Disclaimer: Criminal Minds and all its characters belong to CBS. I own nothing.
Previously on Criminal Minds- "Spencer?" a voice softly called.
Reid's eyes snapped up and his mouth dropped open. "Dad?"
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William Reid smiled down at his son. "Hello Spencer" he greeted, as he nervously shifted from foot to foot. "You're, you're looking well."
Spencer blew out a breath. "What awe you doing hewe, dad?"
"Dad?" Emily repeated, glancing worriedly at her friend.
Spencer nodded. "Emily, fis is my fathew, William Weid. Dad, fat's Emily Pwentiss. She worts wif me."
"Nice to meet you, Ms. Prentiss." William said, extending his hand. He quickly dropped it when the young woman scowled at him. Turning back to his son, he asked, "Spencer is there somewhere we could talk in private?"
"I'm at wort, dad. I have an inbox full of papewwort and tonsults to be done. I don't have time to top and chat." Reid replied, an underlying tone of anger in his voice.
"I know you're busy, Spencer. I didn't plan on bothering you at work but I went by your apartment yesterday and your landlady and neighbors said you hadn't been there in a few weeks so I had no choice but to come here." William explained.
"My pawtment? How did you know whewe I lived?" Reid anxiously questioned.
"Your mother told me the last time I went to visit her." William answered. "When I told her I was coming to DC and that I wanted to stop by and see you, she pulled out several letters you had written and pointed out your address."
"Reid? Everything okay, man?" Morgan asked as he walked up behind his friend's absentee father.
"Evewyfing's fine, Mowgan. My dad was jut leaving." Spencer replied, turning back to his files.
"Spencer, can't you spare a moment for your old man?" William asked.
"I told you alweady. I'm swamped wif wowt. I tan't tate a bweat wight now." Spencer reiterated.
"Okay, well how about we meet for lunch? My treat" Mr. Reid offered.
"Sowwy, I'll mowe than litely be wowting fwough lunch." Spencer fibbed as he fiddled with his files.
"Alright dinner then" William prodded.
Spencer angrily slammed the file in front of him closed. "What do you want, dad?"
Startling at his son's actions, William unconsciously took a step back from the boy's desk. Sensing this was his last chance to convince Spencer to talk with him, he took a deep breath and said, "Spencer, I've, I've been thinking a lot about the last time we were together and I…"
"You wealize fat was ovew two yeaws ago." Spencer broke in.
"I know. I've wanted to come since that day but a part of me was afraid you wouldn't want to see me." William said. "But I just couldn't stay away anymore. I had to see you."
"Well, now you've seen me, so you tan go." Spencer stated without looking up from the file in his hands.
William frowned. "I don't understand. I, I thought…"
"You fought(thought) what? That one showt time togefew made up for all fose yeaws of stwuggling to teep evewyfing going?" Spencer spat, crossing his arms. "Fat youw little explanation made leaving a child alone to tawe fow his mentally ill mothew otay? Well, guess what, dad. It didn't."
"Spencer, I know it was wrong of me to leave you two but I couldn't…"
"Don't. Don't twy to jutify youw actions." Spencer growled. "Don't tell me how hawd fings wewe fow you. You have no idea what hawd is. Did you know fat fewe wewe times it was all I tould do to mate suwe we had food? Ow fat a handful of times mom had episodes whewe she fought(thought) I wasn't hew son? Fat she loted(locked) me in the basement ow out of the house fow the night fen? Ow how about the time she chased aftew me wif a knife 'cause she fought(thought) I was a gov'ment agent toming to tidnapp hew son? Fen fewe was the towtuwe at school. The bullies beat the twap out of me on good days. You don't want to know about the bad ones. And who tould I tuwn to? Nobody, fat's who! The teachews didn't tawe(care) and mom was ill. I had nobody to tand up fow me and top what was happening. Fewe was nofing I tould do but tate it and hope fey didn't till me or wowse. And fat's jut a tiny pawt of what I went frough(through) gwowing up so don't give me some sob stowy about how hawd life was fow you. You'll get no sympathy from me."
"Spencer, I, I…"
"Leave dad. Leave and don't tome bat(back)." Spencer ordered, fighting back angry tears. "Mowgan, would you show Mw. Weid out?"
"It'd be my pleasure." Morgan answered with a feral grin. He took the stunned man by the arm a little more harshly than he needed to. "Right this way, Mr. Reid."
Prentiss waited for Morgan to usher William out the glass doors before hurrying over to Reid's desk. "Are you okay, Spencer?" she quietly asked.
Nodding, Reid ran a shaky hand across his eyes. "Ye, yeah" he stammered. He picked up a file and slid off his chair. "I'm, I'm jut going to tate fis to Hotch."
Putting a hand on the little boy's chest to stop him from taking off, Emily knelt down in front of him. "Strauss is in Hotch's office, remember?" she said. "Why don't you take it to Rossi?"
Reid gave a slight nod before running off. Crushing the file against his chest, he dashed up the metal stairs and across the landing to Rossi's office. Pushing open the cracked door, he raced into the room.
