AN: Hi everyone! Sorry I am so slow in updating. Real life has dealt a doozy, but I'm getting back in the swing. I realize—I need my fanfiction (And my awesome readers) to keep my sanity!

Chapter 10

"Rossi?"

Reid's near squeal made Dave smile immediately. He'd really missed the kid, as he bet many others did, too. Very few people in the FBI, or just about anywhere else, could say they disliked Reid. Reid was a different sort of guy, intelligent without being worldly, with a great, big, affectionate heart. He was quick with a smile, a hug—if he knew you well—or a concerned look that had always lacked any irony at all; basically, he really listened and he truly cared. Even though he would still consider himself "socially awkward," Rossi doubted anyone else would label him thusly.

"Hey, kiddo," Dave said with a smile, opening his arms to give the younger man a huge hug. "Missed us a little, huh?"

Reid pulled back with a questioning, puzzled look. "Us? Who else is here? Hotch?"

Dave gave a wry smile. Because of their closeness, it was natural conclusion to think Hotch would be the person traveling with him. "Good guess, but no. I got Morgan with me."

At the mention of Derek's name, Reid's eyes lit up and he grinned even more. Morgan was the big brother Reid had desperately needed growing up. He could've trounced a few people that had given Reid a hard time and still made him doubt his worth years later.

Reid looked around, squinting. "Where is he?"

"He's in the weeds. He had to take a leak," Rossi answered honestly.

The smile Reid had been wearing disappeared. "On my lawn? He couldn't wait until I got here?"

"It was a three-hour wait, Pretty Boy," Morgan yelled, coming out of the tall weeds surrounding Reid's house. "Besides, all those weeds barely make a lawn."

"Morgan!" Reid called out, running toward Derek with open arms. He paused for a second. "Did you wash your hands?"

Morgan held up a bottle of hand sanitizer he'd taken with him and shook it to emphasize that he'd used it, and a second later, Reid nearly tackled him. Rossi chuckled at the affection between the two and then watched as they walked back to him with their arms around each other's shoulders. Both were wearing the huge grin Reid had seconds earlier.

"Damn, it's good to see you, kid," Morgan said, ruffling Reid's hair and socking him lightly in the side.

Reid jumped away, laughing and smiling, followed by that famous concerned look as he looked at Morgan and Rossi. "Are you guys hungry? Can you stay for lunch? I'm not much of a cook, but I've got sandwich fixing and canned soup."

"Sounds wonderful," Rossi said, and they followed Spencer into his home.

The turkey and cheese sandwiches, complete with rye bread, lettuce, and mayo, and the Campbell's chicken noodle soup tasted like a gourmet meal as Dave ate his lunch and chatted with Reid and Morgan. It wasn't much, but the company made it taste so much better.

"So you are going to travel around and find the rest of the team?" Reid asked, holding a mostly uneaten sandwich. When Reid was excited and thinking about something, food became an afterthought.

Updating Reid on everything that had happened—Erin's infection, finding Derek and his mother, what they already knew to be truth about the epidemic—had been a breeze. He was naturally brilliant and invested in the outcome, so he was focused and ready to help.

"Everyone we can locate," Morgan said. His sandwich had been gone for a long time, and his second sandwich was already half eaten, as was his second bowl of soup.

Reid saved Dave from thinking by asking another question. "And with the team, you believe that you can find a cure?"

Dave gave a curt nod. "I'm sure of it."

Reid smiled, a closed-lip grin of determination that Rossi had seen a thousand times before. "I agree."

"Whoa," Morgan said, holding his hands up and zeroing in on Reid. "Hold up. What do you know?"

"I believe I have something that is a link between the cases I have read about. Yet, every time I mention this at the Center, I'm told to cease my investigation." Spencer shook his head, frowning as he thought. "Something isn't right."

"If something smells wrong, it usually is," Dave said, taking a sip of the very weak coffee Reid had brewed.

"I even received a negative note from the head of the project, asking me to desist." Reid looked up from his hands. "Nearly threatening."

Morgan arched a brow and looked over at Rossi, and Dave knew he was thinking the same thing—something was rotten in the state of New Mexico. Morgan looked back at Reid. "Keep talking, kid."

"I have it," Reid said, reaching into his pocket and withdrawing a letter. "The note, that is."

Rossi read the letter, and his brows shot up. "Melax? The drug, Melax?"

"The wonder drug?" Morgan asked. "The cure?"

Reid winced. "I know it sounds strange, but there is something with that medication. People who were taking it prophylactically—"

"Prophy-what?" Morgan interrupted.

"Not infected, but taking it to prevent the infection," Reid explained. "Those people, they got slowly worse over time, like they'd been infected with a stronger strain."

Rossi nodded, taking in what Reid was saying. "Go on."

