A/N: Heh, it didn't take me more than a week this time. Yay?

But, first things first. GOSH, thank you so much for all those absolutely amazing reviews! (gasps, then GLOMPS) You can't even imagine how good they made me feel. You guys ROCK, seriously! (hugs again)

Awkay… (takes a deep breath) For one reason or another I'm having insecurities about this chapter, so I'm about to bite the bullet before I'll change my mind. I REALLY hope you'll enjoy the ride!

'Make your bargain before beginning to plow.'

(Arab proverb)

Bargaining

/ It was a surprisingly cold morning of December when a eight-year-old Spencer was startled to full alertness by the sounds he heard far too often these days.

His mom and father… They were fighting. He felt a tight, painful ball forming in his chest as his ears sharpened enough to distinguish the words.

"… seen the bruises, William!" His mother was screeching – he'd never heard her get so mad. "Don't you dare try to tell me that it's only because of those bullies in school. No schoolkid causes injuries like those."

"Calm down, Diana." His father sounded exhausted and irritated. Spencer had learned through wide experience that they weren't a good combination. "You need to trust me. I'm taking the best possible care of our son – he's safe with me."

"He'd better be. Or I'll make sure you'll never see him again."

"I'm his father, Diana. He's my son, too. And with your condition… Do you honestly think you can judge my parenting skills?"

It sounded a lot like someone had been punched or slapped, hard. It took a bit too long before his mom spoke. "Keep this in mind, William…" Those words were hissed in a more quiet, dangerous tone Spencer barely caught. "Spencer is my son, my child. And if I ever find out that he's hurting because of you… I'll kill you myself."

The fight continued, but at that point Spencer managed to block his ears from it. His eyes felt watery as he glanced downwards, towards the fully functioning gun before him.

It'd taken him only a minute to put it together. At that very moment he decided to tell his father that it'd taken five.

Later that morning his father entered his room and told him in a unreadable tone that his mother needed to go and see Dr. Hinnis again. Spencer had to look away from William's eyes as he told the man that the exercise still took him five minutes.

"You have a gift, Spencer", his father stated in a stiff tone that chilled him. "Don't let it go to waste." With that the man left the room.

Spencer had never felt as cold in his life as he did then, with his entire being torn in two. /

Derek wasn't entirely sure what drove him to the office that morning. Perhaps he thought that by going there, he'd be able to get at least some normalcy into his life. It turned out to be a disastrous mistake.

The second he walked in memories were circling all around him like hungry vultures, reminding him with bitter force of what was lost.

Spencer… Basically all his life had been in the office. It made sense that it felt like his spirit had been left lingering there.

The sheer power of that thought hit Derek with such force that he shuddered, moisture he hadn't expected filling his eyes. His whole body shook on the verge of breaking down until his mind found something less painful but at least as dangerous to wrap around.

Aaron had forgotten the door of his office open, most likely thinking that no one would be there to see and hear. The unit chief had a expression Derek had never seen before on his deathly pale face. And the man wasn't alone. On the opposite side of the desk, with his back towards the Derek, sat William Reid. Several files that had 'CIA' and 'classified' markings on them had been placed to the desk.

At first sheer shock paralyzed Derek, to a point where he couldn't coax out a single coherent thought. And then he moved, his body doing all the work instead of his mind.

A violent mixture of emotions flashed in Aaron's eyes when he barged into the office without much of knocking. "Morgan?" The unit chief got up, as though preparing himself for something. "What…?"

"The truth, Hotch", he half-hissed through tightly grit teeth before the unit chief had the chance to finish. "The full truth. Or you'll never see me again."

When Will came home to discover that JJ had asked her mother to babysit Henry and walked out several hours earlier he panicked. Panicked to a point of almost driving himself insane with horrifying mental images of what could've happened. That was until he noticed that something else was also missing.

Aaron had given JJ the key to Spencer's apartment a while ago. It was nowhere to be found. And suddenly Will knew exactly where to go.

