Author's Note: I don't own Criminal Minds…does it count if I created new characters though? No…you're no fun…

Chapter 4 Kitchen Conversations

"There's a guest room and a pull-out couch, so you two can decide where you sleep," Dr. Tusconi said as she unlocked the door.

Morgan and Reid entered with their suitcases and bags, Reid holding Cujo. The corgi slept in his lap the entire ride. The apartment was a decent size and looked lived in. It wasn't too messy or too neat, and very homey. Dr. Tusconi took their coats and went into the kitchen to get dinner ready. As she headed toward the stove, two blurs whizzed across the floor and stopped beside her legs.

"Hey babies," she said softly, picking up a full-grown grey and white cat and an orange and white striped kitten, "I have a friend for you to meet."

Reid put Cujo down while the doctor put the cats down. The animals sniffed each other and Cujo licked the cats happily. The grey cat purred and the kitten began batting at the dog's tail.

"Good, they get along," Dr. Tusconi said with a smile. She turned to Reid and Morgan and said, "The grey cat is Michelangelo and the orange kitten is Galileo. I hope you two aren't allergic?" They shook their heads and she said, "Good. I'll get dinner ready. I hope you guys like Italian because we're having pasta with shrimp. Come on sweeties," she said to the dog and cats.

They followed her into the kitchen. Morgan and Reid looked at each other and began looking around the apartment. The kitchen was neat and orderly and Dr. Tusconi knew where everything was as she went about putting the ingredients together. The table had only one placemat but four chairs. Paintings of country scenes were along the walls and, Reid had to admit, they were really well done.

On every table, there were picture frames. There were mostly pictures of the doctor with another woman who could've been her twin. That must've been her sister. Reid noticed there were no family pictures, only one of an older woman who must've been her mother which was sitting on an end table alone. There were pictures of Dr. Tusconi giving speeches at her graduations and with her sister holding the diplomas. Reid looked on another table and saw photos of the doctor with while animals, smiling happily, as well as with a Sheltie.

That must be Leonardo, he thought and went into the living area where there was a couch and television. All on the table in front of the couch were books, mostly by fifteenth century writers. Reid smiled as he looked over the familiar titles and authors. Then he thought of his mother and how long it had been since he last saw her, and his smile faded.

"Please don't go into my room, Agent Morgan," Dr. Tusconi said, looking up from the stove at Morgan who just opened a door on the far side of the living room, "I'm a private person and don't even like you two looking through my stuff. May I ask why you're doing it anyway?"

"We're trying to gain a sense of why the unsub is after you," Morgan replied, closing the door.

"So you're profiling me," she said. It wasn't a question.

"Yes, but not in the way we profile an unsub," said Reid, "We know the unsub is after you and we're looking for a reason that connects him to you."

"All right," she said, setting her spoon down and looking at them with interest, "Tell me what you have so far."

"I don't think that's a good idea," said Reid but Morgan ignored him.

"You live alone and keep the animals for company because you're lonely. You don't go out much and spend your evenings alone with a book," he said, nodding to the table strewn with books, "You know your way around the kitchen which tells me you don't eat out much and make your own food. The one place mat at the table for four and the guest room tell me you sometimes have company, but not often. Most likely, it's your twin sister and her family."

"She's not my twin," Dr. Tusconi said suddenly and Reid could tell she wasn't happy with the analysis, "I'm older than her."

Morgan picked up a picture of Dr. Tusconi with her sister. They were both in their mid-teens.

"You're protective and fiercely loyal to her, you probably hated her husband for some time because he took her away from you. You have a lot of pictures of yourself with her, but none of your parents except this." He put down the picture he was holding and picked up the one of her mother. "Family is obviously important to you, since you have no pictures of you with friends, but your father isn't in any of these. This tells me he died before you were born. Your mother probably became depressed so you took over the role of mom for your sister. You still love your mother but resent her slightly for not helping. That's why you only have one picture of her. In school-"

But he was interrupted by Dr. Tusconi walking over and ripping the photo out of his hands. Her eyes were fierce as she glared at him.

"My father was a low-life, son of a bitch who got my mom pregnant two times, never married her, and left her when I was three," she spat, "My mother raised us on her own, worked two jobs, and managed to make it to almost every special event. The reason she's not in these pictures is because she's the one taking them. Then she died my senior year of college after fighting a year against breast cancer. I'm protective of my sister because I love her and I never hated her husband. Emma was in London for a year when she met Jude, so he didn't take her away from me. Maybe you shouldn't make so many assumptions until you have all the facts."

She put the photograph back and went to the stove. Morgan looked taken aback by the outburst and looked at Reid. The young doctor gave him a look that read, "I told you so," and Morgan just shook his head and went to his room. Reid cautiously went over to the kitchen. The doctor was holding hot kitchen utensils and he wanted to stay out of the line of fire.

"Um…I'm sorry about that," he said awkwardly, "It was only a preliminary profile though, that's why I tried to tell him not to talk."

"I over-reacted, I'll apologize when he comes out," she said tiredly, "He was just saying stuff that was so wrong that I got angry. He was right about my loyalty though, I'd do anything for the people I care about." She looked at Spencer and sighed, "I also want to apologize for snapping at you before, you were just doing your job and didn't want me to get upset in front of the workers in case one was the killer."

"I should have told you before then. It's my fault and I'm sorry," Reid said. He was shocked. She understood!

There was a pause and they both laughed nervously. Dr. Tusconi went back to stirring the sauce and Reid watched Galileo playing with his messenger bag strap.

"If you two want to shower while you're staying here, you're welcome to use mine," she said, "There's only one so may want to go first before Agent Morgan gets there first."

