A/N: Ok, This is my first Criminal Minds fic. I just started watching it awhile back and I can't not see Spencer Reid and Aaron Hotchner together. So I started writing this. Sorry if I mess up anything about the characters. It's mediumly based off of the episode "L.D.S.K." I started another chapter but I'd like to know what you guys think. :)

Read and Review!

~PT

Pride

Hotch stood just behind and to the right of Reid as he took aim at the target. He cocked his head, noticing Reid's hands shaking as they sought to still themselves. He shot off four rounds and completely missed the target each time.

Hotch cocked an eyebrow, "How were you able to pass the first evaluation?"

Reid turned his head back, his lips pouting and his eyes wide.

"I-I'm normally not this bad."

He turned and slowly got back into position and shot four more times. Each bullet missed the target yet again.

Hotch opened his mouth but didn't say anything as Reid quickly turned the safety on, pulled the clip out and turned towards his boss, pushing the gun handle up into his hands, clip and all. He pushed past him and quickly exited the range, jerkily pulling off his safety equipment as he went.

Hotch stood there for a moment, confused as to what had just happened, but eventually stowed the shooting equipment and heading towards Gideon's office.

He leaned against the doorway and waited until Gideon acknowledged him before coming into the room and sitting down. The older man didn't look up from his files but murmured, "What is it?"

"Have you ever seen Reid shoot?"

Gideon looked up, "I gave him his initial evaluation. Why?"

Hotch's eyebrows rose. "I just watched him, now in the range. He missed the target every time."

Gideon picked up the file again and said, "Maybe it was because you were there, because Reid may not be the best but he got eight rounds into the hot zone."

Hotch sat back, his mind going through all the possibilities, "He asked me to watch him. Eight out of ten?"

Gideon gave up on the file, closing it and taking his glasses off. He watched Hotch began to profile the young genius, patiently waiting for either a question or a conclusion.

"Reid was shaking and his hold on the weapon was a little off."

Gideon just waited.

"He asked me to watch him because he thought he wasn't going to pass his evaluation. What if he asked me to watch because I made him nervous? He obviously acted nervous. Was he trying to induce a stressful situation to see how his shooting did? Why would me watching him be stressful? If he was that good of a shot why was he worried about his evaluation?"

Gideon finally spoke up after the slew of questions, "Reid is a genius. His version of good at something is very different than our good at something. He has a lot of self-esteem issues when it comes to things that don't directly relate to intelligence and book smarts. He is trying to get your approval."

"If he was trying to induce a stressful situation, he wouldn't have given up so easily. It seemed as though he was upset about something."

"Did you say something to him?"

Hotch's brows drew forward, "Yes, I asked him how he had passed his first evaluation and he left without saying a word." He winced.

"I think you hurt his pride. I also think he was frustrated by the fact that he couldn't perform while you were present. It seems he was trying to prove something to you. It might be wise to go find him."

Hotch stood up decisively but then cocked his head to the side, "Why would my being there bother him so much he can't even hit the target once?"

Gideon folded his hands, "He looks up to you a great deal. He is worried about what you'll think of him."

Hotch nodded and left the room without saying another thing.

Gideon picked up his file, hiding a small smile. He knew what was going on but it was up to them to figure it out for themselves.

Hotch looked around the office, but didn't see the skinny doctor anywhere. He came up to where Morgan and Elle were bantering over lunch. "Have either of you seen Reid?"

"He came through here maybe ten minutes ago. He grabbed his stuff and I think he went to get lunch."

Hotch nodded and went back to his office. He would have to catch the young genius later.

It was forty-five minutes before Hotch saw Reid slip back in, sipping another coffee and sit down at his desk. He got up and buttoned his jacket but was stopped by JJ. One look of her face and he knew they had a case. He took the file and looked it over before nodding to her. She left to give everyone else on the team a copy and to tell them to meet in the conference room.

Hotch read the full file on the way towards the room musing that he would have to remember to talk to Reid after this case was resolved.

As Hotch and Reid were sitting side by side in the Darkened ER, Reid's face already bruising form the force of the assault rifle hitting his face, Hotch knew that he shouldn't have waited to talk to Reid. He should have reassured him because what he was about to do would depend on Reid's ability to shoot and his ability to understand what Hotch wanted.

The crazed nurse was listening to him. He was nodding and Hotch knew he had the upper hand. He took a breath and asked the man if he could have the pleasure of beating Reid up before they all were going to die. The man seemed to like this idea so Hotch ignored the frantic looks the Reid was shooting him and the armed nurse. Hotch violently shoved him to the floor and began to kick him. Reid did little to fight back, he tried to protect his more sensitive parts and he covered his head. At first Hotch thought Reid wasn't getting his plan but as he planted a particularly vicisous kick to Reid's arm he felt the man's slim fingers on his ankle, taking the hidden gun there. Hotch almost closed his eyes in relief but stepped away, pretending to catch his breath. He got out of Reid's line of fire and Reid immediately sat up and fired. He shot the man directly in the heart.

Hotch ran to the door where the swat team was about to rush in and start shooting and ended the situation.

