It was still light out when Spencer woke later on. A glance at the clock, though, told him that he'd slept for hours. His body had apparently decided that it'd had enough and just shut down on him. What finally woke him up quickly became clear when he tried to move and his body gave a loud protest. As soon as he acknowledged that, it was like all the other pains came roaring in as well, making themselves known. His bruised ribs were throbbing, his head was pounding, the cut on his leg burned like hell, his arms barely wanted to move from the ache in his shoulders, and his wrists and hands were throbbing in tune with his heartbeat. That didn't count all the other little aches and pains. Those were just the big ones.

Spencer could've wept with gratitude when he saw the glass of water and the bottle of medication that was blessedly open on the nightstand. A quick look showed it was the usual non-narcotic that Lillian prescribed him. It was one they knew he was safe to take and that worked well. He downed two of them and the whole glass of water before carefully lying back once more on the soft bed. He was lucky that he'd run into Penelope on his way out of the bullpen yesterday. While he was embarrassed to have fallen apart this way in front of her, and he was definitely going to have to call and thank her later, he wasn't sure if he would've made it here without the help. Between the physical and emotional pain, he'd just had too much to process and his mind had shut down on him. It was all thanks to her that he'd gotten here where he was somewhere safe.

The pain from earlier tried to creep back in and Spencer worked to ignore it. He couldn't think about that right now. He couldn't let himself think about that right now.

With a pained sigh, he gathered together what energy he had and started the long process and getting up out of bed. Muscles that had just hurt yesterday after his rescue were now stiff and sore. He discovered as he sat up that he was pretty limited on what would work. His ribs didn't let him bend well and there was no way in hell his arms could support his weight in any way. Between his shoulders and wrists, his arms were pretty much out of commission. Eventually he gave up on trying to sit up and went about it a different way entirely. He very carefully rolled his body to the edge of the bed and then rolled onto his stomach and slid his legs down off the bed. But he didn't push up or force his body to straighten. Instead, he let his feet hit the floor and he put his weight on them as he slowly slid the rest of him off as well, ending up in a ridiculous looking squat beside the bed. I'm glad there's no one here to see this he thought to himself. Silly looking or not, it worked, even if the cut on his leg was burning even more now. He bore down on his good leg and straightened up.

A duffle bag was sitting on a chair nearby and a quick look showed that someone had grabbed him some clothes as well as other essentials. He pulled out just a simple pair of sweats and a t-shirt, plus his bathroom bag. Cradling his items in his arms, he made his way out of the bedroom and directly across the hall into the guest bathroom. He had absolutely no qualms about making himself at home here. This was Tanya's place and it was like a second home for him. As she was known to say, he wasn't a stranger here, he was family.

Stripping out of his clothes was an experience in pain that he could happy have lived without. It was all worth it, though, when he got underneath the shower spray and the hot water hit his aching muscles.

Thirty minutes later, barefoot and clad in his lounge clothes, he made his way out towards the kitchen, following the sounds of someone cooking. What he found when he reached the kitchen/dining area had him stopping with surprise. Tanya was there, as he'd expected, cooking what appeared to be breakfast-for-dinner, one of her absolute favorite dinners. But sitting at the table drinking coffee were JJ, Emily, Penelope and Dave.

Spencer looked at them all with surprise. "Uh, hey guys."

"Well hey there, kiddo." Dave greeted him warmly. JJ, Emily and Penelope all added their greetings as well, their voices ringing around the room.

From her spot by the stove, Tanya didn't even turn around to call out "Sit down, Spence. Lillian says you need plenty of rest. The last thing you need is to be up. I've got coffee brewing and pancakes cooking here, so you've got good timing."

What else could he do? Spencer knew that tone and he knew better than to disobey her. He went to the table and carefully slid down into an open seat. Deliberately he kept himself a little ways away from the others. The fact that they were here at all would suggest that they didn't have a problem with him. However, he wasn't taking anything for granted, not right now. Especially not after earlier. Then someone else came into the room and Spencer's shock was complete. Astounded, he sat in his chair and watched as Derek came strolling out of the pantry like he was completely at ease here. "Was this what you wanted, Tanya?" He asked, holding a jar out towards her that looked to be her homemade berry syrup.

