"Spencer," Hotch said softly as he kissed his mate on the lips waking him up gently.
"Hmm," Spencer murmured not even half awake snuggling even farther into Hotch's shoulder.
"Spencer come on, time to get up, the plane is going to land in just a few minutes," Hotch tried again.
"Man he really doesn't like to wake up does he?" asked Emily with a grin as she watched Hotch try to gently wake up his lover.
"He's never been a morning person," Hotch confirmed with a slight smile playing on his lips as he shook his lover's shoulder gently trying to get him to wake up. "He hates getting out of bed and likes to sleep in until someone forces him to get up or he's good and ready to rise for the day. If he is forced to get up most of the time it takes at least 3 cups of coffee to fully wake up."
"Come on, Spencer," Hotch said again and heard groan from Spencer, which told everyone that he was starting to wake up. "You need to rise and shine because we're going to land in just a few minutes."
"Alright, alright, I'm up," Spencer said opening his eyes, then yawning and stretching his tall lanky frame. "I didn't mean to fall asleep actually, so did I miss anything important while I was taking my nap?"
"No, not really," Hotch said putting his arm around Spencer's shoulder. "Besides you probably needed the sleep since I know you don't sleep as well when I'm gone."
"Probably," Spencer said yawning again blinking rapidly, trying to get the grit from his eyes and also trying his best to wake up completely.
"I didn't know that you didn't sleep well, when Hotch was gone," JJ said not having known this about the man she considered a younger brother.
"It's not exactly a state secret it just never came up," Spencer told her yawning again behind his hand. "I used to sleep fine before I met Aaron, but now I'm not used to sleeping alone, so now I have trouble actually going to sleep when I'm by myself and I tend to sleep more lightly. I think its the fact that his body heat is missing and also because I don't have him to cuddle against."
"I'm not really surprised," Rossi said looking at Spencer and Hotch thoughtfully.
"Why?" asked Hotch with a raised eyebrow.
"Because you two are really attuned to each other I guess you could say. I've seen a lot of things in my long life, but I've never seen a bond as deep as yours. I mean it is a rare person indeed that would put up with your work schedule since you're gone at least four or five months every year solving cases. For the most part I think people with our jobs are bad bets as spouses, because of how we are gone all the time and most husbands and wives would never put up with your work schedule and would demand more attention then you have time to give, but you and Spencer have managed to maintain a harmonious and happy relationship despite the fact that you're gone so much of the time, which I find truly amazing."
"You do have a point," Hotch conceded and Spencer who had also been listening to the conversation nodded in agreement, giving Aaron's hand a squeeze of affection and had it immediately returned.
Neither Spencer or Hotch bothered mentioning the soulmate link that was between them, not that the team would believe it except for maybe Morgan since he knew about magic, not that either intended on mentioning it since it was a very private thing that no one else, but them needed to know about not even those they were exceptionally close to.
"I know it helps that Spencer understands your work and you can discuss cases with him and he's even able to give you insights into them," Rossi added after a moment of thought.
"And it also helps that Spencer can travel with us or come by himself to whatever city we're in at the time and so he sees Hotch more often then he would otherwise," JJ pointed out.
"True enough," Rossi said, "and I know that helps as well. The point I'm trying to make though is that I just find it amazing that you two have managed to maintain your relationship and become so close as you are as our kind of work wrecks havoc on love lives and families. It's just very rare indeed to find someone that will put up with it was the point I was trying to make."
"I see what you're saying, Rossi," Spencer said speaking up as he had been silent for the last few minutes. "And I have to admit that you have made some very good points and you're right it does take someone with extraordinary patience to put up with the kind of work schedule that Aaron has, but that is one of my best traits as I have patience in abundance. Besides when you really love someone, truly and deeply love them, you are willing to put up with a few minor inconveniences. Yes, your guys work schedule can be a pain in the ass, but as you said the bond between us will last through just about anything, except for the betrayal by one of us."
"Which will never happen," Hotch said empathically speaking for the first time in quite awhile, although he had been listening intently to the conversation.
"I agree," Spencer said with a firm nod giving Aaron's hand a squeeze, "It will never happen and so that means that nothing will be able to break our bond."
"Don't you ever get jealous when some of the women that we encounter on our cases try to get his attention?" asked Morgan sounding genuinely curious.
"Not really," Spencer said shaking his head negatively. "If I had any doubts about Aaron's loyalty to me then yes, I would be insanely jealous, but since he always tells me as soon as he is aware of some female that is trying to get his attention, I have no reason to be jealous because he wouldn't have to say anything at all if he was really interested in those females that try their best to seduce him. Besides if you could hear how annoyed he was with some of those women chasing him, even after he turns them down flat, then you would know that they piss him off more than just a little. You can't fake that kind of emotion, at least not well enough to fool somebody who knows how to read people and as you guys have commented on more than one occasion I would make a fairly good profiler, so I would know just as Aaron would if we cheated on each other. My love for Aaron really defies description as most people don't love except very shallowly, which is why they're willing to abandon their boyfriend, girlfriend or spouse if things get complicated and leave for supposedly greener pastures."
"You meant to say, Spencer, that 'our' love defies description not just 'your' love," Hotch corrected with a smile for his lover.
"I stand corrected," Spencer grinned up at him his golden brown eyes sparkling with delight and love.
"You two really have something special," Morgan said his tone awed with a smile on his face.
"Are you just now figuring that out, Morgan?" Emily snarked at her teammate who mock glared at her. "I've known forever that the two of them have something truly and likely uniquely special."
"Yes, Morgan we do indeed have something special," Spencer agreed and Hotch nodded as he kissed the top of his mate's head and smiled down at him. Neither man was shy about showing affection in front of the team, since they all accepted their relationship and didn't think there was really anything strange about it. When they worked together though it was different and Spencer always made sure to call Aaron, Hotch just like the rest of the team and they made sure that they never touched intimately in anyway while they were around strangers, like the police since they were trying to catch an unsub and needed to concentrate their attention on doing that. When they were working together their relationship took a backseat to doing their jobs.
"So what are you planning on doing while the rest of us are trying to catch this unsub?" asked JJ.
"Well, I'll visit my mother like I said earlier, probably tomorrow," Spencer said, "after that, maybe I'll visit some of the museums and see what kind of new exhibits they have up since the last time I was there, since it's been several years. Whenever you're done working on the case for the night, if it's not too late maybe Aaron and I can go out to dinner for our wedding anniversary, but if it is we can put it off for a few days, until we have some breathing space."
"We'll see how it goes," Hotch said knowing that he couldn't promise since he had no idea what the team would be doing at dinner time tonight.
"You sure are accommodating," Emily said with a grin. "Most females I know would be upset if they didn't have their anniversary on the correct day."
"Some of the males too," Rossi commented as he knew several males like that.
"The difference you have to realize though is that neither Aaron or I have ever forgotten our anniversary it just might not be convenient to celebrate it on the proper day," Spencer pointed out logically. "If Aaron actually forgot and didn't wish me a happy anniversary then I would be hurt, but in the ten years we've been married he's never forgotten—not once."
Spencer didn't bother to mention that since his memory was perfect he often reminded Aaron the day before that it was their anniversary the next day as he knew that his lover often had a lot on his mind. "You should know by now I'm a simple man with simple taste, so dinner at a fancy restaurant while nice is not strictly necessary."
"You don't like to be wined and dined?" Morgan asked with a grin and Spencer knew that he was teasing.
"Sure, who doesn't," Spencer answered returning the grin. "Sometimes I'm the one that makes a reservation for dinner at a restaurant when I know Aaron is going to be free, like on a weekend and sometimes he does. We do a lot of little things together that help us maintain our relationship. We often sit in the den or the living room cuddled together watching TV, reading books or even discussing case files. Unlike most couples we actually talk about our day, how things went during it and actually listen when we do. Neither of us keeps our negative feelings bottled up as that isn't healthy and so we allow the other to rant if there something in particular that is bothering them. Like I heard all about Erin Strauss and how annoying she was before she died for example. When one of us needs to vent they are allowed to let out all their frustrations by ranting at the other person. When this happens we realize that all the yelling is not directed at us, but for the person that has so upset or frustrated us. Allowing one of us to vent to the other one when we need to is one of the things that has helped us maintain our relationship because we don't keep all our frustrations bottled up inside until we explode and hurt the person that we love the most."
"Wow, I don't think I could take anybody ranting and yelling at me even if I knew it wasn't directed my way," Emily said, looking impressed.
"If you truly love someone then you are willing to be yelled at occasionally, especially because you know it isn't really directed at you, but at the person you're frustrated or angry at," Hotch said with a small smile as he remembered how he had ranted at Spencer more than once over the years about the frustrations of his job and sometimes about a particular person. Doing so though had helped him release those frustrations and allowed him to relax and the lovemaking afterwards was always truly inspired and spectacular. "We both agreed early in our relationship that if we needed to vent we would be allowed to do so and that neither of us would take offense because we both know that it is not good to bottle up negative feelings and both of us tend to do that or at least that's our natural inclination. We both had to learn how to communicate and also how to listen to the other person vent their frustrations and then talk it out afterwards, but we both cared and loved each other enough to learn how to help the other, even though it was a slow process. We've gotten to the point now though that if one of us is frustrated or angry at someone or something all we have to do is read their body language to know that they need to vent," Hotch explained.
