A/N: Hello everyone. Thank you so very much for the wonderful reviews. Don't own anything, as usual.

Hotch stared out the window. He was sitting in his office, looking out the window. Haley and Jack were playing with the new golden retriever. He wanted to go down there with them, but he just didn't have the heart. The past week had put a damper on his mood.

A car pulled up. It looked familiar. Hotch peered more closely to the driver. His heart sank when it was Gideon. He cursed.

Gideon politely greeted Haley and Jack. The puppy came over to investigate this new person. However, his whole demeanor changed when Hotch came into the front yard.

"Hey Aaron." Haley greeted him. How could she be so happy in a time like this?

"Hi." He replied. Jack immediately wandered over to say hi as well. "Do we have a case?" He asked tensely.

"No." Just as tense. Gideon paused. "Do you mind if we talk?"

Haley looked curiously between the men. Hotch knew that if he said no like he wanted to, she wouldn't let it rest.

"No. Come in."

"What is this about?" Hotch began once they were inside and to a place where Haley couldn't hear them.

"What do you think?"

"Jason, don't-"

"Hotch, why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you do what you did on Monday? There was no evidence to support that it was Reid's in the first place." Gideon's voice was full of frustration, anger, and impatience.

"There wasn't any to say it wasn't."

"So you interrogated him? Hotch, why?"

"I questioned him because suspicious circumstances had arisen, and it was my job as Unit Chief to make sure that it was not my agent."

"So you interrogated him?"

"Damn it, I didn't interrogate him!" Hotch yelled in frustration. "I just talked to him about it."

"Okay, fine. You didn't interrogate him, but you could have just tested him. Told him what was going on, ask him to test to officially clear him, and move on. Why didn't you?"

"I wanted to know that he was keeping his word."

"So you questioned him?"

"Yes. Jason, nothing I did was wrong."

"No it wasn't. But it certainly wasn't right either."

Hotch looked at Gideon. Gideon often wore a look of kindness on his face, but right now, his face was full of rage. The kind of rage he saved for the unsubs. It started to scare Hotch.

"Hotch, what happened to you?"

Reid exited from the bedroom. Usually he didn't take that long of a shower, but today, he felt like he needed it. His frustrations and fury still weren't completely gone, and the hot water seemed to make it feel better.

Morgan was still in his kitchen, walking around doing something. Why he was still here, Reid didn't know.

"Hey, did you try drowning in there?" Morgan joked with his big smile. Reid laughed, a true laugh. Having been a few days since he last had, it felt refreshing.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, I was making a sandwich for you. Figured you might be hungry. Hope you don't mind that I just started messing around in your kitchen."

"No, it's fine." Reid quickly agreed as his mouth watered at the sandwich that Morgan had prepared.

Morgan handed it over and proceeded to make himself one as well. The two were in almost complete silence as both were lost in their thoughts.

A small knock came to the door. Reid looked confused as he stood up to answer it. Gideon and Hotch were on the other side.

Morgan became just as confused. All Gideon had said on the phone was that he was going to talk to Hotch. The look on Reid's face changed from an innocent to dark demeanor, and Morgan started to get nervous.

"Hi." Gideon said softly. Hotch remained silent and very uncomfortable.

"What's going on?" Reid demanded.

"Reid, can we come in?"

"Why not?" Reid said almost bitterly. He turned to Morgan silently asking what was happening.

"Reid, I called Gideon." Morgan explained.

The look evolved to pure rage.

"What? Why? Why did you need to involve them?"

"Reid, we need to talk." Hotch stated calmly.

"Talk? Now? Why now Hotch? We had plenty of time on Monday." Reid spat back.

It was bad enough that Morgan had involved Gideon and Hotch, the one person who Reid wanted to see the least in the world. Morgan should have known that, and he should have known that Reid would want this to be somewhat private. Hotch's words had been the icing on the cake. Now, Reid was infuriated, and there were no prisoners to be taken.

"Reid, calm down." Gideon instructed.

"Calm down? Don't I have a right to be mad?"

"Yes, you do." Hotch said firmly. He looked Reid square in the eye, catching him off guard. Gideon motioned to Morgan that they should leave. "You have a right to be pissed off. What I did wasn't fair to you. You should be trusted. You've proven that you are going to stay clean."

Reid was stunned at Hotch's words.

"Hotch, why? You said that I should be trusted and that I'm going to stay clean. Why did you think it could be mine?" Reid asked quietly after several moments.

Hotch sighed. "Because I was stupid. When JJ first told me she was leaving, I got a little insecure."

Reid looked about ready to go into shock.

"I thought she wasn't completely honest when she told me why she was leaving. I started to think that maybe it was because I was asking too much of her, being too difficult, something along that nature. I had no idea JJ was even trying to leave the BAU. Gideon and I talked, and I thought I was over it. But then, this happened. The insecurity came back. If I had no idea that JJ wanted to leave, it was possible that I had no idea that you could have started using again. I stated that I possibly didn't even know my own team. I mean, what if it was yours Reid? We never saw it the first time. How could we miss it again? I didn't want to take my chances. I never meant to interrogate you. I never meant to accuse you of using again. I'm sorry Reid. I really am."

