A/N: Hello! Thank you for your reviews and for reading. I truly appreciate it. I don't CM and I don't infringe. There will be smexy times! Please see the note at the bottom!

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Chapter 7.

After the events of Halloween, Hotch was more on alert regarding the things that happened at Jack's school. He'd actually contacted Andi Swann and was able to convince her to get an agent assigned to security at Jack's school. Ashley Seaver had worked with the BAU while she was finishing up at the Academy, and Hotch knew she was a competent Agent who would do well in a school setting.

He and Spencer spoke on the phone nearly every night, whether Aaron was in town or away, and they were getting closer. When he was out of town, Hotch had the solace of having SIO Reid watching out for his son during the day, and when he was in town, he made sure to pick Jack up from school so he could see the man he was falling for…hard. One night, he received a text from Spencer.

I have to cancel tomorrow night. I have to go out of town. I won't be able to contact you because I'll be under, but I should be back in a week or two. Please take care of yourselves. I understand Miss Seaver, the beautiful new substitute teacher at Proctor, will be taking my classes while I'm gone. I'm sure you have everything to do with it. Take care, Aaron. Spence

It was disappointing, but Aaron knew it couldn't be helped. He'd had to cancel dates because of cases, so it wasn't for lack of desire they hadn't been able to get together since Halloween. Prior to that day, Hotch could tell Reid was pulling away, but after what went down at the school, everything seemed to change between them. He wanted to find out why, but he was going to have to be patient. For the first time in his life, he knew exactly how Haley must have felt over the years…waiting for someone you loved to return, unscathed. It left a bad twisting in his gut.

…

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving, he'd secured the team's stand-down so they could all have the holiday to spend with family. There were three other units who didn't work as often as Hotch's, so he felt it was justified. He and Jack were planning to go to the movies that afternoon, and then go to Garcia's place for dinner with her and Rossi, neither of whom had any family left alive. He wished Spencer was around to go with them.

He hadn't heard from SIO Reid since the text message shortly after Halloween. He'd sent a few texts to the man, but he'd heard nothing in return. He wasn't exactly worried, but not knowing where the man was in the world was a new thing to Aaron.

He wasn't sure if he was ready to accept being the one kept in the dark, worrying alone. Haley had done it for years, and it had become a wedge between the two of them. He and Spencer weren't actually a 'thing' yet, but there was potential, Aaron hoped.

It didn't seem fair to shoot it down before it got started just because his potential love interest had a job which would take him away from home without notice. If anything, Aaron should be used to the situation and be completely empathetic.

Just as the buzzer for the stove sounded, the buzzer for the intercom went off. He heard Jack running, so he caught him in the hallway. "Don't open the oven. I'll get the door and be right there. Just turn it off, okay?" The boy smiled and nodded, so Aaron put him down and went to the door.

"Yes?"

"I have a delivery for Aaron and Jack Hotchner," he heard a man state. It wasn't a voice he recognized, so he responded, "Just leave it with the front desk. I'll pick it up later. You're interrupting our dinner."

"Sorry, but this is when I was told to make the delivery. I need Mr. Hotchner to sign for it," the voice stated.

Aaron buzzed the guy up and went to the kitchen to take out the frozen pizza he'd heated up for Jack for dinner. It was a sad state of affairs for him to be feeding his son a frozen pizza, but Garcia had told him not to fill the fridge because she was planning to send a bunch of food home with them the next day, so he'd skipped cooking that night in favor of pizza and a movie.

"Grab paper plates and meet me in the living room. We'll turn on the movie while we eat. I've gotta sign for a package," he instructed Jack. The boy scrambled up onto a stool and began gathering paper plates and napkins as Aaron walked to the front door when the bell rang.

He looked through the peephole and shook his head. The guy was a typical bike messenger. Grungy clothes, racing cap and helmet, and scraggly beard. Aaron laughed as he opened the door. He saw the guy had an envelope in his hand as he chewed what appeared to be a full-pack of gum. "Here and here, dude?" the guy stated in a low voice as he handed Aaron an electronic device and pointed to two places where his signature was required.

He didn't see a return address on the device, so he hesitated. "Who's it from?" The anthrax case from a few months prior came to mind wherein a loaned agent had been exposed and nearly died during a case, so he took no chances.

