A/N: Alright, I am trying to get back into this fandom so I can complete the few stories that I have within it. It's been a long time since I've written anything for this fandom and I am currently going back and rewatching every season of Criminal Minds to try and get interested in the characters again. I will be completing my existing stories, I just have to get back into the flow of the characters and storyline.

Summary: Set after season 7 episode 2. What if Reid didn't show up for the cooking lesson at Rossi's? What if he wasn't able to forgive and forget when three people he trusted the most betrayed that trust. When they put his health, his sobriety on the line, Reid can't see past the betrayal. When an opportunity presents itself to him, he decides to take it. But how will the team react when they discover their resident genius will no longer be working for the BAU? And how will Reid handle being out in the world without the BAU family he has grown used to having around him. He's never been anything but a Profiler and now it was his time to learn who he was and if being a Profiler was who he was destined to be.

Chapter 1

Derek looked around at the others and he couldn't help but worry about the fact that Reid wasn't here yet. They were all meeting for a team cooking lesson at Rossi's but so far Reid had yet to show and Derek had no idea if he was going to show. He wasn't even paying that much attention to what Rossi was saying, because all he could think about was Reid and where he might be. Derek had been really worried about Reid for the past three months. He was worried about the grief taking Reid down and the temptation to use became too great for him. Derek knew that Reid had come close a few times, but he was able to fight the cravings off. Now Emily was alive, but Derek knew it wasn't going to be that simple for Reid. He didn't like being lied to, not that anyone did, but Reid really didn't like it. It took a lot of work to gain Reid's trust and if you broke it, it was almost unrepairable and Emily. Hotch and JJ had all broken that trust and put his sobriety on the line. Derek didn't know if the team dynamic would ever go back to how it used to be.

"Alright, you cook what you eat, but we are going to be doing this as a family." Rossi said, with a warm smile before he picked up his wine glass.

"Now we drink?" JJ asked, clearly more interested in the wine than the pasta dish.

"Now." Rossi agreed.

Everyone clicked their glasses together before they took turns cooking. They were all trying to ignore the fact that Reid wasn't there. Derek could see that JJ was the most affected and he knew that she was blaming herself for having to keep Emily's fake death a secret. Derek could understand why Reid was so angry. He had mourned the death of a friend, and all of that pain could have been avoided had someone told him the truth. Derek could completely understand where Reid was coming from. At the same time, he was just happy that Emily was alive.

"I guess Spence isn't coming." JJ said sadly as she looked down into her wine glass.

"He wasn't too sure if he would on the plane. I tried to talk to him, to get him to see that I understood he was angry. But that I also had to grieve losing all of you. I thought maybe I had gotten through to him." Emily explained.

Derek knew Emily had meant well, but he knew what she had said would not have made Reid feel better. To Reid it wouldn't be the same thing and it would only upset him that Emily had tried to compare the two.

"Emily look, you know I am thrilled that you are alive and I can't be mad about how things played out, because you're here. But you know Reid is different. He's wired differently and he can't help it. We all dance around it with him, but we know he's on the spectrum. We know he doesn't eat sushi or tomatoes because of how they feel. We know he loses his keys every other day. We know he will be up all night reading a new book or binge watching some weird sci-fi or horror movie. I mean come on, he likes to sit in the same seat on the subway every day if he can. To Reid's mind, you spent ten weeks without us, but you knew we were alive. Reid buried you, he mourned you, he second guessed everything he did leading up to your death. On top of that, he was dealing with extreme headaches and the fear of them being the start of schizophrenia. Add in his drug addiction and his cravings, it was a lot for him to deal with. I honestly wasn't certain he was going to be able to get through it without relapsing." Derek explained.

"There's a deep trust within Reid that has been broken and it is going to take a long time before that trust can be rebuilt." Rossi added.

"I knew it would be hard, but we didn't have a choice." JJ said in their defence.

"And to us, we get it. But Reid, he's different. JJ you know better than anyone how big trust is for him. To Reid, you chose to lie to him. You chose to let him be in pain. You chose to risk his sobriety. And I have to agree with him, I'm sorry, but I do. We're a family, and you don't let your family believe someone they love is dead. None of us would have said anything. We were already looking for Doyle, it wouldn't have been a threat to anyone if we knew the truth. We're Profilers, we could have faked it at the funeral. You have to accept that Reid might never forgive you fully for this." Derek said.

