Who is the Victim Here

I would love to hear your opinions and look to working further on the story.

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

Chapter Nine.

Several days later, the people at the hospital are perplexed at the behavior of the agent. His wounds are healing fine but it seems that his mental state is regressing further.

Some of the things that are leading them to this conclusion are that he won't feed himself, he won't chew food, and he won't use the toilet or ask assistance to use a bedpan but will just pee or defecate where ever he is. He doesn't talk, but just makes whining sounds or he cries out when he wants something, not necessarily when he needs something, but when he wants something. It seems that he just wants to be left in his own little world and will not talk to anyone.

The hospital has put him in diapers and now feeds him through the IV, but tries to put things in his stomach however so far only liquids given to him through something which he can suck through seems to be the only method. They have decided to just give it to him in baby bottles. He seems to enjoy those most of all in comparison to other methods.

Angie and Dr. Pitt discuss the problem of the man's physical and psychological problems. She is also not certain as to why he is regressing so much. It would be different if he were still being tortured by the unsub and his sister, but he's not and yet is not progressing to a place where she can start to help him heal. He won't talk to anybody, not to any of the hospital staff or any of his friends and co-workers.

His brother Sean came in from Hong Kong and was shocked at the appearance of his big brother. William came in from home and was also surprised at the appearance of the man. The brothers discuss what can be done to help Aaron. Is he competent anymore to make his own decisions? He is not just a member of the BAU anymore but is also a part of a global corporation which has responsibilities for thousands of people's lives. Can he decisions or do they have to take away his rights to do so? He is now one of the wealthiest people in the world and that makes him vulnerable to anyone, does he need someone else to make decisions about his life for him? They do put a bodyguard outside his door at the hospital because he is vulnerable. They are just not certain they want to take legal action to protect him. Does he need to be placed into conservatorship or would that regress him further? When he knows that someone else controls what he does and what is done to him. These are the question that the brothers are discussing.

Aaron is listening to his brothers discuss him and his competency and is frustrated because he does understand what is happening around him and to him and he wants to express to them that he is okay. But if he talks or does what they want him to do, Jack will be in danger. In Aaron's mind that is what he believes that unless he obeys his master Jack will be hurt. The truth is far from that, since the unsub had lied about having Jack. It was psychological torture. They will not bring the boy to his father even though Jack really wants to see his dad. But they think that if they bring him in, it might traumatize the boy to see his father like this. Sometimes in our desire to protect our children from bad sights we actually prevent good from happening. If Aaron were to see Jack and that he is okay and safe, he would know that the unsub had lied to him and would change his actions and attitudes, but since no one knows that Jack had been threatened they don't know that Aaron is merely playing a role. He wants so much to get out of the hospital and start his healing towards returning to life but doesn't know how to express himself.

Rossi is spending the afternoon with our boy in the hospital as they have decided that he is to have a friend or co-worker with him all times of the day for he is not to be left alone at all. Every few hours there is a change in 'babysitters' but he welcomes them to be there and wishes he could communicate with them but is still afraid for Jack. Rossi talks to him about little things that don't mean much but Hotch is glad he is there and is glad just to hear his voice. Angie comes in and watches the men converse when Rossi starts to talk about Kathy and she looks askew at him and wonders who Kathy is.

Rossi says, "Kathy would not be happy with you right now, you need to come back to us Hotch."

Angie asks, "Who is Kathy? He called me that several times in the car. Who is she?"

David says, "She was his best friend growing up. Dr. Kathy Moore and she passed away a few months ago." Angie pales when she hears what he says and her face hardens.

She says, "This is Kathy's Aaron?"

David says, "Kathy's Aaron? What do mean? Do you know Kathy Moore, Angie?"

"Yes, we went to college together, took the same subjects and went into the same medical specialty. She was a few years older but we roomed together and spent a lot of our time together except of course when she went home. She would go home on the weekends when Aaron was there. If I had known that this person was Kathy's Aaron, I would have left him in that cage and reveled in his being blown up." She turns and walks out the door of the room as both men look at her in confusion and Aaron actually whimpers.

David starts to walk out after her but then remembers that he can't leave Aaron alone. He goes to the phone and calls Spencer to come and stay with Aaron. Spencer arrives less than thirty minutes later and David asks him to stay with Aaron while he is out. He wants to go find Angie and find out why she hates Kathy's Aaron.

Spencer asks, "What has happened, what's wrong?"

David responds, "Just stay with Aaron and ask him."

"But he doesn't answer back."

"Maybe he'll talk to you." Spencer looks down at the man in the bed who scowls and shakes his head. Spencer looks up again as he sees David leave the room and his concern is great for his boss as he begins to talk to Aaron.

