Title: Familiar Strangers 1?

Summary: The BAU team from Criminal Minds has a case in Vegas, but how do Reid and Nick know each other?

Rating: PG (each part will be rated individually, some will contain descriptive violent scenes read each warning carefully)

Notes: This crossover had been kicking around for awhile but after a bunch of encouragement and support (damn you all!) the bunny blossomed and now I have a wonderful beta who edits my grammar and gracefully allows me to distract her from finals and bother her on vacation. Thanks to silentflux for the wonderful assistance.

Notes 2: If you don't know what CSI is (and if you don't how is that you know about Criminal Minds?) Then go to the CSI website for a brief rundown.

He watched from his car as the child trudged home. Night was falling, twilight, one of his favorite times. That in-between state that was purgatory. The question was whether or not he redeemed himself in enough time. He pulled the car up alongside the child. "Hey there son. You look pretty hungry. I have this extra burger here..thought you might like it." The child had stopped and looked at him, clearly nervous and uncertain but his eyes spoke of hunger. He knew the child would take the sandwich.

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"Six murders, once a week for six weeks" Gideon tosses the files on the table and they slide into fan formation. He starts tacking photos of the children up.

"Six? And they're just now calling us?" Morgan had always been amazed at how stubborn most law enforcement was.

"They didn't realize that it was a serial. All the kids, unconnected. Male, female, white, black, as young as five and as old as twelve." Gideon finished tacking up the pictures and Reid rose from his seat to examine them more closely. Four male children stared back and two girls. The youngest male child at five was black as was the oldest girl.

"It's very unusual to see a killer vary from his own race. There are a few notables of course, but not common at all. There's no connection at all -wait, I recognize this place in the picture. This is in Vegas." Reid turned to look at Gideon who nodded yes. "Home sweet Home." Reid muttered under his breath.

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"They look so peaceful." Reid commented on the pictures he was examining. Once on the plane everyone had spread out and files where being passed around as one person finished and another needed it.

"Yeah they do." Morgan agreed.

"The un-sub cares about these kids. He feeds them a good meal, washes them, places them so that they aren't uncomfortable in places that kids are usually depicted as having fun, parks, grassy lawns, beside a pool. All public places with an inherent risk involved but he goes out of his way to make them more comfortable, even in death."

"What about this verbena stuffed in their mouths? Very ritualistic. Verbena is usually considered a cleansing herb." Gideon said without looking up.

"Supposedly verbena was used to staunch Christ's wounds while he was on the cross. William Faulkner claimed that verbena is the only scent that can be smelled above horses and courage. Perhaps the unsub is trying to cleanse the children of something, or lend them something stronger than courage." Reid absentmindedly chews his lip while looking at the files.

Elle sighs almost exasperated, " I don't get it, the care, the cleansing, this all points to a predator sexual in nature but none of these kids were raped or molested while the unsub had them. I mean the corner notes in the autopsy state that the last victim Billy Penndle was undernourished and that the unsub had fed him probably one of the kid's best meals in the last month." No one commented on Elle's frustrated tirade, but they all understood.

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"Two CSIs are suppose to be picking us up." Hotch said while scanning the crowds for said CSIs.

Gideon turned quickly, surprised, "CSIs? Why not the local agents?"

Reid butted in at this point, lecture voice firmly in place. "Las Vegas has the second best crime lab in the country, second only to our own federal lab which has much better funding. The Graveyard shift in particular has some of the best minds in the field. Dr. Gil Grissom is the top forensic entomologist in the country. I've heard that he's not very fond of the FBI either." During the short speech Hotchner had spotted the two CSIs and the team had started forward to meet them, a dark haired male and female.

Putting down his duffle Hotch stuck out his hand, "Special Agent Hotchner, FBI." The female, who was bone thin to Hotch's eyes grabbed his hand and shook it, her grasp was firmer than he expected.

"CSI Sara Sidle." Hotch opened his mouth to introduce himself but turned amazed to watch the scene next to him.

Apparently Reid knew the other CSI, who was a good head shorter than Reid and very stocky. They appeared almost opposite in composition and to see Reid voluntarily hugging someone was, well, startling. The two seem awfully familiar, a warm comfortable smile gracing Reid's face which was answered in same from the CSI.. Suddenly realizing the scene he was making Reid turned a little and ducked his head down blushing to his ear tips. "Guys," Reid clears his throat nervously, "This is CSI Nick Stokes. We're good friends."

"Clearly." Gideon's voice is dry and tight and Hotch glances at him from the corner of his eye. In a clipped tone Gideon runs through the rest of the introductions and practically runs over Elle in a fast walk for the door. Sidle and Stokes exchange a glace that both looks startled and also questioning from Sidle's side. Hotch figured that CSI Stokes was going to be grilled over the coals about how he knows Spencer as soon as they're alone.

Walking out to the two cars parked in the loading zone Reid heads toward the front passenger seat of CSI Stokes Tahoe. "Reid, ride with Sidle."