"Look, it was my call to make. It was too dangerous for everyone to know the truth. We didn't want to put your lives at risk by knowing this truth. Reid will just have to accept the decision that was made and move on from it." Hotch said. He knew that Reid wasn't happy, but he also knew that he wouldn't make a different decision if put in the same position. Reid had to move on from it, it was just that simple to Hotch.

"It'll take time, but he will. His mind just needs some more time to process everything." Rossi added with a warm smile. "Now, let's try and have a good night."

Derek wished he could be so positive about it. He was seriously worried though about how well Reid was handling all of this. He didn't know if Reid would be able to move past this. He didn't know if this was something that Reid could ever accept and be able to go back to how things used to be. It was a huge ask for him and Derek was not confident that Reid was capable of doing that. All he could do was wait and see and that pissed Derek off just the same, because he hated not being able to fix a problem. He hated having to wait, but it was all he could do. He was going to be keeping a closer eye on Reid though to make sure he was ok.

XXX

Reid sat at his desk at work and was just looking out into the empty bullpen. He knew the others were all over at Rossi's house having a team cooking lesson. He knew they were expecting for him to be there, but that wasn't something Reid could do. He couldn't go there and pretend like everything was fine. He couldn't pretend that he wasn't hurt by them. He knew logically the others had all moved past the betrayal once Emily was back, but that wasn't something Reid was capable of doing. He had tried, but he couldn't do it. It wasn't that he wasn't happy to have Emily back, he was, but it felt like everyone just ignored the fact that they were lied to, deceived to the level that Reid would consider psychopathic. Emily wasn't there, but she knew that JJ and Hotch were going to lie and she didn't tell them not to.

JJ and Hotch watched as they buried an empty casket. Reid had helped carry the casket and he stood there to watch as his friend, at least he thought, was being put into the ground. He mourned her, they all did. It was one thing to need to fake her death, and another to let people you claim to love go through that level of pain. It wasn't good enough to Reid for Emily to be alive, that didn't erase all of the pain he went through for the past ten weeks. People who claimed to love him, stood back and watched as the pain consumed him and did nothing. It would have been like he was slowly bleeding out and no one cared enough to try and stop the bleeding. They just stood there and watched as he slowly died.

He didn't know what he was going to do. He didn't know if he could stay here and work with them after all of this. He couldn't trust them and he didn't know if he ever would be able to again. This wasn't the first time Reid had thought about leaving the BAU. After Tobias he wasn't certain if being a Profiler was what he wanted to be, but he stayed because he did enjoy the job and he liked being able to help people. After Gideon left, he once again questioned why he would stay, but his reasons were the same, so he stayed. Ever since Emily, he's been wondering why he was still here. Being a Profiler was the only thing he had been groomed for. He was just barely nineteen when Gideon came into his life and told him about being in the BAU. At the time it sounded amazing, but looking back at it now Reid couldn't help but notice how much Gideon left out. If he knew what it would truly be like, he wasn't certain he would have become a Profiler.

Now he was twenty-nine and he didn't know if he wanted to be in the BAU any longer. The problem was, he didn't know what else he would want to do. He didn't know what else his mind would enjoy doing. He thought about teaching, but he wasn't certain that was something he would enjoy. He was also aware how awkward he was speaking in front of a large group, it never went too well for him. He could go and work in a lab somewhere. There were plenty of Government and private labs that would love for him to come and work for them. He could pick whatever he wanted to work on, but he didn't know what that would be. He had wanted to cure schizophrenia when he was a child, but that was before when he was going to get another doctorate in the medical field and to do that now at his age, it wouldn't be the best idea. He might be able to go through it faster, but he would have to find a school willing to let him. Again though, he didn't know if that was what he wanted to do. Being a Profiler might be his career, it might be what he wanted to do for the rest of his life, but he didn't know for certain and he was starting to think he never would if he always stayed.

"Dr. Reid."