In another part of the hospital, Angie has been sitting in empty office thinking about her lost friend and crying as she thinks about that man upstairs and how he hurt her. She is in shock that she is finally meeting the man that Kathy talked about all those years. How Kathy had loved him and he ignored her. How she always would drop everything to be there for him but he never came for her during the times when she was hurting. Angie hates that man for the way he treated Kathy and yet she is so conflicted in that the man that she has met is not how she visualized Kathy's Aaron. She didn't want to like him or feel for him. She wanted him to be the uncaring bastard that she imagined, not the sweet, kind, gentle, scowling man upstairs.

She sees David walking by the office that she is sitting but does not try to connect with him. What do you say? She just said that she wished his boss had been blown up, how do you react or respond to that? But she knows that she cannot ignore her 'brother' forever. She does not consider herself that childish, but how do she explain her hatred of Kathy's Aaron and yet she doesn't hate that man upstairs. Going to the door, she opens it and looks down the hall to see him walking away.

"David." She calls out quietly and he turns around to see her. She walks back into the room and he quickly follows.

He asks, "Okay, what was that about upstairs. I distinctly felt a sense of hatred towards Aaron, why? What did do to you?"

"Oh David, Aaron never did anything for anyone, let alone me."

"You don't even know the man and he has done a great deal for many people."

"Yeah, that's why Kathy loved him because he was always a hero, a person who would sacrifice for others. He would usually put the needs or wants of others before himself. Her Galahad, pure, sweet, a hero, that's what she would say. But I don't believe that David. I saw her cry when he ignored her, I held her when he would say no, I was there when she was raped, not him. I was there during the trial when she helped convict the rapist. I didn't understand why she always made excuses or reasons for his neglect of the person he should have worshiped. I know what his mother did to him, but that is no excuse for his selfish treatment of Kathy. And that pseudo man upstairs right now is not the person that I imagined Kathy loved. He supposed to be strong, capable and gentle. I only see a gentle willful spoiled brat of a child. Why is he acting the way that he is, it doesn't make sense. When we got him here, he should have progressed forward. I mean I babied him for the trip to get here where they could put the IV in and he would begin to return to being an adult man. But he has gone the other way and I don't understand why. Of course, maybe it is because I didn't know that he was Kathy's Aaron. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I tried to tell you that he had issues about diapers and bottles."

"But you didn't tell me what they were."

"You wouldn't listen and we needed to get him out of that place. I was hoping that it wouldn't affect him but maybe it did."

"Yeah, the methods that I used to help him might just be the problem of why he is regressing now. Or maybe not. If he really is someone who protects and cares for others then maybe…" The woman thinks about the actions of the man and compares them to what she knows of Kathy's Aaron and is confused. From what she knows of the man, he would not regress like this unless he was forced to do so, but how and why are the questions going through her mind. "I need to talk to him again."

"I don't think that is a good idea right now."

"I am calmer now David."

"Leave him alone."

"No." She walks out the door and heads back upstairs to Aaron's room. When she arrives, she says hi to Spencer and asks him to take a break. After Spencer leaves, she sits in the chair in the room and looks at the man sitting on the bed after locking the door. For fifteen minutes, he just ignores her and looks everywhere but where she sat looking at him. He even closed his eyes and tried to go to sleep, but couldn't because he felt her eyes on him and he just became uncomfortable because he thinks that she could see into his very soul and would see the lies that he is keeping hidden. She gets up and goes to the small portable refrigerator that a member of the team had brought in earlier to keep drinks cold. She pulled out a baby bottle of apple juice and proceeds to the man's side. She holds it in front of him and challenges him to ask for it. He reaches for the bottle with his hand and she pulls it back and then he just opens his mouth for her to put the nipple in and with unhappiness she does so. It is not what she wants to do but she doesn't why he wants to do this. Because she doesn't think he does.

"Your brothers are worried about your competency to make decisions about yourself or others. They are petitioning the courts for guardianship and to declare you incompetent. That would not be a good thing for you Aaron as it would be difficult for you to regain control of your life. Either Sean or William will be in control, they will decide where you live, what you eat, what you wear and every aspect of your needs. You would not be allowed to work, Hayley could petition the courts to have full custody of Jack and no visitation in order to protect him from your inabilities to do for yourself. You would not be a father anymore. What you want would not matter in the very least and it would be a shame to declare a capable competent man that way. It is a shame that your current actions declare you incompetent even if your eyes don't declare it. I just am uncertain as to who you are trying to protect. I don't know of anybody in your life that is currently in danger of anyone, except yourself. You are the only one needing protection right now. If that jackass came, he would try to hurt you. Susan went after David, she wanted him not you, she didn't care about you. She didn't even realize that her brother had kidnapped the wrong person, but if he learned who really are, you could be very much in trouble. Being Kathy's Aaron could kill you." He looked at her with questioning eyes and his mind doesn't really understand why. Yes, he remembers that the man said that he was Kathy's. But what did Kathy have to do with his master?