This took longer than I intended - sorry! I've had a busy start to the year.

As always, I wish I owned Criminal Minds, but I don't.

UPDATED NOTE: I am so sorry! Thank you to my Guest reader for pointing out that if this takes place in 2002, he cannot possibly quote a report produced in 2013. It was gone 1am when I finished the chapter and obviously my brain wasn't up to speed. I've amended this. ( . )

Chapter 7: Classes and room-mates

"Hi, hello. Professor Keller?" The man on the other end of the line took a moment to think.

"Reid? Spencer Reid?"

"Yes, hi professor, how are you?"

"What a nice surprise, to what do l owe this pleasure?"

A pang of guilt consumed Reid as he heard his mentor's words and the pain in his voice. Professor Keller had taken him under his wing when he had first joint college, at such a young age that his much older peers had had a hard time accepting that this kid that cycled to college every day not just belonged there, but was also considerably smarter than most, if not all, of them. Maybe this nurturing father-son relationship with his mentor had inspired him to make the move from his previous analytical field of studies to the more "humane" social sciences. Professor Keller and his deep understanding of human and social psychology had greatly helped Reid overcome some of his fears and develop a smoother personality at a time when he was at risk of becoming more and more bitter due to his past unpleasant experiences. Reid felt he should have been in touch with his mentor more often in recent times, but certain events -a certain person-had kept his mind occupied more than usual.

"How are you feeling, Professor? I'm sorry I didn't call sooner, I've been... distracted, recently."

"Not to worry, boy. I feel a little weak at the moment but as soon as the chemotherapy is over I'll feel like a bull again."

"I'm sorry to hear the treatment is keeping you weak, Professor. If there's anything I can do or if you'd like to have some pesky company talking incessantly, let me know. I believe I'm overdue a visit but I wouldn't wish to intrude."

"Any time you like, Spencer. You are always welcome here."

"Thank you, l appreciate that. How are Martha and the kids?"

"Coping. It's hard. My eldest daughter is not taking it too well. She had such high hopes after l went into remission last time that it's hitting her harder than before. But she'll come to terms with it, eventually. Now, tell me, what has been keeping that beautiful mind of yours distracted?"

"Well, I... I've kind of met a girl." Reid smiled fondly at his mentor's stunned silence.

"You have? You have finally opened up to someone? About time, Reid. When am I meeting this wonderful creature?"

''As soon as you feel strong enough for company. I think Luna would relish the opportunity to meet you."

"Luna, what a nice and unusual name. I'll speak to Martha and she'll organise a meal soon."

"I'll look forward to it. Luna has a lot of interest in your subjects and would love to meet you. Actually, that's part of the reason I was calling. I'd like your permission to organise an unofficial class to help fellow students that have expressed an interest in your subjects pass the exam. The Faculty will allow us to do it, but l would not dare doing it without your approval."

"Of course, Reid. Perhaps I can help you with the curriculum and marking papers. It would be a welcome distraction, let me tell you that. There's a limited amount of sudokus and crosswords a man can do until his brain longs for something more."

Reid and his mentor continued chatting animatedly for a few more minutes about Luna, the classes, the Professor's treatment and his family. Reid was glad to be able to bring a bit of entertainment to his mentor's dull and painful days.

CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM

A few weeks into the Academic Year, things were looking up. With the help of Professor Keller, Reid had created a curriculum for the classes, which was accepted by the Faculty and the subjects had been offered to students. The uptake was higher than expected and Reid found himself being admired by a proud Luna as he delivered lessons to an auditorium filled with almost a hundred students. Certainly, the first class had been nerve-racking. Reid had needed a lot of persuasion and a couple of Valiums to stand up in front of everyone and present the topics. Sometimes he would notice the blank stare on most of the students and he would realise he had gone off subject and was rambling about something far too advanced for his acolytes. Q&As were frequent after those classes and Luna's method of keeping him in track by doing a trial ran of the lesson the night before and timing how long it section should take was working. A student had arrived with an oversized hourglass to the lesson one day and after much laughter, everyone got used to their quirky professor Reid and his hourglass. Sometimes he would just start getting nervous as the sand was almost gone from the top half and he would start speaking as fast as humanly possible to fit the section in the allotted portion of time.