The drive to Spencer's apartment took torturously long, and making his way to his door even longer. He frowned and shivered slightly upon discovering that the apartment's door was slightly ajar.

He entered after a brief moment of hesitation, noticing that there were cardboard boxes everywhere. "Jayje? Are you here?" As soon as those words were dropped he saw her. A part of his heart broke at the sight.

JJ was sitting there, leaning against the wall with her knees brought to her chest. She wasn't crying but her eyes were red and puffy. She'd never looked so shattered and vulnerable in his eyes, with all the layers of anger no longer shielding her.

He waited for a moment before daring to whisper. "Are you okay?"

JJ gave him a brief look before casting her eyes elsewhere. "I… I was supposed to empty this apartment – the new tenant's moving in soon. But…" She trailed off.

Will nodded slowly, carefully taking a seat beside her. "I see." He let the silence that followed stretch and linger although it nearly drove him mad.

JJ didn't look at him when she finally spoke, didn't seem to look at anything at all. "I… I don't think I ever told you that we used to visit each other, when…" She swallowed thickly and wiped her eyes roughly. "Whenever things got hard, we visited each other. He… He came often, when you were working late and I was lonely, or worried about Henry. Or when he…" A couple of tears could be seen on her face but she didn't seem to notice them. "Spence, he… He always spoke, a lot. But… During those meetings he really talked. He… showed me the side of him he usually tried to hide – all that scar tissue he tried to cover with a smile." Her breath shuddered and Will would've desperately wanted to hold her, but he knew her well enough to let her finish. It seemed to take forever before she looked at him with shimmering eyes. "He… He was in love, did you know that? He… He never said it out loud, much less told me with whom he was in love, but… I knew. I could see it. And I… was so happy for him. He finally had someone other than the team or his mom he cared about. He… He looked so happy, Will."

Will nodded, finally daring to take the huge risk of speaking out. "That's a good thing. Right?"

JJ's eyes darkened, and for a moment he was sure she'd lash out at him. But instead she leaned against him, resting her head against his shoulder. She was shaking violently. "This… This just doesn't make any sense. I mean… That he's gone, just when…" All words died out.

Will let her sit there for the longest time, leaning heavily against him and gathering herself together once more. It wasn't until she stopped trembling he spoke. "What do you say if we'd do this together?"

At first JJ stiffened, even inched away from him. But after a couple of seconds he saw the faintest of nods. The whisper was so light that it might've been a trick of his imagination – he couldn't even tell if the voice was JJ's or Spencer's. "Thank you."

Derek had his face buried into his hands, so he couldn't see Aaron's face. But the words made all too much sense.

"Reid… was recognized as gifted when he was just a little boy. Since then he received the best possible training."

"For what?" Derek's voice was dry and barely audible, and shook with everything he was desperately trying to keep under control.

"For becoming a agent. A very valuable one." William Reid's tone was tightly restrained, but the undertones were loudly present to Derek's sharpened ears. There was a pause. "Only a handful of children are chosen for that purpose. It's a rarely spoken matter, for the sake of their safety." The couple of seconds that followed seemed to stretch to all eternity. "Spencer… He learned fast, faster than we could've ever hoped for. No amount of knowledge was too much for him. He was only a child when he could already assemble a gun. Learning how to shoot took a little longer, but when he came to think of taking physics and math into account it was child's play."

Derek frowned, finally looking up. His eyes clashed with William's. "That doesn't make any sense. Reid… He failed his qualification."

William gave him a wry smile. "You see… Creating diversions was always Spencer's speciality." The man grit his teeth, hard, and looked away. "As soon as Spencer turned eighteen the CIA could officially accept him as one of the agents. He spent only a little over a year there, until he learned that I was his other unit chief. He resigned immediately. But he'd been prepared for becoming a agent since he was a little child – he lost his way, his purpose. That was until his path collided with Jason Gideon." The man took a deep breath before meeting his eyes again. "It took years, before he actually spoke to me again. In less than six months I managed to persuade him into accepting CIA-assignments as well, in complete secrecy. Our agency was in a desperate need of a agent like him. He turned out to be everything we hoped for." Suddenly William's expression changed, became something unreadable. There was a yet another pause. "And then… he met Neah Leeds. She was a extremely important witness against her father, Waylon Leeds. Later she became one of our agents."

