(Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds or its characters)
Thanks to LUKELORE, Jesuslover123, Rookblonkorules, Emobunnyme, fishtrek, lailyspenstar, Diana, lilyflower101, Aja85, Ludub, Guest, Indi, and pechika.
Diana- that's no problem, I've been meaning to reply to your reviews and this is the only way I can. I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter and thank you so much for your kind words, you make me blush ;)
Guest- thanks for reviewing. I'll try and have Spencer to act that way a lot more, but more unconsciously.
Indi- thanks for reviewing, I'm so glad you enjoyed the chapter ;)
Previously:
You're going to be our flower boy."
"Dats not a fing!" Spencer cried.
"Oh, it will be."
Aaron winked and Spencer rolled his eyes. "Yay..." he mumbled.
Hotch knocked on Haley's door and went back to squeezing Spencer's shoulders reassuringly. The small boy was clutching his bag to his chest as he gaped up at the door. Jack, on the other hand, was leaning against the brickwork and staring boredly at his shoes.
"I want you both to clean up after yourselves. And no running around," Aaron instructed as they are waited, Jack shrugged.
"I do live here, Dad," he retorted.
"And can you change your attitude, young man," added Aaron, ignoring what Jack had said.
The door opened and a beaming Haley stepped out. She instantly saw Jack and embraced him. "Hey, sweetheart! How are you feeling today?"
"Fine," Jack huffed as he pushed past Haley to get inside.
"Wait there," Hotch called as he stepped inside and pulled Spencer with him, the toddler was rather unwilling to move his feet and so it was more like him being dragged inside. Jack halted in the hallway with a scowl on his face.
"Are you sure you're okay to take Spencer? We can take him to daycare is-"
"It's fine. I'm happy to take him," Haley said and she smiled down at Spencer while the boy gazed around the house.
"If you're sure. I packed for three days, just in case. Sean has the spare key if you need anything there. His nap time is just before 1 unless he has an earlier or later lunch." Hotch took a quick breath before handing Haley some papers. "JJ managed to get all the work Jack will be missing this week. He's not allowed to talk to his friends which also means no online games... oh, and normal games."
"I will add my own terms to that list," Haley added and Jack threw his head back to groan. Haley shot him a look. "Unless he gets his work done of course."
"Thank you again, Haley," Hotch breathed as he fumbled with Jack's backpack and nudged Spencer a little further through the doorway.
"That's okay. Let me know if you get a case, I can contact Sean and Jess if you do get called out."
"Thanks." Aaron stumbled forward awkwardly and pulled Haley into an equally awkward hug. He bent down and hugged Jack, leaving a kiss on his cheek before he crouched even lower to hug Spencer.
"Be good, boys," he cautioned as he kissed Spencer's forehead and ruffled his messy hair. Spencer gripped his bag and looked up at Aaron with both a sad and desperate look.
"I'm sure they will be, Aaron, now go, you don't want to be late," Haley chided. She rested her hand against the back of Jack's neck and reached out to take Spencer's arm. The toddler, however, had other ideas. He stumbled forward and grasped Aaron's leg.
"Tan I tome with you?" He asked for what had to be the hundredth time.
Hotch sighed and shook his head. He untangled Spencer from his leg and guided his hand up into Haley's. "No, you stay with your brother. Haley will look after you."
"But-"
Spencer started to argue but Hotch had already turned his back and was hurrying out of the door.
He paused with his hand on the handle and raised his opposite arm in a quick wave. "See you guys soon," he called before shutting the door on the whimpering toddler and the grumpy boy.
Haley smiled and ran her hand through Jack's hair. "What are we gonna do first then?" She asked in a gentle voice. "Ya know I won't enforce your dad's rules too sternly." She winked but Jack didn't notice.
He shrugged off her soft caresses and shuffled into the living room, slinging his bag on the floor as he went. "I'm going to watch TV," he grumbled.
