We've hit 30,000+ hits! Time to celebrate! A new chapter for all to enjoy!

Someone had suggested something like this a while back, and now here it finally is! Just a little shorty, but it's not the shortest. :P

Thank you for all the reviews.

"Just let us know if you see anything suspicious."

"We will, thank you." Hotch watched the officer return to his car and drive away, probably to the next house. From what he just learned, a group of prankster teens have been roaming the area, firing nail guns at the tires of vehicles left outside, cutting power lines, and even TPing a house. Aaron exhaled, shaking his head at the thought of his home being covered in toilet paper. He shut the door and went to finish cleaning up from breakfast, as he did so, his mind fell onto Reid.

The young doctor claimed to have had what was probably the best sleep he'd gotten in a long time, no nightmares, no images of his father haunting him, a completely undisturbed sleep. A well deserved one at that. Hotch was glad to say the least that his youngest finally got some peace, that medication Dr. Aled had prescribed definitely worked a charm. Cesar had even called once to check up on Spencer, he was pleased to know that he was making progress, as the bad dreams had become far and in between, then most recently, eventually ceased.

Although any further issues with William seemed to be no more, the BAU leader still couldn't shove away that nagging feeling that Reid had been abused when he was younger, but he wasn't about to question him about it now, not while he's finally over his nightmares. He didn't want to trigger something and cause a relapse, that was last thing he wanted to happen to the younger man. Speaking of him, he'd already headed to work, and since Jack needed a ride to school and Jessica was sick, Hotch himself would drive his son there.

Just then, footsteps came bounding down the stairs, Hotch turned to see his son, his first son that is, fully dressed with a loaded backpack.

"Ready to go, buddy?" He asked, the boy smiled and nodded.

"Yep!"

"Okay." Aaron went to grab his keys. "Now, let's head-" He paused when he noticed something rather odd, he eyed Jack up and down, t-shirt, jacket, khaki pants, tennis shoes... mismatched socks? On his right foot was a blue and green striped one, the left donned a white sock with horseshoes. Raising an eyebrow, he knelt down to face the child, gesturing to his feet.

"Jack, you do realize that your socks don't match, right?"

"Uh-huh!"

"So, why are you wearing mismatches?"

"Um," The boy seemed to ponder. To be honest, he was hoping his father wouldn't notice his choice of footwear, or maybe that his pants and shoes would have hidden them well enough. But his daddy was a profiler, so it probably would not have gone unseen by the Unit Chief anyway.

Sensing impatience growing in Hotch's eyes, he finally answered; "They're called 'Spencer Socks'!"

"Spencer Socks?" The FBI agent repeated, cocking an eyebrow once more. "What do your mismatched socks have to do with Spencer?"

"He wears them all the time." Jack said.

"Jack, I don't think he does." Aaron tried to explain.

"But it's true." The boy argued. "Just ask him!"

Hotch sighed, he wasn't sure if Jack was making up a story just to wear his socks in a silly and unorganized fashion, or if he was actually telling the truth. He was also reluctant to allow his son to go anywhere at all with his feet like that, but he decided he would let the matter drop just for today, that is until he spoke with Reid about it.

After making a mental note to talk with the younger profiler once he arrived at work, he and Jack hopped in his newly fixed truck and drove to his school. Dropping him off, Jack waved goodbye before dashing inside the building, Aaron watched until he was out of sight before heading to the BAU.

Does Reid wear mismatched socks? He thought. But most importantly, why would he? Spencer has always one who was tidy, and even if the slightest thing was moved out of place, he would put it back exactly where it was. Hotch had only seen his apartment one time, besides all the dust that covered everything from him not being there, it was uncluttered and semi clean. Even the mounds of paperwork or case files he had were neatly sorted out, just like his desk at work. That's why it surprised Hotch to think that Reid of all people would actually wear socks that don't match, but his biggest question was why? The entire time he knew the young genius, he never paid attention to his feet, and considering he was a profiler, how did he not notice before? Since when did Spencer start wearing odd socks? He was partially hoping he would get answers by the time he got there and spoke with the youngest of his team.

The FBI Headquarters was approaching, Hotch wasn't quite sure on how he would ask Reid about his socks. Sure, he's been more open and less shy in recent times, but some things still had a tendency to be personal, which was respectable, but really now, how secretive does one have to be about the reason why they wore mismatched socks? It wouldn't hurt to ask, he figured, and despite his efforts, his curiosity was getting the better of him. Regardless of the reason, whatever it was, he wasn't about to admit how cute it was that Jack is copying Spencer.

Entering the garage, he eased his red pickup into a spot and got out, locking the door. Heading for the elevators, he stepped inside and pressed the button for the sixth floor where the BAU resided. When the doors opened, he made a beeline for the bullpen, more specifically, Spencer Reid's desk. The young agent, along with Prentiss and Morgan, were seated down, Aaron wasn't surprised to see that Spencer had the biggest pile of paperwork.

"Reid, is it alright if I ask you something?" Hotch spoke, catching the attention of all three profilers who were present.

"Sure, Hotch, anything." Spencer stopped what he was doing and spun around to face his boss.

"Why do you wear mismatched socks?"

Reid's cheerful closed-lip smile changed into a small frown, he wasn't expecting that sort of question, in fact, since he's worked at the BAU, nobody had ever said anything about his footwear, then again, nobody bothered asking for a reason before, thus they didn't know why. But since he's mainly kept it to himself for so long, perhaps he should at least tell Hotch, even though two of his colleagues were here also, but he didn't want to raise any sort of suspicion by asking them to leave. Sighing, he cleared his throat.

"When I was little, my grandmother had told me that wearing socks that don't match brings good luck." He explained, his voice was small. After he finished, his teammates found it a little ironic, considering what's all happened to Reid since he joined the FBI. Kidnapped, held hostage twice, beaten, drugged, tortured, poisoned with anthrax, shot in the leg, the list was almost endless. But, he had survived all of that, so maybe there was some logic behind mismatched socks. Then again, maybe not, as Hotch, Morgan, and Prentiss have all worn matching socks their whole lives from as far as they could remember.

"Really?" Emily grinned.

"Wow, kid, I never would have imagined you being superstitious." Morgan snickered.

"I'm not! ...At least not usually." He mumbled, gazing at the floor.

"Reid, did you tell Jack that?" Aaron asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Um, no, why?"

Hotch now wondered if he should even tell him about Jack and his 'Spencer Socks', even though he would find out himself eventually. It'd be only fair to, after all, Reid did just tell him and two of his friends why he wears mismatched socks to begin with.

"Well, Jack's starting to wear them now. He calls them 'Spencer Socks'" He said, though he failed to hide the slight hint of amusement in his voice. He departed to his office, leaving a partly confused Reid behind with his chuckling co-workers.

The End! (But you all know it's not really the end. :P)