A/n Got this idea from darkjediqueen, from her story Cherished. Thank you for the inspiration.

Spencer stared at the four vases that had been placed in his home and he wondered who could be courting him. He had just bought this house a few months ago and renovations were still underway.

The house was perfect, big enough for plenty of children. He had bought the house as an indication that he was ready to start looking for a mate, but he certainly hadn't expected to come upon the flower vases in his own home.

Spencer studied the flowers and realized that these were chocolate cosmos, one of the rarest flowers in the world, originally from New Mexico, though they were available in some places in the States. Someone had either been watching him more closely then he had thought or someone was giving him information about him. It would be hard to narrow down who, because many people knew of his love chocolate. This was the only flower in the world that actually smelled chocolatey.

To have four vases of them, meant whoever his suitor was, really wanted him to accept their courting request. Spencer checked the flower vases looking for a card.

It was only in the last couple of hundred years that Omegas had much more freedom. There had been too many abusive Alphas in the past that had forced an Omega to bond with them only to find out that they weren't suitable or even compatible at all. Suicide had been known to happen, Omegas finding themselves in a situation that they couldn't bear, where they were beaten for no reason, treated as if they were stupid or had their opinions totally disregarded. Omegas had been beaten in the past for offering an opinion in the first place. Alpha's were of the opinion that they only belonged to themselves while Omegas, even Betas were theirs to protect or abuse. Spencer had learned to live with a lot of coddling from the team. He was the only Omega on it, as three were Alphas and the other three were Betas. The Alphas, Derek Morgan, David Rossi and Emily Prentiss were very protective of him.

Finally, he found a card in the fourth vase.

I request the honor of courting you. I have watching for some time and seen you grow into a strong man. One that does not let adversity keep him down. I will be waiting for an acceptance or rejection."

Omegas didn't like sniffing around where they weren't wanted, so the Alpha in question had to let there interest be known. It was the Omegas right to accept or reject that request.

Spencer read the rest of the short note and saw the Hotchner crest down in the corner, though there was no signature. The only Hotchner he knew about was Aaron Hotchner who was owner of one of the biggest companies in Virginia.

Spencer was momentarily puzzled. Had he ever met Aaron Hotchner?

Spencer then remembered about six years ago, when he had gone to a big Christmas party because he had been invited. It had turned out that Hotchner had wanted to lure him into his company knowing he would be a great asset. He had just joined the FBI and was pulled directly into the BAU, thanks to Gideon. Hotchner had been hoping that he had realized he had made a mistake in joining a government law enforcement agency. At the time he had only been there a few months. Unfortunately, for Hotchner, while Spencer didn't like certain aspects of the job, he still loved what he did.

Hotchner had taken it with good grace when he had told him no, Spencer remembered. He had looked disappointed, but that was all.

They had never run into each other since and Spencer had never gone to another Christmas party, even though he had been invited to every single one. Spencer knew though or thought he knew anyway that Hotchner just wanted to try to change his mind. Some years he wasn't home for Christmas anyway, though he could've gone to a couple of them if he had wanted to.

If he wanted to at least court him, he must have been infatuated the one time that he met. He had been quite young when they had met and now he was 30.

Spencer never even thought about the fact that Hotchner had a sister, who was right around his age, probably because he didn't know it.

Spencer thought about it for a few minutes and saw no harm in at least accepting the courting. Not many people know that he was actually bisexual and had dated both.

He would see how things went for awhile with Aaron before he decided. He would only agree to one date at a time. Also since Hotchner wasn't a member the FBI he would make sure that it was clear he would not be giving up his job. He would not be forced to mate with anyone. He knew nothing about this Aaron Hotchner, except what he had heard, as he hadn't bothered to research the man or have Garcia do it. Garcia would've found every single skeleton that was in the man's closet.

He would never bind himself to anyone that curtailed his freedom.