"This was a necessity in order to maintain our relationship and not start to resent the other and this is especially true for Aaron since he is the one that has the highly stressful job," Spencer added. "By allowing him to vent to me it stops him from exploding at work for example or doing himself damage by keeping his feelings all bottled up. The higher your stress levels you know the more chance you're going to have some sort of medical problems later in life, like strokes or heart attacks just to name a couple."
"So you're kind of his relief valve so to speak," JJ suggested.
"Exactly," Spencer said with a grin. "He's mine too when I occasionally get frustrated or angry, although it doesn't happen too often, since I don't have a highly stressful job. Neither one of us takes offense when it happens because we know it isn't directed at us."
"Spencer, is an excellent therapist," Hotch said kissing the younger man on the cheek. "He knows how to get me to release my frustrations so that I can relax."
"I see now how you've been able to maintain such a close bond," Rossi observed smiling at the pair. "Most couples don't seem to feel the need to discuss their day with each other, which is why so many relationships break apart after awhile. Also a lot of them don't do little things together or spend a great deal of time together like you do. You both go out of your way to keep the romance in your marriage, which is why you've been able to maintain it for 10 years now and 2 years before that despite Aaron's extremely stressful, time-consuming job. A lot of people become so consumed in their everyday lives that they forget that a relationship, especially a marriage takes work in order to maintain."
"It also takes compromise and a lot of couples aren't willing to do that, which is also why their relationships fall apart," Hotch said.
"We could all learn from your example," Emily suggested with a grin, "if any of us ever get into a serious relationship that is."
The conversation ended there as the plane touched down just then and it wasn't long before they were all disembarking and heading to the cars that were waiting for them to head to the hotel that Garcia had gotten them reservations at.
~~~Hotch and Reid~~~
"Spencer!" Diana Reid exclaimed as he walked into the room where there were quite a few patients sitting during various activates, like reading, playing checkers and the like.
"Hi mom," Spencer said as he strode across the room and hugged his mother tightly. "How have you been?" asked Spencer he sat down beside her on the couch where she had been reading a book.
"I've been doing fine, son," Diana replied as she studied a son who looked happy and healthy she was glad to see. "So how are you and your Aaron doing?"
Diana had been against her son's relationship with Aaron and not because he was a man, but because he worked for the government and she didn't trust the government and considered them all fascists. In the last few years though she had seen that her son was truly happy with him and found that Aaron was intelligent, compassionate, loving, commanding man that truly loved her son and so she had accepted him. The one thing Spencer had always had trouble with was finding people that would accept him for who he was and didn't go out of their way to make fun of him or put him down because of his profound intelligence, clumsiness, or for a variety of other stupid reasons.
"We're doing just fine, mom," Spencer told her sincerely, "and in fact I traveled up here on the FBI's private jet, because Aaron and the team got called a case and I came with them just to spend time with him and to see you when I learned that the were coming to my hometown."
"How are Lochlan and Landon?" asked Diana, "and why didn't they come with you?"
"They're just fine, mom," Spencer assured her as he removed a recent photo of his sons from his wallet. "There go to boarding school if you remember and they don't get out until June. Besides even if they weren't in school, they wouldn't have been able to travel on the FBI's private jet as the only reason I can is because I'm a consultant and so have the clearance."
Diana nodded grudgingly as she studied the photo and thought that her twin grandsons looked exactly alike and that they were growing up way too fast as they were already 14 if she remembered correctly and before long they'd be going off to college and then getting married and having children of their own.
"They are turning into handsome young men," Diana said finally as she handed the photo back to Spencer.
"Why don't you keep that," Spencer suggested. "It's current as it was just taken last summer."
"Thank you, Spencer," Diana told her son leaning over and kissing his cheek.
"You're welcome," Spencer assured his mother. "I have plenty of other photos at home that are recent and I can send you a couple if you'd like to put on your nightstand."
"I would like that," Diana said. "So does your father know about his grandsons?"
"No," Spencer said calmly, but with fire in his eyes, "and if I have my way he's never going to find out at least not before they're of legal age and not even then if I have my way."
Diana thought that it was a shame that her ex-husband didn't know his grandsons, but she could certainly understand why Spencer didn't want to introduce them to him after all he had abandoned her and his own son just because Spencer had turned out to be extremely intelligent instead of athletic and also because of her schizophrenia. Diana figuratively shook her head and thought that her husband was a fool instead of accepting his son and praising his son's academic accomplishments he had left when Spencer was just ten. You could never tell exactly how a child was going to turn out when they were born and she knew that William had been disappointed that Spencer hadn't turned out to be more like him.
She supposed that William would never get to know his grandsons because there was no way that Spencer would ever trust his sons in the presence of his father who had many faults including being callous and leaving her and a ten year old boy to fend for themselves probably hoping that they would quietly disappear so that he would never have to worry about them again.
She was sure that William hadn't counted on them surviving, but thanks to Spencer's intelligence they had. It had been especially hard on Spencer as he had to cook, clean, go to school and look after her, no tasks a 10 year old boy should have to do except go to school.
It had been hard for a few years, but they had survived and Spencer had made something of himself and was in a very happy relationship as he thought the world of Aaron Hotchner and that was all she wanted for her son and that was for him to be happy.
"So why are you not helping your friends with their case?" asked Diana curiously.
"I didn't really come up here to help them with the case, although they did promise to keep me up to date so that I can help them if they need me to," Spencer replied.
"Why did you come them?" asked Diana curiously.
"I came because today is Aaron's and mine 10th wedding anniversary and we did have reservations at a very nice restaurant back in Virginia before Aaron called me and told me that the team had been called on a case. We were both hoping to spend our anniversary together even if that's only in bed tonight when the team is done working for the day, although I'm hoping they get done soon enough that we can go out for a nice dinner."
"Has it really been 10 years?"
"It has," Spencer confirmed with a smile, "and actually it's been 12 as we were together for two years before we got married."
"And you're happy?" asked Diana.
"Very happy, mom," Spencer told her as his eyes lit up as he thought of his Aaron. "Sure him being gone so much is a pain in the ass, but I can join him a lot of times, especially now that the twins and Jack are older and can look after themselves for awhile. Besides Sara will keep an eye on Jack, when I'm gone and make sure he gets fed and does his homework and the twins to at least doing the summer when they are home. As it is Jack is only a year away from being old enough to get his driver's license and he's already taking driver's ed. It won't be long after he does that the twins will be old enough to learn how to drive too. Aaron and I share absolutely everything mom so we have no secrets."
"Your sure about that?" Diana questioned.
"Yes," Spencer said firmly. "The team has told me more than once that I would make a decent profiler if I wanted to join the bureau and what that means to you is I would be able to tell if Aaron was keeping something from me, lying or didn't truly love me, as human beings give off certain tells that most of the time they are not consciously aware of. The reverse is also true of course. Don't worry mom, Aaron truly loves me, I know this deep in my heart and soul and I truly love him too."
"Well good," Diana said as she could tell that Spencer truly meant what he said and that he was very happy with his Aaron and vice versa of course. Diana was glad to see her son in such a satisfying relationship as all she had ever wanted was for him to be happy and he was as she could tell. A mother always knew when her children were happy or sad or angry or any other emotion or at least the good ones did.
The two of them continued to talk for several hours until Spencer's phone rang. Spencer checked the caller ID and his face lit up, so Diana knew then that it was his Aaron calling. Spencer answered it and talked for a minute and then ended the call.
"I've got to go mom, they need me, down at the police station," Spencer told Diana.
"Will I see you again before you head back to Virginia?" Diana asked.
"I should be able to fit in at least one more visit before we leave," Spencer said giving his mother a kiss on the cheek before rising from his seat on the couch. "I love you, mom."
"I love you too, son," Diana replied as Spencer strode out of the room and heading for the front door, with Diana watching him go.
~~~Hotch and Reid~~~
That night, Spencer and Hotch cuddled totally naked in bed and talked quietly for a few minutes. It was extremely late, by the time they had been done at the police station, way too late to even think about an intimate dinner for two not to mention both of them were very tired.
"I'm sorry, that we didn't get to have that intimate dinner," Hotch told Spencer kissing him on the forehead.
"So long as we can cuddle in bed together, I am content," Spencer assured him. "A candlelit dinner for two would have been nice, but its not strictly necessary, for me to be happy. Things like that are just extras that people don't necessarily need or at least I don't."
"Well, I've said it before and I'll say it again you're certainly easy to please," Hotch teased the man cuddled into his side.
"Yes, well, I'm sure you've discovered by now that I'm not some fussy female that demands more attention then you have time to give," Spencer said coloring slightly in embarrassment at Hotch's light teasing.
"No, definitely not," Hotch said as eyes roved up and down Spencer's slim, naked form and the appreciation and lust in his eyes, made Spencer color up again, but this time in pleasure instead of embarrassment.
"Maybe we can have that candlelight dinner sometime in the next couple of days," Spencer suggested.
"We'll see how the case goes, but I would love to have an intimate dinner with just the two of us," Hotch said smiling at the thought of a couple hours alone with the man he loved.
"I would too," Spencer said as he cuddled into Hotch's side seeming to be trying to absorb his body heat as the hotel room was quite chilly. "Alone time with you is precious because it is so rare as Murphy's Law seems to be operating in fine form lately."
"You mean the saying that anything that can go wrong, will go wrong?" asked Hotch thinking about it.
"Exactly," Spencer agreed kissing Hotch's cheek.