The guy took the device back and punched a few buttons. "It's from Emily Prentiss. The message reads, 'Your turn. I'm exhausted'," the guy told him as he blew a bubble which popped, leaving gum in the scraggly beard and nearly causing Aaron to throw up.

"Fuck. I hate when that happens. Give me a minute to…" the messenger stated as he began pulling gum out of his beard so roughly it was taking the hair. Finally, he reached up to his left ear and pulled hard. When the beard gave way, the man howled in pain. Hotch instinctively reached down to his ankle for the gun that wasn't there. When there was no blood, he froze.

The man continued to rip the beard off his face, along with a false nose and the sunglasses he'd been wearing. When he pulled the cap and helmet off his head, Aaron started laughing. "You scared the shit outta me, Dr. Reid."

There, standing before him was the boyish face of Spencer Reid with a few pieces of whatever material he'd used in his disguise. Without hesitation, he leaned forward and captured Aaron's lips in a soft kiss. "The 'Dr. Reid' thing is sexy. I've really missed you, Aaron."

Hotch was so surprised, he could only step aside and pull Spencer inside with him. He pressed the man against the door and kissed him again, gently pushing his tongue through Reid's sumptuous lips, caressing the face of the sexy man standing in front of him. Reid pushed him forward a little but stepped with him, not breaking the kiss. When there was a thud on the floor, Aaron opened his eyes to see a backpack hit the floor. He quickly stepped away from Spencer just before Jack ran into the hallway to see what all the noise was about.

"Mr. Reid! Where was you?" Jack asked as he took Spencer's hand to lead him to the living room.

"Hang on, Jack. Let me take off these shoes before they mark up your dad's floor," Spencer explained as he toed off the biking shoes. Aaron had to hand it to him…he committed to the disguise.

After the shoes were placed next to the backpack, Jack led Spencer down the hall toward Aaron's bedroom. "Let's wash up. We're havin' pizza and we have enough for you." Spencer laughed while he followed the boy. Aaron was so happy to see Reid, he didn't even care that Jack had invited the man to stay without consent.

Aaron grabbed two beers and another paper plate. He was anxious to find out what the man had been up to and what brought him by. He had, indeed, missed Spencer Reid. There were discussions to be had, but there was time…Hotch hoped.

A few minutes later, the man and boy returned to the living room, and it was then Aaron saw Reid's outfit. He was wearing bike shorts, low socks, and a sweatshirt. His hair was wet and had been combed away from his face, and the flakes of rubber on his skin were missing.

"So, you've been playing bike messenger for the last ten days?" Aaron asked as he passed Spencer a beer after the three of them sat on the floor around the coffee table.

Spencer laughed. "I wish. No, I was doing something a little riskier than delivering packages, but I wanted to be certain no one ever follows me here. I'd never want anything to happen to you and Jack. You've both been through enough, Aaron. We need to talk about some things, you know," Spencer told him.

Aaron nodded, and the three of them proceeded to devour a large pizza while watching an animated movie Jack loved. When the movie was over, Aaron picked up his sleeping son and turned to Spencer. "I'll be back in a few. Make yourself at home," he instructed.

He took Jack back to his room and changed him into his pajamas. As he was tucking the boy into bed, Jack roused a bit. "Be nice to him. Ask him to go to Aunt Penny's with us tomorrow." Before Aaron could answer, the boy was sound asleep.

He turned on the nightlight and left the door open a bit before he walked down the hallway to the living room where he found Spencer sitting on the floor with his back against the couch. He was wearing glasses, and he looked far too sexy. Hotch took a deep breath and knocked on the wall so as to give the man a heads-up he was coming into the room.

"How was…um, how've you been?" Hotch asked, not exactly sure of the protocol regarding CIA operative.

The lanky man rose from the floor and walked over to where Hotch was standing behind a chair. "You afraid of me, SSA Hotchner?" he asked as he took Aaron's hand and pulled him to sit in the chair. When Spencer climbed into his lap and sat down, Aaron was a bit stunned.

"A-afraid? No, I wouldn't say I'm afraid of you. I'm just not sure what's okay to ask. You've been gone for a week and a half. I didn't hear from you, and I had no way of knowing if you were coming back. I was concerned," Hotch explained.

