A/N: Yeah, I know I said it'd take a week or two before the sequel is out. But I got a jab of inspiration, and here we are. (grins)

First off, thank you so much for all those reviews for the prequel! You can't even imagine how good it feels to know so many of you were looking forward to this sequel. (GLOMPS) It looks like the prequel was loved. I really hope you'll enjoy this one as much!

WARNINGS: SLASH, mentions of M-PREG, adult themes, a touch of gore… You know, such fun. (smirks sheepishly)

DISCLAIMER: Uh-huh… If I did own anything of 'CM' there'd deffinitely be a lot more money on my bank-account than there currently is…

Awkay… (gulps) I'm always extremely nervous when it comes to posting the first chapter, so I need to get this done. I really, REALLY hope you'll have a good ride!

Sweet Family of Mine

CHAPTER 1: Prologue

Twenty three year old Jeremy Baker yawned loudly while making his way through the university's dark, isolated hallways. His swimming-training had taken a lot longer than he'd expected, and at the moment all his body desired the comfort of his huge bed.

Fate, however, seemed to have other plans.

Jeremy frowned and froze, with chills running through him, when he suddenly sensed a presence. "Is someone in there?" There was no response. He grit his teeth, fighting to keep his tone even as he barked out again. "You idiots, if this is some sort of a sick joke…!"

Suddenly everything happened in a flash. Jeremy couldn't even scream when a sharp needle pierced the tender skin of his neck. "Now it's your turn", a voice hissed into his ear.

Spencer squinted his eyes in the afternoon's cruel light as he stood behind a door in the hospital. He felt a headache kicking in, and wondered if it was because of lack of sleep or too little caffeine. His body felt oddly heavy while he breathed in deep, then finally opened the door and entered. "Hey Shawn", he greeted, taking off his jacket and placing it slowly to a chair that'd been left nearby the door for some reason. "It looks like the rain finally stopped. Though I guess it's statistically impossible that it'd rain two weeks in a roll here." He frowned when noticing that there was actually very little light in the room. "What are you doing here in the dark?" he muttered, then walked to the window to open the blinds. He immediately regretted the rapid action when light filled his eyes, blinding him for a long moment before focusing on the two rings that decorated his left hand.

He stood absolutely still for almost a full minute, letting his eyes rest on the sky where two birds were flying, before managing to gather the will to turn towards the bed only three steps away. Instead of Shawn's voice machines gave Spencer a greeting as he met the man's face, which seemed as peaceful as if the other had been sleeping. But this sleep had lasted far too long. Two months and three days, to be exact.

Almost a year ago they'd started their life in Quantico.

Eight months ago they'd been married in a tiny ceremony where only their nearest and dearest had been present.

Two months ago Spencer had been making dinner when he got a phone call, saying there'd been an accident. Apparently Shawn had been on his way home when he got into a collision with a drunk driver. The drunk driver escaped the entire thing without a scratch. Shawn, on the other hand, was already in a emergency surgery when he dashed into the hospital. Spencer hadn't seen his husband awake since.

Spencer hadn't felt as much in his whole life so far as he had during the past two months. If it wasn't for Morgan – whose constantly increasing presence in his life threw him into a turmoil – his former team, and especially for Joey, he would've most likely lost his mind. Anger, terror, sadness… All emotions had blurred together, and Spencer couldn't even remember the last time he'd been able to honestly say how he was feeling.

After another minute Spencer finally managed to move. He walked forward slowly, eventually slumped into the all too familiar, torturously uncomfortable chair that'd been left beside the bed. He took Shawn's hand and gave it a squeeze. Although he knew it was foolish to hope for anything else he felt a sharp twinge when there was no response.

