A/N: Ever so sorry for the wait. I've been Nano'ing! And, boy am I behind. But, I did want to keep this story going in spite of it, so here we are.

BTW, the final ballot for the Profiler's Choice Awards is up! I'm super-excited to have been nominated in a few categories, squee! and if you like my stories, I would really appreciate your vote. Go to the Forums, Chit Chat on Author's Corner to find the thread. There are links to a lot of fantastic stories there.

Anyway, thank you for reading and please review!

Seds

Prentiss climbed into the front seat of the SUV, while Morgan threw her go-bag into the rear; Spencer awkwardly hauled himself up and into the back seat.

"Sure you don't want to ride shotgun, Mr. Reid?" Prentiss asked, turning to watch the pregnant young man struggle to buckle up his seat belt. He glanced at her and shook his head.

"No, thanks. I'm fine. And, you can call me Spencer. Trust me, it's not necessary to address me with a deferential title in hopes of bolstering my self-respect, especially since I'm more than several years your junior."

Prentiss scrunched up her face. "I wasn't trying to-wait, are you saying I'm old?"

Spencer's eyes widened. "N-no-I'm so sorry, I was merely stating a fact, not trying to insult you." He sucked in his lower lip as he gave her question further consideration, then added, "Although, I don't see how having attained a particular age could be perceived as an insult in the first place. Merely being born later than someone else isn't an achievement. Besides, I think people should take pride in being clever enough to have survived to whatever age they are, rather than being ashamed of it."

Spencer smiled slightly, and, satisfied that he had explained himself sufficiently, he leaned back and looked placidly out the window. Prentiss turned in her seat and glared accusingly at Morgan.

"You jerk. You should have warned me," she said in a growl-y voice.

Morgan looked at her with an exaggeratedly innocent expression. "About what?"

"About him being a smart-ass."

"Oh, why should you catch a break? I've been in charge of him for almost 24 hours now, on my own."

"I can hear you, you know," Spencer piped up from the back seat.

"Sorry, kid; us old-timers just aren't used to being around teen-age geniuses, that's all." Morgan checked on his passenger in the rear-view mirror and Spencer caught his eye, then smiled at him. He grinned back, glad to see that the boy was able to take a little good-natured ribbing after all.

Everyone relaxed after that, and they chatted easily enough on the way to the hotel. Once there, Morgan carried in the bags, then went to the desk and checked himself and Spencer into the suite, and Prentiss into a room down the hall. They got their keys and headed to the elevator, then paused before going up to their respective rooms.

"So, what's the plan?" Prentiss asked.

"Why don't you go drop off your stuff and take a little time to decompress. I want Spencer to rest for at least half an hour before we interview him. I'll give you a call when we're ready."

"Sounds good." Prentiss took her bags and went to her room, and Morgan led Spencer to theirs. He unlocked the door and they went in and looked around.

It was a two-room suite, with the front room furnished as an office/sitting area; the other room was a typical hotel bedroom with two queen-sized beds. Spencer gratefully slipped into the bathroom, and Morgan chuckled as the sound of the kid relieving his bladder came through the thin walls. He heard him wash his hands, then Spencer came out and stood uncertainly by Morgan.

"What now?"

"All right, kid, I want you to rest. Go lie down and take a nap."

Spencer looked toward the bed and pursed his lips. "I think I'm too agitated to sleep."

"Well, just stretch out and relax. Read a book or something."

"Okay."

Morgan watched the boy head to the bed and slip out of his shoes before lying down. He fluffed up the pillows and lay back, and Morgan brought him his backpack.

"Thanks." Spencer perfunctorily looked through it, then set it on the floor by the bed without taking anything out. He folded his hands on his tummy and stared up at the ceiling. Morgan frowned.

"What's wrong? You've got about a million books in there, don't tell me you don't have anything to read."

"I've already read them all."

Morgan raised his eyes to the ceiling. "Of course you have. Well, I have a couple of novels with me, you want to try one?"

"No thanks, I really don't care much for fiction."

"Then, just shut your eyes and see if you can take a nap. I need to go over some stuff before I get Prentiss back in here, so I'll be right over there, on the couch. Okay?"

"Okay."

Morgan took a seat and pulled the case file Hotch had given him out of his bag. He'd just begun reading when Spencer asked, "Agent Morgan?"

