I am so glad to see some of my regular reviewers!

How do I end up writing such long chapters? I have had another long day and I have a feeling I'm going to cringe at the amount of missing words when I look at this thing in the morning.

(Quick non-story related comment: After watching the ending of the latest episode I have semi-officially become a Morgan/Garcia shipper. I want someone to travel across the country to remind me how good a person I am!) On a similar note I feel I should mention that there will be no shipping in this story. I just got sappy sentimental at the end.

Reviews are welcome and encouraged as always.

Chapter 3:

The guy called Aaron Hotchner grabs me by the shoulders and pulls me upright. He leans down and gets on my level. "Mr. Davis, I need you to calm down. Dr. Reid is here to help-"

"How could he want to help me?" I cry. "What I did to him was practically molestation! I took his clothes-"

"That's enough Mike!" I look up and see Spencer standing down at me. The look of determination on his face finally begins to register.

"Spence, why would you want to help me? Our last encounter involved me ripping your graduation-"

"Mike, stop it!" he yelled. I began to cry harder. I heard him let out a sigh of frustration. "Hotch I think Mr. Davis might be able to help me analyze Tyler's room. Can you help me get him up?"

Hotchner exchanged a look with Spencer and then nodded. "Mr. Davis, Tyler needs you. Your insight in to what Tyler might have been doing when he was abducted might help Dr. Reid determine the personality of the kidnapper. Can you do that?"

"Okay," I say weakly as I shakily stand up. I see Sally staring at me, looking confused. Jareau blocks her view of me.

"Come on Mike," Spencer says authoritatively. "Show me Tyler's room."

"Sit down Mike," Spencer says as he closes Tyler's door behind us. I'm still sniffling as I sink into the baseball-shaped swivel chair in front of Tyler's desk.

Spencer gets down on his haunches and stares me straight in the eye. "I need you to snap out of it," he said angrily.

I had never seen this side of Spencer Reid. I never thought he could become capable of speaking with such authority. "Snap of out of what Spencer? The feeling of guilt over what I did to you hasn't stopped haunting me since Sally became pregnant with Tyler. I don't want my son to become someone who thinks spray-painting a kid's-"

"This is where you need to stop!" Spencer shouted. Then he spoke in a quieter voice. "I told my team that you bullied me in high school but I never gave specific details. I would really like you to stop painting pictures of my worst childhood experiences for them."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry," I whimper. I didn't realize I was still hurting him.

Spencer suddenly grips the edge of the chair. "Mike, a few years ago I let what you and your friends did to me cloud my judgment while on a case. I acted so recklessly I nearly lost my job. I swore on that day to never let what happened at Las Vegas High affect my ability to do my job. I intend to continue to keep that vow by helping to rescue your son!"

I just stare at Spencer. Who was this guy? He looked like a taller version of the kid I knew in school but everything else seems to have changed.

"Mike," his voice softened. "You have a son. And a fairly happy one it appears," he says as he glances around the room. "No matter how much I hate what you did to me, I cannot hate the fact that you are a father who has created a stable family environment. Let's let go of the past and focus on what's important okay?"

I couldn't help but wonder where Spencer learned to forgive. I can still bench-press 170 pounds on a weekly basis but Spencer Reid was stronger than me by every other measure. My breathing become more regular. "Okay Spencer," I said.

He begins to walk around the room. I couldn't help but feel a little proud of my Sally as she was the one who designed the room. Half of the blue walls are lined with square maple-wood shelving. Reid looked into the various little cubby-holes. "He loves baseball," Spencer remarked as he carefully pulled out a Las Vegas 51's cap.

"Yeah, I tried to get him into football but he seems to just love the pace of the baseball. He was the one to wake me and Sally up when the last 51's game went into extra innings."

He picks up a book from another shelf. "Mike Lupica's Heat seems a little advanced for someone his age."

"Well he has always been a couple reading levels above his class," I said.

Spencer suddenly grabs a photo of Tyler. It is the one with me and Sally standing behind Tyler on the pitcher's mound at L.A. Dodger's stadium. The cap couldn't conceal the blond hair streaming part-way down his neck. The heart of my nightmares begins to dawn on him. "I remind him of you don't I?"

