Spencer Reid Faces His Past

by SpencerandHotchlover

Spencer Reid is a Shifter and as his 30th birthday approaches he has no idea that his future happiness lays directly ahead of him once he hits his critical birthday as the shifter mating gene activates. Reid must face his past in order to keep the happiness he has gained once he does turn 30.

4. Chapter 4

It was a week after Spencer and Hotch had gotten back from Las Vegas and while they were still waiting to hear news about how Franklin was doing that the day that Garcia had her operation in order to extract the babies from her stomach arrived. Garcia was now 7 1/2 months pregnant and absolutely enormous, so big that she looked like she was carrying at least quintuplets which was of course possible, even if it wasn't likely.

The operation wouldn't take very long just a couple of hours, most of that time being spent sewing Garcia back up and making sure they got every single part of the incision, since their would be several layers and each one needed to be attended to, separately. A cesarean section was still considered major surgery, but unlike other operations it was also considered relatively safe with usually no complications.

Spencer knew that Morgan would call the minute that the babies were born. It had been decided that they would go and visit Garcia and the babies at the hospital but not go early to just sit around in the waiting room waiting for news since giving birth was a totally natural process, even if it was done by c-section. If one of the team had been injured, it would've been different and of course in that type of situation the team would be in the waiting room until the doctor told them that their teammate would be okay and that was only for injuries that Hotch couldn't heal using his powers.

Hotch came out of his office and told everyone, "It's time, Garcia is out of surgery and we all need to be heading for the hospital."

"But our shift doesn't in for a couple of hours," Emily said unable to believe that Hotch was willing to let them leave early even if it was for a very good reason.

"Hey don't make him change his mind," JJ said coming out of her office closing the door behind her. "I'm out of here before he comes to his senses."

Hotch smirked at her and said, "I do believe we can take off early this once since all we were doing was paperwork anyway. Besides Morgan and Garcia are family and we need to be there to support them both."

"And get a look at their adorable triplets," JJ added with a grin making Hotch smirk again as if he knew something that they did not.

"Alright what do you know that none of the rest of us do?" Spencer asked knowing every expression that his mate used on a normal basis and right now Hotch looked like the cat who had gotten the canary and a bowl of cream as well.

"Well it turns out that it wasn't just triplets," Hotch revealed as they all headed to the elevator.

"Well, are you going to tell us how many babies Garcia had?" asked JJ in exasperation when Hotch didn't go on, "or are you going to leave us in suspense?"

"He's probably going to leave us in suspense just because he enjoys torturing us," Rossi who had been silent up until now commented.

Hotch shot his old friend a look and Rossi had the atrocity to smirk at him causing the rest of the team to laugh and their boss's and older agent's antics.

"Just for a comment like that I ought to," Hotch said glaring at his friend playfully for a few seconds, "but since I'm way more mature than you are I won't."

Even Spencer snickered at that comeback and also due to the look on Rossi's face.

"So?" Emily asked eagerly that one word conveying several layers of meaning.

"It was actually quintuplets, which surprised not only Morgan and Garcia, but the doctors as well," Hotch revealed. "The doctors were aware that when you are having multiples, especially triplets or more a lot of the times you get at least one more infant then you were expecting, but to get two that were not revealed on the ultrasound, is rare."

"I bet Morgan was so excited when he discovered he was going to be a dad again times five," JJ said with a laugh.

"Yes, I could barely understand him when he called me, but considering he was as excited as I've ever heard him and that was just on the phone that's understandable. I can just imagine that he was having trouble not dancing up and down the hallways as he really was in that frame of mind not that any of us can blame him for that."

"Yes, when a child is born it's always an exciting, thrilling and terrifying experience all rolled into one," JJ said sounding reminiscent, "especially when it's yours. I always wished that I could have another child instead of just the one, but with me always so busy... Besides I'm not getting any younger and we all know that the older you get the more dangerous childbirth is. Besides I didn't want to leave you in the lurch again like happened when I was out on maternity leave with Henry."

"You should go ahead and have another child if that's what you want," Emily told her friend. "You're not getting any younger as you just said and if you want a second baby now is the time, before you can't have another. Besides Henry is what? Four years old now and I would think he'd want a brother or sister."

"Well Henry has kind of been hinting that he'd like a sibling," JJ admitted. "He's at that age now where he'd like a brother of sister.

"There you see," Emily told her friend.

"Well, Will and I have discussed it and we are kind of leaning in that direction, although we both know that it will be the last one since as I said I'm not getting any younger."

"So did Morgan tell you the sex of the quintuplets?" Emily asked Hotch as they all rode the elevator down to the garage.

"Yes, he did," Hotch said slinging an arm around Spencer's shoulders now that they were off for the day. Spencer for his part relaxed with his mate's arm around him and leaned his head against Hotch's broad shoulders, which Emily and JJ in particular thought was absolutely adorable and knew that Garcia, if she had been there would too.

"So are you going to tell us, or are you going to keep us in suspense?" asked Spencer shooting his mate his best puppy dog look as the elevator came to a halt and they stepped out.

Hotch caved when Spencer gave him the look for there was no way he could stand up to his mate's puppy dog eyes when pointed in his direction.

The others on the team watched as their boss's resistance crumbled with one look from Spencer and had to hold in their laughter just in case it made Hotch not want to tell them what they all wanted to know.

"Fine," Hotch sighed knowing that there was no way he could resist that look, not that he really wanted to and in fact it made him want to take Spencer into his arms and make slow and gentle love to him, although that wasn't really possible at the moment, so he urged his rather healthy libido to calm down. "It was two boys and three girls and all of them are going to have to spend some time incubator as they are underweight and their lungs are not fully developed."

"Which is to be expected considering that they are a month and a half early even if it was a planned delivery," Spencer chipped in.

"They'll be okay though right?" asked JJ looking anxious so Hotch was quick to reassure her.

"The doctor told Morgan so and that this is not all unusual when it comes to multiple births," Hotch said an Spencer nodded in agreement.

"So how much did they weigh and how long were they?" asked Rossi.

"They are all around two and a half to 3 pounds," Hotch said, "which is apparently excellent for quintuplets especially ones that were born a month and a half early and they were each around 9 to 10 inches long, although you have to get the exact measurements from Morgan."

"I can't wait to see them," JJ squealed excitedly and Emily nodding looking just as excited.

"And make sure the Garcia's okay," Emily added.

"Morgan said she was and you know he would tell us if the operation hadn't gone off as planned," Hotch assured the rest of the team. "Morgan said that she was under anesthesia and should be coming out of it within the next hour or so. Also that she'll be in the hospital for awhile just to make sure she's healthy, and that there were no complication, but that she was fine."

"Well good, let's head to the hospital then," Rossi suggested and the rest of the team nodded heading for their cars so that they could go visit Garcia and see the quintuplets for themselves.

~~~Hotch and Reid~~~

"Oh they are all so adorable," JJ cooed as she held one of Morgan's and Garcia's new daughters.

"We are glad you think so because we would like to make you the godmother to two of them, you can choose," Garcia told her friend tiredly but with a grin as she fed one of the her daughter's. The quintuplets were doing much better then expected considering they had been six weeks premature, although they would have to go back to their incubators just as soon as they had been fed.

"Really?" asked JJ looking stunned for Emily was a godmother for both Matthias and Cassandra.

"Of course, Derek and I were always planning to name you the godmother to at least one of them, but since there are five instead of the three that we were expecting we are going to name you the godmother for two of them instead of one."

"Thank you," JJ said with a grin so wide that it almost split her face in two.

"Hey it's only fair since I am godmother to Henry," Garcia told her friend.

"I was surprised when you didn't name JJ the godmother to your firstborn child considering you've known her a lot longer than you have known me," Emily commented even as she cradled one of the boys in her arms.

"So names?" asked Rossi even as a cooed to one of the newborn girl in his arms who was absolutely adorable with skin like good coffee with milk added and the darkest eyes that he had ever seen, even on her father. This baby girl was going to be a heartbreaker by the time she was five years old and have the boys after her like bees to honey. Of course what did you really expect when her father was drop dead gorgeous and her mother was no slouch either in the looks department.

"Yes, I think you have tortured all of us enough," Hotch told the pair who just grinned at him or in Garcia's case smile tiredly.

"Well, the girl that Rossi is holding we were going to name Luna," Garcia said.

"That's unusual, but gorgeous," Rossi said holding the now named Luna.

"The girl that JJ's holding we were going to name Minerva after the Roman goddess," Garcia added after a pause.

"The third girl that my baby girl is currently feeding, we were going to name, Kristy, spelled with a K instead of a C," Morgan said finally speaking for am the first time.

"And your two sons?" asked Hotch even as he made faces at the boy in his arms.

"We decided on Dawson and Thierry," Morgan said.

"It took much discussion before we could agree on suitable names," Garcia said and the others knew that that meant they had probably had a knockdown drag out fight about it.

"I think they are beautiful and unique," said Hotch. "I think you did a good job of picking names."

"Yes, I think so to," Spencer agreed even as he cradled the now named Thierry in his arms. "Ones that aren't too common, but not that unusual either."

"We're glad you think so, because we wanted to name you the godfather to one of the boys, while we want Hotch to be the other one," Morgan said.

"You do?" asked Spencer looking surprised like he had when JJ had named him the godfather to her son Henry. Of course he knew a lot more about infants today then he had four years ago, when Henry had been born.

Morgan shot his friend a look and rolled his eyes to express his exasperation with him. "Of course we do, you're like the brother I never had."

"I'd be honored to do it," Hotch said formally before leaning down to kiss the baby he was holding on his tiny forehead.

"Good," Garcia answered trying not to yawn as she was still extremely tired even after a couple hours of sleep.

"I'll be glad to," Spencer finally said having gotten over being stunned.

"And who you going to name the godfather and godmother of the last girl?" asked Rossi curiously.

"We were hoping that you would be the godfather," Garcia told him and Rossi looked surprised then pleased.

"Also we were going to ask my sister Desiree to be the godmother," Morgan added.

"I'll be happy to," Rossi said even as he kissed Kristy's tiny forehead.

"Good," Garcia said no longer be able to hide a yawn.

"Well get out of your way," Hotch said seeing the yawn. "We'll visit sometime. Take as much time as you need off Morgan. There no rush for you to return, although we're going to be short two people instead of just one."

"Thanks, Hotch," Morgan said gratefully with a smile.

"You're welcome," Hotch told him with a smile. "I'll fill out the paperwork for you and get it into Strauss. You can take just a few days or week or two, however much time you need since I know your wife needs you more than we do right now."

The rest of the team except for Morgan filed out of Garcia's hospital room although they would be back to visit individually until Garcia was released from this place in a few days.

~~~Hotch and Reid~~~

Several months later Spencer's phone rang and he answered it automatically. "Hello?"

"Hey big brother," came the voice of his little brother Frankie. Franklin had been in the hospital for quite sometime even after the operation for he had had to go through chemotherapy among other things and also had to make sure that his donation of bone marrow was working like it should, replacing the white blood cells that his brother had lost as they were important to fight off infection and disease. The doctors had had to make sure his brother's body wasn't going to reject the bone marrow graft, despite having so many markers in common. It was only in the last month that he had been released and he was still growing the hair back that he had lost in the last few months due to the radiation treatment. Spencer knew that the doctors were going to keep a close eye on the situation and that they would be numerous appointments in his brother's future, and that could be very annoying but it was better to keep a close eyes on the situation in case the leukemia came back.

Spencer smiled, although he was aware that his brother couldn't see it and asked, "What's up?"

"Oh nothing much I was just hoping that you could visit sometime in the next week or two."

"Yeah probably," Spencer agreed. "What's so important that you want me to visit? Didn't we just see each other last month?"

"Can't I miss the brother I never knew I had until recently?" Franklin asked and Spencer could hear the humor in his voice.

"Well, yes," Spencer was still getting used to having not only a little brother, but another brother who was the same age as Frankie, considering they were fraternal twins and three sisters as well who all looked exactly alike. "I'll see if I can get the time off," Spencer promised after a moment. "So how are you doing?"

Franklin knew exactly what his older brother was asking and answered honestly. "I'm doing okay, my hair is growing back in, although it still is extremely short and it looks like it's going to be straight now instead of wavy like it was before the chemotherapy."

"That happens fairly often once you go through something like radiation therapy," Spencer informed his brother calmly.

"I know," Franklin said and Spencer could just imagine him rolling his eyes, "the doctors warned me that it was likely, also it isn't as thick as it was before the treatment either, which I know is also a side effect."

"So how is everybody in the family doing as you are the only one that calls me often," asked Spencer.

"Denis and my sisters are doing okay, although they are still treating me like spun glass as if afraid I'm going to break if they treat me like they used to."

"That will change once they realize that you're back to normal," Spencer told Franklin gently. "They might not admit it since they are children, but you scared them when you're leukemia came back so aggressively that you very nearly died. Your brother and sisters love you as do your parents, so of course they were afraid they were afraid they were going to lose you."

"I know, but right now it's just kind of annoying. I've seen my mom look at me when she thinks I'm not paying attention as if she's afraid I'm going to disappear right in front of her eyes and I can see that she wants to smother me with affection and baby me, but somehow she restrains herself from doing so. Both mom and dad are trying their best to treat me normally, which I'm grateful for even though it's obvious that both of them can't help, but look at me as if I'm suddenly going to get leukemia again and die on them."

"They love you," Spencer told his brother quietly while wondering why his dad couldn't have been as caring when he was a child. Oh, well, there was no point of worrying about it as he and his father had mostly made their peace and he was now part of the family even if he had his own life here in Quantico Virginia with the team and his mate and he would have it no other way.

"My parents love you too you know," Franklin told Spencer his tone sincere. "My mother in particular will be forever in your debt how you went out of your way to help me even though you didn't have to considering how my father abandoned you when you were a child."

"I did have to," Spencer told his brother seriously. "There was no way I could just let you die just because I had no love for my father considering you are my brother and weren't even born at the time dad left mom and me."

The two brothers continued to chat for a few minutes and Spencer suggested, "Maybe you could come up to visit me sometime."

"I would love that if mom will let me out of her sight for that long," Franklin said. "She has been rather…overprotective of me ever since I had this latest bout with leukemia."

"I know it's annoying," Spencer told his brother sympathetically, "but keep in mind she's only doing it because she came so close to losing you. Things will gradually get back to normal, although it's also going to take time so you just need to be patient."

"I'll try," Franklin promised.

"I'll call you when I can get a couple a days off to come for a visit," Spencer promised.

"Tell Uncle Aaron I said hi and that he's welcome to come along as well," Franklin said by way of agreement.

Spencer had introduced Aaron to Franklin while he was still in the hospital and the two had hit it off immediately and Hotch had asked the boy to call him uncle, instead of Mr. since they were going to see each other often, which he had agreed to.

"I will," Spencer promised, "but he'll probably not come with me this time anyway."

"Yes, you've often said that it's hard to take time off, because you're always leaving the team shorthanded," Franklin said repeating what Spencer had told him on multiple occasions.

The two brothers continued to chat for a few minutes before they hung up.

Spencer couldn't help but smile as he got back to his paperwork as he was looking forward to taking a couple of days off in order to visit his brother and the rest of the family as well even his father who had done his best to make amends for the way he had just walked out on his first family years ago.

Spencer could now admit that he was looking forward to seeing the whole family, including his father. He hated to leave Hotch by himself even if it was only for a few days, but Aaron understood that he needed to spend time with the siblings he never knew he'd had and they could always talk on the phone.

Spencer also knew that he was very lucky and although he didn't believe in fate he couldn't see any other way that he could have found out about the family he had never known he had as even when he went to visit his mother in Las Vegas it wasn't as if he was likely to run into his father or his family since it was a big town with millions of people both visitors and residents. He was thankful every day for his father contacting him, when Franklin's leukemia cam back after having been in remission and for Hotch as well who had been there to support him through everything and knew he always would be and for that he would always thank whoever was watching over him for bringing Hotch and his siblings into his life.

Epilogue

"Hmm, that feels so good," Spencer sighed, from where he was currently laying on his stomach as his mate massaged his very tense body. "I never knew you had such magic hands."

"There's a lot you don't know about me," Hotch said and Spencer could hear the smile in his voice, even if he couldn't see his mate's face.

"True," Spencer said with a smile of his own, "but I'm learning more all the time."

"So am I, although we both already know each other extremely well, thanks to us working together for so long," said Hotch.
"True, but that's mostly in the work arena, because until recently I knew a lot about you in that area, but not much that was personal, except things that you revealed over the years," agreed Spencer.
"Well, I've always tried my best to keep my work personal life separate, but you and the rest of the team certainly know more about me in that area then anybody else I know, even if I still keep a lot of my life—private. To you, however, my life is an open book from the moment we got together," Hotch said.

"I know, I've learned more about you in the last few months about you then I learned in the seven years before that," Spencer said.

"So how's Franklin doing?" asked Hotch changing the subject. "When was the last time you talked to him?"

"Last week," Spencer answered. "I've been meaning to tell you, but we've been so busy, I haven't had a chance. As for how's he doing, he fine. He's a little annoyed at how his parents are still being so overprotective, but I told him that he has to expect them to be that way for awhile since they still fear his leukemia will make a reappearance. I think once it's been gone for a few years they will relax."
"But it's hard on a 13 year old boy," Hotch began. "Frankie doesn't really understand what all the fuss is about or why his parents and siblings are acting so overprotective. He's a very intelligent young man, but be doesn't have the experience to really understand that protectiveness."

"It's hard on adults to, but at least they are mature enough and have the experience to understand better, since by the time you are 18 at least you've normally got some experience with tragedy of one sort or another and it might not completely prepare you for dealing with someone you love having leukemia, but at least you are a little bit more prepared to deal with it then when you are a kid," Spencer said finishing his mate's thought.

"Exactly," Aaron said as he continued to massage his mate's back with scented oil, making sure to rub it in thoroughly.

"That feels absolutely wonderful," Spencer sighed as his cock twitched as Hotch tenderly continued to massage the oil into his back, moving down in short strokes until he reached Spencer's butt and then he gently kneaded the soft skin of it, causing Reid to whimper in desire and those whimpers increased as Hotch used his other hand to stroke his mate's inner thigh near his cock.

"Aaron! I need you!" Reid felt a surge of desire and lust shoot straight to his cock and so immediately pleaded with his mate.

"Oh you do, do you?" Aaron asked and Spencer could hear the smile in his voice.

"Please! Aaron!" Spencer pleaded again. "I need you, your cock in me. I need to feel the connection we share, which we both know is stronger when we are physically connected."

"It will be a pleasure," Aaron assured his lover immediately sticking his tongue into his lover's anus and moving it around, causing Spencer to wither even more frantically. "All you ever have to do is ask and I will be happy to do anything you desire, hug you, kiss you, make love to you gently and tenderly or fuck you senseless, whatever you want, anytime you want."

