Epilogue

It was very early in the morning, and Rossi and Reid were already standing at the airport, ready to drop off their bags before proceeding to security check.

"Here, Rossi: your tickets." – The youngest profiler said, handing his surrogate father the documents.

"No, Kiddo. My tickets are all here." – The older man smiled, pulling an envelope from the pocket of his coat and waving it proudly for his younger friend to see.

"But… I don't get it… I have two of everything here… Two plane tickets, two train tickets, two hotel reservations-"

"I believe one of those might be mine…" – Came the shy declaration from behind him, causing Reid to whip around quicker than he'd have thought possible.

"Sydney!?" – Then another beat… - "Principal Wilcox!?"

"Call me Wanda, dear. You aren't my student anymore. Actually, you, young man, never really were, right? It's so confusing… I can't believe you're an FBI agent, you still look about 16… And this young woman is already a college student. Oh, how time flies!" – The woman said in a sing-song voice, smiling at them fondly.

Reid turned to his surrogate father for help and found the man chuckling at his bewildered expression.

"I wanted it to be a surprise, Kiddo. I thought maybe you'd like to spend some time abroad with someone your age rather than with an old man like me."

"But-"

"It doesn't mean I won't be there! Wanda and I have rooms next to yours. Don't worry; we'll always knock before visiting you…"

"ROSSI!"

"We also have theater tickets to all the shows you have and I assume we'll visit most places together. Don't worry. So, what do you say?"

"Wow… I don't even know… I… thank you!"

"You're welcome, Kiddo. Shall we get rid of our luggage?"

"Sure!"

"I'm so excited!" – Exclaimed the girl happily. – "I've never been anywhere before!"

"Neither have I." – Admitted Reid. – "But it has always been my dream to travel a lot. To get to see different countries and other cultures…"

"Mine too. When David approached me with the idea of the trip… Wow. I couldn't even believe it."

"I'm so glad you're here! I swear, I didn't know about you coming."

She smiled.

"That was the idea."

Soon, it was their turn to approach the front desk to have their bags tagged and taken into the aircraft hold. Reid maneuvered first Sydney's baggage then his own onto the drop belt to be weighed. He was glad he had listened to Rossi in the end, and had decided to accept the small e-book reader device instead of carrying all the books he had originally wanted. This way, all his new and exciting socks had fit.

He chuckled at the memory of little Lottie's mother complaining the day before when they had talked on the phone that her little girl had been refusing to wear matching socks ever since she had returned from Florida. The five-year-old had claimed 'heroes' didn't match their socks because it was too boring for them. So, she had been insisting on different multicolored ones each day and had even sent a photo of her wearing a bright pink one with yellow stars on her left foot and a neon green one with orange stripes on her right foot. Reid couldn't be more proud of her.

Of course, he couldn't tell that the confused mother, so he had just assured her she had nothing to worry about; that it was perfectly normal for little children to go through stages like that.

"I'll need to buy some socks everywhere we go." – He stated absent-mindedly.

"But Kiddo…" – Groaned Rossi in exasperation. – "Don't you have enough already? You chose not to bring enough pants so that all your socks will all fit…"

"Not for me. For Lottie."

Sydney narrowed her eyes dangerously.

"And may I ask who that 'Lottie' girl is?"

Reid chuckled.

"Well, sorry to say, Sydney, but you have to accept it: she's a very important person in my life."

"WHAT!? Who's she?"

Seeing that she looked like an enraged dragon ready to lash out any minute, and thus fearing the whole scenario would end with him traveling alone, Spencer quit joking and answered seriously.

"She's a small but strong and feisty five-year-old." – He explained. – "A good friend."

"Oh!"

"So: don't worry. She's no competition to you, Sydney dear." – Winked Rossi and Wanda playfully hit his arm. – "Ouch! What was that for?"

"Don't tease these young lovebirds, David! Can't you see how they're blushing?"

That made the two turn an even deeper red, of course.

"Khm… Should we head to security check?" – Asked Reid, trying to steer the topic away from his love life; it was so embarrassing!

"Yep! Let's go!"

"We'll have so much fun!"

The end