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Pretty Boy: Reprise	By : Wagamama_hime Category: 1 through F > Criminal Minds Views: 5108 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds. It is the sole intellectual property of the CBS Corp. This is a work of fiction and I am making no profit from its publication.

Chapter List
- 9
- 10
- 11
Chapter 10
A/N: Hi everyone! Thanks for your reviews/comments, and for continuing to faithfully follow this story! You make it so fun to write :3. Sorry that I promised a shorter update period this time around and still ended up taking about a week. Real life kind of caught up with me and my beta, and thus this chapter (and the next) won't be beta-ed. In any case, I am really thankful to my beta for all she has been able to do with helping me to craft this story :).
Anywho, not too much preamble for this author's note since this chapter picks up right after the end of chapter 9, as we continue with the 'hacker case.' This chapter may be a bit more… 'dramatic' than the last one, but that's kind of how I like to write anyway ;p. Hope you enjoy!

After about an hour of wading through the influx of codes from the Unsub, there was finally a much-needed lull. Emily and JJ sighed as they sat back at the table, having just refilled coffee for Spencer and themselves. Spencer didn't seem nearly as exhausted as they did. Instead of wearing him down, the challenging codes had Spencer's eyes shining with excitement and his knee bouncing up and down with nervous energy. It was actually quite impressive. While Spencer worked on the codes, JJ and Emily had been busy going through the thick list of suspects Garcia had given them earlier. But now, they had decided that everyone could use a break.
"Spencer," JJ began after taking a long sip from her cup. "I know this probably wasn't what you had in mind when you decided to visit for break—so let me just take a moment to say I'm so sorry it turned out this way—but I really want to thank you for helping us out like you have been."
Spencer smiled at her.
"It's really no problem. It's actually been kind of… fun? I mean, I've only ever really seen you guys at work when it involves guns and physically chasing suspects. And right now it's interesting to me to see the other side and to kind of match wits with someone who is so smart but is using his knowledge to do something so sinister. I mean… it makes me even more and more awed by what you guys do," he admitted.
"That's really sweet of you to say," Emily said as she smiled back at him. "But, let's not talk about bad guys anymore. We have enough of that to last us a lifetime. Tell us more about what's been going on with you over the last few months. It was hard to really get a word in edgewise last night, so we really couldn't ask everything we wanted to. I don't think our dinner was nearly long enough."
Spencer smiled, remembering the boisterous dinner.
"Uh, sure. Well, what do you guys want to know?" he asked.
JJ's eyes lit up as a thought crossed her mind.
"Well," she said giving him a mischievous look. "Did anything ever play out between you and that coworker you were crushing on? We never heard what became of that."
Spencer's eyebrows rose, shocked that that was the first topic to come up. But he couldn't say he was surprised. JJ and Emily had been very much interested in helping him when he had revealed to them that he had a 'crush' (which, at that point, he hadn't even known was a crush), so he could understand why they wanted to know if anything had panned out there. But, they had also jumped to some of their own conclusions six months ago, which Spencer had never bothered to clear up, and now he felt a little guilty for not having done so.
"Well… it wasn't actually a 'coworker'… J-just someone I met. Through work," he admitted.
JJ and Emily's eyebrows both rose and when it dawned on Spencer what they thought he meant, he immediately blushed and waved his hands as if that would erase it from their memories.
"N-no! Not-! He wasn't a customer," Spencer said, feeling his cheeks burn. "I just met him there. That's all. But it was never anything like that."
Seeing how flustered Spencer was getting, JJ and Emily intervened to calm him down.
"It's okay, it's okay. We understand. You don't have to explain it," Emily said quickly, giving him a warm smile. "Seriously. We're just curious to know if there are any updates."
Spencer bit his lip for a moment. He knew it was probably a really bad idea to start talking about what was happening with him and Derek. Even if Spencer thought he could get away without 'naming' his love-interest by talking in vague terms, he also knew that profilers, like Emily and JJ, were trained to observe things like micro-expressions, body language, and even the tone of one's voice, and he wasn't sure if maybe there was some way they'd be able to make the 'leap' that he was talking about Derek. On the other hand, ever since Spencer had arrived in D.C. and had embarked on the whirlwind that was having feelings for Derek Morgan, he had been going half out of his mind with worry because he didn't have anyone to talk to who could help him figure out the best way of getting his feelings across to Derek. And now, especially after their fight and subsequent reconciliation, he could use some help wading through his emotions. A difference of perspective would be greatly appreciated.
"Uh… well, there isn't too much to say… I mean, I told him my feelings and we've been… Well, I'd say things are just starting to develop. It's really new," he admitted shyly.
JJ gasped and had to force herself to hold back a squeal.
"Really?! That's great Spencer. I'm so happy for you!" she said.
Emily laughed but she also gave him her congratulations.
"Aww, but if things are so new for you guys then it must be hard to be away from him, right?" Emily asked sympathetically.
"Um… well, actually, it's not like I'm away from him," Spencer said with a little smile as he blushed and looked down into his coffee cup. His reaction was not lost on the two women, who exchanged a curious look.
"It sounds like… Did he… come along for the trip?" Emily asked with confusion.
"If he's here too, wouldn't it have made more sense for you two to just have gotten a hotel together, as opposed to you staying with Morgan?" JJ asked, before Spencer could respond.
Spencer cringed a bit, apparently realizing he might have let more slip than he intended.
"N-no!" he said hurriedly. "He's not here, physically. We just… you know, talk every chance we get. So it feels like he's here with me! And, anyway, it's still really early so, you know, I wouldn't have booked a trip and asked him to come with me. I don't think things are like that quite yet..."
JJ and Emily continued to look at him, seeming to want more information, and Spencer heard himself let out an unbidden sigh.
"We're not... in a 'relationship.' Or, at least that's what he says," Spencer mumbled as he bit his lip and stared down at his hands. It strangely felt bad saying that aloud, which wasn't how he had initially felt when he had spoken about it with Derek yesterday.
JJ's eyes narrowed and she exchanged a look with Emily, who seemed similarly bothered by Spencer's words.
"What do you mean, Spencer?" Emily asked as she reached over and laid her hand on top of his.
Spencer looked up with wide eyes, as if startled out of his thoughts. He could tell that the women seemed concerned, and he felt his face heat up, as he waved his hands, trying to placate them. He did not want them worrying about him, or taking pity on the poor, socially-awkward genius who couldn't seem to figure out the 'mechanics' of interpersonal relationships. It was embarrassing.
"N-no. Seriously. Nothing's wrong. That's what we agreed on," he tried to explain.
JJ frowned.
"'Agreed' on it?" JJ repeated, as if she didn't like the sound of that.
"Um… it's complicated," Spencer muttered as he looked down, feeling as if he wished he was anywhere but here. Or, at least that he had kept his big mouth shut.
"So…what exactly would you call what you have with him?" Emily asked as she exchanged a look with JJ.
"I... I don't know. I just… well… Ugh, it's embarrassing to talk about this," Spencer whined as he glanced up at the two older women.
They blinked at him in surprise, unsure of what to say. It seemed obvious to them that Spencer wanted to talk about it, but he was just unsure of how to put it into words.
