Part 2

Flashback

Both Dave and Spencer stared at the results of the blood test, that both had taken several weeks ago.

The lab had been backed up and it hadn't been priority, though Dave still could've quietly used his influence to make it so, but decided against it.

"Well, this just proves what we already knew," Dave said finally coming out of his shock.

"I guess you really are my father," Spencer said looking just as shocked.

The blood test showed 52.5% match, which was quite possible and Spencer had really expected the numbers to be in that range.

"We both already knew it really," Dave said and Spencer nodded.

"We did, but what we knew in our minds, wasn't hard evidence. These results are something we can show a judge whenever we take this to court," Spencer said.

His son did make a very good point, Dave thought. "You're right, knowing it in our hearts wasn't evidence, but we certainly have evidence now."

Spencer said nothing seeming lost in thought.

"What's on your mind?" Dave finally asked.

"I was just imagining what my life would have been like if I grown up with your family like I should have. I've always been Spencer Reid and I'm wondering if I would have been happier as Peter Daniel Rossi."

"There's no way of knowing, but you would've had two parents that would have adored you and that would have had a huge impact on your upbringing. You would've had a very protective and loving older brother, though I'm not saying there wouldn't have been some teasing involved," Dave said placing a gentle hand on Spencer's shoulder.

His son actually smiled at that and Dave was sure that he was wishing that he had actually grown up in that environment, something Dave couldn't blame him for.

"I'm sure I would've had a much happier childhood if William Reid hadn't decided to take a baby and switch it with his own just because his son had a bad heart," Spencer admitted quietly after a moment.

"We would have sent you to a special school if possible, because your intelligence should have been nurtured and if not we would've hired tutors and gone the homeschool route. We never would have allowed all the stuff that happened to you in school to continue. I would've gone down to the school if necessary and sorted it out and Caroline would've done the same."

"Diana Reid did that often enough, when she was well," Spencer said quietly.

"It's okay to call her your mother, because I know you grew up with her and you love her. I also realize that you never knew your real mother. Diana Reid loved and cared about you, even if your father didn't and for that alone I will always be grateful to her," Dave offered and Spencer smiled at him, a smile that was tinged with relief.

"Yes, she did love me and as I said a few weeks ago I'm sure she had no idea I wasn't her son," Spencer said. "I think it's better if she never finds out actually, not with the schizophrenia. I'm not actually sure how she'll accept the news. It would devastate her at the very least to realize what her ex-husband did and her mental health is rather delicate."

"If that's what you want," Dave said, and Spencer nodded more firmly. "I hope you don't mind if I call you Peter sometimes because that's what Caroline and I named you. It's going to take me awhile to absorb that you might be my son, but your Spencer now."

"I would be willing to change my middle name to either Peter or Daniel, but Spencer is the name my mother gave me and I've always been called that. I think it would be rather weird to be called anything else."

Dave nodded because he could understand where his son was coming from. He had been Spencer William Reid all his life and changing his middle name was a huge concession on his part.

"That's something we'll have to talk about farther at some point, but I'm certainly not against the idea," Dave said.

"I didn't figure you would be," Spencer smiled, which was a tad melancholy. "I'm doing it largely for you, but also because I hate my middle name, because its the same as the man that kidnapped me. It has nothing to do with this recent revelation. I've hated it for years ever since 'he' left. I don't use my middle name hardly at all. However, this gives me an opportunity to change it for a real reason, instead of just doing it because I dislike it so much. You named me Peter Daniel, so I'll be proud to add at least one of those to my name while at the same time getting rid of one I've hated for almost 20 years."

Dave indeed understood where his son was coming from. He hated the man that had kidnapped him from his real family, even if he had only mildly disliked him before he had realized that's what had happened. What Spencer was doing was changing his middle name to either Peter or Daniel while at the same time getting rid of the one he hated, which would really poke William Reid in the eye, though he wasn't sure if Spencer had realized that yet.

"I understand," Dave said and Spencer glanced at him and saw that Dave truly did understand where he was coming from. "Are you going to change your last name or keep Reid?"

