(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or it's characters.)

Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. Thank you purplecat21, CJ Fool, Tempest Wolfe, Daisyangel, lailyspenstar, FallWithMeOffACliff, Diana, AZCatmom, Dez, poorbear123, Astrahan, Elle, pechika, jamesbuchanan224, and poxyTaitors. Almost at 500 reviews! I can't believe it! Thank you guys for your continued support.

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Hope you guys enjoy this chapter.

Hotch woke to the sound of quiet crying. He sat up and rubbed his eyes as an almost silent sob echoed through the hall. Hotch shot up out of bed, flinging the sheets over the bed and inadvertently waking JJ. He got into the hallway and after a quick assessment he pushed open the door with the yellow 'S' nailed to the door.

Spencer hicupped loudly when the door opened and he gazed up at the dark figure, cowering back against the wall with one of his stuffed animals held out in front of him for protection. A whimper forced its way through his lips and he rubbed his damp eyes.

"Spencer?" Hotch murmured groggily as he hastened to the toddler bed. "What's wrong, buddy?" He asked, swiping a tear off Spencer's cheek; the boy sucked his thumb and sniffled.

"M-my head huwts," Spencer whimpered and he raised his arms out to Hotch.

"A-a-and h-he was hewe a-again," Spencer stammered when he was able to press his face into Hotch's shoulder. A new batch of tears and sobs broke out from the small boy. He clung desperately to Aaron and hid his face in his father's warmth. Hotch got to his feet and rocked the boy gently. Clearly the child had a nightmare and Hotch was not about to quiz him on who had been present within that nightmare.

"It's okay, shhh, it's okay," Hotch hushed; he could feel the boy shivering harshly so he rubbed Spencer's back and hurried to the bathroom for the Tylenol. He sat Spencer on the toilet seat and carded a hand through the boy's sweaty hair. Spencer whimpered and reached back out for Hotch. Spencer knew it was irrational, but all he wanted was to be close to Hotch, to have his surrogate father hold him.

"Wait a second," Hotch said and Spencer sobbed a little louder causing Aaron to almost spill the Tylenol down the sink in his haste. Hotch offered the small cup to Spencer's lips and helped tip the nasty tasting liquid down his throat. The boy's cries tapered off as he swallowed the medicine but once that was done his loud sniffles came back. Hotch lifted him back into his arms and pressed Spencer's head into his shoulder as he tried to calm the two-year-old.

"Shhh, you're okay. You're okay," he assured the tiny tot who found his thumb again and was making small noises against Hotch's chest. Hotch carefully walked back to Spencer's room and tried to put him back in his bed. As soon as Spencer touched the mattress he wailed and grappled desperately at Hotch.

"Okay, okay," Hotch muttered quickly, pulling Spencer back into his chest and pressing his lips to the top of Spencer's head which seemed to calm him. Spencer breathed a sigh of relief and let his eyes droop closed.

Hotch crept back into his bedroom and closed the door behind him. He looked up to find JJ sat up watching him.

"Aaron, is he okay?" JJ whispered, squinting through the darkness at Hotch.

"He had a nightmare and woke up with a headache," Hotch said, continuing to rub Spencer's back and keep him quiet.

"Did you give him-"

"Tylenol? Yes. But he won't go back in his own bed without fussing," Hotch mumbled and JJ rolled her eyes.

"Fine, just this once," she said as she laid back down. Hotch smiled and walked over. He layed Spencer down on the bed who started whining and reaching his arms out for contact. Hotch got in and wrapped his arm around the boy, shushing him quickly. Spencer mumbled something in his sleep and snuggled up to Hotch, his thumb already in his mouth and his other hand clutching his rabbit.

"You two better not make a habit of this," JJ grumbled beside them as she rolled over and carded a hand through the sleeping boy's hair. Hotch pecked JJ on the lips before he pressed a soft kiss on Spencer's forehead.

Garcia leaned over Emily's desk, watching the glass doors for her favourite little genius to trot through them. Hotch had got in early, explaining that JJ was dropping the boys off at school. He had forgotten to mention that Spencer woke at 4 and had cried when Hotch refused to take him to work early. He prayed that JJ had managed to get Spencer to sleep some more.

Finally, Garcia saw JJ exit the elevator and a frown creased her brows when she saw Spencer hitched on JJ's hip, his head resting on her shoulders.

