Finally! I have written something new! It's been over a year since that last happened. I've been wanting to write what I think should have happened during episode 5x13- Reckoner.

The look in Hotch's eyes when Reid said it wasn't a lie is what led to the creation of this story. It is an AU where corporal punishment in the workplace does occur. If this doesn't float your boat, then jump on a raft.

I do not own Criminal Minds or any of the characters. The sick mind is all mine :)

Aaron Hotchner was never a man to back away from his problems. He'd be the first one to confront them head on. Never the less, today, he hit a revolution. He wanted so desperately to turn away. It wasn't so much that he wanted to run away and hide—no, he could never want that. He wanted to chase down what was lost to him. For reasons, that seemed insignificant at the moment, Hotch was powerless to his heart's desire. He knew that logically, it made too much sense to attend to what he had to do, but love is illogical. And to love's desires, he'd risk everything; including his own will to see his son on his birthday.

Emily Prentiss buzzed at Hotch's apartment door. The stinging sound brought Hotch back to the cold reality of the day. He might be unable to protect his own family at the moment, but there were yet more families that would beacon for his help. He would need to be their hero; a superhero, as Jack saw his father. What more could Hotch give Jack than that, today? Hotch sighed lowly as he entered his security code and followed Emily out the door.

Emily Prentiss was not, for a moment, naïve to the desolated state of her supervisor, and friend. She, along with the rest of their team, paid witness to the horrific events that surrounded the older man's life. It didn't take an FBI profiler to know Hotch was still reeling from the events. Still, she knew that there was nothing she could say to bring his mood up, as they drove in silence, through the murky rain. She could not relate to what he was going through. She had never had to lose the people she cared most about, while knowing that she could do the least bit to save them from whatever dangers they may face. She wouldn't know what to do with herself if she couldn't protect her own family. The matter would probably give her an ulcer, just in worry. Emily hoped she'd never have to cross that bridge. No, for Hotch, the best thing she could do was to give every spare minute to assist the man in bringing home his family, and catching the son of a bitch that was doing this to them.

Aside from not getting any new leads in the case, Emily could offer Hotch a bit of encouragement. "Hotch." She said as she cleared her throat. She waited for him to pull himself from where ever his thoughts had taken him before she continued. "Today is Jack's birthday, right?" She knew this would have been a sensitive topic to bring up, had it not been for what she had to say next. Aaron gave a slight nod before turning back to the window. "Well, Garcia texted me before I pulled up and said she had a surprise for you."

Aaron immediately pulled himself out of his slump. By the way Emily spoke, the surprise was sure to be positive. "What is it?" He continued to keep anxiety in his voice.

"If I told you," Emily restated the famous clique, "it wouldn't be a surprise." A simile lit across her face when Aaron let his excitement show through his own lips.

It wasn't very long before Emily's truck pulled into the parking lot of the FBI. Hotch wasted no time in grabbing his belongings and entering the building. He put visiting Garcia in her tech office high on his priority list of things to do before starting the day. As soon as his briefcase was unloaded on his desk, he made his way down to the technical analyst's office. He was in such a hurry, that he hadn't happen to take note of the man standing beside her. "Garcia, Prentiss said you had something for me." Aaron greeted the woman.

"Hello, Agent Hotchner." The ignored man replied to Aaron.

It was then that Hotch realized what the surprise was about. Aaron warmly greeted the man with a shake of hands. This very man was responsible for the well-being of his son and ex-wife. If he couldn't be the one to protect Jack and Hailey, he atleast got a smidge of sleep at night because he knew that it was this man that was watching out for them. Hotch had known the U.S. Marshall from his younger years of being a lawyer.

"He brought you a tape." Penelope Garcia spoke up before Hotch had to ask about the reason for the visit. Garcia knew Hotch well enough to have the tape rolling as soon as her words were complete.

Hotch stood smitten as he realized the tape was surveillance over his son and ex-wife at a park. It had been over a month since the last time he saw them in person, that the film was enough to bring a small tear to his eye. He watched in silence for a minute, then asked Garcia if she could zoom in on his son.

Garcia worked her magical fingers, but concluded that the video quality was too low. "Any closer, and the image will distort."

Finally, Hotch was able to take a deep breath knowing that Jack and Hailey were alive and well. He turned to the Marshall and asked, "How's Jack?"

