Dr. Reid was staring me down and I became more uncomfortable with each passing second. The floor suddenly seemed very interesting.

"I need to know what's going on." He said. He didn't say it like a question or like he was trying to coax me into talking. He said it like it was just fact. He allowed me time to respond to him, plenty of time, but I did not.

"A lot has been changing for you." He said carefully. "But don't expect me to believe you're not relieved to be away from your parents. I heard the way you talked about them." I piped up immediately with illogical rage in my voice.

"Don't put words in my mouth. You don't know how I feel!" I shouted, glaring at him with every ounce of cruelty I could muster. I didn't even stop to think about the fact that he had heard what I had said to Agent Hotchner about my parents. I had assumed that kind of information was supplied on a need-to-know basis. Apparently it was just another thing he had failed to mention to me.

"Why don't you tell me how you feel then?"

"I feel like I hate you! That's how I feel. I've been at your house, how many times, and you haven't even asked me how I'm doing!" Dr. Reid didn't say anything for a moment. He just smiled very lightly. I realized I had let him lure me. I drove my fists into my own lap, wondering if I hurt myself, maybe he would take me seriously.

"You're not angry at me, you're angry at yourself." He said with his infuriatingly throaty voice.

"Stop telling me how I feel!" I shouted again. I was ready to continue my retort but he held up his hand in surrender.

"You're right." He admitted. "I don't know how you feel and I certainly can't make you feel differently. I can however, speculate. It's my job to guess at how people are feeling and why they do the things they do, but at the end of the day it is just that, guess work." I could still feel my heart pounding in my chest but he had succeeded in shutting me up.

"I think that you're angry at yourself," He continued, "because I have asked you how you are doing and you refuse to tell me." I opened my mouth to respond but he held up his hand again. "I'm sure there's a very good reason for this, but you still wish that you could have the guts to tell me whatever it is that's eating you."

He was right to have stopped my interjection because I no longer had anything to say in response. I don't know how long it was that I sat there staring desperately into space trying to stop the flood of tears from falling. I held my eyes unnaturally wide for as long as I could but eventually it was too much. When the dam finally broke, the flood came and I couldn't control myself anymore.

A horrible raspy gasp burst from my throat. No matter how hard I tried to silence myself, I could not. I bent my head forward, clutching the fabric of my pants tight in each fist, and cried. I could cry in front of the man but I couldn't tell him what was really happening, what the cause of my tears were.

Dr. Reid stood up slowly and carefully and made his way to sit beside me. I covered my face better with my hands so he couldn't see the involuntary contortion of it. He placed his hand on my back and I flinched away from it lightly at first. I folded over my knees and he adjusted his arm over my back. At least in that moment I couldn't say he didn't care.

I looked around nervously at the tall people, all in suits, surrounding me in the elevator. I felt utterly out of place and found myself big-time second guessing myself. Dr. Reid had invited me to spend a few hours at the office after school that day. I arranged for Angie to stay with a friend and it was done.

He claimed it would be an opportunity for me to meet with an attorney who was representing the plaintiff side against my mother and father. Their cases were to be tried separately. My mother had been charged with endangerment of minors, neglect, and dug possession and use. My father would be charged with the same with the addition of child molestation, and forcible prostitution of minors, plural.

Dr. Reid said that it was in everyone's best interest if I agreed to present myself as a witness. Having had a few weeks to calm down after the initial arrest, I was feeling more up to doing it. Secretly, I think he was just trying to keep an eye on me, not that I minded. It was nice to have someone looking out for me for once.

I relieved to step out of the elevator when it finally dinged. Dr. Reid was waiting for me when I got out and he guided me to a private room. A woman in a formal pant suit was waiting for me. He smiled encouragingly. I took a deep breath and allowed her to shake my hand.

When I finally emerged from the interview with the attorney I looked around for Dr. Reid. I could not immediately find him so I wandered awkwardly across the office, wondering if anyone would stop me and ask what on earth I was doing there.

I looked up along the half flight of stairs to a partial level and I saw him talking to Agent Hotchner. A dark haired woman stood with them, cocking her hip and listening. I started to make my way toward them but stopped when I heard my name.

"-Alex and her sister. Something not right is going on in that house, Hotch." Agent Hotchner brought his hand to his brow like it gave him a headache. "I don't know if we can. Social services has already conducted their routine check-in a week ago and we have no grounds for the warrant required to do an additional investigation."

I could sense Dr. Reid getting agitated, a side of him I had not yet seen. "Hotch," he said, lowering his voice. "You should have seen her yesterday. She cut off most of her hair. Profiling 101, you hate yourself on the inside and you change your appearance to match."

"She could just be having a hard time adjusting to her new school." The brunette suggested. Dr. Reid shook his head. "Emily, you don't understand. You weren't there."

Agent Hotchner interjected. "When did you see her?" Dr. Reid kneaded his lips together.

"I told you, yesterday. She's come to my apartment a few times." Hotch raised his eyebrows and ran his hand through his hair. He seemed to cave. "I she tells you anything specific, then let me know. Keep an eye on her, try to open her up. If she-" I felt a hand on my shoulder and I spun around. A pretty blond woman stood before me.

"Hi," She said gently. "My name is Agent Jareau. Are you looking for somebody?" I gawked for a moment, horribly conscious that I had been blatantly eavesdropping.

"Uh, yeah." I managed. "We met two weeks ago, didn't we? I hear you and your sister been placed in a foster home. How is that going?" It felt like a rhetorical question. "Fine." I stammered. She removed her hand from my shoulder and I relaxed slightly.

"Sorry," She said. "Who is it that you were looking for?" "Dr. Reid." I said. I felt a warm feeling in my stomach as I said his name but was so utterly confused, I couldn't be sure why.

A/N: So what do you think? Do you like that the rest of the team was more involved in this chapter? See you next chapter!