I'm really enjoying writing some nice fluff and Hotch&Reid bonding so please enjoy part two of this story!

PT2

It had been a hard few days for everyone. The whole team was mourning the loss of Gideon. Luckily, it had been relatively quiet. They'd all gotten two full, uninterrupted days off, which was almost unheard of. Then, when they'd been in the office the following two days, there were no active cases to be called on, so everyone was able to catch up on paperwork and get home at a decent hour.

Hotch, not wanting the kid to be alone, had asked Reid to stay with him for a few days, just so he could keep an eye on him. He didn't want to be alone either, he told Reid when he'd argued that he didn't want to be a burden. That seemed to be the one positive coming from Haley and Jack staying at her sister's house, otherwise he knew he wouldn't have been able to convince the kid.

But, it seemed, all good things must come to an end, because the fourth night, Hotch got a text from JJ saying that they'd gotten a case and they'd be heading off in the morning.

Reid had appreciated Hotch's hospitality over the last few days. He had to admit, it was nice not going home to his empty apartment. He didn't like being such a burden on Hotch, but the man had insisted that he wanted Reid to be with him, so he'd eventually given in.

The man had a very comfy guest bedroom and made amazing coffee, so he couldn't complain. He had also been there for him when he'd experienced a few nightmares. Reid had apologized over and over for waking him up but Hotch didn't care, making him tea and asking him to talk to him about the dreams.

Overall, he was doing much better than he had been a few days before. He was still fairly depressed, but his brain was no longer attempting to actively shut his body down each time he thought about Gideon, so that was better than before.

He felt a bit better too. He'd finally managed to rehydrate and eat, Hotch had attempted to teach him how to make pasta, but he ended up almost catching the kitchen on fire.

When they lazily meandered into work that fourth day, Reid immediately spotted the workers in Gideon's office. They were removing all of his things, he realized, a pang of melancholy reaching his heart.

Quickly he moved to sit at his desk. He had finished all his paperwork two days ago and was now left with nothing to do. Normally he'd pull out a book or cold case to read, but his mind wandered to something else.

Reaching into his satchel, he unzipped a small pocket in the side, pulling out the note that Gideon had left him. He had it memorized, of course, with his eidetic memory and all. Yet, for some reason he felt like he needed to keep it with him. Just like he still carried the photo Gideon had given him months ago.

Prentiss walked over to his desk, standing behind him and Morgan made his way over as well, leaning against his own desk, arm propped on the barrier that separated the two.

"Hey pretty boy," Derek said, setting a coffee down on Reid's desk. Reid looked up and gave a small smile.
"Thanks." He looked back down at the note, studying it once more. He could feel their eyes, but he just didn't have anything to say.

Garcia spoke up suddenly, she must have been in Gideon's office. "Gideon left everything, except the photographs."

He glanced up at Garcia quickly before speaking "he always said those were like his family." There was a pause as the other's processed his words. He chewed his lip, continually scanning the note.

"What should we do with all this?" no one answered.

JJ popped by, asking that they all meet in the round table room. Morgan and Prentiss nodded, moving swiftly towards the room but Reid hesitated. He carefully folded up the note, placing it back in the small pocket in his satchel, before standing. He grabbed his coffee, taking a sip, before walking up towards the room.

He took a seat quietly, continuing to sip on his coffee.

Soon they were all gathered, JJ beginning to speak about the case. However, he looked up from the file when Hotch interrupted.

"I know that we've all been wondering what this was all about, and uh… you know I've known Jason for many years, and I can tell you, I have no idea." Hotch looked poignantly at Reid as he spoke, as if the speech was specifically for him. Reid's eyes fell, staring at the table instead of Hotch, but he still felt the man's eyes on him. "But it doesn't even matter. What matters is we're here, and were gunna continue." Hotch paused, eyes scanning over everyone in the room. Reid was the only one with a distraught look on his face but, then again, he was most certainly the most effected by the whole thing.

Reid began to zone out slightly during Hotch's description of their newest case. He'd already read the file thanks to his incredibly quick reading ability, and his mind started wandering. He snapped out of it after Derek made a comment.

"Well the torture is clearly sadistic."
"The lack of sexual preference could make it hard to tell if the unsub is male or female." He tacked on.

"Typically, female serial killers stick to the same M.O. It looks like this guy's all over the place."

"Most recent victim is Jenny Wittman. Asphyxiated. Discovered yesterday."

Reid looked up from the file. He inquired, "How long was she missing?"
"She was never reported missing." Everyone paused at this. Reid's brows scrunched together in confusion.

"What about the others?" He asked, looking at the screen.

Hotch's face was impassive, "Only one."
"One of four?" Reid repeated, thoroughly confused.

