"You okay?" Emily slipped into the seat previously occupied by Rossi.
Hotch looked up from the paperwork he'd been absorbed by, surprised by her sudden appearance in front of him.
"I'm fine." He insisted looking around to check his surroundings.
"Really? Because you've been staring at the same piece of paper for nearly the entire flight." She pointed out, tapping the sheet in question clearly not buying it.
"Well its-" Hotch looked down and realised he was still holding the title page of an innocuous report he'd intended to read as a distraction. Emily smiled at him shrewdly. Dropping the report and sitting back in his seat defeated, Hotch sighed. Busted. "I was thinking about Reid's situation."
"Yeah must be tough being a genius with an eidetic memory sometimes." She playfully mocked, her words holding a hint of sympathy intended to provoke a reaction.
Head down Hotch smiled at her attempt to trick him into talking. Sure he was usually pretty strict about keeping his personal feelings separate from work and he managed it well, with only the odd exception like Tobias Hankle of course, or the serial arsonist in San Francisco a year ago, Reid coincidentally being the catalysis for the lines blurring both times he noted to himself. Truth was, on this occasion, he really didn't need to be tricked I sharing what was in his mind. The official case had been solved, they were on their way home and all that remained was entirely personal.
"Did you know when Reid first applied to be an Agent there wasn't a test the FBI could put in front of him that he couldn't ace within an hour?" Hotch shook his head at the memory, the moment Morgan had asked if he'd heard about the wonder kid – and he legally was a kid back then – who'd had the nerve to challenge the FBI.
The recruiters had apparently relented at his persistence and decided to get some mild entertainment out of watching him try to prove his worth, but then as the game progressed and he still managed to come out on top things took a different turn. Despite being a month shy of his 21st birthday it was eventually agreed by the FBI director himself that Doctor Spencer Reid could apply to become an Agent despite being two years below what regulations normally allowed.
"He does know a heck of a lot," Prentiss laughed softly upon hearing the story, "it's more of a shock to discover something he doesn't know!"
"But because of that I forget just how young he really is sometimes." Hotch admitted thoughtfully after a minute, skipping over her banter.
"Physically iandi emotionally" She nodded, trying to catch his eye.
Hotch made an agreeing noise, choosing not to comment on Reid's obvious emotional underdevelopment.
"Problem is, when something confuses him Reid's almost relentless to his own detriment," He looks up then, meeting her equally steady gaze head on. "I'm afraid that's a risk of happening here."
Prentiss to her credit doesn't falter at his honesty, but she does drop the smile. "It's always going to be the emotional issues that catch him out."
He nodded, agreeing. Hell that's why he left both Morgan iandi Rossi behind. Morgan could help Reid and look out for him, protect him like only a big brother can. Rossi he entrusted to step in and stop Reid from falling too far, be the strict parental figure able to do what's in his best interests even if those interests went against Reid's own.
"Okay, I take it back. It must be tough being the iunit chiefi of a genius with an eidetic memory" She grinned again, this time in sympathy of his dilemma of wanting to be the parental figure in this instance and knowing that he can't.
Hotch returned the smile in thanks, not as rare an expression on his face as others might believe.
"If only his EQ was as high as his IQ then he'd be the perfect agent."
"I've not met one of those yet." Hotch chuckled silently along with her, his features softening, the sun shining through the small window giving them both an unnaturally happy glow considering the sombre conversation. "I once asked Gideon to imagine how much he'd know by the time he was our age. I just didn't consider at the time how much older I'd be by then."
"Oh god," she sighed, commiserating, "I'm still reeling from the fact he's way smarter than I'll ever be and was still in kindergarten when I was graduating high school."
"Try Law school," Hotch laughed, eyebrows raised as if even he couldn't quite believe it himself.
Prentiss pulled a sour face, followed up with a grin. "Oooh, ouch, yeah you win."
He nodded, taking the hit, then smiled cunningly when a thought occurred to him. "Actually Rossi would have been twice married twice divorced, all with over decade in the BAU behind him by the time Reid was four, so I think the honour of feeling dumb and old goes to him."
She laughed -loudly. "I promise to never tell Rossi you said that."
They shared a smile, and for a brief moment the mood on the jet was lifted.