It's safe to say Ryder was worried when she saw the news of the random shootings taking place in New York, especially when she found out Spencer and his team were working the case.

She knew his job was dangerous but this felt more real, being able to see what was happening.

So when Ryder saw something about a car exploding on the news and she couldn't get a hold of Spencer, she went into a small panic. Her chewed off nails attesting to that.

"Calm down, Ry, I'm sure he's fine." Steve told his friend as he watched her pace back and forth in front of her couch, the news playing on mute in the background. He had tried to turn it off when he got there, knowing it wouldn't help her worry at all but she had refused to let him so he settled for just turning to volume down.

"You don't know that." She said as she continued pacing, chewing on her already chewed nails.

"If you keep that up you won't have any nails left." Steve informed her, having dealt with Ryder in a panic before. "Look," He said as he stood from his seat, gently grabbing her wrist to stop her pacing and pull her fingers from her mouth. "I understand you're worried, but this isn't going to help so please just sit down."

Looking up into her friend's eyes and seeing nothing but calmness helping Ryder slightly, but not enough as she turned her head to look at the tv. "And stop looking at that, it's only making things worse."

"What if he's not okay?" She asks Steve, letting his guide her to the couch and change the channel on tv.

"Ryder you can't think like that, Spencer is fine." He told his friend once again. Truth is Steve was a little worried too, he's not super close to Spencer but he likes the guy and he makes his friend happy.

"Then why isn't he answering his phone? Spencer always answers his phone." Ryder told Steve with wide eyes, glance at the tv even though it was playing some movie rather than the news.

"He's probably super busy, okay? He'll call you when he can, I'm sure of it."

Sitting there waiting was torture for Ryder but she knew Steve was right. Spencer would call her when he could and he was fine. Or at least that's what she continued to tell herself.

It wasn't until later that night as Steve was standing in Ryder's kitchen trying to decide if he should order some food-he knew with Ryder like this she wouldn't eat unless he made her-that a ringing sounded from the small device in her hands, making her jump before quickly answering it.

"Spencer?" She quickly asked, jumping to her feet as Steve walked back over to her.

"Yeah, it's me, I'm okay." Spencer told the worried girl. He would have called sooner if he could've but he wasn't able to until now.

"Damn you, Spencer Reid, you had me worried to death." Ryder said, her shoulders dropping with relief.

"I sorry." Spencer said lamely, not expecting that reaction from the tiny women on the other end of the phone.

"No, I'm sorry, are you sure you're okay? Is everyone else okay?" Ryder asked, feeling bad for yelling at him as she sat back down on the couch.

"For the most part." Spencer said, Hotch's injuries fresh in his mind. "We're leaving New York in the morning."

"Okay, good. You'll come see me?" She asked hopefully.

"First thing." Spencer told her, wanting nothing more than to see her.

"You're tired." Ryder stated, she could hear it in his voice.

"Long day, even longer night." Spencer told her, everything that's happened hitting him. He imagined everyone else was already sound asleep as he leaned against the wall outside the hotel the team was staying at.

"I'm sorry, babe. I should let you get some sleep." Ryder said to him, the little pet name slipping through her lips before she even processed it.

"Can you stay on the phone actually, I just..." Spencer trailed off, looking up to the sky, wishing he could be back home with Ryder instead of talking over the phone, but he'd take what he could get.

"Of course." Ryder said, turning to look at Steve as he put his jacket on. Ryder was okay now, and so was Spencer, his work was done, he'd leave them be. "Just give me two seconds."

Setting her phone on the couch, Ryder jumped up to hug Steve and tell him thank you for coming to be with her. "Anything for you, Ry." He told her before making his exit, leaving Ryder to rush back to the phone.

"Spence?"

"Still here."

"Sorry about that, I may or may not have called Steve in my panic and he came over to try and calm me down." She explained as she pulled her legs under her, covering herself with the blanket that was hanging over the back of the couch.

"Sorry I couldn't call sooner." Spencer said, feeling guilty that she had been worried.

"No, it's okay. As long as you're okay."