"Yeah, we've had our troubles lately haven't we," Hotch suggested after thinking for a few moments. "Every time I think we'll get some space to breathe and spend time together a case seems to pop out of nowhere."
"Exactly, Murphy's Law," Spencer said as if what Hotch had said confirmed his theory and perhaps it did.
"Well, I'd rather have those kinds of troubles then relationship problems," Hotch said empathically.
"Yes, I agree, although we really have had relatively few relationship problems ever since we got together, haven't we?" Spencer suggested knowing this was true.
"Well, the only thing I have to compare it to is when I was married to Haley, and she and I argued what seemed like all the time, so compared to that there haven't been as many problems in our relationship as there was with Haley's and my marriage. Personally I think you have the patience of a saint as only someone with extreme patience would be of help with my work schedule. So to deliberately change the subject I did buy you a present and I took it with me this morning when I went to work since I knew it was possible I would be called on a case and I wanted to have it with me just in case as I always intended to ask you to come with the team if that happened just so we could be together on our anniversary."
"I bought you one as well and it's in my go-bag," said Spencer. "I think the least we can do is exchange presents, before we both get some sleep, because I know you have to be up early tomorrow."
"Mine is in my suit jacket pocket," Hotch said.
"I'll get them," Spencer said reluctantly leaving Aaron's side long enough to get the two presents. "Well, shall we open them one at a time or together?" asked Spencer as soon as he had climbed back into bed and cuddled back into Aaron's side, relishing in his mate's warmth since the hotel room was very chilly.
"One at a time," Hotch decided, "and you can go first."
Spencer nodded and begin to slowly undo the wrapping paper around his present which had been professionally done probably in the store that Aaron had bought it.
Hotch tried his best to conceal his impatience, but he was long used to the fact that Spencer liked to savor the moment while he was unwrapping a present and wasn't one to just tear into the paper ripping it to shreds. He had guessed long ago that it came from the fact that after his father had left he had never gotten any presents and so that made him savor them all the more now that he was grown.
Finally the wrapping paper was discarded and Spencer held what looked like a jewelry box in his hand.
"Go ahead and open it," Hotch urged him when Spencer didn't move to open the lid. Spencer did as he was told without saying a word and inside was a very nice watch with miniature diamonds above each number. The band was platinum and the watch face was a very deep blue that was almost black. Instead of numbers there were roman numerals from 1 to 12
"It's beautiful," Spencer said awed. He had been meaning to buy a watch ever since his last inexpensive one had stopped working and he had never gotten around to buying himself another, but he had never expected something like this.
"I noticed that the cheap one you always wore stopped working several months ago," Hotch said sounding uncertain for a change as he hadn't been sure if it was the right gift.
"It's perfect," Spencer assured his mate as he leaned up and gave Hotch a very passionate kiss on the lips. "I've never had a piece of jewelry so nice, besides my wedding and engagement rings. I'm not really one to buy myself something so expensive, even though I know I can afford it easily," Spencer said, "but a gift is another thing entirely. I will wear it, always."
"Good, I'm glad you like it," Hotch said relieved.
"You don't ever have to worry about me liking whatever you give me Aaron, as your gifts are always thoughtful and well thought out and I love everything you've ever given me to date," Spencer told his lover, sincerely.
"I'm glad," Hotch said as he kissed the top of Spencer's head. "I wasn't really sure is I know you don't own much in the way of jewelry…"
"That's only because I haven't been given any as gifts, because as I said I'm not really the type to buy that kind of thing for myself," Spencer said, "but a gift is another thing entirely."
"You should read the back, I had it engraved," Hotch said.
Spencer turned the watch over and read that inscription by the light that was on beside his bed. "To Spencer, All my love. Happy 10th wedding anniversary, Aaron."
Spencer immediately became all choked up and he threw himself into Aaron's arms and kissed him breathless. "Thank you, Aaron, it's absolutely perfect and I'll wear it with pride."
"You're more than welcome," Hotch said once he got his breath back. "And if you are going to kiss me like that every time I give you a present, I'm going to have to give them to you more often."
"I don't need things," Spencer protested immediately, "just you and our family. If you started giving me gifts every week they would stop being special and would become dull and ordinary."
"I was only teasing," Hotch assured him, "because you're right if I gave them to you every week or month, they would soon stop being special as gifts of love from you to me or me to you."
"Good," Spencer said with a relieved sigh. "Now open yours."
Hotch did as he was asked and he was much faster at tearing off the paper and just letting it flutter to the floor beside the bed instead of taking his time like Spencer always did.
Once the paper was removed Hotch also had a jewelry box in his hand, but instead of a watch inside the box was a man's platinum bracelet with a Celtic design that went from one side to the other."
Hotch examined the bracelet closely and he knew that it was a Celtic design, but beyond that he was clueless.
"I can tell that you really don't know what the Celtic symbols mean," Spencer said his voice even, but there was something in it anyway that made Hotch look up and study his lover closely.
"Why don't you tell me?" Hotch suggested.
"Well the symbol in the middle is for protection when you're out in the field, it's a shield design as you can see and the design on either side that looks like the roots of a tree is called the Dara Celtic knot, representing power, leadership, wisdom, destiny, strength and endurance. You represent all these things to me, which is why I chose that particular design and the shield knot is supposed to have the power to keep someone safe. They used to be done on just about anything warriors shields, children's clothing, etc., etc."
"Thank you, Spencer," Hotch said after a moment of heavy silence as it took his tired mind a minute to realize that this gift was Spencer's way of telling him that he meant everything to him and that he wanted to keep him as safe as possible while he was out in the field. "I love my gift and I also get the intent behind it."
"You're welcome," Spencer said with a tired smile. "When you got yourself shot last year, you scared me to death you know. I know you didn't mean to put yourself in a dangerous situation and that sometimes they just develop unexpectedly, but this is my way of reminding you to be careful. I couldn't bear it if I lost you even though I know I will eventually, but hopefully not for many years and due to natural causes instead of you getting killed in the field."
"I always try to be careful," Hotch answered Spencer sincerely touched deeply by the thoughtfulness of the gift, "but I wasn't about to let that unsub shoot JJ."
"I know, I love her too after all and consider her the sister I never actually had so I'm grateful that you both came out of that incident mostly whole even if you did get yourself shot in the shoulder," Spencer answered. "Of course I'd rather have you shot in the shoulder, then in the chest or the stomach since those two wounds are almost always fatal."
"The bulletproof vests we always wear prevent us from getting shot in the chest or the stomach," Hotch pointed out.
"Yes, but you never know when a situation is going to develop into something dangerous and you might not be wearing your vest if you go out just to question a witness and they turn out to be the unsub you know. I know most of them try to convince you that they're not guilty, by playing innocent, but humans can be very unpredictable as you and I both know very well, and you never know how one of them is going to react to being figuratively cornered."
"You're right," Hotch admitted. "I'm not the one that usually questions the suspects, at least not out in the field, but it has happened a time or two when we are a person short for one reason or another. An interrogation room is usually my territory, as you know."
"I know, but you should still get someone else on the team," Spencer suggested.
"Yeah we should," Hotch admitted. "I haven't found anyone yet that I deem acceptable though and I've been looking for the last year or so, because you're right we really do need someone else and have for long time. Actually we really need two other people because Rossi is getting pretty close to retirement age and he might not want to leave, but that's government regulations, so he isn't going to have any choice."
"Well, you better look harder then, because when Rossi is forced into retirement you are going to be even shorter on manpower and although I technically work for your department I'm only a consultant so I don't have the authority to question suspects or witnesses."
"I will," Hotch promised kissing Spencer again.
"You better read the inscription on the underside of that and then we probably need to get some sleep," Spencer suggested after a moment.
"Oh you had it engraved, like I did your watch," Hotch said sounding surprised although he knew he shouldn't have been, for if he had thought of if it as busy with work as he usually was then Spencer would have too.
"Of course," Spencer said with a shy grin.
Hotch smiled back although it was tinged with exhaustion.
Hotch turned the bracelet over and read the short inscription. "To Aaron, you are my life, my soulmate. Happy 10th wedding anniversary. Love, Spencer.
"It's sappy I know," Spencer admitted sheepishly, "but I can't help how I feel. You've made my life so happy these last 12 years. Far happier then I ever thought I was capable of being."
"You can be a sappy as you want," Hotch said sounding choked up, which rarely happened. "I feel like being sappy myself sometimes, when I'm with you and you know that I'm not usually the sappy type at all," Hotch said.
Spencer knew that was true as Aaron Hotchner was usually the last thing from sappy, but being around him and vice versa seemed to bring it out in them both and their was nothing wrong with that at all.
The two men kissed passionately and Hotch put the bracelet aside on the nightstand so that it wouldn't get bent out of shape by him laying on it.
"Well, this has been a special day, despite spending most of it trying to catch our current unsub."
"Well, the last hour or so anyway," Spencer agreed. "Now as much as I would love to continue this we both probably need to get some sleep, because while I can sleep in you can't."
"You're right," Hotch acknowledged. "Happy anniversary I love you."
"I love you too," Spencer said laying down and curling into Hotch's side with his head on his lover's broad shoulder.
Hotch gave his lover one last kiss and then he to curled as close to Spencer as he could get and it wasn't long before sleep found them.
~~~Hotch and Reid~~~
Several days later Hotch and Spencer were walking hand-in-hand into the restaurant that had been decided on for their almost a week late 10th anniversary meal. The two unsubs had been caught and had confessed just hours before and it had been decided by the whole team that Spencer and Hotch deserved to have dinner alone just the two of them before they flew back to Quantico tomorrow, especially since their anniversary had been five days ago.