A foreign male voice pulled Reid from his thoughts. He looked up to see an older man standing there by his desk in a well tailored suit. Reid had never seen him before and he wasn't certain who he was or why he was looking for him. What he did know, it was getting late and no one else should be here.

"Yes, can I help you with something?" He asked, as he sat up straight in his chair.

"I'm Agent Miller with the CIA. Is there some place private we could talk?"

That confused the hell out of Reid. He had no idea why the CIA would be coming here or what this agent wanted with him, but he wasn't about to say no.

"Um…ya, right this way." Reid said, as he stood and started to walk up towards their conference room. He had no idea what this would be about, but he was assuming there must be a case or something that Agent Miller needed to speak about. He was the only one here and he was sitting at his desk so it wouldn't be too far of a stretch that Agent Miller noticed his name plate.

Once in the room Agent Miller closed the door as Reid spoke. "Is this about a case?"

"No, this is about yourself. I'm sure this comes as no surprise to you that the CIA is very interested in your skills." Agent Miller started with a warm smile, as he sat down.

"You want me?" Reid asked, surprised as he went and sat down at the table. He knew the CIA liked geniuses, but he also knew they didn't last long. The higher the IQ the more arrogant the person tends to become and they don't often play well with others. He was an exception, but Reid suspected that was because of his childhood. If he had grown up like everyone else, he might have been arrogant as well. Still, he wasn't exactly what you would picture for a CIA Agent either.

"We've had our eye on you for close to eight years now. Before you were placed within the FBI you were on our radar. Agent Gideon beat us to you, but that wasn't surprising considering our old Director noticed you first and asked Agent Gideon his thoughts on you being an Agent before the age of twenty-one. Our previous Director had no idea that he would swoop in and steal you from us."

"No, I met Gideon when he came down to do a guest lecture at the University I was in." Reid said, slightly confused.

"He set that up after. He had been asked previously by Cal-Tech, but he refused every time. It wasn't until he learnt about you did he agree to it. He beat us by about a week. The Director was pissed, but he had no choice but to move past it. And you have done remarkable things since being in the BAU. I know all about your accomplishments and achievements since working here. It's very impressive Dr. Reid. The new Director wanted me to come down and meet with you and let you know that you have options."

"And what options would there be?" Reid couldn't even think about what Agent Miller said about Gideon. He didn't want to believe that Gideon had only sought him out as a way to compete with the CIA. He would have hoped after everything they had been through that Gideon saw him more than a rung on his ladder. Reid didn't know if he wanted to be in the CIA, but he was willing to listen and see what his options were.

"Obviously with your skills you could work in any division. The Director would be happy to let you pick your area. However, he would like for you to be a field agent, which would include you doing undercover work. You would also help with strategies and information gathering. You would be working with different military Tier One Teams to help them get the intel they need to take out different terrorist cells. If you wanted to be a field agent, then we would have you do some extra training. The Director would want you to learn how to use different weapons and there would be some hand-to-hand training you would do. You would also start off on smaller operations first to get used to the dynamic and flow before you would go into deep undercover."

Reid wasn't expecting that. He thought he would be in an office position and not out in the field and going undercover. He knew what the others would say about this, that he would be insane to take a job where he would have to go undercover over an extended period of time. He wasn't the type of person you would think of to be working undercover. And they would never have allowed him to be going undercover. They tended to keep him in safer roles and Reid knew it was because they still saw him as the awkward twenty-one year old genius that started eight years ago.

Reid stood and walked over to the window and looked down at the bullpen. There had been plenty of good memories that he shared with every member of the team. He loved them, even after being betrayed like this by three of them, he still loved them. He would miss them if he left, but he didn't know if he wanted to stay either. He had been thinking about leaving and now he was being presented with an opportunity to do just that. There was an appeal to working for the CIA. He would be able to train and learn more agent things. He had wanted to learn more and be more hands on, but the others didn't seem to want that for him. He didn't get to grow as an agent while being in the BAU and Reid was finding that to be very frustrating. He wanted to grow, he wanted to learn more about himself and what he had to offer the world. The more he thought about it, the more wrong being in the BAU felt, at least currently. That might change though, but he wouldn't know if the BAU was where he was supposed to be until he tried something different.

