Two days later they got called to a new case. Everything seemed to be progressing as usual; they had a quick briefing at the office, boarded the jet and threw ideas around about the case until they landed, the lead detective met them at the airstrip and led the way back to the station. It all got weird when they walked into the conference room dedicated to the case.

Reid stopped so abruptly that Morgan walked into his back. It took a split second for him to shake himself out of whatever had shocked him and he moved to stand beside Hotch. The lead detective leant against the wall where he could see everyone that had gathered. "Agent Hotchner I wanted to thank you and your team for joining us so quickly, we really do appreciate the help and we'll do anything you need to get this case closed."

Morgan knew that to any of the strangers watching the BAU team Reid would appear to be quite calm. Not only was Morgan not a stranger, not for many years, he was also a lot closer than 'co-worker'. He and Reid had been good friends for some years now, and he liked to think he could pick up when the kid was uncomfortable with something. Or someone.

Reid usually approached local officers with polite disinterest, if not outright ignoring them for the case. Someone in this room had made him freeze, and Morgan knew that it took a lot for the kid to react externally. He turned his attention to the locals that had gathered to listen to Hotch's introduction of the team.

Other than a few widening eyes when Hotch introduce Reid as Doctor, none of the females reacted, so it wasn't an ex-lover. They had met the lead detective at the airport, so it wasn't him. There were two older officers in one corner, murmuring to each other, but they were more concerned with the case board and the whole team than Reid as a person. Four younger officers, rookies by their excitement, were muttering amongst themselves and glancing between all of the team. Morgan mentally shook himself; whoever had startled Reid obviously didn't recognise him or hadn't realised their connection. He'd just have to ask the kid when they were along at some point.

x x x

Hotch divvied up the tasks amongst his team, encouraging the lead detective to send along his own people as he chose. Morgan grit his teeth when he and Reid were assigned two of the four rookies. He never could decide who interacted the worst with Reid; the older, condescending detectives who thought he was a useless kid, the pretty women who thought he was going to fall in love with them, or the young guys just graduated from being high school jocks. Not that Reid ever seemed to notice their poor reactions to him, as long as they didn't get in the way of his work.

"So, how do you get to be one the BAU team?" one of them asked from the backseat, clearly this one had his eye set on 'bigger and better' things. Judging by the easy slouch in his chair and the calm look in his eye, Morgan would be he thought he deserved it too.

Morgan shook his head with a grin. "You have a lot of miles yet before you boys would even be considered, I'm sorry. You need experience and specialisation before they even look at you for BAU." If he took a little too much satisfaction in telling these guys they were nowhere near Reid's level, he didn't think it strange.

Over the years he'd become protective of Reid, the whole team had. They'd seen the way he reacted to being mistreated…or rather, how he didn't react. So they through in their own little jibes when talking to people who judged Reid, showed just enough venom that others would think twice before mistreating the kid. Because he might not retaliate, but he was surrounded by family that would.

"Ugh, no offence Agent Morgan, but this guy here can't have any more experience than either of us." Main guy spoke again, sneering at the back of Reid's head.

"Actually, given the fact that I've been with the BAU for four years, I would suggest that I would have infinite more experience than you Charlie O'Donnell. Not to mention the qualifications I have going for me." Reid answered in his usual soft tone. "Besides, I'm fairly sure that being the biggest schoolyard bully is not a recommendation the FBI usually searched for when screening for BAU agents."

If he hadn't been so accustomed to hiding when Reid shocked him, Morgan would have stared. They hadn't been introduced to these two officers, and yet Reid knew the guy's name, not to mention the fact he knew what he'd been like in school. Morgan knew the kid's life wasn't riddled with kindness or friends before the BAU, so he could only assume Reid's past experience with Charlie had been bad.

"Calm down, Morgan, it was a long time ago. Besides, we've got missing kids to find. A BAU agent beating the living daylights out of a local officer is not going to help with this case, or future relations with local PDs." Reid spoke swiftly, shocking the two officers when they realised he hadn't turned to look at Morgan. He had just known the guy was pissed.

