Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or NCIS or any of their characters. I do however own this story, I wrote it and I do NOT give permission for anyone to post it anywhere else. If you want to share it post a link.

Tony visited Spence in hospital as regularly as he could depending on the cases he was working. Though sometimes it was a few minutes on the way to work in the morning to deliver a decent cup of coffee and a tired visit on his way home late at night. On cold case and paperwork days he was able to arrive at a dinner time with take-away for two and an armload of library books and spent the evening talking over cases, books and anything else that came up. One subject that wasn't discussed though was Spencer's team. Tony knew Spencer was hurting at their abandonment but there was nothing he could say about it to help him. Spencer on his part wasn't ready to admit out loud how hurt he was.

Garcia had finally pinged his phone and realised he was at the hospital, she'd called by made a fuss about how upset she was with him and Hotch both in hospital. Spencer was able to finally get her to calm down enough to tell him about Hotch's injuries and how he was. She also told him about Haley and Jack coming to say goodbye before going into witness protection, which he already knew. Crying about how much Hotch must be suffering not knowing where is son was.

Spencer was able to piece enough of the story together to know that Hotch injuries would probably have some effect on his digestive system for the rest of his life but weren't likely to be life threatening or career ending. It was going to be weeks if not months before Spencer knew if his knee would heal up well enough but Garcia hadn't asked about it so Spencer didn't think it would help to tell her about it. She brought him her spare kindle and showed him how to load new books onto it.

Spencer had expected that after Garcia had been, the rest of the team would follow but it didn't happen. He waited, expectantly at first, then with diminishing hope. His team must know where he was, Garcia was hopeless at concealing information from them and he hadn't asked her to keep it secret. It seemed that they didn't have time to care for him. Garcia hadn't mentioned them being away on the case, but he knew it was possible they'd been called in just after she left. With two members down though it was likely they were stuck in the office doing consults.

-o0o-

Hotch was finally reunited with his cell phone on discharge from Hospital, but waited until he arrived home and was settled in by Emily before he checked his messages. Amongst the general business calls from his dry cleaner, apartment manager etc., there were a few stressed out and angry calls from Haley's family, a lot of semi-sincere well wishes from colleagues in the FBI who had their eyes on his position managing one of the most successful teams in the Bureau and a daily missed call and anxious messages of hope for a speedy recovery from Dr Spencer Reid, none of which contained an explanation why he hadn't been in to visit with the rest of the team.

Hotch decided he wanted an explanation and rang the young genius. For the next few hours Hotch alternated between worry and annoyance at his colleague for being out of reach or refusing to answer his boss' calls. Even if he were on holiday, Aaron had thought they were good enough friends for the young man to answer, unless he was punishing him for not answering all the calls he'd made while Hotch was in the hospital. That didn't make sense though, surely Reid would have known that Hotch's phone was left behind at his apartment and hadn't been given to him while in hospital so he wouldn't be tempted to try to find or ring Haley while he wasn't coping well with his injuries and the separation.

Finally, he got through and was greeted by the sound of a rather drunken sounding Spencer Reid.

"Hey Hotch, you rang me? I can't believe it! Are you okay? Well I know you're probably not okay yet but are you feeling better? Are you out of hospital yet? Can you eat normal food again yet?" He rambled.

"I was discharged this morning, I've been eating real food for the last few days, if you can call hospital food normal. But you'd know all this if you'd been to visit. Where are you?" Aaron replied amused.

"I've been a little bit tied up," Spencer giggled. "Like literally tied up which is funny because it feels more like being tied down to stop me floating away today. But I couldn't come, and nobody would put my calls through or tell me how you were. You had lots of visitors though. Everybody was so busy visiting you. Which is okay though I'm glad you didn't have to be lonely. I'm glad your home now. Are you alone, is someone staying to look after you, keep you safe. I hope you're safe."

"Spencer are you high?" Aaron demanded.

Tony had been biting his knuckles to prevent him from laughing out loud at his friend's dopey conversation with his boss. He could just imagine how Gibbs would deal with a subordinate rambling on at him like that. When he heard Hotch's question though he knew he needed to intervene before his friend accidently lost his job. He prised the phone from Spencer's hand, ignoring his whining about it.

"Dr Reid isn't high Agent Hotchner, he has just come out of surgery and is still under the influence of the anaesthetic. His surgeon has been by to inform us that the surgery was successful and Spencer should be able to walk on the leg again eventually, though not for some months yet. He will be discharged within the week and should be able to return to desk duty the week after that if that's alright with you Sir," Tony said in a professional voice without introducing himself.

"Give it back I wanna talk," Spencer demanded.

"Spencer, I really don't think that you should be talking to your boss until the Anaesthetic clears your system," Tony replied.