The man that had been lingering beside answered with reassurance. "Real smart. Had us in tears. Great kid."

Of course, Hotch had already known this about his son. Even for a four year old, Jack had a wonderful personality that could brighten anyone's day. "And Hailey?"

"To be honest, we're moving them to a halfway house."

Hotch's mood turned slightly. He wanted stability for his son and ex-wife. He knew how much this traveling was annoying Hailey and he hated what it would be doing to Jack. "I thought you had found a permanent location."

"Hailey made a number of phone calls to her mother." It's not like Hotch could really blame Hailey for that. "It's all good, but to be safe, we have to move them."

Hotch digested what had been said and knew that he couldn't waste any more of the officer's time. He thanked the man by his first name and a hand shake. It was then that the Marshall made another promise to keep his family safe, as long as Hotch caught Foyet. Hotch had never planned on an alternative, so he nodded in agreement.

After the man left Hotch and Garcia alone, Hotch's eyes fell upon the screen once again. This time, he watched Hailey walked closer to the camera, with Jack holding her hand. Jack seemed to know that his father was watching, or atleast Aaron wanted to believe that, because Jack glanced directly into the camera's lens. "Happy Birthday, Buddy." Aaron murmured to the screen that Garcia had now frozen on Jack.

Aaron Hotchner was now back in his own office. He'd asked Garcia if she could send him the video, but, as always, she was already a step ahead of him; she had it burnt to a disk. Aaron sat in the silent office and replayed the tape over and over. Every time Jack came past the camera, a small tear formed in his eye.

His moment of self-pity was all but over from this morning. Instead, Hotch replaced that feeling with a renewed sense of determination. After about the twelfth time of replaying the video, Hotch broke out the case file that he had stashed in the top draw of his desk. He had been over it plenty times each day, but never got any closer to finding the unsub known as The Reaper. George Foyet was definitely one of the worst sons of bitches that Hotch ever come across. Hotch had made a vow since the day he first spoke to Foyet over the phone that he would not rest until he caught him.

"Don't you think it's a little weird?" Penelope Garcia asked.

Though she had been asking the girl behind the desk to make casual talk, but another man entered the room. "Don't you think what's a little weird?" The older man hadn't strayed from the file he was reading in front of his face.

"Well, sir, I was just remembering the time that Agent Gideon injured his foot and was lolling around my office the entire time he was healing." Penelope reminisced.

Agent Hotchner seemly became distracted from the file in his hands. Jennifer Jareau was now the only one in the room that didn't catch on to what Penelope was implying. She was the next one to speak. "I don't see what that has to do with."

The senior agent broke all thoughts from the ones that he had when he walked into the office. He turned toward the woman behind the desk. "JJ, Agent Gideon wasn't clear to travel by aircraft when he was on his crutches."

"Well, they must have changed that rule because Reid is on crutches and he was cleared to fly." JJ answered in a mock tone. She still hadn't fully grasped the situation.

"By who?" Hotch asked out loud, but mostly to himself. "Where do doctor reports go?" He asked both women. If they were entered into the computer system, surely Garcia could quickly conjuror them up.

"As far as I know, we keep them in hard copy until a receptionist types them into the system." JJ answered. She then turned to her computer screen. "Did you want me to look something up?"

"See if you can pull up Reid's doctor's report." Hotch and Garcia now moved to hover over JJ's computer screen.

Spencer Reid. She typed in to the name box. A list of files appeared in front of them, but the most recent was dating back to a case involving Reid contracting Anthrax.

"They must not have put it into the system yet." Garcia evaluated.

"I can go track down the hard copy." JJ offered her boss.

"I'd appreciate that." Hotch replied in earnest.

Hotch made his way toward the doorway with Garcia in tow. Before he exited, he turned back to Jennifer, who had removed herself behind her desk, after he heard her call his name. "Hotch, here's the most recent case, since you're already here."

She handed two folders to Hotch. He already knew that the other was to give to Agent David Rossi. He quietly thanked her and then left.

Hotch was alone in his office reviewing the newest case file when a knock was heard on his door. "It's open!" Hotch called out to the guest. This happened to be Agent Rossi, who shared an adjacent office.

