For whatever reason, when Spencer got home, they avoided the topic of Elle. They decorated the apartment for Halloween, prepared candy for the kids in the apartment building, and debated Halloween costumes. At last, they settled on Spencer dressing as the Tenth Doctor and Jessica dressing as Rose Tyler. Jessica was more surprised than she should have been to learn that Spencer owned a replica sonic screwdriver.

Garcia's jaw dropped. "Wait a minute. You have a dance, tomorrow, and a date for said dance, tomorrow, and this is the first time I'm learning about it?"

"Darren only asked me yesterday," Jessica defended.

"And you spent last night at my place! How could you not tell me?!"

"We're lab partners and neither of us was going with anyone else, it's not a big deal," Jessica argued.

"That's just how it starts," Garcia countered, a wicked gleam in her eye. "Do they need chaperones at this thing?"

"I'd advise against it, unless you want to join us in the land of the deaf," Jessica warned. "We play our music really loud."

Garcia frowned, then sighed. "I demand pictures."

"Sure," Jessica agreed. "Can I pack up my stuff now? You said the team is coming home, right?"

"Coming home in time to see you off to homecoming," Garcia confirmed.

The following night, Jessica emerged from her bedroom and found the entire team in the living room, all with cameras in hand. "Spencer, what's going on?" Jessica signed warily.

"You can make a big deal out of my dates, but I can't make a big deal out of yours?" Spencer signed innocently.

"No chance in hell I was going to miss this," Morgan added. "I've spent nearly two years writing the speech I'm going to give to your first date."

"You mean threats," JJ corrected.

Jessica looked from one team member to another in disbelief. "He's not picking me up, you know. We live in opposite directions from the school, it made more sense to meet up there."

Morgan frowned. "That's strike one."

"Guess we'll have to take you there ourselves so we can give your date a lecture on proper manners," Gideon decided.

Jessica turned to Hotch, hoping he would be the voice of reason. "You won't all fit in the car!"

"Lucky that we came in two cars, then," Hotch replied, straight-faced as usual.

Jessica sighed. "Fine, let's go."

"Not until we've taken our fair share of photos," Garcia signed sternly, wielding her camera like a deadly weapon.

After nearly fifteen minutes of lectures and threats, Jessica and her date finally escaped the posse of FBI agents and made their way into the school. "Sorry about them," Jessica apologized. "They catch serial killers for a living, it makes them kind of protective."

Darren laughed nervously. "I'd hate to find out what they'd do to me if I stood you up. You have one scary family."

"Technically, only Spencer is actually family," Jessica replied. "The rest just work with him."

Darren shuddered. "I'm pretty sure that won't stop them from murdering me if I'm not a perfect gentleman."

Jessica raised her eyebrows. "Were you planning to be anything less?"

"No, of course not," Darren signed hurriedly.

"Then you shouldn't have any problems." Jessica took his hand and steered him toward the gym where the dance was being held.

The weekend after the team returned from Seattle, Spencer realized that his copy of Empty Planet had disappeared. After two hours of searching, he found it in Jessica's room, next to Patches' tank. He grabbed it and went out to the living room, where Jessica was watching TV. "Please ask before borrowing my things," Spencer signed.

"That's yours?" Jessica signed in surprise. "I was wondering where that came from."

Spencer gave her a strange look. "You knew it wasn't yours, but didn't consider that by process of elimination it must be mine?"

Jessica snorted. "Have you seen your bookcases? All the other books are at least twice this long."

Spencer furrowed his brow, realizing she had a point. "I read this when I was a kid, and it ended up being central to our latest case. I bought a new copy as a refresher."

"You needed a refresher on a book?" Jessica signed skeptically.

"My eidetic memory does not render me immune to childhood amnesia."

Jessica shrugged. "Well, it was interesting. I think I prefer robots like Lieutenant Data, though."

Jessica sighed, staring at her phone. The team had been in St. Louis for three days now. She hoped this wasn't going to be another six-week case; Thanksgiving was this week. And not only did she want to celebrate with Spencer, but she was really hoping that they could go to Gideon's place again. Eventually, she decided to stop waiting and just ask Gideon. "Do you think the case will be done by Thursday?"

Nearly an hour passed before he replied. "One of our killers is trying to help us catch the other, so we'll see."

"If you're home, can we go to your place again?"

Another wait for an answer. "Reid says that's fine."

"Can I help you cook again?"

"Yes."

"And bake pumpkin pie?"

