"Well, at least now we know why Spencer isn't using his talents to the fullest," Michelle said sigh, as she plopped herself down in one of the comfortable chairs in front of her dad's desk in his office.

"Yeah, we do," Dave agreed. "With his eidetic memory it's no wonder he remembers the way his dad was always complaining. Even if he didn't remember, his need not to spend money would be part of his personality, even if he never remembered exactly why."

"I have no idea how any parent could do that to their child," Michelle said shaking her head. "Yes, I know it happens, but it just isn't right. You would think that the human race would have gotten less selfish by now as this is the 23rd century."

"Never going to happen," Dave said shaking his head. "Luckily, we aren't totally a lost cause, as there are plenty of kind, honest and generous people in the world."

"So what's our next step?" Michelle asked.

"Well, I can tell you he's very interested in you if you doubted it. It wasn't very obvious, but the attraction was there. It was just very subtle. Spencer's good at controlling his bodily reactions, so he's harder to read then most people."

"I did notice he turned his head in my direction every time I spoke," Michelle said.

"He likely couldn't help himself," Dave said. "I would say that his hearing is already tuned to the sound and tone of your voice. I'm sure that Spencer has realized this is well, even if he doesn't understand why right now. They were also other signs as well."

"That's good isn't it?" Michelle asked eagerly.

"In a way it is," Dave agreed.

"What are you mean in a way," Michelle immediately asked confused.

"Remember what we discussed before about Spencer's personality," Dave said.

"You think that even though he's attracted to me, that he'll never act on it," Michelle said realizing what her father meant.

"That's exactly what I mean," Dave said as he took a sip of the scotch he had poured. "I might not know exactly what he's thinking, but I can guess."

"So?" Michelle asked.

"He's likely thinking that I would never agree to allow you to have a relationship with someone like him. Maybe even that I would threaten to disown you if the two of you didn't break up," Dave began. "Remember, he doesn't know anything about magical bonds, or even that such things as soulmates exist. He doesn't understand that I don't control your actions, as you're old enough to make your own decisions and have money of your own.

"He's going by what he's read or seen on TV about how people like us act. Let's just say that entertainment mediums aren't often very realistic. Also, we must think about the fact, that his father is apparently something of a pinchpenny and likely grumbled and complained whenever he had to spend money on anyone other than himself. After all, just because you have plenty of it, doesn't mean you like to spend it on others, not even your family. I mean, think about it. His father apparently denied him going to a special school for the more intelligent because those types of schools cost money and the mother couldn't afford it on her salary, not with three other children to raise. He apparently either didn't care about his son's mental development or just didn't realize that Spencer needed to be with people that could be peers, children who would challenge him to do as good as he possibly could in all his courses. Competition can be a healthy thing, as it forces you to up your game."

"I think it's your first suggestion," Michelle said. "After all, remember what Spencer said about his parents arguing about that very thing. If Spencer's mother couldn't convince her husband to change his mind that says to me that he truly didn't care about his son's welfare, mental or otherwise. I mean wanting your son to go to the same high school you attended while not necessarily a bad decision also shows an incredible lack of foresight on the father's part."

"I suspect that the father wanted Spencer to be as intelligent as he was, but not a genius. Someone who was intelligent certainly, but not as smart as three or four people put together. It's a common fault with parents I'm afraid or really anybody. They just don't want their child to be different from them, more intelligent or better at sports for instance," Dave explained.

"I know," Michelle sighed. "You know I'm not naïve. Still, I think it's sad, that so many parents just can't accept their kids for who they are."

"It is, but there's really nothing we can do about it," Dave said. "Unfortunately. We need to look on the positive side though and one thing in the positive column is that Spencer is apparently close to his mother and probably his siblings as well, not just the sibling he mentioned. If that's the case then that means the father is the odd one out and probably explains how Spencer and likely his siblings turned out so well."

"Yeah, I know," Michelle agreed. "I mean me and my brothers turned out very well thanks to you dad. You took us in, you adopted us, gave us a home. I have no idea what would've happened to my brothers if they had stayed in orphanages until they were adults. As for me you adopted me centuries ago as an infant when my mother was murdered. You didn't have to do that you know."

