Hide n' Seek Chapter 2
Last time on Criminal Minds:
Back at the police station, Rossi and Hotch looked up as a young police officer rushed in waving an envelope in his hands. "Sirs, a message just got dropped off addressed to you guys. It's about the explosion that happened this morning." Rossi and Hotch looked at each other rushing over to see what the message had to say.
Hotch reached over grabbing the envelope the young police officer, dismissing him with one curt nod. Going over to the table in the middle of the room with Rossi close behind him, Hotch cautiously opened the envelope not knowing what was going to be inside it. Unfolding the letter inside it Hotch began to read: I see you have found my secret project. Too bad for Dr. Reid that he was in the room when it went off. If you want to change the good doctor back to his normal size, you are going to have to find me. You see I have the antidote with me, but I not going to make it easy for you. Think of it as a game of hide and seek. Catch me if you can.
Rereading the note slowly to make sure he didn't miss anything, Hotch's brow furrowed deeper. Rossi reading the note over Hotch's shoulder was the first to speak "Well obviously our unsub thinks this is a game and he is gloating that he was able to outsmart us." Hotch growled "He has not outsmarted us, he simply has the upper hand right now, but we are going to find him and get Spencer back to normal. Fowler may think that he is controlling us and this game, but we just need to get one step ahead of him." Walking over to the phone sitting in the corner of the room on a desk, Hotch picked it dialing a number he knew off by heart.
"Office of the all knowing, how may I help you Sugar Plum?" Garcia answered. "Garcia it's Hotch, I need you to look up everything about Greg Fowler and his last known location." Hotch barked into the phone, ignoring her greeting. "On it boss man, may I know why we are tracking this creepy fellow?" Hotch sighed knowing he would have to explain the whole situation to Garcia and knowing that she would freak out, Hotch dived into telling her all that had happened that day starting with their search of Fowler's house that morning.
After Hotch finished explaining the situation Garcia cried "Oh my god! My little boy genius has actually turned into a little boy. Ahh, he must be so cute, with those big brown eyes and floppy hair. When can I see him? I just want to pick him up and squeeze the stuffing out of him." "Garcia calm down, we are coming back to Quantico tonight, there is no point staying here anymore when we know that Fowler is no longer here." "Ohh, I can't wait, I have to go out and buy presents for my Junior G-man, when I think of all the cute little boy things I can get, eeek I can't wait!"Garcia exclaimed down the phone getting more and more excited at the thought of all the shopping she would be able to do. "Garcia, don't buy too much we don't know how much longer Spencer will be like." Hotch ordered, already a headache blooming over the thought all that Garcia would buy. "I won't sir, Garcia out" Garcia said ending the conversation.
Hotch groaned scrubbing a hand over his face he turned toward Rossi, "She's not going to go easy is she?"
"Have we ever known Garcia to have restraint when it comes to shopping, especially shopping for kids stuff." Rossi responded going over and patting Hotch on the shoulder. Hotch let out another groan and straightened, gathering his cell phone off the table. "I guess I better let the others know that we are going back to Quantico tonight and to pack up their go-bags." Hotch said while dialing the number for Morgan.
"Hey Hotch, how's it going at the police station?" Morgan answered. "Well we got a message from our unsub taunting us to come find him, but we will discuss that on the plane. We are going back to Quantico tonight so we can have a central place to try and find our guy. Will you guys be able to be packed and ready to board the plane in an hour?" Hotch questioned his teammate. "Yeah sure Hotch, the kid has been sleeping for the past hour, but I'm sure we can let him sleep and still get everything ready." Hotch finished the conversation with Morgan and hung up the phone turning towards Rossi. "Well it seems like wheels up in an hour."
