Hi! This is my first story on and it is not written in my language. I'm Italian and I'm translating my stories to improve my English so please, have mercy and, help me improve the language by leaving a little review.

Originally this story was an Italian long long one shot , but I decided to split it in two chapters.

This story is AU and there is a lot of OOC, you're warned.

All mistakes are my own.

I don't own Criminal Minds and the characters are not mine (unfortunately).

Witness

Chapter 1

Spencer Reid barely suppressed a yawn, taking another sip of coke from his glass to at least try to hide it.

Will was talking about how good he was in the last football match. Penelope's boyfriend, Kevin, kept staring at Will like he was ready to kill him, while JJ and Penelope were looking up to him as if he was a superhero.
He didn't know why JJ had dragged him to that dinner. He would have much rather preferred to sit in his apartment and read a good book, or maybe watch a good scientific documentary.

According to JJ, Spencer

spent too much time locked up in his apartment. But Reid couldn't understand how JJ could define "funny" listening to a jock with only half a brain brag about how good he was to kick a ball.

Yet another yawn threatened to come out of his mouth and yet another sip of coke stopped it.

So this was his Saturday night.

So boring that he could barely keep his eyes open.

He felt the need to smoke.

He rose from his seat, leaving the boring conversation with an excuse and a fake smile on his face.
Needless to say, JJ did not even look at him, her eyes focused on Will's perfect lips.

Spencer rolled his eyes, quickly slipping out of the restaurant.

He looked at his watch.

It was only midnight. He had an entire, boring night before him.

He sighed, taking out the lighter from his pocket.
As he was about to light the first cigarette after a week of total abstinence, he saw something moving out of the corner of his eye.

It was dark , the only street lamp in front of the restaurant was not enough to enlighten the entire alley.
"Hello? "He shouted in the darkness.
When he got no answer, the boy shrugged.

Perhaps it was only a cat looking for something to eat in the garbage.

He returned his focus on the cigarette when a sound caught his attention again.
It looked like a muffled cry ...
" Who's there? " he cried, while a slight shiver ran down his spine.

" Hello? "He asked again, removing the cigarette from his mouth.
Walking on trembling legs, he eventually reached the exact spot from where the muffled sound kept coming.

"C- can I help you? "He asked, his voice slightly nervous, while his right hand reached his phone in the back of his jeans.
Suddenly, as he got closer to the unknown sound, he saw something that made his skin crawl.
Something, or rather someone, crawling toward him, emitting a pained sound from his mouth.

The boy's eyes widened and he instinctively stepped back, muffling a cry with his hand.
That crawling "thing" was definitely a man.
A man staring at him imploringly, with a bloody hand raised in his direction.

His throat was open from ear to ear and dark blood gushed copious from the wound.

"Don't get any closer ..."

It was the first thing that Spencer managed to say, too scared to dial the emergency number on his cell phone that was still open in his trembling hand.
He knew he had to help him, but he couldn't make a single movement, too terrified and shocked.

While he was paralyzed in fear, the boy saw another figure approaching from the shadows of the alley, standing right above the dying man on the floor.
"S-stay away from me ... I won't tell anything ... l- I swear ..." Spencer whimpered, trembling from head to toe.

The figure didn't stop but continued to approach him slowly, enjoying his new prey's fear. Suddenly, the light of the street lamp enlightened half of the stranger's figure and Spencer could see the T- shirt he was wearing.

It was black, with the picture of a lion on it. The animal had its mouth open, its fangs out, ready to attack.
Spencer would never forget that picture.
When the killer was closer to the street lamp, Spencer closed his eyes, afraid that if he saw the face of that monster, then he would have certainly killed him…

With his eyes still closed he heard a thud and a loud cry from the floor.

Suddenly, the wounded man's moaning stopped.

The killer had finished his prey, maybe hitting him on the head.

The boy cried when he heard the footsteps getting closer to where he stood.
The stranger's warm hand rested on the boy's cheek , causing him to cry out in fear.
But Spencer kept his eyes closed.

The monster grabbed him by the waist, hugging him and pressing him against his chest with all his straight, as if to muffle his cry…or just to suffocate him .
Spencer could clearly smell the monster's scent and began to cry.

He couldn't breathe…
I am going todie...I'm going todie... he is going to kill me…

"Spencer! "He didn't know who had called him, he couldn't concentrate on anything in particular, just the beating of his heart that soon would have stopped.
Then, miraculously, the warm body against him and the smell of sweat that filled his nostrils disappeared and the boy found himself free.

