Pieces of the puzzle

by Izzy713

Izzy Santiago didn't know what to expect when she first walked into the BAU on her first day as the teams new profiler, she most definitely did not expect to catch the eye of Doctor Spencer Reid. New to the team she must navigate the waters of catching and putting away unsubs, all while the relationship between her and Reid blossoms into something that neither of them ever expected

3. Hope

Izzy's POV

I walk into the bureau and try and act normal and not like I spent half the night on the phone talking to Reid. Ever since our first date a few weeks ago we have gone on a few more dates and have spent countless hours talking on the phone. Including last night, I don't think either of us got much sleep last night but it was worth it, just talking to him always makes me incredibly happy and it seems like there is always something for us to say to each other. Initially I was worried that because he is so much smarter than me that our conversation would be lacking, that I wouldn't be able to keep up with him or hold his same intellect, that it was only a physical attraction that we feel for each other but it's so much more. I walk to my desk and take off my coat and set it on the back on my chair, I have Reid's purple scarf that he wrapped around me a few nights ago as we were leaving a restaurant still around my neck and I realize that everyone will recognize it. We haven't told anyone and for obvious reasons, it's a delicate subject to be dating someone from work, much less working in the FBI and dating someone on my team. Eventually we will have to disclose our relationship to Hotch, it is inevitable and we will cross that bridge when we get there and face whatever comes from it but for now it is nice that it's just the two of us. I take the scarf off and remember the way it felt when he wrapped it around me, kissing my cheek as he did, that huge smile he had on his face afterwords. I set the scarf down on his desk and hope he was here early enough today that no one actually saw his come in without a scarf on. I see his bag on the floor and know that he is already here, I look around and don't see him, I decide I am going to need some coffee so I go over to get some. I wait for the coffee to brew when I feel a gentle hand wrap around my waist and touch my back, I turn and see Reid's brown eyes staring back at me. "Hi"

"Hi" I say back to him, as soon as his touch was there it is gone and even though I know were at work I still miss it. The coffee is gone and I pour myself a cup and then pour him one in his mug.

"Did you sleep alright?" He asks me, I subconsciously touch my eyes and hope that there isn't any bags under my eyes.

"Yeah, does it look like I didn't?" I ask because I am comfortable enough around him at this point, and because I know that he wouldn't lie to me.

"No, of course not. You look beautiful. You just sounded really sleepy last night" I feel a blush at his comment on me being beautiful.

"Sorry, I guess I was just a little tired from the case"

"Don't be sorry, I just hope that I didn't keep you up"

"Oh no not at all, besides I will always stay up to talk to you" I smile at him and wish I could just kiss him right now. His hair is a little messy and I take a step closer to fix it for him, he takes a sip of coffee and lets me run my fingers through his hair as I try and tame his curls. I hear the sound of someone clearing their throat and I notice Morgan standing there watching the two of us. I immediately take a step back and I watch as Reid fumbles and is trying not to spill his coffee. Shit. I look at Morgan who has a smirk on his face, he clearly saw something and thinks it's humorous that he caught us so off guard.

"Garcia has a case for us, I volunteered to go find you guys" He is trying to sound casual and trying not to laugh as he talks to us.

"Okay, I'll be right there" I tell him and set down my cup of coffee, I look at Reid one more time and then walk past Morgan and up the stairs into the room, Prentiss and JJ are already sitting in their usual spots and Hotch and Rossi follow behind me. I sit down and soon Morgan and Reid come into the room, Morgan is talking to Reid about something and then takes his shoulders as he finishes, he looks over at me and winks and I can definitely tell that he knows something. Reid sits down next to me and it takes everything I have not too turn to him and ask him what that was all about.

"Welcome my family" Garcia says as she stands in front of the screen with the remote already in hand. "Last week in San Francisco Cali there was a car accident involving a man named Justin Griffin and a couple named Abigail and Robert Taylor, Justin hit their car as it was stopped in the middle of the road and he was unable to stop in time, Justin needed to go to the hospital but made it out with only a concussion. Abigail and Robert weren't so lucky, they were pronounced dead on scene, it was during a routine autopsy when there was some red flags, for starts both of them had been dead for as long as a day before the car accident even occurred. Abigail was also sexually assaulted before her death, we were contacted about this because less than a month ago another car accident with some eerily similar details to the accident that just happened. The accident involved another couple by the names of Allison Sanchez and Michael Young, they weren't married but were engaged and again were dead on the scene. Due to the severity of the accident where Alison went through the windshield it wasn't a big investigation into the death's, the man who hit them was drunk and he ended up spending some time in jail so no harm no fowl. The reason they began to look into this now was because they initially found semen on the dress she was wearing and they assumed that they had sex in the car and that's why she didn't have her seat belt on when the car was hit, after looking into the recent accident they tested the collected DNA found on her and it did not match her fiancee so they believe it is the same unsub"

"So the unsub is killing these people and using car accidents to mask the murders by making them look like car accidents" JJ says.

"We need to get there, grab your go bags. Wheels up in 30" Hotch walks out of the room and everyone starts to stand up but I feel trapped in my seat.

I look over at her and smile, the rain is pouring lightly on the windshield of the car and I crack the window slightly not wanting to get wet but feeling suffocated in the hot car. The sun is starting to set but of course in California there is always enough light to go around. Mom is focused on the road and it's nice just to be alone with her, I've always enjoyed our mother daughter time, especially since I will be going off to college soon. I start to speak to her in Spanish, her native language. My dad has learned how to speak it over the years of being married to her but he's never been able to keep up with her, maybe that's why they finally called it quits. Being alone with her it's easy to communicate without having to wait for my dad to keep up, something that's always been hard for him. She begins to respond when there is a loud crash, one of the loudest sounds I've heard up close. I feel the seat belt tighten around me and the white cloud of the air bag explodes and I can feel it around my face. I try and look to where my mom is and I can now see that her side is crushed, the other car directly hit her. I see her body crumple and I start to scream for help, for anyone to save her. I am still screaming when the ambulance arrives, by the time they tell me she's gone my voice is horse and my body is numb. The rain keeps falling around me, the world keeps on spinning even though part of mine is now gone.

"Izzy?" Reid's voice pulls me out of the memory, I look around and see that the room is empty except for the two of us. I touch my face to make sure I'm not crying and I stand up. "Are you okay?"He looks worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine" I lie, I haven't told him yet and I don't want him to find out this way. Seeing me breaking down over a case.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I haven't been sitting here for long right?"

"No, they just all walked out" His voice sounds cautious, he knows that something is up.

"Okay, I'll grab my bag and then we can get onto the jet" I tell him. He keeps looking at me and I check around the room to make sure no one is looking when I lean up and kiss him quickly. "I've wanted to do that all morning" He is smiling and then takes my hand.

