Disclaimer: I do not own criminal minds or its characters. I just wish I did

"Any news?" JJ asked, sitting in the chair next to Prentiss.

"Nope," she answered. "Garcia's in there now, but we still don't know exactly why Reid won't see us."

JJ sighed, running a hand through her thick blonde hair. "Ashley said she'd tell us though, right?"

"Yup, we just need to wait for her." The two women looked up to see Garcia tottering over towards them.

"Boy genius kicked me out." she huffed, "he said I was smothering him."

"Were you?" Morgan asked, amusement clearly written in his features.

"Yes, but that's not the point. He needs someone to take care of him; he's been tortured, and impaled, and I need reassurance that he's going to be alright."

"Of course he is baby girl," Morgan assured her. "This is Reid we're talking about. The kid didn't survive anthrax to be taken down by an impalement."

Garcia opened her mouth to argue, but was cut off by a soft voice saying, "hey guys." The four turned to find Seaver standing by the welcome desk. "Are you ready to get some answers?" she asked.

"Yes!" JJ, Morgan, and Prentiss exclaimed.

"I'll just, i'll just go get some coffee." Garcia muttered, desperate to escape what would surely be an awkward situation.

Three pairs of eyes watched Ashley's every move as she sat down. "Would you like to do this separately or together?" she asked quietly.

The three considered her question before answering, "together."

"Alright, in that case, Emily." She turned towards Prentiss and gripped her hands. "The first thing you should know is that Spencer does not blame you for any of this."

"He doesn't?" Prentiss whispered.

Seaver gave her a reassuring smile, "No, he doesn't. He knows there was no way you could have seen this coming and, while he wishes that you had told him about your past, he understands why you didn't. As to everything that he underwent while with Doyle, he wanted me to tell you that it was his choice and that he would do it again." She watched the older woman smile at those words, thinking about how that circle had finally come to a close.

"Why doesn't he want to see me then?" Prentiss asked. "If he doesn't blame me, why won't he let me see him?"

"Because he feels guilty." Seaver murmured, "he feels guilty about all of you."

"He has nothing to feel guilty about!" Morgan snarled.

Seaver raised her hands defensively, "I know that Derek, will you please let me continue?" Turning back to Emily, she said, "Spence felt guilty about things that were out of his control. I'm sure both Hotch and Rossi already told you all that he said what he did because he was trying to protect us all, but he felt especially horrible about what he said about you Emily. He knew his words would hurt you more than the others because you would believe him. He had already said something similar to you before, so you might see it as a second round to the confrontation you two had three and a half years ago. I told him that you would understand, but I'm not sure he believed me. He thought that after that, combined with the fact that he had broken the news about you two being cousins in the worst way possible, you would truly hate him. He honestly believed that you knew, he wouldn't have told you if he didn't. In his mind, having to find out your entire life had been based on a lie was one of the worst things imaginable. He couldn't believe that he had put you through that."

"But I gained a cousin in the process." Prentiss said softly. Out of everything that had occurred in the past three days, learning that Reid was her cousin had been the highlight. "Was there anything else?"

The younger woman nodded, "yes, he got you shot and Clyde killed."

"Really?" Emily asked incredulously. "Reid doesn't want to see me because he got me shot? Doyle would've shot me whether Reid was there or not. How on earth does he think that warrants him isolating himself?"

"I never said Spence was smart when it came to these things." Ashley told her, "I hope that helped."

Prentiss nodded, "I want to wring his neck, but yes, that did help."

"What about me?" Morgan asked impatiently. "Why doesn't pretty boy want to see me?"

"Do you remember that witness at the Virginia field office?" Seaver asked.

"The little boy? Yeah, what about him?"

"Apparently Doyle had a live feed trained on the field office. He had purposefully left a witness to Reid's abduction. He told Spence, he had to choose. There was a sniper on the roof, and he was either going to shoot the boy or you." Seaver gave Morgan a pleading look and whispered, "he couldn't let that boy die. He told Doyle to take the shot at you."

Morgan sank back into his chair. The kid won't see me because he watched someone take a shot at me? Because he was between a rock and a hard place, and he chose to do the right thing. "I would've done the same thing," he said softly.

"I know." Seaver turned towards the last person awaiting answers. "You really need to talk to him JJ." she said.

"I know, but he won't let me." Frustration leaked out of every syllable of the other blonde's words. "Why won't he let me?" she asked.

Seaver glanced up at Morgan and Prentiss. "Are you sure you don't want to do this privately?"