"Yeah, I'm okay. Better now." He said as the relaxed against the wall, closing his eyes, finding comfort in Ryder's voice. "Tell me about your day."

"My day?" Ryder asked with a small chuckle. Her day was nothing compared to SPencer's.

"Yeah, or anything, I want to hear your voice." Spencer confessed, bringing a small smile to Ryder's lips as she got more comfortable on the coach, prepared to talk to Spencer about whatever he wanted to.

And she did, she talked to him about random stuff. What she did that day or the day before, things she had coming up soon and everything until she eventually fell asleep, phone still held to her ear.

"What do you think your team will say?" Ryder asked one morning as she watched Spencer get ready for work.

"I don't know. Morgan will definitely say something." Spencer told her, running a hand through his now shortened hair. He got it cut the day before. He hadn't even told Ryder about it, choosing to surprise her instead.

And surprise he did, he had told her he was coming over and as soon as he walked through the door her eyes had gone wide and the only words that left her mouth were "Your hair!". He had been a little worried she wouldn't like it at first but all worry disappeared when a wide smile had broken out across her face and she approached him to run her hands through it.

"They'll love it." She told him with a confident smile. "It makes you look very handsome."

"It doesn't really matter, as long as you like it." Spencer said with a smile as he came to stand in front of her from where she sat on her bed.

"I love it." She told Spencer as she stood to kiss him. "You think you'll be able to get away this weekend?"

"It's your birthday, I wouldn't miss it for the world." Spencer told her not for the first time. He knew she was worried he would miss it as she'd asked him similar questions throughout the week.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry." She told him, knowing he was probably annoyed with how many times she's asked. Ryder didn't do a lot for her birthday, she'd never had a party or celebrated growing up until she was adopted and even then she'd never had a big party.

Her first birthday after being adopted was just dinner with her mother and brother. She hadn't expected anything at all, having spent her whole life without doing anything for her birthday so when Eleanor had asked what she wanted to do she was surprised and didn't know what to say so she just decided to help Eleanor cook her favorite meal and they spent the rest of the night watching tv together. As a family. And that was the greatest birthday gift she could have asked for.

And since then, after discovering the diner she had taken Reid to, they went there every year for dinner. So that's what she planned again this year, going with Spencer and Steve. Last year it had been Steve and her brother. She was sad Tommy couldn't be there this year, he'd always done everything he could to be there for her as he knew how much her birthday meant to her.

But he couldn't be there this year and as much as that saddened her she understood. He was a soldier, he was protecting people and for that, she didn't think she had the right to be upset with him. He'd been gone before but never for this long. She really missed him but she didn't let herself think about it too much or she'd start crying and she wasn't sure if she'd be able to stop.

"And remember, no gifts." Ryder reminded him as she'd done before. Sure Ryder liked gifts and the thought of them but she never liked receiving gifts if she wasn't also giving them.

"Too late." Spencer told her as they both made there way down the hallway towards the front door.

"What!?" Ryder said, picking up her pace to catch up to him. "Spencer, I said no gifts."

"Yeah well, I don't know how you expecting me to not get you anything. Don't worry, you'll love it." He told her as he finished the last sip of his coffee. Ryder had bought a coffee maker after Spencer had started staying over and it wasn't for nothing as it was used quite often.

"What is it?" She asks, a tiny pout on her lips as she looked over at Spencer.

"It's a surprise." He told her with a smile, coming to stand in front of her, rubbing his hands up her arms.

"Fine." Ryder said with a sigh, looking off to the side.

"Are you mad at me?" Spencer asked the shorter girl with a smile.

"No." Ryder admitted, kicking the floor before looking up to meet Spencer's eyes. "I could never be mad at you."

"Good." Spencer said before kissing her.

"You better go, you're gonna be late." Ryder says before kissing him again, wishing he could stay.

"I don't think I'll be able to if you keep doing that." Spencer told her before kissing her again, loving the feel of her lips on his as she ran her hands through his hair.

"That's the plan." Said Ryder right before the ringing of Spencer's phone sounded throughout her apartment causing her to groan and pull away from him, allowing him to answer it.

"Yeah? Okay, be right there." He said to the person on the other side of the phone.