"Spencer, you don't have to feel embarrassed," Emily said, with a smile. "Just like how we talked back when we were with you in Vegas, anything you say will be kept completely between us. It won't leave this room. Of course you don't have to tell us anything, if you feel uncomfortable. But it just looks to me like you want someone to talk to."
Spencer hesitated for a moment, biting his lip, as he mulled over her words. He then took a deep breath as he looked down at his lap. Squeezing his eyes shut, so he didn't have to see their reactions, all of his concerns flowed out of him in a jumble of words.
"I… I mean, um… we've been… you know, 'intimate,'" Spencer forced himself to say, as he felt his cheeks begin to burn. "A-And that's been, well, good and everything. Awesome, actually… But, um… I don't know what comes after that. Like, what am I to him, you know? And is it normal to feel this way? Like all I want is to be near him all the time and for him to look at no one else but me. And does he feel the same way? Is it normal for him to want to keep his distance? Is it normal at the beginning to feel like you like someone way more than they like you? And to worry if maybe they're just 'putting up' with you because they don't want to hurt your feelings? I mean… I know he cares about me… He's done so much for me, and has really been there for me… But is that as only a friend? How do I know if he thinks I'd be worth taking a chance on… if I'm someone that's worth the effort to try to be something more with…?"
When Spencer finally forced himself to look up, JJ and Emily were looking at him with unreadable expressions. It didn't seem like they were judging him in any way, but more that they were concerned with the words he had said. He watched as they glanced at each other, eyebrows furrowed, as if neither one of them were sure where to start. Then, finally, JJ let out a small sigh and locked eyes with him.
"Um...this is the same guy you confessed your feelings to before, back when you were still working at the club?" JJ asked carefully.
"Uh huh," Spencer said.
"And when did… you know, things get 'intimate,'" she followed up.
Spencer couldn't help blushing, but he forced himself not to look away.
"Um…. Really recently," Spencer admitted.
"And when that happened did either one of you… you know, talk about your feelings?" Emily asked.
"Uh... well, I told him I still liked him. And that nothing had changed about the way I felt for him over all these months. Th-that's why I did it, you know? I wanted him to understand how much I liked him. But um… well, he didn't say anything about the way he felt about me that first time. And… since then he hadn't really said anything either. He finally told me he liked me too a few days ago… but, that was after we had a really big fight," Spencer said, a bit hesitantly.
JJ and Emily exchanged a look again, which Spencer was still unable to decipher, but they both returned their gazes to him before he could inquire about it.
"Spencer… do you want to be in a relationship with him?" Emily asked
Spencer blushed again and looked down at his hands. He didn't need to say anything. It was obvious to both of them that Spencer was a boy in love. He just didn't seem to understand how to get that point across to this other man. And even if he did, neither JJ nor Emily was sure that he would be met with the outcome he wanted.
"Spencer, it's not fair that he gets to do things 'no-strings-attached' if that's not what you want, too. He knows how you feel. You've told him numerous times. What more does he have to decide?" JJ asked, a hint of irritation in her tone.
"Well, I don't think he's a person that… you know, 'does' relationships. So, he just needs some time to figure it out. It's really new for both of us," he said weakly, trying to explain again.
"Spencer, I don't like it," Emily said with finality as she shook her head and sat back. "I mean… If you're comfortable with this, then I guess there's not much we can say. Some people have those types of relationships and are totally satisfied with them. But that's because both parties have agreed to it and know what they're getting themselves into. If it's clear to him you want a relationship and he isn't able to give you an answer right now, that may be okay for a little while… But, just make sure he's not stringing you along or using you."
"What do you mean?" Spencer asked quietly as he looked at her with a stricken expression. Hearing Emily say 'stringing along'—the same words Spencer had used when he accused Derek of doing just that—caused him to feel insecure.
Emily flinched at the dejection in Spencer's voice and couldn't help but cringe at the thought that she had somehow made things worse.
"Spencer," JJ said, cutting in. "Sometimes there are people who… you know, have commitment issues. And those people just never change. It might be good that he's willing to at least think about it now that he's with you. But don't let someone get away with continuing to tell you that they'll 'think about it,' if there's a chance that they may never be serious about committing. You're too good for that. You deserve someone who will properly say 'I'm his and he's mine.' Someone who wants to be your boyfriend, you know?"
JJ smiled kindly at him and Spencer could only nod as he licked his lips and mulled over her words.
Spencer didn't want to think that Derek had said what he said yesterday morning just to placate him. He wanted to believe that Derek was going to give serious thought to the idea of being with him. Derek had looked sincere; he had looked just about as messed up after the fight as Spencer had felt. Derek's words—the look in his eyes—had felt genuine. And although those words had soothed him, Spencer still didn't know if he would have any further clarification on the topic by the time he was scheduled to leave in three days. And that was what was really bothering him—going back home and not knowing if Derek had any intention of ever seeing him again.
"But, hey," Emily said, drawing him out of his thoughts. "We're Federal agents and we've got a lot of sway. If you ever want us to fly over to Vegas and… give him a good 'talking' to, you just let us know."
She then smirked and gave him a meaningful wink.
Spencer felt his face heat up again and he forced a smile as he shook his head, telling them that that wouldn't be necessary.
As JJ and Emily gave him reassuring smiles before turning back to their work, Spencer couldn't help but glance out the glass windows into the bullpen where he could see Derek and Rossi leaning over a file on one of the desks.
What would they say if they knew they didn't have to go very far at all to do that, he wondered to himself.

"So…" Rossi began as he tossed another file into the box they were using to represent low-priority cases. "We gonna talk about the elephant in the room?"
Derek stilled in what he was doing and glanced up from the file he was reading. His eyes met Rossi's inquisitive brown ones, before they scanned the room, taking note of the busy bullpen.
"I don't know what you're talking about. But whatever it is, I don't think the bullpen is an appropriate place to have this discussion," Derek said as he dropped his eyes back to the file in his lap.
Rossi chuckled.
"Well, I'm sure we're completely capable of having this conversation in vague-enough terms that if someone were interested in eavesdropping, we'd be pretty much in the clear. And, anyway, you didn't make an attempt to talk to me about it when we were in the privacy of my office for most of the morning, so I've gotten a bit tired of waiting," Rossi responded as he steepled his fingers and leaned back in his chair.
Derek sighed, tossing his file down.
"What do you want from me, man?" Derek asked. "You've been telling everyone my 'elephant's' been in town, so it's not like you would've been surprised when we walked in together this morning."
"Hm, that's very true. But I'm still not fully sure if this is a friend-elephant or a 'something more'-elephant," Rossi said, with a shrug.
Derek looked around again, feeling somewhat panicked, but relaxed a bit after seeing that none of the other personnel in the busy bullpen seemed to be even remotely interested in their conversation.
"Rossi," he said, a hint of warning in his voice. He definitely did not want to be having this conversation with his colleague, especially since he had barely been able to have this conversation successfully with Spencer.
"Well, I have got to say it looks like a 'something more' elephant," Rossi continued, completely ignoring Derek's tone. "We're profilers, Derek. You're going to have to do a MUCH better job of hiding the fact that you've escalated to shall we call them non-platonic activities with your… ah… 'elephant' if you don't want more people asking the questions I've been asking you."
