𝐈. Piper often wondered why she had been given up for adoption by her parents. She wondered even more often why her orphanage couldn't be more musical like in the movie Annie.

She really hated signing in front of others but she thought it'd be fun to sing while doing chores, as opposed to working in silence and dutiful solitude.

Piper sat at the dining table, using awfully worn down community crayons in order to color in a page full of flowers.

The girl scribbled a sunflower blue as the chair beside her was carefully pulled out by a lanky, thin man in an ugly sweater vest. Or at least ugly in her opinion.

The chair scraped against the floor and she winced slightly at the grating sound. But she didn't glance his way and instead continued coloring her flowers in.

The man sat down awkwardly and watched for a moment or so, before opening his mouth to speak.

"You're tall." Piper stated before he could get a word in.

The man blinked in confusion at the sudden, yet very factual statement. "I am..." he slowly returned.

"Why?" She asked, still not looking up at him.

"Genetics?"

"Oh." She mumbled.

"Okay then," The man muttered under his breath, unheard by the girl before him.

"I'm Dr.Spencer Reid," He introduced. Not moving to shake her hand due to his germaphobic tendencies.

"That's nice. How's collage debt treating you?" She retorted easily.

Spencer was taken aback by the quick witted response and rose a meticulous eyebrow at the malicious words.

He noted how she was still coloring as if she didn't need to use that much brain power or focus to retort so quickly.

"You're smart," Spencer noted aloud.

She finally peeked up at him. "And your Gideons friend," She replied instead of acknowledging the off hand, half compliment that she had received from him.

"So you do know Gideon," Spencer said.

"No shit. He saved my life," She muttered, coloring still. Choosing to make the rose purple.

Spencer stared at her for a moment then pushed his slipping glasses up slightly.

"You were right earlier, I am Gideons friend; he and I... used to work together," Spencer slowly spoke, as if silently proceeding the use of past tense himself still.

"Used too?" She asked immediately noticing the past tense he had intentionally uttered. She finally stopped coloring and put her broken purple crayon down.

"What do you mean used to? Is he okay?" She asked worry crossing her features.

"He's alright. He just went into retirement," Spencer said, leaving out the bit of Gideon practically running off without a proper goodbye- just a letter and a chess set.

"Oh," Is all the girl could think to say.

"So why are you here of all places?" She asked, curiously.

"Healthy curiosity and wanting to see if you were alright. I read your file while clearing out some stuff," He informed her.

"So you know about the umm..." She trailed off, looking away. Clearly uncomfortable on the topic of what Gideon saved her from.

"Yes."

"Cool." Is all she could think to say about the situation and went back to coloring.

Reid stared at the picture for a moment, taking note of the odd colors that she had chosen. In accordance to the child psychology books he had read once.

'In Judith Aron Rubin's "Child Art Therapy: Understanding and Helping Children Grow Through Art," such behavior might reflect a child's emotional state or internal experiences.

A child who has experienced trauma, such as a kidnapping or being given up at an orphanage, might feel a lack of control over their environment. By coloring familiar objects in unconventional colors, the child can exert some control and express their unique perspective or emotional turmoil.

In her book, Rubin suggests that children who have undergone significant emotional distress often use art to symbolize their feelings and experiences. The choice of unusual colors might indicate the child's attempt to create a world that feels safer or more comforting than their reality.

Alternatively, it could be a way for the child to communicate their feelings of alienation or difference from those around them, especially if they feel misunderstood or out of place due to their traumatic experiences.

Rubin emphasizes the importance of allowing children to freely express themselves through art as a means of processing their emotions and experiences. (Copyright 2005)' he thought, but he was getting ahead of himself.

Following that rather short visit, Reid returned three more times in the next two weeks before he finally got called into a case.

Spencer Reid was definitely looking apprehensive and pensive throughout the meeting but Derek Morgan had a gut instinct that it wasn't about the case.

"You alright?" He asked Spencer as soon as the meeting ended.

Spencer blinked quickly, a bit startled by the sudden directness of the question. "Wha- oh yeah. I'm fine,"

Morgan nodded slowly. "You don't look fine,"

"Well I am, so..." He retorted still walking towards his desk with Morgan beside him.

"So nothing. Something's up. I can tell pretty boy," Derek said almost reprimanding him.

Spencer wanted to roll his eyes. "Well keep the thought, the gut feeling, the theory's you have to yourself," he said.

Derek put his hands up in mock surrender, the usual smug expression on his face.

They arrived at Reid's desk and Reid grabbed a few things since they had to be ready in thirty.

Morgan let him be, since it didn't look like Spencer would be changing his mind and opening up anytime soon.

"See ya' on the jet," Morgan said before walking off.

Reid mumbled something in reply and gathered his stuff, thoughts occupied by Pipers particularly rough case. How close Gideon and her had supposedly been.

He put down his stuff and went to Garcia's bat cave.

He knocked politely before entering. "Hey Garcia?"

The blonde woman looked up from her desktop and spun around in her chair like a super villian revealing his identity would have.

"So what do you need?" She asked as menacingly as she could muster but it looked rather silly.

"I need you to run a check on a young girl. She lives in an orphanage, she was part of one of Gideons old cases. Cleo Odeon," Spencer supplied.

Garcia nodded as if accepting a once in a lifetime quest. "I shall get it done. But you have 24 hours to give me payment." She said.

Reid raised an eyebrow. "What's the payment?"

"One Boston cream donut from the break room." She said as if she were asking for a million dollars.

Reid laughed and nodded. "You got it Garcia. Your the best,"

"Oh, I know sweetie." Garcia smirked. Spinning around and beginning to type as Spencer left to board the jet.

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