The hostages were released and everyone was looked over for any medical problems. The body was taken out and the BAU's job was done. Hotch had just finished talking to the local police when he spotted Reid finally taking some medical help. He sat in the back of an ambulance where an EMT fussed around him. Hotch walked over to him.

"You did well."

Reid looked up, his cheek swollen a little bit from where the man had hit him with his rifle but he gave a nervous smile.

"As I said, I'm not usually that bad."

Hotch looked at him for a moment before saying, "Sorry, I needed it to be believable so I kept kicking. I wasn't sure if you understood my plan."

Reid tucked his unruly hair behind his ear stated that he had known the plan the minute Hotch had thought of it and went on to say that Hotch kicked liked a nine year old girl and that he was tough enough to take it.

Reid hopped down from the ambulance, but stumbled as his feet touched the ground. Hotch grabbed his arm and Reid winced. It was the arm he had landed a harsh blow to. An angry purple bruise covered the majority of his upper arm to just past his elbow.

He let go and apologized.

Reid waved him off and began to give Hotch back his firearm. Hotch looked at him; his beat up agent. His youngest agent whose injuries were mostly due to what he had done to him.

"Keep it. You've passed your evaluation, as far as I'm concerned."

He watched as Reid's face flushed with pleasure at his comment. He nervously tucked his hair behind his ear again and nodded with a small smile.

Hotch turned around and left for the car. All the way home, he couldn't stop thinking of the young genius. He felt pretty terrible for having to hurt him, but he wondered more about why Reid had performed so badly in front of him earlier. Why had he been so nervous?

As he finally fell asleep that night, he resolved to ask the agent tomorrow.

Hotch strode into the office the next morning, feeling rested but not looking forward to the paperwork he knew the day would contain. He was always there first, after Gideon, and he watched his team trickle in from his desk.

Morgan leaned his head in a half hour later, "Have you heard from Reid? He hasn't come in yet."

Just as Hotch was about to get up and investigate, Reid walked in, looking as if he hadn't slept at all. Morgan went to greet the younger man and Hotch watched as he gingerly lowered himself into his chair.

He frowned. Reid was hardly ever late and he seemed extremely sore. He stood up and called out, "Reid? Can I see you in my office for a minute?"

Reid turned around and he grimaced. He slowly got out of his chair, said a few words to Morgan and shuffled towards Hotch.

Hotch closed the door behind him and nodded to the chair. He went to sit also and looked at his youngest agent's face.

Reid's eyes were shadowed and his hair was still wet and disheveled from a shower. He sat ramrod straight in the chair and gazed expectantly at Hotch.

"Are you alright?" Hotch asked softly.

Reid looked startled and said, "Yeah, why?"

Hotch gave him the eyebrow and said, "You look as if you haven't slept at all and you're moving very slowly. Are you hurt more than you are saying?"

Reid shook his head vehemently, "I just had trouble sleeping last night. I'm fine."

Hotch didn't believe a word. He stood up, beckoning the man to follow him. He left his office and went down the hall stopping at a rudimentary exam room.

Reid opened his mouth to protest but Hotch glared at him. He said nothing and went inside. Hotch shut the door and turned to the counter, pulling some gloves out and putting them on. Reid was standing awkwardly in the center, his Adam's apple bobbing as he said, "Um, What are you doing?"

Hotch just said, "Sit."

Reid sat.

He turned towards the young genius, "Now take off your shirt."

Reid spluttered a little, "N-no! Why?"

"Because you obviously lied to the EMT's last night and you are lying to me. Take your shirt off, or I will do it for you."

Reid flushed completely red with embarrassment and began to slowly take his vest off and started on the buttons of his shirt.

Hotch watched him as he revealed new bruises and red patched of skin and when he was done, he came to stand in front of the younger man on the exam table. Reid was thin, but he had light muscling in the right places. His skin was normally creamy white but it was marred by Hotch's beating.

He ran his finger over the bruise that he had known about, on his arm and then thoroughly investigated the man's pale skin. There were bruises and broken skin everywhere. He remembered kicking him but he didn't remember it being this hard.

"Spencer…" he breathed as he continued to find new wounds.

"I-It's not as bad as it looks. I-I bruise e-easily."

Hotch had gone to examine his back and found a vicious bruise on the small of his back that disappeared below his belt.

Reid crossed his arms in front of him and said, "Please, it's not that bad."

Hotch shook his head and told Reid to take of his pants.

The young man almost lost it, jumping off the table and stuttering out that it wasn't necessary. Hotch just glared at him and went to the counter to grab some gauze, triple antibiotic cream, and some arnica. He was surprised to see it in there but mentally thanked L for her foresight. When he turned around, Reid was still standing holding his arms in front of himself with his pants still on.

"Reid, you need to take your pants off so I can make sure you aren't hurt any further. I saw you sit down and walk, you have more wounds."