"So what time are we flying out in the morning?" asked Spencer.
"Not too early," Hotch said, "The whole team deserves to sleep in a little since they worked so hard on this case and closed it so fast."
"So about 10 or 11 o'clock?" Spencer guessed.
"Yes, about that," Hotch said. "I think we all deserve a few hours of extra sleep at least before we head back and since we don't have to check out until 11 we might as well take advantage of it."
Hotch and Spencer approached the reservations desk and the lady behind it asked politely, "Do you have a reservation?"
"Yes, we do," Spencer said, "under Reid, table for two."
"Ah yes, Mr. Reid," the woman said as she looked at the reservation list. "Your table will be ready in just a few minutes, since you are a few minutes early so why don't you take a seat."
The two men complied and never releasing hands not really caring what other people thought of them. They went to sit down on one of the benches that were placed for people to wait until their tables were ready.
The two of them talked quietly for a few minutes and were so absorbed in their conversation that that neither noticed a very familiar man approach them, well familiar to Spencer anyway.
"Spencer? What are you doing here?"
Spencer looked up startled.
"It's just my luck I have to run into you," Spencer said rudely, keeping his voice down, "I have nothing to say to you father, so I suggest that you leave."
Hotch didn't say anything, his face expressionless, but his dark brown eyes sparked with fury and only somebody who knew him extremely well would be able to tell that he was as mad as hell.
"Spencer," William Reid tried, but the look Spencer gave the man who was his father was one of total and complete loathing, which startled the other man, although it really shouldn't have.
"What don't you understand about the word leave?" Spencer asked as calmly as possible with a raised eyebrow, his face as expressionless as a tombstone, his normally warm golden brown eyes devoid of even an ounce of warmth. "We don't need to voice our disagreement in a public place."
"Disagreement?" Hotch echoed startled speaking for the first time since the confrontation began.
Spencer turned to his lover half-smiling before turning back to his father. "I was trying to be polite at least while there are other people around us who can hear what is being said. I have absolutely nothing to say to you, that hasn't already been said."
"Spencer, can't you forgive me?" asked William Reid plaintively.
"No," Spencer said firmly. "What you did was absolutely unforgivable and it would take a miracle for me to even partly forgive you. If I thought you truly regretted your actions and were truly sorry for them I would be able to forgive you a lot easier, but I know you don't regret your actions of all those years ago at all for you don't have it within yourself to truly and deeply repent."
Spencer turned back to Hotch and pretended to ignore his father completely, although he did keep a bead on him out of the corner of his eye.
Finally William Reid walked away seething and Spencer relaxed as soon as he was out of sight. "What are the odds that we run into him on our last night?"
"Murphy's Law?" Hotch suggested with a smile more relaxed now that William Reid was no longer visible.
Spencer smiled remembering the conversation they had just a few days ago about Murphy's Law and how is seemed to be in fine form lately. "Murphy's Law, which seems to be out to get us or at least me," Spencer said just as their name was called.
"Well, hopefully you made your point clear, and we won't see him again before we leave in the morning," Hotch said both he letting the waitress lead them to their table.
"We'll see," Spencer said with a certain cynicism, which was totally unlike him. "Let's not worry about him anymore, at least for tonight as I'd much rather think about us and not something so unpleasant."
"I have to agree," Hotch said with a genuine smile as he took Spencer's hand under the table and continued to hold it throughout the rest of their meal. The meal itself was extremely romantic as they were sitting side by side in a corner booth with a candle in the middle. In fact the restaurant's lights were extremely dim on purpose as there was a candle on every table, although not all of them were occupied. They talked quietly throughout the meal and no further mention of William Reid was made at all as they concentrated on their relationship.
"Why do I think that the confrontation with my father is just the beginning?" Spencer asked as he paid the bill before the two of them walked out the front door of the restaurant hand in hand and into the cool of the night.
"Maybe because you know your father won't give up easily," Hotch suggested calmly knowing exactly what Spencer was talking about. If William Reid was anything like his son who could be very stubborn when he set his mind to it then they probably hadn't heard the last of him.
"Well, I'm not going to worry about it at least until I have to," Spencer finally decided as he and Hotch headed towards the rented vehicle they were using
"I think that is wise," Hotch told his lover giving his hand an affectionate squeeze. "I suppose we had better head back to our hotel room and try to get some sleep."
"Yeah, probably," Spencer agreed. "I wish this night could last forever, though I know that's not really possible."
"No, it's not, but we might as well enjoy it while we can," Hotch said by way of agreement.
The two men walked side-by-side together with one arm around each other's waists just enjoying the last lingering feelings of deep, never ending love that the two of them had been wrapped in during dinner.
Both wished more than anything that their night together would never end, but both knew that, that wasn't really realistic so they would enjoy being alone together and deeply in love while they could.
~~~Hotch and Reid~~~
Hotch and Spencer had been asleep for maybe an hour when there was a pounding on the door. Both men groaned and wondered what had what happened and who it was that was pounding on the door at two o'clock in the morning.
"Do you think it's one of the team?" asked Spencer as he opened his eyes reluctantly.
"No, they would have called first," Hotch said with certainty.
"You're right, so in that case, there's only one person I can think of that would have a reason to track us down and would be able to do it so fast," Spencer said burying his head in his pillow. "Maybe if we just ignore him he'll go away."
"We both knew that this confrontation was coming," Hotch told his lover, although he certainly sympathized as he hadn't wanted this to happen anymore than Spencer had.
"Spencer! I know you're in there!" called the voice of William Reid. "Open this door!"
"Well, we had better let him in before he wakes up the whole floor with all the noise he's making," Spencer said reluctantly, "you know he's not going to leave until we call threaten to call security or something."
"I'll be beside you the whole time," Hotch assured his lover as a two men climbed out of bed and begin to get dressed. "You stayed with me when my mother confronted me that one time years ago and I'm not about to abandon you now as I love you way to much."
"Thanks for that," Spencer said gratefully as he kissed Hotch on the cheek wishing it was his lips instead, but he knew that they didn't have time to get involved in a major kissing session.
"No matter what your father says just remember that this is in no way your fault at all even if your father says it is," Hotch told Spencer knowing how he was prone to blame himself for things that did not involve him. "You have to remember that it was your father that abandoned you and your mother when you were just a child, and the blame should be placed squarely on his shoulders."
Spencer nodded grateful beyond words for his mate's loving support.
Finally the two of them finished dressing and Hotch made sure that he had his gun on him just in case William Reid became violent and tried to attack one of them.
Spencer opened the door just as William Reid had his fist up just a pound again. "Father," Spencer greeted him his voice ice cold. "Do you care that you've probably woken up the whole floor with all the noise you've been making?"
William Reid shoved himself rudely past his son only to be stopped by the man that he had seen in the restaurant with Spencer.
"You will stop by there," Hotch ordered sternly him making sure that the gun at his hip was visible. "You have no right to come here in the middle the night and pound on the door waking everybody up just because you're angry that your son gave you the cold shoulder."
"And who are you to tell me, what I can and cannot do," William Reid blustered, "and what are you doing in my son's room?"
"I would think that would be obvious, especially for a man as supposedly as intelligent as you are, although in my opinion that's debatable," Spencer said as he came to stand beside Hotch putting an arm around his waist.
It took a moment for William Reid to comprehend what he was seeing and when he did a disgusted look flashed across his face.
"Are you telling me you're in a relationship with another man!" William Reid shouted.
"Well, father, I'm glad you finally understand," Spencer told him not backing down for an instant.
"It's unnatural, disgusting, abnormal. degrading! When the waitress told me that you and him were a couple I didn't want to believe it."
"I don't really give a damn what you want to believe or what you think," Spencer told his father firmly in an angry tone of voice, "and Aaron does have a name you know and the least you could do is address him by it."
"Hello, I'm not very pleased to meet you," Hotch said not extending his hand as was polite since he wasn't in the mood. "My name is Supervisory Special Agent Aaron Hotchner, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Behavioral Analysis Unit and the man you have been insulted is my partner."
"Wow father, congratulations," Spencer said as he knew that it wasn't often that Aaron got so pissed, but by him introducing himself with his full title within the FBI, that definitely meant that he was madder then a hornet. "You've just done something that is nearly impossible and gotten Aaron as pissed as I've ever seen him in the twelve years we've been together. He almost never loses his temper, so it's quite the feat that you managed to make him do it in such a short space of time."
William Reid looked from his son to the man at his side and although the agent's expression was unreadable his body language told the other man quite clearly that he was extremely pissed off.
William Reid knew then that he had made a mistake coming to confront his son, especially in the middle of the night, but he had figured that he would be alone and hadn't counted on him, being with anybody. He had thought when he saw him with the other man at the restaurant that they were just out for a business dinner or that they were old friends who were catching up with each other, even though that particular restaurant was for couples as it prided itself on it's romantic atmosphere and not appropriate for a business dinner. When the waitress manning the reservations desk had told him that they had been there on a date after he had bribed her with a few dollars he had thought that surely she must be mistaken as surely the son of his loins couldn't possibly be gay, but now Spencer had said that they'd been together for twelve years. Still he had refused to believe that Spencer and the other man were a couple no matter what the waitress said, until it had just been confirmed a few seconds ago by the son he had abandoned decades ago. How could his son do this to him? William Reid asked himself not realizing that Spencer had stopped being his son when he was 10 years old when he had abandoned his family.
