Summary: Fist meets face, Reid gets hurt, Rossi… is something else.
Warnings: Slash and adult themes.
Copyrights: Criminal Minds belongs to CBS, not me. I can wish though
Special Thanks: To Starofoberon, wishing you the best, and sincerely thank you. Also a thanks to reviewers. Small note at the end for everyone who posted in regards to the Rossi element.
Lost
Gingerly rubbing the mark on his jaw, Aaron sat on Morgan's stoop, not the least bit confused. He knew what had happened. He knew why he was here. He also knew he wasn't leaving. Glancing across Morgan's front door, Hotch considered this not a call to war but something worse.
Hotch liked to act, to meet problems head on. Stagnation was his bane. As the stars light the night sky, he was disturbed by the fact that there was nothing he could do. Nothing, but sit and wait.
It was the purest form of torture.
They had made it to Reid's apartment, and received no answer at the door, nor when they rang his landline. The lot also had no signs of his Volvo. Spencer hadn't gone home. Hotch had picked up his phone to call in a trace from Garcia. Though it was the weekend and he did not want the tech involved, he couldn't leave this until tomorrow. Hotch stopped, looking at the device he had fished from his pocket. The phone in his hands was Spencer's, his own still lay in his pocket.
They couldn't track his phone. Spencer didn't have it, they did!
He wasn't home, and the sun was in the last shades of setting. Glancing at the watch on his wrist, Aaron frowned at the big hand on the nine and the little hand moving to the six. It was officially late, and they held no clue for where the deservingly angry genius had spirited off to.
Hotch and Rossi resorted to the only trick they had up their sleeves. Profiling.
They'd done this before. Playing out a scenario where one or the other was an unsub, or a victim, when trying to determine where someone would go. What they would do. However, the second they started Hotch instantly regretted the decision.
"I'm Spencer Reid," Rossi stated flatly as they stood in the parking lot of Reid's apartment complex. Inwardly, and outwardly, Hotch groaned as he rolled his eyes at the man standing next to him.
"You're not that good looking," Aaron grumbled, hanging his head in resignation.
"Did you want to find him or not?" Rossi persisted, his own aggravation coming through.
"Fine," Aaron crossed his arms, cocking his head at the older profiler. "You're Reid." And I'm Mother fucking Teresa, Hotch silently added.
"Yes, I'm Reid," Rossi continued, as he started to pace, entering character in front of Hotch. "A recently assumed gay, or maybe bi-curious, genius. Currently, I'm pissed as hell at you..."
"And who's fault is that?" Aaron snapped at Rossi, but froze when he spotted an older man in an orange and pink jogging suit down the sidewalk who halted his steps. The gray haired gentleman gave both the profilers an odd look. Reaching down, he picked up his Pomeranian, and turned back the way he came.
"Fine," Hotch ground out, though this time more quietly as he resigned himself to Rossi's assumed role, "You're Reid, and you're mad at me."
"Because I trusted you," Rossi continued, rubbing his goatee as he paced. "I don't generally trust other people. I'm closed off. I let myself open up to you, get involved … Physically?" Rossi stopped, giving Aaron a quizzically raised brow.
"That is not your business." Aaron said, but had to physically bite his lip to keep his anger in check. This is part of profiling, Hotch reminded himself as Rossi patently awaited an answer. "Fine. Yes, physically," Hotch admitted through clenched teeth.
"All right," Rossi again turned back to pacing, under his breath he mumbled, "No wonder he was so pissed off."
"Dave," Aaron said, a warning on the edge of his tongue. Rossi raised up his hands, shrugging his shoulders, but he didn't bother to look back at Aaron.
"So, in that case, I'm feeling used. Really, really, used. I mean," Rossi stopped the pacing, holding his palm out between them.
"We're talking about Reid here," Rossi continued as he began breaking the fellow profiler down piece by piece. "He could almost be diagnosed with anti-social tendencies. He hasn't had many, if any, involvements in a love life. He comes from a broken home, and was isolated from his own age group and any possibility of developing normal friendships. He has more of an intellectual grasp of love and healthy relationships.
