Hello faithful readers-welcome back. I am currently accepting suggestions as to the eventual fate of William Reid. He either gets it in prison, escapes and gets it, or survives and ends up as someone's prison bitch. Your choice-majority rules. MUUAAHAHAHA!
I do not own Criminal Minds or cannon characters. I am making no monetary profit from this story.
Chapter 7
Hotch looked over Spencer's head at Rossi, daring him to have something to say about his decision. Rossi raised both hands in a gesture of peace and said "Hey-don't look at me! Papa Congratulazioni!"
The boy pulled back with a shy smile on his face, and looked curiously at those gathered around him. He knew they must be OK or Eh-run wouldn't let them be there.
"Hi sweetheart, I'm Aunt Emily and this is Uncle Derek and Uncle Dave" introduced Prentiss, noting his gaze. "Welcome to the family."
"Hi!" chirped Spencer, giving them all a shy little wave, then ducking his head down against Hotch's chest.
At this moment nurse Ann returned with the pediatrician on call, introducing her as Dr. Martin. "Hello Spencer" she greeted, "How are you feeling honey? Is your leg hurting more?"
"Uh-huh" the boy admitted, looking up through his honey bangs. "And, um, down there" he pointed toward his bottom.
"Ok sweetie, we're going to take you and Daddy down to X-ray and take the special pictures of your leg again, but first I need to look at your bottom. Why don't we have everyone but Nurse Ann and Daddy step out of the room for a minute?" she directed.
As the Auntie and Uncles left the room and closed the door, Dr. Martin gently lay Spencer down and pulled down the back of his pajama bottoms, noting the blood that had already soaked through. Moving him to his side, she guided one leg up, and was distressed to note blood seeping out. "Alright sweetie, some of your stitches probably opened when that awful man dropped you, and I need to fix them. I'm going to make you go to sleep for a while so it doesn't hurt bad, but don't worry-Daddy will be here the whole time and you'll be safe, OK? "the doctor gently told the boy.
"OK, long as Daddy is here" the child replied, determined to show his new family that he was brave.
Dr. Martin instructed the attentive nurse as to the plan of action and the medications ordered, and Ann left to gather the necessary tools and drugs. The doctor then filled in Hotch as to the risks and benefits of the procedure and produced a form for him to sign. "Uh, this isn't legal yet so I don't know…" Hotch hesitantly put forth. "That's ok, Agent, Ann filled me in. Actually you signed a form in the ER appointing you temporary guardian so it's alright" Dr. Martin assured. "Oh, great! Then please proceed" and Hotch held his hand out for the clipboard.
As the nurse put the sedative in Spencer's IV line, Hotch gently stroked his hair and murmured reassuring phrases as the nervous boy slipped into sleep. The medical duo then swiftly repaired the damage, then re-dressed the child and took him down to x-ray, Aaron in tow. Thankfully the break had not shifted and was still well approximated, so no further interventions were needed.
Spencer woke a few hours later, slowly blinking open his eyes, and was surprised to find he had a bedmate-an enormous teddy bear nearly as big as he was! His eyes wide, he looked around for his protector, finding him sitting next to him with a fond smile on his face.
"Hi Buddy, how are you feeling?" asked Hotch, thoroughly amused at his charges wide-eyed stare at the giant teddy. "Do you like your new toy?"
"Mine?" squeaked the boy in amazement. "Yes" replied Hotch, "You have another Aunt-Aunt Penny-and she bought that for you from the gift shop. She's really nice, and you'll get to meet her when we go home to Virginia."
"Really? Spencer go home with Eh-run?" the child spoke breathlessly, hardly daring to believe.
"Yes, you go home with me as soon as the doctors say you can." Hotch told him with a grin. "Now, do you feel like you can eat something? The sooner you can eat and drink normally the better,"
"Um huh, Spencer hungry! Macncheez?" he asked hopefully.
"Well, first let's see how you do with soup and milk, then the doctor said you could have that. OK?" ventured Hotch.
"OK!" exclaimed the child enthusiastically. "Spencer like milk!"
After Hotch poured the soup into a cup he could sip from, the boy finished his tray and fell back to sleep. Hotch called the others into the room and they quietly consulted in the far corner. "What did Garcia find on Duncan? Anything we can bring him in on?" inquired Hotch.
"Not so much as a traffic ticket so far, but we do have the drawings found in the basement, one of which is a dead-ringer for Duncan. Ten to one he is the "red headed man" mentioned by the kid. The 'long haired man' is likely another drawing that Garcia's facial recognition software identified as 'Trinidad' Jones, a known human trafficker working with the Russian mob out of New York. We don't' have any hits yet on the other three. I'm assuming they are 'Grandpa', 'Lollipop Man' and 'Angry Man' and she is running the drawings through every known sex offender database." Responded Morgan.
"We've run the case by Andi Swan's unit, and they are comparing everything with their files-so far no matches. This ring seems to have stayed under the radar so far, until now. Maybe the real question is what changed recently to bring them to notice. Spencer said he saw 27 women over less than 4 years-why then did we not catch on until the last four?" questioned Rossi. "Were the others imports? Runaways? Something tells me that the answer lies there somewhere."
"Morgan, you and Prentiss join JJ at the precinct and finish going through those boxes. See if there are any more drawings. If there are any of the 23 unknowns Garcia may be able to answer that question. Rossi-head to the hotel and get some sleep-I'm going to need you to take next shift guarding Spencer, and I still want an officer on the door at all times. The rest of you back to the hotel by 8 and get some rest yourselves-everyone's running on fumes." directed Hotch.
"And you're not?" questioned Rossi with a quirked eyebrow. "Just when were you intending to get something to eat?"
"The nurses ordered me a tray-I ate soup with Spencer. Don't worry so much Dave, it'll make you go gray," teased Hotch as he pulled the large armchair next to the sleeping boy and settled into it.
"Ha Ha. See you at Midnight." Smirked Rossi as he turned and exited, followed by a grinning Morgan and Prentiss.
Getting back up to draw the curtains against the late afternoon sunshine, Hotch stopped by the door to check with the guard, fussed a bit with the sleeping child's blanket, then settled into what had to be the most comfortable hospital chair ever and closed his eyes for a brief nap, one hand curled loosely over Spencer's.