A/N Sorry guys for the late update! Do not kill me, shit happens, I promise I'll do better! So much going on right now, I have lots of (not)fun with 'people wanting the truth!' it's starting to get unbearable! Argh, when will I finally have time to write my apple of the eye!?

Disclaimer: NO! (I do have a right to love it, don't I?)

They all gathered in the meeting room, Spencer in his usual place - next to the board.

"So... You're saying that he actually has emotions? Maybe he's fooling you?" he asked, clearly not believing Setton's words. And who would have the heart to blame him? Finding out that an actual monster had emotions was really hard to believe considering that he had never shown him any.

"Reid, we have to believe him. I know it's probably the last thing you want to do but we have no choice..." Emily started softly.

"Well, it must be a complete lie! There's no..." he took a calming breath. "It's not possible for him to have any emotions. And it's empathy we are talking about..." he stuttered, not looking anyone in the eye.

"We understand that-" Rossi tried to calm the young agent down but without much of success.

"No, you don't!" Spencer stopped him angrily, though he tried his best to stay calm.

"Well, why don't you show us so we can understand?" Morgan asked after a brief moment of silence. Everyone looked at him. It was the first time he actually spoke directly to Spencer. It was a good sign. It meant he was slowly overcoming his earlier exposure.

"Would you want to feel and think the exact same thing?" Spencer asked sarcastically, though it wasn't meant to be rude so it didn't sound like that. Maybe he wasn't Morgan's boyfriend but he didn't want their friendship to get ruined as well.

"If it was an argument to why we shouldn't trust him, then yes."

"I'm sorry but it might kill you. I don't want to risk that."

"Then stop complaining and listen to our boss, Pretty Boy." Morgan smirked and everyone smiled a little on this statement. The 'Pretty Boy' title was something they missed along with Morgan's normal behavior.

"I will. But I still think it's a bad idea." Spencer answered, also smiling softly.

"So, I think we should check every location he gave us. We should split up." Hotch started in his leader-like voice, though his eyes were shooting soft glances now and then in his genius' direction. Everyone nodded without hesitation. "Great. Morgan, Emily, Scarlet will go to the nearest graveyard, JJ, Simon and Kingston to the..." he took a deeper breath to calm himself because even thinking about that person - even remembering his name made him shiver. "Tobias Hankle's cabin. Sp-Reid, Rossi and I will go to Reid's first house." Hotch only hoped no one noticed his small slip.

"Isn't the... cabin a little too far?" Rossi complained, giving Aaron time to recover his composure.

"I can get them there." Spencer answered calmly. "It won't be a problem after all. When they're done, they'll call me or something and I'll get them back."

"Does everyone agree with that?" Hotch asked, considering the meeting finished. When he received nods from everyone, he shifted in his chair, getting comfortable. "Okay, everyone, gather the most important things and get ready. Wheels up in... as soon as possible, I guess." he smiled. Everyone walked out of the room. Well, almost everyone. Spencer was still there, looking at him (in)discretely from under his bangs.

"What is it, Reid?" Hotch asked, closing his eyes and shifting his head so that it was resting on the prop of his chair.

"I just... You wanted to say my first name, didn't you?"

'Crap...'

"Yeah. I did, but don't worry about it now. We'll deal with this later, okay?" Hotch answered as calmly as he could manage considering the fact that his heart rate was incredibly fast then.

"No, Hotch..." Spencer answered, anxious and... annoyed? "I've had enough of 'we'll deal with this later'! I need to know. I need to know now, you get it?" he stuttered. "I-I can't live not knowing and, considering the fact that what we're about to do now is extremely dangerous, I might even die not knowing!"

"Spencer, hold on..." Hotch opened his eyes ad stood up quickly after he had heard the words Reid had said leaving his mouth. He came closer to the young boy and put his hand on his arm. "You're not going to die. No one is." he smiled encouragingly. "And you know why? Because you're here. You're the strongest person I know. You're kind, you're smiling for everyone's sake. You never consider your happiness if that means someone else would suffer. You're the greatest person I know. And you're strong. Of course you are, you're the 'Prince of Power' though it doesn't really matter to me. It just makes me more proud because of you being my friend." Hotch stated firmly yet softly, his other hand unconsciously caressing Spencer's cheek slowly.

"So..." Reid started, not sure what to say. "Is it about us being friends? Or is it about us being something more?" he murmured, leaning into the touch.

"You're the one who can read other's mind." Hotch answered in a hoarse voice, smiling a little at his genius' movement.

"I don't have to read your mind to know." Spencer laughed softly and hugged Hotch, not ready to do more right after breaking up with Morgan. They would have to wait for the next step a little.

"Well then, you're a better profiler than anyone has ever thought." Aaron murmured in Spencer's ear.

"Or maybe I know you better than you think?" young genius laughed and let go of his boss(?) waist.

"We should probably get going?" Hotch guessed and Reid just nodded sadly.

"Yeah, let's 'deal with the rest later' " Spencer laughed playfully and went out of the room, ignoring the blood he was seeing everywhere. He had Aaron. Everything would be alright as long as Aaron was there.

Oh my... It's been too long since I relied on someone to that extent. he thought while getting himself a cup of coffee.

He tried to avoid the voices in his head, the images in front of him. It was hard, yes, but for Aaron, he would be strong.