"Given his IQ, he grasped this concept early. However, based on his experiences growing up, he doesn't believe in them. He probably was waiting for the other shoe to drop. When it did, it was of you handing him over to a, uh," Rossi paused, coughing into his hand, "A very debonair wolf. Wait a minute," Rossi scratched at the gruffness on his chin, "If I'm Reid, why would I turn me down?"
"He's more well adjusted then that," Aaron finally snapped, sighing at Rossi's loss of focus. He wasn't going to bother challenging Rossi's claim to debonair, though wolf was far more accurate. Hotch also wasn't going to touch David's last comment, not with a ten foot pole. "He wasn't waiting for another shoe to drop, or he would never have gotten involved with me. He's too careful for that." Rossi contemplated Hotch's statement, giving a slow nod.
"You're right," Rossi's eyes were dark as he looked at Aaron, "He trusts you. He doesn't trust many people, but he trusts you implicitly. He wasn't waiting for you to let him down, he never thought it would happen. However, now, he's devastated because he thinks it has. When he feels that trust is broken~" Aaron had been grimacing the whole dialog, Rossi's words were like salt in a wound, but a realization struck with the last point.
"He'll need to reconnect to that feeling. He'll go to someone he can still trust," Hotch blinked, wanting to slap himself in the forehead at the obvious answer. Since Reid's mother was currently in Las Vegas, Rossi was clearly not on the list of people Reid was with, and Gideon had long since been MIA in the younger man's life, that only left one person.
"Morgan," They said in unison as they quickly walked back to the car.
It should have brought relief to see Reid's car parked in the lot outside Morgan's town home. On one level it did. At least Hotch knew where he was – although where he was gave the man no sense of comfort.
When they parked, the sun had since long set, the moon rising in its wake. They stood at the door to Derek's home, exchanging a glace as Rossi motioned for Hotch to do the honors. Hotch knocked firmly at the door, calling Derek's name once. He waited, looking back out at the driveway to confirm that Derek's car was also there. It was, so he should be home.
Hotch picked up his cell, about to attempt calling Morgan, but the sounds of a chain sliding off the door stopped his fingers from dialing.
Morgan opened up the door, looking at Hotch, then at Rossi, then back to Hotch once more. Stepping out of the house, he closed the door behind him. Morgan was dressed for bed in gray sweats and a white tee shirt. The dark skinned SSA gave Hotchner a curious look as he put his hands into the pockets of the gray sweats.
"Hotch, Rossi," Derek greeted the two men calmly, his almond colored eyes looking questioningly at Aaron. "It's late, man. Is this work related?"
"No," Hotch said, "I need to speak with Reid, and he's here." It wasn't a question, but still Morgan gave a slow nod, closing his eyes in thought.
"You know, if you're not here about work, then," Morgan breathed out, cocking his head as he gave Hotch a trademark Derek Morgan coy glance, "we're not on Bureau time."
Whatever Aaron's sentiments had been, they never left his mouth. He hadn't been expecting Morgan's hand to come out of that pocket in a fist and roundhouse his jaw. Falling back onto the pavement, Hotch managed to catch his fall before the cement ccould add an additional insult to his cranium, but his hands and left knee were going to suffer from the save.
His sight was fuzzy for a moment, and he couldn't think. He heard more then saw Rossi move between them, heard Morgan shouting at Rossi, "Step back man, there's a line and you're next!" Looking back at the two, Aaron stood, ready to order this debacle to stop when a high-pitched cry of pain caused everyone to halt.
Morgan had been struggling with Rossi, who was trying to keep the enraged man from kicking the crap out of their Unit Chief, when another body entered the fray.
Reid had come behind Morgan, grasping about his friend's shoulders to keep him also employed come morning. Derek didn't hear Reid asking him to stop, and he didn't register that it was Reid's hands pulling him back. Morgan shoved back in the struggle with Rossi, and Reid ended up as the cushion between Derek and the frame of his door. The metal of the latch cut into Reid's back, pushing a pained cry from the younger man's lips.
They all stopped, disentangling as Reid fell to the ground, his hand arching behind to grasp his spine.