"Wasn't talking to my boss. Was talking to my friend Hotch," Spencer argued.

"No Spence, I don't think you were. Agent Hotchner sounded like he was ringing to find out your whereabouts and whether you were capable of returning to work," Tony replied.

To his horror, and Aaron's on the other end of the phone, Spencer burst into noisy sobbing tears and he dropped the phone to try to comfort his friend, not realising that the call hadn't disconnected.

"Why won't they be my friends?" Spencer sobbed. "I understand Morgan and JJ not wanting to hang around with someone as geeky as me. But Emily and Garcia and Hotch are all secretly geeks too. And this isn't public, there's nobody here to see them and make them embarrassed by me here. Why would they leave me here all alone? I would never do this to them."

Tony hugged Spencer rocking him slightly. "You're not alone, I'm here for you Spencer, and I'm going to stay here with you every day until you can come home. It's their loss Spence, you're a terrific friend. It's not your fault."

The nurse came in and quietly asked if Spencer was in pain. He shook his head.

"He's had an emotional upset," Tony said quietly.

"It's important he stay still, I'll get him a sedative," the nurse said.

"He's allergic to all narcotics," Tony said.

"I understand but he needs to calm down," she said leaving the room. She returned shortly with another nurse who checked Spencer's ID with the first nurse and gave him a shot.

Slowly the sobbing stopped and Spencer fell asleep.

Hotch disconnected the call and sat his heart aching at his friend's heartbreak. He didn't understand what had happened. The team was normally so overprotective of their young genius, he couldn't believe they'd left him alone in hospital. Perhaps it was all a storm in a teacup brought on by Spencer waking up from the surgery before his friends were allowed in.

-o0o-

Garcia and JJ brought Hotch a home cooked meal for his first night home.

"Where's Reid?" Hotch asked as they dished up.

"I brought pot roast and potatoes" JJ said.

"And lemon meringue pie" Garcia added.

"Which hospital is Reid in?" Hotch asked.

"Hospital?" JJ asked. "He's fine, it was a flesh wound. I think he's taken the opportunity to go and visit his Mom while he can't work."

"He'd just come out of surgery when I rang him. He was too out of it to tell me where he was but the doctors had just told him that the operation was successful and he'd be able to walk again in a few months. Does that sound like a flesh wound to you?" Hotch said severely.

"He's in University Hospital," Garcia said softly.

"Why didn't you tell us?" JJ asked, annoyed.

"I only found out a week ago," Garcia said. "I went to visit and he said he was fine. Asked about Hotch mostly. And what was going on with the search for the Reaper."

"So you've been visiting, why didn't you tell us so we could visit too?" JJ asked.

"You were so angry with him," Penelope said. "And Emily and Morgan have put every spare minute into searching for the Reaper. I didn't want to distract them from the search. Spencer knows how important that is."

"More important than his well-being," Hotch replied sombrely.

"What no!" JJ protested.

"Junior G-man knows we'll be there for him when he needs us," Garcia said.

'And you decided he didn't need us while he spent the last two weeks waiting to find out if he'd ever walk again?' Hotch thought furiously. He knew that saying anything more would do more harm than good at the moment. They'd be at the hospital camped out expressing their guilt and it didn't sound like Reid was ready to deal with that. He changed the subject asking for updates on the search for the Reaper and Reid was forgotten.

-o0o-

It was three days before Hotch managed to leave his apartment on his own. Not being well enough to drive or face public transport he ordered a cab to take him to University Hospital. The driver took one look at him and immediately suggested a hospital closer to home.

"No, it needs to be University" Hotch replied.

"As quick as I can or as gentle?" the taxi driver asked.

"Gentle please" Hotch said gratefully.

To say that the ride was still an ordeal would be an understatement. Even more of an ordeal was walking from the entrance to the information desk, the elevator and finding Reid's room. Only the knowledge that Reid needed to know that some of the team still cared for him kept him from giving up.

He was surprised to see the marine detail outside Reid's room. Even more so when they checked his ID and held him waiting while they checked with whoever was inside.

It almost hurt how much Reid's face lit up at the sight of him. "Hey Hotch."

"It's Aaron, Spencer, I'm not here as your team leader today. I came to visit my friend" he said gently.

"You heard that last night?" Spencer squeaked turning bright red.

"Your friend dropped the phone in his rush to comfort you" Aaron replied.

Spencer hung his head. "None of that Spencer, you know very well that you can't be held responsible for your reactions while still under the influence of the general anaesthetic drugs," Aaron scolded gently. "More than that Spence you never should have been left to feel like that. I had no idea you were injured at all until I rang you yesterday. And when I spoke to JJ and Garcia to find which hospital you were in last night, JJ didn't know you'd been admitted, she thought you'd gone home to see your Mum, and Garcia hadn't realised you were still here."