They got close and the tech analyst saw the bruise on Spencer's forehead and marched forward with a serious look on her face.

"What happened to my baby!?" Garcia demanded, stealing the boy from JJ's arms and touching the bruise on his head lightly.

"I'm fine, Gawcia," Spencer mumbled, trying to hide his injury. He was not about to explain what happened the night before.

"Oh, no you're not. Now tell me what happened?" Garcia looked pointedly at JJ who smiled sadly.

"Spence had a little accident with the dining room table," she sighed and Garcia gasped. She wrapped her arms around Spencer tightly and cooed at him.

"Aw, my poor baby!" She cried.

"I'm otay!" Spencer grumbled, pushing her lips away from his cheek.

"Okay, that explains the bruise. What about Mr. Cranky?" Emily asked, jabbing Spencer softly in the ribs and causing him to moan grumpily.

"Turns our smacking your head on a table can create quite a headache. Coupled with nightmares, our night was pretty tiring so Spencer hasn't had much sleep."

"I'm fine," Spencer muttered and he looked Garcia in the eyes wth his own gold flecked irises. "Tan you peas put me down?"

"Sure, Honey, But don't go too far. We have a case."

Hotch walked out of his office then and a cheesy grin filled his face at the sight of JJ.

"The boys get to school alright?" He asked.

"Yep. Henry offered to have Spencer join his class," JJ chuckled. She exchanged a smile with her partner before watching Spencer shuffle over to his desk and lean tiredly against it.

Hotch laughed and shook his head. "Come on, conference room. They want us in Oregon soon."

The team made their way to the conference room with JJ lagging behind, listening out for the telltale pitter patter of tiny feet trying to keep up.

When they all got seated (Spencer on several cushions) they started going through the case. Spencer listened intently despite being groggy. He nodded and added to the conversation until Hotch stood up.

"Wheels up in 10. Spencer, you can go with Garcia now if you want," Hotch said. Spencer looked up sadly, his lip wobbling.

"B-but..." he mumbled. "You pwomised I tould tome on da tase!" Hotch paused and nodded slowly.

"I did..." he mused.

"Where's he gonna go?" JJ asked seriously, trying to avoid the hazel orbs that were gazing at her pleadingly.

"We can't take him to the department, that's for certain. They'll think we're unprofessional," Emily added. Spencer's eyes turned on her and she too had to ignore them. Curse those innocent eyes, she thought.

"That's off the table," Hotch muttered. "But Strauss and I agreed to let him come on cases when he turned two."

"Peas," Spencer begged. He put his clasped hands under his chin and sent Hotch his best puppy dog eyes.

"He could stay at the hotel. It's only five minutes from the PD," Rossi put in. Hotch tapped his chair thoughtfully as he considered this.

"Someone will have to stay with him."

"Peas!"

"Okay," Hotch said in defeat.

"Yes!" Spencer jumped out of his chair and stumbled from the room to grab his go bag.

"Hah! Good luck with him," Morgan laughed.

"Oh, you need all the luck you can get," Hotch replied absentmindedly as he gathered their files. Morgan paused and raised his eyebrows.

"Huh?"

"Well, you'll be the one staying with him," Hotch explained.

"Oh, and when did we decide this?" Morgan retorted.

"Just now. Good luck."

They got on the jet soon after; Spencer was once again running low on energy and was hanging loosely in Hotch's arms. Hotch waited for the team to be seated before buckling himself and the boy into a seat. After the jet was in the air and the seatbelt light was off, he got up and laid the sleeping toddler on the couch, throwing a blanket over him and tucking in Spencer and his stuffed rabbit. He brushed Spencer's curls off his face and winced when his eyes traced the purple bruise that bloomed above his eyebrow.

He got back to his seat and the team started discuss the case. Occasionally the conversation drifted to the topic of the toddler asleep on the couch, mainly due to JJ, Emily and Garcia planning their next mall trip and how Penelope had seen the most adorable They landed and Hotch woke Spencer up and forced Morgan to carry him off the jet and into a waiting SUV.

"Take him to the hotel and see what you two can get done. I'll have one of the others swap with you in a couple of hours," Hotch instructed his agents and Spencer saluted him with a tired smile. Hotch ruffled his hair before following the rest of the team.

"You better not give me trouble," Morgan grumbled as they got to their SUV.

