A Death in the Family
Psychology depicts love as a cognitive and social phenomenon. PsychologistRobert Sternberg formulated a triangular theory of love and argued that love has three different components: intimacy, commitment, and passion.
Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is not mine.
A/N: WARNING. A CHARACTER DEATH IN THE CHAPTER BEFORE THIS ONE!!
He slept on the floor for the rest of the night. He had no idea what he had done wrong. Once again the anger didn't seem to be directed at him. He was just the punch bag. Spencer curled up on the floor with his eyes squeezed shut and the blood drying around his nose.
Floyd lay on the bed staring at the canopy on the bed. He occasionally turned his head and looked at the huddled form on the floor laying unmoving where he had finally dropped him. He rubbed at his knuckles. He had split his skin on Reid's brow and jaw. He felt something – though he had no name for the thoughts going through his head. It was confusing. He wasn't sad. He didn't have regrets. It must have just been residual anger still bubbling at the back of his mind. He still didn't have Rosa back, but he thought that would be sorted soon.
He started to cough and choke as blood suddenly started to run down the back of this throat. Floyd rolled over onto his side and let it drain out onto the bedclothes. He knew these were getting worse and his normal way of stopping them didn't seem to be working anymore.
Aaron lay and listened to sounds coming from the other room and rolled over onto his front pulling his pillow over his head. The night seemed endless for Hotch who couldn't sleep knowing that Floyd and Reid were so close.
Floyd didn't sleep but lay in a puddle of blood and looked at the lump on the floor
Reid didn't sleep. He lay too afraid to move. Too tired to care anymore.
-o-o-o-
Hotch got a phone call in the early hours of the morning. His cell phone was buzzing. The call was from Rossi. He put the phone to his ear and rolled over onto his back.
"Hotchner." He listened for a while and then sat up. "Oh god." He listened for a bit longer. "Yes I understand I will come straight in." Another pause. "Yes yes I will make sure he is told." He closed the phone and put his hands to his face. He had to talk to Reid and then he needed to get into work and he only had casual clothes with him. He would take Reid with him.
Aaron got up and slipped on his bunny slippers then went to see if Reid and Floyd were up yet. The first thing that struck him was the over powering smell of bleach. He looked over at the bathroom door. There was an A4 bit of paper taped to the door. Aaron walked closer to see what it said. Big fancy cursive writing and very distinctively Floyds. 'Use this room aNd die.' Under this message in smaller writing. 'It took hours to clean so keep out.' Hotch smiled at the message. Floyd was off on one of his strange cleaning sprees again. He walked down towards the kitchen. Floyd was grinding herbs and weighing things out carefully.
"I need to talk to Reid. Is he still in the bedroom?"
Floyd looked over at him. Aaron was struck by how ill the man suddenly looked. His skin was almost pure white and his eyes stood out dark and deep. Floyd licked his lips. "He is in the bedroom." He then turned back to what he was doing. Hotch nodded and walked away. Floyd was in a strange mood and looked ill.
Aaron moved quickly to where Reid was. He didn't know how he was going to tell him his news. He tapped gently on the bedroom door. "It's Aaron..can I come in?"
No answer and so he turned the handle and opened the door. Reid was laying on the bed on his back staring at the canopy in a similar fashion Floyd had been earlier.
"Spencer." Aaron sat down on the bed next to him. He saw the patch Reid had over his eye and he saw the nasty scar still marring his pretty face. Then his eyes took in the swelling to the jaw and the crust of dried blood under his nose. His lip had been split too, but if that had bled also it had been cleaned up some how. "Spencer." How did he tell this person the news he had for him. Hotch didn't know where to start. He wanted to get up and knock Floyd's spiteful mouth into next year. Instead he stroked Spencer's forehead. "Something has happened. I need to talk to you about it. Then I need you to get dressed and come with me."
"What's wrong?"
-o-o-o-
The two of them walked quickly from the bedroom. Both looked as though they had been crying. Reid was putting his shoes on. His hair hung in ratty clumps over his face.
"Where are you going?" Floyd stood with a broom in his hand.
"I –I need t to go out."
"Where?"
Reid looked over at Aaron for the answer. "I need to take him into work."
"Why?"
"It's not your problem. This mess his face is in again is your problem though."
