Title: Damaged Genius
Rating: M or NC-17(probably for later chapters)
Warnings: Angst, slash, child abuse, minor
Summary: What if the FBI assigned another genius to the BAU, what if this one is only 15 but seems so much older. Will the team accept him and help him with his haunted past or will he remain in his lonely existence. Will he finally escape the hold the FBI has over him and regain some semblance of freedom?
Disclaimer: I don"t own any original characters, I don"t make any money out of this, wish I did though;)

Chapter 1: A new member

Supervisory Special Agent Hotchner was filling in some paperwork from their last case in Ohio.

knock knock

"Come in"

Agent Hotchner watched in amazement as a young boy, maybe 12 or 13 walked into his office carrying a file of some sort.

"Can I help you?" He just stopped himself from asking if the boy was lost somehow though it seemed highly unlikely that some lost kid just happened to wander into the BAU HQ, but the main thing that stopped him was the sight of the boys eyes, he seemed so much older when you just looked in his eyes. They seemed experienced, like he had seen things that a boy his age shouldn"t have seen.

"I am to give you this, sir." The boy handed over the file he was carrying, on top of the file was an official looking letter, probably some order from his superiors, the boy was still there watching him intently.

"Is there anything else?" I asked the boy, who seemed to be waiting for something.

"I am to wait until you read the letter, if I"m not mistaking I believe its contents are in reference to myself, though I do not know exactly what its content is." The boy explained in a tone of voice he couldn"t interpret, like the boy was trying to conceal his emotions, which made Hotch wonder why he used such precautions.

"Very well, please sit down." The boy slowly sat down in one of the chairs in front of his desk. By now Hotch was very curious to what exactly the letter had to say about the peculiar boy, so with a last glance at the boy who was still sitting in the chair with a carefully made blank expression which made Hotch even more curious, he opened the letter.

SSA Hotchner,

I"m pleased to inform you that the person, who delivered this letter and was instructed to stay with you until further instructions, will from now on be working with you and your team. Hephaistion A. Winters will be given the rank general assistant to your division, he is to travel with you on all your 

cases and aid you in whatever way you see fit. Now while he is quite young, I assure you that he is more than qualified to fulfill whatever task you see fit.

Mr. Winters is partially emancipated and a ward of the state, he has certain restrictions on what he can and cannot do, he is aware of all the restrictions he has and will follow these accordingly, the only thing that you must supervise is that he cannot wear a firearm but I request that he still gets training in handling of firearms, although we have already made sure that he is adept at it, it was not deemed safe enough to allow him such a weapon, he is however allowed to wear other weapons to protect himself.

We do request of you that you file in a very detailed monthly report on Mr. Winters and ask you to keep an eye on him, he is rather unpredictable.

Further details concerning Mr. Winters are in the file that was handed to you.

Robert Mueller, FBI Director

Ten minutes later Hotch finished the letter and was trying to decide what exactly they meant by this letter: Hotch was by no means an idiot, he could read between the lines perfectly well, they made the young boy seem like some dangerous criminal who could not be let out of sight. He didn"t want anything to do with it… Robert Mueller, the FBI Director… he could do nothing but obey this man, there was no way he could go against the Director. He just didn"t know what to do with this Hephaistion, a rather peculiar name, though it seemed to fit the boy.
The letter mentioned that he was fully qualified to do whatever was required, so the boy seemed to be some kind of genius, though he didn"t quite seem the stereotype genius like Read, honestly he didn"t really know what to expect of the boy, so far he has only kept a neutral expression, not showing any emotion. He decided to question the kid before he went over his file, to at least know something about him that wasn't constructed by his superiors. He could only imagine how the rest of the team was going to react.

"So Hephaistion, you mentioned that you suspected the contents of the letter, what exactly do you it says?" Hotch questioned, honestly curious to what the boy knew.

"I imagine they want me to work here, it probably also mentions how you must report everything I do or do not do. I assume you deduced that they believe me to be some kind of threat but I would like to reassure you that I don't wish you or your team any harm, you have nothing to fear of me, though I will understand you and your teams trepidation." The boy answered with a bitter expression, though I could not blame him, he looked like someone who enjoys his privacy, to have it violated like this would not be a pleasant for him.

"Indeed, you are not pleased by this?" Hotch asked trying to gauge is reaction to his confirmation to the kids suspicions.

"I have no doubt that I'll learn a lot from the experience and I hope I can be of any help" The boy started carefully, trying not to insult anyone: "but I fear they had some ulterior reason to reassign me to this division."



Now Hotch was slightly confused, why did he say 'reassign', he wondered how long the kid had been working for the FBI, so he decided to ask: "How long have you been working for the FBI?"