Reid giggled, which caught Aaron off guard. "My job is really no different than yours with the exception I can be called away at the last…oh, wait. You do that too, don't you?"

Aaron laughed darkly. "Yes, Spencer, I have to leave at the drop of a hat as you've experienced, but I'm somewhere in the fifty states. You could be anywhere in the world, and if you were killed, I'd never know it. You could disappear on me tomorrow morning, and it would be like you were never in my life. I'd truly hate it, and I'm worried about what I'd say to Jack. I'm not sure…" he began.

When Spencer leaned forward and captured his lips in a soft kiss, Aaron stopped talking. The two men kissed, holding onto each other as the feelings swirled inside each of them. Aaron was sure it was their hearts bonding, but he was still worried. He knew he loved Spencer Reid, but he was afraid to set himself and his son up for more heartache.

When he pulled away, he saw a soft smile on Spencer's face. "I'm stepping down as Team Leader. I'll still work with the team, but only from home. Emily is being promoted over the team. She's the one who demanded I come here to see you two because I was a pain in the ass while we were gone. She'll be a great boss.

"Look, Aaron, I have very deep feelings for you, and yes, I'll worry about you when you're gone, but being able to still communicate with you is very important to me. I know I can't offer that same availability in my current position, which is why I've spoken with my boss and told her I'm stepping down and going to fade into the sidelines.

"I like teaching, so I'm going to continue to do just that, and I'm not leaving the Agency completely. I can do what I do from here, so I'll be able to look out for Jack when you have to go away. I'm hoping we can be more to each other than just teacher/parent who sometimes get together for meals. I want more than that with you, and I promise, you'll have my undivided attention when we're together. No more half-in. It's all or nothing. What do you say?" Spencer asked.

Aaron was surprised by the man's frankness, but he wasn't upset with it. It was everything he wanted to hear from him, and he was prepared to take the plunge. "One condition, Spencer. I gotta take a test drive first," he told the younger man. He noticed the gleam in Spencer's eyes right away, and he was happy to see it.

Spencer rose from his lap and stuck out his hand to help Aaron up. "Well, Boss, let's go check under the hood." The two men walked down the hallway, arm in arm, only stopping to look in on Jack. When they ascertained he was sound asleep, they went into Aaron's room, closing and locking the door.

They kissed each other, gently at first, but the passion caught fire before either man knew what had happened. As they began shedding their clothes, kisses became more fevered, and when they collapsed on the bed, they both stopped moving and looked into each other's eyes. "You sure you're ready for this? You haven't been with a guy since college, right?" Spencer asked.

"That's right, SIO Reid. I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to be gentle with me," Aaron whispered as he pulled Spencer atop his body and wrapped his arms around the younger man's shoulders. Their bodies lined up perfectly, and desire took it from there. Fevered kisses. Biting nips. Licking and sucking. Many heady moans were quietly escaping from both men who were trying desperately to be quiet so as not to wake the impressionable young boy in the room across the apartment.

Feeling the heat that accompanied the wonderful feeling of becoming one with another human was more than Aaron could take. "I love you, Spencer. You can't leave me…us…behind."

Spencer leaned forward from his seat atop Aaron's hard cock and slowed his movements. "Thank God because I was so afraid I was in this alone. I was afraid I was making all these plans only to be left with egg on my face. I love you, too, Aaron," he whispered into Aaron's ear. At hearing the proclamation, Aaron allowed the pleasure to take him. It felt more incredible than he'd ever imagined. It was powerful. That was the easiest way to describe the feelings consuming his body as Spencer rode him. It was a powerful love.

…

E/N: Hope you enjoyed it. I have a favor. I love reading CM stories, but I have a hard time finding good ones, so if you'd be so kind as to give me a head's up on things you like in the Hotch/Reid, Morgan/Reid, Morgan/Garcia, or Reid/Prentiss pairings, I'd appreciate it. I'm mostly a slash lover, but I love Morgan and Garcia and wish to hell they'd get them together on the show! Also, Reid/Prentiss intrigues me, even though I'm not a huge fan of hetero romance. Love to hear from you. ML