Suddenly the hotel room door opened for while it had been partly closed it hadn't been closed all the way and the others of the team entered and surrounded their two friends.
"Meet the rest of Aaron's team," Spencer told his father with a smirk gesturing at the others. "They know all about you, and how you abandoned me and mom when I was just a child. They don't think there's anything strange about my relationship with Aaron and I love them for that. They are my true family and have stuck with me through everything for the last 10 years."
"We warned them that there was a possibility that we could run into you on the flight out here," Hotch said. "They promised to be here to support Spencer if you did show your face."
"This is a private family matter," William Reid sputtered.
"Yes, it is a family matter," Spencer agreed to his father surprise, but when he added, "and Aaron, Morgan, JJ, Rossi and Emily are more my family then you have been since you left mom and me to fend for ourselves when I was ten."
William Reid looked furious and started to grab his son by the arm only to be prevented by Morgan moving in front of his friend blocking the other man from getting anywhere near his son. The look of protective fury on the big black man's face made William Reid take a step back and survey the other agents who surrounded Spencer and the other man and what he saw made him almost decide to flee because the looks on all their faces scared him. Every single one of the other four people in the room looked protective, furious, and also like they were ready to kill him and bury the body at the slightest provocation. It didn't matter that they were FBI, they would simply take him somewhere, shoot him, bury the body and then make sure that they would never be caught for the deed. William knew that he needed to be very careful here if he didn't want to end up a corpse. It had never occurred to him, that's his son Spencer would not only survive, but thrive, and make friends with people who would have no trouble killing him if the situation warranted it and then getting rid of the evidence or making up some story about how he attacked them and he was shot in self-defense. When his son had been growing up he had just been this weird little kid who was way smarter than any child had a right to be and was also very clumsy as well tending to miss social cues that made people look at him sideways. It was like fate had decided that since Spencer was so intelligent that he should be uncoordinated, and be awkward in social situations just to keep him from getting arrogant about his extremely high IQ.
William knew that his son had absolutely no friends while in school if only because he was way younger than all of them and nobody wanted to know the kid that could do much better in class than them even though he was like five years younger. It soon became obvious by the time Spencer was six years old that his intelligence was out of the ordinary and William knew that intelligence like his son's came along like once in a generation or not even that often. He remembered thinking while his son was still a child that why couldn't he be more like him? Somebody who was intelligent certainly, but also personable and athletic.
"You see, father, they won't let you harm me or get anywhere near me for they know you for what you are," Spencer said as soon as Morgan had moved out of the front of him, although he stayed close.
Spencer looked his father directly in the eye and said, "You're a selfish, callous, shallow, arrogant, self-centered man that cares more about his image then about the woman he married and professed to love. A man that abandoned his wife and young son instead of helping his wife by making sure she took her medication. A man who abandoned his son without a second thought because he didn't turn out like you wanted him to. You wanted someone who was good at sports like you and instead you got someone with an IQ of 187, an eidetic memory, who has 6 degrees and got all them by the time he was 21. You know every time I got a new degree I told myself I was doing it because you didn't think I was capable of surviving without you, but I proved you wrong when I went to college at 12 and if you had known or cared you would have been proud of my academic accomplishments, but instead your selfishness lost you something you will never understand. I'm sure you were hoping that mom and me would just quietly disappear so that you didn't have to worry about us popping up sometime in the future and the only good thing you did was leave us the house so that we at least had a roof over our heads. Now you come pounding on the door in the middle of the night, when everybody's dead asleep I'm sure expecting to find me alone so that you could confront me."
"Spencer..." William tried to interrupt, but his son was on a roll and spoke right over his father attempts to speak.
"You lost the right to interfere in my life or to call yourself my father when you abandoned mom and me," Spencer continued without pause steamrolling over his father's attempt at speech. "I share your blood, your surname and half your genes true, but that is as far as it goes for you were never much of a father to me even before you left since you spent more time with the neighborhood kids then you did with your own son once you learned he was no good at sports. You know in a way I suppose I should thank you, because maybe if you had stuck around longer I could've turned out just like you, shallow, self-centered, full of myself, and callous not caring about anybody else's feelings except my own. You know in many ways you are very similar to the criminals that the BAU goes after except as far as I know you've never committed any crimes, other then being an uncaring, insensitive boar, which unfortunately is not against the law. You come barging in here and then you get all angry about my relationship with Aaron, when really it's none of your damn business since you haven't been a father to me since before I was 10 years old and even if you had been involved in my life for the last 27 years, you still wouldn't have any right to tell me who I can and cannot fall in love with. Aaron and I have created a good life for ourselves despite our troubled pasts as we were both strong enough to overcome the numerous obstacles in our way, including uncaring relatives. I'm 37 now and I can make my own decisions about who I'm going to be friends with or who I take as a lover and you have no right to make an issue of our relationship as you gave up any right to have any say in the matter when you left. The point of this little speech, is that I don't ever want to see you again as you were the one that decided to cut all ties with your own family almost three decades ago. Now get out! I never want to see you again," Spencer ordered turning his back to his father knowing that his friends were watching and would make sure he didn't try anything.
"Why don't you go have a hot chocolate down in the 24 hour coffee shop," Aaron suggested gently after a moment. "Morgan will go with you. I want to have a few words with your father if you don't mind."
Spencer looked at Aaron as he studied his lover's expression and body language, but finally he nodded for he knew that his lover would never do anything that would get him arrested, like killing William Reid no matter how much he deserved it. He was sure that all Aaron wanted to do was warn the man that used to be his father to never bother him again or to try to contact him, which was more than okay with him.
"I'll call your phone, when you can come back," Hotch said, although Morgan looked ready to protest as he wanted in on the confrontation he knew was coming.
Hotch looked at Morgan and a silent message seemed to pass between then and finally Morgan nodded in compliance.
"Come on, kid, we'll go down to that coffee shop that's across the street from the hotel and get us some hot chocolate," Morgan said as he flung an arm around Spencer's shoulders in a brotherly gesture of affection and William Reid watched them go his expression unreadable.
Spencer complied and the two of them headed out of the hotel room door and disappeared down the hallway after closing the door behind them.
~~~Hotch and Reid~~~
Once they were gone Hotch turned to William Reid who looked scared now as he wasn't sure exactly what the big intimidating man was going to do to him.
"For what you did to Spencer you deserve to go to prison for very long time, but unfortunately you haven't broken any laws that I am aware of," Hotch made sure he got directly in William Reid face. "You abandoned a young boy and your wife just because you didn't want to deal with the problems that had arisen and because your son wasn't turning out like you wanted him to. If I didn't strongly believe in justice, I would make sure you were never seen again for what you did to Spencer, which is absolutely unforgivable. Did you know that Spencer has total recall? That means that he doesn't have the advantage of memories fading over time like most of the human race, so in other words the memory of your abandonment will always be as fresh as the day it happened whenever he allows himself to think about it. He's woken up with nightmares more than once about what happened, although it hasn't happened much in the last few years, but it used to all the time. How a father can abandon his own son is absolutely inconceivable to me, especially since Spencer is one of the most amazing people I have ever met in my long career with the FBI. He's caring, compassionate, loving, friendly, knows more than any 500 people put together as he's always learning new things. I won't deny that he's a little awkward in social situations, although he has improved since we got together, and also dead clumsy, but that just makes all his other traits more endearing and I'm not just saying that because I love him, but because it's true and the rest of the team agrees with me."
William Reid looked at the other three people in the room and they all nodded in agreement their expressions ones of utter disgust and loathing. They were all looking at him as if he was some kind of bug under a microscope that needed to be squashed and he didn't like the feeling at all.
"People hurt him whether intentionally or not all the time, but those don't hurt him half as much as what happened to him when he was a child because you were supposed to love and care for him, since you were his father. How someone so supposedly intelligent could not see what a special person Spencer is doesn't deserve to even know him, much less be related to him by blood. You disgust me, but I'll make sure Spencer never thinks about you again as you've caused him enough pain. Don't even think about trying to contact him or corner him whenever he's in Vegas to visit his mother or any other place for matter." Hotch paused and then looked back at the rest of the team who had all been silent up until now. "Do any of you want to say anything before we send him on his way?"
"I do," Rossi immediately spoke up.
William watched as the older man with the beard stepped forward. Hotch stepped back to give Rossi his chance, but watched the situation closely.
"I promised myself if I ever met you I would punch you in the nose with the way you treated your own son, but since I know you can report me for doing that I won't, but don't assume that I'm not very tempted to, I just don't want to cause any trouble for the team if I really gave you what you deserved. All of us consider Spencer a part of our family even though we're not related by blood and family always stands by each other no matter what, a concept you obviously don't understand and know nothing about or you never would have left your sick wife and young son. You make me absolutely sick, sicker then I've ever been in my whole life and that's really saying something considering the horrors that all of us face every day in our work with the BAU and the numerous sick sons of bitches that it's our job to catch, but you take the cake. I'll wait for you over by the door," Rossi finally said turning to the others. "I don't want to be in his presence anymore before I really lose my temper and punch him like he deserves."
"Anybody else?" asked Hotch looking at the remaining two members of the team.
"I have something to say," JJ said who had been quietly observing the whole time.
"You have the floor, JJ," Hotch said.