Derek felt his face heat up.
"I mean, come on. You hover around the kid like you think you have to assert your claim over him. I get the whole alpha-male mentality, but we're not in caveman times," Rossi said with a little laugh. "You might not realize it, but you touch him constantly. And your eyes are always on him."
"I don't…" Derek began, feeling embarrassed.
Rossi rolled his eyes.
"Do you want me to list out all the times I've counted you putting your hand on his shoulder or back, or ruffling his hair? And not to mention the fact that you've been subconsciously standing within at least six inches of him all day? Really? I thought you would've liked me to save you the embarrassment," Rossi said.
Derek cringed, but remained silent.
"Look, I don't mind it. Young love is sweet, and I have no problem giving you two my blessings. But, as we discussed before, it's not exactly the easiest thing to manage if the higher-ups find out. So, if you want to have any shot at hiding this, you need to be a little more 'self-aware.' Hotch isn't stupid you know. I'd say he's still not sure of the extent of your relationship, but it won't be long before he is," Rossi said, giving him a pointed look.
Feeling his face still burning, Derek looked back down to his file. All he could do was nod.
Smiling, Rossi patted his knee reassuringly. Before anything further could be said, both the men looked up when they heard the telltale sound of heels clicking on the tile floors. They could see Garcia approaching in her colorful array of blue and yellow.
"Hey, guys," she said as she walked up to them, holding more papers in her hands "We were able to pull a few more case files based on what Spencer had been able to decode and have secured them in our systems. But Hotch asked me to have you guys personally get in touch with the police departments in these cases and let them know what's going on."
"Sure thing, Mama," Derek said, feeling almost thankful for the distraction.
Rossi smiled again.
"I'll take these," he said as he picked up half of the files, "and handle them in my office."
"I'll take the other empty conference room," Derek said as he got to his feet as well. "If Spencer or the girls are looking for me, tell them that's where I'll be."
"Roger that!" Garcia said with a smile as she watched them walk away.

JJ and Emily stood side by side in the bathroom mirror, having needed a break to splash water on their faces. Staring at those files for hours—and feeling like they were getting nowhere—had made it so that staying alert was getting harder and harder. They just weren't used to sitting around reading case files all day. They were more accustomed to hitting the pavement and doing physical leg-work to facilitate their investigations That pretty much applied to the whole team.
JJ sighed as she patted her face with a paper towel.
"It's pretty tough hearing about Spencer's situation," she said as she tossed the paper into the waste-bin and began to apply lip balm to her lips.
"Yeah," Emily agreed as she started running her fingers through her hair, trying to smooth it out. "He seems so lost. I want him to be happy, but I also don't want to think someone's taking advantage of him."
"It's crazy. I mean, he's this kid who's lived this pretty hardcore lifestyle, but he's still so innocent, and I feel like, if someone's not there to look out for him, he could end up getting really hurt," JJ said as she turned to Emily, an anxious expression on her face.
But Emily could only shrug sadly in response.
"I know, but there's only so much we can do. It's not like we can hand-hold him through a relationship. Besides, it seems pretty obvious he doesn't want to tell us too much about this 'mystery guy.' I'm sure you didn't miss the fact that he's never once referred to this guy by name. I'm actually kind of impressed he's been so cognizant of that. So, with that said, all we can do is hope that he figures out what's best for him and that he doesn't end up getting the short end of the stick here," she said.
JJ pursed her lips, ready to respond when they heard the creaking of the door. As it swung open, they were met with the surprised, yet smiling, face of Garcia.
"Hey, there was a girls' powwow and no one told me?" Garcia asked with a grin as she made her way up to the mirror.
JJ laughed and shook her head, watching on as Garcia pulled out a tube of her bright red lipstick and began touching it up.
"No powpow," she said. "Em and I were just on the brink of passing out so we needed a break."
"Uh huh," Garcia said as she smacked her lips at the mirror, making sure the pigment was properly distributed. "But, when girls are congregated around a bathroom mirror, gossip always follows. So what were you two chatting about?"
Emily and JJ exchanged a glance, before shrugging.
"Well… we were kind of discussing Spencer. And his new boyfriend," Emily said, frowning slightly.
"Oh?' Garcia said with wide eyes.
"Yeah," JJ said as she crossed her arms over her chest. "We first found out about this back when we met him in Vegas, and it became pretty obvious that dating and relationships were pretty much brand new to him. Today he told us that he was finally able to start something with this guy he's been really interested in. But since it's so new it's obvious he's still really insecure about it. And what's worse is that Spencer has been open with his feelings numerous times, and it's clear he's really invested in this guy, but the boyfriend can't decide if he even wants a relationship or not."
Garcia's eyebrows shot up and she couldn't help the curse that slipped out of her mouth.
"That idiot!" she exclaimed. "He really hasn't told him yet?'"
"Garcia, what are you talking about?" JJ asked, furrowing her brows.
"Well, Derek. I mean he…" Garcia started, but then her eyes widened and she trailed off.
Then, it was like watching a train-wreck in slow-motion. Emily gasped in shock, eyes widening and an exaggerated 'Ohh!' of understanding escaped her lips. JJ, on the other hand, had a much more obviously negative reaction, her eyes narrowing and face going red with anger. And, between them, Garcia was cringing, eyes wide and hands up, hoping to deescalate the impending catastrophe.
"Derek?" JJ asked incredulously, but the fury tinging her voice was not lost on either woman.
"JJ, come on, let's all be rational about this-" Emily began, but she was cut off.
"Derek's the one!? He's the one Spencer's been…? I can't… I can't believe this! All of this time? That son of a bitch!" JJ growled in frustration as she turned on her heel.
Slamming her hand against the door and pushing it open, JJ stormed out of the bathroom. Garcia and Emily glanced at each other, before quickly moving to follow her. They could only trail behind the stormy-eyed, petite blonde as she marched her way to the second-floor conference room. She was clearly on a mission.

"It's you?" JJ almost screeched as she stormed into the conference room and her eyes fell on Derek who had paused in the middle of hanging up the phone.
His eyebrow arched in confusion as he watched Emily and Garcia file in behind her, and he noted how Garcia made sure to close the door behind her and suspiciously avoided meeting his eyes.
"What's me?" Derek asked as he placed the phone down and turned around in his chair to look at JJ.
"The boyfriend," JJ said as she crossed her arms over her chest. "You're the one Spencer's been 'seeing?'"
Derek's eyes widened and he immediately turned around to shoot an accusing look at Garcia. He saw her shrink under his gaze, as if she was trying to disappear.
"No! You don't look at her," JJ said as she made her way around the table and into Derek's line of sight. "She didn't do anything wrong. And before you jump to any conclusions, Spencer didn't tell us anything either. You're the one who should feel ashamed of himself. No one else."
"JJ, what the hell are you talking about?" Derek asked, feeling his hackles rise.
This was not the way he wanted the other members of his team to find out, but Derek would be damned if he would be grilled, and accused, about a personal part of his life.
But JJ wasn't backing down.
"Derek, in general I'd butt way out of any of your relationships—casual or otherwise," she said as she gave him a pointed look. "But when it comes to Spencer… You… Derek you can't play around with him. You can't seriously have thought that would be okay. I expected better from you."