Derek frowned, folding his arms. He felt dizzy and out of breath – it was impossible to keep his thoughts from tangling. How the hell could someone do that to their own son? "Why are you telling us this now?"

"Because a while ago Waylon escaped from custody. We'd almost managed to catch him, when…" William's face turned stone hard, and it took a while before the man managed to speak. "Even though we already lost Spencer, there's still hope left for someone else. And… I think that's what Spencer's been trying to tell you – I've heard of the mementos he left behind."

At Derek's confused, demanding expression Aaron stepped in. The man placed a file to the table before him. "At first this was empty, until Lynch came to think of using lemon juice. It revealed hidden writing."

Derek looked down, curiosity and something else burning in the pit of his stomach. What he found was Neah's name and an address, written in Spencer's handwriting.

Derek's blood burned.

"We gave her a new identity, but Spencer was the one responsible for arranging a safehouse for her. He never trusted the CIA enough to reveal where she was hiding, but… He knew you'd find that clue – that you'd be able to find her before it's too late. We have a reason to believe that her location has been compromised." Did William… come close to giving him a sad smile? "My son… He trusted you all, with his life. And… Now, I need to trust you, too."

Whatever little restraints there'd been in Derek disappeared completely. In a flash he was up, the address he'd just seen burning his mind like acid. He was deaf to Aaron's voice telling him to wait as he stormed out of the office.

He'd already wasted too much time – his, Spencer's, Neah's. Now it was finally time to actually do something. So he pulled out his cell phone and dialed numbers.

Aaron's eyes were hard as he stared at the door Derek had just slammed shut, a torturous burning sensation spreading all the way through him.

He'd already lost one member of his team – family. Even the thought of losing another…

"Waylon isn't stupid and careless, agent Hotchner." William's voice managed to snatch him back from those thoughts. The man's eyes held a great deal of sadness. "You need to trust your team, the same way Spencer did. And you need to trust yourself." The man looked away, clearly seeing something he couldn't. "Spencer… He talked about you, a couple of times. I can tell how much this team meant to him. And…" The man swallowed thickly, his eyes narrowing. "I… was never much of a father. And Gideon… He wasn't strong enough to take over that duty. But you…" Finally their eyes met. "You never failed him, agent Hotchner. So trust yourself, like he still does."

Aaron realized that he couldn't think of anything to say to that, so he squeezed his lips tightly together. So subtly that William couldn't see it his hand slid to his pocket, where the one thing Spencer left for him to the box lay.

Spencer's badge. The solid signature of everything the genius was and held dear.

His hand squeezed around the item with a desperate force, like a part of him had still been trying to hold on to Spencer.

He squeezed and kept holding on even when his fingers began to grow numb, hoping and praying that they wouldn't betray the trust Spencer had showed them.

Wind slashed Derek's face like knives as he sat in a already darkening, isolated park, his unseeing eyes cast towards something that flashed only inside his head. His whole body trembled while he balled his fists, so tightly that it hurt. To spare some of his dignity he wanted to believe that the stinging sensation in his eyes was caused by the wind.

All those years Spencer had led a secret life – a life his own father had pushed him into.

He couldn't even imagine how lonely Spencer must've felt, with those closest to him knowing only one half on him. Not to mention exhausted. Suddenly Derek understood perfectly why Spencer looked so very tired most of the time.

He really, really wished Spencer hadn't chosen to keep them in the dark when it came to this other life. He wished, from the bottom of his heart, that Spencer would've been able to let them help – to let them try and save his life.

And he really, really wished – so hard it burned – that Spencer would still be…

"Morgan?" Emily's voice startled him so badly that he shuddered violently. There was a frown on her tired face as she approached him. "Where the heck is your jacket? It's freezing out here."

