CHAPTER 1: AARON HOTCHNER
"So this is our highly intelligent agent? What the hell are we supposed to do with him now?" Announced Morgan, lifting up the four-year-old
"I have no idea. All i know is that we have to take care of him, because in this state god knows what the hell he is going to get himself into." Replied Rossi, as he ruffled the boys hair.
The small child pulled away, and began to squirm as a warning to say let me down. Morgan set him on the ground, and he scurried around trying to get away from the others, but his freedom was short lived as another pair of hands lifted him up.
"Puf' me down!" He shouted, as he kicked the air furiously.
"Well I think he is just the cutest little profiler in the world!" Garcia cooed in her baby voice.
Spencer pouted, and grunted. He looked to the rest of his team, and his bottom began to quiver. Why was the rest of the team so huge compared to him, and since when did he pertain such a range of emotions? He looked to the profilers once more, before he threw his head back and let out a pained sob. Kicking Garcia's hands away, he dropped to the ground and hid in the corner, burying his red face in his knees.
JJ and Garcia looked to one another, and couldn't help letting out an awww for how adorable Spencer is. Hotch slowly approached the sobbing toddler, and letting his fatherly instinct kick in, he rubbed the boys back.
"Hey bud. What's wrong?"
"I-I don' wann' be s-small! I wann' be a big Spe'cer!"
The lead profiler couldn't help but let out a sigh. He pulled the boy into a hug, and ruffled his hair. Spencer hooked onto Hotch and buried his tear-stricken face into the man's shoulder.
"C'mon," Hotch said, carrying the tired boy in his arms. "You can stay with me. All of us can take turns with him." Hotch said.
"Fine with me." Replied Morgan, and the rest of the team agreed.
"Do you want to go straight to bed?" Hotch asked, as he opened the door to his house, holding multiple Wal-mart shopping bags filled with clothes, toys and other toddler supplies.
Spencer rubbed his eyes, yawned and replied, "Yeh. Le' me get a pajama."
Spencer grabbed one of the bags, and pulled out a light blue footy pajama and a stuffed bear. He walked upstairs, and into Jack's room.
A few minutes passed, Hotch was downstairs setting jars of food in the fridge, setting some other things up, when Spencer came to the bottom of the stairs.
"H-Hotch?" He asked quietly, with an innocent look on his little face.
"Yeh?" Hotch replied, glancing at the boy.
Spencer had the pajamas half on, with one arm sticking out of where his head should be, and the entire pajama was backwards. Hotch chuckled, and lifted Spencer into his lap. He rearranged the clothing, and brought the boy back upstairs. He set the toddler down into the bed, tucked him in , and pulled the plastic guard rails up.
"G'night." A little voice muttered from underneath the blankets.
"Goodnight." Hotch replied, while turning off the light and closing the door.
* "Spencer, you can't hide from me!" William shouted, as he furiously tore apart the house searching for his son.
Spencer sat in the closet, hidden by the coats and shoes, as he cried silently. He was covered in bruises, and cuts.
The closet door was torn open, and the coats pulled to the side. Spencer closed his eyes, while his father pulled him, pushed him against the wall, and began to kick him. The boy screamed and cried.
"You worthless, ignorant, defying idiot!" William screamed through gritted teeth.
Spencer opened his eyes, and saw a fist hurling towards his face. *
Spencer woke up, feeling sweat drip down his face. He realized it was a nightmare. He may have been reduced to a child, but he still had his adult and childhood memories. He felt his lower lip quiver, and he let out a wail. He started crying, as he struggled to breathe. Hotch ran into the room, and picked Spencer up, rocking the child to soothe him.
"Spence, what's wrong? You gotta' tell me what's wrong bud." Hotch said, worried the infant was hurt.
Spencer buried his head into Hotch's shoulder, as he hiccuped and sobbed violently. "N-nightmare. M-my d-ad hittin' m-me."
Hotch rubbed Spencer's back, and kissed the top of the child's head.
"You have to relax, or you'll make yourself sic-"
As soon as Hotch said it, Spencer lurched forward, and vomited on Aaron's feet. The boy went limp in the profiler's arms as he whined, and cried quietly. Hotch carried him to the bathroom, and sat down on the ground, setting the toddler on his lap.
"Shhhh you're okay bud. You're okay." Hotch said, stroking the boy's hair, as Spencer sunk into his arms.