"I just happened to be in the right place at the right time," Dave told his daughter kissing her on the forehead. "If nobody had taken you in you likely would have died from the fire. I had no idea that your father had been immortal, not until you were older and I saw you heal from a minor injury right before my eyes. I had been planning on asking you if you wanted to be like I was when you were at least 30, but that turned out to be rather unnecessary. I would've taken you even if your mother hadn't begged and pleaded with me to take care of you."

"Do you know why my mother was murdered," Michelle asked, as if the thought had just occurred to her.

"I suspect it's because she got pregnant by a man that wasn't her husband. It wouldn't necessarily have mattered if she was raped or not, as after all, even today a lot people believe that a woman who is raped asked for it," Dave said. "Remember, what I said about people and them being superstitious."

"I know," Michelle snorted.

"The villagers probably thought that you died right along with your mother," Dave added. "I'm actually surprised that they waited until after you were born to kill your mother, though the pregnancy wouldn't've been obvious for at least four or five months."

"They probably had to get up the courage," Michelle snorted. "They were probably afraid that she would curse them."

"It probably wasn't all the villagers that did it either," Dave said. "It was probably no more than half a dozen of them as there are idiots everywhere. It's a good thing that I was out and about, even though it was late at night just because I couldn't sleep. Looking at the stars was my favorite way to calm my mind back then, so I saw the rise of smoke, since I was staying at the local inn near there. I hurried towards the source and saw your home on fire, but whoever had done the deed was long gone by the time I arrived. I ducked inside, even though the fire was blazing brightly and saw your mother tied to a chair. She had apparently been gotten out of bed that she was in her nightgown. She's begged me, as soon as she saw me, to get you out of there. You were crying your little heart out, because you knew something was wrong. Babies can sense when something is wrong you know and you were only a few months old, no more than three or four at most. It was actually not the fire that drew me inside but your crying in obvious distress."

"I would have died if not for you dad. You took me away and left the town you were staying in so you could tell everyone that I was your daughter once we moved somewhere else where people didn't know us," Michelle said. "I'm grateful."

"I was glad to do it Michelle. Not only did your mother beg me to save the life of her daughter, she also begged me take care of you, to raise you as my own. I fell in love with you the instant I saw your sweet face, even if you were wailing at the time, your face streaked with tears, your little nose, red from sniffling. I never even noticed that your red nose and eyes from all that crying and sniffling disappeared right away, instead of lasting till morning at least. There should have been signs the next morning even if they were faint if you had been mortal and had such a serious crying bout. It just never occurred to me. There was no time to rescue your mother unfortunately, as heat and the smoke were really bad by the time I picked you up, wrapped in a blanket and got us out of there. Your mother was already halfway gone due to the heat and the smoke as it was. She was coughing, these big racking coughs because of the thick smoke. I barely got you out before the roof collapsed. Some of the townspeople arrived shortly after that to put out the fire, before it spread, as a alarm had finally been raised."

"By that time it was to late to help my mother," Michelle said with a rather sad expression.

"I know and I'm sorry for the way things worked out," Dave said with the sober expression.

"It's not your fault dad," Michelle said feeling guilty for making her father feel like he had something to apologize for. "You did the best you could at the time I know that. You raised me, you loved me and that's all that matters. While I wish I had known my mother I know I was very lucky that you were in the right place at the right time. That you risked being burned at least by going into a building that was on fire," Michelle said.

"The burns wouldn't have lasted more than a few hours," Dave told his daughter with a loving smile. "Yes, they would've had hurt fiercely if I had gotten any, but they wouldn't have killed me thanks to my immortality."

"Still, I love you dad for taking me in, not many people would have, you know, especially not back then," Michelle said, even as she got up out of for chair to give her dad a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"It was my pleasure believe me. You brought much joy to my rather solitary life. I had never thought about adopting a kid before so in that way I changed when I adopted James and then Tristan."

"Who looks basically the same age I do because you changed them into immortals, even James who was turned immortal at 35 instead of 30," Michelle giggled, even as she hugged her father again. "Unlike me and you they weren't born immortal."

"It doesn't matter. They just aren't going to die anytime soon," Dave said chuckling then sobered. "I don't think we should introduce James or Tristan to Spencer right away, as he is bound to notice that you all look basically the same age. James is a few years older at 35, or at least he looks 35 because that's when he was changed, but you and Tristan look the same age."

"So just tell Spencer we were all adopted, because you wanted me to have some siblings and that should explain why Tristan and me look the same age, since we certainly aren't twins," Michelle suggested logically. "He's going to know that we aren't related, as we don't look anything alike, so he's either going to assume that you got three different women pregnant or that we're adopted."