Reid turns and looks a bit bewildered, "But-" Gideon shoots him a dark look and Hotch promptly decides that this was one car ride that he couldn't miss out on. In fact pretty much everyone seemed to want in that car but Morgan managed to beat Elle and JJ there with little loss of dignity as well.

Gideon wasted no time they hadn't even started to move when he asked, "So, how do you know Reid?"

Hotch was impressed by how cool Stokes was keeping it, after all he was being grilled by Jason Gideon who had made stone cold killers weep like children with only verbal barbs. "Well I moved to Vegas about 10 years ago but didn't start talking to Spencer until about 3 years ago. It was kinda part of a mentoring program. We got paired up because we're both in law enforcement. Mostly we talk over the phone."

Morgan leaned forward from the back, "so what he calls and talks to you about cases or something?"

"Nothing specific, classified most of the time but we talk about the emotional stuff, nightmares, life after death, you know the typical things that one talks about at 3 am when you can't sleep. It's not like it's one way." Nick could tell from the set of Gideon's face that he wasn't happy about Reid talking to someone outside the unit. "I talk to him about all kinds of stuff. I had some serious shit going on in my life and sometimes you can't talk about it with your team, your friends or your family. Sometimes you need a familiar stranger."

Hotch, who had been continent to listen spoke up, "that's very eloquent."

Nick flashed him a smile, "yeah well I've had lots of time to think about life and death recently. Besides Spencer is a good guy, I'd trust him to watch my back anytime."

Morgan snorted at this, "if he has a gun it'd be better if he was in the front."

Nick frowned at this, "are you talking about that case where Spencer shot someone right between the eyes?"

Morgan's eyes widened and Hotch coming to the defense of the team mate in the car replied, "Reid did say he was aiming for the guy's leg."

Nick snorted softly, "what and you believed him? Let me tell you something about Reid. He is rarely successful at lying, but when he is it's often to himself. Do you honestly think that if Reid had made the shot to the man's leg he would have gone down quietly?"

Hotch voiced a quiet, "no."

"How can you think that Reid wouldn't know that, even subconsciously? He's afraid of being good with the gun. He's afraid of being good at killing people. Easier to tell himself that he didn't mean to kill that man, that he pointed the gun at his leg and pulled up at the last second."

The car was silent as they took in this stranger's words, someone who talked to Reid on the phone and only met him in person a couple of times. This stranger who held more insight into one of their colleagues that they worked with everyday than they did themselves. The car remained silent, Gideon felt a little mollified, but this relationship was intrusive. Gideon was used to being the person that Reid got his helpful advice from. He mentored Reid, brought him into the fold at the FBI. Gideon knew about Reid's small crush on him and felt flattered and even though he knew nothing was going to happen, it was hard to think of Reid turning his quiet affection and worship somewhere else.

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Not to be out done Sara Sidle was getting the CSI side's back in questioning, but with three women in the car the atmosphere was decidedly less charged with aggression and the interrogation rather smacked of gossip to Reid.

"So Agent Reid how do you know Nick?"

Reid cleared his throat to stall a bit, knowing that the three women would want answers but unsure of how much he should reveal. "Ummm we met as part of a mentoring program. Three years now." A small smile graced his lips, not the usual nervous kind that JJ and Elle were used to seeing. "Sometimes you need to talk to someone who you don't see everyday, someone that you can confide in." Reid had no idea how closely his words mirrored Nick's. Reid glances at Sara out of the corner of his eye to gauge her reaction to his next words. "We've talked a lot about Gordon and what happened with that recently."

Sara stiffened visibly. Her voice was tight with emotion and controlled anger, "He talks about that with you?" Nick had refused to even discuss it with the others when they had tried to bring it up.

"Yes." Reid sensed how upset this was making her, that Nick had turned to someone that was a virtual stranger to the team to talk about this. Reid's hand hovered for a second above her white knuckled grip on the steering wheel before he finally took that leap and covered her hand with his own. "Nick couldn't talk to you about it, not to any of you. He could see how it hurt you to think about it. The fear that you were letting him down, he just couldn't bear the burden of all your guilt as well. Sometimes you need a familiar ear, but a stranger to the situation." Reid cast a lopsided grin at her, "You and I both know that he wouldn't voluntarily see a psychologist about his problems."

JJ leaned forward curious. "Reid isn't one of your PhD's in that?"

He turned back and smiled wickedly, "shhh" he placed a graceful finger to his lips and for just a second JJ wondered why things hadn't gone anywhere after that football game. "Don't tell. He doesn't know that I can technically practice."

Sara sat back huffily but somewhat mollified. However, she was still upset and unbalanced knowing that Nick had been talking to someone outside the team and not to them.

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Both cars arrived at the lab at almost the exact same time. Sara looked over and met Nick's eyes over the hoods of the cars. It was a look filled with questions and curiosity, and Nick's returning gaze held no answers. Similar looks were exchanged with the BAU team with the exception of Reid who kept his head down, and Gideon whose gaze was fixed decidedly forward. All the team members were professionals but they were also insatiably curious, no doubt like most dedicated law enforcement officers. They would put their curiosity about this part of Reid's past aside, but they would all keep an eye out for more information on Dr. Reid's mysterious past and even more surprisingly mysterious present.

