(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters)

Since this is my main story at the moment I thought I'd let you guys know that I've deleted some stories. You may have noticed that I've deleted Arrow Through My Heart and Spencer's Time Machine. I decided to do this because I hated leaving them half finished knowing I had no motivation to complete them and that I didn't really enjoy writing them. I feel like I can stop stressing about leaving them unupdated for so long and focus on my current stories which include this story, 'Collide,' and 'Like a Family.' Thank you guys for all the support, I promise to deliver on all three.

A bit of time has passed since the last chapter. I think this story would be too long if I wrote Spencer's recovery day by day. Anyway, this chapter starts with Spencer's transfer to a Virginia.

Enjoy.

The jet was mostly empty except for the cluster of four seats where Aaron, Dave, and Spencer had buckled in.

Aaron was sat beside Spencer as the young boy watched out of the window, at a cloud passing by, splitting in two with the help of the wings. He glanced at Dave who was smiling as he watched Spencer.

They'd been allowed guardianship of Spencer, putting him in their foster care until something more substantial could be put in place. They had William to thank for that, abhor it as they might.

Spencer had no gaurdians, Ashley would have been the top choice of course, but like all the women in Spencer's life, she was dead.

Ashley's maternal grandparents hadn't wanted anything to do with another biological child of William Reid and their age didn't really permit it. And just handing Spencer off to two strangers, FBI though they may be, wasn't a good option either.

So Morgan, Emily, and Aaron went to speak to William again while Dave stayed with Spencer, who, it was becoming clear, would not allow both Dave and Aaron to leave. One had to stay with him.

Three days earlier

Morgan stood up as William walked in. He glanced at Dave who remained seated but quickly turned his glare on William again.

"What now?" William said as he was pushed into the chair opposite, his hands forced on the table and cuffed there. He glanced nervously at Morgan before turning his attention to Dave who was sat calmly, shuffling through a small pile of paper. William shifted in his seat and cleared his throat. Dave looked up. "You don't have anyone down as Spencer's guardian," he said simply, pushing the paper together.

William frowned at the paper, looking at Dave for a moment before he opened his mouth. Dave noticed that the man looked tired. Orange was also not his colour. He glanced at the paling bruise along William's jaw and forced himself not to smirk or appear anyway content about the injury.

"I wasn't there for his birth," William said, his voice slow as if he was trying to work something out. "Diana didn't have anyone to put down and neither did I. Why should it matter?" he added. "He's just going to go into care."

William looked between Dave and Derek, searching for the real reason they were there.

"My partner and I are prepared to offer Spencer a home. Whether it be a temporary one or a permanent one," Dave said, his voice cool and collected and entirely able to throw William off.

"What?"

It was clear William Reid thought this interview was going to be about something other than his son. Morgan frowned to himself at the thought. This guy was giving him bad vibes.

"You heard what he said," Morgan said, lacking any patience for William.

Reid exhaled and sat back while Dave picked up the first piece of paper from his stack.

"Since Spencer has no other family and you have no gaurdians for him this process would be easier if you signed guardianship over to me and my partner." Dave pushed the paper forward.

William looked down at it, scanning over the information and scowling at the two signatures at the bottom. He had a good idea of who this no longer elusive 'partner' was.

"You think I'd sign my only son off to a pair of homosexuals?" William said, his lip curling in an unpleasant smirk. Gone was his nervous facade.

"After seeing what you did to your only daughter I'm not sure you're in a position to comment on what is best for you children," Dave retorted, his face remaining blank despite the crude observation made by William.

William's smirk fell and he looked at the paper again, swallowing thickly as he did.

"I don't want anything to do with you or your 'partner," William said, saying the last part sarcastically. "What would two fags know about raising a child? A boy at that."

"We've done well with our other son, Jack. He's captain of his baseball team, gets solid grades and has more of an open mind than you ever could." Dave tried to keep anger from his face despite the offensive language William was throwing at him. He sensed Morgan was getting more riled up behind him. He started to pace.

"Do something good for Spencer, for once in your life," Dave said in a softer voice. William pressed his lips together, pulling his eyes away from the two male signatures. Dave knew William was thinking hard about what he might get out of this. He wondered how much more William's selfishness could extend to.