JJ spoke up; "Rick Holland was reported missing 9 months ago, but the search was called off."

"Family discovered his car at the train station. But more importantly, they received e-mails from him saying that he needed time to figure things out."

Derek scoffed from beside Reid, "And his family bought that?"

"Well, I guess the alternative was too hard to accept."

Reid cleared his throat, speaking up once more, "Reaching out could be a sign of remorse."
Hotch replied quickly, "Psychopaths don't apologize for their behavior. This guy's covering his tracks."

"Well, it's working." Derek stated.

Prentiss stood suddenly, walking towards the board, "So... 3 victims he buried in one grave and then only Jenny Wittman in the other."

"You thinking it's a pattern?"

"Uh, it's hard to tell."

"If there is, it's one down... 2 to go."

The team boarded the jet quickly, needing to make their way to Portland as quickly as possible. Reid kept quiet on the way over, spending time thinking instead.

It felt wrong to be going on a case without Gideon. He busied himself on the jet, taking far too long to make coffee so that no one would approach him. Eventually they settled to talk more about the case, Reid attempting to add quips every now and again to keep up appearances, but his head wasn't fully in it.

When they arrived at the police station Reid trailed behind the team. He knew he was probably being too quiet and that someone probably noticed by now, but he just didn't seem to have much to say. It was not often that he found himself at a loss for words but the past few days he certainly was.

JJ greeted the police captain, exchanging pleasantries. Reid found himself zoning out, slightly dissociating. Hotch was talking about going to the girl's apartment. When he turned around, he must have noticed the faraway look in Reid's eyes.

"I could use some extra hands." He stated, looking poignantly at Reid. Derek nodded, volunteering to come with them as well. Clearly the two wanted to keep an eye on him. He followed after silently, knowing better than to argue even though part of him wanted to stay behind so he could make a geographical profile alone.

He tried thinking back to Hotch's words, that he didn't have to go through this alone. He shook his head slightly at himself, it was just so hard to ask for help. Especially when it seemed like the rest of the team was moving on, leaving him in the dust.

They went to the girl's apartment and, other than almost having a heart attack in the elevator, it was relatively uneventful.

When they arrived back at the station Reid threw himself into victimology and geographical profiling.

A few hours had passed without him realizing. He was leaning against the desk, staring at the board attempting to make connections using the information. A hand landed on his shoulder, causing him to jump.

"Shit!"

"Woah Reid, you're okay." Hotch stated, worry in his eyes.

Reid's heart was pounding in his chest from surprise, but he took a shaky breath and chuckled. "Sorry, you just scared me."

Hotch's brows furrowed, confused at this, "Reid I called your name five different times," Reid's eyes widened slightly, haven been so enthralled by the case he hadn't heard, "I think it's time for a break." He placed a hand on the small of Reid's back and began guiding him away from the board.

"No, wait, I'm okay, I was just starting to get somewhere-"

"Spencer, you're taking a break, that's an order."
Reid swallowed, nodding in reluctant compliance, "Yes, sir."

Hotch guided the kid to the car, deciding that they'd go get some lunch for the team. He began driving down the street, stopping at the nearest cafe.

Reid stepped out of the car, smirking at the very hipster Portland coffee shop the man had chosen. It was probably not the man's first choice, but he'd just driven them to the nearest place.

Walking inside, Reid body immediately began buzzing in excitement at the smell of high-quality coffee. Hotch noticed, smiling, and nodded towards a table, urging the kid to take a seat.

He bolted to the table, elation radiating off of him. Hotch hadn't seen the kid smile that big in a while, not since before the Hankel ordeal, and it was a nice change of pace. He placed an order, getting them each a sandwich and a large coffee, asking them to put extra sugar in Reid's. He knew it was probably not the best idea, but right now he was just trying to cheer the kid up.

"Excited?" Hotch asked, a playful glint in his eye.

Reid practically squealed in reply, body fidgeting in anticipation. It wasn't more than a minute when their drinks were brought to them. He immediately snatched the coffee, taking a large gulp. He sat, content for a moment, reveling in the tastiness that was coffee this artisanal coffee. When he opened his eyes, Hotch was clearly holding in laughter.

"Sorry, I just… you know how I feel about coffee" He stated, chuckling. Hotch let out a rare laugh at this, shaking his head.

"Yes, I do." He met Reid's eyes, "It's nice to see you smile Reid, I know it's been a difficult couple of months and an especially hard couple of days." Reid's smile dropped a little, but not completely as he nodded in agreement.

The sandwiches came a few minutes later and the two fell into a comfortable silence, both reading bits of a local newspaper that had been left on the table. Reid got halfway through his sandwich before he began picking at it rather than eating it. Hotch gave him a hard stare, but Reid just pushed the plate away slightly, signaling that he was done.