"It's okay." Ryder said with a stronger pout, pulling and pushing Reid with the hold she had on the front of his shirt.

"I'm sorry." Spencer told her sadly.

"It's okay." She repeats, smiling up at him. "Be safe, have a good day."

"I will." Spencer tells her before giving her another kiss, walking to the door with Ryder trailing behind him. "Bye." Spencer says with one last kiss.

"Bye." Ryder tells him, a funny, odd feeling in her heart as she watches him go, closing the door once the disappeared down the stairs. "Oh boy." She mumbled to herself as she leaned her back against the door, a good idea to what that feeling was.

His last case dragged closer to the weekend than Spencer would have liked, but he was able to finish with his paperwork with enough time to go home and change before he had to be at Ryder's apartment if he were to leave early. Now all he had to do was get the okay from Hotch.

"Come in." Aaron Hotchner's voice called from the other side of his closed office door.

"Uh, sorry to bother you, sir." Reid said as he slowly made his way into his bosses office, suddenly nervous. Almost like a child asking their parent if they could go out with friends.

"Spit it out, Reid." Hotch told his youngest agent, seeing his trouble to form words.

"Um, I need to leave early. Today is Ryder's birthday and it means a lot to her and I wanted to be ther-." Spencer rambled before being cut off by his boss.

"Reid," Looking up at his boss, Spencer wrings his hands as he waits for his answer. "It's fine, you can go."

"Thank you, Hotch." Spencer tells his boss with a sigh of relief. There's no way he could've missed Ryder's birthday. He was going to mention this to Hotch at the beginning of the week but they got called away on a case and he just hadn't had the chance until now.

"Tell her I said happy birthday." Hotch said before Spencer left his office. He was happy for Reid, he could clearly see he loved this girl and how good she was for him. He didn't blame him for not telling the team either, he understood. He's also heard the teasing from the other team members, even directed their attention away from the topic on occasion.

And of course he would let him leave early, Hotch knew first hand what this job takes from you, it took his wife from him, he wouldn't let the same happen to Reid if he could do anything about it.

"I will, thank you, again." Reid said before making his exit, passing his other team member on his way back to his desk to collect his stuff.

"And where are you going in such a hurry?" Emily asked as she watched Reid getting ready to leave.

"Nowhere." Spencer quickly said, hoping she would drop it but knowing she wouldn't

"Well, it's obviously somewhere." Morgan said as he sat back in his seat, watching Reid in amusement.

"I just have somewhere to be." He told his team, ready to leave and get away from their questions. He knew they meant well but sometimes he wished they would mind their own business.

"Oh yeah? Where's that?" Emily asked as he finally got his stuff together.

"Somewhere." Was all Spencer offered them before quickly making his way to the elevator.

"Somewhere?" Emily repeated to Morgan, the two sharing a suspicious glance towards Reid. "What the hell is he up to?"

"I have no idea." Morgan said with a laugh, tempted to snoop through Reid's desk in hopes of finding a clue.

"No," Emily said when she followed Morgan's gaze, immediately knowing what thoughts were going through his mind.

"Well, what do you expect me to do? The kid's not telling us anything." Morgan argued, not moving from his seat as he looked to her.

"C'mon Morgan, let him have a secret or two." Emily told him. She liked teasing Spencer but it was just for fun, if Spencer didn't want to tell them then he didn't have too.

"Last time I let him have a secret it wasn't a good thing." Morgan told her, suddenly serious causing her to see he was just worried about his friend. Morgan saw this team as family, Spencer like a little brother and he just wanted to watch out for him.

"Yeah," Emily said with a sigh, "But I don't think it is this time." She reminded him. "He's happy Morgan, let him have this one."

"Ryder?" Spencer called out as he entered her apartment with the key she had given him a few weeks back, closing the door behind him as Ryder called out.

"In here!" Walking towards her voice, Spencer passes the kitchen and living room as he enters the hallway, going halfway before turning to the double doors on his left, smiling at the sight of Ryder sitting on her stool, paint covering her close as she stares down the canvas.