Spencer swallowed, taking a moment or two to put his straying thoughts together. "Jo… Her teacher, Mrs. Ramirez, wanted to talk to me today. She said Jo's one of the brightest kids she's ever seen. She… She said that Jo could easily jump over a class; she told me Miss Hudson would love to take Jo to her class, if I'd give my permission." He shook his head, futilely trying to clear it. "I… I didn't know how to respond, not yet. I just… I keep having flashbacks of my own school time. It'stupid, but I guess that's still bugging me." It took quite a bit of bravery, but he looked right at Shawn's eyes. Those dark eyes still wouldn't open. "That's… why we agreed you'd be the one to make the decisions on her schooling, remember?"

Again instead of Shawn the machines answered. And Spencer had never, ever hated any other sound as much.

Noticing a black strand of hair on Shawn's forehead he frowned and used a single finger to put it back in line. On the way he accidentally brushed the skin of the man's face and felt squirming in his stomach upon discovering the heat.

Fever. Another infection.

Spencer grit his teeth, fighting to calm himself with deep and even breaths. It didn't work at all, but at least he was doing something. "I miss you." It took a long moment before he realized that the raspy voice had crawled out of his throat. He was slightly surprised to discover he hadn't actually spoken those words out loud since the entire turmoil began. He licked his lips, everything in his head spinning. "I… I miss you, and so does Jo. So… Wake up." Please. "Come back to us already."

He didn't know how long the silence lasted until he heard a sound. "Hi Spence." That voice mixing in his head with another he instinctively glanced towards Shawn's face before turning his gaze to see a young female nurse with long, red hair and warm brown eyes – Laura, she'd introduced herself – walking towards the bed. She flashed him a smile that, mercifully, held no pity. A lot of people in the hospital seemed to pity him these days. "How's the patient doing?" she inquired while starting to change the emptied bag of fluids that'd ran into Shawn's vein.

Spencer took a moment to collect himself. "He's… stable. But I think he has fever."

Laura placed her hand briefly to Shawn's forehead and frowned. "I think you're right. I'll inform Dr. Riley about this."

Spencer nodded, not knowing if there was anything else he could've done. Feeling helpless and useless he watched how Laura treated Shawn with experienced motions. He couldn't understand why he still felt so uncomfortable and out of place when he came into this room, even now after two months.

"You're allowed to feel a bit lost, you know?" Laura's eyes were filled with sympathy when she glanced towards him. "This is one of those situations where no one expects you to know what to do. I'm sure Shawn would agree with me. What matters to him is that you're here – it's all you can do. So stop looking so guilty."

To even his own surprise Spencer managed a feeble, extremely frail smile.

Laura grinned. "That looks much better." She then came to think of something. "You know… I'm going to give Shawn a little wash-up. Do you want to help?"

Spencer was stunned for a while, even blushed a little, before he managed to nod. She was the first one who'd ever suggested that. "Thanks."

An hour and a half later Spencer parked to the yard of his and Shawn's house. Once again he wasn't sure what he felt when seeing Derek sitting beside Joey on the swing that'd, once upon a time, been one of those reasons he and Shawn had chosen the house. He waited for a moment before climbing out of the car and approaching the two.

Joey grinned, then jumped up and rushed over to give him a huge hug. "Hi daddy!" She then grew a lot more serious. "How was papa-Shawn?"

Spencer tried his hardest to keep at least some of the turmoil inside away from his face. "He's… still sleeping. But he's holding on tight. And I've got a feeling he misses you."

Joey nodded, appearing very solemn for a six-year-old. "I miss him, too."

Deciding that it was time to distract her, Spencer attempted to grin a little. "You know what? I think we're going to have a pizza-day today. Why don't you go and make some salad? I'll be there in a bit."

It worked like magic. Joey's face lit up as she nodded eagerly, then turned towards Derek. "I'll show you some new magic tricks this weekend", she promised.

Derek grinned and ruffled her hair, making her snort. "I'll be looking forward to that, kid."

With that the girl hurried inside. As soon as she'd gone Derek got up, appearing surprisingly hesitant. "Hey."

"Hey", he greeted, unsure what else to say. For the about a millionth time he found himself missing those days when it'd been easy to talk to Derek, to be around the man.

Derek cleared his throat before talking again. "I… took her to the library – she was thinking about Shawn, so I thought it'd cheer her up."

