Going Home

This is my first fan fiction and first time ever writing one of my fantasy stories. I would love to hear your opinions and look forward to working further on the story.

I do not own or have connection with the "Criminal Minds" program or its characters.

Hotch's Story

She stands and walks toward the window and looks at the house next door. "My family has lived in this house for five generations. I'm number five and there won't be a number six. I don't have children and am likely not to have any. The Hotchners moved in next door when Mrs. Hotchner was pregnant with Aaron. He was born just a few months before I was. We grew up together. My mother baby sat Aaron, his mother would me. We spent the majority of our childhood together, played, laughed, learned and hurt. But my mother let me grow up, allowed me to grow and learn and become a child and then a girl and a woman. Aaron's mother did not, she babied him. He breast fed until he was four, the doctor then told that she had to start giving him food, real food, or he would contact social services and have him removed from the home. She did begin to feed him, nothing major though. His son, Jack, probably eats more grown up than Aaron did. She had to finally stop breastfeeding when she got a sore on her breast and was unable to feed him. She then gave him bottles; he learned how to drink out of a cup from me, when we played tea party and such games as that. He played whatever I wanted to play; it was that or his toys. The only toys his parents gave were age appropriate for an eighteen month old baby, nothing for a child over two. By the age of ten he had every toy in the world appropriate for that age."

Rossi: "Excuse me. At age 10, he was still being treated like a baby? What about school?"

Kathy: "I will be getting to that in time. Don't interrupt. When we turned five, I was ready to go to school; I knew my alphabet, my numbers, colors and all that. Aaron did not, his mother did not teach him any of it, and she liked him as a baby and did not want him to be anything but that. The school did not accept him into kindergarten that year, for the reason that he was not ready and that because of her poor feeding habits, he did not look like someone old enough to attend school, like about half the age. The average three year old was more able than Aaron was. I started, he didn't. In fact he wouldn't start school for another two years. I helped with that and showed him the alphabet and all that. I would learn at school and come home and spend the rest of the day with Aaron and help him to learn. Part of his learning problem was because he still wasn't being fed enough with enough nutrition. It affected his ability to learn; finally his father stepped and worked to improve that. His father was not often there, Aaron was left primarily in his mothers hands. Father was often at work or at play with another woman. But he was also a weak man; he couldn't fight her and finally stopped trying and let her do what she wanted. He would once in a while interfere but not often.

One of the things that made it difficult for Aaron was the fact that his mother never toilet trained him (looking pointedly at David) never. When he finally did start school, they made an exception for him and allowed to attend wearing diapers. His mother had no intention of toilet training him, eventually he did get trained, but he did it himself. Aaron was a child of great strength and courage, even though I don't know where he got it from."

Rossi: "I do." She looked at him with a question in her eyes. "He got it from your love and concern." She smiled but didn't respond to that remark.

Looking back at house again, she continued the story.

Kathy: "We were the same age, but I looked like the second grader I was. Aaron was in kindergarten and there were classmates who looked older than he was. But that did not matter to the hero in Aaron."

Rossi: "The hero?" She smiles greatly.