"I hadn't thought that far ahead," Spencer admitted, looking rather distracted. "I'll have to seriously think about it. My professional reputation is under Reid and I'm not exactly sure Strauss would allow two Rossis to be in the same unit anyway. I know we can't keep this from her, especially if we go after William Reid for his actions so long ago, but still, I established my career under my original surname, so I'm not sure about changing it."

Spencer had made some very good points, Dave admitted. He would love for Spencer to take on his surname but it was his son's decision and there was so much going on right now that there was no rush.

"As for having two Rossis in the same unit there is no rules against it," Dave said and Spencer nodded, because he knew that was true. "Still, it's your decision and I won't force you to change it if you don't want to."

"I will seriously think about it," Spencer promised. "There's going to be so much going on in the next few months that I think it can wait, as there is no point of rushing into a decision, since it isn't life or death. Let's concentrate on bringing down the man that took me from my real family, before we think about things like changing my surname."

That was sensible, Dave decided, so he nodded.

"Well, whether you decide to change your surname or not I want to welcome you to the family. I'm only sorry that Caroline will never know that her son survived," Dave said looking sad.

"I know and I'm more sorry about that then you know, as I would've loved to have met your wife since she was my mother," Spencer said soberly. "We're going to bring the man to justice that was behind my kidnapping in the first place and I'll be happy with that. Don't misunderstand me I love the mother that raised me, until the schizophrenia hit, but still..."

"Still, you would have liked to meet and get to know your real one, even if you already had one that you loved," Dave supplied and Spencer nodded.

"Yes," Spencer admitted, looking at Dave to see if he was offended.

"I'm not going to be offended just because you have another parent that you love," Dave said. "Love isn't finite, it's infinite. There's all different kinds of love out there and this would be something you would know instinctively if you had been raised properly. You love the woman that raised you and thought she was your mother. There's nothing wrong with this. I've had plenty of people that I've loved over the years and was close enough to so that I considered then like an aunt and uncle or a sibling. I love Jack, Aaron's son for example and he's like a nephew to me."

"Yeah, I love Jack too," Spencer's smiled relaxing. "He's so cute and is so eager to learn, how could I not? I shouldn't be so surprised that he's so eager to learn considering that his father at least is very intelligent."

"But it's so different from when you were in school," Dave gently suggested and Spencer nodded.

Dave had learned a lot about his son's past by now and a lot of it made him furious, but since there was nothing he could do at this late date he controlled his anger.

"Not every student bullied me, but they also didn't defend me or help me in anyway, not wanting to get involved," Spencer said. "It would've been nice to have a brother who defended me, or maybe I would've been able to defend myself if I had grown up with you instead of William Reid."

"There's no way of really knowing, but it's very possible that you would have had better skills. You would've at least have grown up with better social skills because Caroline would've made sure of that. If Caroline and I had sent you to public school you likely would've been able to blend in better. I doubt very much that either Caroline or I would've allowed you to skip grades, but we would have tried to find special programs that would have nurtured your intelligence. Your intelligence is a wonderful thing and should have been nurtured by William Reid since he kidnapped you in the first place, but I know from what you've told me that he resented you for it."

"That's the understatement of the decade," Spencer snorted. "I know you want to at least punch him and though, I'm not usually a man that feels like doing something so violent, I want to do the same. You would think if he was going to kidnap another man's son he at least would've treated them decently."

"People kidnap children all the time for seriously stupid reasons," Dave said.

"I know," Spencer answered soberly.

Of course, most people never expected bad things to happen to them until they get slapped in the face with some sort of tragedy.

"So now that we know when are we going to tell the team?" Spencer asked suddenly.

"I think we need a little time to get used to the fact that we really are father and son," Dave suggested in a gentle tone. "I know we knew weeks ago, but it wasn't really positive until the blood tests came back. I know both of us have been rather distracted with work, but in the back of my subconscious at least it was always on my mind."

"Mine too," Spencer confirmed.

"Being able to put my mind to something else has really helped the time pass faster than I thought it would. Normally, I'm a very patient man, but finding out for sure whether or not you were my son was more important to me than anything else has been in years," Dave said.

"I can certainly understand that," Spencer agreed. "It was important to me too and I truly wish I had grown up as a Rossi instead of a Reid. We can't change the past though, so the only option is to move forward."