Eventually the toddler's cries became sobs and then into sniffles, as he became tired. He snuggled in closer to Hotch, and let his eyes fall shut. He snored softly, letting the profiler know it was safe to place him back into bed.
"Hey sleepy-head." Hotch smiled, as Spencer cautiously walked down the stairs, his chestnut hair covering his tiny features.
"G'nmornin." Spencer replied, rubbing his eyes and letting out a small yawn.
He sat down at the table, and adjusted himself until he could reach his pancakes. Smiling, Spencer grabbed the fork, and began to chow down on his fresh breakfast. Hotch sat down next to the kid, and ruffled his hair. Spencer looked up at him and laughed, spitting a bit of pancake with it.
"So how'd you sleep?" Aaron asked, wondering if the small child remembered anything about last night's episode.
"Fine." Replied the boy, swing his legs happily, unaware of what had occurred a few hours prior to breakfast.
"Well that's great." Hotch replied, getting up and walking towards his coffee.
Moments later, Spencer began to shit in his seat uncomfortably. He scrunched up his face, and stood up.
Hotch glanced up, and asked, "Is something wrong?"
"I-I don' know.." That was when Spencer noticed his pajama was wet, and it surely wasn't milk.
Hotch chuckled, and Spencer could feel his face heating up and becoming more red by the second. His lip trembled, as he began to cry of embarresment. Realizing he had upset the child, Hotch knelt beside him.
"Hey, hey it's okay. Kids have accidents. Let's just get you into a new pull up and get you dressed 'kay?"
Spencer nodded, as he let out a hiccup and waddled upstairs.
Several minutes later, spencer was dressed in a blue t-shirt with spongebob on it, and some black jeans. Hotch fastened him into his booster seat, placed his teddy bear and diaper bag in the seat beside the child, and sat down in the driver's seat.
"Ready to head out? We are going over to the office." Hotch said, looking at Spencer through the mirror.
"Yep!" The boy cheered.
Aaron started the car, and drove off towards the office, to meet with the rest of the team.
The minute Spencer waddled into the office, the women were all over him, cooing and carrying him.
"I just can't get over how adorable my little peanut is!" Garcia said, letting her voice sqeauk. JJ nodded in agreement, as she tickled the toddler.
"S-stop it!" He laughed out, kicking and pushing their hands away.
"Okay settle down guys." Hotch said, taking the boy and setting him down on a baby blanket in the board room.
Aaron emptied the toys out of the bag, and set them within the boy's reach, while the rest of them talked.
"So how was the little devil last night?" Morgan asked, snickering.
"Good for the most part, except he got sick after a particularly rough nightmare of his father beating him." Hotch replied, grimacing at the thought.
Spencer listened in, while attempting to recreate the Sears Tower out of his building blocks. Eventually he became bored of his toys, and decided he wanted to do something more exciting. The profilers continued to talk, not noticing when he snuck over to the bookshelf. He ran his small fingers against the spines of the books, on the first shelf. Eyeing the titles, he backed up to see the rest of them. Seeing a particularly interesting book on the fifth shelf, Spencer started his way up shelf. He was about 7 feet off the ground, when suddenly Hotch turned around.
"Spencer!" Hotch shouted, feeling panic and anger boil inside him, but it was too late, as Spencer lost his footing, and plummeted to the ground. The boy screamed, extending out his left arm to protect himself. He hit the ground with a rough THUD. Hotch and Rossi were by his side in seconds, followed Morgan and the rest of the team. Spencer was curled up tightly on his left side. Hotch slowly rolled him over onto his back, to check him for injuries.
"Spencer, bud, where does it hurt? C'mon tell me were it hurts." Hotch said, worriedly as he began to prod and check the toddler.
Spencer looked up at the ceiling with glazed over eyes. Within seconds the adrenaline wore off and the pain bubbled to the surface. Spencer scrunched up his face, and let out a pained yell.
"M-m should'r!" Spencer screamed, grabbing at his left shoulder.
Hotch motioned to Rossi to hold Spencer, while he checked over the kid's shoulder. Spencer sobbed harder, as Aaron pulled the sleeve down, to reveal a black and blue shoulder. It was swollen, and there was an indentation of where his arm had been dislocated from the rest of his shoulder. Aaron lifted him up, being cautious to not touch his hurt arm, and let him settle in his arms.