"Please! Please! Please!" Spencer begged without shame.

Hotch eagerly complied with his mate's request and began placing kisses all along his lover's skin leaving trails of fire all over Spencer's shoulders, back and butt, until his flesh felt all tingly.

Aaron then slathered lube onto his cock and entered Spencer's slimly muscled butt that made him salivate every time it was visible to his sight for thanks to him saying he thought that his lover needed to gain a little weight. Spencer had started eating more and while he was still slim, he wasn't as skinny as he had been and had filled out nicely, especially his butt, which Aaron couldn't help salivating over, every time he saw it. Aaron had known for sometime that he had a thing for Spencer's butt and had had to forcibly stop himself from staring at it, letting his imagination run wild with what he'd like to do to it, before the two of them had gotten together, as that would have given him away very quickly as Spencer or one of the team would have picked up on it for sure and started asking questions he wouldn't or couldn't answer.

"Aaron!" Spencer whined in a pleading tone as pleasure surged through him so strongly that he nearly came right there as his mate kept hitting his prostrate with every thrust. A man's prostrate was the same as a woman's g-spot and had thousands of nerves and hitting it sent waves and waves of pleasure with every thrust that hit it. Aaron seemed to know exactly where that spot was for he almost always connected with it with his every thrust.

Spencer had learned in the almost year the two of them had been together he had learned that Aaron was very talented and creative when it came to their lovemaking and knew a lot of tricks to bring both of them the most pleasure possible and he was always trying new things to bring some spice into their relationship and he appreciated it since he always enjoyed whatever ideas his lover came up with to try.

"Ahhh!" Spencer screamed as his cock released his load all over the sheets and only a minute later Aaron's cock did the same except spurt after spurt of his semen went into the slimly muscled body of his mate.

Both men kissed softly and tenderly as soon as they had gotten their breaths back and then Aaron collapsed on top of Spencer who had flipped over onto his back.

"I love you, so much, Aaron," Spencer cooed kissing the side of his mate's neck from his prone position. Spencer didn't mind his lover laying on top of him as he found the older man's much heavier body a comfort instead of smothering.

"I love you too, so much that it would be easier for me to stop breathing then to stop loving you," Aaron told Spencer sincerely rolling off his mate onto his side of the bed.

The two cuddled there for a few minutes in silence and then Aaron asked softly, "Are you looking forward to seeing Shane and his wife tomorrow?"

The two of them were in a hotel in Las Vegas as they had taken the week off so that they could visit Spencer's mother, Shane Buford and his wife and also Spencer's father, his wife and siblings and after they got back to Quantico their wedding would be taking place and all of Spencer's family, except his mother was coming down for it, including his father.

"I am," Spencer admitted. "I haven't seen Shane or Lora in several years, since we are always so busy at work and I don't get to Las Vegas to often and when I do it's usually only for a couple of days, long enough to see mom, before I either get called back in because we catch a case or I only take a couple of days off. Now though we aren't on call at all for once, so it is unlikely we'll be called in, so Shane and I will be able to have a nice long visit and I am looking forward to introducing you to him and Lora."

"So do you think that they will object to two men being in a sexual relationship?" asked Hotch trying to get a handle on Shane and how he would react to the though of two men being lovers as he knew that a lot people didn't react well to same-sex couples, not that he particularly cared, but he knew that Spencer would since the older couple were his friends. "Not that it matters, I'm just curious."

"I honestly don't believe they will object," Spencer answered instantly not even stopping to consider Hotch's question, "unless they've changed from the people I knew. Shane never made me feel like it was wrong to be in a relationship with someone the same sex I was. Of course I realize I didn't date at all when I was a kid, but the two of us talked about almost everything and he was the one that always helped me after I had been beaten up, by some of the older children I went to high school with. He is the sole reason that I turned out as well as I did. Even before my father left he helped me, by feeding me, helping to doctor my bruises and sore muscles whenever I was beaten up and talking to me about my feelings of apathy and hate that I felt towards all those bullies at that time. He encouraged me and told me I could do anything I wanted to do with my life and although he was surprised I had joined the FBI he supported my decision."

"So how long has he known about you being FBI?" asked Hotch.

"Oh, about 5 years. It was that time I came down to visit mom after that really tough case in Atlanta, if you remember. The whole team needed time to decompress and just relax and it was one of the rare times that all of us were off for a week at the same time," Spencer explained.

"Yes, I remember that," Hotch nodded.

"Well, I came here to see mom and Shane to, since we really hadn't seen each other for more than a few hours since I went off to college at nearly 13 and that time we had several visits, where we talked about everything," Spencer said. "I truly believe that Shane and Lora will be genuinely happy for both of us and in any case both of them knows what finding your True Mate means and how it is impossible to not be without them, once they have been found since Shane and Lora are also True Mates."

"Well good," Hotch said calmly taking Spencer into his arms. "I would at least like to get along with your old mentor and not have to put up with his or his wife's hateful attitudes just because I am a man. I truly don't care whether they accept our relationship or not, but still they are old friends of yours and so for that reason I would like to have a decent relationship with them since I'm sure I'll see them again at some point."

Spencer blinked at that, but when he thought about it from Hotch's point of view he could see what he meant.

"Well, we'll see tomorrow if I'm right, but I've always been good at telling what someone's beliefs are, how they think as that is what makes a decent profiler and although finding my True Mate or that they could be the same sex, wasn't specifically brought up in all the time I spent with him his wife and his children, I never got the impression that either one of them believed it was wrong."
"They both probably thought that you were to young for the information," Hotch suggested.
"That's possible, although we discussed everything else no matter how embarrassing it was to me at that time since I as only 11 or 12, so why neither Shane or Lora mentioned that it was possible for your True Mate to be the same sex you were I don't know."
"Well, there is still a lot of stigma against same-sex couples, and that was especially true back when you were a kid, so the Bufords probably thought it was better to not bring up such a controversial topic since you were only a child and they probably didn't want to risk one of their children overhearing and then repeating it," Hotch suggested and Spencer could immediately since the point his mate was trying to make.
"You're probably right," Spencer said. "In any case I am looking forward to seeing them both tomorrow and mom to."

"And your other family as well," Hotch said.

"Yes, as much as I never thought I'd say this I'm actually looking forward to seeing my father as well as the rest of the family. Dad and me will never be close, like the two of us are, but at least we can be in the same room and talk to each other, without arguing or butting heads."

"It's nice to see you and your dad getting along," Hotch said.

"Well, if Franklin hadn't gotten so sick, I probably never would have been able to get past everything that happened to me as a child or known that I had siblings at all, so as painful and hard as it has been to see my brother struggling with such a deadly disease I also know that I probably never would have known that Franklin, Denis, Alyssa, Beth and Gwen existed otherwise and even if I had I might not have been able to make amends with dad, because I would have had no reason to do so. Really Frankie's leukemia made me take a long look at myself and to be able to at least partially forgive dad for his abandonment."

"Which is why you two are getting along because you've at least partly let go of your hatred," Hotch suggested. "You made the effect to forgive so you and your father didn't fight like cats and dogs every time you saw each other."

"We both did, although it was mostly me that had to forgive him for not only his abandonment as a kid, but also how he basically neglected me and spent most of his time with the neighborhood children. As for dad, he grew up and matured enough to realize that the way he handled mom's illness and the way he treated me was wrong, which is the only reason that we can now get along reasonably well. If he hadn't admitted that what he did was not right, I never would have been able to even partially forgive what he did to me as a kid or especially what he did to mom."

"So Franklin's illness was the catalyst for you and your father to mend the rift that existed between you as much as you can," Hotch summarized.

"Yes," Spencer agreed. "We'll never be bosom buddies, I believe is the expression or have a normal father/son relationship, but I feel we will continue to get along reasonably well if only for my siblings sake."

"We should get some sleep, we have a big day tomorrow," Hotch suggested.

"Yeah we probably should," Spencer agreed. "I'm looking forward to introducing you to my mom, Shane and Lora tomorrow."

"And I'm looking forward to meeting them," Hotch told his mate sincerely putting his arms protectively around his lover's slender frame, while Spencer cuddled into Hotch's much bigger body with a sigh of complete contentment closing his eyes. Spencer felt Aaron kiss the top of his head and then his body shift so he was laying down flat and Spencer knew that his lover had also closed his eyes and it was only a few seconds later that he was a out like a light.

~~~Hotch and Reid~~~

"Shane, Lora it's so good to see you again," Spencer told the couple with a wide smile giving both a hug and Hotch knew with that one gesture that Spencer was indeed close to the Bufords, because normally his mate hated being touched even refusing the perfectly ordinary gesture of shaking hands when meeting someone new. It had taken quite awhile for Spencer to accept being hugged by Garcia, JJ, Emily or Elle before her. He had come to accept being slapped on the back by Morgan as well and now his mate enjoyed such gestures made by the team, because they were gestures of familial affection and love and meant that they considered his mate as part of their lives and family and that meant a great deal to Reid, Hotch knew.

"Spencer! It's so good to see you kid!"

"I'm hardly a kid anymore, Shane," Spencer told the older man rolling his eyes to show his exasperation, although he was smiling.

"You'll always be a kid to us," Lora told him smiling giving him another hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Live with it!"

"Yes, ma'am," Spencer said still smiling.

Aaron watched this interaction with a half smile on his own face as he saw how relaxed Spencer was with the Bufords, as relaxed as he was with the team, which was nice to see as his lover didn't have very many people he was close too.

"So who is this you brought with you?" asked Lora finally glancing over at Hotch who had stood back politely and watched the affectionate greeting, but had not tried to interfere.

"Shane, Lora, this is Aaron Hotchner, my mate," Spencer introduced just a little nervously.
Both Shane and Lora looked shocked, Hotch noticed, but he didn't believe that it was because he was also male, but because the odds of finding your True Mate shortly after you turned thirty were astronomical and the Bufords would be aware of this.

"It's real pleasure to meet you," Shane said finally getting over his shock and shaking Hotch's hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Spencer has told me all about you," Hotch told the pair with a smile.

"All good things I hope?" Lora asked also shaking Hotch's hand.

"Of course, but you should know that Spencer hardly ever speaks ill of anyone and he told me that it was entirely your support that made him into what he is today and for that I thank you," Hotch said.

"You're right, Spencer hardly ever talks bad about anyone," Shane agreed with a smile. "Why don't we continue this discussion in the living room where we can all be comfortable."
"Can I get you to anything to drink?" asked Lora as soon as they were all settled in the comfortably decorated living room.

"Coffee, if it's not to much trouble," Spencer said with a smile having relaxed considerably in the last few minutes, now that he knew his old mentor and wife weren't going to accept that he was with another man.

"I put a pot on as soon as I knew you were coming and it should be ready now," Lora said with a smile. "I just knew you were going to want a cup."

Spencer blushed at being so obvious, but then the Bufords knew him the best outside the team. "Am I really that obvious?"

"In certain ways, yes," Hotch told him with a smile to take the sting out of his words. "Or at least you are to those who know you well."

Spencer smiled ruefully at that for Hotch was right and he knew it for when it came to his personal life he tended to stick to a routine, but when it came to his job that was different and he was far less predictable except to those like his mate who knew him well.

"I'll take a cup to, of you don't mind, black," Hotch told Lora politely.
Lora nodded and headed for the kitchen only to come back a few minutes later with four cups, three of coffee and one of tea for herself.

"So how did you two meet, because I'm sure you know what the odds are of meeting your True Mate so soon after you turn 30," Shane asked genuine interest and curiosity in his tone,

"Actually, Aaron and I work together," Spencer explained. "He is my boss as he is the unit chief of the BAU."
"You mean your True Mate is someone you actually work with?" asked Lora in astonishment as she came from the kitchen.

"Yes, we do and yes we both know what the odds were of a Shifter's mate being someone they actually work with, but in this case it happened," Hotch told Shane and Lora calmly taking a sip of his coffee, which was excellent. "Really it is a good thing because the two of us have avoided a lot of the pitfalls that come with any normal relationship, especially in the get to know you stage, since we had known each for 7 years and worked closely together for all that time, before Spencer turned 30."
"Yes, I can see that," Shane said slowly. "So Mr, Hotchner are you a Shifter?"
"Call me Aaron, and no I am not a Shifter, but I do have some of the blood from my father's side of the family. My grandfather was able to shift, but the Hotchners have married non-Shifters for so long that the blood just got diluted enough that neither I, my brother or my father can actually change shape."

"I see," said Shane looking genuinely interested.

"I cared about Spencer before the bond, but now..." Hotch added not mentioning the fact that he also felt the pull of the mating bond and had for the seven years before Spencer turned 30 as neither of the Bufords needed to know that, "...well, I couldn't imagine my life without him in it. The team that we both work with has always been close as we have to look out for each other in the field and even outside that arena we still consider each other family."

"Yes, Spencer mentioned that the team you both work with were exceptionally close," Lora said, "but I suppose when you face danger together on a regular basis that's normal."
"We are close," Spencer admitted, "but then you already knew that. Derek Morgan is like a brother, Emily Prentiss and JJ like sisters, David Rossi like an Uncle and Garcia like a very crazy and flamboyant aunt. As for Aaron before I turned thirty he was the stern older brother whose orders you obeyed, but only because you loved and respected him and knew that he would be right there for you if you ever found yourself in trouble or going to bat for you if someone was gunning for you or trying to railroad you, now though how I feel about him is totally and completely different."

"That is how it should be," Shane said with a smile. "You lucked out and your True Mate was someone you already knew and respected, so as Aaron said you could avoid a lot of the pitfalls that go with relationships and as I know you are aware that usually doesn't happen."

"We know," Spencer answered taking Aaron's hand in his and leaning over to kiss his cheek affectionately. "In fact we are getting married just as soon as we are back in Quantico."

"I'm surprised you haven't gotten married already," Lora said glancing between Hotch and Spencer.

"I'm afraid that our schedule is such that that just hasn't been possible until now," Hotch explained calmly taking another sip of excellent coffee. "I have a son, Jack from a previous marriage and he is young enough that we had to give him a chance to get used to having Spencer as a permanent part of our lives and that he wasn't replacing his mother before he actually moved in with me. Sure Jack knew Spencer slightly—since he's met all the team—although he knows some more of them better than others, but we both wanted to make sure he was comfortable with Spencer's presence before he moved in with me."

"What does your ex-wife think of your relationship with Spencer?" asked Lora.

"She never knew about our bond, because she as killed by a very dangerous psychopath, almost five years ago now, but even before that we had gotten divorced shortly after Jack was born," Hotch answered.

"I'm truly sorry for your ex-wife's death," Shane told Hotch sincerely and Lora nodded in agreement giving her on condolences.

"Thank you, even though we had divorced and Jack lived with her, until her death I didn't want her dead. If Spencer and I had gotten together while she was still alive I would have done my best to explain the situation to her, but as to whether or not she would have accepted the bond that exists between Spencer and I, we'll never know."

Hotch suspected however, that Haley would have gone on a rampage and threatened to not let him see Jack if he got involved in a sexual relationship with another man, bond or no bond and she wouldn't have cared if that had eventually meant Spencer's death and his as well. In some ways Haley had been very different from her sister Jessica and in others very similar, but one thing he had come to understand and that was Jessica was much more mature and tended to accept things that could not be changed much easier then Haley had as she had been more self-centered and selfish.

"Also we've had some other things to deal with, which has also put our wedding on hold," Spencer added then blurted out, "Did you know that my father had gotten married again?"

"No, neither Lora or I were aware," Shane said looking startled. "Neither one of us has seen or heard from Will in almost 30 years."

"Well, he had as he like the two of you and Aaron and I found his True Mate."

"How do you know this?" asked Lora curiously.

"He came to Quantico, to see me because his son Franklin was very sick with leukemia," Spencer explained. "At first I didn't want to meet with him and I was very rude to JJ who is the one that called me and told me he had just shown up out of the blue, but wouldn't give a reason for needing to see me. I knew it was just easier to meet with him then to have him keep being a pest and popping up when you least expected it and now I'm glad I did meet him because I never would have gotten to know Franklin or his brother Denis, or their three sisters if I hadn't."

"So Will, contacted you I'm assuming because he was desperate to save his son and none of his family was a match?" asked Shane putting together what Spencer was not saying.

"Exactly," Spencer agreed. "Dad, was desperate to save his son as you said and came to see me at his wife's Lilah's urging."

"I'm surprised you gave him the time of day or agreed to help him," Lora said, "considering how he abandoned you and Diana."

"I didn't want to at first," Spencer admitted, "but once I learned the reason he had contacted me I couldn't say no as I would never allow a child to die just because I had no love for his father, especially since that child was my half brother."

"So were you a match?" asked Shane curiously. "You never did say."

"I was, and thanks to my bone marrow donation Franklin's body is fighting off the disease and he is doing much better. In a way Frankie's leukemia was a good thing as it made my father and I take long looks at ourselves and mend our fences as much as we are able. We are getting along now and I have visited him and his family as often as my schedule allows."

"Sometimes I even come with him to see Frankie and the three of us have gotten quite close," Hotch said, "although I have made it clear that I still think what Spencer's father did to him was despicable and not something a husband should do to his family, but once I saw that he was truly sorry for what he had done I forgave him because I realized that if he had stuck around Spencer might have followed in his footsteps and become an attorney instead of joining the FBI and then we probably never would have met."

Hotch was unable to conceal the horror he felt at that possibility from his expression.
"And that would have been a fate worse then death," Spencer added shuddering at that very likely possibility. "I've never been happier in my life then when Aaron and I got together, almost a year ago and I can no longer imagine my life without him in it and not just as my boss or my friend, but as the other half of my soul."
"Our lives are so entwined now that it is impossible to tell where each of them began as we are now more like one person in two bodies instead of two separate individuals," Hotch said shooting the younger man an adoring look and leaning over to kiss his cheek tenderly.

"And that is the way it should be for all True Mates," Lora said approvingly.

"We'd like both of you to come to the wedding next week as it would make both Spencer and I very happy of you would," Hotch requested.

Spencer shot a pleading look at them both and both Shane and Lora caved immediately as neither one could stand up the Spencer's puppy dog look.

"We'd be happy to," Shane said. "when is it?"

"This Saturday," Hotch answered. "Spencer and I have taken the next few weeks off, so there's no chance of us being called in for a case."

"Which happens a lot," Spencer said. "I lost count of the number of times my weekends off have been interrupted by JJ calling and telling me that we had a case and it still happens all the time ever since Aaron and I have gotten together."

"Before we got together you didn't mind being called in," Hotch teased him.

"True enough for the most part," Spencer admitted. "I don't do well with nothing to do for more than a few hours at a time."

"It's that prodigal mind of his, it doesn't do well with inactivity," Hotch said with a smile.

"From what I know a lot of geniuses are that way," Shane said with a smile.

"Well that's certainly true for me, but now I don't like going in on our days off as much as I used to, simply because I have better things to do."

"And what things could you have to do that could possibly be more important then working?" Shane teased him causing Spencer to blush a bright red.

"As if I need to tell you what I'd rather be doing," Spencer countered trying his best not to blush again. "Even if all Aaron I are doing is watching a movie together cuddled on the couch that is more than enough for me to be happy and why I hate to being called into work ever since we got together."

"So is your father and his family going to be at your wedding?" asked Lora changing the subject to a safe topic so as not to embarrass Spencer any further.

"Yes, which is why we are having it in the summer so that they can all attend," Spencer said. "I've gotten quite close to Frankie as you know, but I am also pretty close with Denis, Alyssa, Beth and Gwen too. They were all grateful for what I did for their brother of course and that has led us to getting to know each other much better then we might have otherwise."

"Why don't you two stay for lunch?" Lora asked them. "It won't take me more then a few minutes to get it ready."

"That would be fine, so long as you are sure you're don't mind," Hotch accepted after glancing at Spencer who nodded.

"After lunch though we are going to have to go as we are going to see mom, at Bennington and after that I was going to show Aaron where I used to live as a kid and take him through some of my old haunts, where I went to high school and the like."

"And tomorrow we plan on spending the day with Frankie and his family," Hotch added.

"Will we see you again before your wedding?" Shane asked Spencer. "You're so busy that me and Lora hardly see you for more than an hour or two at the time anymore."

"Yes, probably," Spencer said.

"We could meet for lunch or dinner," Hotch suggested, "whichever one is more convenient for you since our schedule is pretty much open this week."

"That's a very good idea," Spencer said immediately backing his mate's suggestion.

"We can do that," Lora agreed. "It'll be nice not to have to cook for a change."

"Where would you suggest we meet for either lunch or dinner since I don't know anything about Las Vegas," Hotch asked. "The team has been here on cases several times, but we never go anywhere nice to eat and usually go someplace like Denny's that is open 24 hours, since we tend to take meals at odd hours when working a case."

"We tend to discuss cases even while we're eating and we've grossed out more than one waitress by bringing very graphic photographs that tend to be part of our case files," Spencer chuckled. "I do have to admit that you need a pretty strong stomach to see some of the things we do on a daily basis."

"I never took you for someone who could look at such graphic images and not lose the contents of your stomach," Shane said.

"Yes, well people change a lot when they're growing up," Spencer said. "It was mostly my father's abandonment that made me decide I wanted to help people although it was Jason Gideon that urged me to join the FBI. He knew that my skills would be useful, nowhere else, but the BAU and usually you have to have experience in another department for at least 10 years before you're even considered for a position with them, but Gideon pulled a lot of strings for me and I can't help but be grateful to him for that."

"A lot of other agents in different departments consider Spencer's presence in the FBI a joke, mostly because they don't know him at all," Hotch said his voice a growl. "They talk nastily about him behind his back and the team and I have had to defend him more than once to other agents, although they should realize that if he wasn't pulling his weight he wouldn't still be part of our department or part of the FBI at all. Of course, we also have to consider the fact that some of those agents have been rejected from working with the BAU either because they didn't have the correct temperament or the skills that are needed."

"They're jealous," Lora said and Hotch nodded in agreement.

"They are, they're jealous that they were rejected, while Spencer who is considered a joke by a lot of other agents is still part of the BAU. They feel that he stole their position or at least their chance to be part of the elite, but the thing is you have to be able to get along with your teammates, always be polite no matter how much somebody outside the team pisses you off or tries to go over your head, you have to be observant and have other skills as well to be part of our unit, and most of those that have applied either didn't have the right temperament or the skills necessary to be an effective part of the team or in a few cases both. You can't be rude to the people that called you in because word will get around and we won't be called when we need to be because we insulted someone and they blabbed. The team can't be effective if we aren't called when we are needed. You can't be jealous, of the other members, or all arrogant and make demands, or act all high and mighty, in other words cause problems within the team just because you feel like you should be the top dog and in charge."

"You can't try to undermine someone's authority just because you feel you should be in charge or at least part of BAU," Spencer added. "Some of the other agent who have tried to get into the BAU in the past made it clear that they thought they should be the ones in charge."

"In some cases agents came in and demanded to be let on the team and then treated Spencer or JJ or Garcia as if they didn't deserve to be there when they had earned their places long ago, although I will admit it was usually Spencer that got the worst of it as he doesn't defend himself when somebody gets in his face making accusations that have no basis in fact."

"Why cause problems?" Spencer asked rhetorically. "I know my place on the team and I know I wouldn't still be part of it if I didn't have anything to contribute, so no matter what people say I know it isn't true. I'm not saying I like to be yelled at and told that I don't deserve to be part of the elite or part of the FBI at all and that I was only accepted thanks to Jason Gideon, but I would have been fired or let go a long time ago if I wasn't an effective part of the team. I don't need those people gunning for me and their egos were such that they would've found someway to get back at me for the supposed wrong I did them."

"Like I would allow that to happen," Hotch snorted. "Even before Spencer turned 30 and we got together there was no way I would have let anybody try to railroad him, especially if I knew he hadn't done anything wrong."

"Do you really think that some of the agents of other departments would have gone so far as to frame him for something?" asked Shane curiously, "or maybe set a trap for him where he got killed in the process?"

"Most of them, no," Hotch admitted, "but there have been a couple of men that tried to get on the team a few years ago that are the type that will let their resentment fester. Letting your resentment of somebody fester until it grows into anger and then rage, well, that's not a good combination and those type of people will try to get revenge on the object of their resentment, especially if they feel as if they been cheated out of something. Of course a lot of times feeling as if you've been cheated has no basis in fact other then letting your own ego make you believe you deserve something when you don't."

"I agree with, Aaron," Spencer said. "Even though I didn't do anything to them, they'll convince themselves it's all my fault that they weren't placed on the team and if I'm ever in a position where they feel they have a chance at me they will more than likely take it. What they won't realize is that the team will come to my defense if that ever happens and they'll end up regretting ever taking out their anger and resentment on me, especially since it has no basis in fact. Even if I wasn't part of the team and there was an open position, there's no way that they'd make it on because they don't have the right temperament or attitude, which is important. The FBI takes a dim view of one of their agents attacking another, whether an innocent civilian or another agent."

"Like I would ever allow anybody to railroad you," Hotch growled looking fiercely protective.

"I'm afraid they're are a lot of arrogant agents that are part of the FBI and they will see Spencer as an obstacle that is in the way to getting what they want, but no real challenge."

"How little they know," Shane said with a smile and Hotch and Spencer nodded in agreement.

"We all know that there are a lot of arrogant misguided people in the world, but Aaron and I know that better then most, simply because our job is to study human behavior to see what makes people tick so that we can catch killers, rapists and other types of people that comment crimes of one type or another."

Lora changed the subject and both Hotch and Reid were grateful for it for neither liked to think of what could happen if any of those agents were given the opportunity to exact a little revenge on somebody they felt had wronged them, even if it was all in their heads.

The rest of lunch passed pleasantly and afterwards Hotch at Reid took their leave, Spencer giving both Bufords hugs while Hotch shook their hands and thanked them for how they had helped his mate when he had still been a child, both of whom brushed off his thanks be saying it had been the right thing to do and what William Reid had done by leaving his sick wife and young son had been very wrong and they had been glad to help in some way.

Hotch knew that he would never be able to repay the older couple for all they had done when Spencer had been a child but he was determined to try, but that was for later for now he was content to meet Spencer's mother, the woman who had made it possible for him to be so happy because without her his mate never would have been born and Hotch knew that she had done the best she could and had played a part in raising Spencer to be who he was so for that alone he would be eternally grateful.