She tipped enough to look at it and gave a nod. "Yep. Himself over there loves that. Just set that over by the sink and I'll get to it in a moment. Dinner should be about another five to ten minutes." She tipped her head and looked at Derek, arching a brow at him. "Plenty of time for a little talking out there."

"Yes, ma'am." He gave her a mock salute and a smile before making his way over towards the table.

The two friends watched each other as Derek came right up to the chair beside Spencer. He sank down into it and folded his arms on the table, never once breaking eye contact with Spencer. He didn't give the silence a chance to stretch out. In his usual, straightforward way, he said "I owe you one hell of an apology, Reid."

Spencer felt his eyes widen even more. "What?"

"You heard me, kid." Derek teased him. He gave a weak smile that quickly faded away. "I reacted badly to this whole thing and it wasn't right and it wasn't fair. I don't like knowing that you had a whole life you felt like you couldn't tell us about, but I guess I understand why you didn't. Especially considering what happened when you did tell us." Pausing, he reached down into his pocket and pulled out a picture frame that had sat on Spencer's coffee table. It was one that Henry had made for him. Spencer could see the crack in it, the line of superglue that held it together where it must've been broken in the attack, and his throat clenched a little. Derek set it down in front of him. "I guess I just needed a little boot in the ass to realize what an idiot I was being. Think you can forgive me?"

At first Spencer could only sit there and stare at him. Then, without thinking, he said the first thing that came to mind, letting his heart lead for once instead of his mind. "Of course. You are and always will be the best friends that I've ever had, Morgan."

"Aww."

The group chorus had Derek laughing and Spencer blushing. Tanya saved him any further embarrassment by bringing over a heaping plate of pancakes and setting it in the middle of the table. "Now that we've gotten the first round of emotional stuff out of the way, let's eat. The rest can wait for later." She told them all firmly. No one disobeyed her. Plates and silverware were passed around and plenty of coffee was poured and Spencer found himself sitting at the head of the table and watching as his friends dug in to pancakes that were quickly hailed the absolute best any of them had ever had. Tanya beamed proudly as she moved around the table, passing things out here and there, refreshing cups. She wasn't eating, herself. She just took a cup of coffee and came over to settle on the arm of Spencer's chair. He was grateful for her being there. She didn't make a fuss about helping to put pancakes on his plate for him when his arms wouldn't lift out far enough and she gave him a soft spot to rest against when he was done eating and was sitting back in his chair.

There was no real conversation through the meal. Everyone was too busy enjoying it all. But soon enough the food was done, the dishes were cleared away and put into the dishwasher—Emily, JJ and Penelope firmly took care of that, insisting that Tanya stay seated and let them help—and cups were refreshed from the fresh pot of coffee that had had to be brewed.

When everyone was settled in, Spencer looked around at his friends and he knew what was coming now. Now was going to be the time for questions and answers. Now was when they were going to try to understand and he was going to have to explain himself as best as possible. With Tanya still sitting on the arm of his chair, one of her arms resting on the back right behind his head, he thought it might not be so bad. She was very firmly on his side here. He wasn't alone.

It was up to him to start this, he knew. Drawing strength together, he forced himself to sit just a little straighter. "So, do I remember correctly? Did you guys get Jeffrey?"

"We did." Dave said. He had a slightly pleased look on his face. "He started firing and was taken down. He won't be coming back to bother you, kiddo."

The smile that stretched Spencer's lips was sharp and held just a hint of his inner predator to it, startling his friends. They'd never seen that kind of a look on his face before. By his shoulder, he heard Tanya's sharp "Good." And he nodded his head, agreeing with her sentiment. He gave himself a moment to just enjoy that feeling. Jeffrey had done horrible things, had almost destroyed a man who still hadn't recovered from him, and for that, Spencer would not mourn him.

He let go of his smile and took a moment to lift his mug and take a drink from his coffee. His hands wobbled only slightly and he winced before setting the mug back down. When he looked up again, he'd schooled his expression to calm once more. "I imagine that you all have questions you'd like to ask. Things you'd like answered. But first things first, let me get something out of the way. As I imagine Garcia probably already told you all, I resigned today. I left my credentials on Hotch's desk and sent my letter of resignation to both him and Strauss, and I emptied my desk. I won't be coming back to the Bureau. And I'm sorry if it offends you, but I really don't want to discuss the reasons why. Not today."