"JJ is one of the two team mates I have spoken to since I was admitted. She rang to tell me off for scaring Henry and Will with the marine protection detail that I organised, then hung up on me. A detail that arrived on site five hours before her FBI protection arrived. Garcia actually visited a week ago, I don't know how she got the impression I was about to be discharged, I was in traction," Spencer said indignantly.

Aaron frowned. "They won't tell me about what they're doing but from Dave's complaints he's doing my job as well as his and Morgan's, while Morgan and Garcia concentrate on looking for the Reaper. That's no excuse for them not taking care of you. How much longer will you be here?"

"I'm out of here tomorrow if all goes well and I can learn to use those damnable crutches, I'll be staying with a friend who lives in a building with a reliable elevator," Spencer replied.

"I'm glad to hear you're not on your own. You would be welcome to stay with me but I don't think Jack's bed would be long enough for you," Aaron said, trying not to think about how uncomfortable he was with the idea of someone sleeping in Jack's bed.

"Thanks Hotch… um… Aaron. But I wouldn't want to impose," Spencer said awkwardly.

"You wouldn't be imposing," Aaron protested weakly.

"It's Jack's room, I would be imposing on him. I'd rather sleep on your couch than invade your son's space like that. My friend has a guest room, and while he is as much of a lady's man as Morgan he has a strict policy of never bringing them to his own home, so I won't be cramping his style," Spencer replied. "Your offer means a lot to me Aaron, but I think we'll both be more comfortable if I don't stay in Jack's room."

"Besides with a bit of luck the team will find Foyet any day now and Jack will need his room back," Spencer said optimistically.

"I hope you are right Spencer but I can see him dropping off the grid again just to watch me suffer, the way he did Shaunessy," Aaron said despairingly.

"Shaunessy made the deal not to look for him, and even if he had looked, he didn't have Garcia to track him down. The team will find him, Hotch," Spencer argued.

"Tell me about the Marines?" Aaron asked.

Spencer blushed, "My friend Tony found me here after seeing the shooting on the news, and I was worried that if he could then Foyet could too. Tony arranged the marine guard for me and one for Will and Henry until the FBI protection detail arrived."

"And the protection detail never arrived?" Aaron looked horrified. Spencer was right he was in danger here in the hospital and with his leg injured, he could neither run nor fight. He had needed protection.

"They replaced the Marine's at JJ's after about five hours but Tony's director reamed them out for not organising a detail for me as soon as they learned what had happened to you, especially after Foyet had already attacked Morgan. She said she wouldn't trust my safety to such incompetent care and she would take care of things properly and send them the bill. The Deputy Director agreed that FBI are paying for the marines," Spencer replied smirking.

"I'd like to be a fly on the wall when Strauss gets that bill," Aaron said smirking.

"The Deputy Director is quite upset with her about it," Spencer agreed laughing. His friend Aaron was quite funny when he dropped the unit chief persona.

"I'd better go. I need to get home before my pain medication wears off," Aaron said apologetically.

"You didn't drive yourself?" Spencer asked worried.

"No but I'm sure my taxi driver found every pothole between my apartment and here," Aaron said humorously.

Spencer winced in sympathy.

"Do you want me to ask Garcia to vet your friend before you move in?" Aaron offered. Using FBI resources to check up on friends and potential partners was strictly forbidden and Hotch wouldn't have offered for any of the rest of the team but he felt protective of their youngest member.

Spencer chuckled. "No thanks, we've been friends a while and I'd rather not encourage Garcia to stick her nose into my personal life."

"Point taken," Aaron agreed with a small shudder. "Take care of yourself and call me if you need anything at all, even if it is just someone to talk to."

"Only if you promise to call me if you need to talk to someone other than Rossi. Or if there's anything I can do to help," Spencer countered. "Stay safe."

"You too Spencer," Hotch said slowly walking out. He was aware of Reid's eyes on him assessing his health and wellbeing but it didn't feel intrusive and Spencer kept whatever conclusions he came to to himself.

-o0o-

He finally was allowed to leave and Tony arrived in his mustang to pick him up. He helped Spencer into the car with minimal fuss and drove to Spencer's apartment.

"Do you want me to grab your stuff, or would you like me to help you upstairs to collect it yourself? I checked this morning, the elevator is working for the moment," Tony asked.

"If the elevator is working, I could stay here," Spencer replied.

"Yeah!" Tony said sarcastically. "Until it breaks down again and I have to carry your skinny ass down three flights of stairs."

Spencer chuckled at Tony's theatrics, "Okay, I'll come up and pack my stuff."

Unsurprisingly, Spencer was a very efficient packer, he had several 'go bags' prepacked in the bottom of his wardrobe and he grabbed the one suitable for DC weather and quickly added more workout gear and casual clothes, the journal articles he'd been working on and the new books from his bedside that he hadn't had the chance to read yet.