"Yes?"

"You like Agent Prentiss a lot, don't you?"

"Huh?"

"I asked if you liked Agent Prentiss."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Agent Prentiss is strikingly attractive, and the two of you seem to have a comfortable relationship based on mutual respect and admiration for one another. Obviously, she's single, and I assume you are, too." Spencer paused for a moment, and Morgan made a brave attempt to ignore the boy entirely. But, it wasn't working very well, especially when Spencer persisted with his line of questioning.

"You are single, aren't you?"

Morgan rubbed a hand over his face. "Spencer, go to sleep."

"What? It's a simple question."

"It's a nosy question. But, yes, I'm single."

He thought he heard Spencer say "Duh," but he might have been mistaken. He continued in his attempts to ignore him. Then-

"So, are you and Agent Prentiss sleeping together?"

Morgan almost crumpled the paper he held in his hand. Instead, he made a huff of exasperation. "Spencer-in the first place, I don't kiss and tell. In the second place, I'm not going to discuss my private life with you, at least so far as it concerns a fellow agent. But, I will say this-Agent Prentiss and I are just good friends."

"Well, what about Ms. Jarreau? She's very pretty."

"Oh, my God-No, she and her boyfriend just had a baby, and anyway, I don't date people I work with! Now, drop it, will you?"

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I was just curious."

"Sounds to me like you got a thing for older women," Morgan muttered to himself. He went back to his file, but now that Spencer was prevented from tormenting him further with questions, he could sense the youth's bored restlessness. He glanced over at him; Spencer was still lying on his back, but now he had his knees drawn up and his hands behind his head. Then, he abruptly flipped over onto his side, with his back to Morgan, and he stayed like that for a little while. Morgan tried to concentrate on his reading, but he heard Spencer's annoyed sigh as he turned over again, this time to face him. Morgan looked at him and shook his head.

"Go to sleep, kid."

"I can't! I can't get comfortable, plus, the baby's kicking really hard." Spencer unhappily sat up and tucked his legs under himself, sitting cross-legged as he held one hand on the side of his stomach.

Morgan felt a twinge of concern. All he needed was for the kid to go into labor on his watch. "You okay?"

"Yeah, she's just not settling down." Then, out of nowhere, Spencer laughed. "Whoa! Come here, Agent Morgan, you've got to see this."

Morgan got up and went to sit beside him. "What?"

Spencer pulled his shirt up enough to show Morgan where a tiny foot was making an outward impression in the side of Spencer's belly. Morgan's mouth dropped open.

"Shit! That is weird!" He looked at Spencer's delighted expression and asked, "What's that feel like?"

"It used to be like... the flap of a butterfly's wing. Now, it's like Alien's inside there, trying to scratch its way out. Here-" Spencer impulsively took Morgan's hand and laid it over the bulge. "Feel."

Morgan was startled, first by Spencer's firm hand on his, then by the tiny creature's movements under his palm. He stared into Spencer's eyes, and for a moment, they shared a sense of absolute wonder. Then, Morgan laughed, as well; he knew he wouldn't have been able to sleep either, if he'd had something like that punching him from the inside. He put his head down closer to Spencer's stomach and said softly, "Hey, baby girl, shh. Give your daddy a break, he needs a nap."

Almost magically, the movements ceased and the baby settled down.

Spencer looked at Morgan, impressed. "Wow, she must like the sound of your voice, it seems to be soothing her."

"Well, I have that effect on women. Now, why don't you give that nap another try?"

"All right." Spencer lay down again, and Morgan pulled the sheet over him.

"Need more pillows?"

"Yeah."

Morgan took two from the other bed and Spencer tucked one at his back and wrapped himself around the other as if it were a teddy bear. Morgan grinned. "Comfy now?"

"Uh-huh. Thank you. Oh, and thanks for being excited about feeling the baby move. No one at the Home ever thought it was very interesting-they're around it all the time, I guess, and it's no big deal to them. And, when I told my dad about it, all he said was, 'Don't get attached, Spencer.'" He looked up at Morgan. "It's nice to have someone else recognize how amazing it is."

Morgan looked down at him and nodded. "Sure, kid. It is amazing. Now, close your eyes and get some rest." He reached out and ruffled the kid's hair before it occurred to him that that might be an inappropriate gesture for a federal agent to give to a witness in protective custody, but it made Spencer smile.

