I love Criminal Minds, I live Criminal Minds, I do my homework with Criminal Minds, but sadly, I do not own Criminal Minds or any of its characters.

Presenting, chapter 8 . . .

XOXOXOXOXO

Hotch buzzed Morgan into his parking garage. Once parked, Morgan turned to Reid. He had stopped shivering but still clutched the blanket closely about himself. "You ready to go, kid?"

Reid visibly gulped but nodded his head. Morgan unbuckled both of their seatbelts then gently took the blanket from his young friend. Reid took a deep breath and reached for the door handle.

Walking to the elevator together, the younger man jammed his hands as deeply in his pockets as he could. Morgan threw his arm around the kid's shoulders both for support and guidance. The kid was shaking again, probably more nerves than cold, but he was still soaking wet. If he didn't get out of these wet clothes soon, he was going to get sick. Morgan was also worried about the red, swelling area under the kid's left eye.

On the eighth floor they stepped off the elevator and approached Hotch's door. As they grew closer Reid's steps slowed, but Morgan kept him moving forward. There was no way the kid was backing out of this now. Morgan knocked on the door. They waited only a moment before Hotch answered. Their boss was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt. Reid almost laughed both from nerves and the unexpected sight of his ever-formal boss dressed so casually.

Hotch took his cue from Morgan's distraught visage. He had considered tearing into Reid the second he walked in the door, but if Morgan was this concerned then yelling wouldn't help matters right now. Instead, he ushered the pair inside and took Ried's duffel bag from Morgan. "That's quite a shiner you're developing there," He said, taking Reid's chin in his hand to examine it closer. "We'll get an ice pack on that soon, but I don't know how much good it'll do." Turning his attention to Morgan, he said, "Thank you for everything tonight, Morgan. We won't be into work before 11 tomorrow. I expect you to do the same."

Morgan recognized a dismissal when he heard one. Normally, he would be hesitant leaving matters as they were, but Reid was in good hands and they needed to start working things out. And the kid needed to get into some dry clothes. As he headed out the door, he admonished, "Behave yourself, kid. And Hotch, get him into something dry, will ya?" He stepped out the door and Hotch closed it behind him.

He turned back to Reid and lightly sighed, "You need a warm shower and dry clothes. The guest bedroom is this way." Still carrying Reid's bag, he walked past the young man, gave his arm a pat and walked down a short hallway. Turning right into a small bedroom furnished only with a twin bed and a dresser, he dropped the duffel on the bed. Reid lingered uncomfortably in the doorway, visibly shivering again. Hotch considered his next move, then unzipped the bag, rooted around a bit and found what he was looking for. Morgan had actually thought to pack pajamas for the kid. He pulled them out along with a couple unmatched socks, and handed them to Reid. Pointing across the hall, he said, "Shower's there. Clean towels are hanging up. Get in there and warm up."

Reid hesitantly took the pile of clothes from Hotch and shuffled in the direction indicated. Walking into the bathroom, he shut the door and slowly removed his wet clothing. He started the water running and waited for it to warm up. When he stepped into the stream, he immediately started feeling better. The warm water brought with it a feeling of comfort he never wanted to leave. Reid stood under the pouring water for as long as he could, doing his best to shut his brain off. As exhausted as he was, this wasn't as difficult as it normally was. When he caught himself falling asleep, he turned the water off and grabbed a towel. It was the biggest, fluffiest towel Reid had ever seen. He nearly laughed again thinking of his boss buying such a towel. Wrapping it around himself and luxuriating in the feeling of it, he stepped out of the tub. He was so warm and comfortable now he wasn't sure he even had the energy to get dressed.

He stood before the mirror and examined the swelling below his eye. It hurt when it happened, but he couldn't really feel it now. Maybe it wouldn't even bruise, he thought hopefully. Feeling a sharp pain in his side, he pulled the towel away to find another large red welt on his right side. Now this one hurt! He touched it gingerly and winced. Hotch wouldn't be happy about his foray into the dark alleyways of D.C., and this certainly wouldn't help his case any. He quickly dressed to cover the bruising skin and dearly wished he could do something about his face. Sighing, he opened the door and walked into the hall not entirely sure what he was supposed to do now.

Hotch was waiting for him and approached from his office at the end of the hall. Reid, standing in his boss' home wearing his pajamas, suddenly felt very shy and exposed. He crossed his arms again and bashfully looked up at his boss through his eyelashes. Placing a hand on Reid's shoulder, the older man asked, "Feeling better?" Reid nodded his head looking everywhere but directly at Hotch. "Good. Finish getting ready for bed. There's a hairdryer under the sink; make sure you use it. I'll prepare an ice pack for that eye. Are you hurt any place else?" Reid bit his lower lip, and that was all the answer the older man needed, "Show me" he demanded.

Reid unfolded his arms and did as he was told. He lifted his nightshirt just high enough to reveal the large red mark at the side of his abdomen. Hotch winced and once again considered tearing into this kid for his poor decisions tonight. Instead, he sighed and asked, "How are you feeling otherwise?" Reid merely shrugged and studied his feet. Hotch understood that the kid was beyond worn out, "Well, that's going to hurt pretty bad in the morning, but I doubt there's much we can do about it tonight. Go get ready for bed." With this he walked into the kitchen leaving Reid alone to finish up.

He poured a glass of water from the refrigerator, took a couple Ibuprofin from the bottle on the counter, slipped the last item from the grocery store out of the plastic bag, grabbed the icepack from the freezer and headed back down the hall. Reaching the guest room he found it empty. He could hear the hairdryer running in the bathroom. Hotch set the items in his hands on the dresser, plugging in the one from the grocery store, then sat on the bed and waited patiently thinking that things were going well so far. Of course the difficult part would start tomorrow.

The drone of the hairdryer stopped and the young man, hair flopped down over his eyes, exited the bathroom. He didn't seem to know what to do with his hands and kept wiping them on his pant legs. Hotch rose and held up the water and pain killers for the nervous young man, "Take these. They'll help with the pain."

Reid downed them and finally looked Hotch in the eye, "Thank you."

Hotch was grateful the kid was finally starting to relax a little, "Time for bed." He pulled the blankets back and waited for his charge to climb in. Reid was too tired to protest the gesture normally reserved for children. He lay down and let Hotch actually tuck him in. He hadn't been treated this way since he was six. Then the older man took the icepack from the dresser and gently placed it below his swollen eye. Reid reached up to secure it in place and looked up at his boss saying thank you with his soft brown eyes.

Giving Reid a small smile, Hotch turned to leave. At the door he turned back, "Sleep well, Spencer. And if you leave this room before 8am, I'll make sure you regret it. Am I understood?"

He returned the small smile but took the admonishment very seriously, "Yes, Sir."

As Hotch began closing the bedroom door, Reid felt a slight stab of panic at being left in the dark. That was when he noticed the small turtle nightlight over the dresser. It turned on automatically as the room darkened. He snuggled in and fell fast asleep.

XOXOXOXOXO

Okay, I know this one was short. It was a tough work week for me, but I'm on vacation all next week. I promise the next chapter will make up for this one. Come on, don't make me beg. Please review.