"Rossi get the car ready, the rest of you stay here and meet up later. His shoulder is badly dislocated and he needs to go to the hospital now." Hotch said, as he and Dave rushed out the door, leaving the rest of the team to listen to the fading sobs of the child.
Half an hour later, the two profilers and the still crying kid were in the emergency room. They waited for an hour and a half, before Spencer was called.
"Spencer Hotchner?" The nurse called out, leading them back.
Once they were settled into a room, Spencer curled up crying in Hotch's lap on the gurney, while Rossi sat beside them in a plastic chair, another nurse walked in with a clipboard.
"Hi I'm nurse Lauren. I just need to check his blood pressure, and a few other things before the doctor comes in." The nurse said, with a sincere smile.
"Spence, you have to sit up, so the nurse and doctor can check you out." Hotch said, trying to pry the boy off of his chest.
The boy closed his eyes and shook his head, beginning to tighten his grip on the profiler's shirt. Hotch sighed, and nodded to the nurse. She finished the initial exam, and allowed the doctor to come in.
"Hi, I'm Dr. Clark. So i hear this little guy has a dislocated shoulder. He must be in a deal of pain. I'll set up an IV and get him some pain medication before we go anywhere else. I'll need daddy here to hold this little man down." The doctor said, turning around and grabbing the stand, needle, and medication.
Hotch turned Spencer, so he was facing Rossi. He nodded towards the doctor, as he tried to soothe the toddler, who was struggling out of his grip. Spencer saw the needle nearing his right hand, and let out a scream.
"N-no! No needle! I-I feel b-better!" Spencer tried to reason with Hotch, but the profiler continued to reassure him.
The doctor slid in the needle, and Spencer let out a wail. Within seconds the medicine was taking action in his little body, as he went limp in Hotch's arms. Hotch placed him on the exam table, as another doctor came in to help pop the kid's shoulder back in. Spencer was not unconscious, but was not entirely aware of his surroundings. One doctor held his left shoulder, while the other held his arm and hand. In three swift movements Spencer's shoulder was back in place. The toddler was anything but peaceful, as his arm was placed in a sling which also wrapped around his midsection, to stabilize his shoulder.
"I want to take him for x-ray's to ensure there are no fractures but after that we can remove the IV and you can take him home." The doctor said, as he guided Hotch (who was holding the crying child) to the x-ray's.
Several minutes later, the profiler's and the sleeping toddler were ready to go home. There were no fractures, thankfully, and the doctor said within four weeks his shoulder would be mostly healed, but until then to keep it in the sling 24/7.
"Can you get the door?" Hotch asked Rossi, as they entered the house. "I'm just gonna' put him to bed. It would probably just hurt him more to try and put on his pajamas."
Hotch carefully placed the sleeping boy in the bed, and closed the door. He walked back down, and sat with Rossi at the table.
"He's a tough kid he'll be okay." Dave said, patting Aaron on the back.
"I know, it's just that I feel...an attachment, like I need to be the one to care for him and watch him while he is...well...a kid." Hotch said, burying himself in a book.
"See ya' around." Rossi said, while heading out.
Hotch stayed down stairs for most of the night, watching television or researching. Around 2 AM Spencer quietly walked down the steps, his right arm wrapped around his teddy bear. He rubbed his eyes, half asleep and slowly approached Hotch. Aaron looked up from his coffee, and smiled. He was an adorable kid, he had to admit that.
"Is something wrong kiddo?" Hotch asked, kneeling beside the child.
Spencer pulled his thumb out of his mouth and looked up at Hotch. He threw himself into Hotch's arms, and began to cry. Hotch held the child for the moment, before he kissed the crown of his head.
"Spence what's wrong buddy?" Hotch asked, feeling sorry for the child.
"H-hurts." Spencer said, looking up at Hotch with a tear-stained face.
Hotch grimaced, and mentally cursed himself, for having forgotten to give Spencer his pain medication. Quickly, he ran to the kitchen and grabbed a pill and a glass of water. He rushed back to Spencer and handed him the items.
"Take this. It will make you feel all better." Spencer nodded and downed the pill, wincing at the taste.
Hotch carefully placed the boy back into his bed, and closed the door. He walked downstairs, and gathered all of Spencer's toys and supplies to pack and handover to the next BAU profiler to take care of him. Hotch sat back down, and sighed. Taking care of Spencer reminded him too much of Jack. Oh how much he missed Jack.