~~~Hotch and Reid~~~

"Spencer!" Diana exclaimed looking up from the book he was reading as he and Hotch walked into the day room, where a lot of residents spent their time doing various activities.

Diana's face lit up in a smile as Spencer walked over to her and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Hotch watched this with a smile, but didn't say anything, as mother and son finished greeting each other.

"Mom, I'd like you to meet Aaron Hotchner, my mate," Spencer finally introduced turning to Hotch a smile lighting his face.

"So this is the man you've written so much about over the last few years," Diana said as she studied Hotch closely her face breaking out into a smile.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Reid," Hotch told Diana politely, but sincerely.

Hotch hadn't missed the fact that Diana had said years and he knew that Spencer wrote his mother a letter everyday. He knew that Reid had told his mother numerous things about his work with the FBI and that he had told her all about the team, which of course included him. Apparently his name had come up quite often and Hotch wondered if maybe Spencer had had a little crush on him, before he turned 30, not that it really mattered since the two of them were together now and would be until death parted them.

"Call me, Diana," Diana told the handsome man with a smile.

"And you can call me Aaron," Hotch told her with a smile.

"Why don't we continue this discussion, in your room, mom?" Spencer suggested.

"That's a good idea, son," Diana said with a smile rising to her feet after placing a bookmark in the book she had been reading. "This is not the place for a private discussion."

The three of them walked down a hallway that led to the wing dad Diana's room was in and it was only minutes later that they entered it Hotch being the last one to enter closing the door behind him.

"Why don't you take seats," Diana said she sat on the bed.

Hotch took the only chair in the room while Spencer joined his mother on the bed.

"So Aaron, Spencer's been writing me about you and the rest of his coworkers for years now so imagine my shock when you turned out to be my son's True Mate," Diana said.

"I know it was quite a shock," Hotch admitted with a smile rubbing his knuckles gently over his mate's cheek causing Spencer to capture Hotch's hand in his. "I know Spencer certainly wasn't expecting it to be somebody he had worked with for years, but if you look at it positively at least we already knew each other and therefore there was no have to get to know you stage."

"That's a very good point," Diana admitted with a small smile. "I'm surprised that you accepted it so easily though or that the Spencer so was brave enough to actually approached you since you were his boss after all."

"You didn't tell her about how we got together?" Hotch asked turning to Spencer who blushed and negatively shook his head from side to side.

"Sorry, I thought that would be better to do in person," Spencer said quietly. "I couldn't figure out how to put something like that in a letter."

Diana looked between her son and his mate and wondered what they were talking about, although now that she thought about it Spencer never actually had told them how the two of them had gotten together.

Hotch turned back to Diana and explained what he and Spencer were talking about. "I'm actually the one that approached him, for although I'm not a Shifter myself I do have quite a bit of the blood from my father's side of the family and Spencer believes that my mother or grandmother might also have had some of the blood. Thanks, to this however, I do have a Shifter's mating instinct that activated when I turned 30 and I was 33 when Spencer joined the team seven years ago."

"So you're telling me, that you knew that my son was your True Mate for seven years and yet you did nothing about it until Spencer reached that critical birthday a little less than a year ago?" asked Diana her astonishment plain.

"That's right," Hotch told her with a small smile as he could now see where Spencer got his intelligence from.

"How in the seven hells were you able to resist the pull of your Shifter's making instincts for so long?" asked Diana. "From what I know, a Shifter's mating instincts are so incredibly strong it will drive them either insane or to suicide, or both if they don't mate with their other half within a reasonable amount of time."

"Well, the theory is, that since Aaron can't actually shift shape that his instincts aren't as strong as one who can, although he did tell me it was very hard for him to wait, but he's always had a will of iron," Spencer said. "It is pretty rare for a non-Shifter to have a Shifter's mating instinct even if they have the quite a bit of the blood."

"It helped that I saw him almost every day sometimes for 16 or more hours depending on how tough the case we were trying to solve was or how often people were killed as sometimes we felt like we didn't have time to take a break if a unsub killed quickly," Hotch added. "Also seven years ago I was still married to Haley and if I hadn't stayed married to her I wouldn't have my son and he is a major part of my life. I'm not claiming it wasn't difficult, because it was, extremely difficult, I can't tell you how many times I thought about telling him, especially after Haley and I divorced shortly after my son was born, but it was wasn't long after that, that she was killed by a very dangerous psychopath, although I did manage to save my son and it took me awhile to grieve, for although I loved Spencer, I also still loved Haley just not in the same way or as much as I did when I married her. In any case I got very little sleep the night of Spencer's 30th birthday as I was so looking forward to going to work the next day as I know that he would identify me as his True Mate the instant he saw me."

"I did identify Aaron as being my True Mate for it was like being hit with a lightning blast the instant I saw him right after I got to work, however, I decided then and there that I wasn't going to tell him because I'd never imagined that Aaron would feel the same way as he was my boss after all and although he is closer to his subordinates them most people in the same position he still has to maintain a certain distance."

"I gave him a few days in order to approach me, but I should have known he would never do that since I know how shy he is when it comes to relationships and as Spencer said I was his boss. Finally on Friday, I called him into my office after everybody else had left for the day and we sorted everything out."

"I couldn't believe, that Aaron felt the same way about me that I did about him, but he has since proved that he does and I couldn't be happier about that as I never dreamed I could actually have what I so desperately wanted," Spencer said.

Diana smiled sadly at her son's words for her she knew how shy Spencer was when he came to relationships and his father was largely to blame for that, although it also had to do with his personality and intelligence. She could well imagine her son not having the courage to approach the man that was his boss for Spencer wouldn't have wanted to change their relationship and have them both behave awkwardly around each other, although she knew thanks to her Spencer's letters that Aaron was much better at concealing his real feelings then her son was. Besides as had already been stated Aaron was his boss after all and she knew that Spencer wouldn't have wanted to risk losing a job he loved by telling his superior his feelings, however, she said nothing as her son was continuing.

"I was extremely nervous when Aaron sent me a text asking me to come to his office after the rest of the team left for the day as I hadn't exactly been very subtle about concealing my feelings as I couldn't seem to stop myself from shooting him locks, whenever I thought he wasn't paying attention and believe me the rest of the team noticed and kept asking me what was wrong. I couldn't at that time tell them the real reason I was feeling so miserable of course, although Aaron and I did tell them after we had gotten together as there was no way we could've kept it from them."

"Ever since that evening in my office we've been together ever since," Aaron said as he kissed Spencer's cheek affectionately.

"So have you gotten married yet?" asked Diana.

"Not yet," Spencer answered immediately. "Our schedules are always so uncertain that we haven't managed that quite yet. I have moved in with him and his son and we're looking for a house, since his apartment isn't big enough to hold all my books, not to mention we wanted a place that is both of ours and that we decorated and bought together."

"I wish I could be there when you do get married," Diana said looking wistful.

"We'll make sure to send you lots of pictures," Spencer promised. "We are getting married next week and I'm sorry you can't be there either mom, but the logistics are just to complicated to consider the idea to seriously."

"I wish you could be there too," Hotch told Diana with a smile, "but I want you to know I do love your son with all my heart and I'd rather be shot then leave him and that's really saying something since being shot is very painful. I will never leave him, until I take my last breath as our lives are so intertwined now that it just is it possible to separate one from the other."

Diana studied him for a minute and Hotch stood underneath Spencer's mother scrutiny not moving as he stared directly into her eyes until finally Diana nodded sharply once and said, "See that you don't for if you hurt my son in anyway I will hunt you down."

"I expect nothing less," Hotch told Diana seriously, but with a slight smile.

"Good, just so long as we understand each other," Diana said, but finally seeing Spencer looking between the two of them she relented and said, "Welcome to the family, Aaron."

"Thank you," Aaron told her with a smile kissing her cheek.

"You're welcome," Diana told him. "Besides I would never try to come between the two of you as that would make Spencer miserable and eventually lead to his death and I don't want that. Besides all a mother wants for her children is for them to be happy, get married, and have children of their own, although I suppose in your case that's not really possible."

"Well, Aaron does have Jack," Spencer reminded his mother entering the conversation, "and we were talking about adopting a couple at some point if that's even possible with our jobs, but the two of us did agree to at least try and we're already on a waiting list and have been for the last six months."

Diana looked happier after Spencer's words and said, "Well, if you do manage to adopt make sure you bring them down to see me and Jack too."

"We will," Hotch promised, "although neither one of us could tell you exactly when since we can be called in at anytime unless we're on vacation, like Spencer and I are for the next three weeks."

"We both hated to leave the team shorthanded, but there's really no good time to get away unless the whole team is off and they all encouraged us to take the time away saying we had more then earned it," Spencer added.

"So if the two of you took the next three weeks off, I'm assuming you're spending a week in town and Spencer is going to show you where he grew up and all his old haunts. Then you'll be taking a honeymoon after the wedding or that's what I'm assuming."

"We will," Hotch said with a slight smile. "We decided on Paris, which I've been to before many years ago, but that was on assignment and I really didn't have time to see many of the sites."

"And what makes you think it will be any different this time?" asked Diana with a smirk.

Both Hotch and Reid blushed at the implied double meaning of the words.

"Mom!" Reid whined his tone embarrassed and his face as red as fire.

"What? It's perfectly natural to want to stay in bed on your honeymoon," Diana protested, but with laughter in her eyes.

Reid blushed again and Hotch thought his lover's blush was one of his most endearing qualities, but came to his rescue by saying, "We will be taking the time to see some of the sites, since I doubt very much we'll be able to get back for years, if ever, or at least not until we both retire."

Spencer shot his mate a grateful look as his blush faded and added after a moment, "We know we will not be able to see everything that Paris has to offer in just two weeks, but we should at least get to some of the more famous sites like the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame."

"And eat out at much nicer places then we usually do when we are on a case with the team, as we usually stick to places like diners or other places that are open 24 hours, since we tend to eat at odd hours at lot of the time," Hotch added.

"It's not that the food isn't good in such places because it is, just that it is nice to go somewhere fancier sometimes," Spencer said.

"And for it to be just the two of you instead of a whole group," Diana suggested with a smirk.

"Well, yes," Spencer admitted doing his best to not blush yet again. Why on why did his own mother have to go out of his way to embarrass him and why the hell did he have to blush so easily?

"I was young once to and certainly remember what it was like to be in love. Of course your father and I weren't True Mates like you and Aaron as ought to be obvious," Diana said.

"Speaking of dad, did you know that he's married again as he found his True Mate almost fifteen years back and he has five children, a set of twins and a set of triplets?" Spencer asked his mother who looked shocked.

"How do you know this?" asked Diana curiously once she had recovered from her shock.

"Dad, came to see me a few months ago, when one of his twin sons leukemia came back," Spencer explained. "None of his family was a match and he was desperate as you can imagine. He knew it was possible that I would reject his request just because I hated him, but I couldn't do that since technically Franklin is my brother, even if he is only a half sibling, not that that matter's to me."

"Yes, I can see you agreeing to see if you were a match," Diana said. "You wouldn't want a boy who wasn't even born when your father left to die if you could help, and I can certainly understand that, although I'm not sure I would have made the same choice if it had been up to me."