"Two years sir, though I have been a ward of the state since I was eleven."

Then it occurred to Hotch that he didn't know how old this kid was: "How old are you?"

"Fifteen sir" The boy said, again with a completely blank expression, perhaps he was ashamed. The age of fifteen came to a surprise, the kid only looked twelve or thirteen, it was very strange, though he reckoned that the boy himself wasn't very pleased with this. He did not look like the type who enjoyed being mocked because of his age, if anything he would think that the kid would try and make himself look older so his apparent youth cannot be of his own choice.

"What did you do before you were assigned here?"

"Anything that was requested of me sir, I developed some computer programs, everything that you're allowed to know should be in the file sir." The boy answered carefully again.

With this statement Hotch's curiosity and apprehension of the boy only grew. What the hell had the FBI let this kid do that it would be classified to even his rather high security access, maybe Garcia could find out more about this kid, that woman could look up anything about anyone, rather frightening when you stop to think about it. Hell, what could this kid do that it has to remain classified.

"How exactly are you 'qualified' to help us?"

"They assumed my PhD in psychology, specialized in forensic psychology would be sufficient." He said hesitantly as if he wanted to say more but did not want to draw attention to himself.

"According to this letter they seem quite convinced that you could be of help and since I assume you don't have any previous experience with behavioral analysis, I can't help but wonder why they are so convinced." Hotch stated trying to get more information out of the boy since he seemed so hesitant with answering the last question.

"I have some other degrees that could be of help in your department and I have studied previous cases which makes them sure that I at least have a basic understanding of what exactly you do." He answered grudgingly, Hotch was convinced that there was still more to it but hoped that the file would give him some more information later, he wondered why exactly the kid was answering his questions when he clearly did not feel comfortable here or liked him at all, he doubted that the boy would want to answer questions which could be answered by just reading the file, but Hotch wanted to understand the boy. Though he thought it would be a bit too blunt to just ask him why he was answering his questions, instead he asked:

"What exactly do they mean with partial emancipation?"

"I am allowed to live on my own but like they probably mentioned I have some restrictions and requirements given to me by the government." The boy said again with a neutral expression and voice, clearly it was a rather delicate subject.



"What restrictions an requirements do you have?" Hotch asked, this was probably one of the things that would not be mentioned in the file, they did not seem very willing in the letter to give a further explanation on this subject but he hoped the kid would be more forthcoming, he doubted the boy would really want him to know but as the boy has answered his questions so far without really wanting too, he could always try and see what he could get out of him.

"In exchange of the liberty to live alone and the funds to pay for my studies, I am required to work for the FBI, hence my employment here, the restrictions are there for my own safety." He answered with a slight sneer he could not seem to repress, he obviously was not pleased with his restrictions. By now I was very curious as to why the boy wanted to be emancipated so desperately that he would agree to requirements he obviously disliked and why he did not get a conventional emancipation, it was clear that the boy was smart and mature enough to live on his own, why would a judge refuse his application for emancipation.

"Why is the government in control of your emancipation?"

"I was not allowed a regular emancipation, hence these restrictions." Hephaistion answered carefully, again he masked his feelings about the matter.

"Why were you not allowed a regular emancipation, you seem responsible enough?"

"Obviously the judge does not agree with your assessment." The boy was certainly not saying everything about the situation, though he was trying very hard not to lie, once again I wondered why the boy seemed so careful not to displease me. I was still very curious about Hephaistions restrictions, though the one he did know about the firearms was quite logical, then I remembered the mention that he was allowed other weapons.

"The letter mentions that you're allowed other weapons beside firearms, what exactly did they mean?"

"There should be a list of weapons I am allowed to wear and can use in the file sir." He answered with a slight smile, it was obvious that the boy was pleased that he was allowed to carry weapons, even though he could not have firearms, perhaps he was not allowed to do so before he was assigned here. Hotch looked a bit more careful at the kid and now saw some kind of Asian sword strapped to Hephastions back, now this was interesting, the boy was not allowed a gun but he could wield a bloody sword. He wondered what other weapons the boy was allowed to use, at least he did not have to worry that the boy would be completely helpless, not that he or Gideon would let the boy do anything remotely dangerous, I mean Gideon won't even let Reid to anything too dangerous and Reid was 26 and was allowed to use a gun, this kid was 15 and had a sword and who knows what else.

"A sword, Mr. Winters?"

"Yes sir, it's a Nodachi, but like I said, I know how to use it and don't wish you or your team any harm sir." The kid answered looking pleased that Hotch was not trying to forbid him from carrying a weapon, a sword at that. Hotch had no idea what a Nodachi was but it looked like it was some kind of katana-like sword.