Reid was speechless. Hotch never wavered in his actions. He always knew why he did what he did and stood behind it.

"Reid?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Reid stated quietly.

Hotch's confession had been going through his head, and while it answered many questions, a few remained.

"It's just... Hotch, did you ever not trust me? Did you ever believe that it was really mine or that I would relapse?" Reid finally asked. Fear possessed Reid and caused him to look away.

"Reid, I still remember the day in rehab when you promised me you wouldn't go back. I know you haven't gone back on that." Hotch replied sincerely.

Reid looked at Hotch, received the look of confirmation from his eyes, and let out a breath of relief. With that, the tension lifted so much that Reid did something that took Hotch by complete surprise; he smiled. Hotch returned it.

"Reid, I am sorry, and I will try to make it up to you."

"Hotch, it's okay. Well, can you let it slide that I didn't come into work yesterday?"

Hotch laughed at the trivialness of Reid's request. "Of course."

"Okay."

"We're good then?" Hotch asked awkwardly.

"I think so." Reid replied.

They weren't completely okay, and both of them knew it. The air felt tight yet. Healing in their friendship still needed to happen, but that would come at its own rate in its own time.

Hotch extended his hand, and Reid shook it.

They went back into the living room to find Gideon and Morgan examining the ring.

"Reid, I'm sorry. I thought Gideon would want to see it." Morgan immediately began to say when Reid cast his eye over their way.

"Morgan, it's okay." Reid said calmly. He had accepted that since Gideon and Hotch were here, they were going to find out about everything.

"Reid, it's gorgeous. She'll love it." Gideon remarked.

"Reid, you're going to propose to JJ?" Hotch asked astounded as he went over to examine it himself.

"Well, that's usually what you do with an engagement ring."

"How did you keep this from us?"

"It's not like JJ knows either. Only I knew about this secret."

While Hotch and Reid had been discussing this, Morgan and Gideon had exchanged a series of glances. Through them, Gideon had given Morgan a command.

"Well, would you look at the time? I have to go and get ready for date." Morgan remarked smugly as he stood up.

Reid, while looking puzzled at Morgan's sudden declaration, also stood up and exited with Morgan.

"You two…?" Gideon half whispered, half asked.

"We're definitely on more friendly terms, but we still have some making up to do."

Gideon nodded. They were silent for a moment while snippets of Morgan and Reid's conversation floated through. From their best judgment, Morgan was trying to give Reid dating tips, which he was politely accepting with very few smart comments and many laughs.

"We're going to get past this, right?" Hotch asked.

"Get past what?"

"The addiction."

It was in that moment that the events of the last few days finally made sense to Gideon. He knew what had to be said, had to be done, and had to be changed.

"Yes, with acceptance." Gideon stated as he bore his eyes into Hotch.

"Gideon, we did accept what happened. We accepted Reid's addiction." Hotch answered puzzled.

"But did we accept that Reid could, and did, get better?" Gideon questioned. Hotch didn't know how to respond. "We have to accept that Reid got better because he did. When we do, he'll forgive us, and this will finally be over.

"Where do we start?"

"Well, you know what you have to do." Gideon stated with his eyebrows raised.

Hotch nodded. "I know."

"I want to make sure that Reid really is okay." Gideon said.

"So…?"

"Go talk to her, make things right. I'll stay here and talk to Reid. We'll meet up Monday morning, and we'll start to move on."

Hotch retreated to the kitchen as well. He came into the kitchen to find Morgan still there.

"Okay kid. Take care of yourself." He said as he clapped Reid on the shoulder as he headed out the door. "Oh, and don't be afraid to call if you need any help."

"Morgan, you do know that JJ and I have been dating for over a year, and you've known for one week?"

"I've taught you well." Morgan explained with a smile.

Reid rolled his eyes and laughed. Morgan left with a smile on his face and a better feeling in his gut than he had come with.

"Something wrong Hotch?" Reid asked turning to him.

"No. I have to go."

"You're leaving too?"

"Yeah. I have to go talk to someone else, and Haley has the evening planned for us." Hotch replied.

"Um, okay."

"Reid, really, I am sorry. I don't expect you to forgive me anytime soon-"

"Hotch, it's okay."

"Reid, it's not." Hotch pleaded.

"Hotch, it's as okay as it's going to be for today." Reid stated sadly.

Hotch knew that Reid was, as was usual, right. He left in a similar fashion to Morgan. Reid walked back to the living room.

"How are you going to ask her?" Gideon asked fingering the ring.

"I haven't planned that yet." Reid said uneasily. "I wanted to wait until she was out of the BAU, but other than that, I don't know."

"Good. Don't plan it."

Reid stared at Gideon quizzically.

"Don't plan it?" He repeated.

"When the time is right, just ask her."

"Is that how you asked your wife?"

