Two chapters in one day *sees it's 1:46AM* er, well two days.
Well... I'm still on a roll!
WARNING: RATING CHANGE
Just a few things in this chapter, you'll see. Nothing really big, though. Just some stuff, but from here one out it's going to get more mature.
From what JJ had gotten, a man had tried to pick up Mark in the bar he and his friends had gone to. Though the guy was persistent, Mark was insistent upon being left alone. He had said something to Mark that made him get up and leave. He told his friends he had to see Todd. According to another quick talk with Todd, Mark never made it home.
From what they got out of Howie, Dennis's semi-legal husband, Dennis had gone out with his brother for dinner. They went to the bar for a nightcap, and Dennis was approached by a man who tried to flirt with him. Dennis was polite enough, but finally he left, saying he had to get home to his husband. Again, he never made it home. Of course there had been some translating involved to get this much because Howie kept bursting into tears and sobs and started speaking in a mixture of broken Japanese and English.
The team finished their profile, which needed very little tweaking from what Reid and Hotch came up with. As soon as they delivered it to the officers in the station, JJ was sent to the local TV stations and newspapers to offer their message. The rest of the team met in Hotch and Reid's Cabin to review the days work and wait for JJ.
There was a knock on the door around nine 'o' clock and Prentiss let in JJ. She walked in with, "The local news station and paper's have their profiles." She announced taking a seat next to Morgan on the couch as Hotch tossed in another log.
"Well, I think that's all we can do for now." Morgan said, looking up at Hotch who nodded.
"Everyone, get some rest. We'll meet outside at 7 tomorrow morning." He informed. There was short hum of agreement. All except one. There was a collective glance towards the left chair. Soft snuffling made them all smile as they saw the youngest member curled up and sound asleep in his chair, hair covering his face.
Hotch felt a fluttering in his stomach, lightening his heart at the sight of seeing him sleep so. Morgan laughed and shook his head. He stood up and left first, followed by the others. Garcia had her tech lab hooked up in her and Morgan's Cabin, as he explained, and he was worried she was trying to get 24 hours of work in that day. Hotch nodded them off, unable to take his eyes off Reid's sleeping form.
JJ was the last to leave. She glanced back at Hotch and Reid and turned back. "Sir," she called, finally pulling Hotch's attention from Reid. "May I say something next to offensive, and beyond protocol?"
"Depending on what it is."
JJ smiled her motherly smile and looked at Reid. "I'm sure you've noticed, he's not been the same in awhile. Right now, he needs you. He won't admit it, but he needs you." Before Hotch could stop her or ask for elaboration she added, "He trusts you above all of us. And if I'm not mistaken I think you might need him too."
Hotch raised an eyebrow at her and she smiled, raising her hands. "Good night, sir." She left before he could reprimand her or tell her thank you.
He sighed and went back to looking at Reid as the boy brought himself into a tighter ball. He smiled to himself and stepped closer. He brushed some strands of Reid's hair from his face and saw the soft lips slightly parted as he breathed. His eyes closed. He's beautiful. He slid his hand down to Reid's shoulder, his hand catching Reid's scarf, slipping it away from his neck. Hotch froze.
Was it the lighting or…. Hotch felt an abrupt rage wave through him as he realized he was staring at finger shaped bruises on Reid's neck. He took a deep breath and dropped the scarf. He sighed and calmed himself down, knowing it was now or never.
Hotch gently shook Reid. "Reid, wake up." He said, not raising his voice, but not lowering it either. "Reid, come on. Wake up." Reid murmured in coherently, but it sounded strangely like, "I was good. I didn't do anything wrong."
His eyes fluttered open and he slowly uncurled himself yawning. He stretched and rubbed away the grogginess in his eyes. He sat up and stretched out his back and looked up at Hotch and recognized the serious expression. Reid froze and touched his neck, realizing his scarf wasn't hiding the marks from his strangulation. "Hi, Hotch." He attempted, looking up at him innocently. "Is it time for bed?"
"Reid, what is the meaning of this?"
The young man didn't need to be a genius to figure out what he meant. He bit his lip and looked down, letting his hair hide his face. He took the scarf from his shoulder and wrung it in his hands, shrugging. "No, Reid." Hotch said, kneeling down before the man, trying to look into Reid's face. He was not yelling and he tried to keep his anger in check so he didn't sound harsh. "Don't shrug this off." He said gently, taking Reid's right hand and pushing up his sleeves to reveal bruises. The young man flinched, but he didn't pull away. "What's going on?"