"No," JJ said stubbornly, "whatever you say to me, you can say to them."

"Alright," the younger woman sighed. "Spence knew you were pregnant when you went to visit him in the hospital. He wasn't sure if you knew or if Will knew, but he did. He said that you were glowing the same way that you had when you were carrying Henry. He also knew that you would do anything to protect him, even sacrifice your unborn child. He couldn't let that happen, he'd never be able to live with himself if you lost your baby because of him. He said what he did to get you home and far away from Doyle. When he watched you tackle Morgan, he was convinced that you had miscarried. That it was his fault, if he hadn't gotten into this mess then your family would have a new member."

Oh my gosh. JJ could feel her friends staring at her in shock. She knew they needed her to say something, but she couldn't. Instead, she stood abruptly and raced towards Reid's room.

"JJ! Stop!" Morgan yelled racing after her, Prentiss and Seaver hot on his heels. The three of them watched their friend disappear into Reid's room before following her.

"Why are you in here?" Reid asked anxiously. He knew that Ashley was going to tell them why he didn't want to see them, but he didn't think they would come barging into his room after.

"You complete ass Spencer Reid!" JJ yelled before dissolving into his arms.

"Jennifer?" he asked hesitantly.

"You thought I miscarried because I shoved Morgan out of the way?" she asked. Reid swallowed nervously before nodding. "Spence," JJ tenderly stroked the side of his face. "I miscarried, but it wasn't because of what happened with Doyle. I had to fly back for a meeting, and my taxi was t-boned. I didn't lose the baby because of you, I lost it because of a twisted stroke of fate. It's not your fault Spence, how could you ever believe that I would blame you for losing my child?"

"Or for choosing a child's life over mine?" Morgan asked.

"Or for watching me get shot?" Prentiss added.

"You guys are my family." Reid whispered, "I couldn't live with any of you getting injured because of my actions."

"But you thought we could?" Prentiss asked softly. "Do you have any idea what your death would have done to me? To any of us? What the hell were you thinking?"

"John 15:13" Reid responded, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."

Both Morgan and Prentiss stared at him before joining JJ at his bedside, "we love you too kid." Morgan said, basking in the relief that Reid was alive and still considered them to be a part of his family.

~6 Months Later~

"Hey Hotch, do you mind delaying the flight a few hours?" Reid asked.

"Sure Reid, what's up?" Hotch couldn't believe how much of a difference six months had made. His subordinate had fully recovered and developed a new aura of confidence. Gone was the skittish young doctor Hotch had met almost eight years ago. In his place was a man assured of the foundation of his beliefs, a man that would gladly give his life to save anothers. It was days like today that Hotch reflected on how lucky he was to have Reid, to have all of them in his life. The job was difficult, but worth it because it had brought him this family.

Reid smiled, "I just wanted to go see my mom and possibly introduce her to Ashley and Emily. The doctors said she was having a good day."

"Of course," Hotch said, "give her my best."

Reid gave his boss a quick thumbs up before snatching the car keys.

"Hey pretty boy!" Morgan called out, "where are you off to?"

"To bring Ashley and Emily to visit my mom." Reid replied.

Morgan chuckled, "I get why you're bringing Prentiss, given that she's your cousin and all. But why Ashley?"

"Because we've been in a serious relationship for six months Derek," Reid retorted. "Usually you bring your girlfriend to meet your parents after six months."

"Does Rossi know that?" JJ teased.

"Yup," Reid smirked, "he told me he'd break my leg if I broke her heart."

"You never told me that?" Seaver exclaimed.

She went to kiss him on the cheek, only for him to steal a kiss. "There's a lot you don't know about me." he teased, wrapping his arms around her.

"Oh? You are in so much trouble when we get home." Seaver laughed before kissing him again.

"Really? Again? Do I need to hose you two down?" Rossi asked, covering his eyes in mock horror.

Everyone laughed at the older man's theatrics. "Come on," Emily herded the two lovers toward the door. "You can do that in the car, but we need to go now so we don't get stuck in traffic."

"Yes mom." Reid teased, ruffling his cousin's hair.

"Oh you are going to get it!" Prentiss yelled, chasing him out of the building.

The team watched with amusement as Emily tackled Reid and dumped the contents of her water bottle on his head. The genius held up his hands in surrender before hugging his cousin. It was moments like these where they all realized that no matter what happened, they would always be a family.

In the end, you'll know which people really love you. They're the ones who see you for who you are and no matter what, always find a way to be at your side. -Unknown

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