Spencer wakes to the sound of an alarm blaring and it takes him a moment to remember where he is. He opens his eyes and notes it's still dark out, there's movement below him and the previous night comes back to him, dinner and wine with Aaron, kissing him, falling asleep in his arms. The sound of the alarm is suddenly cut off with a smack of Aaron's hand and then there are fingertips running up and down his back. It feels good and Reid doesn't want to get up but Aaron is shifting so Reid moves off of him, allowing the other man to rise.
Yawning, Spencer moves to join him but Aaron stops him with a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"Go back to sleep," he whispers, pressing a kiss to Reid's forehead. "I have to get ready to go to work but you should get some more rest, I'll wake you before I leave."
Reid nods, already feeling the pull of sleep dragging him under as he flops back into the bed, hearing Aaron chuckle as the older man leaves. Spencer hugs the pillow close and hears the sound of a shower being turned on before he falls asleep to the smell of Aaron. He's not sure how much time has passed before he feels a warm kiss to his temple and a hand squeezing his shoulder. The sky is a little brighter out when he blinks open his eyes and Aaron is sitting on the side of the bed, dressed in a suit and smiling down at him.
"Hi." Spencer murmurs, voice rough from sleep.
"Hey." He says as he lifts his hand and tucks a piece of hair behind Reid's ear. "I have to get going but you can stay if you want. I put a spare key on the dining room table for you when you're ready to leave, our appointment is at twelve so if you meet me at the BAU for eleven-thirty we can head to the registration office from there, okay?"
Reid nods and snuggles into the blankets, his eyes only half open. He knows he should probably get up but he just feels so comfortable and relaxed in a way he's never felt before and he can't help thinking how unfair it is that only one in twenty-thousand people get to experience this. He hears Aaron huff a laugh before there's a hand on his cheek, the older man murmuring something about a kiss before Spencer feels their lips touching. Spencer lets out a sleepy moan, it's a chaste – nothing like the ones they had shared the night before – but it's Aaron and that makes it perfect.
It takes a moment before Aaron is pulling away – almost as though he doesn't want to - and biding him goodbye with a final reminder about their appointment before he leaves. Spencer spends some time debating whether to get up or to sleep longer, he's sorely tempted to fall asleep but he needs to stop at his apartment for clothes before he meets up with Aaron. Decision made, Reid gets up for the day and starts getting ready.
By eleven Spencer is leaving his own apartment for the BAU having showered and dressed into a fresh pair of clothes. During the drive Reid can't help thinking about the previous night, despite the few awkward bumps along the way it had been so good. He feels a tinge of arousal curl low in his belly at the memory of Aaron's lips on his and the feel of their tongues twining together. That had been his first real kiss, he didn't count the time when he was eleven and tutoring the girl on his street who ambushed him with one, or when he was fifteen and Louise Milton was dared to "kiss the nerd". No, Aaron's kiss was real and the sensations coming through the bond were real, Aaron wanted him.As someone who spent a good portion of his life believing he would be alone the knowledge that Hotch wanted him affected him more than he had ever realized it would.
He pulls into the BAU with five minutes to spare and wastes no time getting his visitors pass before making his way to Aaron's office. Before he can get to the stairs he's stopped with a hand on his shoulder and he turns to see Morgan.
"Reid! What are you doing here man I thought you start on Monday?" Morgan asks.
"I-I do, I'm just meeting Aa-Hotch." Spencer replies, hoping Morgan didn't notice his almost slip with Aaron's name.
"Ah, some last minute paper work then?"
"Um, no we have a-an appointment."
Morgan gives him a questioning look but before he can ask Hotch is coming down the stairs and joining them.
"Hey, you ready? We have to get going if we're gonna make it." Aaron asks.
"Yeah I'm ready." Spencer answers, clinging a little tighter to his satchel at Morgan's suspicious gaze that keeps shifting between him and Aaron.
"Good, we'll take my car." Hotch says before he starts for the door without acknowledging Morgan.
Reid gives Morgan a quick nod good-bye before moving to catch up with Hotch.
"How are we going to tell the team?" Spencer blurts as they settle into the car.
"I was thinking we would do that today after we finish registering with the Bureau. I would much rather keep my private life private but this isn't something we'll be able to hide and I'd rather them hear it from us then through the grapevine or their own speculation. Not to mention they already suspect something after the way we met but Gideon and I have been tight lipped about it."
"That makes sense," Spencer agrees on a nod. "How do you think they will react?"
"I honestly don't know." Aaron answers, sighing.
The rest of the drive goes smoothly and once they're in the registration office things start to happen fast. The blood tests immediately confirm that there is an imprint in place after which they're immediately sectioned off into two different interview rooms. Spencer knows about this part from his research, they're going to interview them separately to ensure the bond connects the two of them and find out how strong it is.