"If I do this," William said, his eyes wide at the prospect of opportunity. "I want to be transferred. I'd rather go further East, as far as you can send me."

"Closer to Spencer? Not happening," said Derek, his arms going up to fold purposely across his chest.

William shook his head, his fingers gripping the edge of the table. "That's not the reason. Send me further west... o-or south if you want. Chris has men in here." William's eyes darted nervously to the mirror. "They don't know who I am yet... or Chris hasn't told them. When they do I'll be dead in a week." William licked his lips, staring directly at Rossi now. "I'll sign guardianship over to you if you promise to transfer me. I want to be put in isolation until then."

William offered a hand for the papers, watching Rossi as he did.

Morgan laughed. "You really think you have a bargaining chip here? We don't have to promise you anything. Since you're in here we can have a judge pass gau-"

"It's not that easy," William interjected. His eyes didn't leave Dave's.

"Are you listening to this, Rossi?"

"Morgan, would you mind stepping out?" Dave glanced at Morgan who was scowling at both men. He shook his head.

"You're really going to help this son of a bitch?"

"Step out, SSA Morgan," Rossi said, he gave Morgan a hard look until the agent grabbed the door handle roughly and sauntered out.

Dave turned back to William and pushed the paper toward him. "I can get you a transfer," he said, watching as William's body sagged in relief. "And you will sign this and confess to what you did to Spencer and Ashley."

William's shoulders became taut.

"There is too much evidence against you. Don't drag out a long court case. I get you transferred and you will not fight your sentence."

Dave dropped a pen in front of William and he sat back in his seat.

William watched the pen for a long time, before grabbing it as if it was about to spring legs and revoke the opportunity handed to him. William took a long moment to adjust the pen in his shaky grip before he put the nib on the paper.

He looked up once more at Dave who nodded.

William sighed and signed the paper.

Dave took Spencer's hand once he was out of the car. Spencer looked down at it, a small piece of gauze still taped to his hand while the other was in thick bandage. He looked up to see Dave smiling down at him and he motioned toward the house.

"Shall we go in?" he asked.

Spencer looked toward the one story house. It was beautiful. He'd thought the BAU offices had been amazing, this place was on another level.

"You live here?" Spencer mumbled, his voice a little doubtful. Aaron grinned to himself upon hearing that, pulling Spencer's small suitcase from the car before joining them on the path.

"That was my reaction too, buddy," he said, smiling understandingly at Spencer who was gaping at the house still.

"Shall we go in then?" Dave repeated, motioning for Aaron to lead the way. "We haven't been back for a while, kiddo, but I had our friends JJ and Penelope set up a bed in your room. We can do a complete makeover soon. We can even paint the walls, what's your favourite colour?"

Dave looked down at Spencer with a smile.

"Purple," Spencer mumbled as Aaron unlocked the door.

"I'm... I'm sure we can paint the walls purple," Dave said, hiding his grimace.

He led Spencer inside, shutting the door behind them and flicking on the lights. He looked around himself with a sigh. He'd missed this place.

"Shall we show him his room?" Aaron asked, still holding Spencer's suitcase.

They both looked at Spencer and he hid his chin in the hem of his shirt. He nodded shyly.

Aaron took the lead to the guest room. Dave had called in a mover while they were in Vegas to help JJ and Penelope move the double bed that had been in there. He'd also ordered a child-bed to be delivered the same day along with new sheets, he'd just gotten plain for now until they could take Spencer to pick his own. He was going to have to thank JJ and Penelope profusely for their help. He was sure a visit from Spencer would suffice... when he was settled of course.

Aaron pushed open the door and turned on the light. The room was much bigger than Spencer's old room had been. It was carpeted too and the windows were large and let more light in. Aaron smiled at the teddy bear waiting on Spencer's bed.

Dave walked in behind, pulling Spencer gently after him. He looked around. The dresser was still in there with an ugly old lamp inherited from Dave's mother. Dave nodded critically, knowing they'd need to do a lot of work to make the room Spencer's.

Spencer, on the other hand, was gazing around the room. The soft cream walls were calming, as was the lightly varnished wood furniture. There was a small bed across from the wooden shuttered closet. The sheets were a soft blue and there was a beautiful bear sat up on the pillows.