Rossi wanted to talk to Agent Hotchner about the possibility of sitting the current case out. Even though Rossi was older than Hotch, he was considered to be the subordinate to the younger man and must take orders from him. Rossi explained to Hotch that he had a personal reason for not wanting to return back to his hometown.

After listening to Rossi's case, Aaron was about to tell his teammate that he could skip the case at hand, but a knock interrupted. Again, Hotch told the visitor to come in.

This time, it was Agent Jareau. "Sir, I found that file you wanted."

By just the tone of her voice, Aaron could already guess that whatever the papers would reveal would not be good. Hotch took the file and quickly glanced them over. With a heavy sigh, he turned back to Rossi and said, "I would have let you stand this one out, but I'm sorry, I can't do that now."

Agent Rossi's look bared one of confusion, until Hotch handed him the file. The first thing that caught Rossi's attention was the label said Spencer Reid on it. After quickly reading through, Rossi read out loud the reason behind Hotch's decision. "Dr. Spencer Reid must remain out of field involvement. He must also remain off aircrafts until otherwise directed." The list went on, but Rossi understood fully the reason that now he would have to remain on the case.

"He lied to me." Aaron blatantly pointed out. After another moment of gathering his thoughts, he directed Agent Rossi to be ready at the round table. JJ was to ready the plane and gather the team. Hotch also made it clear that JJ was not mention Reid's file to anyone; especially Reid. Once JJ had the team assembled in the conference room, she would find Hotch. Hotch figured he would have enough time to take care of a few personal matters before he was needed.

The first thing that Hotch attended to was making a quick phone call.

"Garcia." Penelope answered here office phone.

"It's Hotch. I wanted to inform you that Reid has not actually been cleared to travel."

"Ouch. I'll gladly keep a watchful eye on the boy wonder." Garcia spoke in a way as an older sister looking out for her younger brother's well being.

"Thank you, Garcia. And please don't say anything to him yet."

"My lips are sealed." Normally there would have been an end to the conversation, but Garcia caught Hotch before he hung up. "Sir?"

Hotch gave a deep sigh. He knew what might be troubling her; he just wasn't sure if wanted listen. "Yes?"

"Please go easy on him. He's on nerves." Garcia took a moment to consider her choice of words. "We all are."

Hotch took her words in. He muted out a simple reply and then hung up his phone.

We all are. Those words burnt into Hotch's head. He knew that things had been a bit tense lately. Foyet was on everyone's mind, not just his. A knock was heard on his door. Hotch knew who it was and this time, he got up to answer it. Still, Hotch thought to himself, there was no reason for him to have lied like this.

The door opened to reveal the young doctor. Normally, Hotch would have to look slightly up to the young man's height, but the crutches made Reid hunch over to appear slightly shorter. Hotch let him in before beginning. Hotch had buzzed Reid to meet him at his office, giving him a chance to explain himself, before JJ called them into the round table room. Reid had obeyed, and from his facial expression, wasn't the least bit worried what the older man had to say.

"Everything ok?" Reid asked.

"No." Hotch blatantly put it. Reid became confused about the real purpose of this little meeting. "What is the number one thing I expect out of everyone in my team?"

Reid now sensed the trouble he was facing, but genuinely seemed surprised by what it might be from. Hotch wondered if the genius somehow forgot about the lie or didn't know which one he had been caught for. Seeing as Dr. Reid had an eidetic memory, Hotch could assume it was for the second. Just how much was the young man keeping away from his superior?

Reid hadn't bothered to answer the question. Sure, he knew that Hotch tolerated lying the least out of anything, but he hadn't lied about anything to be questioned in this way.

Hotch grew impatient. "I'll give you one try to get it right. Tell me why you lied to me or you will be sitting on a sore bottom for the next case." Hotch's anger bleed into his voice. Hotch didn't normally threaten any of his subordinates with corporal punishment, but the threat was always there. He hated to punish any of them in that way, but if the situation arose, he wouldn't hesitate.

"Hotch," Reid solemnly spoke. He hadn't seen Hotch this angry at him in quiet awhile. He was never one to want to be on anyone's bad side, especially not his supervisor's. The threat of a spanking made Reid wish he was fully mobile so he could easily back away from the older man. Instead, he was stuck facing him. "I di—"

"Hotch." JJ called from the doorway. She hadn't realized that Hotch was confronting Reid or she would have knocked. "Sorry to interrupt." Hotch let out a sign before asking her to continue to speak. "Everyone else is ready in the conference room, sir."

