Where'd You Get This Kid?

By Jet Set Yoyo

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds or the characters. I'll deal.

Summary: S.S.A Gideon comes into work early and finds a mysterious person leaving behind a small basket on its steps. Curiosity gets the better of him and he checks it out. AU

Thank you to everyone for reviewing this fic. It caught on quicker than I could imagine and in the first week I got more reviews than I thought I would. Baby Reid plushies for all, be sure not to feed it after midnight and please by all Gods keep it away from dogs. Enjoy!

It was a dark morning. Thick gray clouds loomed in the sky foreshadowing rain later that day. Jason Gideon was asleep comfortably in his bed, completely unaware of the time as he slept for his alarm hadn't yet disturbed his slumber. If he were awake, he'd have heard the light padding of hurried, wobbly footsteps down the hall of his apartment.

Spencer had just woken up, clad in his light blue jumper, and decided it was time for breakfast. He pushed his pillow and blanket off the side of his toddler bed and climbed over the safety rail, falling into the cushiony heap below. From there he wobbled down the hall clutching the wall as if his life depended on it. His motor skills weren't exactly up to par, but that wouldn't stop him. Reaching Gideon's room he fumbled to reach the doorknob and he tried to move to his tip toes before ending up on his bottom. The little toddler furrowed his eyebrows, even more determined to get in the room that held his guardian. Two more times the frail boy tried and failed to reach the knob; he was short for his age, barely reaching three feet tall. With a frustrated whine he pushed himself to his feet once again and attempted to get to his tip toes to close that gap of only a few inches so he could see his Daddy. Success made his little heart swell and a giant ear-to-ear grin cover his face as the doorknob turned and allowed him access.

"Gi-gi?" whispered Spencer whom was now standing at the bedside poking curiously at Gideon. He was slow to learn to talk and still preferred simple syllables rather than full words, though he knew them by now. "Gi-gi. Hungry."

Gideon stirred, feeling an uncomfortable feeling in his side. He vaguely heard a soft voice claiming to be hungry when the thought clicked and he opened his eyes slowly. The sun wasn't even up yet, or maybe it was, but either way his shades did their job at keeping the light out. This made him frown and turn towards his alarm clock to find it was six in the morning and little Spencer was standing at his side still resolutely prodding him in the side with a tiny index finger.

"Good morning Spencer. I guess it's time for breakfast, huh?" Gideon mumbled rolling over and letting his bare feet rest on the floor as he sat up. Spencer beamed, raising his arms upwards in a silent demand for attention; one of which was happily complied with as Gideon pulled the boy onto his lap and smoothed the child's wild bed head. "Let's go make us some breakfast ok Spencer. Then we have to get you ready for daycare and I have to go to work."

"Catch bad guys?"

"Mhm, to catch bad guys." Gideon chuckled and lifted the boy up, carrying him with him to the kitchen before placing him in a booster seat by the table.

"I want…cakies!" Spencer cheered with a smack of his small hand on the table. Gideon smiled to himself and pulled out all the instruments to make pancakes for the fourth morning in a row. He was getting considerably sick of the flat, bland, patties of bread drowned in syrup and slathered in butter but it was Spencer's only favored breakfast food. Getting him to eat anything else was like trying to force a cat to take a bath and this just wasn't the week for it; the case for this week was taking a toll on him.

"Don't hit the table. It didn't do anything to you. I expect you to have the correct manners at this table Mr. Spencer Reid," scolded Gideon, turning only slightly to give the boy a stern look that was answered with a sheepish smile.

Breakfast was rather uneventful, when the pancakes had finished cooking and little Spencer's had been cut into bite sized pieces with a moderate pool of syrup on top they ate at the small kitchen table. Gideon ate watching his little boy happily stuffing his face with food and smiled to himself, thinking just how lucky he was to have found him.

"Alright Spencer, we've got to get you cleaned up and ready for daycare. You're going to have fun today, right?"

"I like."