Delivering the class had been a million-dollar idea, as it was doing wonders for Reid's confidence. These people were there of their own volition, because they wanted to learn from him, and the initial cold sweats and panic attacks he had felt soon started subsiding as he realised he was respected. It was reassuring to have Luna keenly listening to every word from the front row, offering her support in the form of warm smiles and discreet thumbs up, or raising her eyebrows when he was going off in a tangent.

He would never have noticed or thought anything of it until one day Luna pointed it out over a cup of coffee - a cup of sugar with coffee, Luna also noted.

"You have a fan-club."

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, come on, don't tell me you haven't noticed the group of girls drooling over every single word you say and devouring you with their eyes like hungry wolves? You know, the ones sat on the left hand side, third row from the bottom?"

"Luna, if this is some sort of joke, I don't get it and I urge you to refrain from mocking me any further. It takes every ounce of will in my body to go there every Tuesday, for fear that this is all a long and twisted way to earn my confidence and then ridiculed me in some way." With that, he stood up almost knocking over the table and stormed off, leaving Luna behind, speechless.

"What the fuck? Reid, wait up!" She rushed to catch up with him. "What is your problem?" She blurted out as she caught up with him. "You should take that as a compliment. I was not mocking you. Geez, what the hell happened to you to be this sensitive, and why are you so cranky all of a sudden?"

Reid stopped on his tracks. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to storm off like that. October is a bit of a painful month for me."

"Are you going to tell me about it?"

Reid avoided her glance, gripping his messenger bag as if someone might want to steal it, and looking down at the point of his blue Converse. "Let's go somewhere more private."

"It's getting dark, do you want to come over to mine and spend the night? Wait, no - I've never seen your place..."

"There's a reason for that, l live in a mixed dorm and you need your own swipe card to get in."

Given Reid's preference to keep to his own, this struck Luna as odd. She couldn't imagine it was easy to hide away from the other dorm residents. "Really, you? In a dorm? I would have thought you'd prefer more... privacy."

"Yes, well it's not too bad. It's on campus so it saves me having to cycle in, as I used to when I first started. The dorm has kind of small apartments. Not easy to get but-"

"Hold on a sec," Luna interrupted, "you share an apartment?" She was bewildered and couldn't believe he had never mentioned it. Not even a passing comment.

"Surprised?"He smirked.

"Well, hell yes, Spencer, you're a box full of surprises. Come on, take me there."

''But... the swipe card... There are cameras..."

"Don't be such a pussy. A little bit of 'adventure' won't kill us."

"Actually, it could. For example, information provided by Right Diagnostics on the prevalence of Malaria indicate that the incidence extrapolations for this disease in the United States are 1,799 per year, 149 per month, 34 per week, 4 per day. That is a vastly significant amount in comparison to the less adventurous population that use appropriate preventative measures when travelling to malaria-ridden countries."

"Reid, relax, I'm sneaking into your dorm, we're not going trekking in then jungle. Now, tell me, how come you have an apartment if it's difficult to get?"

"There are only two two-bedroom apartments and the rest are studios or just rooms with shared shower rooms. Ethan and I have priority because of our academic curriculum."

"So we have a name. Ethan... How come you're never introduced us?

"He... he doesn't know about you." Reid confessed, embarrassed.

"You've kept me secret for almost two months?"

"l... I just didn't want an avalanche of questions I wouldn't be able to answer."

"Such as...?"

"Such as who you are. Never mind, I'll call him. He'll be able to help."

CMCMCMCMCMCMCM

"A girl? A human girl? You want me to help you sneak in a girl?" Ethan was having a hard time believing his ears.

"Yes. Can you help us?"

"Can I h-... please, give me some credit. Of course l can." Ethan snorted. "A sexually appealing girl?"

"Ethan!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I choose to take that as a yes. Call when you're outside, then give me five minutes. I'll make a noise in the far corridor, and you come in with your swipe card. Have her jump the rotating barrier if she can, and the two of you ran to the top floor before the security guy comes back."

"This just seems a bit risky..."

"Come on, Reid. We're doing this for the fun of it. You could tell the guard you have a female visitor at this time of the night on a Tuesday and he would have such a heart attack from the shock that you two could walk right in. Now seriously, everyone does it."

CMCMCMCMCMCM

After a lot of laughter and Reid sliding on the overly-polished floor and landing on his bottom, they made it to the apartment.

l wanted to introduce Ethan to the story, even though I'm not 100% sure he went to Caltech with Reid. Allow me this "poetic license" if he didn't. Hope you're enjoying!