A/N: I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its Characters. No Beta, all mistakes are my own. Will post every two to three days. Thank you for reading.

Special Thanks To: Ludub, tannerose5, L.E.A.H437, ahowell1993, Dextolan, Riverway14, Ash59, , iluvhotchme, Smec, poohbear123, Diana, spxxxxx, and Guest 1 & 2. THANK YOU, last chapter holds my record for most reviews in a chapter.

A/N: No slash or pairings. Kid-Fic, De-aged Fic, Team/Family Fic.

Warning: Rated T for violence, language, child abuse.

—

The team was laughing and joking around as they approached Hotch 's room. Morgan knocked and they waited for him to answer, a smile on their faces. At the sight of their boss their expressions fell. His face was stern and blank as always. But none of the profilers missed his bloodshot and puffy eyes, or the way he held his body a little more stiffly then normal. Laughter died on their lips. Despite the tension, JJ informed him that the plane was ready.

Hotch looked back at his room, Reid was attempting to lift his own bag, apparently eager to be going home. He really didn't want to leave things with Spencer like that, but at the moment he had little choice. He made a mental note to sit down with Reid and talk again, soon. Sighing, he grabbed his and Spencer's bag. Ignoring Reid's grumble about how he could carry it, they all set off together.

Hotch remained even more quiet than usual as they boarded the plane. Reid was anxious to get some time alone with Hotch, he was terrified that he had upset Hotch in some way. His little child body, however, had other plans. Before he knew it the motion of the plane had lulled him to sleep. The team watched quietly until they were sure Reid was fully asleep. Then they addressed Hotch .

"What happened?" Rossi spoke first, authority ringing in his words.

Hotch scowled, his eyes darkening dangerously. "I convinced Reid to tell me how he was injured." He spoke in a hard voice that sent the team recoiling.

The team was afraid to ask. Finally Emily gave in, "and?"

"Im actually not sure what I would do if I ever meet William Reid in person." He growled. The profilers exchanged concerned looks.

"Are you telling me that Reid's dad caused all that damage?" Morgan asked, his knuckles turning white from gripping the arm rests too hard.

"Why would he do that?" JJ asked horrified, a hand going up to her mouth.

A harsh snarl escaped Hotch's mouth. "The bastard thought he could beat the intelligence out of him." The profilers we're horrified. Their Reid, the most gentle, kindhearted man they had ever met, was brutally beaten because his father couldn't accept him. Hotch continued, "it seems the sick fuck wanted a 'normal' son, not a 'freak' with a one in a billion brain." He barked, spitting out the words normal and freak loudly making his team flinch from the venom lacing his words. Almost too loudly. They all froze as a low whimper filled the cabin. Reid squirmed for a few minutes before settling back down. The team sat in silence for several minutes, none of them had ever heard Hotch swear before.

"What exactly did William do?" Rossi asked softly, wary of what the answer would be. Hotch looked at him. His face going pale. He sat for a moment as if trying to find the will to speak.

Abruptly he stood, "I'm sorry, I...I just...I can't. Not right now." He strode over to sit in the chair closest to the couch where Reid was sleeping. He wanted to be there for him in case anything happened. The team's hearts shattered. Hotch's actions spoke volumes. He was one of the strongest men they knew, if he couldn't handle talking about it, it must have been bad. Sure they had all seen worse in their jobs, but this was Reid. This was personal.

The remainder of the flight was spent in silence. Every member of the team attempting to get some sleep. They would be arriving home quite early in the morning. Most finding they were unable to do so, as they kept waking themselves to check on their youngest, who was still sleeping soundly.

Six and a half hours later they landed, saying their goodbyes they reluctantly went their own ways. Hotch carefully carried a sleeping Reid into his car where he faced a problem. No booster seat... Spencer was small for a 5 year old and Hotch wasn't sure it was safe for him to sit in the seat by himself. He looked around to find all of his teammates had already driven off. Sighing he gently placed Reid down in the back seat.

"I'm sorry Spencer, I need you to wake up..." he said softly, slightly shaking Reid's shoulder. Reid looked up at him groggily. "I don't have a booster seat yet..." he explained.

"In the case of a child without a booster, the safest course of action is to place the child in a seat and secure the seatbelt snugly to the chest and the lower part laid flat on the child's lap." Reid informed Hotch quietly, yawning. "If your concerned for my injuries we can add some extra padding using our jackets." Reid suggested shrugging. Hotch smiled slightly and carefully got Reid secure. He drove with extra caution as he headed home. Luckily he didn't live far from the landing strip.