"You can tell me if anything is wrong, I am a really great listener, most people feel comfortable telling me about their problems and it wouldn't be anything different for you to talk to me" I nod my head and squeeze his hand.

"I know, I promise you if I need to talk to you I will" He accepts my response and I'm grateful that he understands and doesn't push it. We both walk out of the room and I go to my desk and grab my bag and put my coat on, I look down at my desk and see that the purple scarf is sitting there. I pick it up and look over at him, he sees me holding up his scarf and walks over to me. "What is this?"

"I let you borrow it for a reason, you can keep wearing it if you want"

"But won't everyone notice that it's your scarf"

"Maybe, but I don't care" He gives me a big smile and I swear I can feel my heart flutter. He wraps it around my neck and I can feel my smile spreading across my face. I wait for Reid to grab his bag and we meet Emily at the elevator, she notices my scarf and I see her smile.

"I like your scarf" She tells me.

"Thank you" I say.

"We should call Garcia later just to make sure she is okay, I know that these kinds of cases dealing with car accidents always brings down her mood" Prentiss tells the both of us. I suddenly remember that Garcia lost her parents to a car accident, losing my mom was hard enough but I couldn't imagine losing both at once. When I am finally ready to tell everyone I know that she will be the only one who can fully understand what I am going through. I know everyone will be there and I couldn't ask for a better group of people to be there for me but Penelope will be able to relate on a whole different level, I know Spencer will be there for me no matter what and will understand.

Reid's POV

Izzy sits across from me and she is focusing on reading over the case files, when we land in California I'll go off with Morgan to talk with the medical examiner and she will go off with Prentiss to talk to the man who hit the car, I know that right now is the time to talk to her but I don't know how to bring it up. Just watching her space out like that was a little scary, she has definitely made me come out of my comfort zone but being with her just brings out that side out me. I missed out on so much with Maeve and I won't let that happen this time. It isn't fair of me to ever compare the two, Maeve will always share a special place in my heart and I will never be able to forget her or what she did for me but being with Izzy is so different and I just don't want her to feel like there isn't something she can share with me. Even before she came into my life everyone on the team has been able to tell me anything and I was able to listen, I just hope that whatever this is she will feel comfortable enough to tell me so I can help her in any way I can. I look at her staring intently over the case file and I notice that her lip is bleeding, I lean over the table between us and she looks up at me, I touch her lip and brush away the blood but it keeps bleeding. I stand up and wash my hands, I usually have a problem with germs but I try and calm myself as I rinse the soap from my hands. I bring her over a napkin so she can apply pressure and hopefully stop the bleeding. "Your lip is bleeding"

"Yeah, I guess I bit it too hard. It's just a nervous habit I've had for a while" She doesn't sound worried about it but I notice her still biting them, I've never seen her this nervous before.

"Okay" I don't really know what else to say. I give her a small smile and think about what Morgan said to me this morning, he knows about us and has for a while. He said that he was happy for us and when I asked him not to say anything he agreed, but he couldn't guarantee that everyone didn't already know, apparently there has been speculation about it for a while. I think back to Emily noticing my scarf around Izzy's neck, she is someone I know wouldn't say anything but I'm glad Morgan knows, he can be someone I can talk to about what is obviously going on with her right now and see if he noticed it too.

We go to the medical examiner and I wait for her to give me the medical report, I have been trying to think about the way that a murder could go unnoticed due to a car accident, there has to have been some indication that something wasn't right. Morgan stands next to me waiting for her to show up and I take advantage of this. "Do you think Izzy has been acting weird today?" I ask him.

"I don't think so" He replies quickly. "But I don't know her as well as you do obviously" He adds as he gives me a smirk.

"You can't say anything, she doesn't want anyone to know yet"

"I know, and don't worry about it, I got you" He is smiling but I trust him, I know that he really wouldn't say anything about it. "But I actually think you two are really good together, she's pretty perfect for you" I smile at the words he's saying, not that I actually need Morgan's approval but it's nice to know that he likes her.

"She is pretty amazing" I really could talk about her for hours, there is just something about her that is so unique, she manages to be funny, smart, understanding and a bad ass all at the same time. The medical examiner walks in and apologizes for the delay.

"There was a harder time getting the initial reports on the deaths of the first couple from a month ago"

"No problem" Morgan tells her as she hands him the reports. Morgan hands them over to me and I begin to look them over, reading at a speed most people can't even understand. I finish all four of them in under a minute and begin to examine the bodies.

"As you can see the cause of death is due to strangulation, there are faint marks still on the necks of the first couple and we initially believed those marks were when the seat belt pulled against them when the car was hit but due to also finding them on Allison's neck without her actually having her seat belt on when the car was hit" She tells us.

"Was the semen a match to anyone?" Morgan asks.

"No, we couldn't find a hit on the DNA so your guy must not have a record or his DNA just isn't in the system" She answers and I breathe out, I always hate it when we come to dead ends like this. We both thank her and then leave as we make our way to the police station to meet up with the rest of the team.

When we walk in Hotch is talking with one of the local cops and JJ and Rossi don't seem to be around, they must still be talking with the families of the victims. Izzy and Prentiss soon walk in and I see them and give both of them a smile, I know that I can talk to Emily and ask her how Izzy seemed during the interviews. When Izzy walks away to go talk to Hotch I take my chance and walk over to Prentiss as she is sitting down. "Hey Reid" She says to me and I give her a smile.

"Hi, how did your interview go?" I ask her.

"Better than expected, I mean this guy actually thought he killed two people, something like that is incredibly traumatizing. We were lucky that we were able to get so much out of him, he could have easily began to repress this and shut down but with his cognitive interview we can use the way the cars are abandoned and positioned to help us build the profile" She finishes. "What did you get from the M.E.?" She asks.

"Not as much as we had hoped for. All she could tell us was cause of death was strangulation and while there was semen left from both sexual assaults there wasn't a DNA match to anyone in the system" I tell her.

"Hopefully we will catch a lead soon, this whole case is strange and I think Izzy was getting that same vibe, she was pretty quiet the whole drive" She throws out there, she says it casually and I know that I can get more information about how she was acting.

"That's strange, it doesn't sound like she was acting like herself" When you can get Izzy going she can be very talkative, she has a bubbly side of her personality that loves to talk. There is also another side of her that can listen to me talk on and on and be actively engaged the entire time.

"No, it could just be because she is back in her home state in a really long time, I know that can always be hard on some people. The pressure of bringing a case so close to where you grew up" I nod my head, how could I have not seen it before. It must be because we are in California, I know that she grew up near L.A. but just being back in her home state yet still far away from her family must be hard on her. She doesn't talk about her family a whole lot, occasionally her sister is brought up and I remember our first case together when she told me her dad was a doctor and her mom was an immigrant from Mexico. That was all I was able to get out of her so far, maybe the focus has been too much on me and my family. She knows about my mom and her schizophrenia and how I haven't seen my dad in years and she was understanding, maybe I just have given her too much that she hasn't really had a chance to tell me much about her family. I decide that I am going to give her the chance to let her talk about her family to me, maybe that will make her feel a little better.