Reid shook his head but began to shakily undo his belt. He didn't look at Hotch at all, but pulled his trousers down and stepped out of them. Hotch came to stand in front of him, realizing that the bruise from his back came around to his hip and disappeared beneath the line of his underwear. He reached out and pushed lightly on that hip. Reid cried out and lost his footing. Hotch caught him and led him to the table, setting him up on it. Then, he began to wipe at the broken skin and spread antibiotic cream on them. He gave the tube of arnica to Reid and said, "This will help your bruises heal faster and help them hurt less."

Reid took the tube silently and after a few moments began to squeeze some out onto his fingers and he started to rub it onto the bruise on his arm, wincing as the skin protested to the pressure. Hotch cleaned up his torso, and moved to the broken skin on his thigh. Reid's breathing hitched and he tried to move away. Hotch held him there and tended to the particularly nasty cut before covering it with gauze.

He then pulled Reid's underwear down a little so that he could see his left hip a little better. The bruise was very heavy and he was certain that the hip bone was severely bruised. Reid pushed Hotch's hands away and scrambled off the bench, limping out of range of his boss.

"Okay, okay, that's enough. I'm fine. Oh my god."

Reid was trembling and he was in such a defensive position that Hotch stopped to really look at him. He had been so focused on tending to his wounds that he hadn't looked at his face. Reid's face was red and he was breathing heavily. His eyes were wild and he was biting his lip fiercely.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to make sure you were alright."

Reid began to struggle into his pants saying, "I'm fine. T-thanks for the help but I'm ok."

"Reid, you have a bruised bone. You need to take it easy." This statement just made Reid struggle even faster. Hotch went over to him and still his arm.

"I'm so sorry for having to do this to you. I had no idea I had hurt you so badly."

Reid pulled his arm away and continued to dress quickly. "It doesn't hurt that bad, I'll be fine. I'm fine. I know why you had to do it. You were saving our lives!"

He pulled his vest on and made for the door. Hotch got in his way, "Spencer, stop avoiding this, you need to rest. You should go back home."

Reid shook his head, but Hotch grabbed his chin, forcing him to finally look at him, "That's an order."

Reid stared at him with tired eyes, and Hotch studied his face. He looked at the bruise under his eye that was the only wound marking Reid's body that he hadn't been the cause of. Reid looked down and sighed, "Okay. Fine. I'll go home."

Hotch moved out of his way and Reid left, walking as quickly as his hip would allow.

Hotch stayed there for a moment, remorse flooding him. He hated seeing Reid so hurt because of him. Now his mind flashed back to yesterday and he could match each kick of his leg to the wound on Reid's body.

Finally he left the exam room and went to Gideon's office.

Gideon was looking out the window when he came in.

He sat down and looked down at his hands, realizing he hadn't taken off the gloves yet. He pulled them off as Gideon said, "How's Reid? He took quite the beating yesterday."

Hotch sighed and nodded, "He is in bad shape. I bruised his hip bone and broke his skin in a half dozen places. He looks like hell."

Gideon turned to look at him, "You had to do it to get everyone out of there alive."

"I shouldn't have done it so hard."

"What's done is done. It can't be helped now. Reid doesn't hold any resentment towards you for it. He will for sending him home, though."

Hotch looked up, "He will? Why? He needs sleep. He is no good here."

"You saw his weakness and you made him leave. He came in today because he wanted to prove his strength. He is worried that you and the rest of the team think he is weak now."

"He took a massive beating, no one is thinking that!"

Gideon touched a hand to Hotch's shoulder.

"I think Reid feels he has to try harder than everyone else to get your approval. He has a frail body type, he is socially awkward, and he is the youngest member of this team."

Hotch breathed out slowly, "He is the smartest man I have ever met, with more strength than most people on this team. He isn't weak. I…"

"You just feel responsible for his condition. But, Aaron, have you ever told him that? That he is the smartest man you have ever met and that he is strong? Like I said yesterday, Reid has a very low self-esteem. He may know that he is a genius but when he never gets compliments or often gets rebuffed for sharing knowledge he gets beat down. He obviously has a poor body image because he came in today to prove his body could take anything."

Hotch put his head in his hands, "I made him take his clothes off. So I could bandage him up."

Gideon hid a smile behind his hand, "He probably hated that. He hates that he is so small and skinny."

"I didn't think of that. God, I've got to go apologize to him."

Gideon stopped him from leaving and told him to wait, "He does need rest, just let him be alone today and when he comes in tomorrow, which he will, then you can talk to him."

"You really think he will be in again tomorrow?"

"Yes, and don't send him home, it will only hurt him further. Just let him be. His mind needs things to focus on while his body heals, and he will have greater distraction here than at his flat."

Hotch nodded and left to begin working on paperwork, shaking his head at his own blindness.

Gideon let his smile slip out when the younger man left. Aaron Hotchner was so oblivious. Given Reid's intelligence and ability not to compartmentalize, Gideon believed he had realized it himself, but there was no way he had figured out Aaron. Despite the young man's brilliant profiling ability, his boss was as much of a mystery as women were.

Gideon patted himself on the back for being the only one who saw it all. Hotch and Reid were in love with each other.

A/N: What'd you think? It's not that in depth yet but I do plan this to be a multi-chap :)

Loves,

~PT