Reid looked up into Hotch's face. His usual stoic expression had melted away to one of worry and concern. Reid lost the will to speak. It had been so long since such a look had been given to him. He rubbed his cheek with his sleeve and opened his mouth to speak. No words would come out. He took in a deep shaken breath and let out a soft, "I can't tell you."
Hotch felt a pang of hurt at those words. JJ's words had been stuck in his head. He trusts you above all of us. Well, maybe not. "Why not, Reid?" He asked gently.
Reid looked into Hotch's dark eyes and saw an intensity that melted all his resolve. Melted away all his barriers he had put up to block his outflow of pain. He felt his eyes burn, but he tried his best not to let his tears fall. "I-I can't, Hotch. I've no where else to go. He's taken my apartment from me and I've no where else." Reid sniffled, hiding his face behind his hands. "He'll throw me out if he finds out I told anyone. I've tried finding another place, but they're either too close to him, too far away from the bureau, or too expensive. I'm stuck."
It was obvious that Reid was talking about a boyfriend, one that had gone horribly wrong. However, after that Hotch was confused. "Who Reid? Start from the beginning."
Reid wiped his eyes and looked at Hotch's kind expression. It was Reid's greatest undoing. As soon as he opened his mouth, the whole story flooded from it without any control. "I met this guy. You probably know him. He's a prosecution lawyer. His name's Jonathan Corley. I met him after a case and he asked me to dinner and it stemmed off from there. We've been together almost five months. I thought I had finally found someone, Hotch." The older agent saw a hidden twinkle behind the tears that fell from Reid's eyes.
Hotch had to take a deep breath to keep from punching someone. He knew well that Jonathan Corley was one of the most ruthless lawyers to ever practice law. Unfortunately that didn't just mean in the courtroom. He was persistent and picked up whoever would let themselves be picked up, man or woman. There were rumours of domestic violence charges against him, but they never seemed to have stuck. He looked up at Reid and saw the boy really had fallen for the sleaze.
"I'd heard he was charged with abuse, but he told me they were exes trying to get his money. He actually outsmarted me, Hotch! I believed him! Every word he told me, I believed it all." Reid sobbed and clawed his hair, sniffing. "I just wanted to believe that there was someone that actually wanted me. Someone who wanted to be with me," he sobbed. Hotch knew Reid felt stupid, but believe he wasn't. He reach up his hand to touch Reid's shoulder. Anyone, even a man with an IQ of 187, being offered care and trust would want to believe the person offering it, no matter what.
"A couple a months ago he changed. He started getting really controlling. He invaded my apartment and he was able to trick the landlord into legally giving him the title to it. He started hitting me and verbally abusing me and he- he-."
"What did he do, Reid?" Hotch asked gently, squeezing Reid's shoulder. The boy winced.
"He's been making me have sex with him. He'll pin my wrists behind my back," he lifted his right arm with his bruised wrist out in the open. "Or he'd handcuff me to the bed. If I begged him to stop or tried to scream he'd strangle me." Reid sobbed, and cried into his hands.
Hotch stood up and wrapped his arms around Reid's shaken form. Reid clawed into the back of Hotch's shirt, clinging to the comfort his hold gave him. He let his tears fall. He let his sobs escape. He let the pain come out, breaking down completely. "Hotch, I don't know what I'm gonna do." He sobbed, burying his face into Hotch's neck.
"Shh, R-Spencer, it's okay." Hotch whispered, rubbing the slighter man's back. "You're safe now. You're far away from him and when we get back I'm gonna help you get away from him. You can come stay with me, okay?" Hotch offered, stroking Reid's hair.
"Hotch-." Reid attempted and tried to look up at him, his eyes shining in his tear strained face. "I-I don't know."
Hotch ruffled his hair and smiled gently at him. "I'll protect you." He promised, rubbing Reid's back tenderly. "Come stay with me."
Reid smiled weakly. "Okay, Hotch." He breathed deeply and nearly collapsed into Hotch's arms. The senior agent caught him and held him close, his arms supporting the, surprisingly light, weight on the younger agent as they wrapped around his waist. "Wow, I'm so tired." Reid laughed softly and looked up at Hotch, their eyes meeting. The man had to agree. Reid looked exhausted. "I've never been so emotional before. It's tiring."
Hotch smiled and put a supportive arm around Reid's shoulders, bringing him into their bedroom and sat him down on the bed. Reid watched him as he went into the bathroom. He heard water running and Hotch returned with a wet wash cloth in his hands. He sat beside Reid and began cleaning up his face.
Reid sat still, letting Hotch clean him up. Hotch smiled when he finished and whispered gently, "There. Get some sleep, okay? You look like you really need it. I'll wake you up in the morning for a shower."
Reid smiled gratefully. "Thank you, Hotch. For everything."
