Disclaimer: Please see Chapter 1

This chapter contains spoilers for the Season One episode, "Secrets and Lies"

Our most basic instinct is not for survival but for family. Most of us would give our own life for the survival of a family member, yet we lead our daily life too often as if we take our family for granted.

~Paul Pearshall

Hotch led Hannah up the stairs to the rows of offices above the bullpen, his guest looking around with interest.

"Have you been here before, Hannah?" asked Hotch.

"No, never," Hannah replied. "Uncle Jason didn't participate in 'bring your niece to work day'. It's quite a set-up." She caught a glimpse of Reid settling at his desk and made a mental note of where it was. Remembering her manners, she asked politely, "How is Haley?"

"Great. We just had a baby, a boy, Jack."

"Congratulations." Hannah remembered Haley from a party her uncle had held in happier times. She didn't see what the two of them had in common but she figured that Hotch must smile more off-duty. "I'd love to meet him sometime. If I'm right in assuming that Uncle Jason just forgot about me coming today and wasn't sending a stronger message by not meeting my plane, I'll be around for the summer. You guys should come over."

There was a brief silence before Hotch said, "Sure, we'll be sure to do that." He coughed slightly as he spoke and Hannah knew that dinner parties were no longer a regular part of her uncle's life. She sighed inwardly.

They arrived at Gideon's door, shut and Hotch lifted his hand to knock. Hannah reached up and put her hand on his arm. "No, don't," she requested. "I'll take it from here." Hotch nodded in understanding and relaxed his face for just a second before going on to his own office. Hannah thought It might be a smile but couldn't be sure.

Taking a deep breath, she knocked sharply on Uncle Jason's door and opened it before hearing any sort of acknowledgement from the inside. She saw her beloved uncle behind his desk, leaning so far back in his chair that she was afraid he might topple over. As she got closer, she could see that his eyes were closed and she wondered if perhaps he hadn't heard her knock because he was sleeping. She was about to leave and go hang out in the bullpen with Reid (there was just something fascinating about the young doctor) when Gideon opened his eyes and let his chair fall forward when he realized he was not alone.

"Hannah?" It was obvious from the befuddled look on his face that he had no idea why she was there and no memory of their previous agreement. She didn't know why she was surprised; she had been at Stephen's last birthday party when Uncle Jason failed to show – that was the last time Hannah remembered Stephen mentioning his father. As far she was aware, the pair hadn't spoken since.

She decided to play it cool. "Hey, Uncle Jason, I was just in the neighborhood and thought I would stop by and say hi. So… hi." She winced at her lack of warmth but she didn't want to be the one who brought up the plans she had made.

Gideon slowly got to his feet and Hannah watched as he carefully put a section of the newspaper to one side, a look lingering on an article so small she couldn't read the headline. She waited, impatiently, as he put on his glasses and checked the desk calendar.

"You've finished up at Stanford, have you?" Hannah knew he was buying time.

"Yep, you're looking at a college graduate with a double degree of political science and French. As soon as I complete my summer courses at American university in Farsi, Arabic and economics, I'm on my way to that master of international studies." She knew she was babbling and that her uncle wasn't paying attention. He was ripping page after page off his calendar and then, from the look of comprehension on his face, she surmised that he had reached the month of May.

"You're going to Georgetown in the fall and you needed a place to spend the summer and I offered you my apartment." His eyes, full of regret and apologies finally came up to meet hers.

"Got it in one, Uncle. So do you mind if I take your key and get settled in. I left my stuff in lockers at the airport and I just want to get somewhere where I can unpack and put my feet up."

"Of course." He gave her two keys off his keyring. "Here, take my car. It's the navy blue Toyota parked on the fifth level. The attendant can show you which one. You remember where I live? I moved…"

"Three years ago to a place with a balcony," Hannah finished for him. "Yep, I remember. Better for bird-watching. I'll be fine." She put out her hand for the keys but handing them over, Gideon added, "Listen, Hannah, I'm really sorry I forgot about your flight. I'll make it up to you."

Hannah knew what she wanted. "Great, I was hoping you would say that. I want you to invite Spencer over for dinner. As soon as possible. He might have plans already for tonight but tomorrow will be good."

Gideon let one of his rare smiles cross his face. "You've already met Reid?"

"Who do you think let me into the building," retorted Hannah, pointing to the Visitor badge. She felt guilty as she watched Gideon's face fall. She softened her tone. "Yes, Dr. Reid was kind enough to sign me in when I couldn't reach you on your cell. I'd like to thank him by having him over. I don't know anybody here and he looks like a great guy."

"He is." Now Gideon was frowning slightly. "But he's shy. You'll have to move…"

"Slowly?" Hannah guessed. "What kind of a person do you think I am? I want to meet people here. I can do slow… hell, I can do glacial. Invite him to dinner." She turned to leave but stopped short at the sight of the table up against the wall of Gideon's office. She went over and picked up a couple of the framed pictures. "Wow," she commented, her tone deceptively light. "So this is what's passing for family photos at the office these days. Let me guess, no pictures of Aunt Judith or Stephen or me… You didn't get the glory and the accolades and the book offers from saving us from skinned knees or bullies at school."

"Hannah," began Gideon, weakly. But Hannah continued on without turning.

"I get it, you look at these photos every day to remind you why you do what you do. But I think you also keep them around to feed that ego of yours, that voice inside your head that tells you that all these people" she threw her arm out to encompass the whole table "wouldn't be alive if it hadn't been for you."

"That's not true and you know it." Gideon came up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. She shrugged away.

"I only know what I see. And I see you here in this office day after day when you're not travelling across America adding to your photo collection. I don't see you at family get-togethers and I don't see you at birthdays and I certainly didn't see you this morning at the airport."

"I was waiting for a call… a friend of mine is in trouble…" his voice trailed off.

"Yeah, I know." Hannah put down the pictures and picked up her handbag. "I'm going to go settle in. I'll see you when you come home." She looked meaningfully at the newspaper that Gideon had seemed preoccupied with. "I suppose I'll expect you after you figure out that article."

Before either of them could say another word, she was gone. Gideon took one step towards his door, but then looked back at his phone. He had left a message regarding his friend and it hadn't been returned. He needed to be there when it was. Suddenly he remembered the state of his second bedroom and held his face in his hands for a moment.

As Hannah climbed down the stairs and entered the bullpen, she decided to make one stop before she left. She came up behind Reid as he was reading through a file.

"Hey!" She sat on his desk, facing him, causing him to blush and look around to see if he was the centre of attention. Sure enough, Elle and Morgan were watching him with grins on their faces.

"I gotta go but here's my cell phone number." She tucked it in his shirt pocket. "I can tell from Uncle Jason's face that you're probably going to get called for a case any time now but call me in a couple of days and you can show me around." She beamed at Reid's curious coworkers and disappeared out the doors.

"Reid, my man," chuckled Morgan, slapping him on the back. "I think you just got asked to make your first booty call."

"Better be careful," Elle added, joining in on the fun. "She looks like a wild one. You don't want to get in over your head."

Reid smiled at them and remarked slyly. "That's really good advice guys. I'll mention to Gideon your concerns about his niece and hopefully he can give me some tips. I'm going to hand in this report to Hotch."

After he left, Elle and Morgan looked at each other with dismay. "Gideon has a niece?" Elle winced.

"Not just that but Gideon has a hot niece," agreed Morgan with a bit of worry in his voice. They looked at each other for a minute and then turned back to their own desks to work furiously at their own files.