Chapter 4: Diana Reid's Bad Side; Reid's Surprise
The following Monday, Reid called Morgan and JJ asking them to casually bring themselves, Prentiss, Will and Henry over to a hotel at noon for a surprise. Will, Henry, JJ, Morgan and Prentiss arrived at the hotel that Reid was in and they knocked on the door to his room. Reid was inside changing into a tuxedo.
"Come in," said Reid.
Will opened the door and Henry happiliy ran over to Reid.
"Unca Pence!" cheered Henry.
Reid happily picked up Henry for a hug.
"Hi, Henry," smiled Reid. "You're feeling all better now, buddy?"
"Yeah," smiled Henry.
"It's so good to see you," said Reid.
"Reid," said Morgan. "We need to talk."
JJ glanced at Will. Will took Henry into his arms.
"Come on, buddy," said Will. "Let's leave your mommy, Derek and Emily to have a grown-up talk with Uncle Spence."
"Okay, daddy," smiled Henry. "'Bye, Unca Pence!"
"Goodbye, Henry," smiled Reid. "I will see you later."
Will closed the door behind him and Henry.
"Do I need to ask for security?" asked Reid. "The last time I was left with you guys for a 'grown-up talk,' you wanted to kill me."
"No," said JJ. "Nobody wants to kill you today."
"We just wanna talk," said Morgan.
"Actually," said Prentiss. "We want to apologize."
"Really?" said Reid.
"Yeah," said JJ while pulling out Henry's letter. "Uh, Will showed me this after you left Henry's birthday party."
"Ah," said Reid. "Henry finally received my letter."
"Yeah," said JJ while lowering her head. "Some profiler I am, huh? Thinking that you would lie to me about writing a letter to Henry?"
"I would never lie to you," said Reid.
"I know," said JJ. "I'm the one who would lie to you."
"Well," said Reid. "You thought that I abandoned Henry so you didn't want to trust me anymore. Just like I didn't want to trust you anymore after you faked Emily's death."
"I'm sorry, Spence," said JJ.
"Really?" asked Reid.
"Really," said JJ. "We were all upset with you when you didn't even show up at Rossi's that night for the cooking lesson."
"But, the next day when Hotch told us that you resigned from the BAU," added Prentiss. "I was shocked."
"I didn't believe it," said Morgan. "I thought it was a joke because I couldn't picture you doing to us what Gideon did."
"I tried calling your cell phone to straighten it all out," said JJ. "But, Strauss was at your desk with your phone, badge and gun confirming that you quit the BAU."
"We went to your apartment with Garcia to try talking some sense into you," said Prentiss. "Morgan was ready to kick down the door."
"But, I remembered the key you gave me to open the door," said JJ.
"When we went inside, we found your apartment completely emptied out," said Prentiss.
"Your next door neighbor and your landlord told us that you moved away," said Morgan.
"And, without your cell phone, Garcia couldn't track you," said Prentiss.
"We all started crying because you completely abandoned us," admitted JJ.
"All four of us," admitted Morgan.
"I blamed myself," said Prentiss. "If I had just told everyone about my secret history with Doyle, then maybe my faked death would never have happened. And, neither one of us would have ever left the BAU."
"Garcia told us that we should stop trying to get even with you by hurting you because this all started with us hurting you," said Morgan.
"Well, why didn't you guys ever trust me with any of those secrets?" asked Reid.
"We didn't want you to get hurt," answered Morgan.
"Explain that, please?" said Reid.
JJ recalled, "Spence, you leaped head-on into action and split up from me when we were alone at Tobias Hankel's house. You were kidnapped, tortured, drugged and killed because of that."
"And, revived with CPR," added Reid.
Morgan recalled, "Reid, you also split up from me and ran into Dr. Nichols' house which was full of Chad Brown's Anthrax poison. You almost died again because of that."