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Rossi glanced up when his door banged against the wall. Seeing Spencer running towards him, he swiftly spun his chair around to the side and opened his arms. He caught the upset boy and wrapped him in a loving embrace. "Spencer? What's wrong, buddy?" he asked, scooting his chair back to give them a little more room.
Spencer whimpered and buried his face in Rossi's shoulder.
Dave's eyebrows shot up at the sudden feeling of wetness on his collar. "Shhh kiddo, it's alright." He soothed, gently rubbing the boy's trembling back. Adjusting his hold on the toddler, the senior profiler slowly stood, walked over to the couch, and took a seat on one end. He glanced over to the door at the sound of footsteps. Seeing Prentiss standing in the open doorway, he sent her a questioning look.
"Reid's dad just left." Emily softly filled in before closing the door to give her friends some privacy.
"Awww, buddy, I'm sorry" Dave whispered. Kissing the top of the youngster's head, he slowly began to rock.
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"I expect the reports to be on my desk before the day is out." Strauss ordered as she clomped out of Hotch's office. Slamming the door in her wake, she turned to glare at the lone profiler standing on the landing. "Agent Prentiss, don't you have anything better to do than eavesdrop on private conversations?" she growled.
"I was just bringing this to Agent Hotchner." Emily fibbed, holding up a case folder.
Strauss's lips thinned. "Surely you don't expect me…"
"Agent Prentiss, do you have the file I inquired about?" Hotch interrupted as he stepped out of his office.
"Yes sir" Emily replied, handing her boss the folder in her hands. Resisting the urge to smirk, she slipped around Hotch and hurried down the stairs to her desk.
Huffing, Strauss sent a death glare Hotch's way before stomping down the stairs and out the glass doors.
Aaron let out a relieved sigh as he walked the short distance to Rossi's office. Going toe to toe with Strauss was never a pleasant experience but today's match had been extremely rough. Thankfully, the tet-a-tet was finally over. He wanted nothing more than to take a break but with the amount of work the Section Chief had laid on him, that wouldn't be happening anytime soon. Shaking his head at the audacity of the woman, Hotch stepped up to Rossi's door and knocked before opening the door and walking inside. "Dave, we need to…" he stopped short at the sight of Rossi attempting to comfort a crying Reid. "Spencer?"
Spencer's head snapped up at his surrogate father's voice. Jumping off Rossi's lap, he rushed towards the safety of Aaron's arms. "Da, H-H-Hotch!" he yelled, barreling into the man and latching onto his legs.
Leaning down, Aaron gently pried the little boy's fingers from his pants legs and picked the sobbing child up. Hugging the toddler, he looked to the oldest member of the group for answers. "What happened, Dave?"
Dave scooted over to give Hotch run to sit. "Daddy Dearest made an appearance." Dave said, running a hand up and down Spencer's arm once Aaron sat down.
"What?" Aaron furiously growled. Feeling the toddler in his arms jump, he swiftly lowered his voice and softened his tone. "Shh Spencer. It's okay. I'm not angry with you, son." He soothed, rocking the boy in his arms.
"Come on, buddy. You're safe. He's gone now." Dave murmured.
The concerned men continued their soothing ministrations and words of comfort until little by little the crying started to taper off. When all that was left was the occasional sniffle or hiccup, Aaron gave the boy a couple more minutes to pull himself together before peeling the tiny body off his chest and settling the toddler on his lap. "Are you alright now?" he softly asked.
Spencer swiped at his eyes. "Y-yes siw" he replied, taking the tissue Rossi handed him. He wiped his tear stained face and then blew his nose. Glancing around for the trash can, he sighed when he spotted it on the other side of the room by Hotch's desk. Unwilling to lose his support system, he balled the tissue up and threw it as hard as he could. He grimaced as it landed in the floor several feet from his target. Sniffling, he started to slide off Hotch's lap only to be stopped by a restraining hand.
"Leave it Spencer. We'll get it later." Aaron instructed, turning the boy so that they were eye to eye.
"But, but…"
"I'll get it." Dave volunteered. Rolling his eyes at the boy's one track mind, he quickly walked over, grabbed the offending tissue, and tossed it in the trashcan. Taking his seat once more, he smiled down at the toddler. "That better, champ?"
Spencer nodded. "Yes siw"
"Good, now that that's settled, we need to discuss what happened earlier." Aaron said, tightening his hold on the boy when he shivered. "Spencer, did your father tell you why he was here? Was there something he wanted?"
"I don't know." Reid truthfully answered. "He said he jut wanted to see me and fat he missed me but I know bettew fan fat. He wanted somefing. I jut don't know what."
"Well whatever he wanted, he's out of luck. He won't be coming back here for a visit." Morgan announced as he entered the room.
"Morgan, what did you do?" Dave groused.
"Nothing" Derek replied. "Honest. I wanted to lay him out but I didn't. Mr. Reid is still alive and well unfortunately. He just can't get back in the building since I had a little talk with the security guards."
"Good thinking" Aaron praised.