"Why the fuck does everyone think I'm some heartless asshole who just uses people?" Derek groaned in frustration as he ran his hand over his face.
He wouldn't admit it out loud, but hearing this spiel twice, from women he would consider to be as close to him as sisters, was starting to sting. Sure, he knew they probably had a reason to think that way about him—they had been spectators to his seemingly never-ending revolving door of women over the last few years—but was it so much to ask for his friends to just assume the best about him, instead of the worst?
"Look Derek… I'm not saying you're an 'asshole,' and I don't think you use people. You're a great teammate, an amazing friend, and all-around fantastic guy. But you're also a terrible boyfriend," JJ said.
"If he ever stays with someone long enough be called a boyfriend," Emily said with a derisive snort.
Derek shot her an annoyed glance.
JJ shook her head again, trying to calm herself down.
"This isn't about you, Derek. Okay? I adore you and I have no qualms with your… 'way' of doing things when it comes to the people you date. As long as that works for you and you're satisfied with that. But now someone else who I care about is involved. And the person I'm worried about getting hurt is Spencer. So, I just… I want you to be sure about what it is you're doing with him. Because you can't just get scared and run away again. You can't do that. Not to Spencer... Don't let him be another Jordan," JJ said as she gave him a meaningful look.
Derek cringed at the mention of his failed relationship-attempt with Jordan Todd, another Supervisory Special Agent, working out of Counterterrorism. Jordan was a friend of JJ's. JJ had introduced them. And about two years ago, Derek had begun dating her. He and Jordan had been 'together' for almost three months. Derek had thought it was casual—he had been having fun with Jordan, but had never had plans of making it anything serious. Jordan, apparently, hadn't been seeing it that way. And things came to a head when she asked him to meet her parents when they were in town and Derek had declined, telling her he didn't want her parents to get the 'wrong idea' about them. He told her that meeting her parents would make things look like they were more serious than they were. And Jordan had not liked hearing that. Derek had learned—quite loudly—that she, and all her friends (some of them also his female coworkers), already considered it serious.
Jordan had gotten so angry and humiliated that she had cursed him out in the bullpen. She had caused such a scene that she refused to show her face there again. JJ still met up with her for lunch once in a while, but since Jordan refused to step foot on their floor, JJ always met her by the elevators. On those days, Derek could often see Jordan standing purposefully with her back to the glass and JJ would walk through the bullpen giving Derek a pointed glare. JJ would be particularly cold to him on those days, as if being reminded of how he had hurt her friend. Other than that, the relationship between him and JJ was great. Derek hadn't been reminded about Jordan for a long time, so to hear her being brought up now was not exactly a welcome topic of conversation.
"Give me a break, JJ," he said. "This has nothing to do with Jordan, and you know that."
"It's not about Jordan, but it's about what happens when you think you have one kind of relationship and the other person's not on the same page," she explained.
Derek huffed in frustration.
"Not that it's any of your business, but Spencer and I have an understanding. It's not going to be like it was with Jordan. I made sure of that," he explained.
"You really think that?" Emily interjected, causing Derek to glance away from JJ's icy-cool stare.
"What do you mean?" Derek asked, frowning.
"You say you have an understanding, but Spencer's obviously still insecure about it. He may have agreed to… not 'defining' what you guys have, but that doesn't mean he's happy about that," Emily replied.
Derek gritted his teeth, wondering exactly how much Spencer had divulged to the girls. He was grateful that Spencer hadn't been the one to let the cat out of the bag—apparently Derek could thank Garcia for that—but Derek still couldn't say he was happy about his current situation. He wasn't used to having so many people analyzing him under a microscope like this. He wished he could just tell them all to leave him alone. But he was cynical-enough to know that it was unlikely he would get what he wanted.
"We're both big boys, you guys," Derek explained to the group of women, acting more charitable than he felt. "So, whatever misgivings you have, trust that Spencer and I can work it out. On our own."
"While that's absolutely true, I think you're missing the bigger issue here, Derek," Emily said, trying to soften her tone a bit more. "He wouldn't have talked to us about it if he felt that he could figure it out on his own. While you may think you have everything worked out, you're probably not working with a complete set of the factors here. There are things he's probably not telling you."
Derek looked between Emily and JJ, a frown on his face.
"Spencer's in love with you, Derek. And he's not sure if you feel the same way… if you ever could feel the same way. And that's what makes this an even more delicate situation," JJ explained.
Derek's eyes widened.
"Wait he told you he-" he began before Emily cut him off with a snort and an eye roll.
"He didn't have to," she said. "You can tell just by looking at him. Whenever he talks about you he practically has hearts in his eyes."
Derek flushed at hearing that, but his impending freak-out was cut short when he heard Garcia clear her throat.
"Der-bear, I think that's what's making you anxious. And why you're… hesitating with him. We talked about this. And we specifically talked about your feelings for Spencer," Garcia began.
Derek shot her a warning look, making it clear that he didn't want her to continue with that train of thought. Garcia hadn't said much of anything during the whole conversation, instead opting to expend her nervous energy by pacing slightly back and forth while Emily and JJ grilled him, looking as if she was trying to work out a way to defuse the situation. Derek did not need the first thing she said to be her spilling the beans about the very private conversation they had had only a few days ago.
Emily raised an inquisitive eyebrow.
"Hmm… so it's a case of you both having deeper feelings than you admit to the other one, and that's why you both feel insecure in this relationship, huh?" she asked.
Derek frowned. He wasn't sure if he liked the word 'insecure.' Derek felt very confident about most things. But, it was true that the intensity of the feelings he had developed for Spencer had made him anxious. He didn't want to mess things up between him and the young genius, and that was why he was telling himself it was better to take things slow—give Spencer time to recover from the 'honeymoon' stage—before he would let either one of them commit themselves to this. Derek wasn't one to dive head first without looking. But Spencer was someone who made him feel like he was doing just that. It felt like he was being reckless.
"Look, guys, I appreciate your concern. And I'm hearing you. Please believe me; I have no intention of hurting Spencer. This situation between us is really new and I'd like an opportunity to see where this can go without the pressure of all my friends going over everything we do with a fine-tooth comb," Derek said as he looked between the three women.
"You care for him… right?" JJ asked as she looked at him seriously, blue eyes scanning his face. "And… you do want to be with him, right? This isn't just a temporary fling?"
Derek felt his face heat again, but he swallowed down any urge to minimize or deflect, and held her gaze.
"Yes, I care for him a lot. Okay?" he admitted. "And…I would want to try to make a relationship with him work… if I can."
JJ smiled as she laid a comforting hand on his shoulder, eyes softening.
"That's all I need to hear. It'd be great if Spencer could hear that too, you know? It never hurts to give someone a little reassurance. He's a smart kid, but I'm sure we've all picked up on the fact that he's maybe a little less adept in certain areas of social interactions. When someone like that gets all caught up in their head there's no telling what conclusions they'll come to on their own," she told Derek.
Derek laughed softly to himself.
"Yeah, I've had first-hand experience with that," he said.
"That's our little genius for ya," Garcia piped up, smiling brightly.
The tense atmosphere in the room quickly dissipated, with the four of them discussing the new development happily until Emily gasped loudly when a thought dawned on her.
