DISCLAIMER:
I DO NOT OWN CRIMINAL MINDS! Nor do I own any other copy-righted things mentioned.
JJ looked down at Jack and then looked back up.
"Dita? Dita come out!" JJ said.
"You win Dita!" Jack yelled. "You can come out now!"
The blonde woman was looking under desks when a voice asked, "What in the name of God's green earth are you doing?"
JJ looked up to see Reid. She sighed and said, "We were playing hide-and-seek….and we can't find Dita to save our lives."
Reid looked at her and shouted, "YOU CAN'T FIND HER?"
"Calm down Uncle Spence. I'm right here," Dita's voice came.
One of the larger drawers slid open to reveal Perdita. She was grinning, happily sitting in the drawer. Reid pulled her out of the drawer and set her down.
"Don't do that! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" he said.
She hugged his leg and said, "It's okay Uncle Spency."
JJ looked at Reid and asked, "Any luck?"
Reid looked down at Perdita and asked, "Did you by any chance ever meet Miss April's boyfriend Dita?"
"Mark?" Dita said frowning. "I don't like him."
"Why?" Reid asked.
Dita shrugged and said, "Guess it was instinct. I just didn't like him, and then he got all mean towards April. Then I really didn't like him."
Reid sighed and said, "Well it's getting kind of late. I'm going to do some paper work and then we'll take off all right?"
Perdita just nodded. She looked over at Rossi and asked, "Do you have any books?"
"Not for little girls…" Rossi said.
Dita sighed and got up. She walked over to Prentiss's desk and took the book she had. She started reading the book when Emily came over.
"Dita what are you doing?" she asked.
The kid looked up and said, "Reading."
She laughed and shook her head.
"Just like her uncle," she sighed.
Dita smiled up at her and asked, "Did you find anything?"
"Dita…the man that you saw…was it Mark?" Emily asked.
"I don't think so…unless he grew out his hair," Perdita said. "The guy was covered in something and had a wild look to him…it was unnatural and it frightened me."
Emily nodded and put a hand on her shoulder. After a little while, Reid came over to them and said, "All right little lady, give Em her book back so we can go home."
Perdita returned the book and followed Reid. She held his hand tightly as she followed him to the elevator.
"Hey Reid!" a voice came.
He looked over to see Hotch.
"If you need someone to watch Dita tomorrow I could always ask Jessica," he said.
Reid nodded and said, "Thanks Hotch. That'd be great."
"Who's Jessica?" Dita asked.
"She's Jack's aunt," Reid said. "She watches Jack while his daddy's at work. Maybe she can watch you too so you and Jack can play together."
Dita clapped her hands excitedly. Reid picked her up and carried her out. The drive home was a peaceful one, Dita happily chatting away about her day. She talked about the pretty flower Jack had drawn her, and how JJ and them had played games. Reid felt a little jealous of JJ. She got to play with Dita while he was working, but then he remembered he was doing this for her. He was going to find out who tried to kill her and her mother.
Reid paused for a moment. What if the killer wasn't targeting Dita? She'd seen him and he'd seen her, but he didn't go after her or try to attack her. But a girl had been killed at every house…so what if there had been more than one unsub in the case?
Reid suddenly got a startling thought.
"Dita…"
"Yeah Uncle Spency?"
"When was the last time you saw your daddy?" he asked cautiously.
"My birthday," she said softly. "He and Mommy were arguing about you again. Mommy said she wanted to meet her big brother, but Daddy didn't think it was a good idea. He threatened to take me away if she did…and so did Grammy. Why don't they like you Uncle Spency? You're a good guy, almost like a real life superhero."
Reid's face was fixed in a frown. Her father threatened to take her away…but Clarice didn't neglect or abuse her girl. There was no valid reason that Clarice was unable or unfit to care for her daughter…unless she was dead. Reid swallowed and said, "I don't know why they don't like me sweetie. Maybe Daddy was jealous that she wanted to see me."
Dita nodded and said, "Daddy was always possessive. He didn't like Mommy talking to other guys."
They stopped outside his apartment and he got out of the car. He picked up Dita and carried her inside. When he set her down she asked, "Do you want to play a game?"
"Go put on your pjs on first," Reid said smiling. "You have to sleep sometime shorty."
"Only if you read me a bedtime story," she said.
Reid tickled her playfully and she ran to go get her pjs on. Reid settled down on the couch as Dita came running out in her pjs. She was wearing purple footie pajamas, and carried an old teddy bear. She crawled up onto Reid's lap and looked up at him. He took a book from the shelf and looked down at her. She was rubbing her eyes and looked up at him. He showed her the book.
"The bible?" Dita asked. "Mommy liked to read that to me. Can you read me The Creation?"
Reid nodded and opened the bible. He started to read the passage to her as she snuggled up to him. As he finished the passage, Reid looked down to see her asleep. He closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around Perdita. He fell asleep as well, the little girl sound asleep beside him.