"I know it's not much," Dave started, reaching up to rub his neck guiltily. But Spencer wasn't listening. He let go of Dave's hand and took a cautious step toward the bed. He glanced back at Dave and saw him smiling down at him so he closed the gap between him and the bed and picked up the teddy bear. It was so soft. Spencer patted its head gently before pulling it into his chest so he could rub his face against it.

"That's from Penelope and JJ," Aaron said with a smile. He set Spencer's suitcase down on the floor and sat beside it. Spencer watched him from his place beside the bed. "I think you have one of your other bears in here," said Aaron as he unzipped the case. Spencer took a seat on the bed, his new bear in his lap. Aaron opened the case and found what he was looking for at the top of Spencer's meagre possessions.

He lifted the blue bear and watched with a grin as Spencer's eyes became impossibly wide and he reached desperately for the bear. The bear felt strange, as if there was something hard inside it. "Gary," Spencer mumbled and Aaron handed over the bear without anymore hesitation. Spencer made room on his lap for the blue bear, but he kept hold of the plush new one. A few dusting of stuffing fell from the bears open back and Aaron frowned at it, looking back at Spencer who was clutching the older bear protectively. He could see the back of the bear was torn and it was definitely missing a lot of stuffing.

"I think we can fix that for you, buddy," Aaron said.

"You can sew?" hissed Dave and Aaron chuckled, shaking his head.

"No! But Garcia can." Aaron turned back to Spencer with a smile. "Our friend Penelope can fix him up."

Spencer's only response was to ease his grip on his bear to give it a critical look.

"You like stuffed animals?" Dave asked, sitting on the carpet across from Spencer while Aaron pulled out some of Spencer's clothes. Spencer didn't really have a sufficient pair of pyjamas. They'd packed some faded striped ones but Aaron glanced at the label and saw they were age two. Aaron's eyes flicked to Spencer. The boy was small for a four-year-old but not small enough to fit into what looked like baby clothes.

Spencer nodded at Dave, his fingers playing in the fur of the new brown bear.

"Well, we can get you some more if you'd like. We could fill this room with stuffed animals," Dave said with an indulgent grin. Aaron smirked as he folded some more too small pieces of clothing from the suitcase. His husband was going to spoil Spencer.

There were a few books and some framed photos and that was the suitcase empty. Aaron stood up and began setting the photos on the windowsill. Spencer turned his head as Dave continued asking him pointless questions and he watched with his mouth slightly ajar as Aaron carefully placed photos of Diana, Ashley, and Spencer.

"It already feels like your room," he said when he was finished. Spencer closed his mouth and nodded, his eyes skimming over each photo. "I think Jack has some old clothes that Spencer can wear until we go shopping." Aaron nudged Dave who looked over at the small pile of clothes. "Most of them aren't his size."

Dave sighed. "Of course," he muttered bitterly, wondering if William had ever bought the kid clothes or if it was his sister providing what little she could. Aaron started to walk from the room when Dave called him back. "Grab the uh... you know, from the car," he said. Aaron paused at the door, frowning thoughtfully. Dave motioned subtly to Spencer who was fiddling with the papery material sticking up from his pants. Aaron mouthed an "oh," and hurried off in the direction of the front door. They had plenty of issues to deal with regarding Spencer. Their first aim was to get him comfortable with them. Then they needed to toilet train him since William hadn't ever shown him how. Aaron and Dave were aware of Ashley's brief attempt which Spencer mentioned when they tried to take him to the toilet at the hospital, but other than that Spencer had to deal with it on his own. So they bought pull ups while Spencer learned.

Dave found it strange that Spencer struggled with something so simple when his mind was so advanced. It just proved the damaging effects of neglect.

When Dave looked back around, Spencer was watching him with an almost suspicious look. Dave just smiled.

"Why don't we start on dinner?"

Thanks for reading.

If anyone likes teen wolf I'd be so grateful if you checked out my recent story 'A Stiles Surprise,' where Stiles is deaged. I haven't had any input on it yet so this is just a bit of shameless self-advertising.

Please take a moment to leave your thoughts on this chapter too.

Stay safe and see you soon.