"If I agree to the switch, what would happen if I wanted to come back here?" Reid asked, turning back to face Agent Miller.

"The Director isn't looking to keep anyone that doesn't have their heart into it. If the Director of the FBI is willing to take you back, then there wouldn't be a problem to switch back. The choice is yours and it always will be."

And just like that, Reid was convinced. This was his time to experiment and try something new. To spread his wings and fly. He was never going to truly know himself, if he never allowed himself to grow as a person and as an agent. It was time for him to morph from a child prodigy and into an adult genius.

"When do I start?" Reid asked, completely confident in his decision.

"Tomorrow morning. Go to the airport for nine, there will be a ticket to Budapest in your name for you. When you arrive in Budapest there will be a car there to take you to a safe house where you will spend the next six weeks training. The Director would like for you to be certified in various weapons, including a long range rifle. He also wants you to have some hand-to-hand combat training as well. So for the next six weeks you will be working with some of the best trainers that the CIA has."

That was very shocking to Reid, because he was expecting to be given a job and not to be going to Hungary to get more training. He was actually excited at the idea of it all. He had never been to Hungary or had much in the way of training. For most of the FBI academy he was given an exception and basically told he didn't need to try any longer. Now he was going to be getting real personal training and he was looking forward to it all. It was going to be hard work and Reid was certain it was going to leave him feeling sore and tired, but it would be a nice change of pace and all of it would be getting him ready for what was to come next. It was a new challenge and he was looking forward to it.

"I'll be there tomorrow. Will I be coming back to the States before going on an operation afterwards?" Reid was just looking to get a rough idea of how much he needed to pack.

"You will be, yes. You will always come back after a mission for mandatory down time before being given another one. You know better than anyone the effects of working undercover, how it can twist a person's mind if they are constantly having to be someone they are not. The mandatory two week downtime allows for your mind to adapt back to your own self. After those two weeks, for the next two weeks you will be doing paperwork and prepping for the next operation. And again, you won't be going from one undercover operation to the next, some operations will be undercover and others will be you talking with people and gathering intel. We try to give all undercover Agents a break and the chance to be themselves."

"Sounds good." Reid said with a small warm smile.

Agent Miller stood and he held his hand out for Reid to take as he spoke. "I look forward to working with you Dr. Reid."

Reid spoke as he took the offered hand. "You'll be my handler?"

"I will be. Here is my card with my cell number on it. Give me a call if you have any problems or questions. I will be meeting you in Budapest in a couple of days. When you arrive, James, will drive you to the safe house. He will also be teaching you how to use a rifle. There is a gym and training room within the safe house and the instructors will come to you. Now, you aren't on lock down, so whenever you want to go out when you are not training you are allowed. All I ask is that you let James know so he can keep an eye on you, even at a distance. It's something we do with all of our Agents when they are starting out. Over time you will learn how to be fully aware of your surroundings and know how to do evasive maneuvers should you need to."

"Understood." It would take him a bit of time to get used to having someone following him around, but he would get adapted to it. Reid suspected he was going to be too tired by the end of the day to really want to go and explore anywhere.

"I look forward to working with you, Spenser. I'll see you in a few days."

"Same to you Agent Miller."

"Jacob." Agent Miller said with a warm smile as he headed out.

Once Reid was alone he let out a long breath as he tried to get his mind wrapped around what had just happened. He never expected any of this, but even though he was shocked, he was also excited at the prospect of something new, something different with a lot of possibilities. It was late though and Reid had a lot he needed to get done before he would be able to go home and pack up. He went back to his desk and the first thing he did was place a call to John and let him know the situation. He got his voicemail, but he expected that. He simply asked for him to call him back. With that done, Reid turned to the mountain of paperwork and cases that he had. He would need to place notes on the cases he had gone over. As for the ones he hadn't started, he would have to divide them up amongst the others to work on. He was finally going to need to leave a note for Derek, informing him of what happened. Out of everyone on the team, Derek and him were the closest and he didn't want to disappear on him. He wanted to still be in contact with him and see him when he was in town. It was going to be a long night, but Reid was used to pulling all nighters.

