Bonds of Love
Chapter 2
A/N: Here we go, guys, Chapter 2 is up! Thanks for all of your reviews, follows, and favorites! I love and appreciate the support! Also, I'm sorry for the wait. My goal is to update each story of mine once a month, because I'm insanely busy, but don't want to keep you guys waiting for a ridiculous amount of time. I'll include more about this schedule in the next chapter. Please Read and Review!
"Hotch." Gideon motioned for Aaron to follow him into the nearby office where the BAU had set up.
Aaron took a deep breath and turned to the children. "Okay, guys, I'm going to be right back. My boss needs to talk to me." He spotted Elle Greenaway nearby and got an idea. "Have you guys met Elle? She's a nice lady. Why don't you go talk to her? I bet you guys could have some fun together." He knew that Elle carried around what the team called the Kid Catcher, a tote bag that had coloring books, crayons, puzzles and little toys that she carried with her in cases that involved kids. It helped occupy and calm any child victims while they waited for an interview.
Derek nodded and steered Emily, J.J and Spencer in her direction. Elle smiled, welcoming them warmly and taking out the Kid Catcher. She opened the bag and pulled out a princess coloring book, a pretend purse with a toy phone and colorful keys, a 24 piece Ninja Turtle puzzle and a small football.
Aaron watched for a minute before following Gideon into the office and closing the door behind him. Gideon sat behind the desk and stared at his agent for a long moment. Aaron shifted in his seat. Two years under this intimidating man and he still wasn't immune to the older man's scrutinizing evaluation.
"Why?"
Aaron sighed. He knew that he would have to explain his unusual behavior to his superior, but how could he explain what he himself didn't fully understand? He mulled it over for a second before answering. "Instinct." He said before deciding to elaborate. Talking to Jason Gideon about feelings that he was unsure about was extremely uncomfortable. "I don't really know. Something about these kids is somehow significant to me. I don't know what, and I don't know why. But if there's anything you've taught me it's that instincts are important."
Gideon nodded. "You're right. Instincts are important. But Hotch…" He paused to make sure he had the younger agent's attention before continuing. "There's a fine line between professional instinct and pure emotion. Try not to cross it unless it's absolutely essential."
"Yes, sir." Aaron nodded.
"Alright. Now, I allowed this to happen because you are most likely correct about the UNSUB returning to their places of origin and tracking them down. This man is smart, and determined, and we need to protect these kids until he is safely behind bars. Therefore, you will be in charge of the protective custody. Rossi will assist you as needed. Are we clear?"
Aaron nodded again. "Yes, sir."
"Also, in order to completely cover the victimology aspect of this case, Elle and I will be interviewing them daily, in a non-threatening manner. We need to find out why our UNSUB believed that each victim was in danger."
They stood to exit and found a shocked looking Elle waiting for them at the door. "Guys, you gotta see this." She whispered. They followed her over to the nearby table. She stopped a few feet away. "Look!" Elle hissed, gesturing to the children. They looked, and what they saw made Aaron blink, hard.
Derek was playing around with the toy football, throwing it up in the air and catching it, making pretend passes, all the while keeping a careful eye on the younger ones. Emily was carefully coloring a picture of Belle from Beauty and the Beast, being careful not to draw outside the lines. J.J was talking animatedly on a toy phone to an imaginary friend. But it was Spencer who was the one to surprise the adults. He had long since finished the Ninja Turtles puzzle and two 100 piece Avengers puzzles. He was now beginning a 250 piece Harry Potter puzzle with an image of Hogwarts on it, and rapidly progressing, for that matter.
The older three noticed the adults approaching and stopped what they were doing immediately, as if they were expecting to be told off, or worse, for playing. But Spencer was so engrossed in his puzzle that Derek had to nudge him slightly in order to get him to stop. Looking up and seeing Aaron and Gideon stopped him in his tracks, and he looked so horrified that he was now the subject of a shocked stare that it would almost be comical if it wasn't so sad.
"Sorry!" He squeaked, instinctively raising his arms to cover his face. He needn't have bothered; not only were the adults in no way, shape, or form going to put their hands on an innocent child playing a game, but Derek was acting in the way of a bodyguard, his defiant glare daring any of them to touch Spencer.
