Spencer Reid was a man of many, many words. His vocabulary rivaled what was found in most books.

But when he met Aaron Hotchner for the first time, his vocabulary failed him. All he could do was stutter out the word "Hello" and wave awkwardly. The man who would eventually be his Unit Chief offered him a smile that he didn't know would eventually become an endangered species and greeted him politely.

—

After Gideon left, Spencer pulled back from the team a bit. He was still smarting from the metaphorical slap across the face that had been Gideon leaving nothing but a note, his gun, and his badge. Jason had known how Spencer's father had retreated when he was ten, giving him nothing but a short letter.

Most of the team left him to his own devices, sensing that he had to let the wound heal. Emily and Hotch were the only people that ever asked him about it.

—

Two years after Haley died, they managed to somehow collide in their paths and something that neither of them could have wished for in their wildest dreams happened—they came together.

When reflecting on how it happened, Spencer still can't be sure, even with his eidetic memory. Most of it is a lustful haze, filled with searching hands, sweat slicked skin, and delicious sounds that he wasn't even aware that he could produce.

For the second time with Aaron, his vocabulary failed him. The feeling of Aaron's hands on his skin was something that he couldn't seem to quantify with words. It was exhilarating, intoxicating, almost overwhelming.

But his mind didn't supply any of those words for him to use.

All he could come up with was 'wow'.