"Reid, we're ready to go." JJ spoke up from behind him. Spencer turned around and looked at them. Their bodies bloody, cut, burned. He knew it wasn't true. Those weren't their bodies. He took a deep breath and nodded.

"Alright. Let's go tell them you're heading to Hankle's cabin." he smiled and rushed to Hotch to announce it. When they got permission, JJ, Simon and John touched him and took a deep breath to ready themselves for the abnormal 'trip'.

With a blink of an eye, they were 200 meters from the cabin.

"I'll meet you here. I can't go any... further, I'm sorry..." he stuttered. JJ gave him a sympathetic look, knowing all too well the reason behind him not going there.

"It's alright, Spence. We'll call you when we're done. Go back." she smiled and patted his arm. He nodded and disappeared.

"You're totally explaining this to us." Simon said after Reid was gone. JJ tried to smile but she didn't succeed and the only thing that showed on her face was the grimace, not an actual smile.

"Of course. But later. We have a job to do, right?" she answered, avoiding confrontation.

"OK, whenever you're ready. Let's go."

"Hey guys, stop for a second." Kingston yelled after them.

"What is it, boss?" Simon asked playfully but when he saw the face of his leader, he immediately became serious.

"What was wrong with Spencer?" a short question. Just that.

"Well, he was kind of pale the whole day. And then, there is that... incident... from earlier and his whole insecurity..." he stated.

"I thought that maybe it was because of his mother's death?" JJ asked.

"Believe me, if it was about his mother, he wouldn't smile even a bit. But he did. That means he, somehow, got over her death. Which leaves me with a question: what else happened?" he looked them straight in the eyes and they got that situation wasn't all that colorful.

"Well, we'll have to ask him when we come back I guess? Nothing good will come out of us being concerned about him now." Simon answered calmly, though it was obvious that Kingston's statement got him thinking.

"You're right. Let's go."

"I got them there. Now, it's Morgan, Emily and Scarlet's turn." Spencer smiled encouragingly.

"Save that smile, genius!" Emily laughed, still a little afraid of the whole 'transporting' thing.

"I'm sorry, Emily, don't you trust me?" he asked playfully.

"You bet!" she answered and they both laughed at that. Emily had that effect on people, she could make them smile without any problem. She also could sense when someone needed that ability so she could help even more.

"Alright, lovers, let's go!" Morgan interfered them both with a grin on his face.

"Then take a deep breath and catch my arm or something." Spencer answered and when they did it, they were instantly teleported to the graveyard.

"I believe it's the one Setton was talking about. Good luck, call me when you're done." Spencer said and disappeared.

"Seems like you're slowly starting to talk again, Morgan?" teased Emily, punching his arm slowly and walking towards the first grave.

"Shut up." Morgan laughed and followed her. Scarlet only smiled at that. It was good having them all back to their normal selves. There was one thing that was bothering her, though. Why was Spencer so pale and insecure? Was there something she missed? However,

"Was I the only one who noticed?" Morgan did catch that too.

"Yeah..." Emily did as well.

"He was acting strange." Scarlet confirmed.

"Like he was deadly scared of something." Morgan nodded.

"We should ask him once we get back. He might be hiding something, again. And I'm not letting him go through this alone. Not again." Emily stated.

Was there more to her old friend? Scarlet thought. There had to be something that made his team be so protective of him. She let it slide, for then. Once they got back, they would definitely have to talk.

"I'm back, guys." Spencer yelled from the coffee room.

"We were waiting here, no need to yell." Rossi laughed from behind him and Spencer couldn't help a yelp that escaped his mouth. It, of course, brought a wave of laugh from the two older profilers.

"Not funny, guys!" Spencer answered, trying to pout and fake being angry.

"Yeah, whatever you say, genius." Rossi answered with an amused smirk. "Shall we go?"

"Yeah, we definitely should." Hotch added, also smiling.

"You will regret it, I'll drop you off in the middle of the desert, I promise." Spencer threatened lightly.

"Of course, kido. Now, take us to your first house." Rossi grabbed him by the arm while Hotch took his hand, as if it was the most obvious thing to do for him.

"I expect you eventually got together?" Rossi smirked when they finally were in the wanted location.

"What was it, Hotch? 'We'll deal with this later', right?" Spencer smiled slightly, watching his supervisor's reaction, clearly satisfied when the man embraced him from behind.

"Yeah, something like that." Aaron laughed softly.

"Good, I hope you'll make him feel better. From what I saw today, it will really be necessary." Rossi smiled approvingly.

"I promise, I will explain it to you once we're back. But first, I have to make up an excuse for why I did it." Spencer answered calmly, snuggling closer to Hotch's chest as if protecting himself from the other side of the world.

"Whatever you say, genius." Rossi actually laughed at the answer. He didn't mean to accuse poor boy of anything but was glad to see his reaction. It was the 'true love', wasn't it?

"So, you're his genius now, Spence? You used to be mine!" the oh-so-well-known voice sneered in their direction.

"Of all the places you had to be here, Annie?" Spencer whispered, letting go of Hotch's arms and taking one step in the direction of his ex-lover.

A/N: YEP! The Great Confrontation is getting closer! Uh, was that a cliffie? I have no idea if it was good enough to even be called like that, but oh well xd I am so so so so so sorry for the late and short update. I am now writing next chapter and it will be long enough to make it up to you! I hope this chapter didn't suck too much, give me your opinion and let me know what you want to happen in the next chap! Love you all!