Prentiss recalled, "Reid, I left you alone with Dr. Barton in his house to go check up on Hotch. Patrick Meyers shot you in the leg because of that."
"Yes," said Reid. "But, I also saved Dr. Barton's life because of that."
"I heard the gunshot on my end of the phone," said Prentiss. "I thought that Meyers had killed you."
"Alone, any one of you would have done the same thing I did to save Dr. Barton and stop Mr. Meyers," said Reid.
"Maybe," said Morgan. "But, the really bad things always seem to happen to you more than any one of us. You're like a bad luck magnet, man."
"We just wanted to protect you, Spence," said JJ.
"We didn't want to lose you to an unsub," said Prentiss.
"But, don't any of you see how unfair that is?" asked Reid. "You didn't want to trust me so, you just treated me like a child by keeping secrets from me? Morgan, you always leaped head-on into action to catch an unsub without the rest of the team. But, Hotch still trusted you to be the Unit Chief until we found George Foyet."
"Yeah," said Morgan.
Reid continued, "Prentiss, Hotch didn't completely trust you when you first joined the team. And, Strauss tried to secretly make you help her get Hotch fired. But, both Hotch and Strauss still chose to trust you again after you left us to fight Ian Doyle alone. JJ, you were away at the Pentagon, but Hotch still called you back to us to help us find Prentiss. And, Hotch trusted you to keep Prentiss' faked death a secret."
"Yes," said JJ.
"So?" asked Prentiss.
"So," said Reid. "Not everything bad happened to me. Elle Greenaway got shot in her own apartment by Randall Garner, aka the Fisher King. Frank Breightkoff went to Gideon's apartment wanting to murder him, but he murdered Sarah Jacobs instead. Jason Clark Battle shot Garcia right in front of her own apartment, remember?"
"Yeah, we remember," said Morgan.
Reid continued, "Hotch got stabbed multiple times by Foyet in his own apartment that same time I got shot in my leg. And, Hotch and Jack lost Haley to Foyet forever in Hotch's family house. And you, Prentiss were with Detective Bunting transporting Dale Shrader to prison. But, you got into a bad downhill car crash caused by an unwilling accomplice named Joe Muller who put you in the hospital. You lived, but Detective Bunting was killed by Shrader. But, Shrader could have easily killed you, too."
Prentiss lowered her head.
Reid continued, "You, Morgan were searching for the Reaper with Sergeant O'Mara in Boston. The Reaper attacked both of you in Foyet's house. You lived, but Sergeant O'Mara was murdered. But, the Reaper could have easily murdered you as well."
Morgan lowered his head.
Reid continued, "And you, JJ were hit hard in the head from behind by Ray Campion when you split up from me and went out alone to talk to Gina King in Hollywood. Just like Tobias Hankel, we both thought that Gina was just a witness. But, she turned out to be the unsub who was committing the murders under Campion's ruse. Both Gina and Campion could have easily killed you."
JJ lowered her head.
Reid continued, "And, Hotch and Kate Joyner were the ones who felt that IED car bomb blast in New York. Hotch lived, but Agent Joyner died. But, what if it was one of us who were injured in that blast instead, but survived? JJ, what if you had survived that IED blast, but you miscarried Henry because of it?"
JJ gasped.
"Do you guys think that Hotch would not have trusted any of you out in the field again if one of you survived that car bomb experience instead?" asked Reid.
"No," said JJ.
"No," said Morgan.
"Of course not," said Prentiss.
"I know that I felt annoyed because Will tried asking Hotch to take me out of the field shortly before that car blast happened," tearfully admitted JJ. "But, Will would have said, 'I told you so!' to me for the rest of our lives if I had lost Henry because of that car blast."
"You were annoyed because Will was so overprotective of both you and Henry that night," said Reid. "Just like I feel annoyed because you three are so overprotective of me. Morgan, What if Hotch didn't trust you out in the field simply because you are black? How would you feel?"