"Shit! Hotch doesn't know, right? What're you going to do about that?" she asked.
Derek grimaced, having been reminded yet again.
"My plan is to take it one step at a time, and hope that it doesn't come up today. I'll probably have a conversation with him once things settle down and I can get my feelings sorted out," he explained with a somewhat defeated shrug. "But I don't want to do that while Spencer's still here. If things go awry, I don't want Spencer to have to overhear anything. I don't want to ruin his trip."
The three women smiled at him sympathetically.
"That's definitely not a position I envy you for," JJ said, as she patted him on the shoulder again.
"Tell me about it," Derek said with a sigh.

It was approaching early afternoon by the time Hotch finally returned from his meeting with a number of the Bureau's leaders, including the BAU's section-chief, Erin Strauss. Upon hearing his updates from the meeting, the team had been thrown back into action. Hotch had told them that the brunt of the meeting had focused around whether the BAU should be allowed to keep the case, since it was clear that the Unsub was targeting them, personally. However, Strauss had managed to convince her bosses that the BAU should be allowed to continue with their investigation by detailing to them how the team had been able to avoid any major dispersals of secure information and were currently using their profiling skills to determine which cases the hacker was most likely to target. According to Strauss, her team was highly capable and they were the only unit in the Bureau who had the slightest chance of containing the situation. While relating his story to the team, Hotch had admitted to them that he had been surprised to hear Strauss sing their praises as she had.
Thus, the team had felt compelled to live up to her high expectations, and even loftier promises. They knew that if they didn't solve this case—and ended up embarrassing Strauss—they would never hear the end of it. Since then, JJ and Emily had made significant progress through the list of suspects and were running down leads on a set of 15 names. All the men on the list ranged in age from 23 to 34, were considered almost savants in their fields, and all had been let go from their jobs within the last year because their level of skill or competence had been brought into question. Most-notably, however, were their pronounced—and loud—internet presences.
Rossi and Derek had managed to sequester all the cases they thought could possibly have caught the Unsub's interest, and had, in the process, found a pattern amongst them—they were all cases with individuals who asserted their innocence, even those who had been convicted at trial. They had added to the profile that the man they were looking for most likely felt that he had been fired from his job because of a mistake that he was not responsible for. And JJ and Emily had used that to help them narrow their list.
And Garcia and Spencer were squirreled away in her lair, continuing to work hard on a number of increasingly trickier riddles the Unsub was sending. As the hours of the day progressed, it became clear that the Unsub was getting frustrated. He wasn't sending them riddles specific to the cases anymore. No. It seemed he had started taunting the 'riddle-cracker,'—who he did not know was Spencer—trying to decipher where the FBI had recruited him from. Once they had caught on to how the Unsub had begun to decompensate, Hotch had originally been against letting Spencer handle those messages. However, the team had decided that while Spencer would be allowed to continue decoding, no responses would be given to the Unsub's messages.
There was a twofold reasoning behind this. First, Hotch believed that the Unsub's messages—from his syntax to the speed with which he responded—could help them build their profile, by giving them hints as to what part of the country he was from, or something about his environment. They had already been able to determine from some of the words he used that he was most likely from the East Coast. And, secondly—and maybe most importantly—Hotch believed that if the Unsub's messages continued to go unanswered, he might become so frustrated that he would slip and reveal something tangible about himself. Hotch believed that this Unsub was so narcissistic that he probably wouldn't be able to resist doing something like that, if he felt that someone at the FBI was besting him.
Things were going well, until Hotch received a phone call.
Sighing as he sat back in his office chair and rubbed the bridge of his nose, Hotch looked down to his cellphone. Frowning, he saw it was an unlisted number. He paused for a second before answering, something telling him that he wasn't going to like this call.
"Hotchner," he said, voice firm and unwavering.
"Put your team on the line, Agent Hotchner," a familiar voice said.
Hotch had only heard that voice once before—early this morning—but he immediately recognized it as their Unsub. Frowning, eyebrows lowered and mouth set into a grim line, Hotch gripped his phone tighter.
"What makes you think I'll do something like that? You have something to say, you say it to me," Hotch responded.
"Put your agents on the line or I go to the home of Marilyn Waters and I slit her throat. She's a lying whore anyway, based on the case I was reading. You believed her over her boyfriend and you sent him to prison instead. She's the real criminal, so if I go over there and put her down it'll just be like I'm cleaning up one of your messes," the man said.
Hotch's eyebrow rose. This message was short and to the point. The man seemed angry now—on edge. He wasn't speaking in a playful or teasing voice anymore. Hotch wasn't sure if this Unsub was really the type to act on his threat—they hadn't profiled him as violent—but he wasn't about to take that chance. Hotch knew exactly what case the Unsub was referring to. And what Marilyn Waters had done had been an amazingly brave feat—she did not deserve for her life to be gambled just so Hotch could assert his positon of power over their Unsub.
Marilyn had been an abuse victim. Her boyfriend, Anthony Perkins, had subjected her to awful acts of torture almost daily. But he had even darker fantasies than the ones he acted out upon Marilyn and, knowing he could not hurt someone close to him—because he would be the first person suspected—he had hunted and killed four women over the course of eight months. Each of his victims looked exactly like Marilyn. Each of them had the same whip, cut, and burn patterns that marred Marilyn's body. And when they finally caught him—after following a lead which was based on merely circumstantial evidence—they had been able to secure his conviction by having Marilyn testify to the harm he had caused her. It had been enough to establish his modus operandi and convince the jury he had done the same things—only worse—to the four murdered women. Marilyn had been the only reason Perkins had gone to prison. Perkins had asserted his innocence. And still did to this day.
Cursing to himself, and hating being put in this position, Hotch forced himself to relax.
"Fine," he said brusquely. "Give me two minutes."
"Why, so you can attempt a trap-and-trace?" the Unsub asked, sounding bored. "I hope you know by now that I'm not stupid enough to let you track me that way. Even if you put your little technical analyst on it, she'll be chasing my signal as it bounces from Shanghai, to Montenegro, to Frankfurt, and back."
"No," Hotch answered, jaw tensing slightly. "I need time to gather my team."
"Whatever you say, Agent Hotchner. I'll wait. But don't keep me waiting too long," the man said, a hard edge to his voice.
Hotch immediately put the call on mute as he shot to his feet. He quickly walked out of his office, eyes dropping down to the bullpen and landing on his team who were spread out among the desks.
"BAU team!" he called down to them, watching as the four heads shot up at attention. "Roundtable room, now!"
Not pausing to make sure they were following him, Hotch briskly walked into the roundtable room and dialed Garcia's extension on speed-dial. As the phone connected, he could hear the sounds of his team filing into the room and closing the door behind them, but he didn't bother to look up.
"Garcia," Hotch said as soon as she answered, placing the call on speakerphone. "I've got the Unsub calling into my phone. Can you do a trap-and-trace? He already taunted me that there would be no point because he's using some type of software that's aimed at sending you on a wild goose-chase. But he specifically mentioned international cities, instead of American ones. We know he's domestically-based, so I'm wondering if there are any specific hacks that route calls through international servers. I'm thinking if you know what you're looking for it can cut down the time you'll need to chase him."
