"Look," stated Dr. Spencer Reid adamantly. "I have done everything you've asked of me...I've done my lung exercises and had a bowel movement. I can stand on my own and maneuver just fine on crutches. I think if you speak with my Physical Therapist, he will tell you that I have met all medically recognized benchmarks regarding mobility, flexibility and extension. My nurses will tell you that I have consistently maintained a mean average body temperature of 37 degrees Celsius. My pulse is strong and my blood pressure is within acceptable limits. I am a Federal Agent, and I refuse to be held here against my will for another second!"

Reid's doctor stared slack-jawed by the outburst, while Hotch just leaned against the wall and chuckled. "Spencer, Babe. He's gonna discharge you...quit badgering the man. He's required, by the vast army of lawyers employed by this hospital, to warn you of the complications that may arise for checking out against medical advice. He's just here to get a signature stating that you understand. Sign it, and we can leave."

Suddenly sheepish, Spencer grabbed the pen Aaron held out to him, and signed the form. Quickly handing the paperwork back to the doctor, Spencer smiled. "Thank you very much Doctor...you do excellent work. Sorry for the confusion...I'll see you at my next appointment!"

The physician made a beeline for the door, as Hotch turned to his lover and pulled him into an off-balanced hug. "That man is the best Orthopedist on the East Coast. Let's try not to scare him off!"

"Oh my god...I was channeling my mother! I need to get out of here quick, before I suddenly become paranoid with the realization that I've been watched and monitored constantly for the last 48 hours!"

Aaron chuckled. "I packed up all your things while you were out getting your MRI. I brought a change of clothes for you, but it looks like they went ahead and put your brace on over your pajama pants...are you okay going to the car like that?"

The young man glanced down at his outfit, and back at his lover, with a look of panic on his face. "Once, when I was six, I broke my arm."

Aaron's eyebrows raised in astonishment. "Freak chess accident?"

Giving his lover a mocking grin, he continued. "One of the school bullies thought it would be fun to kick the books out of my arms...he missed the books. The school nurse called my Dad to come pick me up, because I insisted that it was broken. He didn't believe me, so he just took me home, and went back to work. I didn't want to upset my Mom, so I didn't tell her anything. By the time that my Dad finally got back home at midnight, my arm was so swollen, that he had to take me to the hospital. The only thing was...the inflammation was so bad that they ended up cutting my shirt off, so they could set it and put on the cast."

Hotch looked at the young man with the concern normally reserved for his own son. "He made you walk to the car shirtless, didn't he?"

Spencer nodded wordlessly.

A look of loving empathy crossed the senior agent's face. "Sit up on the bed. I can get you changed into proper clothes in no time."

oOo

Morgan and Garcia were waiting at Spencer's apartment when they arrived. To make amends for the guilt he felt, Derek had constructed a new, raised frame for Spencer's bed, and redistributed the furniture in the living room to accommodate his crutches. Garcia had baked, and the smell of the sweets was only surpassed by the scent of freshly brewed coffee.

"Told you we didn't need to stop at the coffee shop." said Hotch as they came through the door.

Spencer smiled broadly at the sight of his friends efforts. "Wow, you guys. You really didn't have to go to all this trouble."

"O contraire, mon ami. We definitely had to do this for you and our fearless leader. The two of you are not alone in any of this, and my Glorious Chocolate Thunder felt the need to work with his hands...and though I offered up a plethora of other hand centered activities, he felt the need to build."

"Hey, Baby Girl...don't dis my skills. I'll have you know that people pay good money for my creations. Pretty Boy here will thank me once he sees how awesome his new setup is."

Hotch leaned over and whispered in Spencer's ear. "Any bed you're in is awesome, as far as I'm concerned."

Spencer laughed and nudged his boss with his shoulder.

Derek frowned. "What was that, Hotch?"

Aaron smiled. "I was asking Spencer if he want to go in and see his new bed."

Derek grinned. "You gotta see this Pretty Boy. I got rid of that old metal frame, and replaced it with a raised cherry wood base and headboard."

The four agents made their way into Reid's bedroom. The young genius had to admit, the piece was gorgeous. "Nice, Derek, it's beautiful."

Hotch did a detailed inspection. "This is amazing, Morgan. I can't believe that you got this done in only two days!"

Garcia giggled. "Powered by guilt and sprinkled with nails and varnish!"

Reid walked to the bed. The new height allowed him to sit comfortably without having to bend his injured knee. "Wow...this is great. I wished I'd had this last time..."

"And it has drawers in the base for storage..."