"Reid, I'm sorry~" Either Rossi or Derek, probably both, had started to apologize when Reid winced, hissing as he pulled the palm back around from pressing against the pain in his back to his face. Sighing, Spencer knew there was a reason his hand felt hot and slick.
There's wasn't much blood, but going by the looks of the three men around the fallen genius you'd think he'd just taken a bullet.
"I'm fine–" he'd started to say, putting his hands up plaintively between himself and the group. When the color in their faces dropped a couple of shades at the wet, red smear across his palm he quickly hid it behind his back.
"Reid," Hotch was beside him, and to how, or when, he got there Reid couldn't say. "Let me see it." Hotch's hand was on his arm, the other pressing on Reid's back to get a better view of the wound. Reid's cheeks went an instant shade of red, easily making up for the lost color of the other men's faces. His mouth hung open, but nothing was coming out. He didn't expect to see Hotch tonight, let alone to have him this close.
"It's not bad," Aaron sighed out, and to Spencer's relief the trio of alpha males around him eased up some at the pronouncement.
"I said that," Reid mumbled, keeping his eyes off the ones Aaron was using to bore into him.
"Okay, that's enough," Morgan was at Reid's side in an instant, slapping away Aaron's hand and taking Reid's arm. Lifting his friend up, he matched Hotch's pissed glare for one of his own. "Let's go, Reid."
"Reid," Hotch said, standing up as Spencer was pulled to his feet by Derek, "I need to talk with you."
"Not tonight you don't," Morgan spat, practically pushing Reid through his door. Spencer's mouth still hung unhinged, his eyes focused on Hotch's jaw, but for once words weren't coming out. Morgan entered his home behind Spencer, spinning around as he bid the older profilers a snapped, "Good night," before slamming the door closed in their faces.
Hotch and Rossi stared at the closed door, then to each other. The trance was only broken when the porch light over their heads was turned off.
Hotch didn't say anything, but Rossi gave a casual nod of his head. Sighing, they both settled down, one on either side of the door frame. Both men were determined to not look at the other as they equally chose to ignore Morgan's dismissal.
They would wait.
It would be hours yet until the sun rose, and the two inside would leave for work. Aaron rubbed his hand over the mark on his jaw, careful to not look at his watch. He was committed to waiting the whole night, so there was no need to watch the time.
It's not like he'd be getting any sleep even if he went home.
More importantly than that, he couldn't stomach the idea of showing up to work tomorrow without explaining to Reid what their whole proverbial game of "telephone" had actually been about. He hadn't used Reid and then handed him off to Rossi. Firstly, he'd never do that. Secondly, he had no intentions of handing Spencer off to anyone, and definitely not to the man sitting the door's length away.
Glancing over at Rossi, Aaron bit once more at the inside of his lip. The skin was breaking under the constant attention of his teeth, but he didn't care. Rossi was a problem, and one that Hotch truly couldn't fix. He had known that before, when Rossi said that he wasn't going to stop trying for Spencer, but he didn't know it would come to this.
In the end the only thing Aaron Hotchner could do was sit and wait.
They stayed that way, silent, for a long time. Rossi muffled a yawn behind his hand at one point, standing up and walking to Hotch with an outstretched hand.
"Keys," He said, rubbing at his face. Hotch felt a small weight leave his shoulders when it looked like Rossi was calling it quits. Handing the keys over to David, the older man gave Hotch a devious smile.
"Not on your life, my friend," He said as he started to head to the car, "I'm just going to hit up that seven-eleven we passed and grab a coffee and bathroom break. Can I get you anything?" He asked as he opened the door. The weight that had left Aaron's shoulders easily returned as he shook his head no. Aaron watched as his car pulled away, taking in a deep breath as he leaned his head back against the siding of the house.
As he waited, and dreaded Rossi's return, Hotch tried to adjust his weight some.
"I'm getting too old for this," Hotch whispered, feeling the pain of sitting on the concrete step acutely in his hips now.
"You are," came an affirming whispered reply that made Hotch's heart jump in his throat. Looking up, he hadn't even noticed the door had opened a crack, nor that Reid was sitting on his haunches just on the other side.