XXX

It was just after seven thirty in the morning when Derek arrived at the BAU bullpen. He made his way into his office and the first thing he noticed was the envelope sitting on his desk with his name on it. Even from the doorway he could tell that it was Reid's handwriting and instantly his heart dropped to his stomach. Derek knew that Reid was a letter guy. He preferred to write someone a letter over a text or email. Shit, he didn't even use his federal email. He relied on the others to give him a head's up about something that was going on or he would have the emails printed off to read later. If Reid was leaving him a letter, then that meant whatever was inside of it wasn't something he wanted to read. Letting out a sigh, he closed his door before making his way towards his desk. He dropped his stuff down and sat down in his chair. With no other choice he picked up the envelope and pulled the letter out. Derek couldn't help but smile at the sight of Reid's messy writing. When he first saw it eight years ago Derek could barely read it, but now it was like second nature to him.

Derek

I never expected to be writing a letter for someone within these circumstances; however, I find myself in that exact position. Out of everyone on the team you were the one person I wanted to say goodbye to. The one person I wanted to ensure understood why I am leaving and to share my news with. I would have preferred to do this in person, but I fear that by the time you arrive at work and I explain this to you, I will have missed my flight. I have been thinking about leaving for a little while now. I've thought about it before, but I've always stayed because I felt like the BAU was my family and the thought of not being with you all left me feeling sad.

The thought of leaving no longer has me feeling that way. I don't know if being in the BAU, being a Profiler, is what I am supposed to be. It's all I've been groomed for since I was barely nineteen. It's time for me to see if being a Profiler is what I am destined to be and the only way I can do that is by leaving. Now is the perfect time for me to try something new. It's no secret that I am angry about what happened with Emily. I don't want to be mistaken, I am relieved and happy that she is alive, but I am also angry and feeling betrayed that it was kept a secret. We deserved to know the truth. We deserved to not have to go through that level of pain. I can't move past the fact that three people I am supposed to trust fully were capable of causing that level of pain to me.

One of the few things in this world that I find most precious is my sobriety, and this lie almost destroyed it. I had thought about using, I had even dialed my old dealer's number. I had come so close to relapsing and losing everything, too close. I need a change of scenery. I need some time away to figure out who I am and if being a Profiler is truly what I want to do with my life. Agent Miller with the CIA came to speak with me tonight. The Director for the CIA has been interested in me for a long time now. He offered me a position as a field agent for them. I would be working undercover as well as gathering intel and helping with strategies for threats against the country.

I've taken the job and I leave in the morning for Budapest. I know you are probably thinking that I shouldn't be going. That I am not skilled enough or qualified for undercover work. But that is exactly why I need to do this. I need to grow as an Agent. I need to learn something new and expand my skills. I want to learn how to shoot different weapons. I want to be more active in the field and this new job allows me to do that. I don't know if I will be any good at it. I don't know if I'll even like it, but what I do know is that I have to try. I have to try being something other than a Profiler.

I promise, I will stay in touch. I know you will worry about me, but I will be ok and if for some reason I'm not, then I'll reach out to you. And the Director of the FBI assured me that I could come back anytime I wanted and be placed in any division that I wished. So if I am supposed to be a Profiler, then I can always come home. I don't know if I'll want to be on the same team or not, that would depend on how I feel towards JJ, Hotch and Emily. All I know right now is that I want to do this. I need to do this. I love you and I promise I will be safe and smart. And hopefully I can see you soon.

Spencer Reid

Derek sat there just looking at the letter. He knew things were tense between Reid and the others, but he didn't think Reid would leave. He could understand where Reid was coming from. His sobriety had been threatened, more so than Derek had thought because Reid almost called his dealer and Derek knew it wouldn't have been much of a challenge to take the drugs once they were in his possession. Thankfully Reid had been able to say no before he finished dialing his dealer's number. Reid wasn't the type of person that could forgive and forget, and it wasn't just because he could never forget. He took betrayal very seriously and combined that with his abandonment issues, the stunt that JJ, Hotch and Emily pulled pushed Reid too far. And now Reid had left and that was exactly what Derek had been most worried about.