The looks he saw around the table told him that they'd all probably already figured out exactly what had happened. "We understand, Reid." JJ reassured him.

"Thank you." Relaxing just a little, he gave them all a shy smile. "Is there anything you guys want to ask? I, well, I'll answer whatever I can."

"I wanna know what you can do." Derek said promptly, making everyone laugh. "It's been driving me crazy. You said those claw marks back at your place were from you. What's your power, kid?"

Leave it to Derek to come right out and ask like that. Spencer looked down at himself and he debated for just a moment. As if reading his mind, Tanya said "It'd be simpler just to show them. Your clothes should be loose enough."

"Lean back a little then, please. Those extra few inches in height might offset your balance." He warned her. Once she'd shifted back just a little, leaning outwards, Spencer closed his eyes and reached down inside of himself. Then he 'flipped the switch' and felt the change race over him.

One time he'd set up a video camera and recorded himself, just so he could see the change as it happened. He'd been curious. It was a very interesting experience to watch. His limbs lengthened ever so slightly and he gained an extra inch or two. At the same time, that tawny fur grew out all over him, covering his skin, and his hair changed color. It wasn't any gradual thing to watch, really. Parts of him seemed to just, ripple and shift, almost like the very air around him rippled and pulsed. All it took was just a breath before he opened his now amber eyes. The shock on the faces around him brought a smile to his face, which only served to highlight his sharp fangs. Behind him, he felt his tail move and he slipped it through the hole on the back of the chair so that it was free to wave behind him, the black tip peeking up over his shoulder for a moment before going back down. He knew the change in looks was a shock. The tawny fur, with the white around his mouth and on his throat that they could see, and the tiny bit of black on the back of his now slightly rounded ears. His body was longer, with more definition to it as well. For the moment he kept his hands folded in his lap so they wouldn't see the pads on his palms or the furred fingers that ended in no visible nail. At least, not visible until he pushed the claws out.

"Oh my word." Penelope breathed out. Her eyes were wide. All of a sudden her lips stretched wide in a huge grin. "Reid, you're beautiful!"

Even though no blush showed through the fur, there was no denying his embarrassment as he dropped his head down and looked down and away.

That broke the spell over the room. Laughter bubbled up from everyone. Tanya reached out and hooked her fingers just behind his ear to scratch in one of his absolute favorite places. "He's always beautiful. But this way, he is more true to himself. This is how he was meant to be." She said fondly. He had to pull away from her hand when he felt a low vibration start in his throat. That was the last thing he needed to do right now! Get scratched by his friend and start purring right here in front of everyone.

The laughter died down and Spencer was amazed to see that his friends all still smiled at him. None of them seemed to be scared of how he looked. They didn't seem disgusted by it. Sure, they were staring a little, but he could handle that. That was to be expected. He just hadn't expected their easy acceptance. It put a warm feeling low down in his stomach, chasing away some of the sickness that still sat there form earlier today.

"You look almost like a cougar." Emily commented, leaning forward and resting her arms on the table.

Spencer nodded his head. "I am. I'm sort of a cougar/human hybrid."

"What does it do for you?" JJ asked. "I mean, aside from the obvious. Are your senses better than normal?"

"No, they can't be. You wear glasses." Penelope pointed out.

Shifting a little to adjust for his ribs, Spencer found himself relaxing as he finally got to explain this part of himself to these people who mattered so much to him. "When I'm in what we call my human form, I'm just as average as the next person, though I do hear and smell slightly better than normal. When I'm in this form, I gain qualities of a cougar. My senses are enhanced this way. I also get the speed, agility, endurance."

"He's basically got enhanced senses and an enhanced physical form, as we catalog it." Tanya supplied. She'd leaned back in once more, her arm going again to the back of Spencer's chair. "While those don't' really bleed over to his human form, there are some things that do. More than he'll admit to. You've all probably noticed some of it without even realizing it. He's quiet and solitary, as cougars are. He's also intensely curious. And he gets very feline when he becomes relaxed. You can see it in the way he stretches out sometimes, or how he can find a way to fall asleep on almost any space."

"You make me sound like a housecat." Spencer said, scowling up at her.

"No, man, she's totally right." Derek cut in with a laugh. He was grinning broadly at Spencer. "I've seen it, Reid. Hell, you've done it at my place when you get all stretched out on my couch. You never had any trouble stretching out there like you owned the thing. I've always teased you about that." Stopping, Derek let out a startled laugh. "Holy shit. I told you once that having you over was like adopting a giant housecat."