"You would have," Spencer told his mother confidently, "if you had been blood related and your ex-husband had come to you to plead for your help to at least try to save his son's life you would've done the same thing I did."

"You seem sure of that," Diana said and Spencer nodded.

"I am, you might hate dad and no one can blame you for that considering the circumstances, but you would never allow a child to die, even if his father abandoned you and your son. After all, Frankie wasn't even born for almost 8 years after he left and therefore played no part in it."

"You're right, I could never allow a child to die if Will had asked me for help and I had actually been blood related," Diana conceded.

"Now I see where Spencer gets his compassion from," Hotch said speaking for the first time in a few minutes, although he had been observing the conversation even if he hadn't said anything until now, "since his father didn't strike me as the compassionate type, towards a stranger at least even if he's that way towards his family."

"He's not," both Spencer and Diana said at the same time but then Reid added, "Or at least he didn't use to be, but I know that has changed as Lilah has brought out a different side to him that I was never aware existed. I know my perception is probably slightly skewed considering I was only 10 when dad left, but he seemed...nicer?...when Aaron and I went to that meeting at Logan's. He was desperate sure because his son was so ill, but he also seemed different then what I remember of him. It's been a lot of years since I was 10 that's true, but it's not like I can forget what he was like since my memories are eidetic."

"Being truly in love changes people," Hotch said. "I know that when you walked into the BAU seven years ago and I shook hands with you for the first time I started to change right then. It was after we had met that I realized that Haley and I were never going to last like I thought when we got married, but as you know I am very patient and so I didn't immediately approach you."

"Man that's the truth," Spencer said with a chuckle.

"Well, when you first came to work at the BAU I knew that if I told you we were True Mates there was no way you would have accepted it as it took you awhile to truly accept that you were part of the team and that we weren't going to go behind your back and betray you in someway."

"I had a right to be wary considering my own experiences with people up to that point with Shane and Lora being the sole exceptions," Spencer said.

"What do the Buford have to do with anything?" asked Diana and Spencer looked startled for he had forgotten his mother was there.

"They helped me out quite often when I was beaten up by some of the bullies at school," Spencer explained calmly. "I didn't want to worry you at that time, but they were extremely kind and helpful. They often doctored my bruises and a few times cuts and we had some nice long chats. It was Shane that taught me all about being a Shifter and the differences between each one. He taught me about a wolf Shifter's heritage and the history behind our species. He knew thanks to my memory that I would never forget what I was taught no matter how many years passed and I never have. I've always been grateful to him and Lora for all they did."

"And I'm just learning about this now?" asked Diana sounding more resigned than angry.

"I'm sorry mom, I really am, but I had a hard enough time keeping you taking your medication and I wasn't sure how much you would understand even with that," Spencer said. "The Bufords helped me through some pretty tough times in my life and I suppose I didn't want to worry you. Besides the medication you were taking back then isn't as good as what you're taking today, which is why you're so lucid now, while back then well you never knew when you were going to go into one of your episodes."

"You do have a point," Diana conceded. "Still, I think you should've told me."

"Probably," Spencer agreed, "but there was nothing you could've done, so why worry you for no reason? I was used to taking care of myself, especially after dad left and even before then."

"Yes, you always were more self-sufficient than most children your age," Diana admitted. "I know that was partly due to your intelligence, but also partly due to your father's neglect and my schizophrenia."

"You couldn't help your condition mom," Spencer told his mother kissing her cheek again and giving her a hug. "You had no control over it, dad on the other hand did have control over how he behaved and although I have at least partly forgiven him for the neglect I suffered as a child, which is Frankie's doing as his illness brought dad and I together, we will never be as close as we might had been had we had a proper father/son relationship. Also dad, did apologize sincerely, which allowed me to let go of a lot of my anger, and although I'll never be able to forgive him completely for what he did to us both we are getting along now."

"Well, you're certainly more forgiving than I am," Diana told my son with a smile.

"If he hadn't sincerely apologized to me for leaving like he did I never would've been able to do it," Spencer said. "I know that he truly realizes what he did to you and me was wrong, which is partly why I was able to forgive him. I also wanted to get to know my half-siblings and since I knew I would have to be around my father if I was to have any sort of relationship with them I had to at least forgive him enough so that we didn't fight like cats and dogs every time we saw each other or sat in icy silence, but glaring at each other, which doesn't exactly set a good example for his children."

"No, it doesn't," Diana agreed.

The three of them continued to chat for awhile, before Spencer hugged his mother one last time kissing her cheek again and he Hotch took their leave promising to visit again before they headed back to Quantico.

~~~Hotch and Reid~~~

"And this is where I went to school," Spencer said pointing out of building to Hotch.

"Where you were bullied you mean," Hotch growled looking at the building that Spencer pointed out as they drove slowly past it.

"Well, yes," Spencer admitted with a sad smile, "but if not for what I went through in high school, I might not have decided to join the FBI. Being bullied like I was made me want to understand human behavior, which is what led me to join the bureau in the first place."

"Still, it's not very fair what you went through, although I realize that human beings are very flawed and that most of them grow up to be decent adults. I can't help, but feel you could have been treated better, but I know that's because I love you."

"We all have regrets and things we wish hadn't happened in the past, Aaron," Spencer told his mate with a smile leaning over to kiss his cheek. "I for one am grateful for what I went through, because it made me the person I am today and as has been said previously we might not have met unless my life had happened exactly as it did and for that alone I will always be grateful."

"There is that," Hotch conceded touched at Spencer's words. "So, where to next?"

"What about some lunch?" Spencer suggested. "I don't know about you but I'm starving as it's 1 o'clock already."
"That's a good idea," Hotch agreed. "Any suggestions on where to go?"

"Not really," Spencer admitted. "We could go to the restaurant that Shane and Lora own as I ate there quite often as a kid, but other than that my family didn't really eat out much. Whenever I was in town before we got together I just went to places like McDonald's or Burger King or Shane's diner."

"Shane's diner is fine with me, and after that you can show me some more of your old haunts."

"We've already seen most of them," Spencer said, "the only thing left is the park where I used to play chess against different people and I usually ended up winning."

"Why am I not surprised?" Hotch said with a grin. "I bet you had all the chess moves memorized by the time you were six or seven years old,"

"Try four," Spencer said.

"You don't ever play chess anymore or at least I haven't seen you playing," Hotch said.

"Well, ever since Gideon left it just hasn't been any fun," Spencer said. "I have yet to meet anyone as good at chess as Gideon and playing against most people is no fun at all if I win within just a few moves. Gideon was a very unconventional thinker, which translated to being good at chess as he never made the move you expected him to."

"That's the truth," Hotch agreed for Gideon had indeed been an unconventional thinker, which is why had been so good at catching killers.

"So when are you going to introduce me to your mother and your brother?" asked Spencer a little tentatively.

"My mother, preferably never," Hotch said with a grimace. "Trust me you won't want to meet her, but my brother is different and maybe we can get him to come down to Quantico sometime soon so that you can get to know each other or we can go up to New York, which isn't that far by car or train."

"Well, from what you've told me of your mother, I have to agree I probably don't want to meet her, but wouldn't it be better just to get it over with then for her to find out on her on? You can't always protect me from people like her, although I appreciate it," Spencer said.

You're right I can't protect you all the time and if she does find out and I'm sure she will eventually her anger will be great, but if I introduce you as my lover or my partner, she's going to be extremely angry anyway, so it's really a no win situation either way."

"Will she try to get you to leave me?" asked Spencer

"Yes," Hotch told him bluntly looking over at his lover for a moment before turning back to the road, "and you need to be prepared for when she does find out."

"I'm assuming that she won't care that you have enough Shifter blood to feel the pull of the mating bond and that if you leave me it will mean death for both of us?"

"No," Hotch said shaking his head negatively with a scowl as he though about the woman that had given birth to him. "It won't matter in the slightest, because she doesn't know that I have felt that pull to make you mine for seven years before we got together or even that it is possible unless you can actually shift. Even if she does now I'm not sure it would make a difference as she would rather see me miserable then have me hooked up with another man."

"Well, from what you've told me about your childhood I can see that about her," Spencer admitted. "She sounds very vindictive, spiteful, unhappy and wrathful."

"Oh she is, although she supposedly married my father for love, but I never saw that when I was growing up as she was always a hard, uncompromising woman. She worries more about her reputation among her peers or even total strangers than anybody else I've ever met, although I suppose it probably has to do with the fact that she married into a relatively well off family as the Hotchners might not be as rich as some people, but my father made a extremely good living as an attorney and so my family has plenty of money to do whatever we want and he also comes from a well off family to and he inherited quite a chunk when my grandparents from my father's side of the family died. She can write me out of the will and I really won't care, since I make plenty. I also have some investments that are doing quite well."

"She wouldn't really do that would she? Write you out of the will, I mean?" asked Spencer truly startled at that.

"Yes, she would, but I don't really care if she does," Hotch answered honestly.

"I know there are a lot of uncaring people in the world considering we catch those type for a living, but for a mother to do that to her own son, just seems worse then all the unsubs we catch. If you had done something like murdered or raped someone I could understand her wanting to disown you or write you out of the will, but not for something like just having a relationship with someone of your own sex."

"Yes, well I agree, but mom won't," Hotch said with a smile. "I'm sure you can tell she is very prejudiced and not just about same-sex relationships, but a lot of things."

"As if that isn't obvious," Spencer snorted. "I wouldn't be much of a profiler if I hadn't figured that out already just from what you said about her, now would I? I'm not really surprised that she's against same-sex relationship since a lot of people are, but I am surprised that you turned out so well considering."

"I suppose I did get lucky, when I didn't take after my mother in that way," Hotch admitted with a smile taking one hand off the wheel long enough to run it over his mate's cheek lovingly.

Spencer hand came up and captured Hotch's holding it gently and kissing the knuckles tenderly, but with reverence.

The two of them continued to chat as Hotch drove looking for a place to eat since both of them were starving.

~~~Hotch and Reid~~~

"Why don't you let Frankie come with us back to Quantico for a few days before the wedding and we'll show him around," Spencer suggested a little tentatively to his father and his stepmother.

It had been a wonderful few days with just Aaron and him and they had seen some of the sites of Las Vegas as well as the places where he had grown up and had also made wild passionate love for hours in their hotel room not worrying about the noise they were making even though most hotels had notoriously thin walls, because for once they knew they wouldn't be interrupted by work. They had only been in Las Vegas for three days, but there was no rule that said they couldn't change their flight and head back early if that was what they wanted to do once they had done everything they wanted to in the city he had grown up in. Now he and Aaron were sharing dinner with his father and his family and it had been a pleasant meal as the talk had been lively.

"The rest of the team has also been looking forward to meeting him and the rest of his siblings of course, but Frankie especially," Spencer said.

"I don't know," Lilah said, looking reluctant to let her son out of her sight which was understandable.

"This is one of the rare times that there's no chance of work interrupting, since Spencer and I still have over two more weeks off before we have to get back to work and neither one of us hardly ever takes time off where we aren't at least on call," Hotch added all for his lover's idea since he had really come to enjoy spending time with Spencer's half brother.

"It will be educational and we'll take around to some of the more famous sites of Virginia and Washington since it's so close," Spencer said.

"We'll take him to the Washington Monument, to see the White House as they do give tours, to the tomb of the unknown soldier in Arlington and lots of other places," Hotch added.

"Can I mom? Dad?" Franklin pleaded giving both his parents the puppy dog eyes. "Please!"

Will caved almost immediately as he couldn't stand up to the puppy dog of his son.

"It's okay with me, as it does sound very educational and if Spencer and Aaron are willing to take you around and have you stay with them then you have my permission. However, your mother has final say as to whether you'll be allowed to go or not," William said glancing at his wife who still looked very reluctant to let her son out of her sight even if she trusted Spencer to take good care of him.

"The two of us can see a lot in the four days that are left before the wedding and afterwards you can take him back with you since Aaron and I will be gone on our honeymoon and back to work after that," Spencer said.

"Please! Please mom!" Franklin pleaded giving her his best puppy dog eyes.

"Alright, fine," Lilah finally gave in, as like Will not being able to stand up to her son's puppy dog eyes. "You'll call me at least twice a day and tell me how you're doing, you hear?"

"Yes, mom," Franklin said politely looking excited.

The other four children looked disappointed that they had not been invited along, but they all knew that Spencer and Frankie shared a special bond ever since their half-brother had saved his life by donating some of his bone marrow. They know that Spencer loved all of them, but that the rest of them weren't as close as their brother who had been so ill was, but that didn't mean they couldn't be just a little bit jealous.

"When we come up for the wedding, maybe we can stay for a few days and go see some of the sites since I've never been to Washington or Virginia, except when I went to see Spencer to help your brother and I certainly didn't take the time to sightsee," William suggested

"Yay!" all the rest of the children cheered, looking happy and excited that their father was going to take time off from his job so they could take a real vacation.

"I'll call the airport and get our flights changed," Spencer said looking at his watch, "as soon as we get back to the hotel."

"You don't have to do that," Franklin told them.

"It's okay, I wouldn't have suggested you come stay with us if Aaron and I hadn't seen all we wanted to on this trip. I've showed him where I used to live, visited with my mother and seen some of the sights. We can't do everything in one trip so why bother to try? We'll both be back up to visit often and we can see some of the other sites then."

"I'll help Franklin pack," Lilah promised.

"And I'll call you call me a soon as we change our flights and add one for Frankie," Spencer promised.

The meal ended on a pleasant note and Spencer and Aaron took their leave soon after that as they wanted to head back to the hotel and get some rest and they also had to pack since they were leaving tomorrow instead of in a few days.

~~~Hotch and Reid~~~

"Thank you for indulging me," Spencer told Aaron as they got on the road and headed back to the hotel.

"I'm not just indulging you as it is a good idea and is a chance for Frankie to get away from his mother for few days and relax without her constantly watching or worrying about him," Aaron said.

"I'm actually surprised Lilah agreed so easily, considering that it's only been a few months since Frankie's leukemia has been in remission," Spencer said.

"Well not many people could have stood up to Frankie's puppy dog eyes," Hotch said causing Spencer to laugh, "especially not his parents."

"That's true," Spencer admitted with a smile.

"I certainly can't stand up to your puppy dog eyes when you want something," Hotch added with laughter in his voice, "so why should your dad and stepmother be any different with their son?"

Spencer laughed at that knowing it was true not that he used his puppy dog eyes to get what he wanted very often because they would lose their power if he did.

"So what do you want to do for the rest of the evening?" asked Spencer already knowing the answer.

"Why don't we go back to the hotel and make wild passionate love?" Hotch suggested with a wide lecherous grin. "It isn't like we'll get the chance to do that, at least until we go on a honeymoon in a few days, not with Jack and Frankie in the house. Oh we can still make love, but we certainly can't do it all night like we can when we're alone."

Spencer blushed even as he thought happily about what was going to be a very enjoyable night, although they would have to get some sleep if they were flying out tomorrow.

"We do need to get at least a few hours sleep if we are going to fly out tomorrow," Spencer said, "but other then that I have no objection for I am yours to do with as you please and you know it."

"I do, just as I am yours," Hotch growled his tone pleased. "By the way don't worry we will be getting at least a little sleep, although I know you won't be surprised if I wake you up in the middle of the night, just because I am feeling extremely horny."

Since this had happened quite often in the almost year they had been together, Spencer would only be surprised if it did not for it was a rare event when the two of them didn't make love at least once in the middle of the night and usually only happened if they were both extremely exhausted.

"You know the ironic thing is that I was never horny with Haley, where I woke her up in the middle of the night, not even when we were on our honeymoon and long before the two of us met, but with you it's different and I want you almost all the time, except when we are extremely busy on a case or extremely tired," Hotch mused. "I haven't been that horny since I was a young man of 25 or so."

"I want you all the time too," Spencer told Hotch with a shy smile kissing his mate's cheek.

"Don't I know it, for how often have you attacked me when we are alone and we ended up having some of the best sex I've ever had," Hotch smirked.

He might be an alpha male, but he definitely didn't mind in the least when Spencer attacked him in that manner and in fact encouraged it as much as possible. It had taken awhile for Spencer to be comfortable doing that, but now his mate initiated their lovemaking as much as he did as the two of them couldn't seem to get enough of each other, which Hotch was pleased to see happen, since Spencer was very shy in that area or at least had used to be.

Both men fell silent and Spencer took out his phone calling information for the number of the airport and then changing his and Hotch's flight for tomorrow and adding one for Frankie.

Once that was accomplished he called his father with the information and said they would be by to pick Frankie up about 1 o'clock since flight was at three.

"I'm glad you didn't have any trouble changing our flight reservation or getting one for Frankie," Hotch said.

"I didn't really expect to," Spencer admitted, "this isn't the busy season like Christmas after all, although I will admit more people visit Las Vegas on a daily basis then most other places because it's one of the gambling capitals of the world."

Hotch pulled into the hotel just then and the two men exited the car and headed to their room so that they could make wild passionate love and then sleep in, in the morning as their checkout time wasn't until 11 o'clock.

~~~Hotch and Reid~~~

Four days later

"We are gathered here today to join these two men for life," the priest who was doing the ceremony was also a Shifter although in this case instead of a wolf Shifter, John Amos was a rare fox Shifter. The good thing however was that he understood all about the bonds between True Mates and so hadn't given Hotch or Reid the evil eye for being two men in an obviously sexual relationship and had been more then happy to be asked to perform a bonding ceremony, which was slightly different for a Shifter and a Normal—although only Reid and the team knew that Hotch was far from normal as he had powers that were undefined and could heal wounds that would have normally been fatal—then for two Shifters who could change shape.

It was sunset on a Friday and the whole team was there, along with Spencer's family and several of Hotch's old associates from when he had been a federal prosecutor.

"Aaron Hotchner and Spencer Reid share a bond that is rare among Shifters of any type, if only because there are so many people in the world today including of course, a large percentage of shapechangers. However thanks to that being the case it is rare for two souls who are meant to be together to find each other at all since the world is a big place. Every shapeshifter has their perfect match out there somewhere, but only a privileged few ever find them."

Hotch and Reid stared intently into each other's eyes and only half listened to John Amos, as silent messages seemed to pass between them, their gazes never wavering from each others. Unless you were totally blind you couldn't miss the intensity of the connection that flowed between the two as it was so strong and intense that it was almost visible in the air.

Amos wrapped up his comments on marriage and Morgan handed him a knife since he was acting as best man, which he used to create a small cut on both Hotch's and Reid's right palms, neither man so much as flinching at the slight pain of the cuts or the sight of the blood that was now running down their palms since they saw worse everyday. Both sets of eyes never left the other's face and both men were even smiling, which was a very unusual sight on Hotch's usually serious face, although not so much in the last year, since he and Reid had gotten together. Hotch definitely smiled much more now, even if it was only a half smile, but it was still a vast improvement since he had only rarely smiled back before he and Reid had gotten together.