Morgan took Spencer's hand and guided him to the hotel. Spencer didn't complain once and was actually smiling as he plodded beside the older agent. Morgan assumed he was just basking in the fact that he was actually allowed on the case. Morgan got to the hotel desk and showed his ID to the woman behind the counter.

"Aw, hey, little guy," she cooed, looking over her desk at Spencer who clutched Morgan's leg and smiled shyly.

"Hi," he whispered.

"He yours?" She asked and Morgan scoffed.

"Thankfully Not. He's the offspring of my colleagues who like to pan him off on me," Morgan explained and the woman smiled and pushed over his key.

"I'd love to look after a cutie like that. He just looks so huggable."

"He's also a great manipulator, but his parents won't tell you that," Morgan added, taking the key off the counter. He nudged Spencer to say something but the boy just hid his face behind Morgan's leg. "Sorry, he's a little shy," Morgan explained and he flashed the receptionist a flirtatious smile. Spencer caught the action and poked his head around Morgan's leg.

"Uncle Dewek lites pwetty giwls," Spencer whispered from his small height.

"Is that so?" The receptionist asked and she glanced up at Morgan who just rolled his eyes.

"Yep, He has lots of lady fwiends. He's always bwinging ladies home-"

"And that's our cue to leave," Morgan said, pulling Spencer away from the desk. "Thanks,' Morgan put in, lifting the key and nodding his thanks to the receptionist. Spencer waved sweetly back and the woman behind the desk beamed at them.

"What happened to giving me no trouble?" Morgan grumbled.

"Twouble? What twouble?" Spencer queried innocently.

Morgan shook his head and led the boy toward the elevator.

They got to their room and started working. Spencer layed out a map on the floor and started marking parts of it with colourful pens. They called the team and bounced ideas off each other.

It was almost lunch and Morgan was bored out of his mind. Not only were they making very little leeway on the profile, but he was also going mad from being couped up in the small hotel room. But Spencer seemed happy, so Morgan tried his best not to show his frustration. He grabbed his rubber stressball and squeezed it as he thought.

Morgan threw the rubber ball into the air and caught it, his eyes on the ceiling as he thought. Spencer was colouring his map, his tongue stuck out in concentration.

"So, what are you thinking, kid?" Morgan asked, pulling Spencer from his trance.

"Huh?"

"About the case. Why is our Unsub killing couples this way?"

"They'we suwwogates," Spencer mumbled as if it were obvious before returning to his map. Morgan flipped around onto his stomach to look at Spencer, his eyebrows low.

"I'd agree with you, but, other than the fact that they are all couples, there are no connections. The pairs don't have anything in common. Let's take Frank and Eleanor: they were perfect students, A's across the board. But Denise and Warren were your typical jocks, on the IQ scale they were nowhere near the first victims. And Tyler and Bonnie were clearly on drugs, they would've dropped out anyway. Shouldn't there be some consistency?" Morgan put in. Spencer looked up at Morgan and licked his lips.

"A'tully, they do have things in common. All the boys looted da same," Spencer explained, pointing to the images. All three boys had brown hair, although they each had a different way of styling it.

"Okay. But none of the girls look alike," Morgan pointed out. One had short, choppy blonde hair, the other had brown dreadlocks and Eleanor had long wavy ginger hair.

"What if it's not about hew..." Spencer mumbled.

"Okay, you're loosing me," Morgan said with a confused expression. Spencer cleared his throat, preparing himself for his explanation.

"I think that this wevolves around the fact they awe all dating, but I think the unsubs focus is on the boyfwiend. Also, in theiw social gwoups they awe all considered populaw. Ouw Unsub is tawgeting seventeen-yeaw-old boys, with brown hair and gwey eyes, who awe populaw and have a giwlfwiend," Spencer took a deep breath and looked up at Morgan.

"Do you know why?" The older agent asked skeptically.

"My best guess is thewe is a womanic connection between ouw Unsub and the victims."

"Romantic?" Morgan asked.

"Uhuh, loot at the level of violence against the giwlfwiend compawed to the simple stabwound to the boy's chest. Fiwstly, she aims for the heawt, which suggests that the Unsub feels that she must bweak his heawt... I'm guessing she had a bad expewience with a boy and had hew own heawt bwoken-"

"You said she," Morgan said.

