No Rest For The Wicked, Pt 5

The hotel room is cramped with all of them in there. Introductions have already been made. Sam and Dean sit on the beds; the FBI agents gather around, standing or sitting on the floor. Reid is comfortable enough to sit down. To no one's surprise, Hotch stands beside him, guarding their youngest. Castiel stands between the two beds, Dean to his left and Sam to his right.

Sam speaks first. "So, what are you guys anyway?" he asks. "I mean, if Emily survived being stabbed, obviously you're more than just FBI agents."

Reid answers. "We're Readers."

Dean blinks. "Readers? I've never even heard of them."

"You wouldn't have." Castiel says quietly. "The few Readers that go dark are usually taken out by their own gift."

"So what the hell is a Reader?" Dean demands, twisting to look up at Castiel. The angel shrugs.

"Natural psychics. They aren't tainted by demon blood or anything else unnatural. They just are." He directs his focus to Reid. "Spencer and his team are unique."

"How so?"

"Reid was born this way. We were created." Rossi replies. "When we joined the team – when we all came in contact with Reid – he opened us up. He made us who we are." The others nod agreement. Sam and Dean exchange looks. Reid smiles.

"I had a hand in that too."

Dean's attention snaps to him. "You're a mind-reader, then?" Reid nods. "Makes sense. What about that pushing thing? What do you mean, you had a hand in that?"

"I think it comes with the ability to Awaken people." Reid says. "Other Readers, as far as I know, can't do it. But I can, and so can they. We've only used it a few times, when we absolutely have to. Getting shot sucks."

"I don't think you realize how scary that makes you." Dean says quietly.

"You aren't the first person who's tried to kill him." Morgan says darkly. "We protect our own."

Once again, the brothers exchange looks. Reid catches two thoughts quite clearly. One is Sam – They're like me and Dean. We cross them, we are so screwed. They'll kill us. – and the other is Dean.

I wish Cas would see he's mine, too.

Reid's eyes widen. A slow grin spreads across his face, but it's gone by the time the brothers look back at him. After a long moment of silence, Dean claps his hands together. "Okay. So you're a bunch of mind-reading, people-pushing FBI agents who are not evil. I can get behind that. I've got one last question for you."

Hotch's eyes narrow. "And that is?"

"Emily. And you, I think. How are you guys surviving things that should kill you?"

Castiel shifts. "I can answer that." He looks at the team. "You tied your souls together. Nothing can happen to one of you without happening to all of you, and as you grow stronger, even a direct assault will not damage you."

Garcia shivers. "Can we not test that, please?" she pleads. "It was bad enough when Hotch – I don't wanna do that again."

"None of us do, baby girl." Morgan assures her. He wraps one arm around her and pulls her close to his side. Garcia snuggles in against him. JJ and Prentiss exchange looks and grins. Morgan reaches out and lightly smacks Prentiss on the back of the head. "Not nice, Emily."

"Hey!" Prentiss laughs. "It's true, though!"

Rossi rolls his eyes. "Children, behave, please."

Sam and Dean immediately burst out laughing. Reid glances at Hotch. We have them. They're on our side, now.

Good. I really want to get back home.

Just remember, if you shoot them, we're gonna have a pissed-off angel on our hands.

I know. That's why they're still alive. Hotch sighs. "We need to head back. Jessica's probably wondering where we are." he says. JJ nods. The group gets up and leaves out the door. Reid is the last one to go. He walks up to the hunters and angel, shaking each one's hand as he goes. He's got this odd little smile on his face, and Hotch watches from the door, curious. Reid lets go of Dean's hand, and suddenly all three of them jerk.

Dean looks up at Reid, eyes wide. "The hell?"

"My thank-you. And repayment to Castiel." He smiles at the angel and walks off. As they head back to the vans, Hotch glances at him.

Did you just –

Yeah.

Why? Did they really want it?

Reid shrugs. Castiel and Sam did. Dean mostly just wanted them to know how far he'd go for them. Sam knows – he's gone there before – but Castiel didn't. Now he does.

Hotch shakes his head. Reid, you're something else, you know that?

Reid laughs. I think you may have mentioned it a time or two.

/-/

It takes three days, but Hotch isn't surprised to find Dean Winchester standing outside of FBI headquarters, waiting for him. He walks up to the younger man. "I'm surprised you're still in town." he says. "When we ran background checks on you, they didn't come back good." Dean grimaces.

"I hate shapeshifters."

"Shape – no, I don't want to know. Humans are bad enough to deal with." Hotch shakes his head. "So, what brings you to my neck of the woods?"

Dean shifts from foot to foot. It's clear he's uncomfortable. "You know what Spencer did?"

"Yes. I had a feeling he might."

"Why?"

Hotch sighs. "Because he wanted to help Castiel. I think he sees a kindred spirit in him. They're both just outcasts looking for a family. Reid found his with us. Castiel wanted that, too, so Reid gave him you and Sam."

"I almost flipped out." Dean admits. He shoves his hands in his pockets. "When I realized what happened, I almost flipped. Then I saw how freaking happy Cas and Sam were about the whole deal. I just – I can't argue with that, you know? I think it's freaky as hell, but they don't, and who am I to say they can't have it?" He shakes his head. "Just – how do you deal?"

Hotch doesn't have to ask what he means. He remembers those first months very clearly. "Well, for one thing, we were all eased into this one at a time, and we had someone who could help us, because he'd been dealing with it his whole life." he says. "But you learn. After a while, it just becomes background noise until you choose to focus on it."

Dean nods. He takes a deep breath. "Cas went back up to Heaven. Said something about reporting to his superiors. Aaron – I can hear him all the way up there."

That gets Hotch's attention. He frowns. "Huh. Must be because he's an angel. We start to lose coherent transmission halfway across the country."

Dean laughs. "That's still a long-ass way away." Suddenly, he grins. "Well, at least Sammy won't be able to walk off without me again." Abruptly, he turns serious. "Listen, I know what this means. I'm a big brother, and Sam's always been a bit of a freak, so I know what it's like to try and protect something like that. Hell, I sold my soul for the kid."

"What are you saying?"

"Don't worry about hunters. We'll deal with them. You focus on keeping your family safe."

Hotch stares at him for a moment. In that moment, when Reid gave Dean the connection the team cannot live without, he made permanent allies out of them. They are now part of the BAU family, even if they aren't directly tied to them. Hotch smiles.

"Thanks. Oh, and don't worry about your backgrounds, either. Our analyst can do some mean things with a computer."

Dean grins. "You're cool, for a fed."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

Dean turns to walk away, then stops. "Tell Spencer I said thanks." With that, he's gone into the crowd. Hotch smiles and returns to his office. He stands in the window for a moment, watching the bullpen. It's a quiet day – the others are filling out paperwork, or at least pretending to. Rossi is leaning on Prentiss's desk, talking about something; Reid and Morgan are throwing paper wads at each other while JJ keeps score; Garcia is watching everything from her office webcam and secretly recording it to show the boys later.

For a brief moment, Reid looks up and smiles at Hotch.

Hotch just smiles back and returns to his desk.

The End

AN: Whoo! Another story down! There will be one more 'official' story in SW (I saw official because we all know how that works with me) and it will also serve as part 2 of Children of the Darkness. For those of you who follow SPN, this could also mark the beginning of a similar series for the SPN characters. So hey, more fun for all!

Until next time, I remain yours truly,

Shadowblade-tara