"You have nothing to be sorry for, Spencer." Gideon spoke. "I enjoy jigsaw puzzles myself on occasion." Like in so many other situations, he knew exactly the right thing to say, because Spencer looked very relieved.
Aaron sat down at the table with them. "I need to talk to you all." He said, reaching for the Disney Princesses coloring book and flipping through the pages nonchalantly. His attempt to show the girls that he wasn't a threat was successful – J.J was giggling maniacally and Emily was smiling at him. They had never seen a grown up who used coloring books, or a man that liked to color princesses. They kept exchanging silly looks and laughing silently, and though they didn't speak, the girls obviously had their own little language.
But Spencer and Derek both looked very worried now, and Derek was keeping a careful eye on Spencer, as if he was going to be snatched away any moment.
Rossi had been working nearby and listening, but upon noticing how guarded Derek looked and how nervous Spencer was, both he and Gideon both approached the table. Rossi sat by Derek and, ignoring the way the boy scooted away, took the toy football and casually tossed it from one hand to another. Meanwhile, Gideon sat down and began helping Spencer sort the edge, corner, and center pieces. Spencer looked confused, but accepted his help without question.
"We're still looking for the man who took you. Until we find him, you are all going to stay with me. My friends, Elle, Dave, and Jason, are going to help me to take care of you. We all live in Quantico, Virginia, so we are going to take all of you with us on the plane ride home. Have you ever been on a plane?" Aaron asked.
Emily nodded. Derek, J.J, and Spencer shook their heads.
"Well then, Emily can tell you there's nothing to be afraid of. It's not even as long a plane ride as we usually make, because West Virginia is only about an hour away from where we work."
"It's 51 minutes for a plane ride from Huntington, West Virginia to Quantico, Virginia, actually. That is, of course, assuming an average flight speed of 560 miles per hour over 279 miles." Spencer interjected quietly, having gone back to working on his puzzle.
All of the adults stared for a minute. They knew the kid was smart, but they were now beginning to think that he might just be a certified genius. The other kids were unfazed, apparently very used to Spencer's obvious intelligence.
"Okay…" Rossi said, obviously taken aback. "So are you all okay with this plan?"
The kids all looked at Derek. Derek just stared at Aaron, as if he was assessing him and the quality of care he would provide. Aaron looked back, trying to communicate trustworthiness with his eyes.
After glancing at Rossi, Gideon and Elle as if to assess their character as well, Derek nodded stiffly. Turning to Emily, Spencer and J.J, he said quietly, "It's gonna be okay. I'll be right there with you guys." They nodded trustingly, knowing Derek would help them through anything.
About two hours later, they were on the plane and ready to head back to Quantico. The plane had taken off about twenty minutes ago, and they could now unbuckle their seat belts and walk freely around the cabin. Derek continued to sit and stare out the window, while J.J and Emily played with dolls from Elle's Kid Catcher. Spencer sat next to Derek, his head on the older boys' shoulder, until Gideon called him over. Curious as to the contents of the wooden box that the older man was holding, Spencer walked over to the man. Derek watched them closely, but soon realized that the older man only wanted to teach Spencer a board game. He relaxed slightly, but still kept a wary eye on him.
"Spencer, have you ever played chess?"
The little boy looked at the wooden chess set with interest. "No sir, I haven't."
"No need to call me sir. I'm much more comfortable with being called Jason." Gideon replied, giving Spencer a rare smile.
Spencer looked unsure, but, wanting to avoid the wrath of an adult, decided to do as the older man suggested. "Okay, Jason…" He squeaked hesitantly, immediately stiffening his little body.
It was clear from his posture that he expected to be physically assaulted. Aaron, who was watching the scene closely from the other side of the cabin, felt pained just thinking about what this little boy must have been through in his short lifetime.
He saw obvious signs of abuse in the other three as well. Looking around, he noticed how Derek, having heard the fear in Spencer's voice, had immediately become even more tense himself, looking ready to jump out of his chair at any given moment to protect the little boy. But he was only a little boy himself, Hotch thought, frustrated. Derek was only nine years old, and due to obvious neglect and malnourishment, looked more like a child of eight. It was clear, however, that Derek had had to grow up fast in order to survive. The protector of the younger children had no one to protect him.