Instead of responding he gave her a evaluating look. "Are you sober?"

She scoffed. "After that phone call of yours, I sure as hell am." She swallowed thickly, clearly fighting to decide if she wanted to know or not. "Were you… serious, about all that stuff?"

It was Derek's turn to give her a far from impressed look. "Do you honestly think I'd make up stuff like that?"

Emily inhaled sharply. And suddenly there was no hesitation in her eyes as they darkened, became such he didn't recognize. Her jaw tightened as they came to a soundless decision.

Spencer… He'd left behind something that was still a mystery to them – he'd died protecting it, they both now knew. Now it was their turn to try and protect it, to make sure that they hadn't lost a precious member of their family for nothing. Maybe that way they'd be able to save a tiny piece of Spencer as well.

"You're driving", Emily announced.

Although Penelope was so exhausted that she could barely keep her eyes open her mind wouldn't rest. Each time she tried – every single time she even closed her damn eyes – flashes of Spencer's face filled her head. And so, instead of losing herself into the storm of memories and emotions she wasn't ready to face yet, she decided to do something productive.

The night before Emily showed up at her doorsteps at two in the morning, clearly heavily drunk. When she demanded what was going on the woman only asked her to investigate what she could find out about case number 7281. And then, faster than Penelope could take a proper breath, the brunette disappeared like a ghost.

Unable to contain herself although Kevin was already afraid for her sanity Penelope got to work – only to slam right into a encrypted file. No matter how many tricks she pulled she couldn't circle around the password. After what felt like a eternity of trying she felt ready to burst into tears of sheer frustration.

That was until a flash of the butterfly collection Spencer had left for JJ appeared to her head, as clear as a polaroid shot. Penelope's eyes widened to a dramatic extend.

Could it really be…?

Well, she thought while staring at the screen and the words 'access denied' sneering back at her, she didn't exactly have anything to lose. And so she chose a entirely new route. The fifth language finally gave the desired response.

'Papillon'.

Words flashed on the screen, so fast that she was getting a headache. For a chilling moment she was sure that instead of finally finding the password she'd done permanent damage. But then all froze, leaving only words that took a moment to make sense.

The full story of Neah Leeds was right there, before her eyes.

She dropped the mug of coffee she'd been holding. "Holy cow…!"

A tiny, extremely scruffy motel room reeked of death as the door was pushed open with a loud screech, letting in a man who introduced himself as 'John Doe' upon arrival.

The room was absolutely filthy, Waylon Leeds could tell even without turning on any lights, and he was almost sure he heard rats. But he didn't mind – this place would serve its purpose just fine. After all, he wasn't looking for a nice new home. All he needed was a place where no one asked unnecessary questions.

The man's moves were calm and utterly controlled as he put down his small bag, then sat down to the edge of his dangerously unsteady bed and took a glance towards the bottle of Scottish held in his scarred hand. He hesitated for only a second before opening the bottle and taking a long, savouringsip. He closed his eyes while the drink burned on its way down.

He hadn't had a single mouthfull of Scottish since Neah. It was only befitting, to treat himself with some now that he was on his way to her.

He emitted a slightly amused sound, tilting his head.

He still remembered the blue butterfly hairpin Neah had in her hair when they last met. She always did have a thing for butterflies. He wondered keenly what she'd look like when he'd come to see her now.

Ah, she must've known to expect him – especially after his… incident with agent Reid. He could tell his voice had been whispering into her ear every single night.

/ "I swear to you, you little bitch… I will get out of here, you'll see. And when I do I'll gutt you with my own bare hands. I'll make you scream until you choke on your own blood." /

That was what he said to her when they last met. It'd taken him longer than he'd expected, but he was about to stay true to his word.

He'd never failed to keep a promise. And he wasn't about to start now.

About half an hour later the street that traveled by a old, easily ignored block of flats was empty as Derek parked his car. He frowned upon looking at the building. Impatience and determination flashed in the man's eyes. "So… Are you ready to go in?"

