The next morning Spencer sat on the hospital bed, his arm bandaged, and his cuts and bruises checked. He was suffering from shakes, but apparently, that was a mixture of coming down from the adrenaline his body had been surviving on the past few days and his body adapting to the last forty-eight hours without anti-psychotic medications, which were forced into him for the past few years. All the time Agent Morgan stood guard outside the room. Spencer knew what that was about, he felt guilty for not having protected Spencer as he felt he should have two nights previous. As promised, the agents had brought him to a regular hospital and currently he was waiting the okay from the doctor to be discharged, though he had no idea what to do when he left. The analysis by the doctors in Quantico was still standing so apart from having to go to therapy for his PTSD, he was very much a free man.

Agent Morgan had informed him of everything happening with Rossi as he was updated by his team, but apart from those times and the two times Spencer had called him in to ask for water and another blanket, the agent had stayed outside the door, leaving him alone to think of everything that had happened.

The doctor arrived soon after and once he signed the discharge forms, he bid Spencer farewell and told him to get changed. Spencer froze; he had nothing to change into. Luckily, it appeared that the BAU were used to impromptu hospital visits and at some stage Agent Blake had went to Rossi's house and gotten clothes belonging to the two men. Spencer's comprising of the clothes agent Morgan had purchased on his behalf. He took a quick shower and got into the outfit, something he would never in a million years have bought himself, and headed out of the room.

"They seem a good fit if I may say so myself." Smiled the strong agent.

"I would never have bought these." He found himself admitting, hoping the other man would not take offense.

"What would be more you're style then?"

"Shirt, tie, corduroys, cardigan, converse."

"You're twenty-four, not fifty. Come on, let's go see how Rossi is doing." Laughed the older man. On hearing the name of the man who saved his life, Spencer stood to attention and followed Morgan down the corridor.

They arrived to a room and before ever setting foot inside, Spencer knew, it was the right one. "What do you mean three weeks leave? It was a scratch and a few bumps to the head Aaron."

"Dave calm down, it's the best I could do; Strauss wanted you to retire again."

"I'd like to see her fucking try!"

"Look, use it to relax and start another book."

"Hmmph. How's the Kid?"

"Right here and as right as rain." Declared Morgan as the two men entered the room, Spencer was several steps behind and nervous.

"You look different." Laughed David, looking at Spencer and the clothes then turned to Derek. "What have you done to him?"

"What, he looks fashionable, cut most of this off." He flicked Spencer's hair "and who knows, he could have most the nurse's numbers leaving this place, right Pretty Boy?"

Spencer's face glowed bright red at the nickname the other man had given him. He wondered at first was he mocking him, but his face just seemed playful, so he smiled awkwardly.

"Agent Rossi?" A doctor asked entering the room, getting everyone's attention. "I am going to give you the once over and see if we can get you out of here."

"Thank Christ." The Italian exclaimed, though going by the look on the doctor's face, she was thinking the same thing. The three other men left the room as the woman began her work, only to come face to face with the voluptuous and bright woman Spencer was convinced was named either Gomez or Garcia.

"Hello my sweets, ooh, look at you Boy Wonder." Her eyes darting up and down Spencer and the clothes he was wearing. Spencer wondered why these people insisted on giving him the most ridiculous nicknames, though he was grateful that for the first time in his life, none were meant in an offensive manner.

"You should tell Rossi you approve, apparently I ruined him."

"Nonsense, I think he looks marvellous, though maybe if we sorted his…"

"Will you both leave the man alone." Hotchner interjected, pinching his nose. Spencer was grateful at least one of the agents was not going to harass him about his hair. It was longer than he usually kept it, even before the institutions, but only by a few inches.

"Righto Boss Man. Here you go darling, I hope you like cookies." The blonde tech beamed handing Spencer a substantially sized box. He took it, but looked to Agent Hotchner who gave him the faintest of nods from behind the overly energetic woman.