"I know you do. Tell you what, let's make this as quick and painless as possible today and when I come to pick you up later we'll go get a new toy." That would make getting the little boy ready and out the door quicker than usual. Spencer would always demand to dress himself and each time he was allowed to he'd come out looking like he'd fallen into a closet of mismatched clothes and would have to be re-dressed. One thing that he couldn't negotiate with the boy was his strange adoration with mismatched socks.

"I get a toy today?"

"Only if you help me get you ready, no shenanigans today."

Once he was lifted from his booster seat and placed back on the floor. The jumper-clad boy hurried to his room, using the wall as a balancer as he tried to run. Gideon followed after him. In only a few minutes Spencer was dressed in his play clothes; a pair of dark khaki pants, a green t-shirt with a dinosaur on it and his favorite pair of mismatched socks, a blue striped one and a red one. This was a new record and Gideon laughed inwardly at how much easier a simple bribe could make the day. For the sake of time, Gideon scooped the boy up and grabbed a small backpack with a pair of extra clothes for the child. Soon they were out the door and in the car on their way to the Happy Feet Daycare. It was the easiest one to send Spencer to, it was only a couple blocks from the FBI building so he could get there quickly if the child needed him. It was fairly obvious to see that Spencer didn't have any good friends there. Few children would speak to him and spend a few minutes playing with him but being so shy, Spencer didn't interact well with them.

The woman, Alicia Brightworth, who ran the daycare met him at the door and smiled at Spencer who was clutching tightly to Gideon's neck. Even though this wasn't his first day at the facility, Spencer still acted frightened every time he went until they'd gotten him settled down on the floor with a puzzle in front of him. Gideon smiled down at the child, waving good-bye and headed back to his car.

"Hello Spencer, how are you today?" Mrs. Brightworth asked in a quiet voice with a cheerful smile as she knelt down beside the wavy-haired brunette. He looked up at her with large hazel eyes and smiled.

"I doin' a puzzle Miss 'licia."

"I see that, you're very good at puzzles Spencer. You like them a lot, don't you?" A shy nod was the only reply. "Don't you want to do something else? Maybe play with Ronnie or some of the other kids? Everyone's playing with clay."

"I like puzzles."

"Ok Spencer, you don't have to play with the clay if you don't want to. After the puzzle is done we're going to go outside. Today is our trip to the park."

"'Kay, 'kay." Spencer replied with a smile and went back to his puzzle. He was already close to finishing it, despite having started it a minute or so prior. It was a simple puzzle with animal shapes where the pictures on the pieces had to match the word under them. It was early for any of the current children enrolled to know what they said but kids up to five years old often went to the daycare. Mrs. Brightworth spent another moment watching the shy child and was surprised to see him finish the puzzle so easily, put it back on the shelf with the other puzzles and pull out another, much harder one.

One of the volunteer assistants came up beside the woman and watched Spencer too. He had the 100 piece puzzle out but the picture side was face down, yet he was doing the puzzle just fine as if the picture didn't make a difference. Both women were astonished to see him finish it within minutes, exchanging glances before leading the rest of the children outside for their field trip.

"Alright everyone, listening ears on!" Mrs. Brightworth said in a loud, assertive tone. The children gathered around and each put one tiny finger into the air; it was the special sign they'd been taught to show the teacher they were paying attention. Spencer paused for a moment before looking at the other kids and eventually put his own tiny index finger into the air; he'd done it several times before but he always wanted to wait until everyone else was doing it before he did. "Good job. Now we're going to go on a field trip. Let's hold hands everyone and then we can leave."

The children knew the drill, especially the ones who had been going for a while. It was called a field trip, but they went to the park twice a week providing the weather permitted. Each scrambled for their buddy and grabbed hands, some in pairs, some in groups and some made a long line of kids but everyone was holding a hand. Spencer looked around and everyone already holding hands and his eyes watered; he was the newest kid there so far and he hadn't made any friends. He shyly walked over to Mrs. Brightworth and tugged on her blouse sleeve.