"With the sharing of their blood Aaron Hotchner and Spencer Reid will be bound together now and forever, until they pass from this life and into the next," Amos continued as soon as the two men had placed their palms together and mingled their blood.

On the back row of seats in the shadows sat the man that Garcia had searched so desperately to find, Jason Gideon. Neither Spencer or Hotch had any idea he was there, and he hadn't decided if he was going to approach them or not. He knew that Garcia had trying for the last few months to find him and when he learned the reason he hadn't known how to feel about two of his old teammates getting together—two of his male teammates.

He knew that Spencer was a Shifter and that he had reached that critical 30th birthday a little less than a year ago. He was also aware that if the man he thought of as a son would have been driven insane and committed suicide if Hotch had refused to acknowledge the bond that was between them, which obviously wasn't the case since even from the back row he could see the connection that flowed between the two, as it was so strong that it was almost visible. He had kept tabs on the team ever since he had left and was aware that Hotch had separated from his wife and then about Haley's death sometime later, so it wasn't like Hotch was cheating on her, but still he was old school and the thought of two men being together was repugnant to him, but on the other hand was he willing to put those feelings aside and be there to support both Spencer and Hotch or was he willing to abandon Spencer in particular, just because he didn't like his choice of mate? And really it wasn't a choice at all because of a Shifter's mating gene, but that gene was just biologically's way of saying that a person had hit the jackpot.

He would support Spencer's decision, he decided, could really do no less, because Spencer was his son, if not by blood then in his heart, and especially not after the way he had just abandoned him, only leaving him a letter instead of facing him in person and explaining his decision to Spencer's face.

Jason watched as his two old teammate's kissed tenderly to end the ceremony and Jason had to admit Spencer had changed a great deal in the almost six years since he had left. He was more confident, assured, even his stance and the way he walked was different as Spencer walked with that same confidence and assurance, which he knew was at least partly Hotch's doing and also partly due to gaining some experience.

He couldn't really object to his two old friends relationship when Spencer looked so blissfully happy, with a sparkle in his golden brown eyes and his entire body relaxed and at ease even around about thirty people, about half of which were total strangers. Spencer had never been very comfortable around most people and Jason remembered back to almost 8 years ago and how long it had taken the team to originally gain Reid's trust, but now they were his family and although Jason had originally wanted to reconnect, he hadn't because he hadn't felt as if he'd had the right to just reenter his protege's life after leaving as abruptly as he had.

But now when he had learned that the son of his heart was getting married to his boss and that Garcia had been trying to find him, he at first hadn't known what to feel. It had taken him awhile to realize that Reid had reached his 30th birthday a few months ago and he knew exactly what that meant as he had done his research a long time ago, just so he knew what to expect from the two Shifters on the team, although for a few years it had just been Morgan. It had surprised him that two more of his teammates were True Mates, for he didn't know of any other reason for Hotch or Spencer to risk their careers be getting into a relationship, although allowance's were often made so long as it could be proven that the two involved could still work together.

Gideon came out of his thoughts when he heard Spencer shout his name "Gideon! You came!"

Suddenly he was tackled and just barely managed to keep his balance as his former protege rammed into him hugging him around the middle tightly.

"Of course I did, Spencer. I couldn't miss your big day," Jason told his former protege with a smile, hugging him back.

"Gideon," Hotch said with a half smile. "You have no idea what lengths Garcia went to trying to find you. Spencer wanted you here for one of the most important days of his life."

"I can guess," Gideon said with another smile, not failing to notice the phrasing that Hotch used when he said that Spencer had wanted him here for the wedding, but not Hotch. "I haven't forgotten how good Garcia at finding things or people when she needs too."

"Why didn't you tell Aaron and me that you were coming? How long have you been in town? How long can you stay?" Reid asked almost in the same breath.

"Slow down, Spencer," Hotch told his mate with a smile putting a gentle hand on his partner's arm. "How can you expect him to answer if you don't give him a chance?"

"Sorry," Reid said looking shamefaced.

"Well, it's nice to see that some things haven't changed," said Gideon smiling at his protege. "I can stay as long as you need me to. I will be here when you get back from your honeymoon, since I'm assuming you are taking one."

"We are going to Paris," said Reid his golden brown eyes sparkling with excitement as he went back to Hotch's side and took his hand in his. "I've never been overseas."

"I know you will enjoy seeing the sites," Gideon said.

"So are you moving back into the area for good?" asked Hotch, "or is this just a visit?"

Spencer looked distressed at the thought of Gideon going away again, but hid it again instantly and Gideon wasn't even sure had had seen anything at all the look had come and gone so quickly.

"Well, now that I've reestablished contact, I can't very well just disappear again, now can I?" Jason said with a smile.

"You could you know," Spencer piped up. "You could just disappear again without a word to anyone."

It didn't need to be said that if Gideon did that Spencer would probably never forgive him for disappearing for a second time.

"I wouldn't do that to you Spencer as I am not unaware that my leaving before did to you," Jason told his protege.

"Why am I not surprised that you kept tabs on the team," asked Hotch with a smile.

"Old habits," Gideon said. "Besides I might have left, but that didn't mean I didn't still care about all of you."

"Then why haven't we heard from you for almost six years?" asked Spencer his voice neutral, although the anguish in his eyes was heartbreaking.

Gideon sighed sadly. "I'm truly sorry for the way I left and for not telling you directly what I was going to do, but Spencer you need to understand that I was grieving for my old friend Sarah and it was her death that nearly broke me. I had seen a lot, just as all of us have, and I had just reached my breaking point. We all have one and she was mine. I had known Sarah since college as you know and her death by Frank, well it..."

"Devastated you," Hotch said,

"That's a good word for it," Gideon admitted. "I needed time to heal, emotionally and mentally and for that I needed to be alone. It took me a long time to really come to terms with her death and by the time I did I felt that to much time had passed to just come back as if nothing had happened. I truly hope that we can start over and that you can forgive me for not contacting you. I admit I was a coward for not telling you what I was planning on doing to your face, but well after Sarah's death I just needed to get away."

"I think I can," Reid said after a minute of contemplation. "It is going to take time though for both of us to get back to the relationship we had before even if that's possible."

"Our relationship will be different then it was before, simply because a lot of time has passed and you are also not the young man I saw so much potential in when I was lecturing at the FBI Academy almost ten years ago now. You've really come into your own."

Suddenly they were joined by Frankie so similar in appearance to Spencer that it made Jason Gideon do a double take.

"Spence, the team is waiting for you and Aaron to join them, so that you can all go out to dinner together," Franklin said.

"Frankie, the man that looks like a stunned fish right now is my old mentor Jason Gideon, Gideon this is my half brother Franklin. I would like you to meet the rest of the family as well and you can if you come to dinner with everyone else."

Spencer shot his mentor his best puppy dog look and Gideon gave in with a chuckle. "Alright, fine, you are making me feeling incredibly guilty."

"That's the whole point," Hotch chuckled relaxing now that he knew that Gideon wasn't going to make his mate unhappy. "When he uses that look on me I can't help, but give into whatever he wants."

"It's nice to meet you," Franklin said politely shaking Gideon's hand. "We need to get going though."

"When did you regain contact with your father, discover that he had married again and have a family?" Gideon asked.

"About six months," Spencer answered.

"So you and your father have made up?" asked Gideon.

"I'll give you the full story later, but basically dad and I reconnected, because Frankie had leukemia and his parents, fraternal twin brother or three identical twin sisters were not a match."

"So he came to you as his last hope to save his son," Gideon summarized.

"Basically, yeah," Reid said.

"Franklin looks so much like you it is startling to say the least," said Gideon. "Despite the fact that his hair is still not the length or thickness it should be."

"Yes, well, he's still growing it back from where it fell out because of his leukemia and all the chemotherapy and radiation he had to go through," Spencer said. "It's only been six months after all and it didn't really start growing back until 3 months ago as it took awhile for his body to recover significantly from the chemotherapy."

"That's an understatement," Hotch chuckled putting an arm around Spencer's waist, which the other man accepted with obvious pleasure. "The first time I saw Frankie laying in a hospital bed it was almost like looking at Spencer's twin, albeit much younger, and also unhealthy thanks to the disease that was running rampant through his body, but still the similarities were startling."

"Do the other children look as much like Spencer as Franklin does?"

"No," Spencer answered immediately. "His brother has blond hair, although he looks like dad to and while his three sister's have dad's brown hair they got their mother's Lilah blue eyes and her basic facial features. In any case you'll see for yourself as soon as we get to the restaurant, as they will be there for dinner."

"So when do you two fly out?" asked Gideon.

"Tomorrow," Hotch answered. "Bright and early since it's such a long flight, so Spencer and I will be coming straight from dinner and heading straight to bed."

"Just because you'll be going to bed doesn't necessarily mean you'll be sleeping," Jason chuckled causing Spencer to turn a bright red as he immediately understood the double meaning behind his old mentor's words, while Hotch just smirked letting Gideon know that he had been correct. He tried not to think about two men having sex, especially not the man he considered a son and his old friend Hotch. He knew he was old fashioned, but he also knew that the pull of the bond between mates was irresistible, well it was unless you wanted to be driven insane from trying or commit suicide or both and he definitely didn't want that for either Hotch or Reid.

"Gideon!" Reid protested vehemently still blushing.

"What? It's perfectly natural, to have sex on your honeymoon," Gideon told his protege with a half smile as he watched Spencer blush an even brighter red. It was nice to see that some things hadn't changed and that his protege still blushed easily and he knew logically that it probably wouldn't since it was just a basic part of Spencer's personality.

The three of them reached their cars then, so Spencer didn't have a chance to answer as he was giving Gideon directions to the restaurant they were going to and Jason assured them that he would meet them there that they could talk more later.

~~~Hotch and Reid~~~

One year later

"Spencer this came for you," Hotch said hesitantly not sure if he should give his mate the envelope that was an official to invitation to his 20th high school reunion and Hotch was well aware of how Spencer felt about his years in high school, where he had been bullied, teased, knocked into lockers, had his head shoved into toilets, and even knocked down and trampled on. Hotch tried not to think about all his mate had been through as a child, because it just got him angry and made him want to find and pound the people responsible and do all the things to them that they had done to Spencer. He remembered Spencer telling him about how he had been tied to the goalpost at his school and teased and tortured for hours before they had gotten tired and left and even longer for Spencer had worked himself free. He hated to remind the man he adored of that awful time where he had never had the support that any child needed, except for the Bufords and occasionally his mother, who really did love her son despite her schizophrenia, be he didn't have a right to keep this from either and if he did and Spencer found out he would be rightfully upset and wonder what else had been kept from him in order to protect him. Spencer was strong enough to handle this and he would probably just throw it away and not want to go in order to not dredge all those painful memories to the surface and Hotch wouldn't be able to blame him if he did. Of course if they did go he would be having a few words with certain people even though he was aware that people could change in the twenty years it had been since Reid's senior class had graduated just like Larry Ramm had.

"What is it?" asked Reid as he came over and kissed Hotch's cheek and then taking the envelope from Hotch's hands.

Reid thought about the last year and how happy he had been ever since he and Hotch had officially mated. Oh he had been happy ever since he and Hotch had gotten together, but ever since the bonding ceremony where the two of them had shared their blood it was a totally different kind of happiness. He felt whole, ever since the two of them had mingled their blood with each others and it was if something had snapped into place in his soul. The two of them had decided at the last minute to do it that way instead of just having a regular wedding ceremony like they had been planning on originally even though Hotch wasn't a full Shifter, although he did have a lot of the blood. The exchanging of the blood was only part of the ceremony if two people were full Shifters. The other part of the ceremony for Shifters would have included them making love in their Shifter forms for that first time, although they could switch back to human after that or stay shifted if they wanted. Also a lot of Shifters made love out in the woods on their wedding night as the forest was very important to all Shifters since while they were human they also had the instincts of their animal counterpart, whether that was wolf, cat, fox or some other type of Shifter and all of them were forest dwellers.

Reid slit open the envelope that had the official mascot of his old high school in the left corner on the front along with his address and the address of the school.

Spencer already knew what it was before he slid the invitation out of the envelope, but he had gotten the exact same thing to his 10th high school union, not that he had gone as not only had they called on a case he had thrown the invitation away he had no intention of going just to be picked on and ridiculed. Of course he knew that people could change in a decade, just as Larry had, but that didn't mean that he wanted to go and possibly be bullied and also the team had needed him and he would rather help solve a case and put an unsub behind bars then to his high school reunion.

Spencer read the short invitation quickly and then looked up his expression unreadable although the anguish was there in his eyes and made Hotch take his mate into his arm's rubbing his back soothingly.

"If you don't want to go, we don't have to," Hotch said soothingly.

"What do you mean we?" asked Spencer looking up from where he had buried his head into Hotch's chest taking comfort in his mate's scent. Reading the invitation had brought up some bad memories that he hadn't been strong enough to deal with 10 years ago, but now that he was mated and he felt as if he could face those memories. The last invitation 10 years ago had caused him to have nightmares for several months before they had finally left him alone and he could see those nightmares returning with a vengeance. He often suffered from nightmares anyway as he knew Hotch did as well just because of the nature of their jobs, but those from his childhood tended to be more realistic somehow if that was possible, considering that he dreamed about some of the violent unsubs he and the team had caught.

"Well, if you go, I go with you," Hotch explained calmly, although their was anger simmering in his eyes as he did every time the subject of Reid's childhood came up. "I would still like to have a few words with your old classmates that were so cruel to you all those years ago. I realize that people change and it has been 20 years, but none of them ever apologized for making your life hell when you were a kid. Yes, I realize, that kids can be nasty and cruel and that you probably haven't run across any of them in the 20 years it's been since you graduated, well besides Larry, who did apologize, but still they could have done a lot of different things in order to make up for being so nasty and bullying a young boy who was probably smarter than all of them put together. Yes, we both know that teenagers in particular don't like somebody who shows off all the time, even if they don't mean to, but what they did to you…"

"I know, that you want to protect me, but in a way they made me the person I am today, someone who wanted to help people which is why I joined the FBI in the first place despite the fact I had so much trouble with the physical training. I guarantee you that not a single one of my old classmates will believe that I am an agent of the federal government even after I show them my badge, as they all know how unathletic I am and they won't believe that I passed the physical training, nor that the trainers were willing to waive the requirements in my case so that I could join the BAU, thanks to Gideon."

"I'm sure at least some of them have seen you on the news or in the newspaper," Hotch suggested.

"That's possible," Spencer admitted. "Still, I don't believe I'm going to go, just like I didn't when they had one a decade ago. I'm actually surprised they bothered to send me an invitation at all considering I wasn't exactly well liked among my classmates."

"That's an understatement," Hotch snorted derision clear in his tone, "you were more than disliked at least by some of the children you went to school with. The organizers probably just got the names of your graduating class from your year book or maybe school records."

"Yes, you're right, that's probably exactly what they did, " Spencer said, "We both know that people change, and who knows how much my old classmates have changed in 20 years, still I'm sure we'll catch a case and we won't be able to go, which is fine with me."

"I think we should go," Hotch said. "You need to face the people that bullied you so badly when you were a child and show them that despite what they did to you, you made something of your life. I'm sure at least some of them feel guilty for the way they treated you all those years ago and for those that don't well, as you know I can cut anyone down to size with a few sharp words. I can point out that some of the bullying you suffered would have been considered criminal behavior, which could have been tried in a court of law and only their young ages would have saved them from prison time. There are laws in place to protect children for a reason and although most bullying cannot be stopped, there is a major difference in pushing someone into a locker, then pushing someone deliberately until they fall to the floor to be trampled on by other students. Some bumping into other students is unavoidable in a very crowded high school, but there is a major difference, between an accident and someone who deliberately shoves you hard enough to fall and you know this."

"I do and I know you would like to have a few sharp words with some of my former classmates," Spencer admitted with a smile at that because he knew it was true. He also knew the only reason Hotch had never confronted Larry for his behavior as a child, was because they had been on a case that had involved that man's son and it wouldn't have been appropriate, but if they went to this reunion Hotch would be free to say whatever he wanted since he would be on his own time and not the government's and if Larry Ramm just happened to be there...well there was no telling what would happen, although Aaron probably wouldn't be as hard on him, simply because he had sincerely apologized for the way he had bullied him as a child, but as for the others well, they would wish that they had never bullied him in the first place or that they found a way to apologize years ago by the time his mate was done with them.

"I would love to see that," Spencer admitted kissing his lover on the lips gently and tenderly, which Hotch returned immediately. The two men kissed for a few minutes before breaking apart, although they still gently held each other. "You know me, normally I do not want to seek revenge for the wrong done me, but if you wanted to have a few sharp words with some of the people that bullied me so badly I wouldn't object, just so long as it doesn't go farther than that because I wouldn't want you to be in trouble if they decided to report you if you actually punched one of them."

"Then we should go so you can, but on the other hand if you don't really want to, then I won't say anything else about it and don't worry, I won't punch any of them, no matter the provocation or how I much feel they deserve it," Hotch promised.

"I'll think about it," Spencer said. "We have a little time as it isn't for two weeks and if I do decide to go and we could also spend a few hours with Frankie, perhaps taking him to lunch or an early dinner as the reunion doesn't start until seven. Also I'm not saying that some of them don't deserve to be punished for what they did to me, but if you did that they could report you and I wouldn't want to give Strauss a reason to separate us all to transfer you to another department. Besides, what happened me as a kid was two decades ago and I'm sure that most of my old classmates have turned into decent citizens."

"I am aware," Hotch told him kissing the stop of Spencer's head. "Normally I'm very good at controlling my emotions as you know, but when it comes to you and those that hurt you especially deliberately, well, it's harder for me to maintain that control. You know I've always been protective of you, but ever since we got together two years ago now that protectiveness has risen several notches."

"I was aware," Spencer told him with a smile. "I can certainly understand that protectiveness since I feel the same way. You are certainly more capable of protecting yourself then I am, but ever since we shared our blood, I feel very protective of you and I know you do of me to even more than you did before we did that."

"Why do you think that is?" asked Hotch who still didn't know that much about Shifter lore, although he had learned a great deal in the last couple years.

"Well…" Spencer said biting his thumbnail as he thought about it, his brilliant mind thinking rapidly through all Shane had told him as a young boy. "I remember Shane telling me right before I left for college that if I ever found my True Mate and we bonded by sharing our blood that the bond between us would be strengthened. I had actually forgotten that, until you asked that question a moment ago."

"You forget something?" Hotch teased causing Reid to laugh.

"Alright it just didn't occur to me then," Spencer admitted, "although it probably should have."

"Spencer, you are not perfect, despite your eidetic memory," Hotch told him gently. "We both always have a lot on our minds due to our jobs and you know something is bound to get forgotten in the shuffle, if not actually lost. So what else did Shane tell you about bonds between True Mates?"

"Well, he said that there could be other side effects when we shared our blood, all positive since love is the epitome of a True Mate bond so nothing negative or evil can interfere with it. Oh sure, two mates can separate, which only happens when one of them is not a Shifter, but nothing malignant or malevolent can interfere with the bond, and this is doubly true when a couple who are True Mates blood has been mingled. Why this is so not even Shane knew, just that it's part of the Shifter species. Shane told me that a lot about our species has been forgotten over time as a lot of it was never written down, or if it was those papers have turned to dust long ago."

"Well, a lot has been lost about human cultures to so that is not really all that unusual," Hotch said, "and although we store a lot of data on computer systems now that doesn't mean it can't still be lost if the system either crashes or is wiped."

"Yes, that's true, we'll never know everything there is to know about the Mayan or Aztec cultures for example since they became extinct centuries before computers were invented. Sure we can learn a lot due to the technology that has been developed to help study whatever artifacts are found at archaeological digs, but so much was lost, because we didn't have the technology in order to preserve all of their culture back when it became almost extinct and since Shifters have been around ever since the conception of the human race the same holds true for them, meaning certain things about our race, like so many others, has been lost in the mists of time."

"So what side effects can we expect and when will they develop?" asked Hotch.

"Well Shane said that a deeper the bond between True Mates is the more likely they are to be able to sense each other's feelings, although the distance is limited. In order for this particular trait to develop though the couple have to trust each other implicitly and has to have no doubts of their partner's loyalty, which isn't a problem for either of us."

"Definitely not," Hotch immediately agreed.

"In any case it usually takes around six months to a year for a mated couple to be able to sense each other's feelings, and we've been mated not quite a year so I expect we will begin to be able to sense each others feelings sometime in the next couple of months."

Hotch nodded as that made sense. "Actually I think I've started to be able to feel what you are even when you're not present in the same room. It's only happened a couple of times when you were feeling intensely strong emotion, extreme anger in one case. I knew the feelings were not mine and I suspected they came from you as no other reasonable explanation made sense, but you just confirmed it for me."

"When was this?" asked Spencer not admitting yet that he had been feeling some things too.

"Just last month when you were in interrogation with that rapist," Hotch said. "You didn't show anything in your body language or expression, but I felt a great surge of anger go through you as our unsub described exactly what he had done to those children."

"Yes, I was angry, as I did have to listen to Foster describe exactly how much he enjoyed torturing and raping those children before he killed them," Spencer said his expression grim as he had remembered that man's smirking expression. "That is the one part of my job I like the least."

"I can't blame you for that," Hotch said, "I don't like it anymore than you do. We both enjoy bringing those criminals to justice, but there are just parts of the job that we don't like and if we did then we should quit before we turned into people we didn't like when we looked in a mirror."

"I certainly enjoy bringing such people to justice," Spencer said. "Of course you already knew that. Why would either one of us have bothered to do what we do if we didn't truly care about people being taken advantage of? You could've stayed a federal prosecutor for instance if you had wanted to and me I could be somewhere making scads of money, but neither one of us would be truly happy with our lives if we did that."

"Both of us had crappy childhoods, and while a lot of people would turn into criminals of one sort or another others turn into people who want to stop that kind of thing," Hotch said. "It gives people like us empathy, and understanding of human nature."

"It does," Spencer agreed with a smile. "Of course a lot of people just want to forget about what happened to them as kids and just want to raise their children differently then how they were, while other continue the cycle of abuse that started with who knows how many generations of their family."

"While people like us, want to catch criminals, that do nasty and evil things not only do children, but to grown adults," Hotch said with a smirk, "although it is a cases with kids for the most part that bothers both of us the most."

"Yes, that's true, but jobs like ours sure are hell on marriages and serious relationships, just look at what happened to you and Haley and probably would have even if you hadn't known that I was your True Mate. Most spouses, won't put up with their husband or wife being gone for so many months of the year due to their job, but for so long before they have had enough. Most marriages just don't survive past a certain point, but with True Mates it is of course all together different at least if those mates are both Shifters, normally anyway."

Hotch knew that Spencer's last two words were meant to refer to their relationship and how he didn't have any doubts about his loyalty even though he wasn't a full Shifter. A lot of it had to do with the fact that Spencer was very intelligent and observant and had better instincts than most when he came to people in general, which is why he fit right in at the BAU. Also that they had known each other for seven years before they had gotten together as a couple, which also had a great deal to do with the reason his mate had no doubts that he would ever be able to leave him as they both knew that if either one of them did it would mean death for both of them as True Mates only felt completely whole when their other halves were nearby and to walk around with a hole in your chest where your mate's presence should be just wasn't possible for very long, which was why there were so many suicides when one mate left the other, although that only happened between a Shifter and a human or shaman mate, not two Shifters. Humans or shamans, only felt the connection to their mates very dimly, if at all and so it was often dismissed, by the person in question as nothing. That was not the case for either of them though.

"Some spouses do you put up with their husband or wife being gone, even if the percentage of that happening is pretty low."

"About 10.7%," Spencer said causing Hotch shake his head.

"Why did I know you would know the statistics?" asked Hotch with smile.

"Because you know I'm all about facts and figures," Spencer suggested also with a smile knowing he was being teased, not really minding.

"I do," Hotch said with another smile, "but back to the subject of your class reunion that's coming up in a couple weeks. I really believe that you should go and put at least some of that old anger at how you were bullied to rest and the only way to do that, is to confront the people that made your life such a misery through all your high school years. Sure you buried what happened to you into the depths of your subconscious, but I also know you had numerous, very realistic nightmares over the years about those years."

"We've all have had nightmares, it's just part of the price we pay for the work we do," said Spencer.

"But those nightmares are about your childhood and have nothing to do with your work at the BAU," Hotch pointed out.

"That's true," Spencer admitted somewhat reluctantly.

Hotch studied Spencer for a moment and then came to a startling conclusion. "Facing Larry Ramm in that case last year was a lot harder on you then I realized at that time wasn't it? He was the leader that bullied you so badly in high school after all and things that happen in childhood stay with us for the rest of lives and often affect us deeply, especially that kind of thing, which is why you are so reluctant to go to your 20th high school reunion. Not all scars are visible, some are on the inside and both of us have plenty of those."

"It was hard, and I should have admitted it back then, but it had to be done if I was going to lay at least some of my old ghost to rest," Spencer said.

"And you didn't tell me, why?" asked Hotch.

"You had other things on your mind and I didn't want to bring up my problems not when we had a case to solve and a child to find."

Hotch had to admit that Spencer had a good point, but also pointed out, "You should have mentioned it after the case was solved and we were back home."

"Yeah, I know, but by then it just didn't seem important," Spencer admitted. "My meeting with Larry Ramm for the first time in so many years went way better than I expected it to, so I wasn't lying about that, but afterwards it took me awhile to sort out the emotions that came with meeting my main antagonist after so many years."

"And I should've been there to help you do that and instead I didn't realize what you were going through, because I was so caught up in things," Hotch said looking upset more for the fact that he hadn't been there when Reid needed him then for the fact that Reid hadn't told him what he had been going through.

"Hey it's okay, I've been handling stuff like this by myself for years," Spencer said.

"But we are team now," Hotch told him seriously, "and from now on I want you tell me what you're feeling so that I can help you through it and I'll do the same. I know it will not be easy for either one of us, since we are used to dealing with our own problems by ourselves and we are both naturally self-contained, but neither one of us had each other before, not as a couple anyway and we need to learn to depend on each other for things like this."

"I'll try," Spencer promised.

"And I'll do the same, because really that's all we can do is try," Hotch promised.

The two were silent for awhile and Hotch gave Spencer plenty of time to think about what he'd said about going to his class reunion in a couple of weeks. It wouldn't be easy facing such a painful time in his life, Hotch knew but he would be there every step of the way for support and he would like for Spencer to truly put this part of the past behind him, instead of having it pop up in his dreams occasionally. As for himself he had put his past behind him a long time ago, but Spencer was different and less forgiving of what he saw as his own faults, even if they were all in his own mind and not real at all. Oh sure Reid had his faults, but so did he and everybody else on the face of the Earth, but he tended to blame himself for things that he had no control over, and also had a hard time dealing with things that had happened in his childhood, but then that was no surprise as down underneath the confidence he displayed on the job in quoting facts, statistics and figures when he was doing his job, was a very insecure little boy that had been shown very little affection by anyone, bullied, told he didn't belong and so many other things that had a detrimental effect on the psyche of anyone, whether child or adult.

"I'll do it,we'll go to my high school reunion in a couple of weeks, but only if we don't catch a major case as I won't leave the team hanging if they need us, not just for a class reunion."

Hotch let out a sigh, when Spencer said us and he knew that he had decided to go to the reunion and that the decision had not been easy.

"I'm proud of you," Hotch told Spencer giving him a hug. "I know from personal experience that it's never easy to face a part of your painful past."

Spencer knew this to be true because Hotch had told him a lot about his childhood and adulthood over the past couple of years and in it's own way Hotch's childhood had been just as abusive as his had been, just in a different way.

"I can face anything just as long as you are there," Spencer told Hotch sincerely meaning his words.

"I'll always be there when you need me," Hotch promised.

"I know and I'll always be there when you need me to," Reid promised.