"Yes, loot at the wemowse, the boy's eyes awe always closed and he is always positioned as if he wewe asleep, wheweas the giwl is stabbed sevewal times and left dat way. I think it's jealousy."

"So you think our Unsub is a woman who suffered a break up or some kind of upset in her love life and now she's looking for surrogates and taking her revenge?" Morgan questioned and Spencer nodded. "I'll call Hotch, you keep going on that map. If you're right she'll be looking for her next victims."

Morgan stepped out and Spencer went back to scribbling over the map. The older agent walked back in a few minutes later and he perched on the edge of the bed.

"The team are looking into your theory," he said but Spencer was too absorbed in his map to hear. Morgan sighed and lay back down. He felt a bit useless boxed up inside the hotel room and his rumbling stomach wasn't helping.

"You hungry, pretty boy?" He asked.

"A little," Spencer admitted.

"Maybe we should go grab some food. I can't think on an empty stomach."

Spencer stopped what he was doing and looked up at Morgan.

"I tan stay hewe," mumbled Spencer.

"Uh, no way, kid," chuckled Morgan. Spencer gave him a pleading look.

"Peas! I have to finish this a-and do you weally wanna set up dat cawseat," Spencer reasoned. Morgan glanced down at the bulky seat and he sighed. The kid was right, he really didn't want to plug that in for a 5 minute journey to McDonalds, to have to take it back out.

"Peas, Mowgan," Spencer added for good measure.

"Fine. But you have to promise me that you'll stay in this room-"

"I pwomise."

"And you have to keep working on that map-"

"I will!"

"Spencer, you must listen. Don't try anything stupid, Okay? Or Hotch will murder me... and probably you too," Morgan grunted and Spencer nodded along.

"I won't, I pwomise," Spencer said. Morgan exhaled deeply and grabbed his keys.

"I'm going to lock the door. I'll be back soon, be good," Morgan ordered as he backed from the room.

Hotch walked up to the hotel room door with a small box of donuts, they'd saved two for Spencer and Morgan. He knocked on the door and when no one answered he frowned and pushed down on the door handle. He gave the door a shove but it didn't budge.

"Morgan!" He yelled, pounding on the door. He scowled at the handle and placed the donuts on the floor and pressed down on the handle again. "Derek?" He called but there was still no answer. He angrily rammed his hand into his pocket and pulled out his phone, dialling Morgan's number. It rung only once when a voice echoed from the other end of the corridor.

"Hey, Hotch," Morgan said as he wandered calmly down the corridor. He had a paper bag and a colourful box in his one hand and a drinks contained in the other. "What're you doing here?" He asked, quickly sensing Hotch's anger.

"Where the hell is Spencer?" Hotch growled. Morgan stepped forward and fumbled with his keys.

"He's inside."

What!?" Hotch snapped.

"Chill out. I was gone for 15 minutes tops, and I locked the door."

"You left him?!" Hotch snapped. Morgan opened his mouth to protest but decided against it after Hotch sent a deathly glare his way. He rubbed the back of his neck and grimaced.

"We needed lunch," he muttered.

"I don't care! You should have called one of team and we would have gotten you food. Open that damn door!" Hotch bellowed. Morgan muttered something under his breath as he slotted the key into the door. As soon as it open, Hotch barged past Morgan sending him into the doorframe.

"Spencer!?" Hotch called, his voice taking a panicked edge which Morgan hadn't heard before. Hotch scoured the room for the toddler in question but couldn't see his light brown hair and hazel eyes anywhere.

"Morgan," Hotch hissed in warning.

"Where could he go, man? He's here somewhere," Morgan reasoned, but he stepped back from the unit chief when he turned and glowered at Derek like a raging bull.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Hotch snapped as he got to his knees and looked under the bed.

"It was Spencer's idea,". Morgan murmured.

"He's two!" Hotch shouted as he pulled himself up to his full height and ripped open the closet doors.

"Spencer!' He called again and a happy shriek came from the bathroom.

"Dewek!" A voice cried and a toddler bounced out of the bathroom with a mug in his hand. The brown liquid within spilled over the lip of the mug as he came to a halt by the door.

"Daddy!" Spencer gasped and he sprinted for Hotch pressing the mug to his lips and taking a huge sip. The liquid sloshed down his blue shirt and onto the linoleum floor.

"See. He's fine," Morgan said, though he sighed inwardly in relief. Hotch knelt down and caught Spencer and frowned down at him.