He smiled politely. "Thank you."

"Anytime sweet cheeks."

"What about me? I got shot three times in the chest." Derek asked indignantly. "Oh I get it, you're trading up, going for a younger model. I never thought getting him those clothes would come back to bite me so hard in the ass."

"Oh my delectable Chocolate Thunder, you know you're the only one for me, though I wouldn't mind showing 187 here the ropes too." Spencer froze in shock at the woman's insinuations.

"Garcia, stop terrifying him before he gets a cab right back to that hellhole, at least in there it was easy to tell who was mad" barked Rossi, walking out of the hospital room fully dressed. Going by the searching faces on all of those present, no one had seen the doctor leave. "Let's get out of here." Spencer looked to the floor, not knowing where he was even to go. "Kiddo?" he looked up to the man calling him. "I know the last time you came to my home, it didn't work out too well for you, but you are welcome back until we get you sorted."

"Sorted?"

"Patrick 'Larry' Sawyer has officially been charged with our kidnappings, Morgan's attempted murder, Charlie's, Dr Mitre's and your parents murders. His father isn't far behind with conspiracy to commit murder and the ordering of your parents deaths. You are officially a free man and all charges dropped, your parent's life insurance policies are yours; you also have the house and anything else in your parent's names."

"Yes but one thing." Hotch interrupted. "Your paternal grandfather spent the money."

"It was in the kid's name." Rossi snarled.

"He argued it was for his care, clearly he lied." Hotch expanded.

Spencer could see Rossi getting angry, his jaw was clenching. "Don't worry about it." the young man shrugged earning him baffled looks. "It's just money, I will earn my own."

Rossi nodded. "It's up to you."

"I can really stay at your house?"

"Until you get on your feet, these things take a few weeks, but don't worry, you have a qualified lawyer and a man with great investment knowledge." Spencer cocked his head slightly and scrunched his eyebrows. "Your mother's shares. We will make sure they get you able to do whatever you want." Spencer nodded at the idea. "Now let's get out of this place and get a good meal, any requests?"

"Burger!" proclaimed Morgan.

"No one is stopping you."

"Ah come on Rossi, a good barbeque, you have the space." Morgan suggested.

The eldest profiler thought for a moment, before sighing, "Fine, you know what we need." The youngest of the field agents grinned and winked before leaving.

"Eek, I better go bake more food, my Italian Stallion, these are for you. I will have more ready for later." Shrieked the woman before she bolted for the door. Spencer had to admit he was impressed at the speed she was walking at considering the size of her shoes, which he was sure were more than likely uncomfortable.

"Well then." Rossi help up the time of cookies, handing them to Agent Hotchner. "I think Jack will make short work of them."

"Excellent, I am bringing him to your place to burn off the sugar rush." He informed his friend, who just smiled back.

They walked out of the hospital, Spencer following closely, but refusing to walk beside the men, Rossi looked over his shoulder occasionally to ensure he was still there.

Hotch drove the two men to the elder's home, and promised to be back soon. Rossi walked in and noticed the house was not in the same level of disarray as two nights previous. The hall table was in its original position and the broken vase had been cleared away. He had no doubt, when they went upstairs, the two bedrooms would be tidied too.

"What do you want to do Kiddo?"

"I may see if there was anything in the bag of clothes agent Morgan bought that doesn't make me look like this." The young man was looking down at the clothes he was wearing and earned a chuckle from Rossi.

"Doubt it. Since I am stuck on leave for three weeks, I'll organise for you to get something more to your own tastes during the week, while we are dealing with getting you what is rightfully yours." Spencer nodded and smiled slightly at the gesture and concern of the man.

All too soon, the entire of the team arrived, Spencer found himself shyly trying to avoid them all, there was only seven of them, but the blonde profiler brought her husband and you son, as did Agent Hotchner. It was one thing trying not to be nervous around other adults, but around children and Rossi's two dogs, he felt it was all too much and hid in the bedroom.