~~~Hotch and Reid~~~

Two weeks later

"Well, here we are," Spencer said as he stepped out of his and Hotch's rental car in front of his old high school in Las Vegas.

It was 7 o'clock, and the sun was just beginning to go down and the place was lit up like it was the fourth of July as the outside lights were on in the front and Spencer could see the lights on through the doors of the school.

"You can do this," Hotch urged his mate, gently.

Spencer couldn't prevent himself from biting his lip nervously, which he almost never did. "Let's get going," Spencer finally said and begin to walk across the street towards the school.

Hotch knew that his mate had been dreading going to this high school reunion simply because of the bad memories associated with it, but he was proud that Reid had decided to go ahead and do it. He knew that much to Spencer's chagrin the team had not caught any major cases by the time it had been time for them to go and so he had kept his word and here they were.

"It probably won't be as bad as you believe it will be," Hotch said. "I know how difficult it is to change perceptions, especially those from childhood, but hopefully going to this class reunion will do that."

"I can hope," said Spencer in a neutral voice.

"If you get to be too uncomfortable we can leave as there is no rule that says we have to stay for the whole thing," Hotch suggested and Spencer brightened at that.

"That's an idea," Spencer said brightening immediately looking happier.

"And if anybody tries to bully you like they used to they'll have another thing coming," Hotch growled looking fiercely protective as the two of them strode into the school and Spencer led the way to the gym where the reunion was taking place.

"I can take care of myself," Spencer told Hotch as he gently rubbed his knuckles over his mate's cheek affectionately. "I'm not a helpless child anymore and I've learned since I joined the team how to stand up for myself, although I'm not usually very aggressive as you know, but this time I'll make an exception if one of my former classmates tries to bully me like they did when was a child. They'll find out that I am no longer the 11 or 12 year old boy that they knew 20 years ago if they do."

"And I'll be there to back if you up if need me," Hotch promised knowing intellectually anyway that this was really Reid's battle even if his alpha male instincts were screaming at him to protect what was his, but also knowing that Spencer needed to fight his own battles or he would never learn from the experience.

"And I appreciate it," Spencer said.

"You're welcome," Hotch told him with a rather grim smile. "I love you enough to allow you to fight your own battles even though I'll be there as backup if you need me."

"Thanks," Spencer said squeezing Hotch's hand in appreciation.

Both men fell silent as they entered the gym where the reunion was being held where they immediately ran into a wall of people and the noise in the room was extremely loud, as with the music blaring out of multiple speakers and at least a hundred people talking the sound was almost deafening.

Walking in to the gymnasium was like walking back in time as it was decorated like it was the 1980s all over again. There was 80s rock 'n roll blaring out of the speakers, and colorful streamers everywhere. Over on one side of the room was a buffet table and as you entered the south facing doors was another table with name tags that you picked up soon as you entered.

Spencer approached the table with the name tags and Cindy who was manning it looked up in surprise at first not recognizing the young man standing in front of her.

"Hello, Cindy," Spencer greeted with a half smile.

Hotch almost laughed out loud when he saw Cindy silently trying to identify who was standing in front of her and coming up blank.

"And you are?" asked Cindy. "You seem to know me, but I don't know you."

"I'm not surprised you don't remember me, since I was kind of invisible when I went to this high school years ago," Spencer told her, "well, except to certain people who liked to make my life miserable. Hi, it's nice to see you again, I'm Spencer Reid."

Cindy's jaw dropped in surprise and Hotch had a hard time containing his laughter, although his dark brown eyes did sparkle with mirth.

"You're Spencer?"

"Last time I checked," Spencer joked.

"You sure have grown up," Cindy said still looking stunned.

"Children do that, it has been 20 years," Spencer told Cindy as he grabbed two nametags and wrote his and Hotch's name on two of them. "Cindy, I'd like you to me Aaron Hotchner my partner," Spencer added introducing Cindy to Hotch. "Aaron, this is Cindy Matthews, and we were in the same year at school."

Aaron knew by the way Spencer had interacted with Cindy that she hadn't been one of those children that had bullied him so badly and so greeted her politely by shaking her hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you to," Cindy said trying not to visibly salivate at the tall darkly handsome man who was standing in front of her, but from the way that her old classmate had just introduced him the two men were apparently in a serious sexual relationship as she couldn't see anyone bringing someone who was their own sex to their class reunion unless that relationship was very serious.

Spencer smiled as he watched as Cindy introduced herself and almost visibly drooled over his mate. Aaron was a handsome man, but Spencer didn't have a single doubt about his loyalty to him and so he took it as a point of pride when women tried their best to get his attention all of which Hotch gently rebuffed. Spencer had to admit that Aaron had great skill at turning down woman most of the time without even hurting their feelings and Reid admired his mate's skill and wished it was one that he possessed even though he didn't have women trying their best to snag him like they did Hotch, well with a few exceptions.

