The days passed by in relative silence, which is not always a good thing when trying to track down a killer. Two days before the concert the group was around the table talking when Kasper suddenly stood up from his usual corner desk and quietly walked over to Hotch. The room went silent as Kasper put his hand on the man's shoulder, leaned forward, and placed his phone on the table. Reid was never happier to have separate phones for "kasper" as the team would surely recognize his.

Hotch looked down at the screen and saw a tweet posted by 'Kasper' dated only a few hours ago.

I hear your songs calling for me, my darling. Will you play my favorite song at the concert?

Hotch looked up to Kasper asking what it was about

"I haven't posted anything on my social media since I landed at the airport."

Hotch looked down at the phone "I need a list of people who would have access to the account."

Kasper looked at Hotch "I'm the only one who knows the password."

"Not even your manager has it?" Kasper shook his head

"No. I change it every 2 weeks as a safety precaution in order to protect my identity."

"Has the phone been out of your possession since you have landed?"

"No."

Hotch could feel his jaw tighten "Morgan, get Garcia on the phone."

"Alright, sir. Good news and bad news. Good news is that I have traced the hack to a location."

"The bad news, Baby Girl?"

"The bad news… is that the origin of the login was in Russia, before it pinged off about a thousand cell towers all over the US. There's no telling where this guy is located." I have trackers in place on Kasper's account in case it happens again, but we won't know if they will be quick enough."

"Thanks, Garcia."

Hotch faced the group with arms crossed "We're running out of time and we have fewer leads than I would like. We don't know his plan."

"We do know his plan though, don't we?" Kasper asked "It's all right here. He said that he wants me to play his favorite song, Agent Morgan said that was the Devil's Trill. I play that as my last song at every concert. He won't do anything until I play that song, right? That's what Agent Rossi profiled. I'll likely be in the most danger towards the end of the concert or after the concert is over. The only problem is ensuring that he doesn't harm the people at the concert…"

The group stared at Kasper "What?"

Prentiss spoke up "He's right. And if we cancel the concert we may lose this guy. That's not a risk we can take."

Rossi smirked to Kasper "Looks like you're wearing a bulletproof vest and a mic on opening night."

Kasper stood up straighter "Alright. What do I need to do?"

The group spent the rest of the night making a plan.

The following day Kasper, the Agents, and the local PD picked out the best spots in the venue and ran through the plans for any possible occurrence. It was well into the night when the group headed back to the hotel. They were all exhausted and alert simultaneously.

Hotch walked into the hotel room with Kasper, who immediately tossed his things on the bed. Hotch headed to the bathroom as Reid removed his coat and jewelry. Reid stood in the room for just a few minutes before looking at the clock on the wall. He knocked on the bathroom door, hearing a voice reply he stated "I'm going to go to the lobby. I'll be back in a few minutes." Hotch poked his head out

"Is everything alright?"

"Yeah. It's just been a long few days, I'd like a few minutes to myself. Do you mind?"

Hotch shook his head

"I understand. Just take your phone with you. I'll be down in a few minutes, just to make sure you don't run into any trouble."

Reid smiled "Thanks Hotch."

Reid grabbed his portfolio and cell phone before heading down.

Kasper headed down to the bar, noticing that he was turning a couple heads with his makeup and outfit, and probably the purple wig as well.

"Do you have Macallan?"

The bartender began putting a coaster down for the guest in front of him "We do. One finger or two?"

Reid smiled "Three with 2 rocks please."

Reid looked around for anyone suspicious, and deemed the coast clear. There were very few people here at this late hour.

"Here you are."

"Thank you."

Reid grabbed his belongings and headed to the balcony. There was enough light to see by and that was all he needed.

He made himself at home and, after penning a letter to his mother, began working on a new song.

6 minutes later Hotch finally located Kasper on the balcony. He sat nearby, giving the man the solitude he sought. Hotch studied the younger man, had he not asked the bartender if he had seen him, he would have never thought this could be Reid. An ease and sensuality he would have never before though the young genius capable of.

