The Story of Us

Chapter 27- Friendly Talks

The team stayed up until three in the morning working on the case and Amanda had managed to keep the baby, whose name they learned was Daniel, asleep the whole time. It amazed all the members of the team who had only ever seen Amanda as a brash, opinionated woman who didn't really take other people into account when it came to her work.

The only exception to this was Spencer. It wasn't that he had seen her interact with children before but rather the fact that he knew how protective she was. He had seen her defend not only the people she loved with a ferocity that was unmatched by anyone he had ever met but also people she didn't even know that were simply the victims of bullies.

This is why it comes as no shock to him when he enters the police station before the rest of the team to find Amanda passed out on the couch next to the portable crib one of the officers had brought in at her request. He looks through the glass and smiles as he notices that one of her hands was away from her body and reached through one of the slats in the crib to intertwine with Daniel's.

"Reid," Hotch calls and he turns to him with the small grin still on his face. "What are you looking at?"

Reid motions to the window of the conference room and Hotch takes a look, unable to stop the smile from forming on his face as well. "She must've come back after we left. I just got in a little bit ago and she was already in this position."

"Sometimes I don't think that I give Amanda enough credit," Hotch breathes. "I find myself falling into old habits of thinking."

"What do you mean?" Spencer wonders and Hotch sighs.

"Amanda is my sister but I never got the full story from her when she gave me details about herself. Our mother didn't even give me full details. She never told me why she left MIT. All she ever says is that she got bored but I know that isn't true because she was only able to get into Caltech because the FBI paid for it. As for her career choices, she always made it seem like she was changing jobs all the time out of boredom when she's been in the bureau since she was 17. All of it made me think that she was an irresponsible slacker and sometimes I find myself still thinking like that even though I know it isn't true."

Spencer frowns at his boss' words, unable to fathom how anybody could ever possibly think Amanda was a slacker. Irresponsible, sure, but not a slacker. "You know, when we were in college, Amanda joined the Volleyball team and the cheerleading squad. When she was on it, she made friends fast, she always did that, but a lot of them were struggling in some of their classes because they were really into cheer or volleyball. Do you know what Amanda did?"

"Knowing her, she probably did everything in her power to ensure they didn't fail."

Spencer nods with a smile, his eyes glaze over slightly as he remembers his time back in college with Amanda. "She took time out of every practice, around half an hour, to tutor every girl on each team. She learned each and every one of their subjects inside and out so that she could teach it to them. Amanda should have more doctorates than she holds from all the knowledge she has in her head as a result of making sure the people she cared about didn't fail their classes. That's just who she is."

"I know that, Reid. Believe it or not, I have actually gotten to know my sister since she's been back and I know everything I thought about her was wrong, it's just hard to remember that sometimes." Spencer nods, understanding the feeling as the rest of the team starts to enter.

"Why are we all standing around?" Morgan questions before looking through the window to see the adorable picture that Amanda and Daniel make. He chuckles softly before pulling out his phone and taking a photo to send to Garcia as Spencer speaks.

"I'll wake her up, just give me a moment." The team nods and he enters the room, slowly approaching the Hotchner girl before lower himself to his knees. He slowly tucks a piece of hair behind her ear as he soothingly whispers her name. Her eyelids slowly flicker before they flutter open.