"Pissed off," answered Morgan.
"Prentiss," said Reid. "How would you or JJ feel if Hotch chose not to trust you out in the field simply because you two are women?"
"Betrayed," answered Prentiss.
"Hurt," answered JJ.
"Well, your not trusting me with any of those secrets has hurt me anyway," said Reid. "While I do appreciate the fact that you guys always wanted to keep me from getting hurt, I didn't need your protection. I needed your trust and respect."
"Reid..." said Morgan and Prentiss.
"Spence..." said JJ.
"No," said Reid. "These last 8 months against Doyle you guys have tried keeping secrets from me. You've tried lying to me. And, you've tried protecting me. But, what you guys have never tried was letting me help you! Simply trusting me with your lives! JJ, if I knew that Prentiss was alive instead of you, I would have tried convincing Hotch to tell the rest of our team that she was alive."
JJ lowered her head.
Reid continued, "Morgan, if I knew about your secret search for Declan instead of Garcia, I would have tried convincing you to tell the rest of the team that we were searching for Declan Doyle to catch Ian Doyle."
Morgan lowered his head.
Reid continued, "Prentiss, what if things were the other way around? What if Doyle were a woman who I had helped arrest by working undercover and 8 years later she escaped from prison and wanted to kill me and all of my old friends and teammates? Would you have wanted me to keep that knowledge a secret and try stopping her alone, or would you have wanted me to tell you guys the truth?"
"I would have...wanted you to tell us the truth..." realized Prentiss. "...So we all could have stopped Doyle together."
"Exactly," said Reid. "I would have ignored Clyde Easter and my other old colleagues telling me not to tell any of you guys the truth about Doyle and told all of you the truth. I would have let Hotch put protective custody on all of our families and on all of my old friends and colleagues and I would have trusted all of you to help keep us safe and stop Doyle from killing me."
Prentiss lowered her head.
Reid continued, "That's what a team is supposed to do. Trust each other and have each other's backs. That's what a family is supposed to do. I've earned the trust and respect from Hotch, Rossi and Garcia years ago. But, I haven't earned any trust or respect from the three of you. That's why I left our team!"
"You've made your point, Spence," said JJ.
"I'm sorry, Reid," said Prentiss.
"Garcia has told me many times that I should have told all of you that we were searching for Declan Doyle," admitted Morgan. "I'm sorry, man."
"I'm sorry too, Spence," said JJ. "I was furious. Will helped me realize that all of my anger towards you was really anger towards my father leaving me when I was 11. I took it out on you because it felt like you were punishing me by leaving us. I was constantly yelling at you because I wanted to hurt you just as badly as you hurt me."
"You didn't need to yell at me to hurt me," said Reid. "You hurt me so much more when you lied to me about Emily."
"I know," said JJ while lowering her head. "I was way out of line and I'm so sorry."
"We all were out of line," said Morgan.
"We were insensitive," said JJ.
"You had every right to quit the BAU because we've all deceived you," said JJ.
"And, we all did betray your trust," said Morgan.
"We've taken you for granted," said Prentiss.
"After you left Henry's birthday party," said JJ. "Will helped us realize that all three of us have been treating you like a loser lately."
"But, you were not the real loser," said Prentiss.
"We were the real losers," said Morgan.
"Yeah," said JJ. "We've caused the BAU to lose their resident genius."
"And worse," said Prentiss. "We've caused ourselves to lose one of the sweetest guys we've ever known."
"I lost my kid brother," said Morgan.
"I lost my best friend," said JJ. "And, you were right. You didn't break up our family. We did."
"And we're sorry, Reid," said Prentiss.
"For everything," said JJ.
"For years," said Prentiss. "We've all said in our own ways that you needed to grow up."
"But you're not the one who needed to grow up," said JJ.
"We were the ones who needed to grow up," said Morgan. "You were more mature than any one of us could be every time you just peacefully walked away from us."