The young man sat forward, face turned from the building, looking down towards the sheet of music he was writing. His head steadied by a hand holding a glass of scotch and a cigarette. The long slender fingers wrapped tightly around the rocks glass, the cigarette hanging loosely between two fingers. Hotch watched as the man raised his head and sipped the last of the amber liquid from his glass before setting it down. He pulled the cigarette to his soft lips and slowly breathed out the smoke before writing what looked to be something other than music. Hotch was mesmerized by the way the young man's cheeks hollowed out, lips puckering, and chest expanding with the sucking motion of the cigarette. The man removed the paper from his lips, a light hinting of lipstick left behind, as the smoke seemed to simply float from his mouth. Hotch had never known Reid to smoke, had certainly never seen him do so. Hotch's mind unwillingly strayed to more perverse thoughts, such as how the young man's cheeks would hollow out wrapped around his own hard member. How beautiful those long violinist fingers would feel wrapping around his velvet flesh, stroking him to completion. He thought about his own arms wrapping around the younger man's skinny waist, his hands ghosting over his pale cheekbones with the barest of touches, fingers opening him wide. His lungs could barely seem to get enough oxygen... No! He is my subordinate and my colleague. We could both lose our jobs.

Hotch looked down, feeling his phone buzz, he read the text.

I can feel your eyes boring into the back of my head. Just come join me.

Hotch smirked. Of course Reid would notice him staring as Hotch was in the middle of a crisis.

Reid could feel the older man approach him; he didn't even have to look, he had a sixth sense when it came to Hotch. He pushed a chair out for the older man as he flicked the ashes into the ashtray.

"I didn't know you smoked." Redi smiled at the older man and blew the smoke out of the corner of his mouth, away from the older man, before extinguishing it entirely.

"I don't usually. I used to when I was younger, back when I was in high school and was taking care of my mom, before I had to put her in a home. I know it's not healthy, but I allow myself 3 cigarettes a year. With Isaac dying...well, I figured an extra couldn't do any harm."

Hotch gave a sad smile "I suppose not."

Reid waved away the smoke in the air and extinguished his cigarette.

"Let's go over there. The air is cleaner." Reid laughed as both men walked to the edge of the balcony only a few feet away. Kasper leaned his arms on the railing, Hotch joining him closely.

"Are you nervous about tomorrow?"

Reid smiled back. "Not about the case, I know the team always has my back. They've proved that several times over. If I recall correctly you even antagonized a serial killer for me."

Hotch laughed richly before closing his eyes briefly "That seem like a lifetime ago now, I had forgotten about that." Hotch looked toward the younger man "That was a really bad day." The men laughed together as Reid replied

"Probably not as bad as his." Reid nudged Hotch's shoulder as they both looked over the balcony to the scenery below.

"Remember the time when Morgan tried to wage a prank war with me?"

"Or the time you told Morgan that all he did was kick down doors?" Both men continued to laugh

"Or the time I called Rossi old. I was not sure I was going to live to see the rest of the day." Both men continued laughing until their sides hurt before quieting down.

Rossi and Prentiss were passing through the lobby, on the way to bring dessert to share with JJ and Morgan when something caught their eye.

"Is that Hotch?!" Rossi looked up

"Hmm..it looks like him."

Prentiss looked down at the cake "Well, now I just feel bad about not inviting them for cake." Prentiss watched the two men laugh together. "What do you think they're talking about?"

Rossi looked at the two men closely "I don't know but it seems pretty serious."

"Do you think we should go see if everything is alright?"

"If you were Kasper, would you be alright? He lost a close friend a few days ago. There is also a deranged killer after him. He also has to give a concert in front of hundreds of people, while wearing a wire and a bulletproof vest…"

"Are you nervous about tomorrow?"

"A bit. I don't want anyone to get hurt, but I have faith in the team. I just keep thinking about something Isaac used to say to me." Reid straightened his posture but kept his eyes on the ground, Hotch responded in kind, intent to listen.

"What?"

"He used to tell me that I should take more risks, that Spencer should be more like Kasper in the things that really matter." Hotch looked at the young man in front of him confused

"You work with criminals for a living, what else is there to take risks with?" Hotch smiled trying to lighten the mood with his quip before Reid stepped forward, grabbing his face and pressing their lips together.