Still, a few dates wouldn't hurt until he saw, though Hotchner didn't seem like an unreasonable man and hadn't taken his rejection of his offer in the wrong way. He had been disappointed but that was all. He hadn't been angry or threatening.

Spencer wrote a simple yes on the back of the card, but knew they were going to have to discuss some things before they went to far. He would drop it off at the post office on his way to work tomorrow.

Spencer dialed his phone knowing that his housekeeper had to have let the man in.

"Please don't be mad," begged Chetna, as soon as she answered the phone.

"I'm not mad, just surprised," Spencer told his housekeeper. Chetna was a little old lady who was at least 60 if she was a day and also Indian in origin. Her name meant power of intellect or alert.

"I made sure I watched her while she was in your house. She never went any farther then the stairs.

"She?" Spencer asked confused.

"Yes, it was a very beautiful woman, with long black hair and very elegant features. She reminded me of someone, but for the life of me I can't remember who."

Spencer tried to work it out and figured that maybe Hotchner had a sister that he had never known about because he had never bothered researching the family. It just hadn't been important, as it wasn't like he didn't have a busy life

"The note that she left me has the Hotchner the family crest," Spencer explained. "The flowers are also some of the rarest in the world and are very hard to obtain from here in the States, though they are more prevalent in Mexico. I figured it had come from Aaron Hotchner, because he was the only one I knew about. Somebody really did their research to know that I love chocolate and these are the only flowers in the world that emit a kind of a chocolate scent."

"Well, now you know that it's likely a sister or possibly a cousin," Chetna said having calmed down what she knew that her employer wasn't upset at her.

"I'm about to find out," Spencer murmured.

"I hope your courting goes well," Chetna said sincerely. "You need someone to come home too."

"I hope it does too," Spencer agreed before saying goodbye.

Spencer placed his answer by the front door on a small table, so he could just pick it up in the morning on his way to work. He did spend some time looking up the Hotchner family. There was no mention of a sister, but Hotchner did have a brother. This told Spencer a few things, one she had been kept out of the public eye deliberately, or two she was using a different last name. It was even possible that this sister was only a half sibling, as both men and women had been known to cheat on each other before. He knew that Garcia could do a much better job researching the Hotchner family history, but he didn't want to tell the team about this, until he had time to access situation. While the team, especially the Alphas would like to see him settled down with a good mate, that wouldn't stop the Alphas from threatening whoever was courting him with bodily harm if they hurt him.

