I can't believe I've been working on this for over a year now. Curse that long absence of mine.

A knock on the door of the hotel room Spencer was sharing with Derek brought his attention away from his book. Setting it down, he slid off the bed and strolled towards the door. The young doctor was curious on who was knocking. Morgan went down to relax in the hot tub exactly two minutes and thirty-six seconds ago, he shouldn't be back already. Being cautious, he looked through the peep hole on the door and saw that it was Gideon. Knowing what the Unit Chief was here for, he opened the door.

"Hello, Reid."

"Hi, Gideon."

"May I come in?"

"Of course." The lanky man stepped aside so that his mentor could enter. Shutting the door behind him, he followed the older profiler and sat down next to him on one of the beds.

"Let's finish our discussion." Jason said. Spencer swallowed thickly, trying to find his voice. He now wished it had been Morgan who knocked on the door. The dark-skinned agent wasn't here, so Reid would have to face Gideon alone. He could hear a voice in his head, ignoring his fear that he was going crazy, he listened to it, it sounded an awful lot like Morgan's voice, as if his best friend was right there beside him.

If you really wish to be Aaron's father, you won't need my help.

Though he was disappointed by the words that were somehow sent to his brain, he knew that they were true. If he was going to be the single parent of a 14-year old, he would need to be able to handle situations himself, with or without any moral support from the team. And it wasn't like Reid had long gotten used to that. When his father left the family, he was forced to care for his sick mother, plus handle the responsibilities that a man should have, all at the age of ten. Thanks to his high IQ, it wasn't overly difficult, but it did tend to take an emotional toll on him, and his good-for-nothing dad didn't seem to care about all those aggravating years that his own birth son had to spend on what should have been Spencer's childhood. Besides going to a public school and being constantly bullied, Reid barely knew what it was like to be a kid. Only a decade in age, and he had to take charge of the household and his mother's well-being the moment his father walked out the door.

People often overlooked his age because of his intelligence. A lot was expected from him despite his small size. But the important thing is, he was capable. It's not that Spencer didn't want to care for his mom, it's just that having to do so as young as he had been wasn't fair, not that his dad bothered to even check up on them after he left. But now Reid was a more than capable adult, and taking care of Aaron was something he did want to do. Trust was something that Spencer valued more than almost anything else, and Aaron trusted him a lot. Reid wasn't so embarrassed now to admit that he did indeed loved Aaron like his own son. And if by chance he did get to keep the teen, he would need to get used to it.

But one step at a time though. Exhaling, Reid mentally braced himself for whatever Gideon had to say.

"Reid." Gideon sighed. "I just want to let you know that the reason why I was urging you to be willing to let Aaron go once Foyet was out of the picture is because of a personal experience. You already know that my son Stephen and I aren't as close as I wished we were, because of me being gone so much at work. Stephen and I shared a lot in common, we liked the same sports teams, the same films, the same music. But only after I had started working for the FBI had we grown distant. I miss him a lot, and I didn't want you to go through the same kind of heartbreak I still endure to this day."

Reid listened intently to what Jason said, it saddened the young genius that even though Gideon and his son had once been real close, it all went away because he chose to do a job he loves.

"Have you tried contacting him?" Spencer inquired.

The BAU leader nodded, Reid could almost swear that he saw a single tear welling up in his right eye. "Many times, but most often he doesn't answer or respond. He was a bright little boy, and I never told you this before Spencer, but when I first saw you at that class, I saw a lot of Stephen in you. I guess that's partly what got me so hellbent on getting you to join the Behavioral Analysis Unit. You reminded me a lot of Stephen."

Spencer took his time to absorb this new information. Gideon had always been a rather secretive person, he almost never revealed much about himself, yet he always poured his heart into every case the team worked on. It was so foreign for Jason to open up all of the sudden like this, but Reid understood what he was trying to tell him.

"I'm sorry, Gideon." Spencer said softly.

Gideon shook his head. "No, Spencer, I'm sorry. It was wrong for me to try to tear you and Aaron apart."

"You were just trying to look out for us." Reid stated, hoping he sounded understanding.

"Maybe, but I ended up being selfish." The older agent admitted. "I was so afraid about you and Aaron going through what me and Stephen are still putting up with, I didn't stop to think about how much harder it would be for you two to be separated like that. Aaron isn't like Stephen, I can already tell, he'll make a fantastic profiler some day. Because unlike my son, your son shares your same desire to help and save lives. And for that, you should be thankful."

"Wait," Reid blinked. "My son?"

"Of course," Jason smiled. "That's what you'll probably be calling him when you have to introduce him to new people."

"So, I get to keep Aaron, and my job?" Spencer asked.

"Adopt, Reid." He corrected. "I now know that yours and Aaron's relationship won't be like mine and Stephen's. You've proven yourself to be a worthy father, and to tell you to truth, as if I even needed to, you couldn't ask for a better son than Aaron."

"Thanks, Gideon." Spencer smiled. "But, I am so sorry about you and your son. I wish there was something I could do."