Emily felt electricity sparkling inside her as she nodded, taking a breath to steel herself. "Let's get go and get her."

Neither of them spoke as they left the car – blissfully unaware of the fact that only seconds later Emily's cell phone came to life inside the vehicle, Penelope's name flashing on the screen.

They climbed up the stairs to the third floor, until they saw a familiar name on one door.

'Allison Hudson'.

Derek frowned once more. "Are sure that this is the right place?"

Emily couldn't undestand the sensation that went through her – a mixture of cold and warmth that tingled on her skin. She felt her pupils dilate. "Yeah", she breathed out. "I am."

Derek nodded and counted down from three with his fingers, then kicked the door so hard that it flew open. There was no one in the apartment.

Their steps were soundless as they made their way through the door and into the extremely dimly lit apartment. There was barely any furniture – only the exact items necessary for everyday living, clearly picked out hastily. There was no soul in the apartment, no personal touch.

Emily tried to ignore the cold shivers going through her body. Of course she'd known to expect that a safehouse would be like this, but that didn't make the hollow apartment any less chilling.

Besides, where was the inhabitant?

She shuddered slightly when feeling a light touch on her shoulder, and calmed down only as she lifted her gaze to meet Derek's stone hard face. The man gestured with his fingers, giving clear instructions of the two of them splitting, and she nodded, taking a even tighter hold of her gun. With that they kept advancing without a sound, Derek moving towards the living room and kitchen, she moving towards what she suspected was a bedroom. She made it about five steps from the room until she heard it.

Quiet, heartbreaking whimpering. Most definitely that of a baby.

Cold sped through Emily's veins while pieces started to collide in her buzzing head. She swallowed thickly, then regained her mobility and completed her journey. The bedroom's door was already slightly ajar, and made a faint screech as she pushed it gently all the way open. Emily shuddered upon facing the sight. There, placed against the wall, was a crib.

Emily was fairly sure that her heart skipped a beat, and she couldn't keep a small gasp from crawling through her throat. Her body reacted instinctively. Before she could secure the room she'd already sped towards the crib and looked inside.

In the crib lay a very, very beautiful baby-girl with a lot of dark-brown hair and brown eyes. As soon as she saw her the baby stopped crying, instead flashed her a bright smile and reached out a pair of tiny arms towards her.

Emily never had the chance to respond. Because just then she heard movement from behind her, and a flash later cold steel was pressed against the back of her skull. "Drop your gun and step away from my baby, or I'll shoot a hole into your head", a female voice hissed at her.

'It's just as unpleasant to get more than you bargain for as to get less.'

(George Bernard Shaw)

TBC, right?

A/N: Oh dear… It looks like the mess keeps thickening, eh? (sweatdrops)

GAH, I've really gotta get going soon. (pouts) BUT, first… PLEASE, leave a review to let me know your thoughts on this story! It'd seriously mean a lot to me. (gives puppy's eyes) Pwease…?

IN THE NEXT ONE: Along with Neah, even more secrets are revealed. One particular one shocks the team to the core. As Waylon approaches the final stages of facing Spencer's nightmare are drawing close…

Until next time, folks! I REALLY hope I'll c ya all then.

Peace out!

Avesona23: Awww, you had be smiling over here! Such kind words. (beams and hugs)

You can't even imagine how much it means to me to hear that you think I managed to capture the emotions. It's something I always put under a miscroscope. No messing with characters you're borrowing. (grins)

The poor team, no? (sighs) And poor Reid, too. It looks like he tried with his all to leave behind clues and words of comfort. We'll see how everything turns out with the next chapter(s).

And CIA is showing up! Oh boy… What the heck is going on? (Oh, yeah… I guess I should be the one who knows, eh?)

TONS of thank yous for the absolutely amazing review! I really hope the story still to come won't disappoint you, either.

ps: Awww, don't worry! I LOVE reviews in all shapes and sizes. (grins) It means a lot to hear that you don't mind the occasional gaps. The damn real life gets in the way sometimes. (groans)