Sara and Nick gave the team a quick tour of the lab. Normally, the team set up shop at the local field office or in a police station, but the CSIs in Vegas ran the show so that's where they would be. They were just starting to claim the lounge as their own when a tallish black man with startling green eyes entered. Nick smiled just slightly, "hey, these are the FBI profilers from Quantico," Nick turned to the group behind him, "This is one of our CSIs-"

"Warrick Brown." All eyes swung to Spencer who seemed to have spoken without thought, but Reid at least had the good grace to look contrite. "Sorry. We've met."

Warrick looked a bit bewildered about this and Gideon wondered how the man could have forgotten a person like Reid. "Where?"

"High school, you were a graduating senior when I was an entering freshman." Reid's voice is flatly dry and just slightly tinged with amusement. As if working with a past bully is an everyday thing. Perhaps it was. Warrick's eyes still held confusion and puzzlement. Reid sighed exasperated. "You called me a freaky geek and shoved me my locker the second day of class."

Warrick reasoned with shock, "What I don't remember that! Are you sure?"

Gideon replies just as droll as Reid earlier, "he would know. He has an eidetic memory."

Warrick's eyes cleared, "Oh, yeah. You're that genius kid that skipped like 8 grades or something. Sorry." Warrick looked even more embarrassed and confused but Reid took pity on him.

"It's okay." Reid assured Warrick in a softly amused voice. "Really, I mean that hardly qualified as hazing, more like a normal start to my day."

Sara eyed Warrick questioningly and Nick was suspiciously silent, "Warrick, I thought you were a science geek in high school?"

"He was." Reid answered amused, all eyes again swung toward him and faced with everyone's scrutiny offers as an explanation, "Neitche."

Morgan voices everyone's question; even Warrick didn't seem to follow Reid's one word theory, "What does Frederick Neitche have to do with it?"

"Frederick Neitche was of the philosophy that those who were weak prayed on the weaker in an attempt to feel more powerful." Grissom had entered the room at the tail end of the conversation unnoticed, but intrigued by the young man's application of Nietche's philosophy he couldn't resist butting in.

Everyone's eyes swung back to the salt and peppered entomologist and then swung back to Reid who replied, "Yes, that was the particular application I was going for." Reid smiled just slightly and stuck out his hand, "Dr. Grissom it is an honor to meet you. Again."

Grissom quirked an eyebrow, "Unlike Warrick I remember who you are Mr. Reid."

Reid inclined his head incrementally, "It's, ah, Doctor now, and, actually, it was Doctor then as well."

"You seem to have done well for yourself."

"Apparently. Are there any new developments in the case?"

"No, but the killer kidnaps the victim twenty-four hours before killing them. We're due for another missing child in a little over 72 hours."

That sentiment seemed to break apart the atmosphere and energize everyone all at once. Assignments were quickly passed out and the team dispersed to interview parents, examine the dump sites and comb photos for clues that might have been missed.

Several hours later found the team trickling back into the converted lounge where Reid and Gideon had stayed and placed up pictures and talked to the various CSI's and detectives that had caught the cases. Several different shifts were involved which had partly led to failure to connect the cases.

Reid had been standing lost in thought in front of a wall where he had taped up a photo of each child from each dump site. He had been standing there for over twenty minutes, and everyone wondered what he was doing but hadn't disturbed him yet. Nick walked in to the lounge and took in the clusters of people talking and either furtively glancing at Spencer or watching overtly.

He decided to take this into his own hands. "Hey what are you looking at?"

Reid continued to stare at the photos intently talking almost absent-mindedly to Nick. "It's these photos. The children they look so peaceful. Tara Ingle, Jon Phillpe, Jill Smith, they all show signs of sexual assault that happened over a long period of time. I can't help but think that this must be the most peace they've ever felt in their young lives." Reid inclined his head closer to the photos and Nick wondered at his ability to focus on the photos being that close.

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Gideon was watching Reid talking with Stokes from the hallway, he had been watching Reid look at the pictures until Stokes started talking to Reid. He saw how easily Reid slipped into his 'thinking out loud mode', something that Gideon had never witnessed him do with someone outside the team. Yet here was Reid easily chatting about his thoughts with this 'familiar stranger'. Gideon turned slightly to acknowledge Grissom who had walked up behind him. "I heard that Nick and the young Dr. Reid know each other?"

"Yes. Some sort of mentoring program, one that I wasn't aware of. Stokes, he has good instincts. He's very good at reading people and motivation. He would make an excellent profiler."

Grissom turned almost aghast speaking in a harsh whisper, "Don't you dare go and poach one of my guys!"

Gideon half turned one eye still on Reid and Nick the other on Grissom, "Your guys?"

Grissom would have responded, but his attention was diverted by Reid's excited shout. Exchanging a glance that indicated that the conversation wasn't finished they rushed into the room in time to here Reid excitedly say, "I know the victim connection! I just need to talk to some of the parents to confirm!" The room paused at the announcement before flying into a flurry of action and phone calls.