He's hooked up to a machine that monitors his vital signs and then the interview begins. At first the questions are generic – name, date of birth, eye color – but they quickly become more personal. Intellectually Spencer knows why this is, they need to provoke strong emotions from him because in the next room Aaron is telling them how Spencer is feeling through the bond which they will cross reference with his vital signs as well as his behavior in this room. The knowledge doesn't make him feel any less vulnerable.
First the interviewer works to conjure up happier memories from Spencer's life and he feels a sort of bittersweet smile stretch his lips as he pictures lying in bed with his mother as a child while she reads him Faust, he really should visit her, it's been too long he thinks as the feeling of guilt starts to intrude. From there they talk about Reid's various academic accomplishments and Spencer can't help the curl of pride at how impressed the other man seems.
"So you were a twelve year old child prodigy in high school, what was that like?" The man asks nonchalantly.
"It was fine…" Spencer trails off even though he knows what the interviewer is looking for.
The simplest way to tell when an imprint has formed is to make one partner to feel a strong negative emotion. If an imprint is in place the other partner will immediately sense this and react strongly and possibly aggressively in an attempt to join their distressed mate.
The words flash across Spencer's mind as though he were reading them now and he tries not to imagine Aaron raging in an effort to get to him. He doesn't want to upset Aaron but he knows that's the reaction they're looking for.
"Oh come on, don't hold out on me. You went to a Las Vegas public high school, I know it couldn't have been easy. Why don't you tell me about the bullying." He says, face not betraying any emotion.
"J-just standard sch-schoolyard pranks." He rushes out quickly, cursing his eidetic memory as his brain conjures up images of exactly how 'standard' his experience was.
He remembers being chased and not being fast enough to outrun them, remembers the beatings behind the bleachers, that time he'd been shoved inside a locker and left there. Remembers laughing faces surrounding him as he's stripped bare and tied to the bleachers and mocked before being left there.
Returning home to find his mother in the middle of an episode, not having noticed her only son missing.
He's pulled from the memory by a loud buzzing noise that ends just as abruptly as it started. His hands are clenched and his eyes are sore from being squeezed shut so tightly and it takes a moment for him to even out his breathing before he looks up at the man across from him who's looking at him with what Spencer thinks is sympathy.
"Thank you, Dr. Reid. We have what we need now, I'm sorry to have dredged up any bad memories for you but it was necessary. If you just follow me I'll take you to agent Hotchner, I'm sure he's anxious to see you." He says before standing and leading Spencer to the door.
It's then that Spencer recognizes the emotions coming through the bond, and though he's starting to calm now Spencer can tell that just moments before Aaron was filled with anger and frustration. A moment after stepping out of the interview room Spencer is pulled into a tight embrace and Reid lets himself relax into Aaron's strong arms.
"Are you alright?" Aaron whispers into his ear.
"Yea-yes I'm fine." He answers, resting his forehead on Aaron's shoulder. He knows they must be giving quite the show in the middle of a government building no less but Spencer can't bring himself to care.
"You didn't feel fine."
"I know, i-it's part of the interview process."
"I'm aware, doesn't make what you were feeling any less real." Aaron says, his hand smoothing down Spencer's back.
A throat clears behind him and Spencer turns, noticing that Aaron keeps a hand on his back to maintain contact.
"Gentlemen, I'm sorry to interrupt but I have your paperwork here and there is no question that an imprint has taken place, congratulations."
"That's it?" Aaron asks, taking the papers that prove their bond.
"That's all. You can leave now if you'd like." He says before shaking their hands.
Aaron is still on edge when they make it back to the car and Spencer isn't sure how to relieve the other man's tension. Acting on instinct he places his hand over Aaron's and feeling relief when the other man's hand turns up and their fingers entwine. The tension coming through the bond is still there but it starts to ease.
"Do you want to talk about what made you so upset in there?" Hotch asks, squeezing his hand.
"Not really." Spencer answers. The thought of telling Aaron about the worst moment in his life terrifies him. It's not that he doesn't trust the other man, it just feels too soon for Aaron to learn about those parts of his past.
"Okay, if you decide you want to talk you know I'm always here, alright?"
Spencer nods, giving Aaron a tentative smile that the other man returns before starting to car and they head back to the BAU.
"What about you?" Spencer asks as they leave the parking lot, continuing at Aaron's confused glance. "You seemed really angry back there, I could feel it through the bond I just…if you want to talk I wanted you to know that I'm-I'm also here." He says, finishing awkwardly.
"I was angry." Hotch says honestly. "I could feel how upset you were and while I knew it was just part of the test I wanted to find you anyway, to reassure myself you were okay." Aaron finishes, his hand coming to rest on Reid's once again.
The rest of the drive goes smoothly and they decide that after they finish registering their imprint with the bureau they would inform the team in the conference room. They wanted to keep it as low profile as possible, the FBI and the registration officials were bound by confidentiality laws but leaks still happened especially when it came to imprints since they were so rare.