"Are all the weapons you're allowed to wear swords?"

"No sir, there is also a selection of knives, daggers and I am allowed a bow but it's not very practical so I probably won't use it sir, the rest are swords sir." The boy answered willingly, he looked comfortable with talking about this, though he was still being very careful not to displease me in any way, it was a bit unnerving, as if the kid was afraid of him. Hotch didn't know what else to ask, it seemed as if the kid really didn't want to talk about anything so he decided to let the rest of the team know about their new member.

"If you would follow me Mr. Winters, I'll show you where you can put your things, I'll introduce you to the rest of the team as soon as you're settled in and I have told them about you." With these words SSA Hotchner stood up and began walking to the door and as expected the boy picked up his bag, which I completely missed seeing before and followed his now new supervisor. Though Hotch was wondering where his box with stuff was.

Arriving at one of the free desks, Hephaistion took out his laptop and installed it, though he did not take anything else out.

"Where is the rest of your things?" Hotch could not help but ask, I mean, he must have more things if only a photograph from his pet or a journal or something, everyone had something, even Reid has some personal stuff.

"I don't have anything else, I'm already wearing my weapons, the rest of them are at my apartment, and everything else is on my computer, I have some books still in my bag.

"Very well, I'll go inform the team, I trust you'll find something to keep you busy." He said knowing that he'll need some time to explain everything and to share his impressions of the kid with the team, and they needed time to discuss his file.

"Of course sir." Hephaistion agreed.

--

Hotch called everyone in the conference room to discuss Hephaistion.

"Hey Hotch, who's the kid?" Morgan asked the moment he walked in.

"Let's wait for the rest and I shall explain, Morgan." Hotch said patiently.

When everyone was seated watching him with curious faces Hotch started to explain: "I trust you all saw Hephaistion before you walked in?"

"Hephaistion? Is that is name? Weird man, of course we saw him, he was kind of hard to miss out there" Morgan said in his infinite wisdom "What the hell is he doing here, he's like 12 or something."

"He's 15 actually and he was… assigned here." At these words everyone was looking at him like he was crazy.

"Assigned as what exactly, Aaron?" Gideon asked trying to regain his calm though it was clear that he too was shocked with this new development.



"His job description is rather vague, they gave it the title 'general assistant'. The kid is some kind of genius, so far I know he has a PhD in psychology, specialized in forensic psychology but I think he has some other things, I have not looked through his file yet. He's partially emancipated but a ward of the government, in exchange of his partial emancipation and funds to pay for his studies, he has to work here and do anything we say basically. Apparently he has restrictions, I don't know why he was not allowed a normal emancipation, he's not very forthcoming. As you may or may not have seen he is wearing some kind of sword thingy on his back, he's not allowed a firearm though the director ordered me to make him train with firearms, don't worry apparently he can use the sword thingy. He's been working for the FBI for two years.

"It's a Nodachi, a Japanese sword." Reid our all-knowing genius said.

"Yes he mentioned that. So, what do you think, I thought we could go over his file together, to form our judgment so to speak."

"All right let's look at his file, I have to admit that I'm curious." Morgan said.

So Hotch opened the file and they all gathered around it to see.

"What the hell! I think we can certainly say we have another genius, fucking 5 PhD's, ah he's even outdone Reid" Emily exclaimed.

"No wonder he wants this emancipation so bad, his mother died when he was 4, he ran away when he was 7, lived on the streets for a year, got put in an orphanage, had 3 foster families who brought him back to the orphanage claiming they were unnerved by his intelligence and decided to adopt someone else. I wouldn't want to be this kid. He got emancipated by the government when he finished high school at eleven and then gained 5 PhD's in 4 years." Gideon summarized.

"You want me to see if I can find more about him, don't you?" Garcia asked looking sad.

"If you wouldn't mind, they seem to be deliberately vague about everything, why did he run away, why couldn't he get a normal emancipation what has he been doing for the FBI these past two years, he mentioned he wrote some computer programs for the FBI, maybe that can help." Hotch said, feeling slightly guilty to look in to the life of this kid but he needed to know more about this kid than some vague file, and he had already established that he's not very willing to tell them everything himself.

"I'll see what I can do." Garcia answered trying to sound cheerful though it was clear that she didn't like this either.

"Are you ready to meet him, guys?" Hotch asked

"Sure, go get him, I'm curious." Reid said looking a bit shocked, no-one could blame him though, the kid was an enigma; a genius with a lot of secrets it seemed.

--This is my first fic so please be gentle with your flames;) I don't know if it's a good idea but I liked it so I just decided to try. If you see any spelling or grammar mistakes please forgive me, English is not my first language. Let me know if you liked it or hated it, in other words: REVIEW please!