Back at the hotel room, Morgan walked back into the room after taking the phone call in the hallway so he wouldn't disturb Reid. Looking over at the bed, he saw the youngest agent sleeping peacefully curled up in the middle of the bed with the brown fluffy puppy in one arm and thumb in his mouth. "That was Hotch, he said they got a message from the unsub but he would explain it on the plane, which is leaving in an hour." Morgan explained to the girls who were seated at the small table and chairs in the room, keeping an eye on their young charge. Emily sighed, "I guess that means we better pack up our bags, JJ I can pack up yours you better stay here and watch Spencer. Morgan can you pack up Spencer's bag along with yours?" Morgan nodded leaving the room along with Emily, going to their separate rooms.
JJ looked back over to the bed smiling at the cute picture that Spencer made curled up with a stuffed animal and sucking on his thumb. That smile soon dipped down when Spencer started to moan and thrash around in the bed. Going over to the bed JJ sat beside the toddler, carding a hand through his hair as she soothed "Shh Spencer, it's alright I'm right here, you're safe." JJ continued to rub his back and hum as Spencer settled down, cuddling into her side. JJ sighed hoping that nightmares would not be a regular occurrence for the young doctor.
Stepping onto the plane an hour later, the team went to their usual seats while they waited for JJ to put down the still sleeping Spencer on the couch. After setting Spencer down and tucking a blanket around him, JJ made her way over to the other agents so they could begin discussing what they were going to do about the miniature agent.
Hotch finished explaining the letter that they received from their unsub and that he had Garcia looking for him to see where he was. Frowning thinking over everything that Hotch had said, JJ said "Well, it's obvious that we will have to look after Spencer in his toddler body for a while, until we can find Fowler and his antidote. So we have to decide who will bring him home and be his main guardian." A chorus of "I'll take him" resounded around the table. Hotch put his hand up, stopping everyone from fighting over who would bring the young boy home. "We all can't bring him home, he needs more stability than that. Now JJ and I have our homes already set up for young children, so I think it should be one of us."
Seeing that Prentiss and Morgan were about to protest, Rossi cut in before they could speak. "How about we all stay at my house, you know that I have more than enough rooms for all of us to stay there. That way Spencer can have his whole family surrounding him and feel more safe. If Hotch or JJ don't mind they could bring over some kid things, so that we can set up Reid's room so he can be more comfortable there. This way we can give Spencer the childhood that we know he didn't have the first time." Not hearing any protests around the table, Rossi took that as confirmation that they were all in agreement with his plan.
The profilers glanced over when Spencer began stirring on the couch, opening his eyes Spencer was confused before he realized that he was on the BAU jet. Sitting up he looked around and spotting the other agents sitting around the table he began to make his way over. Fisting his eyes he stopped in front of the table and looked up at all the eyes that were fixed on him. "Had a good nap, pretty boy?" Morgan teased, chuckling at how the toddler's hair was sticking up in all different directions. Spencer nodded while sifting from foot to foot.
"Got ants in your pants, Spence?" JJ asked noticing the boys movements. Spencer shyly looked over at her and whispered "I have to change." A blush creeping up the boys face. Realization dawned on JJ as she stood up and held out her hand to Spencer. The boy shook his head "No, I don't want you to do it, Hotch tome wit me."
Eyebrows raised Hotch shrugged and held out his hand to Spencer and the little boy grabbed hold, trailing behind the BAU leader. Stopping to pick up the bag that JJ put out earlier, Hotch and Spencer made their way to the bathroom at the back of the jet.
Entering the small bathroom, Hotch set the bag on top of the closed toilet seat and turned towards Spencer. "Okay bud let's get you cleaned up and in actual clothes and then you can go out and get your snack." Hotch started to undress Spencer trying to distract the little boy from what he was doing so that Spencer wouldn't get too embarrassed. "So we've decided that we are all going to stay at Rossi's house until you're big again."
"Weally you guys would do that?" Spencer asked surprised.
"Of course, we are your family and we want to be with you until your grown again." Hotch replied, picking up another pull up and clothes to redress Spencer. When Reid saw what Hotch had in his hand, he began to shake his head "No pwease, pwease don't. I don't want to weaw those, I am an adult!". Hotch sighed "Spencer you may be an adult, but you are still in the body of a two and a half year old. You just have to wear these until we know for certain that you are potty trained." Spencer's shoulders slumped as he resigned himself to the fact that he was going to being wearing the pull ups for a while.