It did not take long for his presence to be missed and he heard a knock on the door of the room. "Reid, you in there?" he sighed an opened the door, on the other side was Rossi. "You alright?" Spencer nodded. "Clearly." The older man walked into the room. "Well, do I need to ask again?"

"There's so many." He felt as though he was foolish for even saying it.

"Spencer, it'll take time to readjust to society after everything, what better way to start than with people who actually understand what you've been through and who will not judge you for it. Besides, Morgan is feeling guilty for what happened and wants to make it up to you by feeding you a year's supply of protein in one sitting."

"I rather more of those cookies." He admitted shyly.

"What happened the ones Garcia gave you earlier?" Spencer looked to the bedside locker and the open, empty tin. "Sweet Jesus, there was about twenty cookies in that."

"Fifteen only." Corrected the younger.

"How will you ever survive?" he joked putting his arm around Spencer carefully "Come on, everyone is looking to see how you are."

"Who tidied the rooms?"

"That would be JJ; she's the blonde with the kid."

Spencer froze as he remembered the two youths. "Children don't like me."

"How do you mean?" David asked curiously.

"They cry around me, dogs bark at me too." He explained.

"Well I doubt it, but why don't you prove me wrong by coming down and meeting Jack and Henry." Spencer couldn't help but laugh at the less than subtle way Agent Rossi tried to get him to consider going back downstairs, he obliged anyway.

As it happened, Henry adored him to the extent the four year old followed him like a second shadow. He made the fatal error of showing the youngster a magic trick and as a result, the child was requesting another one every so often, though the man was happy to oblige. The four year old didn't ask awkward questions, he just asked him his name and to do more tricks. The older child, Agent Hotchner's son, was a little more suspicious of strangers, but Spencer heard he lost his mother to a serial killer three years previous, so he could relate in some way to the child.

The food did not last long and everyone was tired. They began to disperse to their own homes, telling Rossi they would see him back in work soon and wishing Spencer well in whatever he did. Exhaustion took over both men soon after they finished cleaning after everyone.

"Kiddo, I am bushwhacked, I am going to hit the sack, tomorrow we have to go to a good lawyer for you and sort out what we can."

Spencer thanked Rossi and decided that he too needed a good night's sleep. He went to the room and settled under the covers safe in the knowledge he was finally safe.

CMCMCMCMCMCMCMCM

One year later

"Cadet Reid, just tackle Cadet Sanchez, it's not that hard. Just use that brain of yours to look for a weakness and utilise it." Called Agent Morgan from the sideline. It was the motivation the young agent needed, after weeks of Morgan giving him lessons in private; he was starting to see the strategy behind it all, though he still despised it. He sighed as he did his best to tackle the other man, who was four inches shorter, but had about thirty pounds on him. His speed was what prevented the other man from getting a grip, though his lack of grace meant that when he lunged for the other man it was a sheer fluke he even collided with him. "Excellent work, we'll leave it at that for today. Reid, a word."

Spencer sighed as he walked over to his mentor. "Nice work Pretty Boy." Even after a year, the name seemed odd to him. "So Garcia and I were doing a bit of recon, and if you pass your firearms next week, you're sorted. Over a full year before any other cadet, I think that's some sort of record. Might have to ask Rossi, since he's been here since the time of the dinosaurs. You okay on firearms?"

"If you're asking have I shot Hotch yet, the answers no, though I think he may be fit to shoot me for how irritating I am being."

"Nonsense, he wants you on the team as much as the rest of us. He got Strauss on side too, you know, the Section Chief we were telling you about."

"Yeah, what was it Rossi calls her, The Harpy?"

"That's her." The older confirmed. "Well she is a bit of a politics person, so having a certified genius in her unit, picked by more than one of the best in the business means she can parade around the upper circles of this place with her head even higher in the air."

"Even if I was deemed mentally unfit for a period."