Reid handed Hotch his name tag and then the two of them headed farther into the gymnasium Cindy watching them until they were out of sight with a wistful expression on her face thinking that some people had all the luck.

~~~Hotch and Reid~~~

"So how are you doing?" asked Hotch softly, but Spencer had no trouble hearing him even with all the loud music as the two of them were standing side by side and wolf Shifters also had excellent hearing.

"So far, I'm okay," Spencer said as he took a sip of his punch. "It's going much better than I expected it to, but of course we haven't run into any of the ones that were involved in bullying me either, at least not yet, although I don't expect that trend to last as the odds are against such a thing occurring."

"Would you like to dance?" asked Hotch observing of the other couples out on the dance floor. "It might help you relax."

"Maybe a little later," Spencer said.

Spencer knew exactly why his mate had suggested dancing and that was because he loved being in his lover's arms and didn't care who glared or stared at them as he tended to get lost in his own little world, as he felt so safe and protected with Aaron's arms around him and Hotch knew this. "I see the principal, right over there, so why don't we go say hello and I'll introduce you?"

"That's fine with me," said Hotch.

"I believe you'll like him, as he did his best to prevent bullying back when I went to school here, but he can't do everything as he's only one man," Spencer said. "Most children aren't bullied as badly as I was."

"And a lot of kids who are bullied fear they will not be believed," Hotch added quietly and Spencer nodded.

"Most children just don't want to create waves as that will just make the bullying worse and a lot more subtle," Spencer said by way of agreement. "Most choose just to put up with it as it were, so as not to give the bullies any further ammunition."

"I know the statistics, but I've always been astonished that not more deaths result from it," Hotch said shaking his head thinking as much as he loved his job it was still rather grim a lot of times.

"As if around 4,400 children committing suicide a year isn't enough," Spencer said, "and most of them are the result of serious bullying."

Aaron didn't have a chance to respond or either one of them have a chance to move away from the wall they were standing against as suddenly Spencer was approached by a large man who looked as if he could have been a football player at one time, but looked as if he had let his body go to seed as he had a bit of a belly and Hotch knew if it was necessary he would have no problem taking this guy down since he was in great physical shape thanks to his job.

"It can't be little Spencer Reid," the guy said.

"That's Dr. Reid to you, Albert," Spencer told the man, his tone neutral avoiding him as Albert tried to get him in a headlock like he had done on numerous occasions when the two of them had been children. "I will no longer be your punching bag like I was when I was a child, so I suggest you disappear and if you ever try to touch me again, well I know how to defend myself now thanks to the training I received at the FBI Academy at Quantico."

"You FBI? Why would they accept a runt like you? One that was never any good at sports?"

"He might not be athletic, but he has one of the most brilliant minds I have ever come across and the whole team at the Behavioral Analysis Unit respect him," Aaron said putting in his two cents worth, stepping to stand at his mate's side. "Spencer here has helped us solve hundreds of cases over his years with the unit."

"And just who are you? You didn't go to this high school or I would remember," Albert growled getting in Hotch's personal space hoping to intimidate him, which didn't work.

"I am Aaron Hotchner, unit chief, and Spencer's boss," Hotch growled menacingly, making it clear that he was not intimidated by Albert, but not specifically mentioning that he and Spencer were also mates, "and trust me it wasn't very good at his job he never would've been put into our unit, since we only accept the best. You and the other students who bullied him so badly, never appreciated him, you did your best to beat him down, but he proved you wrong and made something of his life. He could've gone into any career he chose, he could've been a millionaire by now, but thanks partly to the way you and other people treated him as a child he decided that he wanted to help people and make a true difference in the world."

"I've got this, Aaron," Spencer told his mate with a smile then turned back to Albert.

"I see sights every day in my work with the BAU that you wouldn't be able to handle," Spencer began bluntly forgoing his usual politeness. "I see mutilated bodies, that have been tortured in more ways than your imagination could possibly come up with. I've seen bodies that have been dismembered, in order to hide the evidence or to stop us from figuring out who they were. I've seen victims that have had acid thrown in their faces or used to eat away their fingerprints to make them much harder to identify. I've seen dead children who have been molested and raped and just because some pervert kidnaps them because he has these sick urges, then kills then once he has had his fill. I see children who survived the same treatment, but who will never be the same again. Really how could they considering that these sickos violate not only their prepubescent bodies, but mentally as well? I have been kidnapped and shot and come so close to dying and yet I still do what I do because despite the things that I see every day with my job that would make most people run for the hills, not having the fortitude or the guts or the stomach to handle it. It feels so good to help put the same criminals behind bars most of the time for the rest of their lives with no chance of parole. I have faced down some of the most vicious, cruel, evil people that the human race has ever produced and come out a better person for it, so if you really think that you're bullying is going to intimidate me like it did when I was a child, you need a serious reality check. As Aaron said I have made something of my life and have 3 PhDs and two BAs, all of which I use almost every day in my job and what have you done with your life in the last 20 years? Let's see you are obviously still the bully you were as a child, you've let yourself go, you are divorced because there is pale skin at the base of your ring finger while the rest of your hand is tanned, which means it was a fairly recent event. I can guess anyway that your wife left you because you are often drunk and more than likely knocked her around until finally she'd had enough."

Aaron watched as Spencer dissected the man in front of him with ease and was very proud of him.

"What gives you the right..." Albert began not seeming to realize that he was shouting.

"You came over here to pick a fight believing that you could intimidate and bully me and when you made that decision, no matter how poor a one it was, you gave me the right to defend myself. I wasn't the one that approached you after all."

Albert swung at Spencer who had been watching for it, ducked out of the way and because he was standing against a wall Albert's fist made contact and the force of the swing made the impact extremely painful.

"Ow, my hand, you broke it," Albert screamed out in pain clutching his hand.

"I did no such thing as it was you that took a swing at me and if you really thought I would just stand there and let you hit me then you definitely need a serious reality check. I usually don't need to repeat myself, because for one thing the people I work with are intelligent and don't need me too, but since you apparently didn't get the point before I'll tell you again that I am no longer the child that you can pound with impunity. I am now grown man, that will fight back because if my job has taught me anything it's how to stand up for myself, but I always have my friends on the team as backup when I need it, though they do let me fight my own battles. I do believe you at least cracked your wrist and probably broke a couple of fingers as I heard several cracks, so you might want to go to the hospital and get your hand checked," Spencer informed Albert calmly his tone neutral.

Albert looked up from where he was clutching his wrist and looked like he was about to attack Spencer again broken hand or not, but by this point they had been noticed by almost everyone that was in the gymnasium and one of the other men came forward and grabbed Albert around the shoulders.

"I wouldn't, Spencer is right as everyone here saw the whole thing and you came over here to specifically to try to bully him and in my opinion got what was coming to you. Did you really expect Spencer to be the same kid that you bullied so badly when he was only 11 or 12 at that time. The whole school knew about it, but we were children ourselves and didn't want to get involved. Sure we were older than Spencer was and therefore better able to protect ourselves, but we still should have protected him better, but children don't always make good decisions and some adults don't either. The teacher or the principal should've done something about it as he is not the only one that was bullied so badly, although he did tend to get the worst of it."

"You know that none of the teachers or the principal for that matter could do anything without evidence and Albert and the others were smart enough to never give him any and in a way we helped the bullies get away with it by not reporting it because we were afraid to," Spencer said quietly. "Silence is often taken as consent or permission even if it isn't meant that way."

"You've changed, Spencer, you never would have stood up to Albert years ago," observed a pretty blond haired woman.

"Yes, well as I was telling Albert, people change as they grow up, and it has been two decades," Spencer said calmly.

"I find it extremely hard to believe that you joined the FBI," sneered another, this time a man with black hair.

"Yes, well, none of you really knew me did you?" asked Spencer. "Did any of you really take the time to know me? No you'd rather pick on me or ignore me completely. Don't think I don't remember what happened 20 years ago, because I do—perfectly. Unlike the rest of you my eidetic memory won't give me the advantage of things fading over time so all the times I was pushed into lockers or shoved until I fell to the floor are clear as the day they happened. However, for the most part I have put those painful memories behind me as I see worse things every day in my job and the treatment I put up growing up pales into insignificance in comparison."

"So you want lying just to…" asked one lady with red hair looking sick now.

"No, Alice, I wasn't fibbing or stretching the truth," Spencer said his expression grim.

Alice looked startled at being addressed by name, Hotch who had been watching Spencer and the crowd closely ready to interfere if necessary noticed, which caused him to grin mentally.

"It takes a certain kind of person to be able to see the sites that I and the rest of the team do every day and a lot of people wouldn't be able to," Spencer answered. "In a way, the bullying I put up with as a child had a purpose, and that was at least to partly make me who I was, someone who wanted to catch people who hurt others. Someone who takes great pleasure in catching a pedophile, or someone who thinks it's okay to kill and mutilate someone just because they've had a bad childhood or psychotic break due to some tragedy. Of course those that have had psychotic breaks can't help themselves and mostly don't realize that is what happened or even heard of such a thing, but as for the rest of them, well they deserve what they get."

"I've seen you on the news or in the paper a few times," another man admitted, "along with him," he added pointing at Hotch "and several other people. I couldn't believe it when I recognized you even though as you said it's been 20 years and you do look different. I read the article and though your name wasn't mentioned specifically I still recognized you. All the article said was that the FBI had helped catch one of most prolific serial killers that has ever been discovered."

"Ah yes, I remember that," Spencer remembered his eyes going distant. "That was, just a couple years ago and the month was February."

"Spencer, was the one that finally tracked our killer down and figured out where he was holed up and thanks to his behind the scenes work Evan Wilder got the death penalty," Hotch added feeling it was finally time to enter the conversation.

"And just who are you? Bert did say that you were part of Wilder's capture."

"Aaron Hotchner, unit chief of the Behavioral Analysis Unit," Hotch introduced himself.

"And why are you here? I wouldn't think Spencer's boss would come with him to his class reunion," said another woman.

"Isn't it obvious why he came?" called another woman. "Spencer and him are romantically involved."

A lot of the people looked disgusted at the brown haired woman's words, not that that was to surprising since a lot of people were against gay or lesbian relationships.

"I did come to support Spencer, and although I'm usually much more diplomatic and polite when it comes to my job, here I am on my own time and so I am free to tell all of you that what a lot of you did to a young boy, is considered abuse and from what Spencer has told me if it had been reported could have landed whoever was responsible in a whole load of trouble with the law and probably landed them in juvenile detention. Most serial killers come from childhoods that are abusive in the extreme and although a lot of abused children turn out okay a percentage of them do not. Most serial killers murder only one sex and in their minds they are getting back at their abuser, whether that is their mother, their father, a stepparent, a grandparent or just someone they feel had teased or ridiculed them. A lot of geniuses can't help, but come off as know-it-alls, and yes most of them are bullied by their peers or even adults who don't even try to understand them and so many geniuses grow up friendless and alone, which can have a detrimental effect on the psyche of a person," Hotch lectured and saw a lot of people start to look guilty and chastened. "Yes, the two of us are together as a couple, not that that's any of your business, considering that not a single one of you were his friends when he was going to school here, so you definitely don't have the right to comment. I can very accurately guess just from what Spencer has told me that all of you just thought of him as this weird little kid who was way smarter then he should be, and who didn't deserve special privileges of skipping grades, so some of you took out all your anger, frustration and disgust on someone who had done nothing to deserve it other then be who he is, while the rest of you did nothing to stop it. Yes, I realize that as children you didn't want to get involved, but if he had just had one friend, someone who supported and helped him despite how he was being bullied…" Hotch trailed off glaring at every single person in the crowd, most of who immediately looked away as not many people could stand up to the SSA Hotchner glare for very long and some not at all. "Having at least one true friend who stuck by him through everything would have made a huge difference to a lonely child. Yes, I care about Spencer and I did even before we got together as more than just friends or coworkers or boss and subordinate. I know that children have a lot of pressures, the pressure to fit in no matter what, the pressure of doing well in school and getting good grades, the pressure of trying to stay under the radar so as not to be the target of bullies, the pressure of making friends or falling into a bad crowd. I was a child myself once and I haven't forgotten how tough it is to be one and it is simple fact that some children handle the pressures better than others, but in my opinion that is not an excuse for the excessive bullying that Spencer in particular endured. I have already admitted that I care about him and that I love him. Even before we got together, I cared about him as does the rest of the team as they consider him one of their own and would walk through anything to protect his back. Spencer usually doesn't talk much about his childhood since it wasn't exactly a good one was it? When he does though, well, let's just say that it's a good thing Morgan isn't here as he is likely to give the ones who hurt him so badly more than a piece of his mind, since he considers him a little brother."

Spencer who had been listening to this silently lips had twitched several times but he had let his mate say his piece because he felt that his former classmates more than deserved that at least.

"Well, you ought to be proud of yourselves, I don't think I've ever heard Aaron give such a long speech in all the years I've known him as he's usually a man of few words. He was extremely pissed when I did tell him about my treatment as a child by some of you, although I never named names which you should be happy about. He convinced me to come to this reunion to put some old ghosts to rest when I would have just thrown the invitation in the trash as I wasn't interested in seeing the same people who had made part of my childhood such a torment. He told me that I should come to this reunion to prove to the people who bullied me so badly that I have moved on and that I had made something of my life despite some people's best attempt to beat me down."

A lot of Spencer's former classmates looked guilty again as he was absolutely right that they hadn't done anything to help him even if that was just by being his friend and a confidant. They all knew that having a friend and someone to talk could help you get through a tragedy or some other major event in your life as sometimes you just needed a person to vent or to let out your frustrations to or for them to just listen.

"Why join the FBI when you could've gone into business for yourself I made tons of money," asked one guy not understanding. "I mean if it had been me and I had the brains to make millions that's what I would've done."

"Maybe that's what you would've done, but that's never been me," Spencer said simply. "Why have more money then you really need and be lonely and suspicious of everyone simply because they might be after it and trying to con you out of it? At least as a member of the FBI I'm doing some good in the world by putting unsubs behind bars."

"Unsub?" asked a female

"Unsub was a term coined by Jason Gideon who was unit chief before he retired and it stands for unknown subject and is what we call the criminals we catch until we know who they are," Spencer explained.

"Can we see your badge?" asked a female with blond curly hair. "None of us have ever seen a real FBI badge before."

"And you wouldn't have unless you had met a real FBI agent in the course of a case, whether that was as witnesses or suspects or in some cases both," Hotch smirked. "You never want to see an FBI agents badge because it means that you're going to be questioned either interrogated or interviewed depending if you're a witness or a suspect."

"Make sure you never get in enough trouble to have the FBI, especially the members of the BAU question you because you won't like being interrogated, which Aaron, Rossi, Emily and Morgan are very good at it. I've seen them breakdown suspects, that aren't normally the type that will confess to being murderers, no matter the pressure, even if the whole team know they are guilty," Spencer said. "I've seen all of them at one time or another break down some of the most vicious killers you can imagine and make them confess to their crimes."

"You're pretty good at it too," Hotch told Spencer.

"I find it hard to believe that Spencer has been able to break down suspects. I mean he was such a wimp when he was a kid and wouldn't even stand up for himself," said one male voice from the crowd.

"Oh he has, it just depends on the suspect of course as some just respond better to him then they do to the rest of us and if any of you ever call Spencer a wimp again considering all he has accomplished in his life you and I will be having words and you won't like what I have to say," Hotch told the man who had spoken, glaring at him before glaring at anyone else his eyes seething with anger. The man who had spoken lowered his eyes immediately as the emotions in the dark haired man's eyes promised severe pain if he dared make another derogatory comment. "Not every child wants to make waves and possibly get beaten up for it so really you have no right to talk. Besides people change as they grow up and gain experience. None of you have a right to say anything, because you didn't bother to help him when his head was being shoved into a toilet or he was being pushed from behind until he fell to the floor and then trampled on, now did you? Any of you?!" Hotch glared around at the crowd again and most of them immediately looked way. "Now I don't know who did these things and it's a good thing because then we would be having more than a few words. What those people did to Spencer as I said earlier could've landed them in a great deal of legal trouble and most likely in juvenile detention. Once you've been in juvenile detention that record follows you for the rest of your life and will stop you from getting certain types of jobs, especially ones in the government."

"Aaron, calm down," Spencer told his mate gently. "What happened was 20 years ago so in other words I've put the past behind me and no matter what certain people say it doesn't affect me like it would have when I was a kid."

Aaron struggled visibly to calm down as it wasn't often that he lost his temper to this degree, but the things that had been done to his mate as a child still made him so angry he could barely see straight.

"And you, Gary should be proud of yourself for the last time Aaron lost his temper this badly he was questioning a suspect who we believed had kidnapped a five-year-old boy and we were trying to find him before he died," Spencer said the words being said so sarcastically that nobody present could miss it, "but then saying what you think without your brain interfering has never been a problem for you, has it? You've always said exactly what you thought, no matter how much trouble it got you in and it is as if filter that most people have in their brains that at least makes them think about what they want to say before they do is not part of yours or if it it its it isn't working properly. If you were at all observant considering how this conversation has gone so far you would have known that Aaron was already pissed at certain people and how they treated me as a child and yet you go and say the worst possible thing that makes him even more pissed, which is quite the achievement since it has already been stated it takes a lot for him to truly lose his temper."

Gary opened his mouth as if to retort, but a lady who was probably his wife came up to him and said, "Give it a rest Gary, Spencer is right and you know it. You're the one that started the whole thing by opening your mouth and saying the most hateful thing you could think of. Now, I didn't go to this school, but from what I have heard tonight it is clear that Spencer was treated like a pariah just because he was so much younger and so intelligent as well and there is obviously still a lot of resentment about that even though it's been 20 years and I for one can hardly blame either Spencer or his partner for that resentment. The two of them have been right in everything they have said and if you've noticed Spencer hasn't lost his temper once even though he has every right to at least from what I've heard so far."

"What would be the point of losing my temper when it won't change peoples opinions?" asked Spencer thinking that he liked this woman that his old classmate was married too. "Humans are stubborn, opinionated and have tempers and a lot of them won't change their opinions even when they have evidence that they are wrong as they are to stubborn to change. You might be ready to ask me how I know this, well let's just say that being a part of the BAU means you have to know a lot about human nature how they think or will act in different situations. Really it is just noticing the behavior of a person, whether Shifters, Normals or shamans who usually react in certain ways depending on the situation and you have to know how they will react, which is what observation is for. Unlike most sciences behavioral analysis is still an imprecise one, but is still effective, since the BAU has a 96 percent success rate and we are learning more all the time as we actually interview serial killers to add to our knowledge, well the ones that agree to talk to us."

"Why don't we just dance as we came here to enjoy ourselves, not to argue with any of you. I will give you one warning however if anyone of you even thinks about making another nasty comment or trying to attack Spencer in anyway, well let's just say you will regret it. What some of you did to an 11 and 12 year old boy, well, I know how cruel kids can be to anyone they consider different, although most of them turn into decent adults, but the bullying that Spencer endured was far from what would be considered the norm for the usual crap that happens between children in school and would be considered more than excessive if it ever went to court," Hotch growled.

"We should have come to his defense," admitted the principal coming forward, "Unfortunately I couldn't really do anything without any hard evidence or at least a complaint."

"If there's one person whom I don't blame its you," Spencer told the older man, who looked at least in his late fifties. "I know how the systems works and I know you have to have at least a complaint before you can do anything, but as has already been said a lot of children just don't want to cause a scene and I was one of them. I survived and now I use my talents to help other's a lot who have childhoods that were worse then mine was, which is partly the cause of why so many people end up as rapist, serial killers and the like. I know I was lucky that that didn't happen to me."

"Luck has nothing to do with it," Hotch cut in. "You were too intelligent to turn out like some of the people we catch."

"Intelligence is only part of the equation," Spencer said. "There are other factors involved, environment, upbringing..."

"Relationships, like having friends," Hotch cut in glaring at the crowd.

"Well, he's very...protective of you," Principal Sayers said.

"He is," Spencer agreed with a little smile, "but then Aaron's always been protective of the team. You out of all the people in this school know that I am a Shifter and I never would have gotten involved in relationship with my boss if not for the fact that we are True Mates," he added quietly.

"Ah, that explains it," Sayers said in understanding. "It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too," Aaron said. "Spencer was just telling me that you were a good man and we were just coming over to talk to you when that confrontation took place."

"Yes, well most of the people that were in Spencer's class are good hardworking decent people, but just like in any school there were a few that chose to be bullies and the rest did nothing to stop it," Sayers said.

"Believe me, I know the statistics," Hotch said. "I know I shouldn't be angry at the whole school for what they did, not even at all of Spencer's graduating class, just the ones responsible, but I've always gotten upset over children being bullied for no real reason other then that they are different...well, let's just call it one of my pet peeves. I don't let it affect my job, but there would be a lot less criminals in the world if there were fewer bullies. It wouldn't solve every single problem we have with people who break the law, but it sure would lower the percentage of crime, since our studies show that a lot murderers and rapist and other criminals start out as being bullies."

"If we lived in a perfect world then the two of us would be out of jobs," Spencer joked causing Hotch to relax and laugh.

"Yes, there will always be at least some crime, as human beings just are not wired for a perfect utopia. We're to cussed ornery and muleheaded to get along with our neighbors, which is not an opinion I usually voice," Hotch agreed. "If everybody got along, there'd be no reason for cops, lawyers, the FBI, or any other law agency."

"That's extremely profound," Sayers said impressed thinking that his former student's mate was an intelligent man.

"Thank you, but I do work for the FBI, and you have to be extremely intelligent, especially when you work with the BAU, as they only accept the best. I was a federal prosecutor before I decided that wasn't for me and joined the bureau."

"I'm not aware of the requirement of getting into the BAU, as I've been keeping an electronic eye on Spencer ever since he graduated."

"Have you?" asked Spencer looking more amused, then upset.

"Well, I care about all my students, but there are some that have past through this school in the last 35 years that have been special," said Sayers. "I always knew that Spencer would be amazing and not just because of his high IQ or his eidetic memory, but because he never fought back no matter the provocation. Not when they taunted him, or when they physically bullied him and we both know that a lot of people wouldn't recognize Spencer's nonaction for what it was and would call him a lot of names that weren't true."

"Yes, I agree," Hotch said with a nod liking Principle Sayers.

"I'm glad, that Spencer found someone that he could be so relaxed and happy with as he was always so isolated when he went to this school as he had nobody to hang out with and he was just one of those people that didn't make friends easily."

"Well, that might've been true then, but now I have the six best friends anybody could ask for," Spencer said. "The team has been through just about everything together and we would all do almost anything to protect each other."

"All of them consider Spencer like a little brother or in David Rossi's case a favorite nephew," Hotch added.

"And you? I'm assuming you don't think of him like that," Sayers said.

"No, of course not," Hotch said getting the implication immediately. "The way I think of Spencer and the way the rest of the team think of him are two totally different things."

"And that's the way it should be," Sayers said with a smile. "Why don't the two of you go enjoy yourselves before this reunion is over completely. Spencer I'm glad you came as you weren't at the last one and I looked for you."

"Sorry, but I wasn't ready to face any of my old classmates back then as they hurt me not only physically, but emotionally as well and thanks to my eidetic memory I've never forgotten and in fact am incapable of it," Spencer admitted. "It was Aaron that urged me to come as I'm sure you heard me say earlier to put some of my old ghosts to rest and he was right as usual this was exactly what I needed and that was to confront the very same people who made my life such a misery until I went away to college at just 13."

"Just keep in mind despite how you were treated by your classmates you succeeded and I know that a lot of them are envious of you for what you have accomplished despite them," Sayers said. "I mean you have one of the most prestigious and toughest jobs in the world and most of them couldn't handle the pressures or the things that you see every day."

"I've been basically telling him the same thing ever since we got together just over two years ago now," Hotch said putting an arm around Spencer's waist and pulling him close to him.

Spencer didn't say anything just enjoyed being in Aaron's arms with his head on the other man's shoulder.

"Congratulations on your marriage, by the way," Sayers said as he had noticed the wedding rings.

"Thank you," Spencer said with a smile looking up at Aaron adoringly while Hotch leaned down and kissed the top of Spencer's head, thinking that he could never lose him for if he did it would destroy him, although he was well aware that he was ten years older and that he would likely die years before Spencer would, but hopefully not for decades.

Sayers watched this with a smile as it was nice to see his former student so relaxed and happy and although he had never guessed that Spencer would end up having a True Mate of the same sex he was, it warmed his heart to see one of the students that had truly touched it so content.

The three of them continued to chat for a few minutes before Aaron led Spencer onto the dance floor so they could dance for awhile before heading back to the hotel to get some sleep.

Hotch and Spencer danced for over an hour before going to get them some of the finger food that was available and then continued to dance ignoring the stares that some of Spencer's former classmates were shooting in their direction and just continued to dance the night away just concentrating on each other not caring what other people thought of two men being together.