Spencer's muscles relaxed slightly. "I'm sure it did." He breathed. "Morgan… Thanks, for doing this. I know it wasn't your day, but…"

Derek interrupted him with a wave of hand. The man then seemed to know with just a single glance. He wondered if anyone else had seen the man's eyes turn the way they did then. "You went to the hospital, huh?"

He ran a hand through his hair, which had grown long once more. Apparently he hadn't remembered to arrange a barber's appointment. "Yeah." He didn't want to talk about it, really. Especially with Derek. For some ridiculous reason it would've felt like cheating on Shawn.

Derek seemed to understand, because the man simply nodded before dropping the subject. Instead the dark skinned man focused his eyes on the house's door. "I… know this isn't easy for you, me spending this much time with Jo. So thank you."

Reid took a breath, realizing that his chest felt a lot tighter than it should've. "You already lost over five years, so…" He trailed off, wondering what it was he really wanted to say. True, the past year had been one of the longest in his life. But…

The sound of Derek's phone cut that dangerous line of thought. The man took a second before picking up. "Hey Hotch." Derek's expression immediately told what was to come. "I'll be there in five." Once hanging up the man looked at him, his eyes appearing almost troubled. "We've got a new case. Are you sure you'll be okay alone?"

Spencer nodded, trying to appear convincing. "Honestly, I think I need some time to clear my head. But… Thanks." Besides, although a part of him protested such a thought he had a feeling Derek's presence would only make things more complicated.

Derek's jaw tightened for a second. "'K. I'll call you later, to see how you're doing."

He nodded once more. "Tell everyone I said 'hi'."

"I will." And so Derek turned, then walked away with visible reluctance. The weight of all that'd been left unsaid was crushingly heavy on both their shoulders.

After a while Spencer braced himself, gathered absolutely all his strength and turned around, entering the house.

Once he made it to the kitchen Joey was already starting to chop tomatoes. She frowned slightly when looking at him. "Are you okay, daddy?"

It wasn't until then Spencer realized his eyes stung. He blinked furiously and tried to smile. "Yeah, I'm fine." He then chose to distract her once more while while starting the search for pizza-ingredients. "So, how was your school day?"

As Joey started babbling excitedly Spencer found it slightly easier to distract himself as well, to set his thoughts free from the vicious cycle they'd been trapped into. He never noticed the single tear that slipped to his cheek, drying out of existence soon enough.

In the BAU-headquarters Derek found himself fighting to focus on the case-briefing.

"Jeremy Baker, 23." JJ showed them the picture of a very athletic, undeniably good looking man with neatly cut brown hair and deep blue eyes. "The university's football hero, loved by pretty much everyone. His body was found from the football-field this morning." She grit her teeth once showing them the picture of his corpse. They could all see there was a text 'Your turn' engraved to his bare chest by a knife. "He'd been stabbed five times. And… according to the police, he'd been castrated brutally before his death. He'd been drugged to a condition where he couldn't protect himself."

Silence fell into the room, making it turn cold. The only hint of relief was how David Rossi shifted with discomfort once taking in JJ's information, muttering something that sounded like "Shit…".

This was their third murder of this type in less than a month – too many to be a coincidence. And all the murders had taken place in the same university where Spencer had been working for the past eleven months.

It was a relatively small university. According to all statistics Spencer must've at least seen the UnSub. Perhaps he'd even have a suspect if he'd be introduced to the profile they'd managed to gather so far.

Derek was glad Aaron spoke the words before he had to. "It's more than likely that the killer will strike again." The unit-chief grit his teeth. "I think we should ask Reid for help."

TBC, or not?

A/N: So… (gulps) What's the verdict? Was that any good, at all, or should pull off the plug on this thing?

PLEASE, let me hear your thoughts! It'd be extremely important to me, especially since this is the first chapter. (gives huge puppy's eyes)

Thank you so much for taking the time to read! ('Almost made a spelling error there…) (grins)

Until next time, folks, with whichever story that may be!

Peace out!