Only this time Reid didn't leave to join a different BAU team or to work in a lab or classroom. He was going to be working undercover for the CIA. That was far worse than Reid being somewhere else. Derek had no idea how he was going to be able to handle knowing that Reid was off there on his own working undercover. He understood Reid's desire to grow as an Agent. He knew that they often pigeon-toed Reid into one position and they never thought about letting him try something different. For someone with Reid's mind, he would want to learn everything he could, but Derek never realised that would also be true for physical things. He had no idea that Reid wanted to learn more hand-to-hand or shooting different weapons. He would have taught him had he known that was something Reid wanted to learn.

Derek also knew he didn't exactly make it known to Reid that he would be willing to teach him. He never offered to show him different weapons and teach him how to use them. He never offered to spend time going through the tactical houses to show him different breaching maneuvers. He should have offered and maybe Reid wouldn't have felt like he needed to leave the BAU in order to grow as an Agent. Derek hated that he was going tobe in the CIA and now he wouldn't be able to watch his back. This whole situation was shit and Derek didn't think he would be able to breathe again until he got eyes on Reid. His phone vibrated and he saw that it was Hotch looking for everyone to meet in the conference room. Derek wondered if Hotch got a notice of Reid's departure. With no other choice, he got up and headed out to join the others in the conference room.

Derek sat down at the table and watched as each member of the team arrived with Hotch getting there last. Derek instantly felt the loss of Reid and he didn't know if he would ever be able to get used to not seeing Reid every day.

"Where's Reid?" Hotch asked, as he sat down and Derek knew that this meeting was not about Reid leaving. Letting out a sigh he realised he was going to have to be the one to tell them.

"He's not coming." Derek started.

"He sick?" Rossi asked.

"I found a letter on my desk that Reid wrote to me. He's gone, he's no longer working for the BAU."

Derek could see a wave of emotions go over everyone's face. The girls were more hurt then shocked and Derek could see that Rossi wasn't all that surprised. Hotch was hard to read, but Derek could see the loss within his eyes.

"No, that can't be right. Spence wouldn't just leave. He loves the BAU." JJ said, in complete denial.

"I mean, I knew he was upset about the whole Emily thing, but he wouldn't leave. He was born to do this. He loves being a Profiler." Garcia added.

"In his letter Reid said he's thought about leaving over the years but he's always stayed because he loved the family and being a Profiler was all he had been groomed for. I told you that the trust being broken was not going to go away for Reid. His mind is different and with his childhood you all know his abandonment issues. In Reid's letter he states that the three of you risked what was most precious to him, his sobriety. Reid didn't just think about using, he dialed his dealer's number. He was seconds away from relapsing all from the pain of losing a friend. It's not easy for him to ignore all of that pain that you three caused him and it was all a lie. You chose to cause him that pain, to put everything he has fought for at risk and he can't move past that." Derek explained.

"We didn't have a choice." JJ said, as the tears were building within her eyes. She knew how hard Emily's death had hit Reid, but she thought everything would be ok once he knew she was alive. She didn't expect him to be angry like this. Upset for a bit, of course, but not angry enough to leave.

"Come on JJ, even I don't believe that. Look, I'm thrilled that Emily is alive, but I don't believe it had to be done this way. We could have known the truth and been able to play our parts. The three of you told us that someone we love, someone we failed to protect, died. We buried a loved one. We mourned her. For ten weeks we had to live with the fact that she was dead, that we would never see her again. Two of you lied to our faces every day for ten weeks. Saw the pain we were in and did nothing to stop it. How did you really think we were going to feel or react to the truth? Reid is happy that Emily is alive, but you can't expect for him to forget how the people he trusts the most lied on a psychopathic level to him for ten weeks. You three had a choice, you chose wrong, and now you have to face the consequences of it. We all have to face the consequences of your actions." Derek said, as the anger was starting to seep in.

He was happy that Emily was alive, and he would rather have her alive and go through the pain than to have her dead. But that didn't mean he wasn't pissed that he had to go through the pain. He could completely see where Reid was coming from and he didn't blame him for not being able to be here for this right now. For wanting to get away. If Derek had a drug addiction and his sobriety was at risk, he would have left too.