"That's a great idea, Hotch," Garcia said, excitedly. "Knowing that it's a program that projects a dummy location on to only international cities weeds out about 40 of the homegrown programs I've seen, which should make my job a lot easier. But, I'll still need some time to work through the remaining programs. And hopefully it's one I've heard of. So, as usual, please try to keep him on the line as long as you can."
"Will do, Garcia," Hotch said as he disengaged the call and finally looked up to meet the eyes of his teammates.
"So, as I'm sure you've been able to gather, I've got the Unsub on hold," Hotch said as he motioned to the phone in his hand. "I wouldn't normally let an Unsub demand to speak to us, and actually let him have his way, but he's threatened to physically harm Marilyn Waters, a victim in a case the BAU handled almost five years ago. And I don't feel like playing chicken with one of our victims' lives. We know he's threatened by us. And the fact that he's chosen to call in again—a decision that puts him at a disadvantage—shows he's getting desperate. So we'll let him talk and I want all of us to listen carefully. None of us will engage with him. No matter what he says."
Hotch then looked around the room, pleased with the serious expressions and nods he received.
He then turned back to his phone, taking it off mute and placing it on speaker so everyone could hear.
"Well, Agent Hotchner, were you able to scramble to implement whatever meaningless protocols you think you'll be able to use against me? Does it make you feel more secure?" the voice taunted. "Well, I'm here to tell you that nothing you have is 'secure.' I told you I know everything about all of you. I know your deepest, darkest secrets."
The people in the room all exchanged looks, but everyone remained silent.
"Don't believe me? Well, how about I tell you a little about what I know. Hmm? I'll start with David Rossi," the voice said.
As soon as his name was mentioned, Rossi looked toward the phone, his mouth turning down slightly in a frown, but no other reaction could be coaxed from him.
"David, David, David…" the man said, as if he was scolding him. "Or should I say, Dave, huh? It must be nice being considered one of the godfathers of the BAU. You've really made quite the living off of telling your stories, haven't you? Selling book, after book, after book. Did you tell your coworkers about the new one your editor wants you to work on, huh? How she asked you to write a book detailing the lives of your coworkers—the ups and downs of the life of a Special Agent? And did you tell them that you actually wrote back to her saying you'd consider it? It must be nice for them to know that none of their secrets are safe with you."
Rossi's eyebrows lowered a bit in anger. He had no idea how the Unsub would know something like that, even though his information was, for the most part, untrue. He would never consider writing a book about his coworkers. He had told his editor as much. But she was a new editor assigned to him and didn't seem to be taking no for an answer. She had continued to pitch different ideas at him, and all had ultimately seemed like she wanted some reality TV show in book format. But she had been hounding him for an answer and he had quickly texted her back—'let me think about it'—just to shut her up. He had then sent an email to the publishing company, requesting she be removed from his editor-team. Rossi didn't need to write books. And if he did write a book, it was going to be one he wrote because he felt like it, not because some gossip-monger editor wanted something scintillating. But the Unsub didn't seem to know that part of it—or maybe he was purposefully only detailing the negative parts.
Frowning, Rossi quickly wrote something down on a pad of paper and slid it across the desk to Hotch. When Hotch looked down at it, he frowned as well. The message read: He's hacked our texts and emails.
"Ooh, no answer, Dave? Huh? Too embarrassed that your teammates think you're going to sell them out? Well, it's not surprising. No one is ever really satisfied after making a million. You always want more. But, hmm, who else on your team would be able to relate to that? How about you Emily?" the Unsub asked, the hard, yet gleeful tone of his voice putting the whole room on edge. "Did you tell your team that you've been accepting requests to talk about job offers from different departments? Huh? You've always been a lone wolf, haven't you, Emily? You pretend to fit in, but it's just until you can jump on the next opportunity, isn't it?"
Emily's eyebrows shot up, and the anger on her face was a bit more apparent. She frowned as she saw JJ glance at her with concern, and all she could do was shake her head in an attempt to refute the man's words. JJ smiled at her, clearly showing that that denial was good enough for her. But that didn't do anything to calm the burst of anger Emily felt roiling in her gut.
Yes, she had received a few texts and emails regarding whether she would be interested in taking a positon elsewhere. One had even come from Interpol. Apparently her success as a member of the BAU—along with her being well-known on account of her diplomat mother—had raised the interest of many influential people in the government. Over the past few months she had begun receiving the unwanted attempts to set up 'meetings' to talk about changes in her career plans. Emily wasn't interested in leaving the Bureau, but she also knew it was unwise to burn bridges by being so rude as to refuse to meet at all. So she had consented to meeting, but before the first sip of coffee could be taken she had politely explained that she loved working for the Bureau and did not see a change in the near future. However, she had also made sure to state that she was appreciative of—and humbled by—the interest in her, and would definitely reach out if she was ever looking for a change of position.
Hotch glanced over to Emily, seeing that she looked annoyed, but shook his head at her, reminding her not to react to the man's words. It was obvious the Unsub was baiting them. He was trying to find the one thing he could say that could cause one of them to snap—to show their weak point. And once he found it, there was no telling what he would do.
"Oh, no response from you Emily? Well, with a cold and power-hungry mother, I'm sure you had to learn to keep your feelings to yourself, right? The daughters of diplomats can't be caught having tantrums, now can they? So, you're no fun. Who would be more likely to get a bit… spunky? How about you, JJ," the man asked, and as soon as the name left his lips, JJ's body tensed.
"What's the matter, JJ? Huh? Your boyfriend, Will, has been trying to get you to agree to moving in together for the last four months, and you keep brushing him off. What's the problem? Commitment issues?" the man asked. "Or is it that you feel that if you commit to him he'll drag you down? That he'll want you to be some little housewife, who'll have his kids and won't want anything else for herself? Or are you the type who likes to keep love at bay? It must be hard to get close to people when you feel like everyone you love just leaves you. Like Rosaline did?"
JJ's eyes widened and her jaw dropped slightly. It was obvious the Unsub had been through her texts. But what was worse is that he had read the ones she had written to Garcia about why she was hesitating with moving in with Will. Will had never expressed those feelings to her—in fact, he had been the one who had offered to give up his job and move to D.C. for her—but that didn't change the fact that she was afraid. And the Unsub had obviously rifled through very personal files on her computer, as well, if he knew about her sister. That was playing dirty. JJ hadn't told many people about her sister's suicide, albeit the team did know. What she had kept private—very private—was that losing her sister like that had made her feel unwilling to fully invest herself in others. It had been something she had struggled with as a teenager, and Will had been the first person who had made her want to try to do that again. She hadn't shared that—she had written it in a journal. On her home computer.
JJ gritted her teeth, feeling tears prickling at the corners of her eyes but stilled as she felt Emily grab her hand and squeeze. Taking a deep breath, JJ quickly scribbled a note on the pad in front of her and slid it to Hotch. It read: He's hacked our home systems as well.
Hotch frowned as he passed the two notepads around so that everyone was kept up to speed.
"You are good, agents. Not a single one of you have cracked yet? Hmm… Well, I know the two of you who are most likely to 'bite' when provoked. Let's start with you, Aaron," the Unsub said, the hint of playfulness gone from his voice.