"What Hotch and Rossi have said to you I agree with 100%. I have a son myself and I would never think of abandoning him like you did Spencer. It will not matter if he grows up to liking other men, I will still love him and always accept him for who he is. That you chose to abandon your own family after you claimed to love them makes me absolutely sick as well, as Rossi said just a few minutes ago. Family whether related by blood or not is important."
"What do you all know?" William Reid finally spluttered as he was tired of being lectured. "My own flesh and blood is nothing but a weirdo who should've been put down at birth."
The rest of the team gasped at that even Rossi was standing by the door. The whole team looked at their boss and friend who looked so furious that it was surprising that he wasn't having a heart attack as his whole face was a deep red from anger.
William Reid looked at the bulky man with the slicked back black hair, slightly rumpled from sleep and dark brown eyes and realized that he shouldn't of said what he had because the man looked ready to murder him. He didn't really believe what he said, but he had been so tired of being lectured that it had just come out. He did admit if only to himself, that he had gone to far when he had said that about his son and it didn't matter if he didn't mean it, because once the words were said there was no taking them back.
"Well, I guess you just revealed yourself for what you are, a slug who has no heart and no soul," Hotch said his voice calm, although his eyes still sparked with fury and his face was still a deep red from anger. "We're all done talking to you, since you refuse to acknowledge that you were wrong, but I'll leave you with one last warning. Don't you ever try to contact Spencer in anyway again as you put him through enough with your actions, when he was a child and since. If you do I will know and I'll have a restraining order issued if I must to where you won't be allowed within a thousand feet of him without the chance of being arrested and what would that do to your precious image and reputation? You apparently don't know your son at all or know all that he has accomplished for despite all the roadblocks that were against him from the beginning, he has helped the BAU solve more cases then we would have been able to solve by ourselves or at least it would have taken us longer. His obscure knowledge has helped us on numerous occasions and you should be proud of him and instead you seem to take it as a personal affront that he didn't turn into a little carbon copy of you. Everybody on the team is glad that he turned out like he did and we would all walk into the fires of hell itself if necessary because he deserves no less and if that means going up against his own father then so be it. Now I strongly suggest you get out of my sight before I do something I won't regret, but that will get the whole team in trouble, if only because they didn't stop me."
William Reid fled for the look on Aaron Hotchner's face was enough to almost make him pee in his pants he was so scared and the other three, including the man known as Rossi all had looks of protective fury on their faces.
"Well, that didn't end well," Rossi who had been standing by the door said once William Reid had left.
"I was hoping he would see the error of his ways, but apparently he's shallow, stubborn and a lot of other things," Hotch said with a shake of his head his anger slowly fading. "You all can go back to bed if you want and I'll call Morgan and Spencer and tell them they can come back to the hotel."
"What are you going to tell Spencer because you know he'll ask," Emily asked.
"I'll tell him the truth as we don't keep secrets from each other," Hotch told the others. "I'll tell him that we tried to make his father understand that what he did was wrong, but that he refused to listen. None of us need to mention the nasty things his father had to say about him as that would only hurt him more and none of us want that. I'm sure Spencer will guess that something was said, but won't ask me about it because he will know that it was hurtful and hateful without having to be told."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Emily asked Hotch with a raised eyebrow in concern
"Yes, Spencer might seem like he needs protection but he's all stronger then we believe him to be. If he hadn't been he never would have gotten through all that's happened to him ever since he was a child, his father's abandonment, other kids bullying just because he was different, being teased maliciously and ignored by most people..." Hotch trailed off, "well the list goes on and on."
"Alright, if you're sure," Emily said. "You're the one that knows him the best."
"Besides I couldn't keep something like this from him even if I wanted to," Hotch added with a tired half-smile playing on his lips as he thought of the man he loved so deeply. "He would just pester me until I told him all he wanted to know."
The other three laughed at this for they knew it was true. "Now I suggest the three of you all go get a few hours sleep as our flight leaves at 12 o'clock sharp and we have to be checked out by 11."
The others nodded and all laughed Hotch in his room alone to go get a few hours sleep.
~~~Hotch and Reid~~~
"Noooooo!" Spencer screamed waking up with a start clutching the sheets tightly up to his chin sweat running down his face, his whole body shivering despite the fact that he was under the covers.
Hotch also woke up immediately at the sound Spencer's scream and whimpers as he had only been sleeping very lightly. It was several hours after William Reid had left and Hotch had been expecting Spencer to have nightmares after what happened, and unfortunately he had been right.
Hotch sat up immediately and pulled Spencer onto his lap and that was pretty hard considering the younger man was nothing, but a deadweight as he was still shivering violently and hadn't said a coherent word yet and in fact the only sounds he was making at all were whimpers and little mewling sounds, which tore at Hotch's heart. Spencer's nightmare and all the shivering and whimpering he was doing because of it made Hotch want to go hunt William Reid down and teach him a lesson he wouldn't soon forget, since he was the one responsible for causing his lover to suffer like this after he had largely put the past behind him, even if he knew that wasn't really possible as much as he would have liked too.
"Shhhhhh!" Hotch soothed his lover holding Spencer in his arms and rubbing his back in a circular pattern gently. "It's alright, I won't let your father ever get anywhere near you again, I promise."
Hotch just kept repeating basically the same words over and over and finally Spencer stopped shivering, although he still hadn't spoken a word.
Hotch continued rubbing Spencer's back soothingly and kissing him on the lips tenderly every few seconds and finally he had the pleasure of seeing some intelligence come back into his lover's golden brown eyes as the fear begin to recede.
"Thank you," Spencer said his voice soft speaking for the first time in at least 20 minutes. "I don't know how long it would've taken me to recover from such a horrific nightmare if you hadn't been here."
"I'll always be here when you really need me," Hotch told him. "Even if we have to discuss whatever's bothering you on the phone."
Spencer pushed himself back into his mate's warmth, still feeling ice cold and Hotch responded by holding him even more tenderly, his arms tightening protectively around his lover and kissing the top of his head several times.
Spencer sighed and just cuddled a close as he could get into his lover's naked body closing his eyes as he let Aaron's warmth seep into his very bones chasing away the chill of his nightmare.
"Do you want to talk about it?" asked Hotch after awhile placing his chin on top of Spencer head.
"Not really no," Spencer said truthfully.
"It might help you get over it you know," Hotch replied.
"I thought I had gotten over all that my father did to me years ago," Spencer replied not looking at Hotch's face.
"All you probably did was bury those memories," Hotch suggested gently, "and they surged to the surface after your confrontation with your father."
"That man is not my father!" Spencer spat with venom in his voice. "Or at least not in any way that matters."
"Shhhh!" Hotch soothed as he began rubbing Spencer's back again causing the younger man to relax.
"I'm sorry I snapped at you," Spencer said a little sheepishly.
"It's all right, you just had a very horrible nightmare," Hotch said. "Believe me I understand because as you know I've had a few nightmares myself over the years, although I'm certainly not as prone to them as you are, but then again you are a very gentle soul and I am anything but."
Spencer managed to smile a little at that, although it was rather dim compared to his usual ones.
"So what was your nightmare about?" asked Hotch
Spencer didn't want to tell Aaron what is nightmare had been about, but he did know it would help him if he talked about it. He also knew that he could talk to his Aaron about anything and the older man would never judge him and in fact help him release at least a few of his fears and deal with it.
"I was a child again," Spencer said softly still not looking at his lover's face as he wasn't sure he could deal with the sympathy he knew would be in Aaron's eyes. "Only this time instead of just being neglected, my father did a lot worse."
"Like what?" asked Hotch, although he could guess exactly what Spencer's nightmare contained.
Spencer told him and Hotch nodded as he had suspected something along those lines.
"I'm not really surprised," Hotch told him gently. "You buried those memories to where you didn't have nightmares very much anymore, but your confrontation with your father brought those memories roaring to the surface. Those nightmares are your mind's way of forcing you to deal with those memories and if you don't then they will just lay in wait until the next time you run into him and then they will resurface again."
"I know you're right," Spencer said shivering a little.
"I love you and I will help you deal with those memories if you let me," Hotch told him his arms tightening slightly around Spencer's still shivering body.
Spencer felt warm and safe in his lover's arms, but that didn't mean he wasn't afraid of talking even more about what he'd had nightmares about.
"Talking about them will make them lessen in intensity you know and eventually disappear altogether," Hotch told his lover gently making sure that Spencer could feel his arms around him, so he knew he was safe. "Keeping them to yourself is only going to make them more intense next time they come to the surface."
"Alright," Spencer finally agreed knowing very well that Aaron was right and that if he talked about them that would help him deal with the memories of his father's neglect away until he stopped having nightmares at all. It was time to deal with this piece of his past so that it never reared it's ugly head again and with his Aaron at his side he felt like he was strong enough to do just that.
Finally Spencer began to speak and Hotch gently guided him until he was able to release at least some of his deep-seated fears that had been with him since childhood.
The process was hard on both of them even if in different ways, but they loved each other enough to do it so that Spencer wouldn't have nightmares about his father again.
"You know, telling my father what I thought of him helped me a lot," Spencer said thoughtfully after they had both fallen silent for a few minutes. "I never had the courage to really tell him what I thought of his abandonment of my mom and me before, but your support and the teams, gave me the courage to do that."
"Well, I just hope your father finally got the message and never tries to bother or contact you again because I will take legal action if I have to," Hotch growled sounding so fiercely protective that it made Spencer grin as it took a lot to bring out this side of his lover.