Hotch was taken by surprise for only a moment before teasing the younger man's tongue with his own. He could taste the smoke from the cigarettes, the toffee and vanilla from the scotch, but underneath there was something spicy, something so distinctly Spencer. Hotch placed one of his hands around Spencer's waist, the other behind his neck pulling him close. They continued kissing for several long moments before a quiet moan filled the air. Hotch froze and removed his hands from around the younger man. Both men were panting, Hotch's voice filling the silence

"Spencer...what is this?" Hotch wasn't sure what to think. Was this his grief for a lost friend? Stress? Hotch didn't do one night stands. He didn't jeparodize friendships or the team. If Reid only wanted Hotch for one night-he didn't know if he could live with that, which really says something about his feelings...

Reid tilted his head, wanting to taste the man he adored for so long. He was pleasantly surprised when a tongue darted out to meet his and quickly got lost in the kiss. He felt the older man freeze before whispering

"Spencer...what is this?" You're not good enough, not what I want, too young, not handsome enough, not masculine enough. The doubts swirled in his head. Was I not obvious enough? Too clingy? THIS is exactly why he never took risks unless it was for the job. He knew he was meant to be alone, why risk this?! I'm an idiot!

"I'm so sorry...I'll just...um…" Spencer grabbed his portfolio and bolted upstairs as fast as he could go.

Rossi and Prentiss watched the violinist rush up the stairs, before looking at each other.

"Emily, I'm going to talk to Hotch for a few minutes if you don't mind?"

"Of course not. I'll save you a piece of cake."

Rossi walked over to Hotch who looked like a deer in the headlights.

"Emily and I were getting a cake to share with the rest of the gang. I saw what happened, I'm not trying to pry but would you like to talk?"

Hotch sighed heavily glancing at the stairs Kasper had rushed up

"It would probably be good to give him a bit of time…" Rossi offered

"Hotch, I'm the last person who should be lecturing you about the rules, but do you honestly think this is a good idea?"

"Not at all. It's a terrible idea. I'm older than him, I'm responsible for his safety, it's going to make the case so much more difficult…"

Rossi smiled "Then go for it."

Hotch looked at his friend in shock "What?!" Did he not hear anything I just said?

Rossi smiled at his friend. "Come on Aaron, I know you. You've probably gone over a million reasons in your head as to why this can't happen-" And then some, considering it's actually Reid that I just kissed. "But you still didn't hesitate to return the kiss! You think I haven't noticed how you've been acting the last few days? You watch videos of Kasper performing on your tablet when you think no one else is watching. Your eyes linger on his photos on the board longer than necessary; when he talks to you, it's like there is no one else around you, you're lost in your own world, not to mention the touching. You've never been overly affectionate, even with Hailey, but you lean into his touches like a man starved for attention. Did you really think I wouldn't notice?"

Hotch looked his friend straight in the eyes "Honestly...I hadn't even noticed that…" Rossi's eyes softened with sympathy, and perhaps a bit of pity.

"Look, Aaron. There is obviously some subconscious interest, you didn't hesitate at all to kiss him back, and from what I could see, you were both enjoying it. I know you're not the type of guy to take chances unless the favor is mostly on your side. But maybe you should just give it a shot. And if it ends up just being physical, there's no harm in that, you're both adults. You're allowed to be happy, you do realize that, right?"

Hotch sat silently for several minutes "I forget...often."

"That's why i like to remind you, from time to time." Hotch smiled at his friend

"Thanks, Dave." Rossi clasped him on the shoulder

"No problem, Aaron. For the first time in my life, I'm glad Reid isn't here."

Hotch looked surprised at that statement, knowing how fond the team was of each other.

"Why not?" Rossi stood up getting ready to leave

"You're kidding, right?" Aaron furled his brow

"Aaron, the kid has been in love with you for years! You really had no idea, did you?"

Hotch shook his head as Rossi smiled fondly at him.

"Aaron, you know I consider you one of my best friends, and you are an amazing leader, but you may just be the worst profiler I have ever met." The two men smiled at each other as Rossi turned to head back to his room.

By the time Hotch had gotten back to the room, the younger man was asleep on his bed, face clear of makeup. Hotch walked over and turned off the tv which was left on. He looked at Spencer, peacefully asleep, as he brushed a stray lock of hair from his face. Hotch sighed, deciding that he would sleep on it.