"No Aaron. That mess is your problem. You are going nowhere with him. I need him here." Actually he was glad they were going out. I would give him time to sort out the workshop and strip the head he had but that was beside the point. He didn't like Aaron taking his toy away from him like this.
"Reid get in the car." Hotch threw the keys to Spencer who caught them but just stood and watched. "Reid move it. Get in the car." Aaron wasn't in the mood to play Floyd's games today, and he wasn't going to tell him where they were going. He needed to get over this possessiveness if this was ever going to work.
Reid walked slowly to the door half expecting Floyd to land on his back and bite his throat out for disobeying. He knew he would pay for this later but he was going to walk out of that door. If his hands stopped shaking long enough for him to open the damned door. As he stood out into the sunshine he saw the children playing in the street and the couple across the way talking to someone else. It all looked so friendly and normal and for a few seconds he was envious of it, but he had never lived in this kind of world and really and honestly he didn't think he would ever cope with this sort of picture perfect environment.
The people over the road stopped talking and looked over at the tall thin guy who had been seen kissing another guy. They could see the nasty scar on his face and the patch over his eye and the way he had his hair down trying to disguise this disfigurement. He felt Aaron touch him on the shoulder.
"Are you alright…." He was probably going to say more, but someone grabbed him by the back of his Tshirt and dragged him away. Spencer turned around to see Floyd. The fist took Aaron in the face, and then Aaron's fist returned and cracked Floyd on the chin. Reid jumped in between them and tried to push them apart.
"Stop it!" but Floyd's elbow to the side of Reid's head sent him onto his back in the grass. He fell with a 'umph' and the noise was enough to distract Aaron long enough for Floyd to wrap his arm around Hotch's neck from the back. Aaron's heel in smacking back onto Floyd's shin and then the elbow into his solar plexus forced Flanders to let go. He stood back from Hotch and started shouting.
"He's not yours to take. Spence is mine!"
"He is his own person. He can choose. He's not your pet dog. You can't own a person Floyd."
"He is MINE! You are mine. He is mine." His voice was a low hiss.
Spencer looked around nervously at the neighbours standing staring. The skipping ropes had stopped being skipped with and hung from the kids hands. The women chatting on the other side of the street talked in quick quiet voices. Reid walked over to Aaron and Floyd again.
"We need to go Aaron. Floyd we will be back later, but we need to go and do something."
"I didn't ask for your mouth Spence. Get back in the house." Floyd's eyes swept over Reid then back to Aaron. "He's not going. Not until you ask."
"He doesn't need to ask. Aaron – I am going with you. Floyd we will be back later. This isn't a good time to try to stop me because I am going. You won't stop me."
"You will pay for this later Spencer. You will – and you know you will." Floyd turned and looked at the neighbours. "And what the fuck are you all looking at?" He shouted at them.
-o-o-o-
He went back into the house and slammed the door behind him. He raged and screamed and threw things around. He pulled Reid's books off the shelves and hurled them at the walls and the coffee machine ended up in a thousand parts on the kitchen wall and floor.
The rest of the day he spent in his workshop scalping and boiling a head. He had a good recipe he was going to try out on them later. His mind drifted to the sandwiches Hotch had brought with him and his refusal to eat that which he provided for him. Spencer wouldn't dare refuse normally. Would Hotch convince him not to eat?
Once the head was sorted and on a slow boil Floyd started to prepare the skin he had removed. It was pretty white skin. The hammering on the door distracted him from what he was doing. He stood still and listened. It continued. He threw down the skinning and preparing blades and went to answer the door.
As he opened the door the small gathering of Floyd's front porch recoiled as one. He stood and looked at the odd collection of people standing there. A few he recognised as neighbours – the others he assumed had been roped in from further down the street.
He sighed. "What?"
"We would like to talk to you about something. Are you friends here too?"
"You know they're not here."
"We would still like to talk to you. May we come in?"
A shake of the head. "No – you may not."
"OK we will talk here then."
"I don't have long. Be quick." Floyd didn't want the head to boil dry.
"We just feel that you should be showing a bit more decorum in front of the children. This is a nice neighbourhood and we don't appreciate your sorts coming here and dragging this down to the level of a trailer park."