A devilish smile curved Spencer's lips. "Yes. I enjoyed the humor in that quite a bit."

"Wait…is this why Clooney has such issues with you? He usually likes everyone."

"Yes." Picking up his mug, Spencer carefully cradled it between his hands so he could take a drink and wet his throat. "It's why I have what you all call the 'Reid effect'. In reality, animals are just reacting to my scent."

The table fell quiet for a few minutes and Spencer let it. He knew this was a lot to take in. It was a lot for a person to have to process. He gave them the silence and just took a little bit to drink his coffee. But eventually he leaned forward a set his mug back down on the table, looking around at the faces of his friends. "Was there anything else you guys wanted to know? Any other questions that you have?"

There was just a moment's hesitation. Then, biting her lip, JJ voiced a hesitant question. "Does this have something to do with whatever those ledgers were about?"

Well, hell. Talk about a loaded question. That set Spencer back in his seat. He felt Tanya startle as well and realized that she didn't know that his ledgers had been found. He looked up at her, unsure of how to answer this. This wasn't just his secret. Like before, he didn't want to give away something that didn't involve only him. Telling them wasn't a choice that he could make on his own. He could see on Tanya's face that she understood his hesitance. She smiled kindly at him and reached up to tuck a bit of his hair behind his ear. "You trust them, right?" She asked. He nodded at her and her smile grew. "Then I trust them. They don't need names, but we can tell them the general premise. They deserve to understand a little, Spencer."

"You're right. Of course you're right." He leaned into her just the slightest bit as he turned his eyes back to his friends. "I need to ask you to keep this part of things to yourselves. This isn't just my secret. There are others who would be put at risk."

"What's said here, stays here." Dave promised him. The others echoed that sentiment.

Now that he had permission, essentially, and he was free to tell them, he didn't quite know how to put it all into words. How to explain this? Especially to people who weren't at all involved in this lifestyle. The people he'd explained it to before had all been people who were joining into things, or who were already partially involved. They carried some understanding already. His friends here didn't. Then again, they might understand other parts better, considering the things they'd seen in their line of work. To make them understand, though, he was going to have to go back a ways. This wasn't something that he could just give them a few facts to and expect them to understand. He had to tell them the story that went with it. "I have to go back a little ways to make you guys understand before I get to the ledgers themselves. Just explaining what they are would only bring up more questions."

"We've got plenty of time." Emily said.

Nodding, Spencer took her at her word. He had no idea how long this story would take to tell. "I guess it starts when I first met Tanya."

"Let me tell this part." Tanya said, laying her hand on Spencer's shoulder. He gave her a nod and she smiled up at the group of profilers. "I told Derek and Emily that Spencer saved my life when he met me. I was honestly being literal. The man that he saved me from had bought me off a mutant auction block. When Spencer came along it was just a matter of right place, right time, and he got me away from the man who owned me. He brought me home, cleaned me up, and told me he could get me to a shelter that could help me get away, or that I was welcome to stay there with him as long as I needed until I could get back on my feet. I chose to stay. And so, I became his first."

"His first?" JJ asked.

"Yes. The first one that Spencer rescued."

Reaching up, Spencer tapped Tanya's leg. "Who's telling this story, you or me?"

"I'm so sorry." She said, not at all apologetic. "Please, continue."

He rolled his eyes at her and chuckled softly. Then his expression turned serious once more as he got back to his story. "She makes it sound like I started on some personal mission here or something. That's not what I did. I didn't turn into some caped crusader, set out to right the wrongs of the world. I just…there are so many people out there, so many mutants, and no one helps them. No one does anything for them simply because they're mutants. I wanted to do something to try and help. I didn't know what to do, but I knew I had to do something. Of course, Tanya was all for helping me. But still, there wasn't much two teenagers could do. Sometimes I'd hear something, find out some information, and I'd go in as Stalker—in this form." He tacked that last bit on, realizing that they didn't know who 'Stalker' was. "And I'd help. As the years went by and I helped more people, more of them, like Tanya, chose to stay around, to try and help me."

"We've got a team now of our own. A group of us that does this together. All of us are people that Spencer's helped in some way or another." Tanya said.