"Yeah, your probably right" I tell her. Prentiss looks at me and then puts her hand on my back.

"Don't worry about it too much, I'm sure she will be fine" She gives me a reassuring smile and I smile at her back. She may not officially know about us yet but she can tell that I care about her, I mean we all do. Over the past few months Izzy has become part of our family, and as a family we worry and look out for each other. Prentiss sees Izzy walking over here and she stands up to leave saying she needs to talk to Hotch. Izzy sits down next to me and smiles, it seems different from the way she smiled at me this morning as she was fixing my hair but seeing her smile makes me feel a little bit better. She is going to lift her hair up to put it into a pony tail when the sleeves on her long sleeve shirt moves up revealing a tattoo on her wrist. The word 'Hope' is inscribed in black ink. I never knew she had a tattoo, it wasn't exactly something that has come up before but I still don't know how one in such an obvious place like her wrist wouldn't have been noticed before. I think back to all the times we've been together and I know that it's been winter time so she has been mostly wearing sweaters and long sleeved shirts most of the time, come to think of it she is always wearing something to hide her arms. Maybe she just gets cold easily, she probably went thought a big change moving from the sunshine all the time to having all four seasons. I find it weird that she hasn't changed yet, she could have traded her long sleeved shirt for a short sleeved one on the ride here, it isn't super hot out but it is definitely a heat wave compared to the weather in Virginia right now. As her sleeve moves up I notice near the tattoo along her arm is small little scars that seem to be trying to be hidden by the tattoo, they are small horizontal lines along her arm. The scars are lighter against her tanned skin and I know instantly what they are, self harm marks.

"Hope" I say out loud, I don't really mean too but I am curious to what the tattoo means.

"What did you say?" She asks me, not in a mean tone but a questioning one as to where I got that word from. She must be worried that I've noticed her scars because she abandons trying to put her hair up and just lets it fall along her shoulders.

"Your tattoo" I say, I don't want her to feel self conscious of her scars of make her think that I have seen them and am judging her for them, I would never do that to her. When she is ready to tell me she will, I can't push her into admitting to me something that she isn't ready to share yet.

"Oh, Hope was my mom's name" She says in a soft voice, I notice her use of the past tense and know that her mom has probably died, and that is probably the reason she has been like this. This is probably the first time she has been back since her mom has died.

"I'm sorry" I tell her, I really don't know what more to say,

"It's okay, she died when I was 17" She tells me. I don't really know what to say to that, losing her mother so young must have been really hard for her, I want her to know I will be there for her and that she can tell me about it but I know this isn't the time or the place, this will just have to wait.

Izzy's POV

I keep feeling myself pulling down my sleeves, Reid saw my tattoo which means he probably saw my scars too. I try not to show that I am absolutely freaking out over this. I always knew that eventually my team was going to find out, Hotch already knows because my depression and years of cutting were put into my file, I obviously have been cleared for work and haven't had any problems like that since I was 18 but now that I am in a relationship with Reid I knew that I was going to have to tell him first and give him an explanation as to why. It is never an easy thing to tell someone who hasn't been through it why, all you get is judgement. I never had this problem with Tony because we were dating while it was happening, we went through it together and he never once needed me to explain myself, he just wanted me to get better. I know I shouldn't even be freaking out this much, Reid has told me so much that anyone could have easily judged him for, he told me of times when he would use and he trusted me completely, why would it be so hard for me to do the same? Every time I look at them I hate it, I feel like I made a terrible mistake and wish I had never done it but I learned a long time ago that I can't keep living in the past and that I need to move forward. We all sit around the table looking at this impossible case, I remember times when there was easier cases working in sex crimes and they were only easier strictly because we had DNA, something we have but can't use. "So we have a killer that uses a car accident that he orchestrated to happen in order to cover up his crime" Morgan announces to us all, sometimes it is just easier to think out loud, especially when we don't have much to work with.

"But he contradicts himself by raping the woman and leaving DNA without any attempt to cover it up, he is trying to hide but also doesn't make any attempt to get rid of his DNA" Prentiss adds to the conversation.

"So there is obviously a sexual component to the killings with the evidence of sexual assault to the female victims and not for the males, but both killings have been in pairs so there is an obvious preference to the woman but that need to kill a couple" JJ says.

"It could have been opportunistic, he found a female he liked and knew he wouldn't be able to get them away so he just killed both" Morgan replies.

"There isn't a coincidence there, he wants to kill couples, maybe it is a way to make him feel powerful. He is able to overpower two people at once. Killing a couple would definitely be his signature, he can't stop himself, he has to kill in pairs" Rossi says.

"The posing the bodies in their cars is another thing he feels compelled to do, it is his way to get rid of his crime and completely throw us off track" Hotch throws out there.

"But I don't think it's only to get rid of the body, there is plenty of other ways he could have done that, there must be something that happened that has somehow connected him to a car accident" I say, this whole case has thrown me off a little but I am trying my best to stay on my game and catch this unsub.

"So you think that there is something involving a car accident that happened to him in his life that has fixated him on them?" Hotch asks me.

"I think so, maybe he was involved in one and it cost him a loved one possibly? I mean that might be why he kills in couples, he could have a survivor but his loved one didn't and he now is killing in pairs to prevent someone else that pain he felt" I tell everyone. I can see the way Reid is looking at me, it feels like his eyes are burning a hole through my head. He knows and I can no longer hide it, I feel so exposed all at once, like I'm standing in my underwear right in front of my entire team.

"So a form of a twisted mercy killing?" JJ asks.

"I guess, it could be that he has always had these urges to kill but maybe she had helped him resist, and when she was killed he was fixated on the idea that it was a car accident so that's how he has to dispose of the bodies. He rapes the woman because he might be angry with her for dying, he feels like she left him and maybe she is forcing him to have to kill because she is no longer with him?" I try, I still am not sure but I know that something happened.

"Well that could be a start, Morgan will you call Garcia and tell her to focus on finding any security footage for the area's where the cars that the accidents were involved in were left and have her look up car accidents around the area that has happened in the past two months to see if there was anyone injured while there was one death" Hotch tells Morgan. Morgan nods and pulls out his phone and puts it on speakerphone.

"Hey baby girl, you are on speaker so behave yourself" Morgan tells her through the phone.

"Hello peachy" Prentiss talks into the phone to her.

"Hey family, how is my home state?" She ask.

"Our home state is great, very sunny" I say to her.

"Ahh yes, my fellow Californian beauty" I feel a smile spread across my face.

"San Francisco is definitely dull without you mama" Morgan flirts with.