"But he's coming back right? He's just taking a sabbatical right now." Garcia said with hope in her voice that Derek hated having to take it away.

"I don't know if he's coming back. He was offered a position within the CIA to be working as a field agent going undercover and gathering intel. He took it." Derek stated.

"What?" Rossi asked, and now he was concerned about Reid's welfare. It was one thing to be working for another division within the FBI and it was something completely different to be working for the CIA and being undercover.

"He can't work undercover, especially for the CIA." Emily was instantly adding.

"We have to do something. I can delay the transfer." Garcia offered, more than happy to do something to stop the insanity of Reid being in the CIA.

"No, you're not going to do anything. This was Reid's decision and he has made it. He already told the Director of the FBI where he was going and the Director said that Reid could come back whenever he wanted." The very last thing Derek was going to allow would be for anyone to sabotage this for Reid. He had made his decision and from the tone in the letter, it sounded like he was excited for it. Derek wasn't going to let anyone take that from him.

"Come on Derek, this is Spence we're talking about. He's not going to survive being in the CIA or working undercover." JJ countered.

"And that is exactly his point. In his letter he said that he wanted to grow as an Agent. That he wanted to be more active in the field. We've all focused on his mind and ignored the fact that he was an Agent just like us. All the times we kept him at the station when there was a raid. All the times we told him he couldn't shoot a different weapon. Not once has any of us offered to teach him when we got back. All I have ever done is tell him he's not qualified, tell him no, but I never offered to train him so next time he could be there with us. We've all pushed him aside and kept him as that twenty-one year old, awkward genius that we kept in the corner at the station. But that's not who he is now. He wants to grow and this is his chance to do that. To discover who he is. To grow into being an adult genius and not a child prodigy. We have to let him grow." Derek explained.

"He's right. Whether we like it or not this is Reid's decision and he has clearly made it. All we can do is be there for him should he need it." Rossi agreed, but they could still tell he wasn't too happy about the situation.

"I agree. We might not like this, but this is the situation we have been presented with and we have no choice but to live with it. Reid knows we are here for him should he need us. We have to trust in his skills and what we have taught him over the years." Hotch added.

"Did Reid say where he was going at least?" Emily asked.

"He just told me he was leaving this morning for Budapest, but didn't say anything more than that." Derek answered.

"Hungary, a little odd for the CIA." Rossi commented.

"The CIA has locations all over the world like the other Agencies. He's most likely going there to be briefed on his first operation." Emily supplied.

"We do have a case to work, but first there is something I need to speak to you all about." Hotch started, but he was interrupted by the presence of a man coming into the room.

"Sorry I'm late." He said, as he went around to the free seat that Reid would normally be sitting in.

"You're not at all. I was just about to inform the team about you joining us. This is Supervisory Special Agent Luke Alvez, he is from the Fugitive Task Force, but he is also certified to be a Profiler. After everything with Doyle, the Director feels we would benefit from having someone on the team that was used to hunting down unsubs." Hotch said, getting everyone caught up.

"Is this because of." Rossi started, but Hotch cut him off.

"No, this has been in the works for a couple of weeks now." Hotch said before turning his attention to Luke. "I'm SSA Aaron Hotchner, this is SSA Jennifer Jareau, SSA Emily Prentiss, SSA David Rossi, SSA Derek Morgan and our Technical Analyst Penelope Garcia."

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you." Luke said with a warm smile.

"We have a case, Garcia." Hotch said, looking to get them back on track.

"Um, right." Garcia said, as she tried to get herself reorganized after all of this change. She got up and picked up the remote as she spoke. "We are going back to Dallas, Texas, they have a potential serial killer. The body of nineteen year old Dani Lewis was found in a dumpster this morning at six. They suspect she was tortured and blood loss was her cause of death."

"They suspect?" Derek asked, confused.

Garcia hit a button on the remote and on the screen there was the body of a woman in just her underwear, but her whole body that they could see had random numbers carved all into it.

"What the hell?" Rossi commented.

"What do the numbers mean?" JJ asked the group and they all looked at each other.