Hotch sighed, "If you finish that I'll buy you another coffee on the way out."

Reid's eyes immediately lit up as he practically shoved the sandwich down his throat. Hotch was slightly taken aback but wasn't very surprised that his statement has worked.

He smiled with his mouth closed, still chewing his sandwich as Hotch stood to order him another coffee and some sandwiches to take back to the team.

When they arrived back at the station, Reid was in a much better mood. He was still clearly depressed, but his movements were lighter, the break had clearly done him some good.

They gave a profile to the police, JJ announcing it to the city and setting up a tip line. A few hours later Prentiss and Morgan headed off to a new crime scene and, somberly they placed the photo of their new victim on the board.

The two called from the scene, speaking to JJ, Hotch, and Reid who were still at the station. Hotch stood, approaching the board with the new information.

"Fire, hanging, asphyxiation, and now we've got a drowning."

Something clicked for Reid. The MOs varied but suddenly it made sense. The signature of fear was still present. "I think it's someone who's afraid of drowning," he voiced his thoughts aloud.
"What do you mean?"
"Yeah, y-yeah, it hit me when Morgan freaked out when we were stuck in the elevator-"

"You got stuck in an elevator?"
"I freaked?"
"Well, that's not important," he continued, "here's what is. If you look at the MOs of the victims, what do they all have in common? They could all be classified as anxiety disorders. I-it's right out of the Diagnostics and Statistical Manual. It lists 5 subtypes of phobias."

"Most of these are environmental and situational." Hotch stated, staring at Reid with his arms crossed, an understanding look on his face.

"Exactly."

"So it's all about fear." Hotch concluded, looking at the door with a new perspective. "These people are being killed by their fears…" he trailed off, nodding to himself. "Reid, I want you to go meet up with Prentiss and Morgan, look around the city, check out places that the victims would have visited and see if there are any flyers for a psychologist tackling fears."
Reid nodded, immediately gathering up his stuff before sprinting out of the precinct.

It wasn't long before he met up with Prentiss. Morgan had gone to check out a gym while the two of them were heading to the laundromat.
"So Hotch is even more intense now that Gideon's gone." Prentiss stated suddenly. Reid was caught off guard slightly but recovered with ease. He had been more serious, and he'd also been a lot more protective of Reid.

"Psh yeah, I've noticed."

"Do you think that's going to change?" Prentiss turned to him, stopping in the sidewalk. He slowed, turning to face her.

He carefully considered his answer before replying, "I certainly think we'll find out."

"What about you?" she questioned, genuine concern in her eyes, "You okay?"

Reid felt a pang of guilt in his chest and he clenched his jaw. "Oh I'm… I'm great." He stated unconvincingly, plastering a small smile on his face. He looked her in the eye a few seconds before dropping his gaze.

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

His brows furrowed, voice slightly catching in his throat, "What's there to talk about, really?"
"Gideon." Prentiss stated obviously.

"Oh, no, he uh—" he paused, nodding, searching for the right words, "he left a letter explaining everything. Just like my dad did when he abandoned me and my mom." He said, attempting to put some humor in the situation but his voice wavered and betrayed him.

Prentiss's eyes held sympathy for him. She took a breath and spoke; "he addressed it to you."

"Yeah, yeah." He stared at the ground, chewing his lip. "You know, Gideon stood toe to toe with some of the sickest people on this planet," he paused, willing his voice to stop wavering, "I think that took a lot of courage, right?"

"Yeah."
"So, why'd he do this?" he asked, dropping his head, voice breaking. He pulled the note out and stared at it once more. A pit of sadness formed in his gut again. "It's addressed to me, but I'm-I'm not…. I'm not the only one that he abandoned" Reid finished sadly, holding out the letter for Prentiss to take.

She seemed to search for words for a moment. "But why is it addressed to you?" His face scrunched in confusion at the question she posed. "I think you need to read that letter again."

"I have an eidetic memory, Emily."
"ah yeah, I know, and an IQ of 187 but what do you remember about your father?"

Reid shook his head, "what do you mean?"

"Well, he gave you ten years before he left, and yet you've erased all those memories. And—it's too painful. I get it. But then Gideon leaves. I think you need to read that letter again, and ask yourself why, of all the people he walked away from, did he only explain himself to one person… you."

She stood for a moment, before making a move to continue walking. Reid let himself trail behind her, swallowing the lump in his throat. He was at a loss for words, unsure of what to say to that. Maybe she was right. Hotch had mentioned that nights ago in his office, but he wasn't sure if he believed him.

However, maybe he did need to look at the letter again.