Informing the bureau of their bond goes fairly smoothly, Strauss doesn't seem particularly happy about it and Reid wonders if she worries that their ability to do their job may be compromised. Personally Spencer thinks the imprint will improve their performance but in any case it doesn't matter because everyone in the room knows the law regarding imprints and they're protected.
The difficult part comes when it's time to inform the team, Spencer feels the nervous energy fill him as Hotch calls the others to the conference room. He can't help worrying they will all see him as some sort of home-wrecker even though he knows that's not logical. Hotch places a reassuring hand on his shoulder, removing it before they enter the conference room. Gideon catches Reid's eye and gives him a nod, smiling at him and it's comforting, having someone in the room who already knows and doesn't judge them. The two agents he met when he first came to the BAU are here as well as two other blonde women who Aaron introduces as JJ and Garcia.
"So what's going on? We got a case?" Morgan asks and everyone looks to where he and Hotch are standing.
Spencer feels his nerves spike at the attention and thankfully Aaron seems to realize this because he gestures for Reid to sit, to which Reid gratefully takes the seat next to Gideon.
"I know you're all wondering why I've called this meeting and no it's not another case. A few days ago on Monday some of you met our newest agent Dr. Spencer Reid who will be starting next week." At this he nods in Reid's direction and Spencer self-consciously tucks a piece of hair behind his ear, avoiding their collective gaze. "Normally I would try to keep my personal life separate from my work life, I think we all do, however this isn't something we can hide and I would rather you hear it from Reid and I then from someone else."
While he's speaking Spencer can't help watching him closely, outwardly he's the epitome of calm, cool, and collected and yet Spencer can feel the nervous energy coming through their bond. It isn't overwhelming the way Reid's gets but it is there, if barely. Spencer's so lost in his thoughts he almost misses it as Aaron drops the bomb.
"I called this meeting to inform you all that when Reid and I met we imprinted on each other."
The room goes so quiet you could hear a pin drop and Spencer finally lifts his head to look at the others in the room. Gideon's the only one who doesn't look shocked though that's not a surprise.
"Reid will still be joining our team on Monday and we would appreciate your discretion in this matter, we don't want this information leaving the bureau." Aaron finishes, looking around the room at the others.
"Ohmygod this is amazing, do you guys realize how rare this is?"
"One in twenty-thousand." Spencer answers without thinking. The woman who broke the silence looks at him – Garcia, his mind supplies – and she looks excited.
"Guys we need to have a party, an-an imprinting party! I call plan-"
"Baby girl." It's Morgan that cuts her off and Spencer feels relieved, he doesn't think his face could get anymore red. "Congratulations Hotch, you too kid."
After that the others also congratulate them and the tension in the room starts to ease. No one mentions Aaron's marriage and Spencer can't help feeling grateful for that.
"They'll get used to it." Gideon says next to him, squeezing his shoulder while Aaron fields questions from the others.
"You think so?" He asks, a nervous laugh escaping him.
"I know so." Gideon answers confidently.
As the meeting winds down the others in the room leave, JJ introducing herself to him before leaving and Elle and Morgan giving him a nod on their way out. Garcia manages to vigorously shake his hand while espousing how much they would enjoy working together. After that it's just Aaron, Gideon, and himself in the room and Spencer feels himself start to relax.
"Well I think that went well." Hotch says after moving to stand next to Reid. "Sorry about Garcia, she's enthusiastic but ultimately harmless. She'll respect our wishes." Aaron assures him, resting his hand on the back of Spencer's neck, causing the younger man to shiver.
"I think most of them just didn't know how to react…" Spencer says, trailing off when he's not sure where he's going with that.
"They probably didn't." Gideon states simply. "Chances are none of them have ever met an imprinted couple. They're also aware of Aaron's marriage and probably weren't sure whether to be happy for him or not. It'll come, just give them a little time to get used to things, it'll be easier once you're settled in here." Gideon claps him on the shoulder as he stands, a reassuring smile in place.
Gideon leaves and Reid stands, Aaron's hand falling from his neck to his waist.
"Were you worried they wouldn't accept you?" Aaron asks and Spencer wonders how he can tell that when they've only known each other for two days.
"I um, I've never really been a part of a group so this feels incredibly new." Spencer responds.
"Don't worry, Gideon's right, once you start and they see what you can do and where you fit in with the team dynamic everything will be fine." Aaron assures him and Spencer feels his earlier nervousness drain away, wondering how just listening to Hotch's voice can do that. "C'mon, I'll walk you out."
"Okay." Spencer nods and walks out with his bonded.
Aaron walks him all the way to his car, hand steady on his lower back once they're outside the building. Once at Spencer's car Aaron leans in for a gentle kiss, hand cupping his cheek.
"I'll call you tonight, okay?" He says as he parts, smiling.
"Yeah, I'd like that." Spencer says, grinning back at Aaron.
They kiss once more before Aaron has to leave and Spencer gets into his car, feeling a kind of excitement at the thought of his and Aaron's developing relationship.