"If you don't want to return to the team or the BAU," said Prentiss. "We can all find a way to live with that."
"But, we're all begging you," said JJ. "Please come back to our family?"
"We'll do anything if you come back to us," said Morgan.
"Anything," said Prentiss.
"We love you, Spence," said JJ. "Life has been horrible without you in it. We're so sorry."
"We've all missed you so much, Reid," said Prentiss. "We all love you."
"We're all sorry, Reid," asked Morgan. "We love you, man. Please forgive us?"
"Please?" asked JJ.
"Pretty please?" asked Prentiss.
"Well," said Reid. "An apology was all I really wanted from you. And, I'll forgive you guys if you all promise to stop treating me like a child."
"Done," said Morgan.
"And, if you stop making jokes about blow-up sex dolls," said Reid.
"Done," said Prentiss.
"And, if you stop comparing me to my father or treating me like a hopeless drug addict," said Reid.
"Done," said JJ.
"And, JJ and Morgan," said Reid. "Neither one of you will make another angry scene towards me in the bullpen again."
"We'd better not do that again," said Morgan.
"Why not?" asked Reid.
"Strauss...warned us that she would arrest me and Morgan with threatening murder on you if we ever do that again," admitted JJ.
"She said she would bring us up on charges and fire us if we do that again," added Morgan.
"Then, that one is definitely done," said Prentiss.
"And, finally," said Reid. "If all of you guys start treating me with some dignity and respect."
"Done," said Morgan, Prentiss and JJ.
"Then," said Reid. "I forgive you guys."
Morgan, Prentiss and JJ breathed a sigh of relief.
"And, I apologize for leaving all of you," said Reid. "I love you guys, too."
"Thank you, Spence," smiled JJ.
"Well," said Prentiss. "We all want to start by telling you something, Reid."
"And, what's that?" asked Reid.
"Happy Belated Birthday," smiled Morgan, Prentiss and JJ.
"Thanks, guys," smiled Reid.
JJ hugged Reid. Then, Prentiss hugged Reid and then Morgan hugged Reid.
"Well, come on, Pretty Boy," said Morgan. "We're all dressed up nicely."
"Yeah," said JJ. "Let's get Will and Henry and we'll all take you out to lunch as a belated birthday present."
"Our treat," said Morgan.
"Yeah, handsome," smiled Prentiss.
"How does that sound, Spence?" asked JJ.
"It sounds great," said Reid. "But, a lunch date is going to have to wait because..."
Diana Reid opened the door and came in.
"Spencer," said Diana. "It's time, son..."
"Mrs. Reid," said Morgan. "It's a pleasure to see you again."
"Well," scoffed Diana. "The pleasure's all yours, Derek Morgan!"
Diana slapped Morgan in the back of his head.
"Ow!" said Morgan. "Ma'am?..."
"Hello, Diana," smiled JJ.
Diana slapped JJ in the back of her head.
"Ow!" said JJ.
"'Mrs. Reid' to you, Jennifer Jareau!" said Diana.
JJ lowered her head and said, "Yes, ma'am."
"Mrs. Reid," said Prentiss. "I'm Emily..."
"Prentiss, aka Lauren Reynolds," finished Diana. "The double-agent who faked her death and broke my Spencer's heart for seven months!"
Diana slapped Prentiss in the back of her head.
"Ow!" said Prentiss. "Yes, ma'am."
Diana continued, "When Agent Hotchner brought Spencer back into your office, the two of you called him a son of a bitch."
"Yeah," admitted Morgan.
"Yes," admitted JJ.
"Well," said Diana. "Spencer is my son..."
"Oh, no!" whispered JJ.
"So," continued Diana. "That makes me the bitch!"
Diana slapped Morgan and JJ in the back of their heads at the same time with both hands.
"Ow!" cried Morgan and JJ.
Then, Diana slapped Prentiss in the back of her head.