He was just going to have to see what the situation was once they met.

~~~Spencer and Safina~~~

"Welcome, Dr. Reid," greeted a handsome man.

This was Aaron Hotchner, Spencer knew as he recognized him from newscasts and also from the one he had met him at that Christmas party. Hotchner was very much in the public eye.

"Mr. Hotchner," Spencer said politely.

"Well, it's nice to know you remember me," Aaron smiled.

"We met once if you remember and I also watch the news, read the papers," Spencer said politely.

This man was definitely a very strong Alpha, Spencer thought. Alphas had a particular scent so it was easy to tell for his species anyway but not for humans.

"I'm so glad you accepted my sister's courting request," Aaron said.

"Let's just say I'm willing to test the waters," Spencer said vaguely.

Aaron nodded at that knowing from all reports that Dr. Spencer Reid was very careful man. He was one of the strongest Omegas in Washington and Virginia, personalitywise. The job he worked wouldn't let him be anything else or he wouldn't've lasted for the last six years. If he was in any way delicate mentally and emotionally he would've quit long since or at least moved to another department.

Also, from all reports he was one of the most intelligent men of his time and Aaron would love to get him to come work for his company, but knew it was, unlikely at least. Dr. Reid had been issued constant invitations to various parties, but mostly for the Christmas one, and he had always sent a polite no thank you after that first one. Aaron figured that he hadn't appreciated being approached with a job offer or maybe he just didn't want to be constantly badgered, even if it was only once a year.

Aaron believed it was more the second one then first, because Dr. Reid wasn't the type to get annoyed just from a single job offer. He probably just hadn't wanted to deal with constant offers, probably didn't have time come to that, as his job kept him quite busy.

"If you'll follow me we have a few things to discuss before you meet my sister, Safina," Aaron said, as he briskly strolled away Spencer following him.

Soon they were seated in an office.

"He said we had a few things to discuss?" Spencer asked Hotchner politely. Spencer's expression was bland and his eyes were totally closed off, from the emotions he was feeling.

Aaron knew that Spencer was hiding his emotions until he knew precisely what was going on. He was very good at the poker face. However, Aaron could smell the emotions just rolling off him, curiosity was the strongest, along with apprehension, with just a hint of anxiety. There was no smell of fear however, and Aaron thought that was very good. Here, was a man that was prepared for what came and who was confident in his abilities, someone who could definitely take care of themselves and didn't really need to be mated at all, except to stave off the loneliness that their kind could fall prey to, and that some Omegas were particularly prone to. Aaron definitely approved and thought his sister had chosen well. Now, it was just time to see if his sister and Spencer were as compatible as he and Safina believed.

Aaron knew that Safina had been infatuated with Spencer Reid, ever since she had met him several years ago, though she hadn't been going by Hotchner at the time, but by his mother's last name before she married, which had been Nicholson. Spencer had been giving a lecture on physics at Georgetown with a large student audience.

Safina had been rather disappointed that the lecturer hadn't even noticed her. Aaron doubted that Dr. Reid had paid attention to any of the student body other then to answer their questions and whether this was on purpose or he was just ethical enough not to want to date somebody younger, Aaron didn't know. Really, there wasn't that much different in the ages between Dr. Reid and his sister, just four years. Of course, it was also possible that Dr. Reid just hadn't been ready to look for a mate until fairly recently, so had ignored all the signs.

When Aaron had learned that Dr. Reid had bought a house he had believed that the young man was finally ready to settle down and so he had informed his sister. Alpha or Omegas didn't buy properties like that unless there were truly ready to start looking for a mate, not unless the house was inherited from someone in the family.

"Yes, I did," Aaron agree calmly. "I have a job offer for you, and no you don't need to quit your job with the FBI in order to accept it. I've learned my lesson there. Of course, if you want to join my company all you have to do is ask, but I will no longer send you invitations."

Spencer relaxed a little at that and nodded.

"I know you have several patents to your name already, and this contract basically says that anything you create, will be produced and sold by my company. You'll of course, get a certain percentage of every product bought and also a certain amount of money when you sell that product to my company."

Aaron pushed the contract in front of him and Spencer read it quickly. It was a more than decent offer Spencer saw.

"This offer is good, even if you're not compatible with my sister or you just decide not to mate," Aaron said. "There's also no time limit on this offer either and so you can think it over for long as you want. I know you're busy with your job with the BAU, but I also know your mind needs to be constantly occupied."

"I'll seriously think about it," Spencer promised. "I hope you don't mind if I send this to my lawyer. The offer is very good, but still..."

"I have no problem with your attorney checking it over," Aaron said calmly. "I was actually expecting you would suggest something like that, as any sensible person would, because no matter how intelligent someone is their specialty might not be business contracts.