"I'm sure he did," Spencer said in a firm tone. "I've never seen him so frightened of anybody or anything before. I don't believe he'll ever bother either of us again as I know he is smart enough to realize that if he did you or one of the team would have no trouble dealing with it. I'm pretty sure he almost wet his pants at the looks you and the teams were sending him since every single one of you looked like you wanted to murder him and then bury the body somewhere it would never be found."
"Good, that was exactly the impression we wanted to leave," said Hotch with a satisfied smirk that Spencer could hear in his tone even if he couldn't see his face.
"I just hope you don't get in trouble for it if my father reports your confrontation," Spencer said looking worried.
"I don't think he will," Hotch said, "and even if he does you have to remember that he is the one that came pounding on our hotel room door in the middle of the night and it wasn't any of the team that went looking for him so in that respect we are covered."
"Yes, that's true," Spencer admitted. "It was just pure dumb luck that we ran into him in the first place at the restaurant."
"Well, like you said earlier Murphy's Law seems to have it in for us," Hotch joked and had the pleasure of seeing Spencer smile and though it was still several watts lower then his usual one, it was still better then the one he had received an hour ago.
"I think it's time I put my past behind me," Spencer said his tone firm. "I will not let that man who shares my blood ruin the good life I have made for myself."
"That's the spirit," Hotch told him hugging him close.
"I suppose we might as well just get up," Spencer said glancing at the clock that said it was almost 9 o'clock. He rubbed his face tiredly but got out of bed anyway. "We've got to be up in a couple of hours anyway and this will give us time for breakfast."
"You're right," Hotch agreed as he to rose from the bed.
"Man I'm tired," Spencer said and he did indeed look tired with bags under his eyes.
"I don't really blame you considering you woke up from that very bad nightmare and we spent at least a couple of hours awake after that," Hotch said. "Also that confrontation with your father didn't help as it was really very emotional for you and reopened old wounds that were only half healed at best."
Spencer nodded in agreement but then said, "They were half healed, but now some of them are finally starting to heal completely and that's thanks to you as I never had the courage or the strength to confront him before I had you and the team's support."
"All I did was help you face your fears and your painful past," Hotch said sounding modest.
"Correction, you gave me the courage to talk about it and then listened to me the whole time without passing judgment and that's what's helping me to heal now. And I know it wasn't a walk in the park for you either and you're bound to be as tired as I am."
"I could do no less," Hotch told him sincerely as he gathered his own clothes in order to get dressed. "I love you and when you love someone you are willing to put up with a few minor inconveniences. We can always catch up on our sleep on the flight back and go to bed early when we do get home."
"So are we going to get a shower before we go down to breakfast or will he do that tonight when we get home?" asked Spencer.
"Well, we don't really have time to get showers not if we want to have a good breakfast before we have to head to the airport," Hotch said.
"Alright, but you and me have a date later in the shower when we get home," Spencer said with most of his usual cheerfulness
"That's more than fine with me," Hotch said glad to see that Spencer seemed to have put his nightmare and the confrontation with his father behind him
"Alright then, let's go get ourselves some breakfast since I'm starving," Spencer said.
Hotch chuckled, glad to see that at least Spencer hadn't lost his appetite and followed his lover out of the hotel room.
~~~Hotch and Reid~~~
Valentine's day came less than a month after their wedding anniversary and since the two were so close together usually all they did for it was have a nice dinner out, well that and have mind-blowing sex afterwards.
Unfortunately since Valentine's Day usually fell on a weekday, Aaron almost always had to work, so they couldn't celebrate until afterwards, although not if the team was gone on a case. The two men while they considered Valentine's Day important to be acknowledged since it was after all a day for lovers and that definitely included them, they also knew that they had to prioritize and compromise.
"Happy Valentine's Day," Spencer told Aaron as soon as both of them had risen for the day. For once Spencer didn't object to getting up so early if only because they gone to bed extremely early the night before.
"Happy Valentine's Day," Hotch echoed and the two men moved to kiss tenderly on the lips.
"So shall I call our favorite place and make dinner reservations?" asked Spencer with a raised eyebrow.
"Go ahead, I should be home by 5:30," Hotch answered
"That's exactly what you said less then a month ago on our wedding anniversary," Spencer reminded his lover with a grin.
"Yes, I know," Hotch said with a grin of his own, "but today is Friday and so I don't think we'll catch a case and then we should have the whole weekend together."
"I'll make those reservations for 6:30 then," Spencer said calmly. "You need to have time to come home and take a shower and get dressed after all."
"Alright," Hotch said by way of acknowledgement. "I'll call you if I get called on a case, although I think it's unlikely at this point, but you never know."
"Yeah, you never know," Spencer agreed as they kissed again.
"As much as I would like to continue this, I had better take a shower and get dressed or I'll be late," Hotch said as he pulled away reluctantly.
"Don't worry, we'll have tonight after dinner," Spencer promised him with a grin, "and believe me I have plans."
"So do I," Hotch agreed with a grin of his own.
Spencer had grown a great deal more self-confident in the last few years, especially when it came to their sex life and he was no longer afraid to tell Hotch his ideas to make their lovemaking even better. Nowadays they switched positions and sometimes Spencer was on top in the dominant position while he was on the bottom and other times it was reversed. Hotch had never thought before he met Spencer that he would enjoy being in what he considered the submissive position, but so long as it was with the man he loved he did, although he was still usually the one on top. Spencer was always doing research on the subject and coming up with various ways to please him and most of them they both liked, although there had been a few that they'd only tried once and then never had again. Hotch was the one that had bought various sex toys over the years, paid for with cash so that Garcia would never be able to discover it, and convinced Spencer to try them. He now loved most of them and it had brought more variety into their sex life.
"Well, we'll both just have to make sure that we both have a chance to fulfill those plans, right?" asked Spencer with a grin.
"Absolutely," Hotch agreed also with the grin. "I'll see you after work."
"Alright," Spencer agreed and they shared one more kiss before Hotch went to finish getting dressed so that he could head into work.
~~~Hotch and Reid~~~
A month after Valentine's Day Hotch and Spencer received another letter from the Potters. Over the last few months there had been regular correspondence going back-and-forth between them and they had all become pretty good friends despite the fact that two lived in America and the other two in England.
Harry and Ginny did their best to explain all the oddities of the wizarding world as best they could, although sometimes it was just easier to experience some things for yourself in order to understand.
"So what does the letter have to say," Hotch asked casually as he leaned back on the couch as Spencer brought the letter into the den. One of them always checked the letterbox that Harry had given them every day to see if they had received anything since they weren't always there when a letter arrived. More often than not they had something from the twins or the Potters and sometimes there was a letter forwarded by Harry from one of the professors saying how the twins had gotten detention and what they had done to earn it.
"Let's see," Spencer said as he quickly unfolded the letter and scanned it. "It's from Harry."
"Well, why don't you go ahead and read it out loud," Hotch suggested.
Spencer nodded and began to read as even as he got comfortable in Hotch's arm.
Dear, Spencer and Aaron,
Just wanted to let you know that Ginny had another healer's appointment yesterday and the third child that we couldn't tell the sex of before had shifted so that the healer could see that it is a boy, which isn't really surprising considering that the Weasleys only produced boys for generations and the Potters aren't exactly known for producing many girls either, although there are several dozen of them on the family tree for the last 500 years. The males though have a much larger percentage as there are at least 200 from the various branches of the family.
So far the healer says that they look healthy, but then again she really needs to take it easy, especially in the last few months as the weight of the babies is nothing to sneeze at and Ginny is quite big and can't really see her feet or stand on them for any length of time, which is no surprise considering she is now just over six months along. She's taking a leave of absence from her job at St. Mungo's since she, like me wants these babies to be born healthy and not come for at least another month and a half or two months, although it would be better for the fetuses if the didn't come until at least until the middle of the eighth month, especially considering that there isn't just one, but three. Ginny or I or the healer expect that to happen, though triplets are almost always 6 to 8 weeks early and my wife isn't one for staying in bed and she's way too active to not be bored out of her mind.
If they are born at least a month early the wizarding world does have the technology to make sure that they survive to live happy and full lives. The healer expects that when they're born at the very least their lungs won't be developed enough breathe on their own for awhile, although there is of course no way of knowing until the event occurs in two or three months.
Ginny and I are happy to be getting another girl, although we would've liked to have at least two instead of one, but on the other hand having two girls considering how heavily laden the males are on both of our family trees is still a pretty good percentage. Perhaps we are starting a trend, since more boys still tend to be born in the Weasley and Potter families.
James, is doing much better and while he is still playing pranks on people grounding him for the summer a few years ago has done wonders and he is now more serious about his studies and doesn't hex people for no reason anymore and never anything dangerous or life threatening. Some people hexing others in the hallways is always going to be part of this school and has been for over 1000 years now as there will always be bullies who think they are better than anyone else. Hogwarts is not the only one that is has prejudiced people as muggle schools are just the same with bullies who will always think that they have a right to pick on and be mean to someone just because they are different or because you are smarter then they are, my cousin Dudley being a good example. Of course my aunt and uncle encouraged him to bully not only me, but the others in the neighborhood just by sitting back and doing nothing, although in my case he was encouraged to bully me as much as possible. My aunt and uncle were trying to beat the magic out of me as I believe Uncle Vernon once said, but what they didn't bother to find out was that the unhappier a child is the more the magic is going to escape and do something unexpected. You both know they tried to prevent me from going to Hogwarts at all and since I was a small child I was treated me worse then dirt. I used to like to think that if anything happened the them and my parents had taken Dudley in that he would've been treated as a member of the family from day one, but my own relatives let their pathological fear and hatred of magic make them do things to an innocent child that should never have happened in the first place. All the Dursleys wanted was to be as 'normal' as possible and in doing so they actually stood out more then if they had just taken my magic in stride and accepted it.