I begin to tear up again. "His hair grows so fast it seems like Sally has to take him once month to have it trimmed. He looks so angelic in that photo. I don't want to think of how perverts must look-"

"Then don't," Spencer said suddenly. He opens his bag and pulls out file. "Let's go over what happened last night."

He takes a couple steps towards me. "When you came home you found the baby-sitter unconscious on the couch in the family room. The doctor's determined she had been knocked out with dose of chloroform injected into an artery in the neck."

"When we saw her we were convinced she was dead. We then rushed-"

"When the baby-sitter woke up she informed the detectives that she had put Tyler to bed early at eight-thirty. She said he was tuckered out after baseball practice." He looks up at me. "The thing is that it makes no sense."

This shocked me. "Are you saying Jane might have been involved in Tyler's kidnapping?"

"No. Not that part. It's the fact that a twelve-year-old would be ready to fall asleep that early on a Friday night."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Spencer returned to flipping through the folder. "Jane Barron is the sixteen-year-old daughter of Sally's assistant at her clothing boutique. She baby-sat for you guys before and has proven to be very trust-worthy. But she is still a teenage girl from a comparatively lower-income family."

"The TV was on HBO when you got home. The viewing schedule indicates there was a Game of Thrones marathon during the time of the abduction."

Spencer looked up again. "My guess is that Jane told Tyler to go to bed early so that she could enjoy the watching the show on your three-foot flat screen. By all accounts Tyler was a good kid who liked Jane and was willing do anything to make sure she had some fun on her Friday night. Even if it involved staying in his room while still wide-awake."

Now this was starting to sound like the Spencer Reid I knew. He was always thinking ten steps ahead of everyone in the class. "What are you getting at Spencer?" I asked.

Spencer glanced at the desk. "You don't let him have a computer?"

"No, we keep a password-protected one in the kitchen. My wife's idea," I quickly added to make sure I wasn't sounding like Father of the Year material.

"So what did he do to occupy his time before he fell asleep?"

That was an easy one. "He read."

Spencer walked to the side of the bed where the bed side table and crouched down. He looks at the lamp with 51 insignia on the shade. "The police reported said that you found this on when you came into the room. So where is the book he was reading?" He begins to look under the bed. I let his observation sink in. I would have never thought a detail like that would have been worth noting.

"So the kidnapper allowed Tyler to take his book with him!" I said with a note of triumph.

For the first time a flicker of a smile appears on Spencer's face. "Exactly. This reveals that the UnSub- kidnapper is capable of empathy. It also indicates that there is a chance that Tyler is being held in a place with enough visible light to allow him to read."

I was willing to take any small victory I could get at this point. "So he isn't being held in the dark completely! Spencer that is incredible!" I rush over to him with my arms open and Spencer backs away. "Please don't," he said not out fear, but discomfort. We let the moment go.

I rush to do the door. "I can't wait to tell Sally!"

"Not yet Mike," Spencer said. He is looking at the shelves where book were kept. "Do you know what he might have been reading?"

I take a few steps back, feeling a little exasperated. "Not off the top of my head. Why might that be important?"

Spencer is seems to ignore me "Tyler is a meticulous organizer. There would be an open space from he had pulled out one his own books."

I was frustrated and exhausted. I was desperate to provide Sally with a ray of hope. "I do remember Mrs. McCray threatening to put you in detention when you refused to give the answer to the equation on the board after you explained a third method of solving it."

"I didn't want to go over the answers to last night's homework. I felt like having some fun in that class for once," he said absent-mindedly. He suddenly rushed to Tyler's backpack. "It must have been a library book!"

"Spencer," I said wearily. "Give me a break."

He pulled out a stack of books with clear covers on them. He put the pile on the bed and began to flip through the rapidly. "Speed-reading?" I asked, not really caring about the answer.

"I'm not that fast," he said as he grabbed the third book. Half-way through a smile appeared on his face. He pulled a strip of paper. "This is the list of books he had checked out!" He began to read it.