Haley watched him in dismay; she released a crestfallen sigh and turned on her heel, deciphering in her mind on whether to clean the kitchen or the bathroom or to do the laundry. She hesitated on her way to the kitchen by a small coughing. She glanced back over her shoulder where Spencer was still stood nervously.
"-e-escuse me," he whispered politely. "W-what tan I do?" He asked. Haley gazed at the tiny little boy, stood with a huge bag in his thin arms. His curly hair hung down over his large orb-like cinnamon eyes and past his little ears. Haley gave him a sympathetic smile and she took a step closer and crouched to his level. The toddler stared at her with a slight quiver in his lips. He swallowed thickly and stared back at her with what she could only describe as terror.
"Sowwy," He whimpered suddenly, turning his face away.
"You don't need to say sorry, Spencer," Haley said with a kind smile. She reached a hand out and pushed Spencer's hair back a bit. He flinched nervously at this. "Why did you say sorry?"
Spencer looked past Haley into the front room. "Y-you wewe only supposed to be looting aftew Jack... n-not me," Spencer explained in a lost tone as if it hurt him to admit it.
Haley shook her head. "That's not your fault, honey. Plans change all the time. I should say sorry: I completely forgot you were stood there."
Spencer let himself relax a little and he smiled back at Haley who looked over her shoulder at the living room where the TV was blaring. She looked back at Spencer and rolled her eyes. "You don't want to watch that rubbish, now do you?"
Spencer shook his head.
"Why don't we do something together then."
She curled her fist up into a ball and carefully unfurled it, watching the white skin stretch over her knuckles and then fill with red once more, returning life back into her fingers.
"You keep crackin' your knuckles like that and you'll have arthritis." A voice in the corner scoffed. She glanced around and saw the small woman lay reading a magazine on her bunk.
"When did I ask for your input."
The small woman met her eyes and cowered back in her bunk. She didn't speak.
Debra turned back to her knuckles and lifted the letter she'd been reading. She re-read the second paragraph and she felt her lips pinch into a smile.
It appeared that she was not the only one seeking revenge on 'Spencer Hotchner.'
She folded the letter up and slipped it under her pillow on the top bunk. Her heart pounded eagerly as she pulled herself up onto the bed, the mattress dipping dangerously over the woman beneath her. She lay on her back and clasped her hands over her middle.
Oh, this was going to be sweet.
Spencer handed Haley a blouse and she shoved it in the machine.
"Steve has been lovely but he showed no interest in Jack," Haley said as she reached into the laundry basket beside Spencer. The small boy was sat cross-legged on the floor, leaning heavily on the basket. Haley had been talking for several minutes to the toddler who was helping her with her house chores.
"I just don't think it'll work out between us," she continued, pulling her socks out from each other and throwing them in. Spencer yawned and nodded, leaning even further into the basket.
"Sure, I'm happy for Aaron and..." she pursed her lips. "And Jennifer but I don't seem to have my luck when it comes to my love life. You know what I mean?"
Spencer nodded tiredly. "Uh-Huh," he mumbled.
Haley shut the door of the machine and tilted her head as she looked at Spencer. "I don't know why I'm telling you all this," she sighed. "You're just a baby."
"I-I'm a good listenew," Spencer put in and Haley smiled.
"You sure are. And you're pretty smart."
She stood up from the laundry machine and pressed a few buttons until it started churning. She turned back to see Spencer's eyes fluttering and his head lolling into the basket. She grinned and glanced at the clock.
"I think it's time for your nap," she said. Spencer jolted upright and glanced around.
"I'm otay," he murmured.
"You sounds just like your daddy," chuckled Haley as she bent down and scooped Spencer into her arms. Spencer grumbled before laying his head on Haley's shoulder as she ran a hand over his arm. "He would never want to go to sleep, He was always working."
Haley slowly started up the basement stairs as her mind went back to those days where she would have to force Aaron into bed and to sleep.