Kathy: "Yeah. At every school, there are bullies, its normal. But remember a bully is someone who is being bullied themselves, but usually outside of school, most likely. At school they can assert themselves when they can't at home. Our school was no different and Aaron had many strikes against him from being a bully but not a victim of them. In school, I was learning about fictional heroes. We learned about King Arthur and the Round Table and his knights. I was fascinated by Sir Galahad, the most pure of all of them. He was the only one who could touch the Holy Grail because of the goodness and purity in his heart and actions. He was a true hero, who would sacrifice and risk his life and needs for others, it didn't matter who. If they were in trouble he was there to help and keep them safe. That was Aaron. He may have been small and weak and to many just a baby, but he would place himself between the bully and their victims. He always made himself their victim. Nobody else would get hurt if he was there. Many days he came home with dirty and ripped clothes because of being beat up by bullies. His mother didn't care who beat him up or why. She didn't like him coming home dirty with his clothes all ripped up. She punished him for it. She had this little quirt whip that she would beat him with after stripping him down. She never took his diaper off, so that he had a little protection but she would hit him on the back of his thighs and very much on his back. Then she would change him and redress him. Then he was put in the playpen until dinner. My mother worked at this time, so I spent my afternoons there. I didn't have to but I always got into the pen with him. I would read to him and show the words and what they meant and we did math and worked with numbers, anything that I could do to help him move forward and learn. It was my goal to help him because I wanted him join me eventually and be in the same grade. He was never stupid just not allowed to learn at home. His mother never bothered me or prevented me from helping him to learn. She never helped. School was a better place for him to be than at home, yes, he was bullied and beat up but that's because he placed himself in that position. He steps in front of them and tell the bully to do it to him not to anyone else. For four years it was like that. But when I was in fifth and Aaron was in third grade, it changed. He had grown so much, he wasn't yet to the normal for his age, but he wasn't the smallest or youngest looking, even though he was still in diapers. But that is because his mother wanted that. He started not using the diaper and would go to the bathroom. It wasn't always easy getting the diaper back on but he did. Sometimes he got punished for it by his mother, but she punished him for a lot of things. One day, (she chuckles) a small child was about to be bullied and Aaron would not allow that, he stood in front of the child and said bully me instead, leave the others alone. My Galahad, I was so proud of him, but I was more proud of the other kids that day. Over fifteen walked over and placed themselves between Aaron and the bullies, there were three. The bullies never bothered anybody ever again; in fact one of them became a good friend to Aaron in high school. After that day, Aaron was accepted and most importantly protected by the kids of our school. It was because he never backed down and never compromised. He didn't make deals with bullies. His only bully was his mother.

The next two years were hard for Aaron in many ways and yet very good for him in others. His parents finally bought him a bed. It was a toddler bed, but it got him out of the crib. He was so happy for that. Of course at school it wasn't exactly easier; he was the oldest child at the elementary school, and the kids his own were now at the junior high. Since he had trained himself, his mother allowed him to wear training pants. Regular boy underwear would never be worn under her roof. But it didn't matter, he was always dry. At home, if he got home late, dirty or with torn or wet clothes, he was punished with the quirt. If he got home without any of that, he did not get punished. He tried hard not to get punished, but it didn't always happen. I still came over every day Aaron and I would do homework together. I always made sure that he understood what I did as much as what he did for his class. He got straight A's but I think that partly because he was ahead of his classmates and was closer to the class he should have been in. But school administrators don't always see what is right in front of them.

But, they did smarten up when we were thirteen, I went into the eighth grade and they let skip the sixth and go into the seventh. Thirteen was a great year for Aaron.

Rossi: "What happened at thirteen?"

Kathy: "His mother decided he was getting too big for her to baby. She got pregnant and had another baby. For awhile Aaron was practically ignored. He still slept in his toddler bed and wore diapers at night; it would be many more years before he stopped wetting the bed. Remember though, his mother didn't allow him out of bed at night. Bedtime was always eight o'clock at night, no matter what. It didn't matter if he had homework or anything like that. It got to the point though when he didn't come home from school until just before dinner time. His father talked his mother into allowing him to play sports; it was one of the few times, when dad got his way. Aaron was so thrilled, of course, there wasn't practice every day, but when there wasn't practice, he would be at the tree house. The tree house was a house built by the town's children specifically for Aaron. As a haven from adults, only children were allowed in the tree house. It is still that way today, except for me, I replenish their supplies.

I don't think that Aaron knows how proud this town is of him. There is a display at the library of all the news articles and stuff about him. As a prosecutor and as an agent of the FBI, this is not an extremely big town and most people have been here their entire lives. Many of those we went to school with are still here, if they knew he was here right now, they would be outside wanting to see him. His mother might have beat him but most of people we went to school with know that he protected them even though they should have been protecting him. That's why he will always be a hero here, even if he doesn't know. There is one factory in town and sixty percent of the people, who live here, work there.