Spencer was no longer dressed in his own clothes. He now wore a large dark tee shirt and sweat pants rolled at the band that didn't succeed in keeping them from falling low on his hips. The new clothes were obviously a loan from Derek's closet.
Aaron opened his mouth, but Spencer raised a finger to pursed lips, signaling Hotch to keep quiet. Reid looked over his shoulder before slowly standing. Gingerly he pulled the chain, careful not to let it hit the door when it fell. His brown eyes remained fixated on the inside of the house, on the couch in the living room and the dark outline of blankets and pillows that rose and fell with Morgan's breathing.
Reid didn't even have the door closed before arms wrapped him from behind pulling him into a tight embrace. He didn't mean to wince, he tried to cover for it when he did, but Aaron noticed the seized frame in his arms. Hotch also froze, pulling back from Spencer slowly.
"Was that," Aaron ran a tongue over his suddenly very dry lips, "for the wound on your back, or for me?"
Reid chuckled, darkly as he looked sadly over his shoulder. "One and the same?" He asked tentatively to Aaron, who felt his heart go from his throat to his feet in so few words.
"Reid, I'm sorry," Hotch breathed out, closing his eyes and finding that part in his lip again. He knew he was drawing blood without question by this point. "I know what Rossi said. How it must have sounded, but I swear to you it's just a big misunderstanding. At first it was my misunderstanding of what Rossi was trying to say, about wanting to pursue you, because I thought he was trying to hint that he knew we were involved. At the time, he didn't know that we are… were~"
A fist hit Aaron in the shoulder, knocking him back a step and drawing his dark eyes up to an amused looking quirk in the genius' lips. Reid was having a quietly laugh, which only served to draw out all of Hotch's confusion and concern. Seeing the confusion and pain, Reid brought his hand to his face clearing his throat.
"Hotch, I, uh," Spencer shook his head, giving Aaron a hesitant smile, "I know. You don't have to apologize. No, actually, let me put it this way. Please don't apologize, and please don't use past tense when talking about us."
"W~wha? Wait, you're not mad?" Hotch blinked, more confused now then ever. He saw many emotions in Reid's tone, posture, and face, but anger wasn't one of them. "But, Rossi said~"
"Oh, no, don't get me wrong," Reid nodded, rolling his eyes, "I was way pissed."
"But, you're not now?"
"Not since about an hour before you showed up. Morgan talked me down," Reid smiled at Hotch giving the man a small inclination of his head. "He actually used logic. I mean, yeah, I was thinking what you said. I couldn't believe you wouldn't even tell me that he was going to attack me in the hotel, or that he told you he was going to and you were just fine with it. But, Hotch, I couldn't believe it because that doesn't even sound like you. Not one bit. Morgan simply helped to point that out, that and the fact that I, um, really stopped listening to anything Rossi was trying to say after that,"
Reid coughed lightly, again trying to clearing his throat. Yeah, he silently amended, I freaked.
"I don't understand," Hotch said, rubbing his hands over his face. "If you're not mad, and both you and Morgan know it was a misunderstanding, then why did Morgan hit me? And why am I sitting out here like an idiot, giving myself an ulcer?"
Reid sighed at the question, directing his eyes to the ground. "Ah, sorry. Morgan is, well, you know. I think I freaked him out a little when I first showed up." He squirmed, reaching out for Hotch's bruised jaw, but he stopped, pulling his hand back. Aaron saw the retreat, and caught his wrist before Spencer could complete it.
"And why are you doing this?" Hotch nodded at the hand that hadn't touched him.
Reid mumbled something, trying to hide his face under bangs that he'd cut far too short to allow for the old habit. Hotch questioned himself, but deciding that action was better then doing nothing, he reached up and cupped Reid's face, lifting it so he could see him clearly.
Spencer's eyes were downcast, filled with worry, guilt, and a million other things that made them unfocused as they hesitantly tried to meet Aaron's gaze. Reid offered a weak smile when his attempts failed miserably. He gave in to a short, hollow laugh at himself.