"I really like the slatted headboard." said Hotch with a mischievous grin. "Handy."

Penelope's eyebrows raised in shocked understanding. "O...kay. We will just be leaving you two alone now..."

"But Baby Girl...we planned on having a nice lunch, and..."

Garcia chuckled as she pushed the muscular agent from the bedroom. "Oh, my large, but clueless, Chocolate Cupcake. I have a feeling that if we stay here a moment more, we might become the third and fourth wheels on their personal bicycle."

Looking behind him, he briefly saw Hotch push his lover back onto the bed, and crawl in beside him...Spencer grinning the entire time. Looking back at Garcia in shock, Morgan blurted out, "You mean their gonna...right now?"

"Nothing gets by you profilers, does it?"

As they reached the door, the pair heard Hotch and Reid call from the bedroom. "Thanks again for everything...we'll call you tomorrow...afternoon!"

oOo

Hours later...in the darkness of their bedroom...in the warmth and comfort of their bed, Spencer finally asked the question. "Aaron?" he asked almost in a whisper. "What was it like?"

Hotch snuggled a little bit closer to his lover...gently...mindful of the young doctor's knee. "What was 'what' like?" He asked playfully.

"I guess...what I wanted to know..." The young man struggled for words. "That moment...that moment when it was exactly the same as before...when you saw him there again..."

Aaron smiled, and placed several gentle kisses along his lover's jaw. "There was just a second, when I was pouring my drink...I felt him there behind me, just like the first time. As I turned, the blood rushed to my ears, and there was perfect silence. I could see his lips moving, but I didn't hear a sound. I stood there, looking as he lifted his mask, and the deja vu hit me so hard in the chest, that I could barely breathe..."

"Is that why your not sleeping?"

Aaron pulled his lover in tighter, and ran his finger through his hair. "You just got home...how would you know whether I'm sleeping or not?"

Spencer looked up at his partner with an amused smile. "Don't even try to lie to me. When you aren't sleeping, you get those lines...right there on your forehead, and you hold your left shoulder 2 centimeters higher than your right. You do that because your neck muscles are tight, which only happens when you stay up way to late, reading in bed. You think that holding your shoulder like that helps take the pressure off your neck, but it doesn't. What it does do, is put a strain on your spine, and throws your hips out of alignment."

Aaron looked incredulous. "Seriously?"

"I read body language for a living...in case you've forgotten. And I'm a definitely a certified expert in YOUR body language."

Hotch stroked his young lover's cheek gently with his thumb as he stood and began to pace. "Maybe I just don't sleep well without you...did you ever consider that?"

Pulling himself up into a seated position, bracing his back on the headboard, Spencer glared. "As a matter of fact, I did consider that, but rejected the hypothesis once I saw you drink two cups of coffee at 3:00PM. You never have coffee after noon, unless you plan on being up all night. And...while that is a tantalizing idea, I think we both know that spending the night ravishing me wasn't on your agenda."

"In my defense, it was very good coffee."

Reid exhaled in frustration. "Stop. Tell me what's going on."

The senior agent stopped and looked up at the ceiling, before speaking. "Okay...here it is...Foyet's gone. He's dead, and Haley is alive. My brain is telling me that we've done what we came here to do. When I try to sleep, I keep thinking that when I wake up, we'll be back in our own time."

"So you aren't sleeping, because..."

"God, Spencer...I just...I don't know...I guess I'm worried. I'm worried that we may have accomplished our goal here. I don't want to go back. I don't want to wake up tomorrow back in our time. I'm frightened that if I go to sleep, I'll lose this gift I've been given."

Spencer patted the bed next to him, and waited for his lover to sit. Hugging him with tender concern, he asked the question. "What gift, Aaron?"

"Four years with you, Babe. Four years that we didn't have before...four years worth of memories to make. I want to wake up with you every morning, and go to sleep beside you every night. I want four extra years of laughter and magic tricks and trips to the zoo. I want four extra years of holding you and kissing you and making love to you. I want four more years of statistics, four more years of crazy Halloween decorations and four more years of binge watching Doctor Who. I want those memories, all of them."

The young genius gave a melancholy smile. "All of the things that are going to happen over the next four years...we both know that not all of it was pleasant."

Aaron exhaled slowly. "I realize that, but if we went through it...together this time...it would be okay. With us together, we're stronger."

"We are. And we will have to be, because we can't go back. We've changed too much here. All the events that were altered, are sure to have caused tangential ripples throughout our previous time-line. We don't fit there anymore...our lives are here now."