The four profilers seemed stunned. "It's like…you're like your own X-Men here or something." Emily said in shock.

Immediately Spencer shook his head, scowling. "We're not like the X-Men." On that he was going to make sure he was very, very clear. The hell if he wanted to be thought of like them. That wasn't what they did here and that wasn't what was going on. "The X-Men fight for the Dream. They fight to make the world a place where everyone can live together. With us, that's not what we're about. That's not what I do. What we do."

"Then what are you doing?" JJ asked curiously.

"We're giving people freedom." The reply was delivered in a voice that was so soft, yet so powerful. "We give people freedom, JJ. Have you ever seen the mutant auction blocks?" Spencer ran a hand through his hair, wincing at the pull in his shoulder, and he sighed. "The people that I work with, they all came off mutant trafficking rings or out of bad situations. Each trafficking ring I find, I do what I can to shut it down. I spend months researching, gathering intel, planning, and then I do everything I can to shut it down and to help the people left behind when I do. That's what you saw in the ledgers. It's information, dates, locations for the newest one that we're trying to pin down. There's also account information where we store any money we might need to take care of this. I refuse to walk through life knowing that people, human beings, are being sold like animals and no one helps them because they're mutants. I choose to fight back against it. I choose to do what I can to help. We get these people out of some horrible situations and we help them to get somewhere safe."

"It's like a mutant underground railroad." Tanya offered helpfully. "We pull them out and feed them into the shelter system and they get to a safe place or they get to the right kind of help they need. "

Realization dawned on a few faces. "Like this Mickey kid." Dave said.

"Like Mickey." Spencer agreed.

"And you do all this in your spare time, Reid?" Emily asked incredulously. "How do you manage it? Work doesn't leave us much time for a social life, let alone something like this."

"I find the time. Plus," Here he smiled up at Tanya an she smiled back down at him. "I'm not alone in this. I have a good team. Besides, it's not as if we're going out and doing this every other night. These things take time and planning."

Tanya nodded her agreement. "A lot of planning."

"Working at the Bureau helped, too, actually. It provided me with access to people and information I might not have otherwise." Spencer admitted that with a smile that wasn't the least bit embarrassed. He had no qualms about having used Bureau resources to help them. "I've made some connections over in Human Trafficking, too, that should hopefully hold up even with me no longer being at the Bureau." The minute he said those words, he saw multiple flinches around the table. Surprisingly, he found the words didn't really hurt him. Not right now. His busy mind had had plenty of time to think about everything and to start to look at this from all angles. "It's okay, guys. I always knew it would come down to this one day."

That prompted them to finally ask what he knew they'd had to be wondering for a while now. "What're you going to do now, Reid?" Emily asked.

"I've thought about that off and on over the years. There are a few options, though if I want to continue my other work, that does limit those options. Tanya and I once talked about opening up our own private consultation service. We could do security consultations, I could be a bit of a profiler-for-hire, and we could help people who are too afraid to go to the police. Mutants who know they won't get any help otherwise."

"Reid, that sounds like a great idea." JJ said brightly.

Spencer shrugged as casually as he could, trying not to look too pleased with her words. "It's just a thought, that's all. Nothing concrete."

"It'd be a perfect cover for you to continue your other work, too." Derek input.

Most surprising of all was Dave's response, though. Oh-so-casually, like it was nothing, he calmly said "A private profiler, huh? I'd be interested in investing in something like that."

As Spencer looked from face to face here, he realized that not only had his friends been far more understanding than he thought, but they were actually supporting him in this. They were standing behind him and throwing him their support. That meant more to him than anything else they could've done. Maybe a part of his life had ended today with the loss of his job. It didn't mean that everything about this life had to end. He'd lost Aaron, yes. But he still had four very good friends here. Friends that hadn't run away from all of this. They were true friends, ones that he was damn lucky to have.

Yes, a part of his life has ended today, but another part was just beginning. He found himself actually looking forward to finding out just what it held for him.

And there it is - the end of the first part of this storyline. I hope you guys enjoyed it. It was a very unique experience for me. As it seems to have been well received, I will start on the outline for the next part here soon. If you have anything you'd like to see happen, please feel free to let me know! I love ideas :)

Thanks for your reviews and support and encouragement! You all are wonderful, my sweet sugar bees, and you really help me to grow and continue as a writer! You're all very swelegant