"Yes, sir," he said, and closed his eyes. Morgan watched as his whole body suddenly went limp. In a moment he was breathing evenly, and Morgan couldn't help but chuckle, remembering how easily sleep used to come to him, too, when he was a teen-aged boy.

A half hour later, Morgan had caught up on the details of the case and Spencer was still breathing the slow, even breaths of sleep. Morgan hated to wake him, but knew they needed to get going. He was about to call Prentiss when a soft knock came at the door.

He looked through the peep hole and saw Prentiss herself standing there. He let her in. "Hey, I was just about to call you." He noted the grim look on her face.

"A woman's been reported missing. She works at the Sanders Home, the one where Spencer's been a resident."

"Damn it."

"Yeah. Her shift was over at one o'clock and she was supposed to meet her boyfriend right after, but she never showed up. Her car's still at her work, and she's nowhere to be found. No one saw anything, though."

"All right, let's see if we can get anything out of the kid. Hey, Spencer-okay, buddy, it's time to wake up." Morgan went and gently shook Spencer's shoulder. He sleepily sat up and looked around, disoriented.

"Time is it?"

"It's four-thirty in the afternoon. Agent Prentiss is here, and we need to go over what happened the night you discovered Mary Amos by the river."

"'k." Spencer got up and padded off to the bathroom. When he emerged, he looked brighter. He sat down on the couch, and Morgan sat in the chair beside him, Prentiss sat next to him and spoke in a gentle voice. It was her job to navigate her way through Spencer's internal defense system without unduly disturbing him, and it was delicate work.

"All right. Spencer, just relax. I want to take you back to that night. You said in your statement that you were walking along the road by the river when you heard screaming. What happened next?"

"I followed the sound; I saw her lying on the ground and ran down to her."

"Now, close your eyes. Think back. It was nighttime-how were you able to see her?"

"The moon. The moon was shining down on her."

"Okay. So, you hurried down to her. Did you look around? Did you see or hear anything as you went?"

"No-I could just tell she was hurt, and I wanted to find out what was wrong."

"So, when you came up to her-was she alone?"

"Yes."

"Spencer, take a deep breath. Think of what you heard, what you saw, what you smelled at that moment. Were you hot? Cold?"

"I was... hot. From walking. I felt sweaty."

"Very good. Now, think of the moment when you stopped beside Mary. Other than her situation, did anything strike you as unusual? How did you feel? What was going through your mind?"

"I was... scared. For her. That was it, that's all I remember feeling."

"Nothing else?"

"No, I just knew that I needed to help her."

"What did you hear?"

"She was wheezing, trying to talk. Other than that, there was nothing, it was very still by the water."

"All right. So, Mary Amos was alive when you got to her. She was speaking. Go back there, Spencer. Listen. You heard nothing else?"

"I... Wait. There was something... A car door. A car door creaked."

"That's good, Spencer. Could you tell which direction the sound came from?"

"It was... above me."

"Above you?"

"Yes. On the bridge."

"Excellent. What did you do when you heard the sound of a car door creaking?"

"I... looked up."

Prentiss took a deep breath. Her voice was now controlled, but urgent. "What did you see when you looked up?"

"There was... a car. Parked on the bridge. It was a... dark colored sedan, black or maybe dark blue."

"Who opened the door, Spencer?"

"A man. There was a man standing by the car. Opening the door."

"What did he look like?"

"He... was too far away to make out his features. He had on a hooded jacket, and the moon was behind him."

"Did he see you?"

Spencer nodded slowly. "Yes... Yes, he looked at me. Then he got in the car." His breath was coming rapidly now; Prentiss knew his blood pressure was up, not good for someone in his condition. She glanced at Morgan, indicating he should step in, hoping the trust established between the two of them would help keep the boy anchored.

"Spencer." Morgan said. "What about the car? Could you tell what make it was? Was there anything unusual about it? A bumper sticker, a broken headlight, anything like that?"

"The... license plate. I saw the license plate."

Morgan fought down excitement. "Could you recognize the state? Was it a Maryland plate?"

"Yes... 8AK-D13."

Prentiss looked at Morgan in surprise. Morgan grabbed a pen and wrote down the number, a triumphant grin on his face.

Prentiss continued. "What happened after the man got in the car?"