"It will take time for us to truly get to know each other as there is only so much you can find out just by observing someone. You've told me a lot of your past and I think it's only fair that you know some of mine," Dave said. "We could have lunch or dinner together as often as time allows, at least on the weekends, since we're usually not on a case then. I'll be happy to cook for these occasions, just like I did when James was young."

"Sounds good," Spencer said smiling. "I already know you're an excellent chef, so I won't have to worry about getting food poisoning from anything you prepare and it's certainly better in this case then going to the restaurant so that we can talk without worrying about anybody overhearing our conversation."

"That's why I suggested it," Dave said smiling himself.

~~~Criminal Minds~~~

Several weeks later

"So the two of you are actually father and son?" Morgan asked staring at Spencer and Dave in disbelief.

"Yes," Spencer answered calmly having finally absorbed the news that he and Dave were actually related. The two of them had spent the last few weeks getting to know each other better then they already did and had already had several dinners over at Dave's place.

"So how did you find out?" JJ asked.

"I noticed the birthmark on his left hip and it was identical to the one that Peter had when he was born," Dave explained. "That wasn't the only thing though that convinced me that Spencer was the son I thought had died nearly 30 years ago, as there were a lot of similarities that I noticed. If you're really paying attention he's a perfect combination of me and Caroline. Caroline had brown hair the same shade as Spencer's, but there were numerous other things that reminded me of myself when I was younger. I put it down to coincidence at first until I saw the birthmark, it was then I knew."

"But a lot of people have the same type of birthmark," Emily said.

"We're aware of that," Spencer told Emily calmly. "Even though we were both sure that we were father and son we each had blood drawn and then had DNA testing done. Both Dave and I share over half of our markers which means that we're closely related."

"To share that many markers means you must be father and son or siblings," Aaron said speaking for the first time.

"Yep," Dave said smiling.

"So that means William Reid kidnapped Spencer here from the hospital nearly 30 years ago," Morgan said looking rather furious at that.

"Yes, it does and I'm hoping that we can gather enough evidence to make sure he pays for his crime, even if it's decades to late," Spencer said.

"Which is something that both of us agree on a hundred percent," Dave added and the rest of the team nodded at this for they agreed to. William Reid deserved to spend the rest of his life in prison for kidnapping and any other crime they could lay at his door.

"You know we'll help you in anyway we can," JJ said. "What that man did was not only against the law it was cruel. He made a family believe that their son had died and didn't care that they would grieve for the death of their child. I'm not sure that I would ever be able to get over the death of my child and if I then discovered several decades later that they didn't die after all, well, that would reopen a lot of old wounds.

"I'm surprised he could get away with it though," Penelope said speaking for the first time. "Aren't neonatal units in hospitals usually pretty closely watched?"

"They are nowadays, but back when I was born not so much," Spencer told Penelope. "Kidnapping a baby out of the hospital back then wasn't as common as it is today, so such places weren't as closely monitored, as they are now. All he would've had to do was keep his eye out for anybody coming who could see him, a nurse, a doctor or somebody coming to see their child who had just been born. He could've used the excuse for instance that he wanted to spend some time with his son before he died. The nurses would have understood that and wouldn't have been at all suspicious that a father wanted to hold his son as much as possible before he passed away, because of a medical problem that couldn't be fixed at the time. Those nurses could've left to fulfill other duties, which likely would have left him alone just long enough to make the switch. Even today babies are kidnapped out of hospitals all the time and a much closer eye is kept on them now, then in the past. It likely would've taken him only a minute or two if he'd already noted where the cameras were and what babies he wanted to switch."

"That is so sad," Penelope decided and everybody agreed with her, especially Emily and JJ who felt bad for Spencer who hadn't grown up with his real family and also for Dave who had believed his son was dead for almost 30 years.

"We'll do our best to gather evidence against William Reid," Aaron said. "Not only will it help two people that we know and respect, this could also easily be a federal case, because it's a kidnapping of a child, even if that child is now all grown up. Just because it happened so long ago doesn't mean that the statute of limitations has run out."

"The statute on kidnappings never runs out," Morgan said and Aaron nodded having known this.