"So what book was he reading?" I said, humoring him. I suddenly realized how much I didn't sound like the Mike Davis Spencer knew. I was sounding like a guy who didn't enjoy being out of the loop. Tyler would say that I was acting like Watson if he were here. I felt a sudden twinge of guilt for not worrying about him.

"Mike, he checked all these books out at a branch in Henderson," Spencer said, interrupting my thoughts of self-pity. "Why was he in that section of town the city three weeks ago?"

I racked my brain. It suddenly came to me. "Tyler had a friend whose older brother was a novice magician! His first solo performance was at the Martin Line-somethine,"

"The Martin Linel Vegas Library. I've been there a few times."

Then it hit me. The method to Spencer Reid's "madness" revealed:

"Wasn't that where the other boy grew up? So that is the place where the kidnapper noticed Tyler. Now we have a lead!"

"I have a lead to present to my team," Spencer said with his eyes focused on the due slip. His voiced sounded noncommittal. He wasn't telling me everything.

"Spencer what else is there?"

He looked up at me with a gentle expression on his face. "Mike you have been a tremendous help. I'm not sure I could have done all of this half as quickly alone. I really hate asking you to do this: You can tell your wife about the fact that the kidnapper let Tyler take a book with him, but I need you to not tell her about the library. I'm not sure how exactly the library angle fits in for a number of reasons I am not ready to discuss."

I looked at him uncertainly. "Are you asking me to lie to my wife?"

"No, not in the sense you're thinking of. I'm asking to not give your wife something else to trouble her mind with that can't be supported with solid information."

He took a step towards me. "Please trust me Mike," he said softly.

I nodded my head. The realization that the kid I terrorized was actually trying to comfort me was overwhelming me again. I began to feel unsteady.

Spencer picked up on it immediately. "Mike go be with your wife. By my rough calculations, the ransom call should be coming within the next hour. I need to meet with my team." We walked to the door.

Hotchner was flipping through his tablet in the hallway. He looked up at me with stern a look on his face. "Agent Jareau made tea and your wife pulled out some scones."

I crack a small smile. "I knew she had hidden the last of Jacques Torres' pastries on me."

He looks at me for the briefest moment. I think he actually wanted to know how I made contact with the famous French chef. He then nods his head. I take the hint to move on as he goes into meet Spencer.

Hotch found Reid standing over the bed with the files scattered between the library books. Reid looks up when Hotch enters. "I have found a few things. But I'm not sure how they all fit exactly."

"I have no doubt that what you found will make perfect sense with the assistance of the team. And that it is all valuable." Hotch said. "What impresses me more is how Mike Davis' mental state had changed since the last time I saw him. I admire and commend you for facing your nightmare alone."

Reid looked uncomfortable. He wasn't used to receiving so many compliments from Hotch in one conversation. "Hotch I was just doing my job. We needed to improve Mike's mental condition in order for him to help us rescue his son."

"You know that was much harder than you made it sound," he said and took a step forward. He looked Spencer straight in the eye.

"Reid I'm not sure if I have ever said so in these exact words: I'm proud of you. I'm proud of how you have grown. You are no longer just 'the kid' with all the answers. You are the agent I can depend on to gain insight and information from people in ways that none of the other agents aren't capable of. I am truly proud of you Spencer."

Reid and Hotch stared at each other for a moment and then simultaneously looked away. They realized how they were both on the verge of letting out too much emotion.

Suddenly the radio on Hotch's belt crackled. "Hey Hotch, I don't remember you ever saying how proud you are of me," Morgan said.

Reid's cheeks turned red and Hotch muttered something about no realizing the radio was still on. The radio crackled again. "Now kids, Dad loves you all equally," Rossi said.

Hotch returned to administrative mode. "Rossi has canvassing turned up anything?"

"Nada. I told you it was pointless."

"We can discuss that later. Morgan have you completed your navigation through the building?"

"Almost."

"Then let's meet in the Jeff Davis' study in twenty minutes. J.J. learned a few interesting things from Mrs. Davis and Reid seems to have had a very productive meeting with Mr. Davis."

"The whiz kid never disappoints," Rossi said.

"I love you too Rossi."