"If you want us home soon, leave us alone and let us work the case."

"Right. Sorry." Jessica set down her phone and picked up Patches. She checked the food and water in his tank; he seemed a little sluggish lately.

Fortunately, the team was home in time for Thanksgiving, and able to take the day off to properly celebrate. Less fortunately, they were called in again early the next morning. Jessica woke up to find a text from Spencer, letting her know that he, Gideon and a new agent named Emily Prentiss were flying out for a case. Oddly, for once he didn't say where he was going.

"Someone really wants to talk to you," Prentiss noted, after Reid's phone went off yet again.

"My cousin," Reid explained. "She's convinced I must be in mortal danger because I told her my destination is 'classified', and she's upset that they hired an agent to replace Elle Greenaway."

"Oh," Prentiss said awkwardly. "There was an opening, I'm not trying to replace anyone…"

"I know, I told her that," Reid assured.

"Ah. Thanks." Prentiss paused. "So, I take it you and your cousin are close?"

"I've been her legal guardian for one year, eight months and eighteen days now."

Prentiss laughed. "I guess that's a yes." She paused again. "Do you mind if I ask why?"

"Her parents died. My mother—her mother's sister—couldn't take her, so that left me."

"Ah." Prentiss debated asking why Reid's mother couldn't take the girl, then decided that might be prying a little too much. "So, how old is she?"

"Thirteen. She'll be fourteen on January 20th."

"The teen years," Prentiss surmised, nodding. "That must be fun."

"Yes, it is," Reid agreed, completely missing her sarcasm. "The whole team banded together to embarrass her for her homecoming dance a few weeks ago. I think Morgan and Hotch may have terrified her date into never socializing with her again."

Prentiss raised her eyebrows. "You didn't try to scare the guy yourself?"

"I trust Jessica's judgment. Besides, he was her classmate, not a total stranger she'd just met."

"Giving her attention without smothering her. I like that." Prentiss smiled, and Reid smiled back at her.

When Garcia got back to her apartment that night, she found Jessica looking incredibly anxious. "Is Spencer really okay? I know he said he's okay, but is he really?"

"He's not the one who nearly got blown up tonight," Garcia replied. Jessica's eyes widened, and Garcia winced. "Don't ask. Just know that Reid's assignment is probably less dangerous than Morgan and Hotch's right now. He's really okay, I promise."

"Okay." Jessica took a deep breath. "So, tell me about this 'Emily Prentiss'."

"There's not much to tell so far. I met her for all of maybe five minutes during the case briefing." Garcia paused, thinking about it. "She's fluent in Arabic because she lived in several Middle Eastern countries when she was growing up. I think I heard that her mother is an ambassador."

"Elle is fluent in Spanish," Jessica reminded her.

Garcia shot Jessica a look of exasperation. "It's not a competition. And Emily seems pretty nice."

"Is she fluent in ASL?"

"I don't know, but Elle left her dictionary, so I'm planning to give it to Emily as soon as I get the chance."

"We'll see if she takes it," Jessica signed, scowling mutinously.

First thing Monday morning, Garcia came up to Prentiss's desk and dropped the sign language dictionary on it. "Unofficial rule of the BAU: you're not really one of us until you start learning ASL. Welcome to the team."

"O…kay. Thank you?" Prentiss said, confused. She picked up the book. "Is it something to do with non-verbal cues and tells?"

Morgan laughed. "Nah, Reid's cousin-slash-ward is deaf, that's all."

"Oh." Prentiss looked at Reid in surprise. "You didn't mention that."

"It didn't come up," Reid replied with a shrug.

"There's more to her than deafness, you know," Garcia added, glaring at Prentiss.

"I didn't mean it like that," Prentiss defended. "I just…wasn't expecting that, I guess. I'm happy to learn ASL. I'm sure she's a wonderful girl and I hope I get to meet her soon."

"I'm sure you will," Morgan replied.

Contrary to Morgan's prediction, Jessica did not come anywhere near the BAU over the next few days. The team didn't get any cases, and while Jessica did admit some grudging respect for Prentiss's immediate willingness to learn ASL, she was still miffed about Elle being replaced.

"His coat was lamb's wool," Reid mused. "But it didn't look vintage, it fit like it had been tailored for him. That means money. In DC, money would mean private school."

"Look at you go," Garcia said encouragingly.

"Even a lie has to be within the depth of your own experience, right?" Reid continued, emboldened. "Uh…pull up the district that serves Northwest High? Are there any private schools within those boundaries?"