~~~Hotch and Reid~~~

"What do you want?" Hotch almost snarled as a very pretty woman with dark hair came into their personal space the first one to besides the principal.

Hotch and Spencer were standing over by the buffet table eating from all the finger foods that was available while talking quietly. Hotch's posture was mostly relaxed, but his eyes kept flittering and about the hall daring anyone to approach them and most people got the message and gave them a wide berth. When this woman who was a few years older than Spencer had approached Hotch had simply glared and snarled at her as he didn't want his or Spencer's personal space invaded or their peace disturbed.

"Aaron, calm down," Spencer said, placing a hand on his mate's arm. "As you can see he's still mightily upset at the way you all treated me, some by just ignoring the situation, others by being the bullies."

"We were just kids," the woman said nearly pleadingly.

"That's no excuse," Hotch grumbled.

"Yes, it is some excuse and you know it, Aaron," Spencer said calmly. "Most children just want to fit in and you would know this if you would just calm down. I know you're very protective of me and I appreciate it, but that's no reason to take out your temper on an innocent bystander."

"Alright," Hotch said more calmly. "I'm sorry. I very rarely lose my temper, but as Spencer said I'm very protective of him and this was true even before the two of us got together."

"Actually I came over here to apologize for being one of those bystanders," the lady said looking genuinely remorseful.

"You're forgiven, Josie," Spencer said with a smile, "because I understand that kids don't want to interfere in case they bring the bully's attention onto them. I never fought back because I knew that would just make the bullying worse then it was and as I have already explained to everybody else at least partly made me what I am today."

"As if it wasn't bad enough," Hotch snorted still sounding rather sour.

"I'm afraid he's going to be upset about how I was treated as a child for quite some time and it takes a lot to get him upset," Spencer said apologetically.

"I can certainly understand that because when you truly deeply love someone and you learn about their childhood and that it wasn't what it could have been because someone treated them so cruelly before they met well I'm sure I'd would be upset to," Josie offered. "I can tell that he loves you, so of course he's pissed at the way you were so severely beaten up on regular basis when you were a child and the fact that nobody stepped in to help out by at least being a friend."

Hotch gave Josie a dry smile at that his eyes warming up slightly though he said nothing, realizing that at least one person did partially understand that what they had done all those years ago was wrong. Hotch well knew that most children didn't have the kind of compassion that they might later develop as adults and wouldn't want to be the target of the bullies anger and would have stayed out of it just for that reason. That didn't make it right of course, but it was human nature for people to not want to get involved in others problems and so were few and far between as humans seemed to be wired to protect themselves first and not help someone else, of course the same was true of Shifters and shamans as well. Sometimes it took you years and experience to develop a strong resolve and turn into a compassionate individual and to stand up to your principals.

"You're certainly braver then you other classmates who haven't given us a wide berth ever since our confrontation."

"Well, you can't really blame them as you can be very… intimidating," Josie said a little nervously causing both Spencer and Hotch to laugh heartily and Josie to relax.

"That's the understatement of the century," Spencer snorted. "He's developed intimidation into an art form, which comes in really handy in our jobs, especially in interrogating suspects. I only know of one person who can stand up to the way he glares at them for very long, which is usually only a few seconds, and that's David Rossi who was his mentor years ago, so I'm not really surprised that nobody else has been brave enough to invade our personal space."

"Hey it makes people back off, when they get too personal, or criminals almost wet themselves a lot of times, which means that usually tell me everything I want to know," Hotch admitted with a half smile. "Of course a lot of the criminals are tougher and still refuse to give information, but still the team usually manages to put the clues together and put them in prison for a very long time."

"I really do believe that a lot of former students do owe you an apology for at least not being there for you even if it was in secret so that the bullies didn't beat them up," Josie said.

"It would've been nice to have at least one friend at that time in my life," Spencer said wistfully. "However as I said earlier what I went through had a lot to do with how I turned out to be and who knows if I would have wanted to join the FBI if it wasn't for the way I was so severely bullied in both high school and college? If I hadn't joined the BAU and gone through the training, well Aaron and I never would've met and I would've gone through anything in order for that to occur. Well, I'm not going to dwell on what ifs, because it doesn't do any good to think about what could have have been. However, I'll always be grateful that my life took the path it did so that Aaron and I met and I don't give a damn if other people are disgusted with two men in a relationship."

"You've changed a lot," Josie observed Spencer smiled. "Years ago you would've got almost anything in order to avoid attracting attention."

"People change," Spencer told her, "and it has been 20 years."

"Besides he does tend to fade into the background whenever he goes out to a bar with Morgan," Hotch said. "He still not very good in social situations but then considering his upbringing that's not really surprising and he has improved even if he doesn't believe so."

Spencer blushed and glared at his lover who ignored him and finally Spencer gave in because he could never stay mad at Aaron Hotchner for very long and worse the man knew it.

The three of them continued to chat, but finally Hotch dragged Spencer out on the dance floor again and the two of them danced closely together ignoring the stares and managed to have a good time despite the way people avoided them as no one was as brave as Josie had been and actually approached, although both Hotch and Spencer did notice a few people stare at them almost wistfully probably thinking that they would love to be as close to their spouse as it was apparent that the two of them were.

~~~Hotch and Reid~~~

"You were right, I did need to go to my class reunion and confront the people that made my life such a misery, so I'm glad you made me confront my past," Spencer said as he and Hotch lay in their hotel room bed together. "I've managed to put quite a few old ghost to rest and hopefully I'll stop having nightmares about them."

"You should," Hotch said as he held his mate in his arms and Spencer for his part smuggled into Aaron's chest happy just to be near him and absorb his body heat, "but if you don't you know I'll be here to help you through them."

"It'll be a nice change," Reid said pensively. "I know I'll always have nightmares about the things I see on the job, but it will still be nice not to have them about my childhood anymore."

The two men were silent for awhile and then Hotch blurted out, "I think I finally decided to go through with it."

"With what?" asked Spencer momentarily confused and then remember a conversation that he and Aaron had had over a year ago now. "You decided to go through the blood transfusion, that will possibly give you the ability to shift shape?"

"Yes, I've been thinking about it quite a bit over the last year ever since you mentioned the possibility," Hotch said, "and I just finally decided that it would be worth doing. It's only a blood transfusion after all not a major operation. They will of course, have to take an equal amount of blood, but that's okay too as they can use it for people who really need it."

"So when do you want to do it?" Reid asked eagerly.

"Eager aren't you?" Hotch teased him.

"Well, just because I'm pretty sure that the blood transfusion from a full Shifter will give you the ability to do the same, doesn't mean that I'm not eager to see if it will work or not," Spencer explained with an excited glint in his golden brown eyes. "Giving a person that already has a great deal of Shifter blood, enough to have traits that are exclusive to Shifters a transfusion, so that they will be able to shift shape is still iffy at best even if it's worked a dozen times. I'm nearly 90% positive that it will work on you, considering that you felt the pull of the mating bond among other things, but that kind of thing is never a hundred percent certain. The last Shifter in your family was your grandfather and he was also a wolf Shifter just like I am, so it's pretty amazing that you have the enhanced sense of smell and hearing, along with the mating gene that wolf Shifters possess, being active instead of either inactive or nonexistent actually all Shifters, to various degrees."

"I understood what you mean," Hotch said with a smile in his voice.

Spencer was glad that he and Aaron knew each other so well, that they could understand what the other meant most of the time. Sure, the two still argued, sometimes, all couples did whether or not they were mated or knew each other extremely well, but for the most part they got along without arguing, which Spencer was glad.

"So when do you want to do it?" asked Spencer with eagerness in his voice. "I'm really looking forward to being able to transform with you, to run beneath the trees, preferably beneath the full moon.

"As soon as possible," Hotch said. "I would like to try it sometime in the next month or so. I won't even have to leave the team shorthanded for very long, since it's only a blood transfusion after all. I am also looking forward to being out change shape like my grandfather did as he used to tell me stories, when I was a young boy."

"What about your brother? Do you think he has enough Shifter blood in order to change shape with a blood transfusion?" asked Spencer.

"I don't really know," Hotch admitted, "but considering that I probably can shift once I get that blood transfusion he likely has that ability as well. However, as far as I know he never wanted to be a Shifter. Sure he listened to our grandfather stories, but never seemed as fascinated by them as I did back when I was young and you know that I'm not usually the romantic type at all or one given a good fantasy, but grandpa's stories kind of just..."

"But your grandfather stories made you aware of a place in your heart where you would really like to be able to change to run beneath the moon, one you weren't aware existed until then."

"That's it exactly," Hotch said, unsurprised that Spencer had described accurately how he had felt when he had been a child listening to his grandfather's stories. "I never imagined though that my dreams would actually come true, not in this case."

"Well, we don't know that they will," Spencer said cautiously. "However there is a very good chance."

"Well, if it doesn't work, at least I can't say that I didn't try," Hotch said, "Of course I never would have known about the possibility if you hadn't told me it was possible, so I'm at least going to give it a try and if it doesn't work then that's okay to. I might be a little bit disappointed, that I can't change like my grandfather or you, but I'm basically happy with myself the way I am."

"So am I," Spencer promised him silkily causing Hotch's mouth to go dry and his cock to twitch in interest. "You being able to change and run with me would be just a nice added bonus, but is not really necessary."

Hotch begin to kiss the side of his mate's neck and Spencer immediately respond, by tilting his head to give his mate better access.

"That feels so good," Spencer moaned.

"I can do better," Hotch promised him with a soft growl.

"Go right ahead," Spencer said already panting anticipation.

Hotch easily flipped Spencer over until he was laying on the other side of the bed on his back and was instantly on top of him.

"I love you so much, Spencer and I'll shall never stop," Hotch told him softly.

"I love you too," Spencer promised leaning up just enough to kiss Hotch passionately on the lips. "You are part of me and there is no way that I could ever leave you as it would destroy me."

"I know it," Hotch promised him, "and believe me I feel the same way. We belong to each other no one else."

"Now that's something I can definitely agree on," Spencer panted as Hotch continued to suck on his nipples and nip, kiss and lick think him all over.

After that there was no more talking just sounds of pleasure as the two of them made love gently and tenderly.

~~~Hotch and Reid~~~

"Ready? Spencer asked his mate eagerly.

The two of them stood completely naked beneath the trees.

Hotch had indeed gone in for the transfusion of Shifter blood and had only taken a few hours in order to do it, although Hotch was made to sign all sorts of paperwork that said the hospital wasn't responsible if it didn't work and that they would not be sued. The transfusion was no danger to his life as the blood was tested to make sure it was clean of any diseases, however even though it had worked on a dozen patients before it still didn't work very often just on those rare individuals that had enough Shifter blood from their family that all they needed was a transfusion, ones that a lot of times had the enhanced sense of smell and hearing or some other sense depending on species to make it possible. Spencer wasn't sure if this was the first time that somebody who was not a shifter actually had an active mating gene had then been turned into one, not that it mattered.

The two of them stood in their own backyard as they had finally found a house that had a forest close by and although it was about half an hour driving time going into work some Hotch and Spencer felt it was worth it. They had finally found a house in a neighborhood that had several other shifter couples, where the neighbors were friendly, even those who weren't shifters although they still hadn't met all their neighbors since they were gone so much, but the ones they had were nice and didn't seem to care they were two men in an obvious relationship or at least the ones they had met so far.

"More than ready," Hotch agreed eagerly. Hotch knew that he had rarely felt this eager in his entire life for he wasn't usually the type to get eager or excited, however he had always wanted to be able to shift and like his grandfather and that made a difference.

"All right," Spencer said trying his best not to look at his mate's naked body as it immediately had him salivating and he needed to concentrate here. "I have already described the process to you, not to mention that you've seen me shift on numerous occasions by now so why don't you give it a try?"

Hotch nodded and closed his eyes remembering what Spencer had told him and what he had seen for himself, when his mate shifted.

Concentration for him wasn't a problem since he was used to concentrating, blocking everything else out, except the current task, when he and the team were trying to catch their current unsub.

Slowly, at first, he could feel the change come over him, he felt itching as his fur grew in and then his bones seemed to melt painlessly and reshape themselves, his joints in particular and his mouth and nose turned into a snout. Suddenly he fell to his hands and knees and the rest of his body changed swiftly until he was a great black wolf that was much larger and had a broader deeper chest then Spencer's wolf form. Spencer's wolf form was made for running and therefore he was a lot less muscular and his chest less broad then the black wolf standing in front of his mate. There was no way that he Aaron Hotchner would ever be able to match his mate in speed, as Reid in his wolf form could run like the wind and maintain it for a long time, but it did have some advantages like being able to bring down a deer and make the kill and also face off other wolves and probably win due to his sheer bulk.

"Aaron, you're beautiful," Spencer said getting down on his knees and running a hand through the sheer black fur on his mate's back. "You're absolutely breathtaking you know that?"

Hotch barked at him and Spencer laughed hearing the irritation in his tone.

Spencer stayed where he was but his form changed swiftly and within seconds a smaller brown wolf was standing in front of the black one.

The brown wolf looked off into the forest and then back at Hotch who immediately understood what his mate was trying to say. The brown wolf's body language was eager and Hotch translated this without any trouble, once he allowed the wolf in him to take over.

Hotch took a few steps towards the trees Spencer matching his pace and soon the two of them were racing through the trees with their tongues hanging out and the wind in their fur.

Finally they came upon a meadow and both of them collapsed to the ground panting heavily.

Slowly the two of them transformed not caring that they were buck naked since nobody was around to see them and as soon as they were human again both collapsed on their backs and stared up at the sky.

"That was the most exhilarating thing I've done in my life," Hotch said as soon as he had gotten his breath back. "It could quickly become my favorite things to do."

"Even making love?" Spencer asked his eyes twinkling mischievously.

"Well, no, not quite that good," Hotch admitted immediately and completely honestly. "It comes pretty close to that, but no it doesn't quite pass us making love as my favorite thing to do, as fucking you senseless will always top everything else. Still I'd like to do this again as often as our very busy schedules allow. I can definitely see why you enjoy transforming so much and going for a run when you have a few free minutes."

"Yeah, it's always something I enjoyed doing," Spencer admitted. "Not that I got to do it all that often once I started my job at the BAU since we're always so busy."

"We'll just have to make time," Hotch said, "as we do deserve a life outside of work no matter what Strauss thinks."

The two of them were silent and then finally both sat up. "I suppose we had better get dressed and everything," Spencer said reluctantly.

"Why?" Hotch asked lazily. "We don't really have to going to work until Monday and it's only Saturday. I don't see why we can't stay out here for the rest of the night if we want to."

"Yes, that's true enough," Spencer admitted as he rolled over until he was cuddled into his mate's warmth. "Still it'll get cold now if we stay out here too long so just better to head back to the house."

"I suppose," Hotch said.

"We can do this again sometime soon," Spencer said, "In between everything else we have going on. Now that we know you can change and you don't have any trouble doing it at least from what I could tell..."

"No, I didn't, it just seemed natural," Hotch admitted, "although the fur does itch like crazy coming in."

Spencer made a face at that. "Yes, it does but at least it doesn't hurt to change shape, which means that shifters won't mind changing as often as they like."

The two fell silent again and cuddled together, but finally Hotch sat up, Spencer immediately doing the same.

"We could stay out here all night, but you're right it will get cold later and while we could sleep out here in our wolf form, I for one prefer to sleep in a bed."

"Oh yes, I agree as much as I love running in my wolf I still prefer to sleep in my own bed and not out in the woods," Spencer said. "It's certainly bound to be easier to make love in a nice comfortable bed then out in the forest."

"More comfortable anyway," Hotch said.

Spencer and Hotch started to walk towards the edge of the forest holding hands the entire way and once they had reached it they reached up to retrieve their clothes where they had left them high on a branch in order to protect them from wild animals.

"I can see us doing this as often as time allows," Hotch said as he got dressed. "I mean I did tell you I have been having dreams about running beneath the moon and it was everything I dreamed about and more. It felt…so freeing, to just transform and forget all my worries or cares as a man and simply run with you, my mate."

"Yes, I agree," Spencer said with a nod as he got into his own clothes. "In my wolf form I can just let go of all my cares, my worries, my concerns and simply run until I'm to tired to do so anymore. I used to sleep better when I had time for a run, but a lot of times I just didn't. Of course ever since we got together nicely better and I certainly have fewer nightmares, although I still have some as you know."

"I certainly do and I'm sure the rest of the team does to," Hotch said with a nod. "Now though I have plans for us for the rest of the night and they don't include talking hardly any at all."

Spencer blushed knowing immediately what his mate was implying.

"Is that all you ever think about? Having sex?" asked Spencer.

Hotch gave his mate a heated look causing Spencer to blush again and to feel an intense heat travel rapidly to his groin

"When it comes to you? Absolutely!" Hotch said with a smirk. "I told you more than once that I want you all the time, practically every second of every day."

Spencer blushed for the third time, but was looking forward to making love with the man he adored.

"We had better get inside then and see that our libidos are satisfied."

"And how long do you think that will take?" asked Hotch with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh decades," Spencer said causally. "I shall want you in that way until the day one of us dies, which I'm hoping will be at least 50 years, although certainly won't object to more than that."

"I feel the exact same way," Hotch told Spencer softly kissing him on the lips passionately.

The two men finished getting dressed and then headed inside hand in hand to make wild passionate love for the rest of the weekend with only time taken out for necessary activities such as food and sleep planning to stay in bed as much as possible until work beckoned them come Monday.