"I already know that but it's nice to hear it"

"We are going to need you to try and find some security footage from where both cars were found and we are looking into trying to see if maybe the unsub was involved in a car accident himself so look up for recent records of accidents reported in the area" Morgan tells her.

"Okay, I will be right on that" She replies.

"Thanks baby girl, you doing alright?" Morgan asks.

"Yeah, these cases are always hard, especially now when it is in my home state and home town but I'm doing good, thank you"

"You know we are here for you Penelope" JJ tells her.

"I am sending you all my love" She says and then hangs up the phone. I knew it before that they would always be there for me but just hearing how they are checking in on Garcia is very reassuring, I know that if I told them right now they would have nothing but love for me. I stand up and go over to get some water, I really need to step away and just take a minute. I hear footsteps behind me and assume it is Reid but when I turn around I see that it's Hotch.

"How are you?" He asks me, I really didn't expect this from him.

"I'm okay, it's hard but I just really want to focus on the case" I tell him.

"Well if you need to take a break or step back I understand, the team would too"

"I don't doubt that, I just don't really know how to tell them exactly"

"Well, whatever feels right you will know and you don't even have to tell them if you don't want too. But just know that they all care about you, we all do and will be here"

"Thank you"

"Anytime" I grab a water and then head back to the table and sit next to JJ and Prentiss, I can't get this case out of my head but I don't want this to consume me. I know I will feel better about this if I talked about it but I want the first person I tell to be Reid, he deserves to know first. I am about to join the conversation when Hotch comes in, something must have happened because he is looking alert and ready to go. "There was just another abandoned car found with two bodies in it, we are going to need everyone so we can interview people around to see if they saw anything" We all get up from the table and head out to the cars, I walk outside and feel the warmth shine down on me. I have missed this, I love my new home but leaving California was leaving a part of me behind, it was purposeful but I want Reid to know the whole me, I want my new family to know the whole me. I get into a car with Morgan, Prentiss, and Reid and Morgan speeds off following close behind the car Hotch is driving. We pull up and their is already yellow tape blocking off the crime scene, there is a car that is blocked off that has clearly been rear-ended by a car. I get out and have Morgan, Prentiss, and Reid following behind me, I walk right up to the car and see two dead bodies sitting in the front and passengers seat, I feel sick as soon as I walk up there and instantly regret it. I start to feel lightheaded and uncomfortable, I just want to leave. This is all too familiar to me, just looking at this lifeless woman sitting in this car makes me remember my mom, how she was there one second and then gone like that the next. I begin to back up and feel Reid's arms wrap around my back, he is supporting me and I don't even care that we are right here in front of everyone, I actually feel like I might not physically be able to keep myself standing up.

"Izzy, what is wrong?" He sounds worried, I know that I can't keep it together anymore, I am breaking, I feel like I am exploding. I feel like I can't even speak.

"I can't be here" I manage, there isn't even hesitation as he keeps holding onto me and goes over to Hotch.

"I need to get her out of here" Reid tells him, Hotch nods his head in understanding and Reid leads me over to one of the cars and he gets into the drivers side and I get into the passengers side. I am going through the motions of putting my seat belt on but don't feel like I am actually doing it. He drives off away from the crime scene, I don't pay attention to where we are going but eventually Reid stops the car and pulls over to the side. "I didn't think you wanted to go back to the station"

"Thank you" I tell him, with those two words I feel the tears begin to pour. I have been holding it all in and I just can't anymore, it's too much. He takes my hand and reaches over to pull me into a hug.

"You can tell me" He says softly, he is stroking my hair and doing everything he can to try and calm me down. I hold onto him for a little while longer and then pull away so I can face him when I tell him. I take a deep breath and try and control my emotions enough to get through this.

"When I was 17 years old I was in the car driving home with my mom from spending the day with her when a car came out of nowhere and hit our car. It was my mom's side that was impacted and she died instantly, I walked out of that accident with only some scratches and bruises and a concussion. I was with her when she died, I watched her die and there was nothing I could do" I feel my voice break as I speak those words. This has always been the hardest thing for me, the fact that I couldn't even do anything as my mom was dying. "I survived something that took my mom from me, it was incredibly difficult to know that I survived but she didn't. I had never been super close with my dad and once my parents split up it was really just mostly me and my mom and sister but once she was gone it was like a part of me died. I lived with my dad until I turned 18 when I went off to college and tried to do everything I could to distance myself from him. I changed my last name to my mom's maiden name and I really haven't talked to my dad since, I was so angry that my mom died thinking my father didn't love her anymore. Dealing with everything happening so suddenly wasn't good for me at all, I began cutting myself in order to deal with everything that was hurting. It was so much easier to deal with the physical pain, the pain I thought that I deserved because I survived and she didn't. I was in therapy and got the help that I needed, after Tony died and everything that happened I decided that I needed to get out of California and I haven't been back since, and now that I am here because of a case involving car accidents it is just is all so much" I stop and wait for him to say something, anything would be better than silence.

"I don't ever want you to think you deserve pain, ever, because you don't. You are one of the best people I have ever met and I am so sorry that happened to you, no one deserves that. You can tell me anything and I would never judge you, you are a good person and I wish I could take away your pain" I feel myself smile and I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him into a hug, I wish I could hold onto him and never let go.

"You are the sweetest person ever, do you know that?" I tell him and kiss him quickly.

"I wish you would have told me earlier, if this case is too much I know Hotch would understand if you stepped back" He tells me.

"Hotch already knows about everything, it is in my file because I used to harm myself I needed to be cleared before I could join sex crimes, obviously I was cleared, it was just a precautionary thing but when I got transferred to the BAU Hotch had the information. It is also in my file that I was in the car accident that killed my mom. I don't want this case to effect me like this, I want to help put this sicko away"

"If you aren't ready we will understand, no one would be upset"

"I know, but I need to do this for myself"

"Okay" He gives me a smile and starts the car and begins to drive off. "And since you have told me everything I want you to know that I like your tattoo"

"Thank you"

"It is really beautiful, I just didn't know you had a tattoo"

"I have a couple"

"Really?" He asks, he sounds surprised.

"Yeah, maybe I'll let you see the others sometime" I flirt with him. He seems at a loss for words so he clears his throat and then a smile forms across his face.

"I hope it is okay but I've seen your scars, they really aren't that bad" He is trying really hard right now, I know he is, and I appreciate it. I don't have a response to it and I can tell he is trying to calm me down, or at least keep the car without silence. "You know I think I know why you bite your lips, I know you said it was a bad habit but it probably is just your way of subconsciously hurting yourself in a way that is safer and not extreme, it is that familiarity and comfort of why you hurt yourself before, I noticed how you started doing it when we got the case, a time when you were stressed" Just hearing him being himself and trying to make sense of everything to him is oddly comforting. This is who he is and I wouldn't want anyone else. He drives back to the station and parks the car, I know that as soon as I walk in there everyone is going to have questions and I will have to be ready to have answers, that is something that I am ready for now. We get out of the car and before we walk into the building Reid kisses my cheek, I can still feel the warmth from his lips on my cheek even after they are gone and I look at him and smile. We walk in and Reid pulls Hotch aside, ready to catch up on what we have missed so we don't have to waste anymore time. I walk into the room and everyone looks up at me, there is a split second where there is this fear that there is judgment but all I see is worry in their eyes, worry for me.