"None of you look like me either, though James does come close, since he has dark hair and dark brown eyes like me. We even have the same nose and jawline," Dave said. "Still, the resemblance is rather superficial. That's a very good idea, by the way."

"You would have thought of it eventually dad," Michelle said. "Right now, we are just kind of distracted. I should have known that it wouldn't be easy to get Spencer as mine."

"The harder it is the more rewarding it will be in the end," Dave said.

Michelle sighed and nodded.

"I know you're frustrated sweetie. I can't say I blame you, but you need to have patience," Dave advised.

"I'll try," Michelle said. "The thing is I have no idea where to go from here. I'm just not used to having to chase someone to get what I want. Usually they come panting after me and I just say yes when they ask."

"Normally, I don't have to chase after any woman I want to ask out either," Dave agreed sympathizing with his daughter.

Both father and daughter sighed simultaneously. They were both confident in their ability to get what they wanted in the end, but with Dr. Spencer Reid it was a different kettle of fish altogether. He wasn't the type to pant after any woman, no matter how attracted he happened to be. That he was able to contain his reactions to someone as gorgeous as his daughter said a lot about him. To him, it said that Spencer had good control of his bodily reactions and also his facial expressions. His future son-in-law was apparently very good at ignoring a gorgeous woman that was sitting right beside him.

Dave suspected that Spencer didn't feel worthy of dating a woman like Michelle or possibly any woman. If he had to guess he probably considered himself an oddball, to weird to ever attract a woman's notice. It was possible that Spencer thought that even if a woman was interested in him he'd run her off because of his weirdness.

His daughter was a very beautiful young woman, though he supposed the term young was a bit of an exaggeration considering how old she really was. Technically, she was centuries old, but she only looked 30, so no one but those in the know would know how old she really was.

Still, his daughter was a gorgeous woman, she was what was considered nowadays a classical beauty. She had long blonde hair that was naturally wavy, her eyes were a dark brown. She had beautiful, clear white skin with just a hint of a tan, that gave it a healthy glow. Michelle was very tall at 6'0' which was rather unusual for most women, especially in the time in which she had been born. A large percentage of woman nowadays were six feet and over, though there were still plenty of woman of more average height. Michelle was athletically trim, with a tiny waist and long legs. His daughter was gorgeous and he was sure that Spencer thought so as well, as it was clear that Spencer had hardly been oblivious to how beautiful his daughter was. Of course, getting him to admit that was probably going to be pretty difficult.

"You know we might have to do something drastic to get him to believe," Dave said finally. "I hope doing something like that isn't necessary, but considering how logical and unemotional he is it might be necessary."

"Like what?" Michelle inquired.

"Like poisoning one of us and Spencer can watch us die and then come back to life a few minutes later. I don't think simply watching us heal is going to be enough. He'll either think it's some kind of new technology or that it's some kind of illusion. He simply isn't the type to believe in anything that seems out there. You know, unexplainable, by any normal means," Dave explained.

"Let's hope we don't have to go that far," Michelle grimaced.

"No, let's hope not, but we need to plan for it just in case. Make sure that Spencer can't escape the house until he accepts what he has seen."

"And make sure he won't tell anybody what happened," Michelle added.

"I doubt anybody would believe him, especially when we both turn up healthy and I'm sure he'd know that. He wouldn't want to look like a crackpot, as that brings its own sort of attention, and not the good kind. He could possibly move back to Las Vegas or some other city. Even if he stays here, in New York, he might change jobs and address."

"It's not like we couldn't uncover that information," Michelle said. "So it's probably more likely that he'd move elsewhere."

"He could change his name, at least his last name. While it is very hard to disappear or go off the grid as it is known, in this century it is still possible I don't think he'll go that far though unless he feels trapped and like he's being stalked."

"You don't think he'll go to the police, bring charges?" Michelle asked.

"If we were anybody else that might be possible, but he has to know that nothing like that is going to stick to people as wealthy and well-connected as we are. Spencer would have to have some hard evidence to convince the police that we had done what he said, which is why I think his moving away from the city is the most likely possibility."

"You're probably right," Michelle decided. "You seem to understand Spencer mindset very well."