"I really hope I'm not supposed to be the one that knows that answer." Luke commented. He could pick up a bit of tension, had noticed since he walked into the room. He wasn't too sure it was just about him being here all of a sudden.

"You aren't." Hotch answered.

"No, the one that would stand a chance at knowing what the numbers meant isn't here." JJ said sadly.

Luke wasn't too sure what was going on, but he knew he was missing something important. As badly as he wanted to ask, he knew now was not the time for it.

"There is bruising around both ankles, wrists and her neck. She was heavily restrained, probably to be kept from moving and messing up the numbers." Rossi commented, looking to get everyone back on track, even if he did agree that Reid picked the worst time to change jobs.

"The M.E is still running tests, but so far there is no sign of sexual assault, no other marks outside of the legiature and numbers. He also ran a toxicology exam, but there were no drugs in her system at the time of her death. He is going with a loose cause of death being blood loss, but he was still running tests to see if the number of cuts were deep enough to accumulate massive blood loss. He is also going to run tests on her heart to see if maybe the pain or fear caused it to stop." Garcia continued.

"It is possible that if she had an unlining heart condition that the stress and fear caused her heart to go out of rhyme and that led to cardiac arrest." Derek commented and the others, minus Luke, all looked at him surprised that he would know that. "I do listen when Reid goes on rants that are relevant to life. I don't care about Star Trek or Dr. Who, but the other stuff is normally helpful to have."

"Who's Reid?" Luke asked.

"He's a member of the team. He transferred over to the CIA last night." Rossi informed him.

"He was our resident genius. He could read twenty thousand words per minute and had three doctorates and three BA's. He had an IQ of one hundred and eighty-seven, with an eidetic memory. Needless to say, if there was a question we didn't know, he could answer it." Garcia added with pride.

"Damn. It sounds like the CIA is lucky to have him." Luke said, impressed. He always liked smart people, they could see the world differently and often that helped a great deal when working a case. Luke also couldn't help but wonder what it would be like now for all of them with Reid no longer here to help fill a lot of gaps.

"This is the only victim so far?" Emily asked, as she flipped through on her tablet.

"It is. Dallas PD are hoping we will come down and help them investigate. Their fear with the numbers is that this unsub has only just begun. Wheels up in twenty." Hotch said, as he gathered his things and the others followed suit.

Derek was worried about what it was going to be like going on a case without Reid. He had no idea what they were going to do about the numbers or how they were going to get through it without having Reid to answer all of the questions they had no idea what they were. One thing Derek did know, this was going to be a very long case for more than one reason. He just hoped that whatever Reid was doing, that he was safe and came home soon.

XXX

Reid made his way through the airport as he went to his gate. He had just enough time last night to get his work finalized, talk to the Director and get home to make sure his apartment was in order. He got rid of any food that could go bad while he was gone and he made sure that all of his bills would automatically come out of his bank account. Most were already set up that way, but he still liked to pay his rent with a cheque, but now he wouldn't be able to do that. He didn't have any plants, so he didn't have to worry about them dying. He made sure his windows were all closed and locked just in case there was a bad rain storm. He had packed up enough for the next seven weeks. He knew Agent Miller said six weeks, but he wanted to have extra just in case things changed. He also packed whatever work out clothes or sweat pants that he owned, he didn't own much but he brought them all. He didn't know what to expect for the safe house or what the area would even be like. He was excited to see it though. He only ever travelled for work, this was the first time he would get to be in a different country and not chase down a killer.

He couldn't help but think about what Derek was going through. He suspected that he would have found his letter by now and he would know that he had not only left the BAU but was leaving the country to work for the CIA. He hated that he wasn't able to tell him in person, but he wasn't going to risk missing his flight. He would send him a text message when he landed and was settled in so he wouldn't worry too much about him. He wasn't going to disappear from Derek, he knew that Derek would be worried about him if he didn't hear from him. He wasn't going to be putting him through that and he knew that Derek would update the others. For now, he was going to focus on the flight and just enjoy the adventure he was about to partake on. As Reid sat in his seat on the plane, a window seat, he pulled out a book and sat back. The next chapter of his life was starting and he couldn't wait to see what he discovered.