"All right, Boy Wonder, spill. Something's obviously upsetting you. You never come to my lair without a reason," the tech analyst stated suddenly, and Reid frowned as he twirled an unwrapped sucker in his hands.
"Last night, Hotch threatened to use his Alpha voice on me," he murmured quietly. Garcia gasped, and he immediately realized his mistake. "Not for anything bad," he hastened to say, cutting her off before she could say anything—or worse, go storming out of the room to give their boss a piece of her mind. He waited until she relaxed back into her seat before he continued. "I was trying to convince him that he should keep dating Beth, and he was against the idea before he even let me explain. When I tried to make him listen, he told me not to make him force me to desist. But all I wanted to do was help Jack."
Garcia was silent for a moment. "Reid, honey, I'm going to need you to elaborate."
"You know how I told you once about children scent marking their parents and how bad things get when a parent is suddenly gone?" Reid questioned softly, and Garcia nodded. "I thought Jack had done that with Jessica after Haley's death, and I found out yesterday that he hadn't. Instead, he scent marked me."
"Oh, but that's so cute!" Garcia squealed, grinning up at him. "You know, you're technically a dad."
He smiled slightly and shook his head. "Yeah, a dad that's going to be leaving in about three months, if not less. I'm honestly the worst person he could have attached himself to. And to keep my departure from being too bad, I wanted Jack to spend time with Beth, since Hotch should still be interested in her after the bond finally gives. It's sound reasoning, but he refuses to even think about it as an option."
The sigh that sounded from Garcia was fondly exasperated. "Have you forgotten exactly who temporarily bonded with you? Hotch is the epitome of a gentleman, especially for an Alpha. He—as in Aaron Hotchner—wouldn't be able to stand dating Beth while he was bonded to you. He doesn't know how to be selfish like that. And that, coupled with his instincts as a bonded Alpha? You were basically asking him to go against his self-imposed code of honor," the blonde stated almost matter-of-factly. Reid frowned as he considered that, and then the Beta had to make it worse by adding, "I'm surprised at you for even bringing it up, really, with what happened with Haley."
Reid's eyes snapped to the tech analyst immediately, and he furrowed his brows. "What do you mean?"
Garcia's mouth opened and closed before opening again as she asked, "You don't know?"
"Know what, Garcia?" he pressed, trying his best to keep from getting angry.
It was quiet for a long moment before she answered. "Before Haley even took Jack and left, she was having an affair. It was mostly just for the companionship when Hotch was on cases, but..." Though she left the words unspoken, Reid knew where she was going with her statement. Haley had been careful, ensuring she didn't have the other man's scent on her, and that meant very limited sexual activity in order to prevent a bond. If others on the team had somehow found out about it, then it was almost impossible for Hotch not to know about it.
And that meant that Reid's suggestion would have been even more abhorrent to Hotch, especially if the older man couldn't wrap his mind around being given permission to date Beth. The proposition had probably sounded like the worst sort of rejection to the Alpha. He'd been so caught up in his concerns about Jack—or more accurately in his memories of being a child in the same sort of position—that he'd completely disregarded the way his words would sound. Hell, he was most likely fortunate that his words and actions hadn't sent Hotch into a drop.
"Oh, I know that look," Garcia interrupted his thoughts, smiling at him. "Go on, then. Fix things with Boss Man." She waved her hands at him. "Shoo."
Reid was so startled by the order that he was already on his feet and halfway to the door before he remembered they were at work. "Garcia, I can't—"
"Yes, you can, and you will. We need the air cleared between the two of you if a case comes up," the blonde woman rejoined. "Now go."
Unwilling to argue with her, Reid exited her office and started down the hallway. He bypassed Morgan's and Prentiss's desks, still fiddling with the sucker he'd gotten from Garcia. He could feel his coworkers' eyes on him, but neither Beta said a word, and he came to a stop in front of Hotch's door a moment later. His stomach twisting with nerves, he tentatively knocked on the door and held his breath. He half-expected to be ignored because typically there was a reason the unit chief's door was closed, so when the door opened a moment later, he was surprised—even more-so since it was Rossi who'd opened it.