"Uh...what's this?" Hotch asked, pointing to the mug. Spencer grinned and took another few gulps. "Spencer," Hotch chided and he took the mug from Spencer who whined and jumped up to grab it.

"It's mine," Spencer wailed in frustration. Hotch looked down at the dregs and inhaled the thick smell of coffee.

"You didn't," he mumbled, getting to his feet and staggering over to the kettle and coffee supplies where a chair had been pushed. He stared down at the mess and grabbed the empty packets of sugar and the coffee sachet. There were at least 7 sugar packets. "Oh, Spencer," Hotch closed his eyes and turned back to his agents.

"What is it?" Morgan asked as he set down their meals.

"Someone's helped themself to the coffee."

Spencer wasn't listening; he peeked in his happy meal and pulled out the toy.

"Aw, tool! Loot! Loot!" He cried waving the toy over his head. It was a figurine of a dragon. Spencer made loud roaring noises as ran circles around Morgan, flying the dragon with him. "I'm gonna put him in da bath! I wondew if he tan swim. Loot, Mowgan, he tan fly!" Spencer blurted as he continued to run around.

"You know, I can't really tell," Morgan chuckled but Hotch didn't seem to find it funny. He watched the child scramble onto the bed and scamper around on the clean sheets. He was not looking forward to putting the hyped out, caffeinated and extremely sugar rushed toddler down for a nap.

"I wish dwagons wewe weal! You know what is weal? Shawks!" Spencer yelled as he rolled across the sheets. "Shawks don't have bones! Did you know dat? Did you know dat, Daddy?" He asked.

"No, Spencer," sighed Hotch as he pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes.

"A-and the bottlenose dolphin has a biggew brain than humans! Did you know dat, Dewek? And animals dat lay eggs don't have a belly button. Oh, oh, and a wubix cube tan mate 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 combinations and-"

"Spencer, calm down," Hotch injected, but Spencer kept going at an almost inhuman speed.

"An' some of da fiwst soles on Nike shoes wewe made by pouwing wubbew into a waffle iwon!" Spencer got back to his feet and started bouncing on the bed.

"Careful," Hotch said as he poured what was left of the coffee away. Spencer stopped for a moment and gaped at Hotch.

"Hey! I was dwinking dat!" Spencer squeaked and he jumped off the bed to stop Hotch. Luckily Hotch had just set the mug down in time to catch the two-year-old. Spencer squealed with laughter and squirmed wildly. Hotch could barely keep hold of him and Spencer ended up upside down in Aaron's arms, a smile plastering his face and his hair flopping over his eyes. He giggled happily and reached his arms out to touch the floor. Hotch tried to lift Spencer awkwardly up but gave up and glared at Morgan as Spencer giggled madly.

"You're dealing with this."

"What?" Morgan scowled at his boss.

"Loot, Dewek! Loot! I'm touching da floow!" Spencer exulted.

"It's your fault he's having a sugar and caffeine rush. You will take care of-"

"Daddy, loot! I'm doing a handstand!" Spencer cut in and Hotch looked down to see Spencer pressing his hands against the floor.

"I can see, Spencer. Morgan, feed him, put him down for a nap and you better hope that when I get back he's run out of energy," Hotch ordered and he finally managed to hitch Spencer back onto his hip.

"I don't need a nap, silly! Let's play-" Spencer was cut off when Hotch handed him over to Morgan. "Hey! Whewes Daddy goin'?" Spencer asked, looking thoughtfully at Morgan who was gazing after Hotch in panic.

"Wait, Hotch-"

"Good luck," Hotch said and he grabbed the door keys and left the room. Morgan set Spencer on the bed and rushed over to the door and pulled on the handle. "Dammit!" He growled. Hotch had locked him in with a crazy two-year-old. Morgan spun around slowly. Spencer had his hand in a small bag of fries he'd found in his happy meal and he shoved a handful in his mouth. He noticed that that boy was shaking; no, vibrating. God damn caffeine, Morgan thought. Spencer smiled widely.

"Fwench fwies awen't a'tully Fwench. They came fwom Belgium," Spencer said as he munched hungrily on his fries and Morgan rolled his eyes.

"Oh, God..."

I've been wanting to have a hyped up Spencer for a while and it's finally happening! You can take the coffee away from the boy, but you can't take the boy away from the coffee.

Please review!

See you soon!!