"No. I had everything planned down to the minute. I was going to cook her a romantic dinner, soft music in the background, and after a while, take her outside underneath the stars, and propose to her."

"What happened?" Reid questioned eagerly.

"First the chicken burned. Second, it was pouring rain outside."

"What did you do?"

"Just asked right before she was about to leave. She said yes, but it was pretty obvious I screwed up." Gideon laughed.

Reid emitted a little laugh as well.

"Should you at least have a little plan?" Reid asked. "I mean, if someone's completely random, the right moment may never come."

"If the couple is right, then the right moment will come." Gideon assured him.

To Gideon's surprise, Reid became very uneasy at this answer.

"What's wrong?"

"I didn't think that… it's nothing." Reid said quickly.

"Reid, whatever it is, you can tell me."

Reid only looked down in shame.

"Morgan said you were upset with all of us." Gideon tried to change the subject "Reid, it's okay. Like Hotch said, you have the right to be angry."

"Angry, or shocked?"

"What?"

Reid finally lifted his head. He waited several moments before finally speaking.

"Gideon, when I got out of rehab, the people at the first NA meetings all said the same thing; it's going to be hard to stay clean." Reid started, his voice small.

Gideon nodded.

"At first, I thought they were just weak or something. I didn't want drugs anymore. By the end of rehab, it was so easy to say no. Then, I got out, and they were right. There were days that I didn't know if I would be able to stay clean. I was always so scared that I would screw up again and go back. But, the biggest thing that kept me going was that I knew that you guys had confidence in me. You guys knew I could do it, or at least, that's what everyone kept telling me. When I got really scared, I would call JJ, Morgan, Garcia, anyone. Hearing their voices reminded me that I had them to count on."

Reid's confession was almost bringing tears to both men's eyes. Gideon had never seen this side, even though he was sure it had existed.

"It eventually got easier. Not only did everyone start to trust me again, but I started to trust myself again. I wasn't afraid of being alone anymore. There were still times when an urge would come back, but, like I said, I had you guys, I knew I could do it."

Reid, who had been pacing this whole time, shifted his attention back to Gideon who was still listening intently. He nodded once, prompting Reid to go on.

"But Gideon, I learned this week that you guys didn't think I could do it. I'm mad, but I'm also shocked. I thought you guys had faith in me Gideon. I'm clean, and that's not going to change. You can trust me when I say that." Reid finished.

"Reid, I know that what happened was unfair to you, but don't ever think we didn't have faith in you. We've known you could do it since day one."

Reid didn't seem to really believe Gideon.

"Reid, what our mistake, mine included, was that we didn't do something that you did."

Reid stared at Gideon quizzically.

"You closed the chapter in your life that involved Dilaudid. You did a long time ago, and we didn't. We didn't recognize that you had done it."

"How about now?" Reid asked a moment later. "Do you think I have now?"

"Yes Reid." Gideon replied. "You won not only the battle, but the war."

He finally felt it. Reid finally felt the victory over Dilaudid. He finally felt victory over the drug that almost took his job, his life, and his friends, no, his family. But he knew that this feeling of victory was too small. Not only did he need to feel it, but he wanted his family to feel it as well.

"Gideon, how do we get beyond this? How do we put this in the past for everyone?" Reid inquired.

"There's only one way I'm afraid. Please give us a chance. Give us a chance to make amends, and in time, please try to forgive us. You don't have to do it today, tomorrow, or any time soon, but please sometime in the future." Gideon pleaded.

Reid nodded.

"And to start, you might want to come in on Monday." Gideon joked lightly.

Reid smiled. "Don't worry, I've already promised to Hotch I'm coming in. I'll talk to everyone else there, and hopefully in a little bit, everything will get back to normal. For good."

Gideon was extremely pleased with his answer.

"Reid, there is someone else who you need to talk to. And she won't be in the bullpen Monday morning." Gideon reminded him gently.

The same look of discomfort returned.

"Reid, just try to talk to her."

"I don't know if I can."

"Reid, I saw your eyes when you were talking about that ring. You love her. And when she was talking to me and Hotch, I saw her eyes. She loves you Reid."

"Does it matter?"

"Of course Reid."

"Gideon, I'm… I'm scared. I was going to propose to her. And…"

"Reid, I told you that if the couple is right, then the right moment for the proposal will come."

Reid nodded.

"You two are right for each other. Put a little faith into her, your relationship."

After a while, Gideon was able to coarse Reid into at least calling JJ. However, he did tell Reid that it would be best to think about it for a day before calling her. He said it would give Reid a chance to collect his thoughts, but really, Hotch was over there now. He was apologizing to JJ for his actions, and Gideon didn't want that to be interrupted.

Gideon wanted to stay longer and talk to Reid more. He wanted to help him get over the pain of what had happened, help him fix everything with JJ, help him propose when the time was right. But he knew he couldn't. Now, it was Reid's turn. All Gideon could do was leave, as there was nothing more to discuss.

A/N: How am I doing? Press the review button to leave comments, questions, and other feelings you need to express. Thanks!