New chapter! Hooray!
A little on the short side. Forgive me.
The drive to the FBI Headquarters was spent in thick silence, neither of the vehicle's occupants were sure on what to say, or if they should say anything at all. Desperate for some sound, Reid spoke first.
"Do you like any sort of music, Aaron?"
A little surprised by the sudden question, the teen answered. "I'm not really sure."
"You could find something on the radio, if you'd like." The young genius offered.
Aaron was a little hesitant, he wasn't sure on what he liked because he almost never listened to music back at the orphanage. He was only somewhat aware of what modern music was like. Rap was losing quality, country songs had too much pop in them, and most pop songs were repetitive and just plain terrible, though these were just stories he'd heard from others, the boy had yet to experience it himself. He cautiously brought his finger to the dial, as if a wrong move would make it explode, Spencer was eager to have some music, maybe it would calm his nerves that were still shaken up from that horrid dream he had last night.
Reid pulled his Suburban into the garage and parked it in an empty spot. He and Aaron climbed out and they headed for the elevators, a noticeable jump in their steps.
"I wonder who sings that 'Oppan Gangnam Style'." Spencer questioned, tapping his fingers together.
Aaron shrugged. "Who knows? The radio DJ didn't say."
They got in the elevator, Reid intended to head for the lobby first so that he could acquire a visitor's badge for Aaron. After that, they returned to the elevator and went up to the sixth floor where the BAU resided. Being into profiling thanks to Reid's book, Aaron was a little excited to see what the place looked like.
The two entered the glass doors and the boy studied his surroundings. A greater portion of the large room, focused from the center were many desks. He instantly recognized two of the agents who were seated at them, Morgan and Prentiss. Several other people hustled about, doing their own business. Reid led him to his own desk and he sat his bag down while Aaron greeted the other two profilers.
"Hey, Aaron," Derek smiled. "How's it going?"
"Pretty good." The dark-skinned agent noticed the hesitance in the young man's voice, but decided not to question it just yet.
"Nice to see you again, Aaron." Emily spoke.
"Nice to see you too." He nodded.
"So, what brings you here, kid?" Morgan asked.
"I didn't want to leave Aaron alone at home." Reid explained. "I'm gonna have him stay with Garcia if we get a case."
"Emily, I got the papers you asked for." Said a new voice that Aaron did not recognize.
"Oh, speak of the devil." Derek grinned.
"Speak what of the devil?" A slightly petite, overweight woman with blonde hair and colorful glasses came down the steps with some pieces of paper in her hands. "Oh!" She took notice of the boy standing next to Reid. "Well, hello there! You must be Aaron, I've heard about you. You're becoming quite the profiler. You having fun with my Junior G-man?"
"Garcia," Prentiss warned with a chuckle. "Slow down, okay?"
"Right, sorry." She quickly apologized, then handed the papers to the brunette.
"Aaron, this is Penelope Garcia, she's my team's technical analyst." Spencer introduced.
"Pleasure." Aaron said politely as he shook hands with the bubbly woman.
"Oh, Reid, he's adorable! Can we keep him?" Aaron hoped his cheeks didn't flush too much.
"Reid?" Agent Gideon called from the top of the steps. "Can I talk to you in my office for a minute?"
"Sure." Knowing Aaron was safe with his colleagues, he proceeded up to where his boss stood, then followed him into his office. Jason shut the door and mentioned for Reid to sit down on one of the chairs in front of his desk.
"Spencer,". The BAU leader sighed. "You know what will have to become of Aaron once we recapture Foyet."
"What do you mean?" The younger man inquired.
Another sigh. "When this is all over, you know you'll have to give up the boy and send him back to the orphanage."
"But why?" His young, innocent eyes filling with dread.
"So Aaron can hopefully find a family with a suitable home some day."
"What about me? Aaron trusts me more than anyone else. I know my apartment isn't much, but I can relocate to a bigger one."
"Spencer, this has nothing to do with the size of your home. You know it's nearly impossible to have family with the kind of work that we do."
"'Nearly impossible', meaning it can still be done." Reid argued.
"Look, Reid, I know you and the boy are close, but he can't remain under your care like this. What if a case came up in the middle of the night or something, and we were gone for weeks, where would Aaron stay?"
"Garcia wouldn't hesitate to help, I'm gonna have her watch over Aaron if anything comes up today."