Morgan grit his teeth, hands clenching on the steering wheel for a moment. "Fine. But O'Donnell? If I hear of any problems from you, you'll wish you'd never spoken a word to Spencer Reid. He might be forgiving, but I'm not."

x x x

Morgan parked the car and they walked up to the police tape, glancing at the faces of the gawkers. The body had only been found two hours earlier and the scene was still being processed. Reid followed Morgan into the cordoned off area, taking in every detail before muttering a curse. He turned to O'Donnell, Morgan watching closely.

"O'Donnell, do you have photos of all of the victims so far?" when the officer nodded slowly, obviously confused, Reid continued. "Good, send them to my phone. Or get Garcia to send them through. I'll need them in…fourteen minutes."

Morgan had to jog to catch up to the kid, knowing full well the two locals would stay behind with their guys working the scene. "Reid? You gonna tell me what's going on or I am I just following along for the ride?" he prompted slowly.

Reid gave one jerky nod, his pace slowing for a moment as he glanced around at the landmarks. "All of our victims have been kids, reasonably fed and dressed but not reported as missing. I know why they're not being reported as missing; because they're not missing. At least, not any more than they usually are."

The door he was banging on opened before Morgan could respond and they came face to face with an elderly woman. "Maggie? I need to talk to you about some of the kids you help…" Spencer spoke softly, offering the woman an apologetic smile.

The woman blinked owlishly at Spencer for a moment before pushing at the screen door and stepping out onto the porch. "The only people who know I help kids are kids. You were one of my kids?" she asked, not even trying to hide the hope in her voice.

Spencer smiled. "Yes ma'am, I'm Spencer…you used to give me enough food to take some home to my mum." He offered, hoping to jog her memory.

"Oh of course!" she pulled him in for a hug and Morgan almost laughed at the startled look on Reid's face. "Oh I always knew you were destined for great things! Tell me you're doing ok? That you've got a better life now?"

Spencer guided her to the porch swing and helped her sit before answering. "Yes ma'am, I work with the FBI these days, that's actually why I'm here. Someone's been taking and killing kids, but we can't get an ID on any of those kids. Would you mind if I show you some photos, see if you can tell me who these kids are?" his tone was gentle and Morgan could see he hated to ask this of the woman.

x x x

"You did good with her Reid." Morgan murmured as they made their way back to the crime scene with names for three of the five victims. "She'll be pleased that she was able to help, despite the fact it hurt." He could see that it didn't sit well with Reid to ask her about the kids that had been killed, that he hated having to show her the photos. The kid even hugged her while she cried as she realised she'd lost some of her kids, this was the young man who often refused to shake hands and he was hugging someone.

Reid nodded slowly. "I know, I just hope we can stop all of this before she loses anymore of her kids." He grimaced. "She buys ice-cream and cones in the summer so that she can give some to anyone who stops by. Everywhere else that you can get food, they insist on tinned beans and spam, necessities. But she likes to see homeless kids smile as much as not starve to death, so she splurges on ice-cream." He smiled fondly at the memory.

"Spencer…I thought…you staid with your mum right, you never got taken off her?" Morgan asked slowly, not too sure how to approach this discussion with his friend.

Reid's gaze snapped up to Morgan's and his eyes widened in realisation. "I was never homeless, but Maggie didn't mind giving me some food when times were tough. We may have always had a roof over our heads, but food in our bellies was tough to come by sometimes. Maggie helped, she helped a lot. Not to mention she was a nurse before she retired, if I got beat up and I was on this side of town…she'd patch me up."

"Hey, where did you guys disappear to?" O'Donnell asked, glancing between Reid and Morgan, obviously curious.

Morgan shook his head. "We had a lead to follow, tell you about it when we brief everyone back at the station." Reid would have to tell the others about Maggie, but Morgan would be damned if the kid had to repeat this tale more than once.