"What is it Spencer?" she asked in a sweet voice, bending over slightly to be on his level. He averted his eyes from her gaze and his face turned a light shade of pink.

"Don't have buddy."

"Well then, that's perfect because I don't have a buddy either. You can be my buddy!" she smiled, holding her hand out to the scrawny three-year-old. He beamed up at her and slowly took her hand. "Everyone ready? Ok let's go on a field trip!"

The walk to the park was a short one, no longer than a couple minutes down the road but it was even shorter because they'd been singing nursery rhymes the whole way. As they entered the fenced in area of the small playground the children dispersed, clamoring up the steps of the slide or rushing for the swings but Spencer stayed put. He looked up at Mrs. Brightworth for approval.

"Go ahead Spencer, you can play." She assured him, letting go of his little hand. He smiled and walked slowly towards the tunnels, those were his favorite. Getting down onto his hands and knees he crawled in and set to exploring. The tunnels weren't actually that big, but to a three-year-old they were a whole new world. He ran into a girl and she gave him a big toothy smile which he shyly smiled back.

"Hi! I'm Maddie. What's your name?" she asked, sitting down in the tunnel in front of him. He ducked his head and started to bite his lip nervously.

"Spencer." He whispered.

"Spencer? 'Kay. Wanna play?" he nodded and she turned around, crawling quickly through the tunnel giggling all the way. "You're it! Catch me Spencer!"

He hurried to crawl after her but he couldn't keep up. She disappeared around a corner and he wasn't sure if she got out or went around the big circle. With a frown he stopped and looked around when he was tackled from behind.

"Gotcha!" she squealed, falling into a fit of hysterics. That was until she saw him curled up in a ball and tears streaming down his face. "What's wrong? It was just a game. Spencer?"

Maddie frowned at him, still wondering why he was freaking out about a little game. Even if he was supposed to be it, she was able to sneak up on him and it was too good a chance to pass up to catch him first. She didn't think he'd start crying like a baby. She crawled out the exit of the tunnel and stood up, brushing off her bright yellow sundress.

"Mrs. Alicia! Spencer's crying!" she yelled, catching the woman's attention and causing her to hurry over. The woman knelt down by the entrance of the tunnel to find Spencer curled in the same position, sobbing uncontrollably and now sucking his thumb. "Ew, he acts like a baby. I didn't do anything we were just playing a game and now he's upset 'cause I caught him."

Maddie walked away, bored with the crying toddler and went to find someone else to play with while Mrs. Brightworth tried to comfort the sobbing brunette.

"Shh Spencer, shh. What's wrong, tell me what happened," she cooed, scooping him out of the tunnel and into her arms. He stopped crying and started to hiccup.

"Scared. Maddie scare me."

"Maddie didn't mean it honey. Maddie was only playing with you, she didn't know. Come on, we're all getting ready to go back to the daycare. Your daddy will be there to pick you up." As if she'd said the magic words his tears stopped completely and he tried to control his hiccupping. He remembered the promise he'd made earlier and couldn't wait for a new toy.

Once they'd all been filed back into the daycare and accounted for the parents began piling in to collect their children. One by one they kids disappeared from the play room, leaving Spencer to sit on the color rug in the corner. He didn't want to play, he wanted his daddy. Finally Gideon appeared in the doorway, looking around for his son before setting his eyes on the child and smiling. Spencer got up and teetered over to the man, latching onto his leg before Gideon lifted him into his arms.

"Did you have fun today Spencer?" The little boy didn't answer, but buried his face into the crook of his neck.

"Mr. Gideon? If it's alright can I speak to you about Spencer?" Mrs. Brightworth asked, coming over to them. Gideon nodded and set Spencer back down on the floor before following the woman over to a desk.

"Is something wrong?"

"Oh no, nothing is wrong. Spencer had a little scare today at the park. A little girl and him were playing a game and she spooked him into hysterics but he seems ok now. He perked up the moment I told him we were coming back here and you'd be coming to get him. But that's not what I wanted to speak to you about."

"Oh?"