"This is just too unstable for him, Reid."
"Didn't you have a son?"
"Yes, I did, and still do, but Stephen and I rarely talk to each other, my family drifted apart when I joined the FBI."
"But Aaron is different from Stephen, he has in interest in profiling, plus he's shown talent for it."
"I'm aware of that Reid, and I wouldn't doubt your parental ability for a second with Aaron, but-"
"But what?" Spencer inturrupted. "Gideon, please don't make me do this to Aaron." He begged.
"Spencer, I'm not saying you have to do anything right this moment, I'm just giving you a heads up for when Foyet is finally captured, dead or alive."
Reid took a deep breath. "Gideon, if it means that I can still be in Aaron's life, then I may consider resigning from the BAU."
The Unit Chief's eyes widened. "Spencer, you don't want to do that." He tried to reason.
"Maybe not, but I want what's best for Aaron, and that's me being there for him."
Jason honestly didn't know what to say after that. Deep down, he was proud of Reid, knowing that he cared so much for Aaron, but another part of him felt that Spencer was being hasty with his decisions.
A knock at the door disrupted his thoughts. It was JJ, she had a thick paper file in her hands. That could only mean one thing.
"We have a case, guys. Rossi, Morgan, and Prentiss are waiting in the conference room. Reid." She addressed. "Aaron is with Garcia in her office."
"We'll be there in a moment." Gideon said, JJ nodded and departed. "Spencer, it's your choice in the end on what you do regarding your job and Aaron, but would it be possible to discuss this later?"
"Yeah." He rose up from the chair.
"Here's a spare key to my apartment, Garcia. Aaron knows where his stuff is." Reid said as he handed a silver key to the 'Tech Goddess'.
"Gotcha." She said as she pocketed the item.
"Thanks for doing this, Garcia."
"It's not a problem, sweet cheeks." She grinned at his blush. "Now, go, shoo! Somebody needs your intellect to save them!"
"Bye, Aaron." Spencer knelt down to give the teen a quick hug. Something he almost never did to anyone.
"Bye, Dr. Reid. Good luck."
"Thank you." The young doctor picked up his go-bag and followed the others out the doors, waving before disappearing around the corner.
"Well," Penelope looked at her watch once the rest of the team was gone. "It's almost 11 AM, my shift doesn't end for several more hours. Do you like computer games, Aaron?"
"I'm... not really sure." He spoke honestly.
"Ooh, wait till I show you what I've got in my lair!"
Foyet glanced at his watch. He assumed it would be many hours until that nerdy agent came home with Aaron. Most of the time he spent waiting, he fantasized many scenarios on how he would rid of that brat once and for all, and maybe Dr. Reid too. When 6 PM rolled around, he was getting sore, and a little hungry. The crazed man figured that running off to get a bite to eat wouldn't hurt. By the time they got back, whenever that would be, he would be ready to strike. Knowing that he still needed to keep a low profile, he snuck off down the fairly empty street to find a good place to get some chow.
He didn't notice a car pulling into the lot and parking. The occupants didn't notice him either.
"Okay, just need to get your spare clothes, then we'll head over to my place." Garcia announced. "What would you like for us to order for dinner, Aaron? Pizza, Chinese?"
"Mm, pizza." He answered.
"Sounds good!" Penelope unlocked the door and they entered. Aaron quickly retrieved his clothes and toiletries and they left, re-locking the door behind them. They returned to Garcia's car and drove off to her home.
About an hour later, Foyet came back to his hiding spot in the bushes, stomach full of greasy fast food, and his knife ready for some action. Time slowly passed by, but no large, black SUV ever pulled in. It was now 10:30 PM and he was beyond frustrated.
Where the hell are they? He seethed as he stabbed his weapon into the ground, completely unaware of either of their presences.
Many miles away, up in the sky, inside a small, private jet, Reid flinched all of the sudden.
"You okay, kid?" Morgan asked.
"Yeah, I just got a weird feeling." Spencer spoke with uncertainty.
"Like what? That I'm gonna beat you at poker this time?" He smirked, laying down his hand, it was a full house.
His worry pushed to the back of his mind in an instant, Reid laid down his own hand, a royal flush. "Nope, never crossed my mind." He smiled, dragging the pile of pretzels and potato chips toward him.
Derek shook his head, carelessly tossing the cards everywhere. "Why do I even try?"
To be continued...