"Hotch, in case you haven't noticed, I'm a little messed up."
"You're not," Hotch returned, making Reid pause in his own condescension at how easily Aaron said the words. How he sounded as though he fully believed the statement.
"Yeah," Reid gave Aaron a sad smile, "I am. More then being mad at you, I was scared of seeing you." Aaron winced, flinching like he'd been hit yet again. "Not for the reason you think," Reid quickly added, pressing a hand to Hotch's chest, desperate to assure Aaron that the problem truly lay within himself.
Spencer's voice went into high gear as he explained, "I had this little revelation. Maybe not so much a revelation, because I suspected it, but I didn't want to say it, and I didn't want you to either because I didn't want you to feel like you were obligated to return the sentiment. I considered just going to see you directly after I got back. If I did that then, though, besides being a complete wreck and accusing you of handing me to Rossi on a silver platter, I'd have been stupid and just come right out and said 'I love you'. If I did that and if you did return it, but didn't mean it, or worse, if I scared you off~"
The game had originally been one used to shut the other up, but Aaron wasn't thinking about that when he kissed Reid. He wasn't thinking much of anything other then the part where Spencer had said he loved him, even though the younger man didn't appear to notice he done just that.
Spencer was pulled into the kiss, Aaron's arms wrapping around his back, a hand sliding up the back of his neck and holding him close into the embrace. Half- and fully-formed worries and concerns were lost, and his body relaxed for the first time since he'd awakened early that morning.
Melting into the embrace, Reid lifted his arms behind Aaron, grasping his shoulders for support as the stress leaving his body made him weak. Though Aaron's tongue caressing gently across the inside of his mouth, the familiar scent of Hotch's skin, and the warmth and tenderness of the kiss may have been to blame for the weakness of his knees, Reid blamed his apparent inability to stand on his own on the exhaustion caused by overly high-strung muscles. If asked, that's what he'd say, anyway.
Right now though, the only thought that rang clearly through his head was one that filled him with as much peace as it did fear. He loved Aaron, and there wasn't anything he could do to stop it.
Rossi couldn't stop it, though he did manage to put a halt on the lovers' reunion as he harshly cleared his throat, coughing into his hand. Hotch and Reid instinctively pulled apart at the cough, though somehow they had missed the sound of the car pulling up into the driveway.
The credit to missing that, Reid knew, would have to be owned up to Aaron's kiss.
"I'm glad to see that all has been cleared in this particular misunderstanding then?" Rossi gave the two floundering men a half smile as he approached. Both Aaron and Spencer were sputtering nonsense in return, brains far too clouded to be intelligent by this point.
The light above Morgan's door flashed back on, and all three looked up just as a very angry, half asleep Derek swung the door open wide to glare at the lot of them. Reid actually moved to stand between Hotch and Morgan, but the source of Derek's ire landed on Rossi's quizzical brow.
"You!" Derek ordered, pointing at Rossi as he took two quick steps toward the man. Grasping a dumbfounded David Rossi by the arm, Morgan dragged the confused man into his house, a near déjà vu to events not too long past. Derek slammed the door closed, leaving Hotch and Reid too look as equally confused as Rossi had been.
The door reopened a moment later, and Morgan tossing car keys at Hotch, who most impressively caught them before they hit Spencer, still standing as his human shield.
"Hotch," Derek gave his boss a steady, deadly glare as he pulled his index and middle finger to his eyes, then pointed firmly at Aaron. "Like a fucking hawk man," Morgan warned before he slammed the door once more, the sounds of Rossi's indignant protests dying away as the door closed.
"Wow." Reid blinked at the perpetually active door. "I think that's a cue we should go." Reid rocked back on his heels, backing up as Derek and Rossi's voices became louder again inside the house.
Aaron gave a small nod, glancing only back once before the two moved to his vehicle.
TBC~
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The mentioned note: Fear not, I had the story planed out beginning, middle and end when I wrote the summary. This is Hotch/Reid, though, I admit to not saying anything sooner to abate concerns in interest of suspense. I also admit to being a Rossi/Reid fan, but Hotch/Reid is number one in my heart ; )