"Unit-Chief Aaron Hotchner. I'm sure no one on the team knows you have been researching marriage counselors. Are things not going so well between you and the missus?" the man asked, feigning sympathy. "Is it because you don't want to have a baby? Huh, Aaron? Do you think you'll be as much as a screw-up as your father was? That the Hotchner men just can't do anything right? Your brother Sean's smart, but he doesn't act on his potential. He bounces from job to job, hobby to hobby, trying to find himself. Was it because, when he was alive, your dad tried to beat all sense of individuality out of you two? And, what about you Aaron? People might think you came out alright. But this rigidity—this inability to break the rules or color outside the lines—well, aren't you really still following Daddy's orders?"
Hotch's hands tightened into fists on the table, but other than that he did not respond. He didn't even flinch. But he could tell that the other members of his team were trying not to make eye-contact with him. As if they could pretend they hadn't just been made privy to such personal parts of his life.
"Impressive," the Unsub said, and everyone could hear the sound of slow-clapping coming from across the phone. "Well, I can't really say I'm surprised that the stalwart Aaron Hotchner didn't crack. So, I saved the Number One hothead for last."
Immediately, everyone turned to look at Derek and he couldn't help the flush he felt rising to his face. He wasn't embarrassed. No. He was angry. To think that the Unsub thought he was so predictable that he would react the way he wanted—like some kind of puppet—was an insult. There was no way he was going to play into this guy's hands. But then Derek froze for a second, wondering what exactly the Unusb had been able to discover about him. From what he could tell, the Unsub had only been rifling through the team's electronic communications. And it seemed to all be things that had happened fairly recently. Derek knew that none of his deep-dark secrets could be found on any computer or hard-drive anywhere. And, other than that, there wasn't really much else he needed to keep from the team.
The Unsub sighed dramatically, as if he had a long list of dirty laundry to air, and Derek tensed, waiting to hear what this man was going to try to taunt him with.
"Derek Morgan...the team's resident playboy. How do you get any work done when it seems all you want to do is rut like a dog in heat? It seems, judging by the messages they send multiple times a day, that your tech, Penelope Garcia, and Agent Morgan here have been in some kind of torrid affair," the voice said, mockingly. "Did you know that Agent Hotchner?"
Derek just rolled his eyes at the man's obvious misinformation, and couldn't help shrugging as he heard the soft chuckles from his teammates. His and Garcia's flirting was legendary, and he was somewhat glad that that had been what their Unsub had used to threaten him with. It had helped to lighten the mood somewhat after the man's taunts towards Hotch. And it also helped that the Unsub's information was untrue. It made sense that he—not knowing Derek and Garcia in person—would read the lascivious and flirty texts to be serious. It showed that all he had done was observe the team's electronic communications, and nothing else. Derek felt almost relieved. But, then the man continued.
"But it seems Agent Morgan can't keep his attentions in one place for long. Or, I guess I mean… can't keep it in his pants for long. Recently he's been busy flirting with someone else. A 'Spencer Reid.' Now isn't that interesting? Judging by how suggestive these texts get, your team's designated 'ladies' man,' seems to be a 'man's man' as well," the voice said with a laugh.
And that caused Derek to flinch, as a heavy silence descended upon the room. He couldn't help it as his eyes shot up to look at Hotch and he winced when he saw that his supervisor was looking right back at him. There was no misunderstanding the stern, dark look on the older man's face.
"Ooh, I feel like something in the… 'atmosphere' has changed. Has it? Good. I was hoping that it would," the Unsub said with a maniacal-sounding laugh.
"I really wondered what kind of guy could get your attention, Agent Morgan. I was quite curious. I thought I'd have to scour the internet to find him, thinking he must be something quite special. But, low and behold, to my great surprise, I discovered that I already had all the information I would ever need to know about him. And the reason for that? Well, it was because I had already hacked it from one of your past case files. Because he was one of the victims in a case your team solved earlier this year. Is that the reward you got for a job well done, Agent Morgan? Did he thank you for saving him by spreading his legs?"
Derek's eyes flashed angrily and he balled his hands into fists, ready to lash out—ready to take the bait. But then Rossi placed a hand on his arm, eyes serious as he shook his head. Derek gritted his teeth, fighting down his urge to lash out.
"And, oh, you can only imagine how surprised I was when finally I connected the dots! That the person you've been having decode my riddles was some barely-grown kid who used to strip for a living! You wouldn't hire someone like me, but you hire some whore who can do fancy tricks with numbers?" the Unsub said, voice rising with each word until he was almost screaming.
"That's enough," Hotch barked as he picked the phone up, effectively ending the Unsub's opportunity to further rattle his team and stalling Derek's knee-jerk reaction, which Hotch could clearly see was on the verge of bursting out as soon as the word 'whore' had left the Unsub's mouth.
"Enjoy this rush of power because soon… and I mean soon, you're going to be behind bars. You've given us all we need to find you," Hotch almost growled into the phone. And then he hung up.
Silence descended upon the room as Hotch immediately dialed into Garcia's line.
"Anything?" he asked her, voice sounding strained and tired.
Garcia sighed.
"Well, what you suggested I do was helpful in helping me avoid wasting precious time trying to filter through domestic versus international, but the program he used was still very sophisticated. I was only able to narrow it down to the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia area. You know, which is about 5500 miles and has a population of almost 10 million people. But at least you know he's relatively close-by," she offered, apologetically.
"Thanks, Garcia," Hotch said. "We'll be in touch."
He then disengaged the call and looked up at the members of his team.
"Listen, none of us are going to talk about any of what was just said by the Unsub. Don't let any of it get to you. That's what he wants. He thinks if he gets in our heads that we'll mess up. What he doesn't know is that we're better than that," Hotch told them. "He's given himself away by pulling this little stunt. He's further affirmed our profile that he seeks recognition. We profiled him as someone who's probably been passed up and overlooked in his everyday life. As someone who sees himself as great, but no one else does. And he just told us that we've rejected him before. Work with that, and we'll find him in no time."
The team nodded solemnly, but it was obvious they were all avoiding each other's eyes. Even with Hotch's words, it would still take a little time for them to shake off the discomfort of someone having broadcasted some of their most private information. It had been a personal violation. But they were all professionals. Soon, they would be back at their best.
Hotch quickly gave out instructions for what he wanted the team to do. He believed that the Unsub might not have actually applied for the Bureau—instead he probably lumped all the departments of the government into one major entity that had wronged him—so he directed everyone to focus on picking through the suspect list to find anyone who had applied for any branch of the government and had been turned away. Hearing that JJ and Emily had 15 possible suspects left to investigate, Hotch wanted all hands on deck.
As everyone dispersed, Derek couldn't help but linger behind.
Glancing at him, Hotch only said, "I'm going to go speak to Garcia and see what she can do about re-routing the email, texts, and phone calls for Bureau employees. We know he was able to get into our personal information, but it's also possible that all Agents have been compromised. We can't afford to not have all our bases covered."
It was obvious to Derek that Hotch did not want to 'talk' about what had been said on the phone, but Derek couldn't allow himself to just let things lie as they were. When the Unsub had alluded to his relationship with Spencer it had been like a kick to the gut, and seeing the way Hotch had looked at him had made Derek realize he had gone about this entirely the wrong way. He didn't want to hide things from Hotch, and he knew that that was because the trust that was inherent in their team was so important to him.