"Only because of your stellar acting skills. Relax man, you've gone through the counselling and you've gotten through the Psych Eval for this place, so long as you go to the mandatory sessions we are all forced to do every few weeks, you're good. And as Rossi always says, we've got your back."

"Speaking of which, I promised him I would go to his for dinner tonight."

"He's back from the book tour, how do you know this before his teammate does?"

"Because I helped write the book, so I know the tour dates."

"I cannot believe you two got everything regarding your finances sorted within three weeks and wrote a book, that is damn impressive. Speaking of which, if you are now worth the money Hotch and Rossi let slip you are from said book, Bonds, Shares and Life insurance, why do you want to work here? If it were me I would be chilling in Miami, couple of Honeys and more than a couple Margaritas." Spencer laughed at the daydreaming look on his friends face.

"Because behind it all you know you would never rest knowing that there are people in the world like Donny Thompson and Larry Sawyer."

"There are far more than them man, but you're right. Knowing there are more out there makes me never want to leave my desk. Still though, Thompson and that third guy are dead and Sawyer Senior and Junior will never see the light of day again. I know it doesn't bring your parents back, but it's something."

"The night of the barbeque after Rossi and I were released from hospital was the first night I slept peacefully since the night my parents were killed, knowing they could never get me."

"Rossi said you didn't even wake the next day, you slept through." Spencer nodded his confirmation.

"I better go meet him actually. Thanks Morgan."

Spencer pulled up his car outside of Rossi's house. He had only spent a few weeks there, but it still comforted him to see the extravagant house, and deep down he missed the place. He had a key; Rossi wanted him to feel he always had somewhere safe to go. Soon they were going to be on the same team; at least he was well used to the other man's gruff attitude. He wondered how LEO's and Unsubs reacted towards it.

He rang the doorbell and used the key, Rossi always wondered why he did it, but after a while, he just ignored the ritual completely, knowing it was just a quirk of the younger man. "Just in time, as usual. You should give Morgan lessons in punctuality." The Italian embraced him tightly. He hated too much contact, but Rossi never seemed to even pay attention to it.

"I'm sure he'd appreciate that. How was the tour?"

"Good. Actually too good. My publisher got onto me, she wants us to write another book soon, both of us. Apparently, there is a niche for a teaching book to train other countries law enforcement and she wants us to fill it, me with experience, and you with your random statistics and other things you seem to know about everything. What do you think?"

Spencer took the bowl of ravioli the other man had just handed him. "Sounds alright, but apparently next week's firearms exam is all I need to get out of the academy and into the BAU, will we have time?"

"Not sure to be honest. There's only one way to find out though. So you passed hand to hand combat, who did Morgan have to pay off?"

"Dunno, and don't care, it's done and as far as I'm concerned I never want to recall it again. Though the memory thing kinda stops that."

"Well the sentence was passed today, five life sentences for Sawyer and a sixty year sentence for daddy, that's something to celebrate Kid." Spencer nodded in agreement.

Ten days later, Spencer got to meet the harpy herself as she showed him to his desk in the BAU, and he concurred with his friend's analysis. No sooner was she gone and Garcia and dragged him to Rossi's office, inside was a table filled with cakes, coffee and for some reason a present.

"Just to say well done my darling Boy Wonder." She kissed both of his cheeks, causing two large lips stains, which Morgan laughed at while JJ cleaned them off.

Spencer's face was bright red with embarrassment. "You didn't have to."

"Nonsense, this is as much for us having an excuse to eat cake as it is for you." Dismissed Blake smilingly as she went straight for a cinnamon frosted cupcake. The team began to ascend on the confectionaries as Spencer opened the gift. A leather satchel containing his credentials. He found himself smiling at the horrendous picture on the plastic card reading SSA Dr Spencer Reid.

A/N I know I said I would have this up sooner, but to be honest, I was too tired and lacked any inspiration at all yesterday for anything. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed and favourited. I hope you all enjoyed it.