Garcia did as he asked. "Uh, three." Her eyes widened. "Including Jessica's. Oh god, do you think this kid is her classmate?"

"No, he definitely wasn't deaf," Reid said dismissively.

"But what if they had sporting events, or…"

"Garcia, focus, please?"

"Right." Garcia turned back to her computer, still internally freaking out.

At lunchtime, Jessica saw a text from Garcia. "You don't happen to know a kid named Nathan Harris, do you?"

"No, why?"

"Just checking."

Jessica gave this latest message a funny look, then shrugged it off.

As soon as the team was closing in on Ronald Weems, Garcia set off on a mission of her own. Jessica needed to stop avoiding Prentiss, and Reid needed something to cheer him up after the whole mess with Nathan. Garcia picked Jessica up and brought her back to Quantico.

As they walked toward the elevators, Garcia heard a voice behind them. "Hey, you work with Dr. Reid, right?"

Garcia spun around. "Yes, did you need something?"

Nathan shuffled his feet and avoided her gaze. "No, I just wanted to see him, but they told me I need an escort inside the building."

"Oh. Sure, come along." Garcia beckoned him toward the elevator, where Jessica was giving them a mildly confused look.

"Hi," Nathan said nervously. "I'm Nathan." He offered a hand.

Jessica smiled and shook it, then narrowed her eyes at Garcia. "Is this the kid you were asking me about?"

"Yes," Garcia confirmed. "Nathan, this is Dr. Reid's cousin Jessica. She's deaf."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Jessica signed, Garcia interpreting for her. "It's nice to meet you. How do you know Spencer?"

"Okay, let's not make this any more awkward than it needs to be," Garcia said and signed hurriedly. Jessica shot her another confused look, but Garcia refused to elaborate. "Jessica, can you wait in my office until Reid is done talking to Nathan?"

"Sure?"

Once Nathan had been escorted to Reid's desk, Garcia walked over to Prentiss. "I've got a genius's cousin in my office, if you want to meet her."

Prentiss set a folder aside. "Sure, that sounds great." She stood up and followed Garcia back to her lair.

Inside, Jessica was browsing a website of kitten photos that Garcia had left open. When she saw movement reflected in the edges of the monitors, she spun the chair around. "So, you must be the new girl," she signed. Garcia interpreted again.

"Hello, my name is E-M-I-L-Y," Prentiss signed.

Jessica sized her up. "Not bad for a new learner," she praised grudgingly.

"Thank you," Prentiss replied. She looked at the monitor. "You like cats?"

"I like anything furry and cuddly. I have a gerbil named Patches."

"A gerbil. Sounds adorable."

"He is," Jessica agreed, finally thawing.

Reid, Jessica and Garcia had just reached the latter's car when Reid got a phone call that sent him into crisis mode. He began calling someone else while buckling himself into the passenger seat, leaving Jessica to climb into the back seat and wonder what was going on. Garcia got into the driver's side and stepped on the gas, clearly in a hurry.

Soon, they pulled up to a seedy motel and ran into a room on the ground floor. Jessica gasped when she saw Nathan Harris, now covered in blood. She hovered anxiously while Reid and Garcia desperately tried to stop the bleeding. Jessica would have liked to help, but she couldn't hear the instructions her cousin was shouting. So she settled for hugging the other girl in the room, who seemed equally freaked out.

After what felt like forever, paramedics arrived and loaded Nathan into an ambulance. The other girl shakily explained what had happened, but the lighting was poor and Jessica couldn't make out what she was saying. Then, finally, Gideon showed up and gently steered Jessica away from it all. "I'm sorry you had to see all that," he apologized.

"What was 'all that'?!" Jessica demanded.

"A very troubled young man who reached out to your cousin for help."

Jessica swallowed, glancing at the motel room. "I'm guessing that didn't work out too well."

Gideon shook his head. "Actually, I think Reid did make a difference. The problem now will be convincing him of that."

Jessica also shook her head. "I don't know how you guys can do this for a living. I can't believe I used to think this sort of thing was 'cool'."

"It's far from 'cool'," Gideon agreed, his expression grim. "It can eat away at your soul if you let it. But every life we save is more rewarding than any menial desk job could ever be."

Jessica managed a small smile. "You guys are heroes."

After all that excitement, Spencer and Jessica decided to spend the weekend hanging out in the apartment together. They read books, played cards, held a physics magic contest, and played with Patches. Patches still seemed rather sluggish.