Spencer nodded, but really, he shouldn't have expected the Alpha in front of him to get mad, as he ran a very large business after all and you just couldn't lose your temper when you were discussing business, whether that was with one person or more. He had heard only good things about Aaron Hotchner and one of those things he had heard was he was a shrewd businessman, as well as honest, bold and he would never allow anyone to take advantage of him or any of his employees. Anybody caught stealing an idea from another employee was fired on the spot. Also, bullying was stamped harshly down on and it didn't matter whether you were gay, a genius, an omega or for any other reason that people bullied others. Spencer had heard that if someone was caught bullying they got three warnings, before they lost at least a week's pay if not more, and were also suspended for the same length of time.

"You know, I never even knew you had a sister," Spencer said. "Of course, I didn't know you had a brother either until I looked you up, but the brother makes sense, since our kind usually have at least twins."

"She's actually my half-sister," Aaron admitted candidly.

"That was one possibility," Spencer said his tone calm. "Once my housekeeper told me that some woman had entered my house to place the flowers. There was no name on the card, so I figured it was you. You were the only Hotchner I knew about in Washington."

"I can see how you would come to that conclusion," Aaron said as he studied the handsome man before him. "Safina has never been in the limelight and she mostly grew up with her father."

That told Spencer who had cheated unless Hotchner's father had been dead beforehand, which was possible.

"Now, I had better introduce you to Safina before she comes in here wondering what's taking so long," Aaron said with a chuckle. "I'll just show you where she's waiting and the two of you can enjoy dinner together."

"Well, this certainly wasn't what I expected," Spencer said.

"What did you expect?" Aaron asked.

"I really expected to meet your sister at some restaurant," Spencer said. "At least this first time. First dates most of the time, don't take place in either the Alpha's or the Omega's home, not unless they've known each other for awhile and then just decide to try to see if they are compatible romantically."

"You'll have your privacy I guarantee it. The chef I hired is one of the best in the city. There'll be no cameras or listening devices spying on you. Safina would kill me or whoever had done such a thing I guarantee it, once she knew. You might not get that in a restaurant, not even in a private room."

Spencer said nothing, but he was thinking that Aaron Hotchner sure was cynical, but then, Spencer supposed he had a right to be. It was easy to plant microphones and cameras since they were very small nowadays, though they didn't have a lot of range. There were a lot of dishonest business owners in the world who would just love to spy on other people to steal their ideas in order to widen their own bottom-line. Spencer also had to consider that his job was dangerous it was possible that he could be spied on his well, so that somebody could set him up for kidnapping.

"Alright then," Spencer said. "Just so you know I left a letter for my team, which they will find if I don't turn up at work tomorrow."

"Cautious aren't you," said Aaron with respect in his tone.

"I work in a dangerous profession, Mr. Hotchner. While I work mostly at police stations, that doesn't mean I haven't been in the field often enough to have many enemies. Those enemies often think they can take advantage of me, just because I'm an Omega or because I'm the youngest or because I appear the weakest link of the team, they often act like I'm stupid or at least naïve. I have been drugged against my will, nearly got addicted to those same drugs, shot at, nearly blown up, had to dig my own grave, well, the list goes on and on. While I would like a family, my life is dangerous and I always thought that FBI agents as well as police officers were bad bets when it comes to marriage and families, but a large percentage of them still get married, even if only a small percentage manages to maintain them all of their lives. The whole team has enemies and one of them could conceivably take me hostage, just to get at one of the others, since we're all pretty close, but even if we weren't the team would still do all they could to rescue the one that had been taken and any enemy would likely figure that was the case. I didn't tell any of the team I was coming here tonight, because I knew that conceivably Garcia would do a thorough background check and that's at a minimum. While the team would like to see me settle down with someone, none of us could possibly be to cautious considering the jobs we do."

"FBI agents have been killed in the past by an enemy," Aaron said in understanding.

"Yes, they have, not so much in units like white collar crimes, because the criminals tend be the nonviolent type or at least they are not likely to come after you for revenge for putting them in prison, but it has been known to happen. The BAU attracts all kinds of crazies, as we deal with the worst that humanity has to offer."

"You're very brave man," Aaron said in a complementary tone.

"I don't think I'm brave at all. I simply do what needs to be done and along the way I've made some of the best friends that anybody could have," Spencer said modestly.

Aaron disagreed about Dr. Reid not being brave, but he said nothing. He only hoped that Dr. Reid's team truly appreciated him and that they realized what a genuine treasure he was.

~~~Spencer and Safina~~~