A/N: Many people wanted me to continue in a sort-of-series, so here it is. This story comes after "A Tale to Be Told", and while it can be read as a one-shot on its own, it wouldn't hurt to read that first. I don't think this one is as good as the other, but I still like it :)
The scent of chicken, rice, and tea met Aaron Hotchner as he came into the house. It was rare for him to get home in time for dinner, but with a great team, a cut-and-dry case with a dumb UnSub, and a bit of luck, he'd managed it. Aaron hung his coat on the coat rack, and was just taking off his shoes when little footsteps came around the corner. He wasn't prepared for Jack's tackle-hug, and ended up on the floor with a bundle of toddler giggling on his stomach, "Ugh, buddy...you need to be careful. I'm not as young as you!"
Big eyes looked up at him innocently, "So?"
Aaron laughed and Haley came in to pluck Jack off of his father. It would be a good night.
"Daddy?" Jack Hotchner said as Aaron helped him change into his pajamas, "Will you tell me a story? Like Sir Spencer?"
Aaron paused. Jack had loved his story of Sir Spencer and the Three-Headed Dragon, but it had really been a fluke. He'd been lucky that night as he fumbled his way through an on-the-spot story. Could he do it again? He really didn't think he could, and at any rate, he didn't feel totally comfortable using his team and past cases as plot devices. He was about to say 'no' when Jack started pulling on his sleeve, "Please, daddy? Pleeeease?" Aaron Hotchner sighed. He'd never admit it, but he was a sucker for big eyes and pouting lips.
Sensing his victory, the smallest Hotchner cheered and jumped into bed.
"Did you go potty, buddy?"
Out of bed, again. At least it gave Aaron some time to organize his thoughts into a story this time.
"How about the story of Sir Derek and the Evil King?" Jack 'ooo'ed at the dramatic title and Aaron congratulated himself, "Once upon a time, in the castle of -"
"Quantico!"
"Well, Chicago, actually."
"Oh. Chicago had a castle, too?"
"...yeah."
"Okay!"
Aaron smiled, glad his son just went with it, "Once upon a time, in the castle of Chicago, there lived a great king. The village he ruled over was small, but they all loved their king. He helped a lot of the children there, and -"
"I thought he was an Evil King."
"He is, er, was, buddy, he was. You see, everyone loved him because no one knew how evil he was. Except for Sir Derek. Sir Derek was one of the knights from Quantico castle, but he grew up in this small kingdom where the Evil King ruled. Sir Derek had gone to visit his family. He did this often, and was still well-known throughout the village. He and his sisters were celebrating their mother's birthday, and were having a great time. However, there was trouble in the village. A little boy had been...put under a magic spell. People believed that Sir Derek had -"
"What kind of magic spell?"
"It...it was a horrible, dark, kind of magic, that can never be reversed. It - it froze the boy in time. He couldn't eat, or grow...he just lay there, as if asleep. People believed that Sir Derek had done this to the boy, and came to the party to arrest him. He was taken to the village's..."
"Council building?"
"...yes, council building," Hotch said, amused, "How did you know?"
"Agent Reid came over one day, and I asked him if there were police in King Arthur times. He said no, that the townspeople had to do it themselves, in the council building."
Aaron allowed himself a brief moment of mental panicking, hoping that his son hadn't said anything about 'Sir Spencer' to his agent. Then he remembered, he never referred to his team by their first names while at home, so Jack likely didn't know that Agent Reid's first name was Spencer, "Right. So, Sir Derek was taken to the village's council building by the King's most loyal servant, Sir Gord-" Aaron cut himself off. Maybe it wasn't okay to share too much with Jack...
"Sir Gordon?"
"Yes. Sir...Gordon. Sir Derek and Sir Gordon hated each other. But, he was a knight, and had to follow the knights' code. So, he sent a squire out to Quantico castle, to let the King of Quantico know what was going on. The king wasn't pleased that one of his knights was being accused of...dark magic, so he sent out the rest of his knights to Chicago, to bring home Sir Derek."
"But they can't just break him out of jail! ...Can they?"
"No, they can't. The knights had to prove that Sir Derek was innocent, but since Sir Gordins - uh, Sir Gordon, hated him, he wouldn't listen to what the knights had to say."
"So how did they get him out?"
"Well, it turns out that Sir Derek got himself out. He broke out of the council's jail, and went in search of the king. Sir Derek knew that the king was evil, and that he'd been using dark magic for a long time. He knew that if he could get the king to confess, then he'd be free. But he didn't tell anyone what he was doing, so it took the knights a while to find him."
"Did the king confess?"
"You bet he did. Sir Derek confronted the king, because the king had used dark magic on him once, and he wasn't going to let anyone else suffer like he did. He got the king to confess in front of the village council, and he was thrown into his own dungeon! And guess what?"
"What?"
"That day, Sir Derek became the new King of Chicago."
"Wow!"
Aaron leaned down and tucked in his son as Jack gave a particularly large yawn. He was suddenly very tired, himself. He turned out the light, and was about to close the door when a drowsy voice asked, "Daddy, was that story real?"
Aaron decided he needed to stop telling stories that Jack thought could be real. Maybe he'd read 'The Tortoise and the Hare' next time, "No, Jack."
"Really?"
Aaron thought for a moment, "...Magic can't be evil, silly."
"Oh. Okay. Goodnight, Daddy."
"Goodnight, Jack."