"How are you going to get past Strauss though, who will probably want to turn it over to the local police," Emily asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I have enough pull to make this a federal investigation and technically, it should be anyway," Dave answered immediately. "Strauss won't risk going against me by trying to stop us from investigating, especially since this should be a federal case. Strauss might be a bitch and might not care about anybody on the team, but she's not stupid. This might be an old crime, but I have proof that it should still be active right here beside me."

The others know he was talking about Spencer.

"Spencer can confirm that he is my son and we can also show the higher-ups the DNA testing we both had done if Strauss just wants to cause problems, though I don't think she will, because her career is very important to her. She might interfere in the team more than any of us like, but she's not going to prevent us from doing our jobs."

"I agree with, Dave," Aaron said. "This should be a federal case and Strauss will know that and so if she's smart will give us the go-ahead to investigate."

"Well, that makes me happy," Morgan said smiling, though it was rather grim. "I would love to help take William Reid down and not, just because Spencer, is like a brother to me, but because what he did was very wrong. I mean we put the bad guys behind bars for a living and there might be more evil people out there than William Reid, but this case is going to affect all of us more then normal, simply because we know the two people that it happened to. Rossi and Reid did not deserve what happened to them, but then nobody does."

"And if we manage to put William Reid behind bars it will at least give you two closure," Emily suggested. "I know it won't make up for all those lost years that you should've had together, but at least the person who made it happen will be where he belongs."

"Yes, it will give us both closure," Dave agreed and Spencer nodded. "I know it won't change the fact that both Caroline and I grieved for the loss of our son or the fact that James never got to grow up with his brother, but at least the man responsible will be spending the rest of his life behind bars preferably in a federal prison."

"And that will have to be enough," Spencer added.

"You know that federal prisons are tough places, much tougher than a state prison since that's where a lot of the worse criminals are," Aaron reminded his subordinates who nodded.

"I know he likely won't have an easy time once they find out that he's an attorney that put a lot of criminals behind bars," Spencer said.

"Still, you wish it were different," JJ said sympathetically not letting on to the fact that she had a crush on her coworker for the last couple years at least, but Spence never seemed to notice. Either that or he was deliberately ignoring it.

"I might wish things were different, but I'll just have to accept things as they are and putting him behind bars will just have to do," Spencer said.

"This was a shock to both of us and it might've finally sunk in that we're related, but that doesn't mean it wasn't rather difficult," Dave explained to the others.

"If I had found out that I had been kidnapped as a baby..." Emily said not finishing her sentence.

"It would certainly be enough to shock anyone and for that person that had done such a thing to them to want to get revenge, especially if Spencer's childhood wasn't exactly very happy," Penelope who had been mostly silent said. "I know we don't know everything that you went through as a child, but what I at least do know is enough to make my blood boil, so I can understand why you would like to deal with that man yourself," Penelope added looking at Spencer who nodded solemnly.

"I might want to deal with him myself, but I'm not about to risk landing myself in prison," Spencer shrugged.

"You have every right to feel these emotions so long as you don't let them get out of control," Dave told his son and Spencer nodded. "You know I feel them as well."

"It's human nature to want to get back is someone who has caused you so much pain," Aaron said, "but although I know it's the regular reaction when finding out such earthshattering news it's still not the way. You would only be doing both of yourselves harm, because then the rest of the team would be forced to arrest you and the two of you would be going to prison along with the actual kidnapper."

"We know this Aaron and that's why both Spencer and I are not going to do what we really want to," Dave promised his old protégé. "We both know the consequences if we did what we wanted instead of letting justice be done."

"I know I just thought I'd remind you in case as I don't want to see either one of you behind bars, as neither one of you deserve that," Aaron said. "I know you'll both do the right thing, because you both believe in seeing justice done no matter your personal feelings on this one."

"Perhaps, if my childhood had actually been a happy one, I wouldn't feel so many strong negative emotions towards him, though I would still want to see justice done," Spencer said. "I just can't help imagining what my childhood actually would've been like if I had grown up with Dave, his wife and James."

"Which is only natural," Emily suggested.

"Of course it is, you've had a big shock, both of you," JJ said.

"Still, you don't have to worry I'm not going to do anything stupid no matter how much I at least, want to punch him. Normally, you know, I'm not a man that feels strong emotions or at least I'm good at controlling them, but in this case, I think it's more than warranted," Spencer assured the team.