"We'll be right in." Hotch spoke for the both of them. JJ nodded and left to meet the others. Hotch quickly turned back to the boy. "This isn't over. I want you back here as soon as the meeting is over."

Reid nodded and followed the man out the door.

After listing to JJ's introduction of the latest case and the team giving there proemial thoughts on it, Hotch got up to dismiss the team to gather their belongings. "Wheels up in thirty." It was then that Hotch tossed the file that JJ had given him earlier, to Reid.

Reid immediately read his name on top. "What's this?"

"You told me you were clear to travel." Hotch's voice grew grave. "You lied."

"Naughty boy." Emily spoke out. Everyone knew that was Hotch's number one rule.

No one could have predicted what came out of the genius' mouth next. "No I didn't!" Hotch had been caught off guard. He pinned Reid with a hard stare. Reid seemed to ignore it. "Technically, I am a doctor, so it wasn't a lie."

Garcia hadn't been witness to the earlier part of the conversation. She walked through the door. She could easily sense the tension between Hotch and Reid, so she decided to ease it somehow. "What was it then?" She asked.

"A second opinion." Reid gave in an almost joking manor.

Hotch, and most the team, had heard enough at this point. He exited the room before he was tempted to spank the boy in front of everyone there.

"You're my bitch now." Garcia quipt.

Even Morgan couldn't suppress a laugh at that.

Unfortunately, Reid knew Hotch wouldn't find it as funny as he had. Reid made his way to Hotch's office.

Knocking was useless because Hotch had purposefully left his door open. Hotch did, however, order Reid to close it as soon as he was in. The room was dimly lit. Hotch had drew the blinds that lead to the bullpen area. The outside didn't offer much natural light because the day was already so gloomy.

"You wanted to see me, sir." Reid spoke.

"Don't bother sitting." Hotch was resilient to letting Reid off easy. "You won't be in that position for very long."

Reid took an uneasy mental note of the paddle that had been perched upon Hotch's desk. He hated the damn thing as much as the next guy. It seemed like such an extreme measure for something as petty as this. Sure, Reid had lied. But it had only been for the good of the team. It was better that he went with the rest of the team to the police offices. Atleast then he could have a physical case file to work off of, instead of reading it off a screen.

Hotch normally resented using the paddle, as much as his team hated receiving it. The origin of it had actual came from Rossi, who used it on Hotch back when he first started at the BAU. Rossi left it to Hotch when he retired. Hotch had meant to throw the thing away, but never got around to it. When Morgan and Reid joined the team, Hotch realized it had a purpose. Even then, Hotch would rather use something else, like his hand or an old, wooden hairbrush, or not have to spank them at all, but there were times like this that called for that level of discipline.

"Because of your injury, I thought it would be better if you put most of your weight on your arms, holding onto the desk." Hotch dove right into the situation. He didn't have very long for it anyway.

This position was rare to Reid. Hotch and Gideon had only ever put him over their knee when he was punished. Reid didn't like this at all. He was not ok with being punished in the first place, let alone so impersonally. "Hotch." Reid whined.

"No!" Hotch scolded. "I told you exactly what was going to happen. You stood there and didn't say a word. Then you had the balls to tell me it wasn't a lie."

A shiver came to Reid as he stood. "It wasn't!" Reid was not going to give it up that easily. "Besides, it wasn't even that big of a deal."

Hotch's brow raised at Reid's statement. "Not a big deal?" Hotch questioned.

"No." Reid quickly answered. Defiance could clearly be heard in his voice.

"You don't think that lying to your team is a big deal?" Hotch was only getting more irritated by the kid. If he hadn't been on crutches, Hotch would have already pulled him over his knee, but he couldn't do that. He would have to let Reid walk at his own pace to the desk, before he could begin.

"Flying on the jet." Reid corrected his boss. He was starting to sound more like a pissed off teenager than the FBI agent he was.

"Reid, I will not ask you again. You have to the count of three to be standing over that de—"

"Or what?" Reid interrupted. He was definitely testing his boundaries today. Hotch had little patience for it though. Reid knew that Hotch needed him to be submissive to the punishment, otherwise he could do it. Reid wasn't ready to back down.