Tony had gone through the kitchen and thrown out the perishable food and emptied the bins cleaning out the fridge for a long absence. Spencer joined him and added his coffee supply and favourite biscuits to his bag.

The elevator shuddered on the way down, and Tony got out of it looking shaken and very glad to be on firm ground. "I don't know how you do that every day?" he said.

"I don't, I take the stairs," Spencer replied. "The subway is enough adventure for me."

Tony laughed.

-o0o-

Tony woke in fright hearing Spencer muttering in his sleep. He dragged himself out of bed and went into the guest room to wake his friend up again.

"Spence, Spence you're safe here with me. It's Tony, you're at my place until your knee is better," he told him knowing how disoriented he was when he woke from his own nightmares.

"Tony?" Spencer asked.

"Yeah you had another nightmare."

"Sorry, they tend to be worse when I'm injured. You don't need to keep getting up and waking me though. I'll be fine," Spencer apologised.

"It's fine Spence. I'm not going to leave you to have nightmares while I'm here to wake you," Tony said comfortingly. "Was it about the shooting?"

"No the case before that, the UNSUBs were experimenting on spinal cord surgery on homeless people, then feeding them to their pigs. We found evidence of so many people, we're never going to be able to identify them all and notify their families. One of the unsubs was mentally retarded had a mental age of about three and was being manipulated by his brother who was a quadriplegic, he didn't know any better and when we caught the smart brother he did everything in his power to get us to shoot his brother on sight so we wouldn't realise he didn't have capacity to understand that what they were doing was wrong."

"It is going to be impossible to prove in court," Tony said.

"It won't be necessary, the unsub was killed by one of the victims' brother," Spencer said. "He's going to go to prison because he killed a monster. It was him that alerted us to the case in the first place, he was looking for his sister when he became aware of the other homeless going missing. I don't think I ever want to eat pork again," Spencer replied.

Tony knew better than to ask why when whatever it was had so recently caused Spencer's nightmare. "So, no pork or bacon, any other dietary rules?" he asked.

"No Chilli," Spencer said shuddering.

"Dare I ask why?" Tony asked.

"Not if you want to sleep tonight," Spencer replied.

Tony chucked, knowing enough about Spencer's job to take the warning seriously. "Do you want a snack or a glass of hot milk to help you sleep?"

Spencer gagged. "No thanks, I'm going to read for a while."

"Okay then night?"

"Night Tony, thanks," Spencer replied.

-o0o-

"Why do we have an invoice for marine guards at University Hospital during the time you were there Agent Reid?" Strauss asked.

"The incident with Myers and my injury were on the news, a friend of mine used that news story to find me when I missed an appointment. Given that Foyet had attacked Hotch and already previously attacked Morgan, my friend thought that if he could find me from the news item then Foyet could too. It was a valid threat, I needed the protection and I couldn't disagree. He ordered the marines and then cleared it with his director afterwards. Hotch was constantly guarded during his admission and you approved the added security posted for JJ's family. Lying in a hospital bed in traction, I was an open target and my friend thought that was unacceptable," Spencer replied calmly.

As much as Strauss wanted to argue she knew that Reid was right, she should have posted guards for him while he was hospitalized. "Did the marines see any sign of George Foyet?"

"They reported a man who matched his general height and build turning around and leaving the building as soon as he saw their presence but they didn't get a good enough look at his face to identify. Suspiciously his face is also obscured on all of the hospital CCTV and when Tony's team tried to track his movements when he left the hospital he was deviously evasive," Reid reported.

It seemed that Dr Reid's mysterious friend was right, she couldn't refuse to pay for the protection detail that had probably saved her agent's life. She sighed and signed the authorisation. She was probably going to receive some heat for doing so but it was the right thing to do after having failed to arrange security for Dr Reid herself.

"Very well I will authorise payment this time but I demand that this not happen again," Strauss replied sourly. "It would have been far more cost effective to have requested that I organise your protection."

"For eighteen days around the clock protection while I was in hospital and the platoon to secure JJ's neighbourhood and protect her for the six hours until the FBI detail arrived I think that's a reasonable amount Ma'am," Spencer offered.

"Eighteen days, I was told you had a flesh wound?" Strauss said questioningly.

"You were misinformed. The details are in my report. I sent it in to Hotch a week ago, but I guess he's only just got it," Spencer replied frowning.

"Send me a copy," Strauss demanded.

"Yes Ma'am" Spencer replied standing. "For the record Ma'am I never asked for a guard, nor asked my friend to use the marines instead of requesting the FBI to provide protection. My friend works for NCIS, he has had bad experiences with the FBI in the past and it was his decision to use Marines and his boss and his Director authorised it.

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