He let out a breath of relief when he pulled into his drive way. There wasn't many cars on the street due to the lateness of the hours. Making a mental note to get Jacks booster back into his car, he opened the back door to get Reid out. He frowned as he noticed Spencer fighting the tears in his eyes. "Are you okay?" He asked. Spencer just nodded. He didn't want to admit how much pain he was in, the medicine wore off while he slept and the pressure from the seatbelt was causing severe discomfort.

"Reid, we talked about this, you need to tell us when you're hurting." Hotch explained for what felt like the hundredth time.

"Sorry, Sir." Reid started softly, sniffing. "My ribs hurt..."

"That's okay Spencer, we can give you your next dose of medicine." Hotch said, pasting a false smile on his face. He was starting to feel very uncomfortable with the way Reid spoke to him. Adult Reid rarely called him 'sir', yet child Reid has said it five times since being changed. The chid was being too cautious around him, around all of them. In that moment Hotch realized, Spencer's afraid of upsetting me, afraid I'll hurt him... the thought broke his heart. He knew that adult Reid knew that the team, that he, would never hurt him, but child Spencer still needed to be convinced. His reaction to Reid's story didn't exactly help things. He really did need to talk to Spencer about that.

Tonight they were both too tired for that. Even stubborn little Reid was too tired to argue as Hotch picked him up, he also didn't notice that he was clinging to Hotch's body. His good arm wrapped around the older mans neck, his fingers unconsciously messing with Hotch's tie. When Hotch got him into Jacks room he held on tighter, afraid to lose the warmth and comfort. He only ever remembered feeling secure like that as a child when his mom was having a good day and William was out of town. His little body craved that feeling, and he was too tired to stop himself.

"Spencer?" Hotch asked carefully, confused by the child's actions.

"M'hmm?" Reid mumbled in response snuggling further into Hotch's chest. Hotch felt his heart melt. Choosing to keep holding him for a while he slowly rocked back and forth. Humming softly. Once Reid had fallen asleep his carefully pried Reid's hands from his shirt and laid the boy in the bed. Smiling at his charge before headed to his own room. He changed and collapsed on the bed pretty quickly. After all, there was only a few hours before they would need to be up and ready to face Strauss in the morning.

—

Getting Spencer up and ready for work in the morning was surprisingly easy. Well at least it was easy until Hotch explained to Reid that he couldn't take a shower, and due to his injuries would need help with a bath. "Spencer, you have to let me help you..." Hotch tried yet again.

"I can do it myself, Hotch." Reid's argued. Adamantly pushing Hotch away from the bathroom door. The man didn't fight it, as he didn't want Reid to hurt himself, but he also refused to leave the boy alone. They didn't really have time for this. They woke up late and were in a hurry to get to work.

"Spencer, we've talked about this..." Reid just frowned in response. He knew Hotch was right. His problem was half embarrassment, half fear. The poor boy was afraid of Hotch reaction to seeing the full extent of the damage without all the bandages blocking his view. All of his coworkers got so angry when they saw his bruises. Of course, he wasn't taking into account that Hotch had already seen most of the damage when helping him change the day before or the fact that Hotch knew everything because he was at the hospital with him.

"Fine, you can help, but don't look, okay?" Spencer responded.

Sighing Hotch started work on the bath, heating the water so it was the perfect mixture between not too hot and no too cold. Reid stood next to the tub, wrapped in a towel. Hotch had already convinced him to let him help remove the shirt, which kept getting stuck on the cast and to undo the buttons of his pants, which Reid's little fingers seemed incapable of doing. The last thing to do was to unwrap the bandage around Spencer's torso, something until this point, Reid had refused to let Hotch do. Now that the water was the right temperature, Hotch turned to Spencer. "It's time" he stated, holding out his hand for the towel. Spencer looked Hotch up and down before shaking his head. "Spencer, I need to unwrap the bandage, you cannot do it yourself." Still meeting resistance, he frowned. Time for a new plan.