"Aaron must be the popular kid today," Rossi quipped as he brushed past Reid, his hand gently brushing the younger man's elbow as usual.
Reid ducked his head to hide his smile and then took a step into Hotch's office. "Do you have a minute?" he asked softly, feeling off-kilter. He'd never really brought up personal discussions at work, and he honestly would rather wait until later that evening, but Garcia had a point. He couldn't risk not clearing the air on the off chance they suddenly had a case within a few hours.
Hotch's expression was as unreadable as ever, and he nodded and gestured for Reid to come in. "Is everything all right?"
After shutting the door behind him, Reid walked across the room and sat in one of the chairs facing the older man. He started twirling the sucker between his thumb and forefinger, worrying his lower lip between his teeth for a brief moment. As usual, Hotch stayed silent as Reid gathered his thoughts, and he was extremely thankful for it. "I wanted to apologize for last night. I never should have even entertained the idea of asking you to continue your relationship with Beth in this situation. It's not like I won't be able to see Jack often enough to keep him emotionally stable, and maybe we can even encourage him to scent mark Jessica somehow. I was more concerned with him than I was with how you'd potentially react to my suggestion, and his predicament isn't anywhere near as dire yet. So... I'm sorry for reacting the way I did when—"
"Reid," Hotch interjected, holding up a hand. With a slight wince, Reid pressed his lips together to keep from saying anything else. "It's all right. Really. We both could have handled it better, and you had every right to react the way you did. I shouldn't have threatened to use my Alpha voice on you."
That was the best apology Reid would get without the words "I'm sorry" involved, and honestly, it was far better than Hotch's usual ones. Smiling softly, the Omega nodded his acceptance before inquiring, "How are you feeling? You look a little exhausted." He narrowed his eyes as he saw Hotch hesitate slightly, and he quickly added, "Don't lie."
The Alpha's lips quirked into a wry smile, and it was obvious he was reluctant as he admitted, "It was difficult to sleep last night, but I'm used to running on limited hours."
Reid frowned, curling his fingers tightly around the sucker in his hand. He winced as the plastic wrapper crinkled, and he opened his mouth to apologize when Hotch gave him a look that had him promptly closing his mouth again.
"Sucker from Garcia's office?" the dark-haired man guessed, quirking a brow as his lips curved into a smile that was more warm than wry.
With a sheepish smile and a nod, Reid pushed himself up from the chair and cleared his throat. "I should probably start working on the pile of case files on my desk. So should you, if we're going to get home at a decent hour tonight." He did his best not to grin at Hotch's sharp intake of breath, and he quickly turned and headed out of the older man's office, leaving the door open behind him.
As he returned to his desk, he made a mental note to thank Garcia; it was definitely nice to have things settled.
"Hotch?" Reid called as he poked his head into his boss's office. "Is there a reason why Jessica just called me to ask when we were coming to get Jack?"
The older man looked as confused as Reid had felt, and the Omega waited as Hotch checked his phone and cursed softly. "Because I didn't answer the two times she called. What did you tell her?"
"That hopefully it would be in the next twenty minutes, and one of us would call her when we were leaving." Reid's gaze landed on the stack of files beside Hotch, and his mouth twisted into a wry smile. "But it doesn't look like that's going to happen."
Hotch groaned and sat back in his chair, closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Strauss dropped a new pile off during lunch." He gestured blindly with his free hand toward the stack on the small table next to the couch. "Those are what I've done today."
Reid frowned and pushed the door open further so he could step into Hotch's office. "They can wait until tomorrow, then. You're exhausted, and I'm willing to bet you didn't eat lunch. It's already nearing seven; you've been here for eleven hours. We're leaving," he ordered. When Hotch dropped his hand and opened his eyes to look at him incredulously, he made an impatient gesture. "Don't make me drag you out of here, Hotch."