"Hey girlie" Pretniss says to me, she walks up to me and pulls me into a hug. "How are you?" She asks.

"I'm doing better now" I smile and as soon as Prentiss pulls away from our hug JJ is there to wrap me into another hug.

"I'm glad Spencer was there with you" JJ whispers to me, I pull away and smile, silently telling her I am too. Morgan comes to hug me next and then Rossi.

"You don't have to tell us anything, we don't expect you to if you aren't comfortable yet" Rossi tells me.

"I don't want you guys not to know me. As you know I used to live in California and when I was 17 my mom was killed in a car accident, it was the hardest thing that I have ever gone through and being back here again and the case has just brought back all those old emotions and I'm really sorry I couldn't be more professional today" I tell them, as I talk I feel like a weight being lifted off of me.

"Don't apologize, you don't have anything to be sorry for" Pretniss tells me.

"We are glad you told us, and we are so sorry that happened to you" Rossi says.

"We all understand if it would be easier to not continue on the case for you, we just want you to be comfortable" JJ tells us. I can feel the warmth in her voice.

"I want to, I want to catch this unsub" I announce.

"Alright, let's get back to work" Rossi says as I sit down.

"What did you guys find at the crime scene?" I ask.

"It was definitely our unsub, except he is devolving, he left the car during the daylight and he has killed again in such a short amount of time when the time between his first and second kill was a month" Rossi says.

"It was the same MO, he had killed them by strangulation and there was sign of sexual assault on the woman" Morgan says.

"So what we do know about this unsub? He is a white male and if our vicimology means anything than the unsub is usually close in age with his victims so mid to late 20's, even early 30's are very possible" Prentiss says.

"And the killing of couples is something he needs to do, also place the bodies in the victims cars in order to make it look like car accidents" I say.

"But he thinks that he can't get caught, he leave DNA after the sexual assault, we couldn't find a match meaning he probably isn't in the system so he doesn't have a history of crime so whatever the stresser is has awaken this urge inside of him" Hotch says, he has just walked back into the room with Reid. "I think we have enough for a profile so hopefully Garcia has something for us"

"Why don't you guys go give the profile and I'll call her" I tell them, they all nod and as they are leaving the room Reid comes over and brushes his hand against my shoulders and plants a small kiss on the top of my head.

"I'm proud of you" He whispers and then walks out of the room to join the rest of the team. I take out my phone and dial Garcia's number, she picks up after the first ring.

"Hey Iz"

"Hey Garcia, did you find anything on those traffic cams?"

"Yes, well sort of. There was a person who clearly was leaving the car after posing the bodies, it was really sick to watch"

"Was there anything identifiable about the unsub in the video?" I ask her.

"No, but I did look into all our victims and what they had paid for last and both sets of our victims had visited a local restaurant so that is probably where our unsub met his victims"

"Garcia you are amazing, thank you"

"Honey, we are both amazing" She replies back to me. "How are you?" She asks.

"I'm good" I answer, I can tell from her tone of voice that she heard something was going on with me. Since I have joined the team I have gotten pretty close to everyone and it was easy to get to know Garcia, she is one of the sweetest people I have ever met and I know that it will be easy to talk to her, especially about something that is so close to both of us.

"I don't mean to pry, I had just called Morgan earlier and I asked where you and Reid were and he said you guys needed to take a step back, I hope that it's okay that I'm asking I just wanted to make sure you are alright"

"Yeah, I am. This case has just brought back a lot of old memories for me, my mom died in a car accident when I was 17" I feel the words spill out of me. That is a phrase I haven't said much in the past ten years and yet I feel like I've said it about ten times today.

"Aww Iz, I'm so sorry"

"It's okay" I reply, I know I have said that at least ten times today.

"No it's not, trust me I know because my parents died in a car accident when I was young too, in that same city you guys are in right now. I have said that same phrase so many times but I always know deep down it's not okay. It gets better, especially when you have a kick ass family to be there with you like we do, but it is never okay"

"I know" I can feel the tears falling as I say those two words. I promised myself that I wouldn't cry anymore today but I couldn't hold it in, she knows exactly how I feel and it's nice for it be someone other than my sister, the only other person who knows what it was like to lose our mom.

"Well I really hope you are okay now, I know it can be hard to be back home where it all happened"

"Thank you, I'm really glad you are here to talk to"

"We are family now, and now that you are all better go find this skevy unsub so you guys can come back home to me" I let out a laugh and wipe away the remaining few tears I have.

"Okay, we will" I hang up and go into the next room to watch my team giving the profile. I watch Spencer as he is standing up there, he is listing off facts and statistics, something that most people would find boring but I could listen to him for hours. It is times like this when I start to wonder how we work. What would a certified genius see in someone like me? Average. But I know his heart, his big heart, and know that he would never turn away someone because they weren't as knowledgeable as him. He cares deeply and each time I look at him I can feel myself falling harder and harder for him. They all finish talking and then walk over to me, I can see Reid wanting to reach out to touch me but he decides against it, we have been too careless today, something we can't let happen again. I have those thoughts but know that I wouldn't have gotten through this day without him. "I just got off the phone with Garcia and she said that all three pairs of our victims visited the same restaurant before they were killed, our unsub must work there or frequently visit there"

"So now we have pinpointed a hunting ground" Hotch says.

"Garcia says she is going to text us all the address" I tell them.

"Good, Izzy I want you and Morgan to go to the restaurant and interview everyone that works there, tell Garcia to go through the records of all the employee's and we can weed out who wouldn't be our unsub. JJ and Reid I want you to interview the families of our latest victims and find out what you can about them and their patterns, where they could have possibly crossed paths with our unsub. Rossi and Prentiss I need you guys to go to the morgue where the latest two bodies are" We all nod and then disperse, I follow Morgan out to the car and get in, at first there is a comfortable silence but then Morgan begins to speak.

"I won't say anything about you and Reid, you can trust me to keep your secret" He announces, Spencer must have told him how worried I was about everyone finding out. It isn't that I am worried what people will think, I am worried that our job will be the reason we can't be together. I love what I do, every unsub I catch and put away is so many more people who are safe, but if it came down to it I really don't know what I would choose. It is a honor to work at the BAU, but what I have with Reid is special and I know that, I just hope it never has to come down to a choice. I am afraid what he will choose, but even more afraid of what I would choose.