Floyd nodded. "I understand exactly what you are saying, but you need to know that I don't give a toss what you think. I paid for this plot of land and thus it is mine and if I want to screw by lover on my porch I will and there is very little you or your little delegation can do to stop me. As for the trailer park comment – some of the finest people in this country live in such places and I fell you should be looking at yourself before you come here telling me how to live my life. Was there anything else?"
"You know what I am saying. We won't put up with it."
"Put up with what?"
"This smell for a start. Your property has a strange odour to it as do you sir. This is a nice place and we don't want your type frightening our children."
"I smell? You are here to tell me to take a bath?"
"I am here to tell you to stop this violence and – and – the touching other men on your front lawn."
Floyd scratched his ear. "Right. No kissing my lovers, no hitting them, and I need a bath…oh and de-fumigate my house. Anything else?"
"We had a meeting and we would like to see this place have a for sale sign on it by the end of the week."
"I intend staying. I have no intention of changing who I or my men are so just suck it up." He slammed the door and walked quickly back to his workshop. His hands were shaking with the effort of having to keep in control. As he passed the fridge he stopped and smiled. He opened up the door and removed two of the sandwich packs Aaron had put in there. He held it up to his face. "So Aaron Hotchner – you wont eat my food huh? Then I will have to arrange something else." He took the sandwiches out to his workshop.
-o-o-o-
It was late when Aaron and Spencer returned.
Spencer was the first through the door and he just stood and looked at the mess. Aaron pushed gently on his back and the both entered the dark stinking house. They both looked at the broken objects and the books laying on the floor where they had been thrown. Floyd was sitting on the couch with his arms crossed.
"Floyd?" Spencer walked slowly over to him. "What happened?" he knelt down on the floor in front of him.
Aaron announced that he needed a shower and walked off leaving the two of them together.
"You know what happened." He looked at Reid's hand on his knee and pushed it off. "Don't touch me. Go have a shower with Agent Aaron Hotchner. Go get your jollies somewhere else."
"I don't know what you are talking about." He ran his hand up the outside of Floyd's thigh. "Tell me what's wrong."
"Nothing is wrong babes." Floyd reached down and stroked Reid's hair – pushing it off his face.
"What happened? What is all the mess about?"
"You disobeyed me. You went off with Aaron. I needed you here." He looked down at Reid's hands which were slowly unbuttoning his shirt.
"I'm here now." Spencer started to unbuckle Floyd's belt.
"You've been crying." Floyd's fingers ran over the exposed eye.
"Yes I have. A friend was killed in an accident."
"A BAU friend?"
Reid nodded and moved his hands to push his hair off his face and then returned to Floyd and started to undo the button on his waistband.
"Spence – what are you doing?"
He looked up into Floyd's questioning face. "You look like you need some comforting."
"Maybe – Spence." Floyd gripped hair on the back of Reid's head and leaned his head back. He was unsure of this new found Spencer - this one who was taking control and not just being the kicked dog. Finally maybe what he had said about needing some of the old Spence back had registered. It didn't mean he wasn't going to have to pay for what he did earlier. Reid still had to learn not to be defiant.
-o-o-o-
The three of them sat in the wrecked room surrounded by Floyd's mayhem with plates in front of them. Floyd had cooked and though earlier that day Hotch had made his feelings clear about Flanders cooking Reid still accepted the soup. Aaron had grabbed a sandwich out of the fridge.
"What is that smell Floyd?" Hotch finally asked.
He couldn't very well tell him the truth. "I've been preparing stuff in the workshop. Getting the leather ready…some of it I had to boil up to get it nice and soft. I will make you something. What would you like me to make you Aaron? A belt? A wallet? I will make you something. Spence? What about you? I saw you eyeing my belt earlier would you like me to make you one? Plain or silver studded?"
"No thank you Floyd." Aaron poked his sandwich around. It was tuna but had a funny taste. Maybe it had gone off. He nibbled at it anyway watching Floyd and Spencer devour the soup and wishing he had the trust in Floyd that Reid had that he would be eating next door's cat.
Reid looked at Floyd and did a bit toothy smile. "Thank you yes – that would be good."
"Oh one more thing." Floyd picked something from between his teeth. "Aaron; every time you piss me off I will take my anger out on someone you love. Spencer; every time you piss me off I will beat you unconscious. I just thought I needed to make that clear."
A soft splotting sound was all that as heard as something dripped from Spencer's spoon into this bowl of 'soup'.