A.N. Post-ep for 11X07, 'Target Rich', based on a 'sneak peak'.

Encyclopedic Memory

"I think I'll need to leave them here, for now, Spence. My hands are already pretty full."

He considered offering to bring them down to the car for her, but it would have taken three trips. It had actually taken him six days to carry all of the volumes into the office in the first place, considering he'd had his travel mug full of coffee in the other hand each time.

Or is she trying to send me a message? Maybe she's not all that thrilled with the gift.

Or maybe just not as thrilled as he'd been to give it.

He remembered the day she'd told him.

"Not you, too," he'd said, upon finding her noshing on saltine crackers. "Am I getting another godson?"

She'd smiled, and replied. "Maybe. Or maybe a goddaughter."

He'd celebrated with her, he alone among the team knowing the loss she'd suffered a few years before.

At the time, it had just been something to say, an indirect method of asking if she was pregnant. Later, he worried that he'd come across as presumptuous, and he told her so, trying to let her off the hook. But she'd assured him.

"Are you kidding? I want both of my kids to get into Yale!"

They'd both smiled, remembering that moment from years ago. A physically and emotionally bedraggled Reid, standing at her bedside, the newborn Henry and his godfathership thrust into the genius' hands. He'd been taken completely by surprise that time, and moved in a most unexpected way. His gaping emotional wounds had opened a path to a place deep in his heart…..a place where he'd been more profoundly touched than he'd ever been touched before.

Afterward, after he'd properly thanked Will for the designation, and accepted the congratulations of the others, he'd made his way home to his apartment, to his blissfully quiet place of refuge. He needed to think. So much had happened, there was so much to process.

In the space of twenty four hours, he'd gained, and lost, his parents, for a second time. His mother had emerged from her medicated not-quite-fugue state and partnered with his father for the first time in seventeen years, for the purpose of convincing their son that his father had not committed a heinous crime. The father he'd literally not seen, nor heard from, in all of those seventeen years.

And then they'd both left him again, his father disappearing back into the ether from which he'd appeared, his mother having already shown signs of descending into her illness, even as the aide from Bennington took her back there. A family in ruins once again.

He'd been in public places ever since…..the police station, the plane, the hospital. Recognizing his need to be alone, he'd given thought to just going home and putting off the hospital until the next day. But it was JJ, his best friend on the team….and in the world, for that matter. So he'd gone. And been nearly overcome by her kindness, and by the awesome experience of holding a newborn in his hands.

In the dark quiet of his apartment, he'd sat staring out the unadorned window, city lights serving as poor substitutes for stars. He'd started trying to unravel the strange series of events that had culminated in the improbable reunion of the Reid family. But his mind was in heavy competition with his heart, and his thoughts refused to sort themselves. Instead, he found himself engulfed in a tidal wave of memories, the waters of which began to seep through his eyes.

One of his earliest memories was about a bedtime story session. He remembered it because it was the first time his parents had turned the tables. Instead of reading to him, they'd asked him to read to them. He must have been all of two and a half, and the story had undoubtedly been a simple one. But he remembered the looks of wonder and delight on their faces as they realized the exceptional talent of their offspring. He'd long since fallen deeply in love with books, and the stories held within. But, on that night, he'd been excited to understand that all of those stories were now at his very own fingertips.

That first episode had proven a tipping point. Once stimulated, his appetite for words, and stories, and knowledge had become voracious. In short order, he'd gone through everything in their household and begun demanding trips to the library. There, he'd discovered something absolutely astounding. There was a set of books that could teach him about everything in the world. To the three year old Spencer, it had seemed as though he'd found the repository of every piece of human knowledge ever compiled. It was called 'Encyclopedia'.

Now he knew the word from its roots, as he'd shared with JJ today. "It's from the Greek words for 'education' and 'child'. So…."

But, back then, it had seemed like the word might actually mean 'miracle', because the discovery of those volumes in the library had opened an entire universe of knowledge, and wonder, and possibility in the child genius. The books had become his faithful companions, better able to communicate with his exceptional intellect than could any of his playmates of the same age.

On a newly-minted lawyer's salary, his father had only been able to afford to buy on the installment plan, but he'd brought home the first three books of Reid's very own first encyclopedia set on the child's fourth birthday. Another three for Christmas, yet another trio to celebrate the end of the school year, and so on.

It had taken three years, but the young Spencer had finally come to own a complete set. And he'd devoured every page of each of the books, showering his parents with fascinating tidbits about various and sundry topics every day at dinner. Reid remembered it as the happiest time of his childhood.