Teen Years

Kathy: "Aaron's life a little after the birth of Sean, his mother ruled a little less tightly, not much but a little. He skipped a grade and was only one grade behind. He got to play sports and the kids at school took care of him. But he still protected the young ones. We built the tree house and all the kids came, he made sure they were learning and safe from the adults that might hurt them. Even against the bullies of the area. He was always the one putting himself in harm's way, even when I told him not to. But I always fixed him afterwards before we went home. He did his homework because he was not allowed to do it at home, before and after dinner, he spent his time in the pen. When Sean grew and joined him there, Aaron played and taught his little brother everything that his mother refused to do. Sean's life would be very different from Aarons, because of Aaron.

Fifteen was a bad year at home, but a great year at school. At school, he excelled in everything, he did not take any elective coarse he as a freshman, I was a sophomore, only required courses, even a few honors courses. I will let you know the reason why in a minute. He was playing sports and they were having a very good year. The games were the only reason why his mother allowed him not to be home before dinner. His father was not around often, he was with another woman, working or disappearing without telling anybody. At home, his mother still babied him a little with Sean; there were times when she treated the boys like they were twins, Sean's age. But Aaron still talked to me every day and we kept each other going. I always had to remind him of the great boy he was and how he kept so many kids safe and feeling secure even if he didn't feel that way in his own life.

Things changed a little after the biggest game of the year; Aaron was given permission to play the game but not to attend the party afterwards. But like everybody, Aaron wanted to fit in with the crowd and the crowd convinced him they could keep him safe and protect him from his mother. I don't think that they really had thought about it and how they could do that. But the euphoria was so high and they wanted everyone there. They didn't of the consequences and how horrible that woman was. When Aaron did not come home from the game, she left Sean with my mother and went to look for Aaron. The unusual thing about that is that she rarely ever left the house, especially at night. In fact I don't remember her ever being out at night, except that one time. She learned where the big party would be and showed up. Ohhh, I remember her walking into that house and looking around, the room felt cold and it was like the devil entered. I know that sounds crazy but that was what it felt like. I saw her and she had murder in her eyes. I worked my way to the back of the house and tried to warn him and get him out the back way, but she beat me to him. I watched helplessly as she got to him, he hadn't seen her yet. His back was to us. Aaron was still small at this time, he was the smallest on the team and didn't look like a teenager even, many of the team protected him on the field and yet let him do whatever he could because he had strength of heart and was braver than anything. He always strove to be the best he could be. The room got quiet as his mother just stood there looking at him with anger in her eyes. If they could have the entire team would have moved between Aaron and his mother, but everyone just stood like statues, all of us were terrified of her, remember we had seen what she did to him throughout his life and she scared everyone. He began to realize that things were getting quiet and he was talking to Brian and saw fear in his eyes. Brian was looking behind him and he turned and saw his mother. You could have heard a pin drop. Aaron turned white and fear stalked his eyes. It looked like a baby rabbit confronting an angry brown bear, she reached out to grab him and he shrank back, but she caught him. (Kathy begins to sob as she remembers this scene.) She got that quirt in her hand and grabbed him and turned him across her hip and started to beat him. The entire party and team could do nothing but watch as she beat him. It's hard to say stop to an adult when you have been taught that adults can do whatever they want and had the authority to do so. Nobody thought about calling the police, we didn't think it would matter. She had the authority. The team could have stopped her but she was the adult and we were taught that adults were the authority and could do it. When we started to him whimper from the pain, it was heart rendering. We all felt each whip as it hit. It was like it was cutting into us. After what seemed like forever, she stopped and grabbed his ear and dragged him out of the house. He whimpered and cried all the way out the door. The rest of the partygoers went back to their drinks and having fun, I left and went home. I knew that's where Aaron and his mother were going. I was afraid for him.

