Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds

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William's mouth gaped open, "You cannot be serious," his astonishment evident in his voice.

"Make no mistake dad, I am very serious."

Evan looked back and forth between his father and his brother. Did he hear right? His brother was fighting his parents to keep Evan with him. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped.

Janice's face was a portrait of confusion. She appeared to be having trouble comprehending what she was hearing; Spencer was going to fight them for custody of Evan. "William, can he do this?"

"Not only can I do this Mrs. Reid, I am doing it."

"Why," she replied?

"Because of these," Reid brought out a stack of disturbing photographs documenting the bruises on Evan's body and handed them to her. Janice looked through the photos, becoming increasingly distressed with each picture.

"William, you did this, oh my God, you did this to our boy!"

"Janice, for God's sake, quit overreacting."

"Overreacting, because I'm disgusted at what you did to our son."

"Shut up Janice or I'll…"

"What dad? Huh! What?" Reid shouted. "Are you going to hit her too?"

William lunged angrily toward his elder son. "Come on dad," Reid urged with his fingers, "You know you've always wanted to, just remember it'll be assault on a federal officer. You'll be in the federal pen so fast your head will spin."

William stopped abruptly, inches away from his son. "Damn," Reid muttered, "I should have let you hit me."

"You would never get custody of Evan anyway. We've got a beautiful home in Philly. I have an excellent position at the university. Janice is a good mother. No judge in his right mind would give the kid to you."

"Judges can be persuaded," Reid responded.

"And who's going to persuade him, you?" William looked disdainfully at Spencer.

"We all will," said JJ standing up from her place at the table. "We were all here when Evan arrived and heard him give the details of what happened between him and his parents. He told us he didn't know where else to turn so he came to his big brother. We'll all be willing to testify to that on Spence's behalf."

"The boy told us that he went to his mother for some support after the altercation with his father but she was more interested in making his dad's favorite cake. He said he didn't feel he could count on his mother." Janice hung her head as Morgan rose with his statement.

"Dr. Reid saved the voice mail Evan left for him the other night after the incident telling him there was trouble and begging him to please leave his phone on so he could contact him. The boy sounded very frightened in that voice mail. It will also be presented to the court," Gideon added, getting to his feet

"As well, we have proof that you have been spending many afternoons and evenings at the Fairmont Hotel in Philly with a young woman named Erica Granger," Garcia jumped up. William gave her a look of disbelief but Garcia continued, "Don't even bother to deny it. I have security camera footage from numerous occasions. The Fairmont is one hotel that doesn't tape over their footage and they hold onto their tapes for a long time. I have the registers where you've signed in and I have copies of credit card bills with frequent charges to the Fairmont Hotel, a credit card bill without Mrs. Reid's name on it that goes only to your office."

Emily remarked, "My mother has been a senator and an ambassador, my father is also a diplomat. They have friends in very high places who owe them favors. I'm sure I could persuade them to collect on one or two for a good cause."

Hotch spoke up, still standing near the door, "Evan's statement, the voice mail he left for Dr. Reid and these photographs will also be handed over to Child Protective Services. They will decide if criminal action will be taken."

Defeat staring him in the face, William's countenance displayed his rage. "This is all about getting back at me for leaving you and your mother, isn't it?" William directed his anger at Spencer.

"It's always about you, isn't it Dad? Well guess what, this time it's not. This time it's about Evan. Whether you wanted it to happen or not, I care about this boy, I love my little brother," Reid's voice started to quake. "And I will not see him hurt to satisfy some need of yours."

"You know I used to think that my life would have been so much better and so much easier if you hadn't left. I kept thinking, if only my dad had stayed. But I've come to realize that that's not true. I don't think I would have been better off if you had stayed. You couldn't be a father to me like you can't be one to Evan because you just don't have the capacity to care enough about another human being."

"That's why you hate me so much, isn't it Dad, because I'm a reminder of what a failure you are as a father, a reminder that you are and always will be weak. You walked out on a mentally ill woman and a ten year old kid. You left us with nothing but our home and each other. You assumed we wouldn't make it and you thought when we didn't, we'd be gone and you'd be able to forget we ever existed. But we did survive. Oh sure, Mom's condition worsened, as you knew it would, and she eventually had to be institutionalized. But I made it through, ending up with three doctorates, this great job with the FBI and the love and respect of some of the finest people you'll ever meet. All without you. What a blow to your ego."

"You call me a freak because I have this extraordinary intelligence that I could only have gotten from you and Mom. She was the most brilliant academian in her field and you were and probably still are close to the top of yours. I've come to feel I got the best of both of you; I got some of her awesome intellect, her voracious love of reading, and her quirky sense of humor. I got your looks, your brown hair, brown eyes, and even some of your profound intellect as well. For that I'm grateful; I'm grateful, too, that I didn't get any of the meanness or bitterness you possess but perhaps I would have if I'd been around you longer. Your leaving may have been the best thing that could have happened to me. I'm also relieved that you seem not to have passed your lesser traits on to Evan and I need to prevent that from happening in the future and if that means I have to get him away from you, then that's what I'll do."

"Janice, may I call you Janice?" She nodded. Reid sat on the couch with her and Evan. "I have no desire to rip Evan from the home he has always known but I cannot tolerate a situation where he is subjected to the influence of our father."

"He won't be. After today William is no longer welcome in my and Evan's home. I'm sorry I doubted you when you told me what you heard." She looked at Evan and caressed his bruised cheek. "I guess I just didn't want it to be true so I thought if I didn't believe it, it wouldn't be true. Pretty stupid, huh?"

"Agent Hotchner, you're a lawyer, correct?" Hotch nodded. "Do you know a good divorce lawyer in Philly?"

"I'll find you the best."

"I'd appreciate that." She glared at William then turned to Reid. "Spencer, you have been so wonderful to Evan, from donating the bone marrow that saved his life to becoming a real brother to him. I don't know how I'll ever thank you."

"I don't want any thanks; I just want to have Evan in my life."

"That's a given," Janice replied.

Hotch picked up the phone on the table and punched in some numbers. "Larry could you come to the conference room and escort William Reid from the building please and he is not to be allowed admittance again under any circumstances."

William Reid said nothing, staring bleakly at his two sons sitting side by side, so alike, and too late he wished it could have all been different. Two security guards showed up, William gestured as if about to say something but could find no words so he just turned and left with the guards.

"You okay buddy," Reid asked Evan after their father had gone. Evan nodded.

"You sure showed him," Evan said, looking proudly at his older brother. "You know, something's funny."

"What's funny?"

"The leukemia is the worst thing I've ever been through but if I didn't have the leukemia, I wouldn't have needed the bone marrow and I wouldn't have met you."

"You're right; sometimes it's our worst experiences that reveal to us what's best and most important in our lives. Have you ever heard the expression, "these things are sent to try us?" Evan shook his head. "It means that God or fate or whatever entity you believe in gives you a challenge, and you either come through it or not but if you make it to the other side, you usually come out a stronger and better person. I think maybe the leukemia was your challenge and you made it through. You passed the test with flying colors."

"I couldn't have done it without you or my Mom and all the doctors and everybody." He looked at Janice and she squeezed his hand.

"That's okay," Reid continued, "Nothing says you have to go through these challenges alone, I learned that the hard way when I went through a challenge of my own." He turned and looked at his team, his friends, his family still sitting in the conference room, supporting him as always.

"I guess we got through it together," Evan mused, "Like real brothers."

"We are real brothers and I am going to keep my eye on you. I have to make sure that you're taking good care of that bone marrow of mine."

"I will, I promise. Now I have only one question."

"What's that?"

"When do I get to meet Allie?"

The End