Because, for all he'd been able to read in the encyclopedia, what he hadn't been able to read was the handwriting on the wall. It had all started subtly, the swings in his mother's mood from time to time and the simultaneous eruption of arguing between his parents. Then, Diana's trips to the doctor and 'visits' to the hospital. The accumulation of medication bottles on her bedside table, the withdrawal to her bed for days at a time. He'd been an intellectual genius, but emotionally still a child, and he hadn't understood. Bewilderment, tinged with an instinctive fear, had been his prevailing emotional state.

His father had seen it. But he'd simply been too overwhelmed by the situation himself to be emotionally supportive of the needy child. So he'd compensated the only way he knew how. Now more established in his career, he bought Spencer an entirely new, more sophisticated, set of encyclopedia, the one considered the standard setter for its time.

For a while, the books had done their task. They'd kept the child enthralled, and seemingly distracted from the encyclopedia-worthy disaster that was happening in his own home. Seemingly. But, in truth, Spencer had become aware, alert, wary, frightened. And, eventually, abandoned.

William's leaving had strengthened the bond between the boy and his mother. They tended to one another, she on her good days, he on her bad ones. She introduced him to the books that had long been her own means of escape, reading to him as a default to parenting. He'd loved the contact more than the subject matter, but he'd absorbed both. And, on the days when she was too ill to notice him, he saw to her needs and then retreated to the world hidden in his beloved encyclopedia. The world, from A to Z, in his hands, and his mind, crowding out all of those other thoughts that would have so troubled him, if he'd allowed them to take hold.

All of that had come back to him on the night he first met Henry. The day he'd assumed his awesome responsibility.

I know it's just a title. Sort of an honorific. But that doesn't mean I can't take it seriously.

And he had, in his own way. He'd researched everything there was to know about children, and their development, and their likes, and their dislikes. He'd left the 'fluff' to Garcia, and made sure Henry was equipped with every item that would promote his learning to walk, and talk, and count, and sing, and draw, and read.

In the process, he'd fallen in love with his godson, and been gifted with Henry's love in return. And he'd learned, at long last, that the most precious thing he had to give, was himself.

So, when he was blessed with the honor a second time, he knew exactly what he wanted to do. He would give his time, of course. But he wanted to also give a little bit of himself.

As he'd removed the books from their storage boxes, he'd been brought, once again, to those bittersweet days of his childhood. This early edition had come from a time when life still felt full of promise, and not of burden. He'd dusted each volume clean, and paged through a few, finding a stray chocolate-inked thumbprint or two. From time to time, he'd remembered a much beloved topic and read through it again, the adult still fascinated with the child's version of the world. He imagined Michael looking at them one day, or Henry. And he prayed that they wouldn't ever need the books as desperately as he had.

It had proven to be a rejuvenating exercise for Reid. So much heartache had come into his life in the past three decades. So much abuse, and derision, and loneliness. It was no wonder he'd felt a certain cynicism about life creeping into him, and been unable to extrude it. But the time spent with these books had brought him back in touch with his sunnier self, back to a time when life still seemed capable of providing him with happiness.

That was the self he really wanted to share with his godsons. He was grateful that the books had done their magic for him once again.

The gift was, technically, for Michael. But Reid could easily picture an eager Henry reading from the books to his seven-years-younger brother. He could imagine the look of excitement on Henry's face as he found a picture of the Sphinx, or the Great Pyramids, or a great white shark, or the gigantic blue whale.

Reid knew that one reason JJ shared her sons with him was that she was worried he would never have any of his own. Before Henry, he hadn't shared that worry with her, because he'd been completely unable to imagine himself as a parent, let alone aspire to the role. But Henry and, later, Maeve, had changed all that. Now he did have a longing, and he shared JJ's worry about his future. So he gratefully accepted her generosity, and embraced both boys with all the love he had to share.

Maybe it will happen, and maybe it won't. But there's no need to hold anything back. It's not like I'm going to run out of love. And no gift given is ever wasted. Especially one like this.

Because he'd given a piece of himself in each of those books.

They were still sitting on the table, tidily bound with ribbon. Reid found himself sorely tempted to slide one out and visit with it one more time. But then he realized that it wasn't the book he needed to visit with.

"When I showed him the picture of when you first came over, his little feet went all…." JJ had used her hands to mimic Michael's gleeful kicking. "He really wants to see you again."

Reid thought on it for a minute, and then decided. What the heck? I can probably make it in three trips.