Continuing to observe the children, he watched Emily cradle and rock the baby-doll that she was holding carefully, as if it were a living, breathing, fragile creature. She play-fed the baby-doll a bottle and smoothed the yarn the served as hair gently. Obviously, Emily was the nurturer. Perhaps this was merely her nature, perhaps it was her role as the oldest female in this little dysfunctional group. Most likely it was both, her situation bringing out her maternal abilities. But either way, Aaron noted, it seemed that she was the one who needed the most nurturing.
J.J, who was playing next to Emily, was the exact opposite when it came to her approach to playing with dolls. She scolded and berated them and bossed them around, saying harsh words under her breath. "Worthless, ugly whores. Don't know why I even bother to feed you." Elle and Rossi, sitting nearby, heard her and looked up in surprise and alarm when she took the Raggedy Ann doll and hit it against the seat. Aaron watched as Elle redirected little J.J by asking her to play Go Fish with her. He, as well as the other agents on the plane, who were talented profilers who only had to use basic psychology, knew that this type of play was both an outlet for her anger and a reflection of the life she had lived, for two and a half years at the very least.
And Spencer was the classic example of the physically and emotionally abused child, the cliché all untrained minds imagine when the term 'child abuse' comes into play. He cowered from any and all physical contact, fearing heavy blows from whatever adult he interacted with. He was small and underweight. The four year old had obvious low self esteem and big brown puppy dog eyes that avoided contact with others whenever possible.
He was practically the poster child for a Public Service Announcement on physical child abuse.
Aaron watched as Spencer tentatively helped set up the chessboard, his curious mind getting the best of him as he carefully examined each handcrafted piece. Gideon then began to teach Spencer the rules of the game.
The agent was pulled out of his musings about half an hour later when the plane touched down and the other members of the team began to make their way to the exit.
Derek stood up, and as soon as the chess board was safely put away for the next plane ride, Spencer ran over to him, latching onto Derek's leg in an anxious manner. He obviously adored Derek, and the affectionate way that the older boy ruffled his long hair made it clear that the feeling was mutual. Emily gave the doll back to Elle to put back inside the Kid Catcher. Then, taking J.J's hand, she led the younger girl over to where Derek and Spencer were, smiling at Spencer reassuringly. Obviously, she was now back to nurturing J.J and Spencer. Spencer detached himself from Derek's leg and took his hand instead, allowing Derek to lead the younger ones off the plane.
Back at the BAU, Aaron had invited the children into his office. Elle left the Kid Catcher with him and went off to do some case-related paperwork. Aaron sat down at his desk to fill out some paperwork for Social Services. They had already completed some of the necessary paperwork needed for the protective custody, including the background check, but there was a home study that needed to be completed. Social Services would be checking his apartment as a safety measure next week.
In the meantime, he sat the kids down with some "paperwork" of their own – coloring pages for Emily and J.J, a word search for Derek, who stubbornly claimed he was too old to be coloring, and for Spencer, who had tried to color a picture of Dumbo and had quickly grown frustrated by his own lack of fine motor control, a children's crossword puzzle book. He was whizzing through it, though. Aaron made a mental note to ask Gideon for a newspaper section.
Two hours and thirty-five minutes later, he was done, and the kids were bored senseless, having played with most of the things in the Kid Catcher. It was around six-thirty in the evening, so Aaron decided that it was time to take the kids back to his apartment.
He told Rossi, who was going to be staying on the couch for the remainder of the week, just to make sure everything was going smoothly. Rossi quickly packed his belongings and was ready to go in minutes. They stopped to say goodbye to Gideon, who nodded his goodbye to the kids. Spencer gave him a small but genuine smile, using the hand that wasn't holding Derek's to wave goodbye. Elle smiled at them all as they passed her on the way out. Emily and J.J smiled shyly at her and gave her the Kid Catcher back.
Aaron wondered what this night might hold in store for them as they all made their way out to the car.
okay, guys, there it is! Hope you all enjoyed! The next chapter is already halfway done, so there shouldn't be too much time between this chapter and chapter 3. Please Read and Review! Constructive Criticism and requests for what you want this story to include are welcome!