to find a good explanation for the agent's strange change in behavior.

Nia strayed from Reid's side and walked over to where Morgan was still leaning on the door. She looked past him at the closed door. Reid smiled and kneeled down. "Nia…" He said watching her. Nia turned to him and ran to him, jumping onto Reid. Everyone laughed as Reid fell over at the extra weight.

"Well I do believe we have some packing to do Morgan." Rossi said noticing the time.

"Yes I guess I do." Morgan replied. Nia watched Rossi and Morgan leave curiously.

Hotch stayed with Reid. He sat back on the couch and watched Reid. He closed the door and gave Nia a pat before he turned around. He found Hotch watching him. He raised an eyebrow at Hotch who gave him a smile in return.

"You didn't like that agent." Hotch stated. Reid shook his head and sat on the couch next to him.

"I don't exactly know why but I just got a feeling that she shouldn't be anywhere near Nia."

Hearing her name, Nia jumped up into Reid's lap. Hotch smiled when he saw Reid's face light up as Nia curled up with him.

"So Hotch… I was thinking that while it was just the two of us we could work on Nia's fear. I mean, she does seem the most afraid of you and if we can get her to not be afraid of you then she wouldn't be afraid of the team." Reid said while rubbing under Nia's chin.

Hotch looked at Reid surprised. Don't get him wrong he was thrilled that Reid asked him but he never thought he would. He thought that Reid would have asked Morgan or one of the girls.

"Sure." He replied.

Reid beamed. "Let's start now!" Reid said excited. He scooted closer to Hotch which brought Nia closer. She seemed okay with that.

Next Hotch scooted closer but this time Nia tried to get on Reid's other side. She didn't like it when Hotch was the one that scooted closer. They settled for Reid to slowly move them closer to each other. Soon their hips were touching and Nia was almost in Hotch's lap too. She glanced up at Hotch nervous. He held up his hand and waited.

Nia's eyes widened in fear at first but seeing he wasn't going to hit her or yell at her she looked at Reid slightly confused.

Reid smiled at her. "He isn't going to hurt you." Nia looked back at Hotch. Hotch looked back at her but he let his stoic mask fall away. Nia watched him for a minute. She glanced back at Reid again who just smiled at her. She looked back at Hotch and his hand that was still raised.

Stretching her neck Nia touched Hotch's hand with her nose before she quickly moved so she felt protected by Reid.

"Well it's a start." Reid said with a smile letting Nia curl up and stay in his lap.

Hotch was highly aware that their hips were still touching but he did his best to ignore that fact. He dipped his head to Reid's statement. They knew it was going to take time; especially for how she reacted this morning.

"Can we try again on the plane?" Reid asked.

Hotch chuckled to himself. "Let's not push her. We can continue again tomorrow when we are home plus you and Garcia need to work out who she is staying with."

Reid nodded his head. It made sense. "You are right. I don't know what got into me." Reid said shaking his head.

"You are just proud of what we have just accomplished. Don't worry Reid. We all got this excited when you finally started to come back out of your shell." Hotch said smiling.

Reid gave him a smile back. Nia yawned.

"I think the girls will be a bit longer so why don't you stay here with Nia and I will go pack our bags?" Hotch suggested standing up.

"Umm… okay." Reid said as Hotch walked to the door.

He turned and gave Reid a smile. "See you on the plane." Reid looked at him with a smile.

"See you on the plane."

~ How do you like the way it is going? Do you know what happened with Agent Rylee? ~