He carefully stacked several of the bundles, doing his best not to squish the ribbons Garcia had so carefully tied for him. Before leaving on his third, and final, delivery, he pushed the number '2' on his phone, and waited for his call to be answered.

"Hi, Uncle Spence!"

"Henry! Are you answering your mom's phone these days?"

"I'm playing a game, Uncle Spence. Mommy said I could, because Mikey is hungry."

"Ah. Well, if she's nearby, could you bring the phone to her, please? I promise I won't interrupt your game for too long."

"Okay."

He could hear Henry's pounding feet as the little blonde delivered the phone to the older one.

"Spence?"

"Hey. I don't want to intrude, but I'm just getting ready to leave, and I thought maybe it would be easier if I just dropped the books off. I won't sta…."

"Yes, you will. The boys would love to see you. And you can help Henry show your gift to Michael, until dinner is ready. Hope you're in the mood for franks and beans, 'cause that's all I've got in me on my first day back at work."

"You know I like anything you make. I'm just leaving now. See you in a bit."

Henry flung the door open even before Reid had rung the bell. He was way too tired of being 'quiet, because the baby is sleeping', and relished any variance from what had become a very boring day.

"Hi, Uncle Spence!" Then, noticing the ribboned books, his eyes went wide. "What's that? Is it a present?!" Henry loved presents.

"Well, yes, it is. Actually, I have a bunch of them. Do you want to help me bring them in from the car?"

"Sure!" Presents! "Who are they for, Uncle Spence?"

Hmm. Okay, godfather, earn your stripes. Thinking, rapid fire. Aha!

"Well, they're a present for your family, in honor of Michael. I think he'll like them one day, when he grows up. But, until then, I think you're going to have to help him use them."

"What are they?"

Reid stopped and gave Henry a mock 'are you kidding me' face.

"Henry. What do they look like?"

"Books." Which wasn't quite Henry's idea of an exciting gift. An electronic reader, maybe, with games on it. But a book?

"Not just any books, Henry. These were my books when I was a little boy, a little younger than you."

Eyes wide on the young blonde. "They were?" Thinking. "Were there dragons then?"

Reid spit out a laugh. "How old do you think I am, Henry?"

Henry didn't know, but he knew when it was time to evade an answer. "What's in them, Uncle Spence?"

"Everything. They're called an encyclopedia. And the most amazing thing is that you don't need to have a computer to use them. You can just sit down and start reading."

"wow. Can you show me?"

Gladly, little one. "All right. What do you want to know about?"

"Um... the moon!"

"The moon. All right. Remind me. What letter does 'moon' start with?"

"M!"

"Okay. So, can you find the book with the letter 'M' on the outside?"

Henry did.

"Now we have to find the right page. They're in alphabetical order. Do you know how to spell 'moon'?"

Henry did, and they found the dedicated page. "Here it is! There's a picture of it...and guys walking on it! Cool!"

"And there's a whole lot of stuff you can read about it, right there," pointing at the page. "Let me know if you get stuck on any words."

Reid couldn't help but smile. Henry had planted himself in the hallway, volume 'M' on his lap. He wasn't quite ready for all of the written material, but he was already turning pages, and looking at pictures.

JJ emerged from the living room, holding a hunger-satisfied Michael. As soon as she spied Henry, she shared Reid's grin.

"Wow... looks like they're going to be a hit."

He looked at her. "They were with me."

"That's so sweet of you, Spence, to give them something that was important to you as a boy. I know they'll treasure it."

He shrugged. "I know it won't help with homework or anything. It's too easy to do research on the internet. Even I do it that way now."

"Then...why?"

"Because, I thought, the best gift anybody can have is 'wonder'. And that's what those books gave to me, as a kid."

She smiled at him. So that's where it came from. "And I'll bet you remember every word you read in them, don't you?"

"Pretty much."

"Well, I'm glad you're here, because Will's not home yet, and I have to get dinner going. Here," she said, passing Michael over, "he's all yours."

Reid's much more experienced hands managed the transfer easily. As JJ had described this morning, Michael was all grins, and flailing feet and hands, at the sight and sound of his godfather. Reid was moved, to be so excitedly received.

I guess books aren't the only way to be filled with wonder.

Henry had eaten all of his hot dog and was trying to make it look like his beans were disappearing, by spreading them out on his plate. The adults seemed to be engaged in grown-up conversation, so he directed his words to Michael, happily seated on his mother's lap.

"Hey, Mikey, do you know there's a planet called Mars? When you get big, I'm gonna tell you all about it. And about the Milky Way. And about Mexico, and monkeys, and meatballs, and..."