"Thank you, Spencer already told me that you would be able to keep our secret" I tell him.

"Well for what it's worth I think you are really good for him"

"Thank you"

"Reid is like my little brother, and I have seen the way he is around you and how happy you make him, he has a good heart and will always treat you right" Morgan tells me. This is the second time I have heard someone talk up Reid to me, it's like they are his protectors and want to make sure that I know what he is like.

"I promise I will never hurt him, I could never do that to him"

"I know, he just hasn't had much experience or luck in the love department and I just want you to know that no matter what he does or says sometimes he is good at heart and cares very deeply, he has tendencies to be all facts sometimes but when it really comes down to it he thinks with his heart and not his brain" I find Morgan's words comforting, they just reassured me about what I already know about him.

"He is so special, and that's why I don't anyone to know, because I know that it might not look great seeing two profilers being in a relationship"

"I don't see anything wrong with it, for a long time Garcia was in a relationship with a fellow bureau member, no one seemed to have a problem with that. I know it might be scary but if it comes down to it I will have your back. Reid is like my brother, he is the godfather to my son, you are part of our family now and we protect family"

"Thank you, Derek it really means a lot"

"And I want you to know that I am truly sorry about your mom, my father died when I was young and I had to grow up without a father, I know what it is like to have something and then lose it"

"Morgan I am sorry"

"It's okay, I don't let my past define me, I just let it motivate me to do what I do everyday" Morgan parks the car and we get out and go into the restaurant, Morgan opens the door for me and I walk in with him following behind me. We walk up to the hostess and she greats us with a smile.

"Will it just be the two of you today?" She ask, I almost laugh considering Morgan clearly has a wedding ring on and I don't, either she doesn't notice or she chooses to ignore it.

"Actually we are here to ask you and the other employee's a few questions" Morgan says as he pulls out his badge and I do the same.

"Yes, what can I do for you two?" She asks.

"How many staff members do you have currently working here?"

"Probably around 20, I'm kinda new so I don't really know everyone here" She responds.

"Is there anyone not here today that would usually work?" I ask.

"There might have been some call offs, I can't pinpoint who exactly though, would you like to speak to my manager?"

"That would be great" Morgan tells her.

"I'll go get him" She pauses. "But may I ask what this is all about?"

"We have six people who have been murdered and they all visited this restaurant before they died"

"Oh my god" She breaths out. She doesn't say anything else but walks away. I look around the place and try and see any obvious places that would usually be filled but now are empty currently. I turn my attention to the bar and notice the clear lack of experience the bar tender has, he looks clumsy and obviously isn't very confident, I notice the way he keeps looking down at a sheet that must have a list of all the different types of drinks and how to make them. A tall man with dark brown hair comes over to us, he is wearing a casual suit and looks confident but I can see a hint of worry in his eyes. He must know the severity of this all. He reaches out and shakes my hand and then Morgan's.

"Hi, I'm Mike Taylor, Angie said you guys were FBI agents?"

"Yes, I am SSA Morgan and this is SSA Santiago, we are with the behavioral analysis unit. We are here investing the murders of six people"

"And you think my restaurant has something to do with it?" He asks, there is an edge to his voice.

"What we know is that all three of our couples visited here the night they were murdered, we think our unsub frequently visits here and uses it as his hunting ground"

"Unsub?" He is confused by our terminology.

"Unidentified subject" I clarify.

"And you think someone that works here could be involved?"

"It is a possibility" Morgan says.

"Was your usual bartender absent from work today?" I ask, Morgan looks at me questioningly, I try and give him a reassuring look. Let him know that I know what I am doing.

"Actually he was, this is a new guy we are training right now so we have him filling in. Our usual guy Tom wasn't here today, called in again"

"Does he do that often?"

"He has done it a couple of times more recently, I have let it slide because I've felt bad for him"

"Why is that?" Morgan asks.

"His grandmother recently died"

"We are going to need a list of all your employee's, a list of your regular customers, and a list of all the days that Tom has worked in the past month"

"Okay, I'll go grab my records for you guys" He goes into the back while Morgan and I wait.

"Good catch on the bartender" Morgan smiles at me, I can tell he is impressed.

"I noticed that guy looked inexperienced, probably a replacement, it wasn't hard to put two and two together"

"Well I'm certainly impressed, you have really caught on to this profiling thing pretty quickly" I accept the compliment with a smile. Mike walks back over to us and hands us a file.

"This is a list of all my employee's and their work schedules for the past month, I also have a list of names of people who have been in regularly for the past month as well, I hope that was helpful"

"It was, thank you"

"Let me know if there is anything else I can do to help"

"Trust me, we will" Morgan says and then we go to leave. "Was it just me or was that guy really eager?" Morgan asks me.

"He did seem that way but to be honest he probably just wanted us to leave his restaurant, it probably doesn't look too good having two FBI agents coming into a place investigating employees for murder"

"True, I still want Garcia to look in on him though" He pull out his phone and dials Garcia's number, he puts her on speakerphone. "Hey baby girl" He says into the phone.

"Hey Garcia" I say.

"Hello my sweets, what can my mad skills do for you?" She asks playfully.

"I need you to work your magic and look into the records of a Mike Taylor"

"Baby, that is easy. I'll save my magic for something that would be way harder" I can hear her typing away at her computer over the phone as she is looking up information on our new number one helper. "Mike Taylor, he is 31 and is the manager of a restaurant, besides a couple of speeding tickets he doesn't seem to have a record, he actually seems pretty normal and boring if you ask me"

"Was anyone in his life involved in any car accidents?" Morgan asks.

"That is a nada"

"Okay, I need you to pull up the records of every employee that works at his restaurant and see if there is anyone named Tom listed" I can hear Garcia tapping away again and then there is a pause.

"There is only one person who is close to that name and that is a Thomas Walton" I open up the file and look and see the work schedule for a Thomas Walton, it says he has called in around four times in the past month and a half. I nod my head at Morgan.

"Yes, look into Thomas Walton"

"Let's see, he is 30 and works as a bartender, he has been working there for little under a year, he graduated high school, went to college, he seems to be pretty plain"

"Did he have a recent death in the family?" Morgan asks. "Mike, told us that he thought his grandmother had recently died" I hear the tapping again and then she stops.

"Yes, his grandmother died at 76, she actually died a little over a month ago. I would imagine he took it pretty hard considering his grandmother was his legal guardian"

"Why is that?" I ask her.

"Oh my god"

"Garcia, what is it?" I ask.

"She was his legal guardian because when he was ten years old his parents died in a car accident"

"How did it happen?" I ask her.