On a more positive note the Lochlan and Landon are doing well in all their classes, although they are doing better in some than others, but then all of us have our talents. Both twins seem to have a real talent for DADA, and are learning spells that are far advanced for their year level as I am spending extra time teaching them everything I know about the subject—which is a great deal more than even Hermione and that's saying something. You should be very proud of them for they are well on their way to producing Corporal Patronuses like I did at 13. Right now all they're getting are puffs of silver smoke, but this is still an important step into producing corporal ones. Actually they are very advanced in this particular charm as 90% of adult witches and wizards cannot produce more than a small silver cloud and some can't even do that. It is difficult to do as you must be able to think of your happiest memory, one that has a lot of love in it as well. The stronger the memory the more likely you are to produce a Corporal Patronus, which is a dark magic fighter, specifically used to make dementors flee, before they can suck out your soul leaving you nothing but a shell.
Both Spencer and Hotch shuddered at this for they had heard all about the guards of Azkaban, but Spencer kept reading.
Sorry to be so morbid but I still have nightmares occasionally about being surrounded by dementors and I suppose that talking about it does help. Personally I think all the dementors need to be eradicated permanently, but nobody has ever discovered a way to do that as far as I know.
In any case onto more pleasant subjects like your godsons, who are doing well and growing so fast that it doesn't seem like they should be almost three already. They are often asking about when you can come and visit again and are curious why they don't see you more often. I'm sure you know that it's not easy to explain to not quite three year olds that you have your own lives to lead and that you visit as often as you are able.
Spencer paused again and looked at Hotch and then suggested, "Maybe we can suggest that the Potters come visit us here in Virginia for a couple of weeks and bring the twins at least if not all of them doing the summer."
"That's a good suggestion," Hotch agreed as he kissed the younger man on the cheek. "I haven't had much time off in a couple of years so maybe I could take a week or two so that we could spend some time with them."
"Well, if you are going to take some time off maybe we can go across the pond instead, but I would like to see Fabian and Gideon, who are going to be all grown up before too many more years have gone by," Spencer said.
"We'll work something out," Hotch promised as he to missed not only the Potters, but his and Spencer's godsons whom he had only seen about a dozen times and they were almost three years old.
"So what else does Harry have to say?" asked Hotch.
Spencer found his place in the letter and said, "It's just a few more sentences."
I'll end this letter here by telling you that you are welcome to spend Christmas or part of the summer with us as we have plenty of room as you know and everybody would be very happy to see you and I know that you would make both sets of twins year if you could spend a week or two here as they love you both.
I'll let you know of any developments with Ginny's pregnancy and of course you'll be informed when she actually gives birth.
Best wishes,
Harry
"Well looks like everything is going well so far," Spencer said as he refolded the letter.
"You sound worried," Hotch said looking at Spencer's expression and reading it quite accurately.
"I am," Spencer admitted. "I did research on multiple births and there could be all kinds of problems that occur even more then with a single baby."
"Such as?" asked Hotch just a little curiously, although he was also not sure he wanted to know.
"Well, such as preeclampsia, also known as toxemia. It is often identified because of extremely high blood pressure and protein in the urine and occurs more often with multiple births. If left untreated it can turn into eclampsia, the life threatening occurrence of seizures during pregnancy. It may start to develop after 20 weeks, although it is most common after 32. This only occurs in 20% of women carrying multiples and also has a lot to do with other factors, like the woman's health history, among other things. There is also more of a chance of cerebral palsy, which is a general term for a group of permanent, non-progressive movement disorders that cause physical disability, mainly in the area of body movement. There may also be problems with sensation, depth perception, and communication ability. Difficulty with cognition and epilepsy is found in about one-third of cases. There are a number of subtypes including a type characterized by spasticity, a type characterized by poor coordination, and types which feature both symptoms or neither. Cerebral palsy is caused by damage to the motor control centers of the developing brain and can occur during pregnancy, during childbirth, or after birth up to about age three. About 2% of all cerebral palsy cases are believed to be due to a genetic cause. Cerebral palsy is not an infectious disease and is not contagious. Most cases are diagnosed at a young age rather than during adolescence or adulthood. Sorry didn't mean to going to such detail," Spencer admitted a little sheepishly, when he saw the look on his lover's face.
"No, it's okay," Hotch said with a grin. "I was just thinking that you sounded as though you had swallowed a textbook."
"Well, I did read it out of a textbook," Spencer admitted, "and I do have an eidetic memory. I've been reading all about what can go wrong with multiple births ever since well, we learned that Harry and Ginny were going to have twins, although with twins it's less likely to happen then with triplets or higher percentage multiples."
"So what's the percentage of this kind of thing happening?" asked Hotch with a raised eyebrow.
"About 30% in triplets and sometimes more," Spencer answered immediately. "It has a lot to do with low birth weight as most of the triplets weigh around 3 pounds each when they're born, and five pounds is the norm, although some triplets have been known to weigh slightly more. Cerebral palsy is also caused due to lack of oxygen to the brain which means that the brain and the muscles of the body don't develop properly. The longer that Ginny can take this pregnancy and the less premature the triplets are the less chance at least one of them will end up with the disease. Of course for all we know the magic that runs in their blood might mean that there is even less chance of developing things like palsy, although they're still human so I'm sure that the risk is not eliminated entirely, it just might be considerably lessened."
"For all we know the wizarding world has found a way to mostly eliminate some of these problems," Hotch suggested. "We have just started to learn about this totally different world in the last four years after all."
"You're right," Spencer admitted. "For all we know there is a potion or several that will prevent at least some of these problems and I'm sure the healer would have told the Potters all about them, if Ginny didn't already know since she does work at St. Mungo's."
"There you see," Hotch said, although he could certainly understand why Spencer was worried since these triplets would be part of his family even if the connection was very distant. Besides to lose any of them would probably destroy Harry and maybe Ginny as well. Hotch thought back to Harry's letter about how he would feel if he lost any of his children even those yet to be born and knew Harry well enough to know that he was stronger then he believed himself to be and while the loss of one of the triplets would certainly cause him to deeply grieve he would get over it and eventually be happy again, although neither he nor Ginny would ever be able to forget, just like no good parent would.
"Try to stop worrying about it as it will only drive you insane," Hotch suggested practically. "We'll have to just wait and see what happens and try not to worry about it in the meantime."
"That's easy for you to say," Spencer told his lover with a smile on his lips. "You're busy with your job and don't have time to think about things like this, but me on the other hand…"
"Maybe you could come and help us in the office," Hotch suggested at the moment. "You could help JJ review cases for instance. Not only would that help her with the load of case files she's always dealing with it will distract you as well so as far as I can see it's a win-win situation. You can help her view the case files and see whose is the need is the most urgent."
"There's an idea," Spencer mused looking thoughtful. "I might just do that so long as JJ doesn't think I'm invading her territory."
"No I believe you'll find that she'll be grateful for your help as she often has so many case files to go over that it takes her a week and there are always more coming in. You could help lighten the load considerably every once in awhile considering you read so fast. You could have the stack that she's often dealing with done in just a few hours instead of it taking a week."
"Are you sure it's not against some kind of regulation?" asked Spencer as he went over the regulations he had read over almost 10 years ago in his mind. He couldn't find one that related to having a consultant help go over case files, but then there probably wouldn't be one considering that the FBI so rarely used consultants. Spencer knew very well that being a consultant for the BAU was a very unusual turn of events because as far as he knew it had never been done before at least not on a regular basis. Spencer didn't deny that consultants had been used in the past, but there was not one person that was consulted more then once or twice if the FBI really needed help in a particular area of an investigation. As far as he knew he was the only one that had ever helped out a government agency more than a few times because of his depth of knowledge. Most consultants only knew a lot about one or two subjects but his teammates often referred to him as the expert on everything, even if it wasn't true it probably seemed that way since he did know a little about almost anything and was always learning more.
"No, I don't believe so," Hotch said thinking about it. "You have the clearance so that won't be a problem, although I should probably consult with the section chief just in case it does go against some obscure regulation, but I don't believe so."
Spencer nodded, "Maybe you better do that as I wouldn't want to get either one of us or JJ in deep trouble if we break some kind of obscure regulation that neither one of us is aware of. I know that's very unlikely considering that consultants aren't often used, especially the same one, but you never know with the US government."
"True," Hotch conceded.
The two of them fell silent for awhile just to join each other's company by cuddling together, but finally Hotch suggested, "Why don't we watch a movie since we get to do that so rarely, because of my work schedule. Something that all of us can watch including Jack."
"Sounds good," Spencer agreed. "It'll be nice to just sit on the couch and cuddle with you, spend time as a family and not worry about the birth that is hopefully a couple of months away at least. I'll have Sara fix some snacks so that we can munch on them while we're watching."
"That's a good idea," Hotch agreed as Spencer got up from where he was cuddled into Hotch's side to go find Sara and tell her about the movie night and have her fix some snacks.
~~~Hotch and Reid~~~