The Alpha's lips twitched against a smile, and Reid didn't even hide his smug smile as the other man sighed, "All right," and shut the file on his desk.
He felt even more justified when Jessica gave him a knowing smile and gently squeezed his hand in thanks when they picked up Jack a lot sooner than she'd expected.
Jack talked about his day at school the entire ride back to Hotch's apartment, and while the older man made dinner, Reid and Jack settled in the living room. Jack knelt in front of the coffee table and did his homework while Reid kept himself occupied with the newest edition of Abnormal Psychology: Clinical Perspectives on Psychological Disorders. He willingly set it down and helped Jack if the six-year-old asked, and it wasn't long after Jack finished his last page of homework that Hotch came into the room and told them dinner was ready.
At dinner, Jack kept conversation going by asking random questions, just to see if Reid knew the answers, and the Omega caught Hotch smiling at his plate of food several times during the meal. He ignored it, and after they finished eating, he shooed Hotch away to settle Jack into bed, taking care of clean-up within ten minutes. He then made his way down the hall, stopping by Jack's partially closed door and smiling to himself when he saw that both of them had fallen asleep.
Hotch was sitting on the bed, propped against the headboard with an open book clutched loosely in one hand and an arm around his son. Jack was pressed against his father's side, his head resting against his father's arm. They both looked far too peaceful, and Reid couldn't imagine waking them.
So he didn't. Instead, he made his way down the hallway and changed into pajamas before brushing his teeth and taking out his contacts. Then, on a whim, he slid under the covers of Hotch's bed and settled down to sleep.
The next morning, he was the first one awake—and he found Hotch the same place he'd left him.
It was three days after they returned to work that they ran into their first problem, of sorts.
They had started the case with Reid sitting next to Hotch during the briefing in the conference room, and Hotch had even ended up sitting on the arm of the couch on the jet in an effort to be close enough. Reid had only allowed the closeness because he knew it was still necessary for Hotch, so he had only left Hotch's side when ordered. The first time was when he and JJ had been assigned to speak with the company Galfer Textiles to figure out information about the fabric of the dressess found on the victims. The only other time was when he and Rossi were told to contact the seminary while the rest of the team went to Heathridge Manor.
Reid hadn't liked the idea, but he'd kept quiet, and he and Rossi had waited at the station for the rest of them to return. They were both impatient and slightly antsy, which was typical for any of them whenever the entire team wasn't involved in a raid. Reid was remotely angry because he knew part of it was Hotch's way of keeping him safe, and the main reason Rossi had been left behind was in an attempt to keep him from coming to that conclusion. But he also knew Rossi had been chosen to stay behind because he was the only other Alpha in the group and would keep an eye on him if any of the LEO's tried anything, which was possibly even more irritating than being left behind.
That anger took a temporary backseat, however, when they all came back into the precinct, most of them unharmed. Hotch had a shallow cut underneath his left eye that Reid was definitely going to ask about later, possibly right after he addressed Hotch leaving him and Rossi behind. But for that moment, he permitted the conversation to slide, and instead kept quiet as they filed out of the station. The car ride back to the hotel was mostly quiet, and they were all tired enough to bade each other good night in the hallway upon their return to the hotel.
Reid turned to Hotch as the door closed behind them, his anger at being left behind simmering once more, but he didn't even manage to speak before Hotch stated, "Kevlar." Immediately, the Omega frowned in concern and took the few steps toward the older man, allowing the Alpha to pull him into a warm embrace.
"What happened?" he whispered, rubbing his cheek against Hotch's shoulder. "I know you're upset, but you need to talk to me. You were obviously involved in some sort of scuffle. Are you physically in pain, as well?"