"Thanks" Morgan responded with a grin. "I was pretty sure he wouldn't come back after the blasting Spencer gave him but I figured it couldn't hurt to have a little added insurance."
"Blasting?" Rossi asked.
"Yeah, the kid gave him both barrels when he tried to play the poor pitiful pearl card." Derek bragged. "You should have seen it. My little bro was something else."
"I'll bet." Aaron mumbled. Spying the cookie in the muscular man's hand, he said, "Is that breakfast or lunch?"
"What? Or this" Morgan replied, holding up the chocolate chip cookie. "This is Spencer's. He asked me to bring him one when I went on a coffee run. That was before it hit the fan so I waited a while. I figured he might want it now."
"Fant you. I'll eat it latew." Spencer said, taking the offered cookie and setting it on the table.
The three men exchanged worried glances. The little boy's response was just more proof of how badly William Reid's sudden appearance had affected their friend. Determined to bring a smile back to the youngster's face, the three racked their brains for the perfect solution. It was Hotch that spoke first. "Spencer, why don't you and Dave take the rest of the day off?" he offered, knowing some daddy and me time was exactly what his charge needed.
Spencer shook his head. "No, I wanna wowt." He adamantly stated.
"Are you sure, kiddo?" Dave asked.
"I'm suwe." Reid answered.
Aaron wasn't convinced. But knowing Spencer, arguing with him or forcing him would only make things worse. So he gave in. "Alright then, go ahead back to your desk and get busy." He instructed. "But you come and tell us if you change your mind, understand?"
Spencer nodded but otherwise didn't move.
"Something wrong, Sport?" Rossi questioned.
"Tan I, tan I tay in hewe and wowt?" Spencer timidly asked.
"Of course you can, Reid" Dave responded, smiling at the boy. "I'd be more than happy to have some company. It gets kind of boring in here by myself."
"Fants, Wossi!" Spencer exclaimed. He jumped off Hotch's lap and raced to the door. "I'm going to go get my files! Be wight bat!"
"Hang on Pretty Boy, I'll go with you!" Morgan called, following the boy out the door.
Chuckling, Aaron stood and headed for the door. "I think I'll bring my work in here as well." He stated.
Shaking his head, Rossi slowly stood and headed for his desk. He needed to make some room if they were all going to work there.
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Loud knocking on the door drew the profilers out of their thoughts. Looking up from his work, Rossi yelled, "Come in!"
A bubbly Garcia trounced into the room followed by JJ and Prentiss. "Time for lunch, my Pretties" she announced, closing the folder Morgan was writing in.
"Hey!" Derek protested.
"Ah, ah, ah" Penelope tisked, waving a finger back and forth. "No more working, Handsome. We've got reservations for twelve fifteen and we are not going to be late."
"You made reservations, mama?" Morgan asked. "Where?"
"I made the reservations, Morgan." JJ said. "I thought we'd try that Rainforest Café that opened a couple of months ago."
"Sounds good to me" Rossi stated, flipping his case file closed. He scooted back his chair before standing and picking up Reid. "Come on kid. Let's go get something to eat."
Spencer tensed at the thought of going out. He gazed wide eyed at the older man and quietly admitted, "I don't wanna go out. What if my fafew(father) is out fewe?"
"He's not out there, Spencer. You're safe." Dave assured the boy.
Spencer eyed the profiler warily. "How do you know?" he questioned.
"Pretty Boy, I made sure the guards knew he wasn't allowed anywhere on the grounds." Morgan told his friend. "There's no way he's still out there. And even if he is, he won't see us. The trucks are in the private parking lot and the windows are tinted. So even if he's watching the building, we could drive right by and he'd never know."
"Awe you suwe?" Spencer nervously asked.
"I'm positive, Short Stuff." Derek replied. "Now come on, let's get going before we miss our time and have to face the wrath of Penelope Garcia."
Playing along, Garcia placed her hands on her hips and attempted to look mad. "Spencer Reid, don't make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry." She quoted, smiling brightly when the little boy giggled. Taking the toddler from Rossi, she set him on his feet, took a tiny hand in hers, and skipped out of the office.
Chuckling at the bubbly blond's antics, the rest of the team quickly followed her out.
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William Reid took a small sip of coffee before setting his thermos back in the cup holder. Shifting in his seat to get comfortable, he kept both eyes locked on the massive building in front of his rental car. It was almost noon which meant the agents would be breaking for lunch soon. Spencer was sure to be coming out those doors any second and he wasn't about to miss him. He was going to have his discussion with his son whether the kid wanted to or not. And Spencer would listen and forgive him. The boy had to. William's fiancée had been after him to introduce her to his son ever since she'd seen all the articles about him on William's computer. And it would happen. The boy was not going to be the reason he and Julia didn't wed. William wouldn't allow it. With Julia's family's contacts, he could make a quick fortune and retire and he wasn't about to let Spencer mess that up. If Julia wanted to meet his son, she would meet his son. And she would meet a Spencer who loved his dad. He'd make sure of that.