Hotch cut the stream of water off and stretched. He stepped out of the shower and silently pulled on his boxers and brushed his teeth. He ran the towel over his short dark hair and hung the towel on the hook on the back of the door. He cut the light off and peered into the dark bedroom, waiting for his eyes to adjust. When they did he saw the familiar form of Reid's sleeping body beneath the covers on the farther side of the bed.
He smiled to himself and crawled into the bed beside Reid, staring at the back of his brunette head. He pulled the covers over them and reached up, stroking Reid's hair. A soft mew sounded from the young man's voice. Hotch felt the bed shift as Reid turned around, bringing himself closer to the him.
"Hotch?" His voice was so soft as he called. His eyes were lidded, barely open from being tired.
"Hey, I didn't mean to wake you." Hotch apologized softly.
"No, I wanted to apologize for lying to you." Reid whispered gently. "Back at Quantico."
"That's okay." Hotch smiled and pushed a loose strand of hair from Reid's face.
"…You're a good man, Hotch. A really good man."
Hotch felt something strange as he awoke to the sound of his phone vibrating. He reached over and shut off the alarm, feeling something slide on his bare chest. He turned out to see a slender arm leading from a slender body to a slender hand placed on his chest. It sent a spark through him. He tried to ignore the urge to kiss Reid, knowing it would be the worst thing he could do at that moment. However, he could not control his hand as it reached up and held Reid's tightly against his chest.
He smiled to himself and took a deep breath. He sat himself up and shook Reid gently. "Reid, it's time to wake up." He said. Reid mewed and pulled closer, curling around Hotch's lower body. Hotch blushed and shook him. "Reid, time to get up."
Reid yawned and sat up. He rubbed his eyes and smiled sleepily. "Mkay, Hotch." He greeted lazily, crawling out of bed. His shirt bunched up, showing his toned, slim stomach. Hotch averted his eyes, trying to keep from staring at the young man. He stared down at the quilt instead, listening to Reid's socked feet as he moved towards the bathroom.
He heard the water running and stood up, getting dressed. He pulled on his clothes and went into the living room, sitting down and looked through the case files for about the hundredth time that trip. Just hoping to catch something they hadn't before. Unfortunately, without coffee, nothing seemed to want to come to him. He heard a buzzing and glanced at his phone. Wasn't his. He looked up and saw Reid's on the table near the chair from the previous night. He glanced towards the bedroom door and stood. He picked up the cell and looked at it. The caller ID said Jonathan.
He had the strongest urge to flip it open and whip the asshole a good one. His fury reached a new height it never had before and it was all he could do to keep himself from letting it go to his logic. Reid's boyfriend didn't know he was rooming with another man and if Hotch answered, even casually, it would flare up Jonathan's temper which would end badly for Reid. The idea of Reid suffering further cooled Hotch's temper. He took a deep breath and tossed the phone into the chair, letting the call go to voicemail.
Maybe Hotch could use his extensive connections within the system to get the bastard demoted to claims adjuster in, say, California? An entire cross-country away from Virginia and away from Reid. While Hotch planned sweet revenge, Reid walked in, slipping on his sweater aver his collared shirt. He smiled sleepily up at Hotch and with a yawn, "I'm ready to go."
Hotch smiled back and handed Reid his cell phone. The agent glanced at his missed calls and swallowed nervously. He stood frozen in place staring at his phone. Hotch could see the gears turning in the genius's head as he decided whether to return the call or not. Finally, he clutched the phone to his chest and looked up at Hotch with wide, pleading eyes. "Tell me I'm working. Right now, tell me I have to be working."
Hotch raised an eyebrow at the request and hesitated. He wasn't sure what it was for, but he stated, as requested, "You're working."
Reid smiled, "Then I can't answer personal calls." He tucked his phone away and turned, looking up at Hotch smiling. "Let's go get some breakfast."
Over three thousand miles away, a tall, muscled figure sat in his office, fuming as his brilliant blue eyes glared down at his office phone. He resisted the urge to scream as he hung up. Why isn't Reid answering his fucking phone? He thought furiously. That disobedient, disloyal, little-.
His secretary walked in, placing files on his desk, and breaking through his train of thoughts. He felt a light bulb go off in his head. "Nancy, can you patch me through to my brother-in-law?"
"The one in Pennsylvania?"
"No, the one in Alaska."
Chapter 3- End
TBC
BUM BUM BUM BUUUM!
Quick question, in America do you all have nightcaps? Or is that just a British thing?
The three thousand miles thing, I typed it into googlemaps and it said like 3,900 something, so yeah... I'm sticking with it.