"As cute as you look covered in paint, we're going to be late." He tells her, laughing when she looks at the time, stumbling out of her seat as she lets out a curse, rushing passed him, down the rest of the hall and into her room, stripping out of her paint-stained clothes on her way.

"I swear it wasn't this late five minutes ago." She says to Spencer as she shrugs on her pants and shirt she had picked out earlier that day, having already done her hair and makeup.

"You know how easily you lose track of time when you're painting." He reminds her with a fond smile, watching her twist the shirt in her hand with a confused face, seeming to have forgotten which side was the front.

"Yeah, yeah I know." She said, finally figuring out the shirt and throwing it over her head before walking to her full-length mirror to check her appearance.

"Hey." Spencer says as he wraps his arms around her waist from behind, this being the first time he's seen her since getting called away on his case a few days ago.

"Hey." Ryder says with a smile, turning in his arms to kiss him.

"Happy Birthday." He tells her, not for the first time that day but for the first time in person.

"Thank you." Ryder says cheerfully, giving him another kiss that made Spencer's knees go weak.

"As much as I want to stay here alone with you, we really are going to be late." Spencer tells her, reluctantly pulling away.

"You're right, Steve will never let it down if I show up late to my own birthday dinner." Ryder agrees, pulling Spencer with her down the hall and towards the door, grabbing her purse from the kitchen table before exiting.

Walking hand in hand towards the diner, Reid pulls his phone from his pocket but keeps it by his side so Ryder won't see and sends a quick text to Steve to let him know they were almost there before sliding it back into his pocket.

"It's about time." Steve says as his two friends approach him, Ryder pulling away from Spencer to give him a big hug.

"Hey, we are not late." Ryder defends as Steve sets of back on the ground, having had picked her up in the hug, her short frame making it hard not to.

"Sure," He says sarcastically before opening the door and letting her enter, sending Spencer a nod once he was sure she wouldn't see it. "Happy birthday, Ry."

"Aww you guys," Ryder says when she sees the flowers on their table and the balloons floating above the booth seats. "Thank you." She tells them sincerely, sliding into the booth after Spencer, Steve sitting across from them.

"There's the birthday girl." Ms. Linda says as she approaches the table, having helped the boys set everything up, this being the eighth birthday Ryder has spent here.

"Hey Ms. Linda." Ryder greets with a smile up at the women.

"Happy birthday, dear." She tells the young women she's had the pleasure of watching grow up with a smile and a hug. "I made sure we had your favorite pie, it's just come out of the oven, it'll be perfect when you're done with your meal."

"Thank you." Ryder tells her with a smile before they each ordered their food.

"Now, there's only one thing missing." Steve said, drawing Ryder's confused eyes towards him.

"What?" She asks him, narrowing her eyes in suspicion at the mischievous smile on his face.

"Well, your present of course." Spencer tells her, looking down at the confused girl with a smile before both him and Steve look over her shoulder towards the door, causing her to do the same.

Feeling her eyes go wide and mouth fall open, Ryder's hand goes over her heart as she blinks rapidly, not believing the sight before her.

"Tommy?" She asks, looking at her brother standing before her, dressed in his uniform and smiling down at her.

"Hey, punk." He says with a fond smile, using one of his many nicknames that always annoyed her.

But she didn't seem to care about the stupid name as she jumped from her seat and bolted towards him and into his open arms, wrapping her arms around his neck as he lifts her from the ground and spins her in a circle.

"Or should I say, Flash." He jokes as he holds his sister close, having missed her more than anything.

Finally setting her down, Tommy runs his hand over her hair, messing it up as he looks down at her. "Did you get shorter? I didn't think that was possible."

"Shut up, Tommy." Ryder says as she wipes the tears from her eyes, lunging forwards to wrap her arms around his waist in another hug. "How are you here?" She asks him once she pulls away, still wiping her eyes, glad she only wore minimum makeup.

Looking over his shoulder, Tommy nods towards Steve and Spencer, the two of them the reason this possible. Turning around Ryder runs back over to the boys, emotions swirling around as she all but jumps into Spencer's arms, giving him a giant hug, the words leaving her mouth before she could stop them.