"Meanwhile, in areas where Melax is not sold or marketed, there are no outbreaks, no illnesses, nothing." Reid shook his head. "Like I'd said—something isn't right."

"What do you think is going on?" Dave asked point-blank.

Reid took a deep breath and said his suspicions. "I believe the manufacturers of Melax are somehow causing or extending this epidemic for their own gain."

Morgan let his breath out in a long whistle. "That's a big accusation. They have government backing and are thought of as saviors."

Reid put up his chin defensively. "I know. But the research I've done isn't correlating with that statement."

"Erin is on that drug," Dave said softly.

Those compassionate, brown, Spencer eyes turned to him. "I'm sorry, Rossi. If you don't believe me, I understand."

Dave sighed and clapped the younger man on the shoulder. "No, son. I do believe you. Now I need to see what to do about it." He ran a hand through his salt and pepper hair. "And I currently have no fucking clue."

"That's what we're here for, Rossi," Morgan said with a smile. "To help you find that clue."

A while later, Dave was enjoying a cigar on Reid's front porch. It wasn't his own—Reid had a box just in case Rossi ever decided on visiting.

However, that wasn't the only thing Reid had at his home for members of the team. All around the place, Dave could see remnants of the BAU. He had Cheetos for JJ (and appropriate-age books for Henry, too), pens with fuzzy, wacky tops for Garcia, running shoes in Hotch's size, the New York Times crossword puzzle for Blake, and the type of cat food Sergio, Prentiss's cat, liked.

It was obvious Reid wasn't ready to give up on their BAU family, either. That gave Dave a lump in his throat, the size of the baseball Morgan and Reid were playing catch with. Baseball gloves—one for Derek and one for himself—was what Reid had kept for Morgan.

"Hey kid," Morgan said, tossing a fast overhead ball at Reid, making the younger man jump for it...and miss. "Why Las Vegas, New Mexico?"

Reid rifled in the tall grass. "It's for my mother, actually."

"How's that?" Morgan asked.

"I couldn't let her stay in a big city with a higher chance of infestation." Reid retrieved the ball and tossed it at Morgan's head, but not quick enough to hit the big brotherly bully. "Moving her would be difficult enough, and disrupting to her routine. I thought that maybe if the city had the same name and climate, maybe it would be less of a shock to her."

"Makes sense to me," Rossi commented, ashing out his cigar. He walked over to Reid just as he was getting the ball back. Dave held out his hand. "May I?"

Spencer handed him the ball, and Dave quickly threw it at Morgan. Dave had been a pitcher with a mean change up; he threw a switch ball that was going to drop well before it reached Morgan. And as Dave had guessed, Morgan the born athlete dived for it and missed it by a mile, getting a chest full of dirt and grass.

Reid and Rossi laughed as Derek picked up the ball and dusted himself off. "Good one, Rossi."

"Like always..." He clasped Morgan's shoulder and gave a little shake. "A moment for personal growth."

Reid's smile faded as he glanced up at the sky. "The sun looks like it is about to set. We should head in."

"You need some corn here," Derek commented as they climbed the steps. "They don't cross corn."

Spencer frowned. "What?"

"It was remarkable, really." Dave opened the door as he wiped his shoes on the welcome mat. "In Indiana where I found Morgan, there were all sorts of pods where people lived. All of them were surrounded by corn. Apparently, corn repels Zombies."

Reid locked the door to his house after they were all in. "Interesting." He stroked his chin in thought, and then asked, "Did anyone ever see what happened when a 'so-called zombie'-"

"Air quotes," Morgan interrupted, rolling his eyes. "I hate those damned air quotes."

Reid glared at him and continued, "What happened if they approached corn?"

Rossi shook his head. "I haven't a clue. Morgan?"

"Once. A border patrol saw one go into the corn and disappear. The next day, they found the zombie. He had welts all over his body and he was bluish-colored." Derek shook his head. "Young guy. They burned his body to prevent the spread of the disease."

Reid was deep in thought, and then he turned and headed towards his library. He started digging through books.

"What are you thinking?" Rossi asked as Reid skimmed manual after manual.

"That sounds like a reaction to a chemical," Reid muttered, reading rapidly. "Anaphylaxis, septic shock..."

"Corn causes anaphylaxis in zombies?" Morgan asked.

"No, but I am betting something in Melax does." Reid shut the book and shook his head. "I can't find it. I'm going to have to call Garcia."

Morgan was leaning against the door jam, and he laughed. "Good one, kid."

Reid stood, reached into a cabinet, and pulled out an old ham radio.

Morgan nearly fell over. His eyes grew the size of saucers and he was visibly paler. "Are you kidding me?"

"You're in contact with Penelope?" Rossi asked, nearly as surprised as Morgan.

"Of course," Reid said. "Didn't I say that?"