"I want to punch him myself, but know I can't," Aaron admitted. "I know how much pain you went through Dave when you had believed that your son Peter had died. Dave told me all about it after we had known each other for years, and the grief still felt hung around him like a cloak, but only when that particular subject came up, as he had mostly put it behind him."

"Yes, I did go through a lot of pain, but then, so did Caroline," Dave said. "What parent doesn't go through hell when they believe that their child is dead at least those that love their children. Who knows if Caroline and I would've had a third if we hadn't believed our son had died.

"You never stop grieving for your children, even if you don't think about it every day after awhile," Emily suggested.

"Of course you don't," Morgan said. "I know very well that my mamma would grieve for the rest of her life if anything happened to me on the job or to my two sisters. So pretty boy are you going keep your name or change it to what your family named you?"

"You know it hadn't occurred to me that he could do that," Penelope said.

"This is something that Dave and I have already thought about and even discussed a little," said Spencer glancing at Dave. "I told him I wanted to keep my first name because the woman I believed was my mother gave it to me and I don't believe at all that she was in anyway involved in her husband's stupid decision. Diana Reid never would have agreed with her husband plan and I suspect he never would've been able to pull it off if she hadn't likely been out of it due to the drugs they gave her for the birth, combined with exhaustion. As for my middle name, well, I'll be happy to change it since it happens to be the same as the man who kidnapped me, as for my last name I'm still thinking about it, but it isn't really super urgent right now."

"You could always use one of those combined surnames," JJ suggested.

"That's not a bad idea," Spencer said glancing Dave, who looked like he agreed with JJ's suggestion.

"Well, that would certainly let me keep my professional name," Spencer said. "I might just do that, even if double-barreled surnames are so awkward."

"I'll take this to the proper authorities," Aaron promised. "We should be able to start gathering evidence against William Reid in a few days. If Strauss denies that this is a federal case then I'll take it above her head and I'm sure Dave will back me up on that."

"Absolutely," Dave immediately concurred. "I want William Reid to suffer just as much as Caroline and I did, but I'll settle for seeing justice done. James isn't even aware that he has a brother, because we never told him, since he was only two when Peter was born. Caroline and I just decided that it was our secret so James believes that he was an only child and doesn't know that at some point his mother was pregnant again."

"How do you think your son's going to react after finding out that he has a brother he never knew about?" JJ asked.

"I know my son and he'll be excited and happy to discover that he has a younger brother," Dave answered immediately. "He'll also be furious that he was kidnapped right out of the hospital and that my wife and I believed he was dead until just a few weeks ago. James is a very caring individual much like his mother actually at least when it comes to certain things. James also has a temper much like I do, so he'll want to punch William Reid at least once in the mouth and it won't surprise me at all if he wants to beat him to a pulp."

"Which is why he's not going to be told that he has a brother until after William Reid is behind bars," Spencer added glancing at Dave who nodded. "For one thing I'm still trying to get used to the fact that I'm not related to the man we're going after and that I actually have a father who cares about my existence. I truly wish I had grown up in Dave's family, but since we can't change the past there's no point of dwelling on it. I just don't think I need to meet James until after this has been settled, as I have enough to deal with right now."

"Which is something I understood, so I agreed. Spencer is still trying to cope with the fact that he isn't blood related to William Reid and that he has a father that has always loved him very much, even though I believed he was dead," Dave said. "I would love to introduce James to him, but that can wait until after William Reid is either behind bars or dead."

The rest of the team knew he was referring to the fact that William Reid might decide to die by cop as a lot of criminals did. That wasn't likely in this case for as far as a team knew the kidnapping out of the hospital nearly 30 years ago was the only crime that the Senior Reid had ever committed. He was also an attorney and William Reid might try to wiggle out of his fate in a court of law, but he wasn't likely going to try to run and then be killed by a cop or one of the team. Still, they were well aware of these facts and so they would make sure they didn't happen because the whole team was now committed to seeing William Reid in prison for what remained of his miserable life. It wouldn't be near long enough for Dave or for Spencer either the others knew considering that William Reid was well into his 50s at least, so would likely be dead in 10 or 20 years, but it would have to do.

End flashback

~~~Criminal Minds~~~