"They were driving home when they were hit by a semi truck driver that had been driving for a full 24 hours without sleep, his father was killed instantly and his mother was rushed to the hospital but died on the way there. It gets worse though because the scene of the crime was where the first car with the bodies was found"

"But why would the death of the grandmother be the stresser? His parents died so long ago, what was it that made his release all this anger all of a sudden?" I say to everyone. That doesn't make sense, the stresser would have to hit closer to home for him to go on this rampage of vicious murders.

"Look and see if there was anything else major that happened before or after the death" Morgan tells her.

"I am checking, it looks like the next day after she died a document that had been sealed for 30 years was finally unsealed"

"What was it?"

"It was adoption records, Thomas was adopted when he was a baby by the Walton's, it looks like his mother Sara was only 16 when she had him and was unable to take care of him, she gave him up but he was soon adopted"

"There is the stresser, grandma must have told him on her death bed, not wanting to have a guilty conscious she told him, only it made him spiral out of control"

"Thank you Garica" Morgan says and then hangs up. He starts the car and we race back to the station.

Morgan and I walk into the building and find our team all together. "We found our unsub" I announce. They all look at us anxiously waiting for us to tell them.

"His name is Thomas Walton, he is a 30 year old bartender at the restaurant all the victims visited before they died. We think the stresser was when his grandmother died she might have revealed to him that his parents, who had died in a car accident 20 years earlier, weren't actually his parents. He was adopted but never unsealed the records until around a month ago" Morgan finishes.

"Right when the murders started" JJ says.

"There is actually a linkage between adoptive children and murders, currently there is at least 500 known serial killers and from that group 16% were adopted. Some of the most famous killers were actually adopted such as Aileen Wuornos, Kenneth Bianchi, one of the hillside stranglers and even Ted Bundy" Reid adds to the conversation. He is incredibly adorable when he is giving facts and statistics.

"He must feel betrayal and abandonment" Prentiss says. "The parents he remembers weren't even really his parents, he grew up remembering them and he feels stupid that he idolized these people that weren't actually his real parents. That must be why is killing of choice is strangulation, that need to feel close to someone, especially when you are literally holding their life in their hands"

"Garcia says the birth mother is a Sara Miller who was only 16 when she had him, she gave him up and went on to get married and have two other kids later in her life" I say.

"So there is even more abandonment, he feels like he lost his birth mother and was given to this family only to have them taken away from him, while she gets to have a family, raise kids, but none of whom were him" Prentiss says.

"That is why he rapes woman, he hates them. He hates his birth mother in particular" Rossi says.

"Where does Sara Miller live?" Hotch asks.

"Garcia said she still lives in town, she moved away after the birth but moved back when she got married and had her two other kids" Morgan says.

"We need to get to her house, she is the object of her rage and we need to get her protection" Hotch says and then is pulling out his phone, I can hear him calling Garcia as we are going out to the car. "I need her phone number and address" I get in the backseat next to Reid while Prentiss sits up from, JJ, Rossi and Morgan are in the car behind us and as soon as Hotch gets the address he calls Morgan to tell him where it is. We race off to the house and when my hand is down on the seat I can feel Reid's fingers find mine. It is comforting and I try not to look at him, not wanting to ruin this little moment we have. We pull up to a house and all of us are jumping out of the car, there is a single car in the driveway, someone is obviously home. Hotch tried calling Sara our way over here but it kept going to voicemail, never a good sign. Hotch knocks on the door. "Sara, Sara Miller, I am SSA Hotchner with the FBI and I need you to open up the door" Hotch leans close to the door trying to hear anything.

"The back is clear" JJ says as her and Rossi come back from the back of the house. Morgan is leaning into the windows trying to see anything that might give indication that someone is inside. I look around when I notice a black car parked across the street, it is empty and I run up to it and dial Garcia's number.

"Garcia I need you to run a licence plate for me" I read her off the jumble of letters and numbers and from the moment I hear the little gasp from her end of the phone I know it's his car.

"That car is registered under Thomas Walton's name" I don't even say goodbye when I hang up the phone and run back over.

"That car over there is empty, and it's registered to Thomas" I am still pointing at the car when Hotch is breaking the door down. We run inside and find every single family picture has the glass shattered, you can barley recognize the smiling faces of a happy family. I follow Hotch and Morgan in with my gun drawn, ready for the unexpected. Sitting in the middle of the room with her legs and arms tied is a blonde woman dressed in sweatpants and a t-shirt, it looks like she just got back from the gym. She walked into her home not expecting that her past was going to catch up with her, she just thought this was any other normal day. When I get up close I can see her eyes are closed, I brush aside her shade of blonde hair that matches the one Thomas has in the drivers licence picture I've seen, and bend down and put my fingers up to her neck. I can feel the faint rhythm of a pulse. "She is still alive" I call out. Morgan bends down and helps me start to untie her.

"She is going to need a medic" Morgan calls out, he then dials 911 for an ambulance to come, she has a gash on her head that has left a blood stain on the carpet, something that doesn't really matter much in retrospect. Morgan holds her in his lap and I notice that everyone has left the room, looking for where our unsub could be. I stand up and Morgan gives me a look of knowing that I should go. I know Morgan can handle himself but something makes me feel uneasy about leaving him alone. I notice the back screen door is wide opened and I walk out with my gun ready, I find that Thomas is already tackled to the ground being handcuffed and read his rights. As he is standing up he takes one look at me and I feel a chill run down my spine, just that look in his eye makes my skin crawl. He is taken away and put into a cop car and I feel like a weight has been lifted off me, with this case over and done with I can start to put this behind me.

I finish packing up my stuff and walk up to JJ, she usually knows the flight plans and hopefully I will have enough time to do what I want to do before we leave. She smiles when she sees me. "Hey Izzy"

"Hey, do you know when our flight is supposed to leave?"I ask her, part of the perks of flying in your own private jet is you can be ready to leave a the drop of a hat, meaning we have a very flexible schedule.

"We are supposed to leave tomorrow afternoon, there is supposed to be some snow in Virginia and they just want to be safe, it was pushed back from the morning to afternoon, why do you ask?"

"I wanted to know if I would have time to do something before we left, I should be able to. Do you think they will let me barrow one of the cars?" I am going to need to drive the five hours there and five hours back, I will probably end up driving all night but it will be worth it.

"I'm sure that wouldn't be a problem"

"Okay, thank you" I give her a smile and I can tell that she is curious as to what I am doing but she doesn't ask questions, she knows that if I want to tell her I will. I go to grab my bag when Spencer walks up to me.

"Hey"

"Hi" We haven't talked much since my big melt down earlier and I am worried that things might be awkward, something I never thought would happen between the two of us.

"Leaving so soon?" He jokes, he actually made a joke. He is really trying.

"I was actually about to leave to go do something"

"Oh, well will it take long? I was hoping make we could go get dinner" He sounds hopeful, and honestly dinner sounds amazing right now, especially with him, but I have put this off for too long. It is now or never and now seems like an especially good time.