"Ow!" cried Prentiss. "But, Mrs. Reid, I never called him a son of a bitch."
"No," said Diana. "That was for saying he could only date a blow-up sex doll!"
"Reid," blushed Prentiss. "Exactly how much did you tell her?"
"I tell my mom everything," answered Reid.
Prentiss' eyes widened.
"...Everything?" asked Prentiss.
"Everything," groaned Morgan and JJ.
"You've teased my son about his love life," continued Diana. "Well, Spencer wrote to me about Jennifer falling in love with Detective Will LaMontagne. But, he's never said that you fell in love with anybody!"
"Mrs. Reid..." said Prentiss.
"You're a beautiful woman," observed Diana. "So, why aren't you dating anybody, Emily Prentiss? Do you have a secret crush for that monster who staked you? Or, Derek Morgan here? Or, Aaron Hotchner? Or, David Rossi? Or, my Spencer? Or, maybe even Jennifer Jareau?"
"Mrs. Reid..." blushed Prentiss.
Diana continued, "Or, is it because you are really a nerd and more men are turning away from you after finding that out? Oh, I know! Because of your teen pregnancy and your recent torture experience you simply hate all men! Or, maybe you're just pretending that you found the perfect soulmate for you who is really just a sex toy that you go to bed with every night?"
Prentiss felt completely humiliated. She started crying. JJ put her hands on Prentiss' shoulders trying to comfort her.
"It's no fun being the one who is picked on, is it, Emily Prentiss?" asked Diana. "Maybe now you understand how my son feels when you pick on him about his love life!"
"Yes, ma'am," sniffed Prentiss. "I'm so sorry, Reid."
Morgan was smiling to himself thinking about Prentiss taking a sex toy to bed with her.
"And, don't you dare laugh at her, Derek Morgan," continued Diana. "You had a chance to be with that wonderful girl, Penelope Garcia. She was willing to do anything for you! But, you were too busy being a 'playa' with every beautiful girl you came across right in front of poor Penelope! It's no wonder she's turned to that nice boy, Kevin Lynch. Because she got tired of waiting for you to make a real move on her!"
Morgan lowered his head.
"You two should really think about your own love lives before you tease my son about his love life!" said Diana.
"Yes, ma'am," said Morgan.
"You've mocked him," continued Diana. "Rejected him! Broken his heart! Held him back! Disrespected him! Treated him like an emotionless android from Star Trek! Slipped him some of your case paperwork so you could go home early! Made him feel like he could never get a girlfriend! Calling him a 'boy genius!' Spencer is much more than that!"
"Yes, ma'am," said Morgan and Prentiss.
"You know, Jennifer," said Diana. "When Spencer first wrote to me about you, he used to say that you were the sweetest woman he had ever met in his life. He also said he hoped that someday he would ask you to marry him!"
JJ gasped.
"You were his very first crush!" continued Diana. "He was more than willing to go anywhere that you loved with you when he took you out to a Redskins game. But, you didn't even have the decency to let my son finish asking you out to a comic-con date before you turned him down! You made it crystal clear that you were not willing to go anywhere that Spencer loved with him!"
JJ lowered her head.
Diana continued, "And, after the ice cold way that you have been treating Spencer these past few weeks? I couldn't be happier that you are not the woman who my son is marrying today!"
JJ and Prentiss gasped. Reid buttoned up his cuff links.
"What?" asked Morgan.
"You're getting married?" asked Prentiss.
"Today?" asked JJ.
"Yes," smiled Reid. "That's why our lunch date has to wait."
Diana continued, "And fortunately, my son has some real friends in his life who have encouraged him to move on from Jennifer Jareau and find himself a young woman who would love him and only him!"
"But, Reid, why didn't you...?" asked Morgan.
"Why didn't he ever tell you that he was getting married?" finished Diana. "Because none of you are his family anymore!"