"Or you'll be suspended until your wounds are healed completely." Hotch gave the harsh sentence. Reid had already begged to come back to work early and the only reason Rossi let him return was because he said that he was clear to travel. Rossi had called Hotch that day to ask if he should let the kid back. Hotch had trusted the boy to tell him the truth of the matter and let him back.

Reid wasn't expecting Hotch to be that harsh about the matter. He still didn't think it had been that big of a deal. He didn't want to be away from his team. That's why he felt the lie was justified. He definitely didn't want a mark on his record. He had never been suspended before. Every time he should have, Hotch and Gideon had used more personal ways of dealing with the situations than to leave a permanent mark on his record. The threat made Reid quickly reconsider his previous attitude to the punishment.

"One." Hotch began counting out loud. He really didn't want to have to suspend Reid, but he also wasn't going to let the younger agent off the hook that easily. Reid had pushed him far enough to bring out his paddle. Hotch wouldn't have him thinking it was ok to lie to him, least of all about his health. He would have gone on about that part of his point, but there simply wasn't enough time for it. Hotch had planned on talking to Reid about it once they were back from New York. "Two."

Reid was already on his way over to the desk. When Hotch called out two, Reid moved a bit faster. He was standing at the desk facing away from Hotch.

Hotch moved to grab the paddle off his desk. "That wasn't where I said you needed to be."

Reid's hand started shaking as he moved his crutches from underneath his arms and placed them beside him. He balanced himself on the sturdy desk.

"Remember to keep your weight off of your injured leg." Hotch reminded. He was terrified of something happening to Reid's leg as a result of this punishment.

"I will." Reid quietly spoke. "Hotch, I never meant for you to be this mad at me."

Finally, Reid took some initiative for his actions. Reid's voice was low enough to make Hotch almost rethink what he was going to do. "I'm not mad at you, Spencer. I'm incredibly disappointed in your actions. If I were mad at you—"

"You wouldn't be doing this. You would have done something more official." Reid recited. He had heard the same speech several times before.

"Yes." Hotch reaffirmed. Without anything else said, Hotch brought down the first swat of Spencer's punishment. It let out a loud crack sound.

Reid was in too much shock to have felt it right away. Once the pain kicked in, he was reminded of why he hated the paddle over anything else. Hotch didn't give much time before he laid down another stinging swat. Reid almost jumped at this one. Hotch reminded him once again to keep weight off of his leg. Reid was whimpering before the third swat fell, but it just made him louder. Tears were already formed in his eyes. He just wanted this over with. He couldn't even believe he had made his boss feel this was necessary. Hotch brought down the last much as hard as he had all the others. Spencer dropped his head as he let the tear fall from his eyes.

"What you did was wrong and I have just punished you for it." Hotch started to lecture as he moved to put the paddle away. "But, I'm not entirely sure you know why it was wrong. I want five pages, hand-written, front and back, on why lying about your health was wrong. I want it on my desk by the time we get back."

Reid removed his eyes from the desk and looked up at Hotch. "Yes, sir." He answered out dully. Hotch was right, he still didn't understand why it was so wrong.

Hotch grabbed Reid's crutches and held them up so Reid could climb onto them. "Spencer, it's a two hour flight and drive. Take a nap on my couch. I'll have Garcia wake you when we get there." Hotch couldn't help himself from removing some of the hair that was in Reid's face. Reid seemed to bring out Hotch's fathering instincts. Reid nodded and headed over to the small, black couch. Hotch helped him lay on his stomach. "We're going to talk about this new attitude of yours when I get back, so be prepared."

Reid was getting irritated in the almost childlike manor he was being treated, but he still liked it deep down. He always knew that Hotch was looking out for him, even if he showed it in painful ways at times. Hotch rubbed Reid's back until his tears were reduced to sniffles.

"Please don't tell Garcia." Reid spoke before Hotch exited.

"I'm pretty sure she already knows. I'm pretty sure she knows everything." Hotch smiled before leaving to join the rest of the team on the plane.

This story will continue on. Reid is not all too happy with how it ended so I'm sure he'll say what's on his mind.

Please do not get upset if I take a bit too long to update (I'm hoping that won't happen), but I am human and life happens.

Jayden