"I'm actually about to drive to L.A." I sound crazy, especially when I say it out loud but apparently not to him.

"I'll come with you, I can drive" He doesn't even skip a beat, it's as if I had said the most perfectly logical thing to him right now.

"Spencer, you hate driving"

"I do not" He protests.

"Yes you do, you rarely ever drive" I point out to him.

"That is besides the point, you can't be driving all by yourself so late at night"

"I carry a gun, I think I'll be fine"

"But it isn't safe, let me drive at least part way" He does have a good point, I shouldn't be driving so many hours straight like that.

"Fine, but let's stop for coffee first to make sure we are both energized, there will be no sleeping for me if you aren't either" He smiles at me and leads me out to the car. We grab some coffee and then I start to program our destination into the GPS, as he starts to drive I notice how late it is a know that we definitely will be driving through the whole night. "Wow, first trip as a couple, big step" I joke with him.

"It's not our first trip, I mean I know they are cases but we technically take trips all the time together" He says it very seriously, not at all like a joke and I don't know if it is the time of night or the past two days I've had but I start cracking up laughing. It makes me smile and ask me what over and over again while it takes me all I have not to reach over across and kiss him right on the mouth. We drive and drive and drive, with the car filled with a mix of music, conversation and laughter. Being with Reid is never a dull moment, and even when it is, it is a comfortable one. I keep my word about staying up the whole time but he refuses to let me drive, telling me I am exhausted and really should get some sleep. I tell him I will when he does. I can see the pink of the morning sky outside the car window when the images of tombstones fill my eyes. Reid pulls into the cemetery. We park and then get out, before I will even step foot on the premise I go across the street and buy some flowers. I have been coming to the same shop every single time I visit, the guy behind the counter used to recognize me, even call me by name, but when I walk in there it is someone knew and then it hits me how long it has really been. I try and push that thought from my mind, and my heart. Just thinking about it is enough to make me want to start crying already. As we walk back across the street I feel Spencer's hands hand take mine and lace my fingers with his. We walk up to the place I know so well and I breathe out words I haven't said in a while.

"Hi mom" I say quietly, I don't care if he hears but something about the way I talk to my mom has always been private, just for the two of us. I have never been spiritual, my mom was raised catholic and my father wasn't so religion wasn't ever talked about in our house, it was a way my parents made it work for a long time but then one day it just stopped. I am not even sure I believe in the existence of God but I do know that I talk to my mom and it is something that makes me feel better. I let go of Reid's hand for just a second so I can bend down and put the flowers down next to where she is buried. I kiss the stone and then run my fingers over the words "wonderful mother" that has been forever carved into the stone. I stand back up and take his hand again and just let everything fall over me, the case, the fact that after so many years of not facing this I am standing in front of my mom's grave with my boyfriend by my side. "She would have loved to meet you" I say aloud.

"I would have loved to meet her" He replies. I promised myself I wouldn't cry but just hears his words makes the tears begin to fall, I know in my heart he is 100% true.

Reid's POV

I hear Izzy yawn as we board the jet, she managed to stay awake with me the entire drive there and back, no matter how many times I told her it was okay she refused. She can be stubborn sometimes but when she sets her mind to something she sticks with it. She sits down on the couch and I sit down next to her, I realize we are the only ones sitting so close to one another currently but her tried brain must not realize how obvious we are being currently. I don't mind right now, I don't care if people know about us or not, I just want to be with her. It is only moments after we have taken off when she has broken that distance between us and is laying her head on my shoulder sleeping peacefully. I look around and notice the smiles I am getting from everyone around us. "She's just kind of tired" I tell them all.

"Oh I bet she is" Pretniss says as she smirks, it earns a laugh from everyone else but I don't get what she means. How could she have possibly have known what we were doing? I pull out my book and begin to read, I lean back so Izzy will be more comfortable, I am flipping the page when I notice she is actually wearing a short sleeved shirt. She must have changed before we bored but instead of wearing long sleeves like usual she is letting her arms be seen. Her beautifully tanned skin accents the light orange shirt she is wearing, I smile at the fact that she is now comfortable enough to let her deepest secrets be exposed like that, it's like something set her free. I smile and when no one is looking I plant a small kiss on top of her head and then continue reading, I can feel her breathing and know that is a sound I could continue to listen to for the rest of my life.

Izzy's POV

I walk into the BAU with my arms exposed again, I wore a short sleeved shirt on the plane yesterday and am still feeling good about my decision, if they see then they see, if it ever comes up I am not going to shy away from the truth. They are apart of me, they are an ugly part of me but still apart of me the same and I am no longer ashamed. They are my family and if they ask I will tell them. I walk to my desk with Spencer's scarf still around my neck and know that I am going to do this now, that I am ready. He is sitting at his desk and I take his hand in mine and begin to walk him over to the steps that lead to Hotch's office. "What are you doing?" He asks me, he is clearly confused.

"Something I should have done a long time ago" I say as I knock on Hotch's office door.

"Come in" I hear him call out and I walk in to find him finishing up the paperwork from our most recent case.

"Hotch I need to talk to you about something" I say, I take Reid's hand in mine again and then say more clearly than ever "We need to talk to you about something" I can tell we have caught his attention because he sets his pen down.

"Okay" He doesn't sound angry, just curious.

"Reid and I have been dating for about a month" I blurt out, I knew if I didn't just say it quickly I might never say it.

"I know" He simply replies.

"What?" Reid asks.

"Guys, we are a team of profilers, it wasn't hard to tell you two have been involved in a romantic relationship"

"And you are okay with it?" I ask hesitantly.

"Well I am going to need you two to fill out some paper work but yes, it is perfectly okay that you two are in a relationship. What I am going to have to say as your unit chief is that you two need to be committed because no matter what happens in your personal life you need to be fully committed to this team, if you two were to break up there is no room for drama in this department, people's lives are constantly at stake"

"Yes sir" I say.

"But as your friend, I am very happy for the two of you" He says and it makes me feel a little bit better. I smile at him and then look out the window and down and notice there is now a crowd around our desks. JJ, Garcia, Morgan, Prentiss, and Rossi are all standing around looking up at us. We leave the office and I can feel another weight lifted off my shoulders, you would have thought that a conversation like that would have freaked us out but it didn't. The sound of being committed to each other didn't scare me at all. We walk down the steps and find everyone waiting anxiously for what they probably already know.

"Izzy and I are dating" Reid says, I am surprised he took control like that but he did and it gives me the biggest smile.

"It's about time" Prentiss says as they all crowd around us to give us hugs, this is a happy event and I can tell they are all supportive. We are enjoying the sweet feeling of relief when Hotch comes out of his office and down to us.

"There is another case" He says and we start making our way to the room where we spend most of our lives, but together. I look around, back to work, another case to solve, another unsub to profile. Nothing has changed, and yet everything has changed.