"Hotch, I… About Spencer, listen..." Derek began before Hotch cut him off with a raised hand.
"Morgan, does anything you're about to say pertain to the case or how we can go about catching this Unsub?" he asked with an unreadable expression.
Derek hesitated for a second before shaking his head, 'no.'
"Then we don't need to discuss any of that right now. If you want to come talk to me after the case is finished, my door is always open. But, for the time being, focus on bringing this guy down," Hotch told him.
Swallowing, Derek nodded silently before turning and heading out the door. Derek hoped that they would find the Unsub soon, and he was also happy to know that the bastard was local, because he wanted be the one to bring him in. This guy wasn't going to get away with thinking he could use such painful and private information against the members of the BAU, as if it was just a game. These people were like Derek's family, and no one was going to hurt them. And, if Derek was allowed to bring the guy in, well, he could foresee a rough take-down in his future, because no one was going to get away with talking about Spencer like that, either.

It took the team 40 minutes before Emily sat up straight in her seat and frantically waved the file in her hand.
"Rory Matthews!" she exclaimed. "I think it's Rory Matthews."
"Tell us why," Hotch said as he placed down the file he had been perusing, as the rest of the team turned towards her with anticipation.
"He's 28, graduated from MIT, and applied to the Department of Defense, Homeland Security and the NSA within the last 5 years. He was rejected from all of them and recently had been working at a big technology startup. Apparently there was some error in coding a program and a project that had been under development for two years had to be completely scrapped. Matthews said the error was attributed to code from another programmer but he was ultimately the one blamed for it and was given the boot. Since then, he's been spending his time online hacking up a storm. He made it into Garcia's suspect list because he had been rejected from three major hacking groups because he wasn't 'skilled' enough. It's like it's been one disappointment after another with this guy," she explained.
"He fits the profile," Hotch said, face stern. "Where's he located?"
Emily grinned as she pointed to the address on the paper.
"That's the beautiful part. Just 45 minutes away from here," she said.

Rory Matthews went down without a fight. When the FBI and the Virginia police stormed into his apartment, an hour after they had secured a warrant, they found him sitting in a bathrobe, dirty dishes piled up around him, face unshaven and a satisfied smirk on his lips. When he saw the members of the BAU he grinned at them.
"I had you running around in circles for the whole day. You saw what I could do. You saw how I could get into the darkest parts of you and hurt you. You only caught me because I wanted to play. If I hadn't… if I had just destroyed you from the inside out, you wouldn't even have known what hit you! Wouldn't even have known it was me. But I had to be known. I had to let them know—let them all know—what I was capable of. That they made a mistake for rejecting me... And, you see? I'm going to be famous," Matthews had sneered at them as the handcuffs were being placed on him.
No one even spared him a glance when he complained that the cuffs were too tight.
Derek had volunteered to escort Matthews out to the police cruiser that was waiting down at the curb. And when he was asked how Matthews had acquired the huge welt on his forehead, that hadn't been there during the takedown, Derek had shrugged and said he had 'tripped' while getting into the police cruiser. No one asked anymore questions.

It was almost six o'clock when, standing outside of his office as he looked down into the bullpen, Rossi smiled as he watched Derek and Spencer walking towards the glass doors, surrounded by the three ladies of the BAU. His eyebrow rose with interest, and his smile widened, as he saw Derek unconsciously swing an arm over Spencer's shoulder and pull the younger man closer. Spencer smiled and laughed, obviously a bit embarrassed, but let Derek tuck him in close to his side. Rossi saw Garcia lean in and ruffle Spencer's hair, and listened as Emily laughed loudly at something the perky blonde had said.
When Hotch took the spot next to him, silently watching the carousing group, Rossi couldn't help but laugh.
"The kid's impressive, isn't he?" Rossi asked, knowing Hotch was listening.
Hotch hummed in response, and Rossi let out an amused sigh. Although they hadn't yet had a chance to talk about it, he knew Hotch was concerned about what to 'do' about what were seriously the indicators that something intimate had developed between Derek and Spencer. Rossi knew that Hotch would rather take a 'see no evil' approach to this, and pretend like he hadn't heard what Matthews had insinuated about Derek's relationship with the young genius. However, even if Hotch could pretend to not have heard that, Hotch would have to be blind if he wanted to pretend not to see the way Derek looked at Spencer. So, Rossi was sure Hotch would have a difficult time determining what action to take now that he couldn't really avoid the 'elephant in the room'—so to speak—any longer.
"He could be a great asset to us one day," Rossi persisted, hoping to get Hotch to admit to Spencer's unique skills and obvious usefulness.
Hotch raised an eyebrow as he turned to look at Rossi.
"Dave, are you trying to butter me up towards Spencer?" Hotch asked. "I know that kid's amazing. Everyone can see that. We probably wouldn't have been able to solve this case without him. He has a remarkable skillset. But that doesn't negate the… other problems," Hotch said as he sighed.
"Hmm," Rossi said as he smiled ruefully. "That it does not. But, that, my friend is something you'll have to come to a conclusion on, on your own. And, believe me, I do not envy you that responsibility. But, I do want you to keep in mind that Spencer's a genius. And now that he's back in school, he's right on the track to being just the kind of person we need here. In a year or two, he could even be a new recruit."
Hotch gave Rossi a withering look, but ultimately shrugged his shoulders.
"To be honest, I would be remiss not to give my recommendation in support of him if he ever were to consider applying here. But, I can't overlook the fact that it'll just be 'messy' with the way that we met him, and now with all this going on with Derek..." Hotch said as he grimaced
"Well, it wouldn't be the first time we recruited someone with a murky past. I mean, come on, Garcia's an everyday reminder of the fact that we take—and often sometimes need—people with quite non-traditional backgrounds," Rossi said as he shrugged as well.
"And besides," he continued as he smiled at Hotch, "if Derek can be a little bit more…discreet about what's going on between him and the kid, I think there really shouldn't be all that much to worry about. Believe me, I got away with 'fraternizing' with my colleagues for years before anyone was any the wiser."
Rossi then winked at Hotch and Hotch couldn't help but roll his eyes as he shook his head. But Rossi could see the small telltale signs of a smile tugging at the corner of Hotch's lips.
"Come on, Aaron, let me treat you to a glass of my 30-year Scotch and we can talk about it," Rossi said as he clapped a hand on Hotch's shoulder.
Hotch sighed but he followed his friend anyway, as they walked back to his office. Working this out over a stiff drink sounded like as good of an idea as any at this point.

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter! A lot happened in just one chapter, but that's just how I like to roll, haha. So I hope it was fun for you guys.
With that said...drum roll, PLEASE…. Next chapter is the LAST chapter! D: Eek! Well, I'm excited that the end is approaching. I don't know if you are! ;p I will (as always) try to do my best to tie up loose ends. I can promise you this, though (before anyone asks me ;p), there will definitely not be a Pretty Boy: Part 3! Hahaha. It's been a great ride kids, but Mama's putting this one to bed.
xoxo
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Pretty Boy: Reprise