A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing, it means a lot to me to hear what you think.

Chapter 6

A father, that was the last word he would use to describe himself, Reid thought as he paced his living room. Of course he'd wondered briefly when JJ announced her pregnancy if there was a slight chance the baby would be his. He'd brushed it off immediately, reminding himself that they'd been careful and that JJ was still married.

He let out a deep sigh as he let himself fall back on the couch. He was still as confused as when he'd left JJ's house earlier. It was true he wasn't angry at her, but he was disappointed, which was possibly worse. He hadn't been able to experience her pregnancy as a father, he hadn't been there for the birth of his child. Yet, even JJ hadn't known at the time it was his. Or had she? No, she'd said she'd only found out four months ago, he had to believe her.

So what now? They'd just admitted their feelings to each other, and now this bombshell had been dropped, would they be able to get past this? He'd missed out on so many things a father would normally be involved in, yet there was still so much time to make up for it. If he got involved now, Michael wouldn't even know there had been another daddy in his life before.

He rubbed his fingers over his temples, feeling a headache come on because of all the worrying he was doing. He took a deep breath and headed to the kitchen. After drinking a large glass of water he went to bed, knowing sleep wouldn't come tonight.

Upon arriving at work the next morning he could see JJ look his way, knowing she wanted to talk to him. He just couldn't bring himself to have that conversation yet, and certainly not at work. He was about to sit down at his desk when Hotch stood at the railing upstairs. "We have a case, let's meet in the conference room," he said.

Reid grabbed his mug of coffee and headed up the stairs, making sure to sit on the opposite side of the table from JJ, an action that didn't go unnoticed by her. He focused on the screen and Garcia, who told them their case would take them to Las Vegas. It seemed the local police was dealing with a serial killer, targeting rich tourists who were a little careless with their money.

"Alright, wheels up in thirty," Hotch spoke as the team scrambled to pick up their go bags and make any arrangements for their home life.

For JJ it meant having to call in her mom, to make sure she'd be able to stay with the kids. "Hey mom," she smiled when her mother picked up. "I have to go to Vegas in half an hour, can you relieve the sitter tonight and stay with them for a couple of days?" She asked. When her mother told her it was no problem she let out a relieved sigh. "Thanks mom, love you."

When she hung up the phone she turned around to see Reid quickly leaving the room. "Spence!" She called out, making a small jog towards him. "How uhm… how are you?" She asked, feeling silly. She knew he would still be incredibly confused, but she just wanted to know for sure he wasn't angry at her.

Reid had a hard time meeting her eyes. "Doing okay," he nodded a bit, "it's a lot to take in… and I still need more time to think," he admitted. "I better go pack my bag, I'll see you on the jet."

JJ nodded, "Of course, I'll see you in a bit," she said and let out a deep sigh. She hoped he wouldn't take a very long time to think about this, because she already missed him. She ran her hands over her face and shook her head a little bit as if to rid herself of any bad thoughts. She took a few moments to compose herself before heading out and grabbing her go bag.

Thirty minutes later they were all on the jet and on their way to Las Vegas, Garcia briefing them through their video connection. "So, we've got six victims so far, all from different countries," she said as she showed their pictures. "All men between the ages of thirty and fifty, traveling alone for either business or pleasure."

"All of them were strangled," Rossi said as he looked down at his tablet, "takes strength, but that doesn't mean we can rule out our UnSub is a female," he explained.

"The UnSub is quite likely to be a female actually," Reid interjected as he looked at his paper casefile. He was holding a picture of one of the victims, a close up of the ligature marks. "I think they were strangled using stockings," he explained, "it's clear to see if you look at the pattern that was left on the skin."

"So a woman targeting rich foreigners, that has got to narrow down our search," Tara said as she looked back at the computer screen as they continued their briefing.

A couple of hours later they walked into the Las Vegas police station. They'd been here a couple of times before, and this time Reid was planning to visit his mother like he'd done other times before. He hoped she would be having a good day once he got around to going to Bennington.

"I'm going to start our geographical profile," he said as he excused himself from the group, heading towards a large map that was pinned on a wall in a conference room. He grabbed different colored pins and started placing pins on the locations the victims were found, remembering the addresses from reading the case file on the jet.

JJ excused herself from the group a few minutes later, approaching him carefully. "Anything I can do to help?" She asked.

Reid turned around, a small frown on his face. "You never help me with the geographical profile," he started, but then understood what she was doing. "Ah…"

JJ couldn't help but blush a little at having been caught. "Look Spence, I know you need time and I understand and respect that, I just…" she started.

"You want to know if things are going to be okay between us," Reid completed her sentence, sensing her unease and fear on the topic. He let out a deep sigh. "Look Jayje," he started and looked around, making sure no one would overhear him. "There's a lot that has changed these past few hours, but my feelings for you haven't."

JJ let out a relieved sigh, feeling a few tears burn in her eyes. "Thank you, I needed to hear that," she whispered.

Reid nodded gently, "I know, I hope I put your mind at ease a little bit," he said. "Now I should get back to this," he pointed towards the map. "If you insist on helping you can tell me which hotels our victims were staying at," he said, even though he knew that already.

JJ smiled, "Thanks Spence," she said again and grabbed a case file, telling him the different hotels the victims were staying at. She looked at the map. "Does this make any sense to you?" She asked as she looked at the different colors and lines he had drawn.

"Not yet," Reid admitted, slightly frustrated. Normally five victims would be more than enough to give them an idea as to which location the UnSub would be located at.

"Shall I get you some coffee to help you think?" JJ offered.

"That'd be nice, extra sugar please," Reid said, his brow furrowed as he stared at the map.

"Extra? Are you…" JJ started and then just chuckled, shaking her head. "Coming up."

TBC