Hotch's soft sigh was cool against his ear. "James was lying in wait for me in the basement, and he attacked me with a poker, causing me to trip and lose my gun. As you said, we had a slight tussle, and it ended with him falling in the well he used to drown his victims. I tried to catch him, but..." Hotch paused and swallowed audibly before finishing, "He died upon impact after the fall."
Tightening his arms around the older man, Reid murmured, "You know it's not your fault, right? James was delusional, and the same thing would have happened with anyone else. He probably even thought you were the Devil with how wrapped up in the fantasy he was. His death was purely an accident."
"I know," Hotch replied quietly, and Reid frowned up at him but kept silent.
After a few minutes of soundlessly standing there, the Omega felt Hotch's arms slowly release him, and he took a step back. "Are you all right?" he queried, studying the other man.
The Alpha smiled gently. "I'm not in the danger zone anymore, if that's what you're asking."
"Good," Reid responded with a nod. "So now we can talk about how you purposely left me out of the raid and did the same to Rossi to try and keep me from noticing. It didn't work."
"Reid," Hotch sighed, shaking his head. "It's not like that."
The younger man quirked a brow, crossing his arms. "Really? Because it certainly seems like it. You left an Alpha behind with me, Hotch. Not one of the three Betas, an Alpha. Not only is it insulting that you thought I couldn't be included on the raid, but you made sure, by using Rossi, that no one at the precinct would bother me. I can take care of myself! I told you about those previous issues because I trusted you wouldn't do something like this. So please enlighten me on how 'it's not like that,' Hotch!" Reid snapped, his earlier motion of crossing his arms pointless considering he was gesticulating wildly to emphasize what he was saying.
Hotch looked away as he answered grimly, "I wasn't..." Reid waited borderline impatiently for Hotch to finish, and when he did, it wasn't the way he'd expected. "I wasn't aware."
The almost inaudible admission was the only thing that put a complete stop to Reid's anger. His gaze quickly took in Hotch's stance—shoulders slightly hunched and hands curled into fists—and guilt swamped him. Hotch's Alpha had made a decision while distracted; it hadn't been intentional. But that also meant it was more likely to occur again. "I'm sorry, Hotch. This is our first actual case back, and I should have brought it to your attention in a less irrational manner. I just had plenty of time to think about it while at the precinct," the Omega explained.
"It's fine, Reid. I understand how you drew that conclusion," Hotch replied calmly, meeting Reid's gaze again. "Besides, maybe this way I'll think twice before I make that sort of decision again."
Reid blinked in surprise as Hotch's lips quirked into a smile, and he honestly didn't know how to respond. Hotch had just made light of the situation, even when he knew he had bothered the older man with his outburst. And the more he thought about it, the more he realized just how much Hotch had taken in stride in the last week. Hell, even the last week and a half if the whole situation with his heat was taken into account.
Hotch's sudden, "What?" brought Reid out of his thoughts, and he was almost certain the dark-haired man was blushing, but it was difficult to tell with the lighting in the room.
"Everyone, including you, thinks that this situation is a burden for me and has told me that not many people would be willing to do what I'm doing. What I don't think anyone realizes is how difficult this is for you, too, and just how much you're doing to make it easier for me. Not many people are willing to do that, either," he explained softly with a smile.
A quiet, almost desperate noise sounded in the Alpha's throat, and it took Reid a moment to realize Hotch was shaking against the effort to do something, but he wasn't sure what. "Stop looking at me like that," Hotch bit out between clenched teeth, his voice barely more than a growl—and everything clicked into place.
Reid swallowed and licked his lips—which only prompted another pitiful sound from Hotch—before taking a shuddering breath and making a decision. It had been days since the dark-haired man had touched him at all, aside from the moment he'd used their code word "Kevlar" when they'd gotten to the room. They'd even been sleeping in separate beds in the hotel. He knew it had to be taking its toll on the other man.
And that was why he stepped closer and whispered, "Touch me."