Nothing had changed, it's just now that isolated feeling was prolonged. She'd pushed him away to seek more company only to become swamped by a seemingly endless plague of loneliness.
She held Spencer tightly, sighing at the feeling of contact and wondering how much longer it would last.
His hands skimmed across the crisp edge of the final envelope. He gently caressed the letter and his eyes flicked over the name of the young boy that he'd written in bold. This was the 4th letter and perhaps the most important. He wrote like a true wordsmith across the page, wording his plan in the least suspicious way. He paused to scrawl the name Jarvis at the top.
Three letters had gone out, one to a woman with a taste for revenge. One for a man interested (as one could lightly put it) in human biology who would kill for secrets scientific forbidden thus far to man. One to a chemist who was perfecting different strains of chemicals.
The final undelivered one was to a good friend, and it was laid out in his hands as he read back over it all.
There should have been five letters but Eton hadn't been so lucky.
Four would do.
Aaron pressed his hand into the small of JJ's back and guided her up onto the jet.
"It's gonna be a long one," they heard Morgan call from where he was settled in his seat. Hotch lifted his and JJ's go bags into the lockers and dropped down into the seat at her side. His eyes flickered to the beautiful ring wrapped around her finger and he caught himself grinning.
"I hate ones like this," Emily grumbled as she tucked herself in the corner seat opposite JJ.
"Is it the fact that there are kids involved or that there have already been 12 murders?" Inquired Rossi as he palmed open the file and scanned it.
"Take your pick, either way, it won't be easy."
Hotch flipped open his own file when JJ tapped his shoulder.
"You should probably call Haley... and then Sean about looking after the boys," she whispered handing him his phone which she'd swiped from his pocket. Hotch raised an eyebrow as he accepted the phone.
"You think she'll want to look after, Spencer?" He asked as he looked for Haley's number.
"Garcia can have him if not."
Haley found Jack doing his work in his room and she left him a small snack on his table and a quick kiss on his forehead. He smiled up at her and took a bite of the cookie.
Her phone vibrated in her pocket when she was hovering outside her own room. She looked down at the message and sighed, a small smile gracing her lips. She quickly replied, telling Aaron she was quite happy to look after Spencer and Jack for a few days. He promised to have Sean take the boys on the days when she was working. She slipped the phone back into her pocket and snuck a peek into her room.
The small toddler was sprawled on and under the sheets, his thumb was in his mouth and his fingers clutching and pressing a stuffed rabbit against his face. His hair was plastered to the pillow in random curls and his eyebrows were furrowed slightly in sleep.
Haley smiled at the sight and she started to make a mental list of all the things she was going to do with the toddler which she had missed out on with Jack.
The letter fell from his clutches and he pulled his knees up against his chin.
"Lana Maddison."
He rocked himself harder as the words slipped through his lips.
"Thomas Fallon." The name fell alongside the previous.
"Nick Davon," he gasped.
He swayed more violently.
"L-Lydia Marsh!"
Suddenly Jarvis' rocking slowed until ceasing. His eyes welled up with desperate tears as they gazed at the bars of his cell. The next name was slowly sliding down the length of his tongue as his lips pursed together.
His withering grey and still greasy hair hung down past his chin as the name hissed from his purple dusted lips.
"Spencer Reid," he whispered. His eyes fell to the letter in his lap and a smile gripped the corners of his lips.
"Spencer Reid," he repeated as a cackle bubbled up through his throat.
It wasn't a secret anymore.
Uh oh!
I hope you recognised the characters in this chapter if you need a hand goes back to chapter 1, and 5 (I think) where you can see the characters in action. I wrote a whole bit for Eton but I realised that he's dead!
Nothings going to happen immediately but I just wanted to keep you guys on your toes ;)
Please review. Tell me what you thought of this chapter and if you like the idea of me bringing back some of the old assholes of this story ;D
See you soon!