"I'm going to give you to the count of three..." Hotch hoped that his childlike emotions would respond to the threat the same way Jack would. However Reid remained set in his mindset. "One..." Hotch started, his voice stern and hard. Reid had to make a conscious effort to keep his heart rate down. Of course he knew that Hotch was not William, surely he wouldn't punish me in the same way, right? "Two..." the panic was spreading through Reid's little body, filling his chest, and spreading until his limbs felt numb. Yet he remained focused on his resolve. "Three..." Hotch finished, his eyes searching Reid's for some kind of response, all he got was a unwavering stare. "That's it. Time out, 5 minutes." Hotch said, grabbing Reid by his good arm and gently setting him to face the corner. He really didn't have time for this, but he wasn't about to force the kid.

What he didn't count on was the flash of relief that washed over Reids face. The kid was terrified that he would do something much worse. Spencer spent his 5 minutes reciting passages from his favorite books. The time not seeming to bother him much. After three minutes he started to feel antsy, but being the stubborn kid that he is, he held out. Once his 5 minutes were up, Hotch turned him around, expecting to see a more complicit Spencer. What he got was a child that held the most adorable little glare he had ever seen.

"Are you ready to let me help you?" He asked.

"I don't need help, I am more then capable of taking care of myself. I've been doing it my whole life." The words sent waves of pain through Hotch's body. Of course it wouldn't be that easy. Not only is the kid a genius, and has an adult mind, he also never had a childhood. And something told Hotch that Spencer was used to much worse then a simple time out. Flashes of his own childhood flooded Hotch's mind. He mentally shook himself and decided to change tactics, realizing there was more to this then simple embarrassment. He wasn't a profiler for nothing.

"Spencer, we will be late to work if you don't let me help. I know you can do it yourself, but it will be faster if you let me help. You wouldn't want to get in trouble for being late to work, would you?" Reid took a moment to consider this, he looked up at Hotch and took in his sincere expression, and he definitely didn't want to be late to work. Reluctantly he handed Hotch the towel and let him undo the bandages. Once bath time was over, Reid worked at full speed to get Hotch to take him to the office. Stopping only momentarily to scowl at Hotch as he was put into the booster seat.

Hotch arrived at work in record time, getting a few odd looks as he carried the small boy through security and up to the bullpen. He had planned to take Reid straight to his office and keep him there until he could get a meeting with Strauss. However he was stoped in his tracks as he entered the bullpen. For the first time ever, the rest of the team arrived before him. They all stood awkwardly watching the door, waiting for the arrival of their youngest. Reid squirmed under their gaze. Before Hotch could say anything, a voice boomed out, filling the room. The whole team jumped.

"Agent Hotchner, what on earth is a child doing in the bullpen?!" Strauss asked, anger lingering in her tone.

"I can explain..." Hotch started, the team stood behind him, ready to back him up if needed.

"I would certainly hope so." She interrupted filmy. "My office, now." Hotch nodded and waited until she entered her office before turning to the team.

"I need one of you to watch him."

Reid's "I don't need a babysitter," was drowned out by the teams collective, "I'll take him."

Shaking his head, Hotch reasoned, "JJ, you have a follow up interview with the sheriff from Clackamas County. And Morgan, that consult has been on your desk for 2 weeks now." He sighed, Garcia was needed in her office for assistance with another team, that and she hadn't exactly been told about Spencer yet. He didn't have time to deal with her reaction right now. That left Emily and Rossi, neither he would consider big on children, both both did offer. He looked at Spencer before making a decision.

"Rossi, you take him." Before anyone could interrupt he help a hand out. "You have an office, just keep him in there and out of trouble." Reid wasn't exactly enjoying his team talking over him, like he wasn't even there, but chose to ignore it. There were too many other agents around and the last thing he wanted to do was draw attention to himself.

"How am I supposed to do that?" The Italian huffed as Hotch handed Spencer over. He liked the kid, and was more then happy to watch him, but he also knew Reid was stubborn as hell and Hotch wouldn't want him working on anything until after he talked to Strauss.

"Let him edit your new book?" Hotch suggested with a smirk, getting snickers from Emily and Morgan. Rossi scowled but didn't have time to reply before...

"AGENT HOTCHNER!" Strauss had again exited her office. She wasn't the type who liked to be kept waiting. Sighing, Hotch followed her up the stairs. Reid watching him go reluctantly. Being so tired last night and so rushed this morning, they hadn't had a chance to discuss what happened at the hotel. He was sure Hotch was upset with him, and he needed to make it alright. Sure Hotch was civil this morning, but if there was one thing to be said about Agent Hotchner, it was that he could mask his emotions well.

A/N: Not sure I'm happy with this chapter. Let me know what you all think. R&R!