At the house, his mother took him to the boys' bedroom and began to strip him; she bathed him then and prepared to put him to bed. But that night, he didn't sleep in his bed, but in Sean's. For the first time in years he was in a crib again."

Rossi: "But the reason they took him out was he got too big for the crib."

Kathy: "Yeah, that's why if fell apart. But he was only in it one night. The next day, she had my mother babysit the boys and went shopping for beds. She decided on a set of bunk beds, the top bunk had a rail that went completely across; she bought an individual rail for the bottom bunk. Both bunks would have safety rails, the bottom one was larger and made that bed more crib like. Guess which bed Aaron had."

Rossi: "From your story, I can guess the bottom one."

Kathy: "Yeah, He would sleep in that bed whenever he was home, until he married Hayley. Remember, he didn't marry until he had been a prosecutor for many years. All through high school, college, law school, internship with the ambassador, work with the prosecutor's office, whenever he was home, he slept in that bed. It's still there, waiting for him. Of course, once he was put to bed, he was not allowed out until his mother came in and put the rail down. When his father got back into town later that week, he was not happy but he didn't change it or make it different. He just allowed it to happen. But his father was dying of cancer at the time and just didn't have the strength to fight her. When he died less than a year later, the boys were told it was a heart attack, years later Aaron learned that it was cancer. I don't think Sean has ever been told the truth, but Aaron knows the truth. I hope he has forgiven his father, he was just a weak man controlled by a very dominant woman. He didn't know how to fight her.

Rossi: "What about school that year?"

Kathy: "He excelled, he took a lot of courses as well as sports. No electives just required graduation courses. The administration allowed it; because he got straight 'A's and was capable. There was also the desire to help him to graduate with his age appropriate class, my class. In the yearbooks, he has a picture in freshman class one year and the next year he is in the junior class pictures. For some reason, he seemed to have skipped his sophomore year. That year he took the required sophomore classes in the fall and required junior classes in the spring. He succeeded because of his intelligence and his determination to make it through. He was an overachiever of the best kind even to the point of seeming to have a broomstick up his backside."

Rossi: "Sometimes, it seems he still has that broomstick. (She chuckles at that.) But he's a proud man and a perfectionist of the first water."

Kathy: "I can see that in you as well."

Rossi: "Guilty, but we're not here to talk about me. Continue your story about Hotch."

Kathy: "That sophomore/junior year of Aarons was interesting. That was also the year that Hayley and her family moved into town. She knew nothing of Aaron's past or what his mother did to him. At home, he was treated like a small child alongside Sean, but we kept big boy clothes and stuff at the tree house for him. Every morning, he would leave for school and go to the tree house first, change clothes and go to school. It became almost a conspiracy for the school kids of this town. He actually grew well that year, because we also kept good food and other things there for him. Can you imagine he grew six inches in less than eight months? The man that you know in the other room did not come into his height until his final year of college.

He saw Hayley across the hallway one day and this was a person he didn't know and didn't know him. She was not a part of the conspiracy to help and care for him. She knew nothing about who was playfully called the 'baby' of the school. I don't think she was ever actually told anything about Aaron's past. They were in different classes and social dynamics. I laughed when he told me he was going to join the drama club. I couldn't imagine him doing that, but Hayley did it so he wanted to do it. He couldn't date, his mother would not have allowed that, even if he asked her, which he didn't. His mother allowed him to go the senior prom with her, but he had an eleven o'clock curfew. I went to the prom with another classmate and watched him with his goddess. That's what he called her. She didn't know about the pain he went through at home, that's why she is his goddess. I think that's one reason why he loved her, she didn't know his past. I wonder if she knows now.

He was Galahad to me and actually would strive to protect those weaker and unable to take care of themselves. I think that's why he does what he does, it is who he is.