Spencer agreed and Dr. Tusconi gave him an extra towel and washcloth. He grabbed the change of clothes and went into the bathroom. When he was washed and changed, he combed his wet hair and thought. Was it possible he liked Dr. Tusconi? Very much so. She was certainly pretty and she was smart and funny to boot. Yes, she was shy, but he was too. She loved her work and obviously cared about her animals. There was something to be said for doing what you loved.

But he thought back to the last time he got close to someone he was supposed to be protecting. He had gotten distracted and put Lila in danger. Well he wouldn't let that happen this time, he wouldn't become distracted again.

Concentrate on facts and statistics, he told himself, Don't allow yourself to sidetracked by her.

He let percentages and numbers fill his brain but suddenly he remembered her smile. Maybe this wasn't going to be so easy. He was glad to have Morgan there too, he would help him.

"Reid, come on kid some of us need to shower too, you know!" Morgan said loudly as he banged on the door.

So much for helping, he thought as he unlocked the door and smiled at Morgan. Morgan just shook his head and closed the door behind him.

Reid walked into the kitchen and smelled something delicious. Dr. Tusconi was taste-testing the sauce and frowning.

"Dr. Reid, do you cook much?" she asked when she saw him.

"If you call using a microwave cooking, then yes," he said and she laughed.

"Tell me if you think this needs any more salt or pepper," she said, grabbing a clean spoon, dipping it into the sauce, and handing it to him. He blew it and tasted it.

"Mmm, that's fantastic!" he said and she just smiled, blushing, "Don't add anything else."

"You better not just be saying that," she said as she closed the lid and grabbed utensils. Spencer took them from her and went to the table

"No, I'm serious!" he said as he set the table, "Did your mother teach you how to cook?"

"Yeah, she was the best," she said, "She could throw leftovers in a pot and make an awesome soup every time. We used everything up and never wasted. We weren't poor," she added, "We just had to go without sometimes. That's why I worked so hard in school. The only way I could go to college was if I got a full scholarship. I helped my mom pay for Emma's schooling, luckily she got a partial ride. Now Emma's paying me back by helping me with my vet school bills. How about your family? Do you have siblings?"

"No, I'm an only child," Reid said, shifting uncomfortably, "I'm not that close with my parents. My dad left when I was young and I haven't seen my mom in months. I write to her a lot though."

"Your job keeps you busy, it's understandable you haven't seen her in a while," she said kindly, "At least you write often. I take it she lives far?"

"Yeah, she lives near Las Vegas. I'm from there," Spencer said.

Dr. Tusconi nodded and began serving pasta on the plates. She obviously knew Spencer didn't want to talk about his family and politely ended the conversation.

"Dr. Tusconi, can I ask you something personal?" Reid said suddenly.

"Only if you call me Olivia," she said, flashing him a smile.

"Oh, th-thanks," he said, taken in by her smile. He quickly recovered himself and asked, "Is Tusconi your father's or your mother's name?"

"Why do you ask?" she said, confused, "Do you think that could help with the investigation?"

"It could with getting in touch with your father," said Reid, "But I was just curious, that's all."

"Oh," Olivia said. She didn't speak and Spencer thought she wasn't going to answer until she said, "It's my mother's maiden name. My father is Joseph Martinelli, although he won't be much help to you. He hasn't exactly been "Father of the Year" these past twenty-four years. He's a CEO of some big company now and is married with four children. I found him a couple months after my mom was diagnosed with cancer, hoping he'd help pay the medical bills."

She set the plates on the table and sat down. Reid sat down next to her and waited for her to continue.

"He was sitting in this huge office when that stuck-up secretary showed me in. At first, he thought I was selling something and told me to piss off. I told him who I was and he denied he ever knew my mother. I showed him the pictures of the two of them before things went sour between them. He told me it was digitally enhanced. It was only after I showed him my birth certificate that he believed me," she said and laughed grimly as she continued, "You want to know what he told me? He said he had a family know and just wanted to forget about his past. We were nothing to him. I got him to promise to send us money so that's how we paid for my mother's bills. He didn't even have the common decency to come to the funeral or send a card or flowers."

"I'm really sorry," Reid managed to say after a long pause.

"It's okay, I did all right without him in my life," she said with a small smile, "I'm grateful everyday for the sacrifices my mother made for my sister and I and thank God for the life I have. You know," she laughed softly, "I keep feeling like I'm dumping all this on you and I really do apologize. You really need to tell me to shut up when I get like this."

"I don't mind," he said, smiling at her.

"It's weird," she said, "I've never told anyone about that, even people I've known all my life, and yet I can't stop telling you this stuff. You're a great listener doctor."

"You…Y-You can call me Spencer, only if you want to that is," he stuttered, "That's my name anyway, you don't have to mention I'm a doctor. Of course, I don't mind if you do except it's probably a lot to say and my first name is much easier. Well, I guess Spencer isn't the easiest name in the world. It's not like Bob or anything like that…I'm babbling, aren't I?"

"Just a tad," she said and they laughed until Morgan came into the kitchen.

"Something smells delicious! Let's eat!" he said and they quickly sat around the table and began eating.

Author's Note: First off, thank you to my awesome reviewers who took the time to tell me what they thought of the story. Your comments mean so much to me. That goes to those who have me on their favorites and alerts as well. Seeing those emails makes my day! Secondly, I'd like to give a huge shout out to my sister missdavinci77 for taking the time to make sure this chapter was as accurate as possible. You rock hun! :D She's written some Criminal Minds stories too, if you want to check them out. And finally, please PLEASE review this story! The more reviews I get, the faster I update.