Hotch looked over at his team. They had been stuck alone in a spare room with old books and clothes for a long time now. They had weathered the years well, for bears not having a child to love and hug was hard. Bears were often the only toys not to be thrown away but to be put somewhere and forgotten, but Hotch's team were luckily, they had each other.
Hotch could remember the toy-store and the excitement of being bought. When he got home he was put in a crib by a pregnant woman, 6 months if Hotch guessed correctly. The baby had been premature and so a new teddy was made, JJ. JJ was a cute small little bear, she was golden and the maternal grandfather had knitted her. Hotch wasn't upset to not be there during those first worrying weeks, JJ might be adorable but she was tough and looked after their child well. Over the years they were joined by a patch-work bear named Garcia, a fifth birthday gift. A chocolate brown bear with muscles, Morgan, who was won at a fair. And Reid a thin bear that somehow had the whole alphabet sown onto him, who just turned up one day. When a sleek black bear, Prentiss bought on holiday to keep someone quite in the car, came the team felt complete.
The team had some good years together, they were never jealous of each when one of them got more hugs then the others. They all had their own tricks to keep their child happy. Reid, for example had somehow figured out a way to sneak into the school backpack, he came back full of knowledge and stories of bullies. The bullies worried them but Prentiss could always bring a smile to their child, she bled inner strength.
When their child reached adulthood none of them were taken along to college. They were pack away in a box, and put in the spare room used for storage. They missed their child and would have been honoured to have been included in their adulthood. While they claimed to understand, children grow up and learn to stand on their own two feet, it still hurt- they felt dismissed and used.
It only took a couple of months for the team to really start to enjoy their retirement. Despite missing the spanner and Mrs Peacock cards they played Clue, and finally got to control the games they played. They never got sticky and had to face the indignation of a round in the washing machine. They found a new and different way to love and laugh.
It was a rainy September when Hotch was suddenly removed from their room. When he came back he brought a friend. Rossi was the bear of a grandmother who had just died. Hotch had comforted their now adult child during the rough time of the immediate loss. Rossi had been inherited and he was currently a too painful reminder so had been put with the other bears.
At first Rossi was, and excuse Hotch's language, a meanie. None of them could even pretend to understand the pain of losing their child but even so there was no need to sit in a corner and sulk. Reid was the only one oblivious enough to try and befriend Rossi but it didn't work, Hotch could feel the tension across the room.
Slowly Rossi integrated himself into the routine of their room. He watched Morgan work out and stared bemusedly when Garcia would encourage the other bear by throwing marbles at him. JJ and Prentiss would make parachutes out of the old clothes and jump off the top of the bookshelf. Rossi only joined them once. Hotch and Rossi would sit staring out the window talking. Rossi found an old record player and a whole host of LPs, he took great pleasure in teaching the team the joys of Tom Jones and Shirely Bassey. It was good life and while having a child to love would have been better there were no real complaints.
It had been almost a year since Rossi came that Hotch was startled awake by a strange sound. Not wanting to worry the others Hotch investigated on his own. What Hotch saw caused him to patter away as fast as he could on his little brown furry paws. He buried himself into the box of old clothes and tried to breathe.
Hotch had been lucky when their child had had sex, and the bears were still in the room as he had been stuffed in the wardrobe. He was a teddy bear for crying out loud, he shouldn't know about licking and moaning and darn it he was curious now. Braving the dark again, Hotch crept out, and there in the moonlight was Reid on all fours with Rossi stroking the fur on his bottom.
While Rossi would later tease him that it was a shriek Hotch let out a growl and the pair noticed him. Reid smiled "want to join in?, David won't mind will you Love?" Rossi eyes smouldered, "No I won't", he leered.
Hotch turned around and ran off paws flying in the air in his panic.
"Did we break Hotch?"
"Don't worry Spence, the new baby will keep him occupied."