"Spencer doesn't play much with the other children, he rarely speaks to anyone and has trouble walking and speaking more than a few words. I did, however, notice him doing a puzzle today that was beyond his play level. It was a 100 piece puzzle and he completed it in only a couple minutes."

"Well he's a smart boy."

"The puzzle was picture side down. He wasn't even looking at the picture. I think you've got more than just a smart boy on your hands. He's displaying several signs that he could either be autistic or incredibly intelligent. Have you considered taking him to a specialist?"

That was news to Gideon's ears. He'd recognized that Spencer had some issued with regular things like walking and speaking, but he associated that with the fact that children grow differently and he figured Spencer was just a little behind his age group. The puzzle fact was a different story and he was quite amazed. He took a moment to look back at the child who was, at the moment, playing with the velcro straps of his sneakers.

"I haven't Mrs. Brightworth but now that you've brought these things to my attention, I probably will. As for playing with the other kids, I don't think it's because he doesn't want to. Spencer is just a really shy little boy."

"Ah yes. Well, thank you Mr. Gideon. I'll be seeing you both after the weekend, right?"

"Of course." Gideon shook the woman's hand and stood up, walking back over to Spencer and picking him up. "So I heard you were a very good boy today. Do you remember what I promised?"

"Toy," shrieked Spencer happily.

"That's right. Let's go and we can pick one out at the store."

Getting Spencer in and out of the car was much easier this time around now that the toddler had incentive to hurry up. That was good news, but he wouldn't be able to bribe the boy into doing that every day; he'd end up a spoiled brat and Gideon himself would end up broke. The drive to the toy store was a quick one; Spencer was strapped happily in his car seat squealing toy in an out-of-tune song-like way. Once they entered the store, Spencer looked at all the toys but didn't pick on up until they'd found the puzzle section. It didn't come to a surprise to Gideon after Mrs. Brightworth's report but the fact that Spencer picked out a giant thousand piece puzzle did.

"That one has lots and lots of little piece Spencer. Let's get a smaller one, like the one you did today at daycare."

"Easy." Grunted Spencer, putting on his best puppy face.

"Ok so maybe just a little bit harder then? That one is still too hard." Gideon picked up a 250 piece puzzle, one with a picture of a dog on it and showed it to the child. Spencer quickly pushed it away, not liking the dog picture at all. The little boy then picked up a puzzle of a castle. It was still a 250 piece puzzle so Gideon had no choice but to agree. He was skeptical that the puzzle was the right difficulty level for him but he wouldn't argue. "That one then? Ok let's go pay for it."

Putting the puzzle up on the counter of the register the clerk looked from Gideon to Spencer and back.

"Sir, I think this one might be a bit hard for a kid his age. Have you tried to toddler section; they have great ten piece puzzles for little ones."

"Spencer can do 100 piece puzzles in minutes, he might get bored with a 10 piece." That shut the clerk up who looked amazed and surprised all at the same time.

Once they got home Spencer grabbed his puzzle and made a beeline for the living room so he could put together his new puzzle. Gideon sat down on the couch and relaxed, flipping on the television to watch the nightly news and check the weather for the next day. He watched Spencer more than he did the television and was surprised yet again to see Spencer putting the pieces into place quicker than any other person would and like Mrs. Brightworth had pointed out, the puzzle was upside down so the picture was covered.

I have several reasons for making Spencer have as much trouble as he is. I did a little research on the matter of being a 'genius' and many past genius's had several issues during early life. While their mental capabilities were beyond their age, in turn their motor and social skills were severely stunted. For example, Einstein didn't learn to speak until he was 3 years old. So I've given Spencer a pretty limited vocabulary and most of his speech will be baby-ish syllables and one or two word sentences. But a majority of his issues will be with his motor skills. A toddler his age should be walking just fine now, even getting to a bit of a run but as you can see he has trouble. Thanks for all the words of encouragement. I'd love more reviews for this chapter, I even made it much longer for all of you out there. Toddler Reid plushies for anyone who does. -waves plushie around-