"Don't worry about it, Spencer. As much as it pains me, I've been trying to learn to accept it. Convince myself that maybe fate has something in store for us. Maybe an angel will one day bring father and son back together. I just don't know when or if that will ever happen, I try not to think about that, it just makes things worse."

"Basically, you're just trying to get over not having Stephen in your life?" Reid asked. It was so sad, though it wasn't like Reid knew what a loss felt like, except his situation was different. Reid had a father who literary walked out on them. He abandoned them. Stephen didn't leave his father, he just avoids him. If only there was something that could be done to at least try to get them back together.

"Well, we should both be getting some sleep, we still have a case to work on tomorrow." Gideon sat up from the bed and stretched. He trudged over to the door. "Goodnight, Spencer."

"Goodnight, Gideon, and thanks again." Gideon closed the door, leaving Reid with a flood of thoughts. Gideon telling him that he could adopt Aaron practically already made the boy his son already. All that needed to be done now was to make it official. Gideon's relationship with his own son was growing thinner as time passed, and this saddened the young doctor knowing that his mentor was emotionally suffering from something that wasn't directly work-related, and it seemed as if nothing could be done about it. But that couldn't be true. Surely some sort of action could be taken. Reid debated on informing the rest of the team so that they could work together on getting Jason and Stephen back in each others lives again. But a part of him felt that he should keep his mouth shut. Groaning a little as a minor headache started to form, Reid rested his head on the pillow to ease the dullness.

Ten minutes later, the door opened, this time without a prior knock. Spencer's headache cleared up quickly and he resumed reading his book. He glanced over and saw Morgan wearing only a pair of shorts and a towel around his neck. The man's strong, impressive muscles protruding proudly. Catching Reid's eyes, Morgan asked. "Did you talk to Gideon yet?"

Nodding, Reid replied. "Yeah."

"So, how'd it go?"

"It actually went pretty well."

"Oh yeah?"Derek noted. "How so?"

"I'll make this short; You're looking at Aaron's new father." Spencer stated with a smile on his face.

"Seriously? No way."

"Yes, way."

Laughing, Morgan walk over and patted Reid's bony shoulder. "That's great to hear, man."

Gideon entered his hotel room. After passing through the short hallway, the first thing he took notice of was Rossi sitting on his own bed, staring at him expectantly. "So, how was your discussion with Reid?"

"I think it turned out okay."

"That's good to hear, now what did you say?"

"I told Reid that he could adopt Aaron. Because I knew that despite his job, they would have an everlasting bond. I also told him about why I had first suggested otherwise."

Curious, Dave asked. "And what exactly was that?"

"Mine and Stephen's relationship." He took a seat next to his friend.

Nodding in understanding, Rossi pointed out. "At least your son is still alive."

"That's true." Gideon said sadly.

"I am glad that you came to your senses about Reid and Aaron though, Jason." The aged Italian patted his left shoulder.

"I am too, but I did have help." He smiled knowingly.

"I was more than happy to, friend."

After almost seven days, Foyet was getting really tired of hiding in this damn bush.

He was beginning to wonder when or if they would ever come back. For the time he's been staking out, he'd yet to see any 14-year old's accompanied by any long-haired men. He was wondering if they had caught onto him, maybe they knew he was nearby and fled somewhere. Or maybe they were just waiting for him to lose his cover so that they could capture him. Foyet was never one to have doubts, but the fact that he was starting to express any at all was making him want to tear his own hair out in frustration. Having escaped from custody, his face was probably being spread through news stations across the country, and it wouldn't be long until he would be forced to run, and how would he be able to finish off that Hotchner kid with cops and FBI agents up his ass?

I should have never let that kid live. He growled. The BAU had profiled him right, he almost lived off of fear, inducing onto his victims, those pathetic people begging to be spared. Never before had he had such a hard time, but that was thanks to Agent Reid interfering with his plans.

However, assuming that nobody knew where he was, they couldn't be gone forever. At some point, Dr. Reid would come back with that little brat, and he would 'take care' of them. Maybe if he was feeling up to it, he would go down in style, he would wipe out as much of Jason Gideon's team as he could. It would end up being suicide by cop, no doubt he would die, but at least he would avoid stepping foot back in prison. Foyet's sick and twisted fantasies came to a halt when he heard a vehicle pulling into the lot. Immediately recognizing the golden cross symbol on the front of the black SUV, the evil man watched as out stepped the kid and Dr. Reid. The crazed serial killer grinned as he tapped the end of his knife in anticipation, he planned to wait until they bedded down before striking. They wouldn't be expecting it, they probably wouldn't even know what hit them.

"Oh, the excitement of it all." Foyet spoke to his weapon in-hand. Not caring that he was talking to an inanimate object, he watched as the FBI profiler and teenager climbed the stairs to the second floor.

Blood will be shed tonight. He knew this much, and he couldn't wait. First, the Hotchner kid, than that nerdy, long-haired excuse of an FBI agent.

"Say goodnight to your agent, Jason."

To be continued...

It's the moment George Foyet has been waiting for. Will he fail? Will he succeed? Will I end up writing a scene about a funeral? Find out in the next update!