"Experience," Dave said simply. "I've encountered people like him before, though not one with so little self-confidence as Spencer seems to have."

"I think that's his father's fault," Michelle snorted, her disdain for the Senior Reid obvious in her tone. "Remember what Spencer told us?"

"Yeah, I do. You're at least partially right I'm sure, but there might be other factors as well. Spencer's certainly intelligent enough to do the exact opposite of his father, as he wouldn't want to emulate the man that didn't look after his children's best interest. That kind of attitude would certainly make an impression on someone like Spencer who is very intelligent and observant. I wouldn't be surprised if his siblings are just as intelligent as he is, as that is the kind of thing tends to run in families, though I doubt they got his eidetic memory, as that type of thing is pretty rare."

"So you encountered people with Spencer's type of memory before then?" Michelle questioned.

"Oh yes, I've met several people throughout the centuries that had it, but still, I think the estimate is that it's 1 person out of every 500,000 or so that has that type of memory, though they don't necessarily have the intelligence that Spencer does to go with it, which makes my future son-in-law a rather unusual type of person. He may well be one-of-a-kind," Dave said.

"As much as I would like to marry him we have to win him over first," Michelle said. "We are going to have to convince him not only that something as fantastical as immortality is real, but that we were meant to be together. After hearing some about his childhood he's going to be suspicious of our intentions just on principal."

"We'll figure out a way," Dave promised. "I wish I could go beat up the Senior Reid for the way he treated his children, as I bet he's the main reason Spencer is like he is, but if anybody will be able to convince him to trust us I think that you will be the deciding factor."

"How did you come to that conclusion?" Michelle asked her father.

"Because the bond between you is likely already very strong, as we discussed earlier I doubt very much he's ever going to be able stop thinking about you weeks or months from now. He's only going to make himself miserable if he doesn't admit that there is something between you even if he doesn't understand why. Now while he's probably used to being miserable he's not going to be able to sleep very well, not until he at least acknowledges the bond between the two of you. Whenever he does sleep he's likely going to dream of you. You know what what kind of dreams I mean."
"Yeah, I do," Michelle agreed. "So has the same thing happened to you?"

"Yeah, it has, but I've learned how to compensate for them. I take a nap during the day, which is why I'm up half the night, don't ask me why they don't come in the daytime and just happen at night, because I couldn't tell you."
"So that's why you're such a night owl," Michelle said in understanding. "I always wondered what had made you such a night person and just figured that it was the way your body worked. Some people after all, are more awake at night then in the daytime and vice versa of course."

"Well, if I ever meet my mate again I'm sure my sleep patterns will change," Dave shrugged. "Since that's not likely to happen anytime soon I don't worry about it. I get more done at night than I do in the day. My mind just seems too work better."

"The same things going to happen to me if we can't convince Spencer that the two of us are meant to be or at least I'm going to be very sexually frustrated soon," Michelle said. "Why such a scientific, logical, unemotional man like Spencer is my mate is beyond me."

"He's not really unemotional as he seems Mellie," Dave gently chided her causing her to blush at her father's gentle, chiding tone. "He's just learned how to hide his emotions from most people because he's been hurt emotionally at least. If his father for instance had been a different man, one that supported his children, played with them, paid attention to their needs like by sending Spencer to that private school we were discussing he would likely have turned out very differently if his father had been the giving, compassionate sort."

"You're right," Michelle said. "I shouldn't have said what I did, but I'm already frustrated with the situation."

"I don't blame you, as I felt the same way after my mate was murdered. It frustrated and angered me that I could do nothing to help the situation, nor do anything to stop what happened," Dave said. "But you must consider that at least your mate is alive so there is a possibility that you will get together. I know it's not a sure thing but you still have a chance of getting Spencer to be your husband and to recognize that he does love you. I know it'll be hard to get to that stage, but it will be worth it. Have faith that things will work out the way they were meant too."

"I'll try," Michelle said giving a big sigh, which released a lot of tension.

"Why don't you try to sleep? It's late. You need to be on your toes for whenever Spencer contacts us sometime in the next three days," Dave suggested.

"I doubt I'll be able to sleep, but I can try at least," Michelle said. "I'll probably spend hours staring up at the ceiling though."

"Trying is all you can do," Dave said quietly.

Both father and daughter finally parted Dave ordering the lights off in his office before he to headed to his bedroom to try to sleep.

~~~Spencer and Michelle~~~