"He... drove away. To the other side of the bridge. By then, I was kneeling next to the woman on the ground, trying to help her."

"All right," Morgan said. "That's good, Spencer, excellent job."

Prentiss asked, "Was there anything else?"

Spencer shook his head. "No... I didn't see anything else."

"Okay. That's very good. We're done."

Spencer came out of his reverie and looked from one to the other. "Wow. I'd completely blanked out on the part about the car. How did you do that?" he asked wonderingly.

"It's what we do." Prentiss have him a warm smile and patted his shoulder. "You did great. Now, we have to call Garcia and get her to look up that plate."

"I'm on it." Morgan stood up and went to the other room to make the call. Prentiss looked back at Spencer with an uncertain expression.

"You were really able to remember the license number? That's highly unusual."

Spencer shrugged. "Now that you helped me overcome the block, I can see it plainly, like it's right in front of me. You see, I have an eidetic memory. I can recall everything I read or see with great detail and precision."

Prentiss nodded, impressed. "Wow. You must be breezing through school."

A shadow crossed Spencer's face, but he just shrugged. "Yeah."

Morgan came back looking focused. "That license was registered to a local dude named Hugh Nicholson. I've got Garcia on his trail, and she's going to contact Hotch. We need to head over to the Sheriff's Department and meet up with the rest of the team. By the time we get there, Garcia'll have Nicholson's life dissected for us on a tray."

"What about me?" Spencer looked worriedly from Morgan to Prentiss. "You're done with me now, right? Where will I go?"

"You're still in protective custody due to the threat on your life. You're staying with us," Prentiss said kindly. Morgan nodded in agreement.

The worry fell from Spencer's face and he smiled. "Good. This is really fascinating, watching you work. You're both awesome."

"Our whole team's awesome," Morgan said with a grin. "Now, let's go, we don't have time to waste."

Spencer picked up on the urgency in his voice and asked, "Is something wrong? What's happened?"

"A local woman is missing," Prentiss said. She thought it would be better not to mention the woman's identity at that moment. Spencer had just been through an emotionally demanding experience, and she didn't want to stress him out further.

"Oh, no." The look on his face at hearing that much of the news confirmed her concerns.

They were about to gather their things when the hotel room phone rang. Morgan reached for it, saying, "Who the hell could that be?" He picked it up. "Morgan here."

"Hello-this is William Reid, Spencer's father. Is he there?"

Morgan frowned. "Mr. Reid. We've been hoping to hear from you. Where are you?"

"I'm trying to get there. I've had quite a time tracking you down, I've called every hotel in town. It's a good thing there's only three. May I speak to my son?"

"Uh-yeah." He held his hand over the speaker and turned to Spencer. "Says he's your dad. But-if he had read my emails, he'd have my cell. So... It could be the man who's been threatening you."

Spencer frowned, too. "What do I say?"

"Just say, 'Hello.' If it's not your dad, let me and Prentiss listen."

Spencer nodded and took the phone. "Hello?"

The formerly calm voice on the phone turned nasty. "Listen, you disgusting little freak. I know you're telling them everything. I know they're going to try to put me away. But, guess what-nobody's going to stop me. I've got one of your favorite little pals right here with me now-you hear? Listen to her. Mad-dieee-say something, Maddie." Spencer could hear some sort of movement, then a gasp. Then, a woman's voice, crying, and a strangled "Help me!"

"Hear her? I'm having a lot of fun with her. I... like her. And, it's your fault I found her, you little bastard. You led me to her."

Spencer's heart rate was speeding and his breath was coming fast. "He's got Maddie," he whispered. Morgan took the phone.

"Where are you?" he asked.

All three were listening intently, and they could hear screaming in the background. Morgan continued. "What do you want? Talk to me. Leave the girl alone-I'll be happy to talk to you all you want. Just-"

The caller clicked off.

Morgan stared at the phone in his hand and he cursed.

"What did he say?" Prentiss asked.

"Nothing, he hung up."

"That wasn't my father," Spencer said in a dazed voice.

"No, kid, it wasn't. Look, let's get moving. That girl doesn't have a lot of time. I'm going to tell the front desk where we are."

"Why?" Spencer asked in horror.

"Because, now he's taunting us, and I want him to stay in contact. Let's go."

The three gathered their things and headed out to meet up with the rest of the team.