He was still paralyzed, trembling in fear, his eyes still closed, but he was free.

And alive.

"Spencer ... it's all right? "
JJ's voice convinced him to finally open his eyes; his tearful eyes were frightened and red from crying.
"Who was that man? "She asked him, visibly worried, while supporting his trembling body.

Unable to speak, the boy pointed to the figure lying dead in a pool of blood on the ground.
"C- call ... T- the - the police ..." he could barely whisper.
JJ stifled a cry, covering her mouth with her hand .

The police came after twenty minutes.
Twenty minutes that seemed like an eternity to Spencer.

JJ and Spencer were supporting each other, staring blankly at the corpse of the stranger.

When the homicide detectives arrived, the head of the unit wrapped a blanket around the boy's shoulders and asked the owner of the restaurant to prepare a cup of hot chocolate for Spencer.
He was a man in his forties , tall, with large shoulders, dark hair and a face that according to Spencer was unable to smile.

His name was Aaron Hotchner.
The man tried to calm him, using a soft voice.

He asked him questions that Spencer didn't want to answer.
He just wanted to go home, take a shower and go to bed, pretending that nothing happened.
But staring at the dead body covered with a blood soaked sheet, he felt a stabbing pain in his chest.
Remorse.
He hadn't helped him, he had left that poor man to die.
"I'm sorry ..." he muttered, staring at the sheet on the ground " I'm so sorry ..." He was again on the verge of tears.

"It's all right, son ... it's over ..."
His hazel eyes focused on Hotchner " I d- didn't …h- help him.. " he growled with anger in his voice.
He was angry at himself because he felt weak, because he WAS weak.
The man stared at him with sweetness in his eyes that didn't belong to him, trying to calm down the visibly shocked teenager.
"You can still help, Spence ..." the young man shuddered at the use of that name.

The agent was treating him like a scared little child!

"Tell us what you saw ... you can give him justice ..." added the other officer.

He was a black man , with muscled tattooed arms and gentle eyes that didn't seem to belong to that intimidating body.
Spencer nodded, taking a long breath before being able to focus and talk.
JJ was still by his side , holding his hand.

Their friends were staring at them, all sad and scared.
All but Will, who seemed to want to get away from that place as soon as possible.
"I- I ... I had left the restaurant to smoke a cigarette ... I heard a noise coming from there…" the boy raised his hand toward an indefinite point of the street, still trembling.

"He was there ... he was covered in blood, he crawled toward m- me for help ... ... I wanted to call for help ... but I was terrified ...then ... "

"Then what? " the black agent asked with a strange hurry in his voice.
Spencer shivered, squeezing JJ's hand.
He took another breath before continuing, "There was another ... another man ... uh- I immediately thought he was the k- killer ..."
"Did you see his face? " The tattooed man insisted.
The agent kept pushing, but Spencer only needed time to organize his thoughts

He shook his head " It was dark ... I could only see his shirt ..." he muttered, while another shiver ran down his spine "I couldn't see his face – then he approached me ... I closed my eyes ... I didn't want to see his face ... He would have killed me ... "
The black agent sighed. He seemed angry at Spencer.
The boy flinched involuntarily " I'm sorry … I was scared… sorry, so s- s- sorry " he moaned, like a kid terrified of punishment.
"Never mind ... can you tell us what was he wearing? »
Spencer nodded quickly.

He remembered it well. He was happy to be finally useful.

"It was a black T- shirt ... with a lion ... " it was the only thing he managed to say.

The tremors that shook his body were too strong to handle now.
Then his heart skipped a beat.
He had a shocking realization.

" He grabbed me ... He will think I saw him " his breath became ragged, he was terrified.

"He will kill me ... I shouldn't have told ..."

Suddenly, the bravery that he had felt just a moment before disappeared.

His weakness returned.

The young man began to shake his head, panic rose in his chest.
Hotchner spoke calmly "No. Nothing will happen to you. You will not be alone, one of my agent will stay with you until we find this monster" he said, trying to sound as reassuring as possible.
"I'll do it! " the black agent spoke, with a reassuring smile on his face.

"I'll be with you all the time... I will protect you "

I hope you all liked it. Again, English is not my first language so please have mercy, I'm doing this to improve my English. Please let me know if you caught any mistakes.