"Do you think we should take him to the vet?" Jessica asked worriedly.

"Probably," Spencer agreed. "But he wasn't a baby when we got him. Great gerbils only live 2-4 years, he may be reaching the end of his life."

Jessica sadly stroked Patches' back. "Remind me why I wanted a pet with such a short lifespan?"

"I don't know for sure, but my guess was that you asked for a gerbil because you'd cared for one before and thought it was the pet you stood the best chance of talking me into getting for you."

Jessica glared sourly at him. "That was a rhetorical question."

"Sorry." Spencer also petted Patches. "The little guy has grown on me. I'll hate to lose him."

Jessica shuddered. "Let's not talk about losing him. Let's just make a vet appointment."

The vet confirmed Spencer's diagnosis: old age. The cousins sadly took him home, determined to give him the best of care in his final days.

Morgan's arrest in Chicago finally served to distract Jessica from her ailing pet. She spent the day alternately badgering Spencer and Garcia for news, but all either one would tell her was that they were looking into it and Morgan was apparently being difficult. And then, late at night, Spencer finally informed her that they'd caught the real killer and cleared Morgan's name. Jessica heaved a sigh of relief and went to bed, not waiting for Garcia to get home.

The next day, with Spencer back home, Jessica resumed badgering. "So, what happened? Why did they think Derek was a murderer?"

Spencer sighed. "The detective had had a grudge against him since he was a kid."

"Why?"

"He got into some trouble after his dad died."

"What kind of trouble?"

Spencer took a deep breath. "Look, it turns out there was a lot of stuff in his childhood that he didn't want any of us to know about, and it's not my place to share it. And don't go asking him either. Now that the case is over, it's really none of either of our business."

Jessica furrowed her brow. "Okay," she relented, still curious but respectful of Morgan's privacy.

Ten days before Christmas, Spencer was finally given the all clear to resume wearing his contact lenses full-time. Jessica declared that they should celebrate by decorating the apartment together, to which he readily agreed. The next day, Jessica baked Christmas cookies for her friends and for the entire team (including Emily). Gideon apparently did not have plans with his son this year, so he was warmly invited to join Spencer and Jessica. The holiday was mostly enjoyable, though Jessica was saddened when she was unable to interest Patches in playing with wrapping paper. After Gideon left, Spencer and Jessica watched the Doctor Who Christmas special together, which resulted in Spencer giving Jessica a joking lecture about not accepting coffee from HR representatives.

The team was in Nevada when Patches' little life finally came to an end. Garcia was busy with the case, so Jessica spent the night alone in Garcia's apartment, trying and failing to do homework. Eventually, she gave up and snuggled Chocolate Thunder, crying.

Spencer wasn't in much better shape when he got home. Apparently, not only had the team been chasing one of the worst killers in the history of the BAU, but he'd gotten away. And to top it all off, Saturday was Jessica's birthday.

Spencer and Jessica came to an agreement to bury Patches in Rock Creek Park. Spencer insisted on doing it Friday after work, so as not to spoil Jessica's birthday any more than necessary. Garcia and Gideon joined them, offering silent sympathy and support.

The next morning, Jessica woke up to the smell of cinnamon rolls. She groggily rolled out of bed and stumbled into the kitchen. Spencer immediately averted his eyes. "Jessica, please put a shirt on."

Jessica looked down in surprise, then flushed with embarrassment. She returned to her room to at least make herself decent, then came back to the kitchen. "Good morning."

"Happy birthday."

"Not feeling very happy."

"Nonetheless, the phrase 'happy birthday' is a traditional—"

"I don't care," Jessica interrupted, annoyed.

Spencer sighed. He put two cinnamon rolls on a plate and pushed it over to her before signing again. "How would you like to go down to the garage and start learning to drive?"

Jessica stared at him. "I'm only turning fourteen. I can't drive for two more years."

"That's the DMV's rule, not mine. I taught myself to drive as soon as I was tall enough to reach the pedals. It'll be a good skill for you to have, even if I can't take you out on the open road yet. You never know when there might be an emergency."

Jessica shuddered, thinking of her parents. "What if I crash?"

"We're only going to practice in the garage," Spencer promised. "Slowly."

Jessica picked up a cinnamon roll and stared at it, still uncertain.

"Once you get your license, the car will be pretty much yours whenever you want to drive it," Spencer cajoled. "I hardly use it anyway."

"Okay," Jessica relented. "Let's do this."