"Actually," said Reid. "I've realized that I couldn't really tell you guys anything about my personal life."
"What?" asked Prentiss and JJ.
"What does that mean?" asked Morgan.
"One time in the bullpen," explained Reid. "I tried to tell you, Morgan about how long it took George Lucas to construct the Death Star in Star Wars. You suddenly got up from your desk and walked away from me. I asked, 'Where are you going?' And, you said, 'I'm taking back the last five minutes of my life!'"
Diana gave Morgan a mean look.
"But, Morgan always acts like a jerk towards you, Reid," said Prentiss.
Morgan gave Prentiss a mean look.
"Why didn't you ever tell us?" asked JJ.
"Because, one time on the jet," answered Reid. "I tried to tell the two of you about Carlo Lorenzini, the writer of Pinnochio being obsessed with the human nose. You, Emily interrupted me saying, 'Interesting.' And, you both got up and you, JJ said, 'Coffee?' And, you both walked away from me."
Diana gave Prentiss and JJ a mean look that made both of them cringe.
"Well," smiled Morgan. "I wasn't the only one acting like a jerk towards Reid!"
Prentiss gave Morgan a mean look.
"I've learned that if none of you wanted to hear me rambling on about things that excite me," said Reid. "Then, why would any of you want to hear me telling you that I fell in love? So, I kept anything about my personal life to myself."
"If it wasn't vital information to help your team solve a case," added Diana. "You three would never listen to him! I wasn't surprised at all when Spencer told me that he quit the FBI and walked out of all of your lives! The way you three have been treating him? My Spencer leaving your team was only a matter of time!"
"Mom," smiled Reid. "They've all just apologized to me right before you came in. I think they can all stay for the wedding."
"Okay," said Diana. "But, if any of you do anything to embarrass or humiliate my son on his big day? Then, the bitch will be back!"
Morgan, Prentiss and JJ all cringed at Diana's mean threat. Diana walked out of the room and closed the door. Morgan, Prentiss and JJ all rubbed the backs of their heads.
"Ow," cried JJ.
"Ohhh," groaned Prentiss.
"Oh, man," whispered Morgan.
"I...guess we all had that coming to us," admitted JJ.
"Yes, you did," smiled Reid.
"Your mom packs quite a hit," said Morgan.
"Your mother is scarier than Hotch," said Prentiss.
"She's meaner than Strauss," said JJ.
"Yes," said Reid. "She told me that she used to have to do that head slapping in class to put some of her unruly students back in line."
"I'll bet it only took one slap to put them back in line," said Morgan.
"Actually," said Reid. "Mom said that some of those students were like you, Morgan. They were getting a number of slaps from her before they got back in line."
"Ow," cried JJ. "I'll never get on her bad side again."
Reid finished tying his bow tie.
"So..." said Prentiss.
"You're getting married," said Morgan.
"I can't believe it," said JJ.
"Our boy genius is all grown up," said Prentiss.
"Yeah," said Morgan.
"Can...we meet her?" timidly asked JJ.
"Huh?" asked Reid.
"Your bride," said JJ.
"Can we meet her?" gently asked Prentiss.
"Actually, two of you have already met her," said Reid. "JJ was away on maternity leave with Henry the day that I first met her."
Morgan, Prentiss and JJ felt wounded.
"...What?" said Prentiss.
"...Three years?" asked Morgan.
"You...kept a girlfriend a secret from us for three years?!" tearfully asked JJ.
"'I'm taking back the last five minutes of my life!' Remember, Morgan?" asked Reid.
Morgan lowered his head.
"Meaning we wouldn't have listened to you," admitted Morgan.
"Besides, JJ," said Reid. "You kept your boyfriend, Will a secret from us for a year."
JJ lowered her head.
"Touche'," admitted JJ.
Reid put on his tuxedo coat.
"You can all meet her after we say our vows," said Reid. "Now, please go. You're interrupting my bonding time with my mom."