Grabbing the rest of the clothes, Hotch finished dressing Spencer in his outfit of light blue skinny jeans, a white t-shirt with black writing saying "Wild one" and a red and black plaid shirt. Knowing that the young agent liked unmatching socks, Hotch put one green sock on and one blue sock on. Tying up the black converse sneakers, Hotch stood up grabbing Spencer's hand and leading him out of the bathroom.
Looking up at the sound of the bathroom door opening Morgan whistled as he took in the sight of the toddler being led to the table by Hotch. "Looking good kid, you actually look like you got some swagger." Reid blushed looking down at his outfit. "I didn't pick it out, JJ did." "Either way you're looking good kid" Morgan exclaimed.
Spencer toddled his way over to the table, trying to climb into the empty chaired at the table. Seeing the boy's struggle to get into the chair, Rossi leaned over and lifted him into it. Nodding his thanks to Rossi, Spencer greedily grabbed the bag of cookies that JJ had set out earlier. Seeing that the toddler was satisfied with his snack, the team decided to plan what they were going to do that night and how they were going to move themselves into Rossi's mansion.
After the tenth time that Spencer kicked his heels against the seat, Morgan had enough and decided to do something about Spencer's excess energy. Walking over Morgan picked Spencer up and brought him to the center of the plane where there was the most floor space. Setting Spencer down, Morgan began attacking the toddler tickling him everywhere. Giggling Spencer was soon rolling around on the floor trying to get away from the tickle monster. The team smiled happy to see that Reid's second childhood was much happier than his first.
As the plane began its descent , Morgan carried Spencer over to a seat sitting him on his lap and strapping a seatbelt around the both of them. When the plane landed Morgan stood up with Spencer in his arms, grabbing both go bags, he got off of the private jet with the team behind him. Waiting on the tarmac, once they excited the plane, was a very excited Garcia.
Once she saw them, Garcia squealed rushing forward to hug the miniaturized agent. Reaching Morgan Garcia grabbed Spencer from his arms hugging the toddler to her chest. Kissing his cheeks as she fawned over the adorableness that was a two year old Reid.
Whining Reid tried to get out of the death grip that Garcia kept on him, turning his face away so she couldn't kiss him anymore. Seeing the toddler's discomfort Hotch reached over, rescuing Reid before he suffocated from all of Garcia's love. Speaking before Garcia could protest Spencer being taken away from her, Hotch said "We better get something to eat soon, so that we will have enough time tonight to get settled at Rossi's house."
Following the leader's suggestion the team made their way over to the two SUVS and drove to the closest restaurant.
Finishing up his meal, Rossi looked around the table eyes falling on the littlest member who was fisting his eyes trying to keep them open just a little bit longer. "Well I guess it's someone's bedtime, why don't I take him back with me to my house and you guys can pack up all that you will need for the next few weeks and meet us there." Rossi suggested.
The team seeing that Reid was fighting sleep readily agreed and dove back into their meals trying to finish up sooner. Once the meal was done and paid for the team split to their prospective vehicles, Rossi walking over to his truck and buckling Reid into the car seat that was switched into his vehicle so he could take Spencer home.
Pulling up in front of his mansion, Rossi stopped the vehicle and looked into the backseat smiling at Reid who was conked out with his chin resting on his chest. Stepping out Rossi gathered all of his and Reid's bags bringing them into the house, then coming back to carry Reid inside.
Walking into one of the many bedrooms, Rossi set Reid in the middle of the bed. Gathering all of the supplies that he would need, Dave began the process of changing Reid into his pajamas and getting him ready for bed without waking him. After Reid was changed into his Monster Inc. pajamas, Rossi tucked a blanket around him, placing pillows on either side of him so that he wouldn't accidently fall out of bed. Before turning out the light, Rossi palmed Spencer's cheek whispering "Sleep well my little bambino".
An hour later the rest of the team starting to show up with bags in tow. JJ was the last to show up with multiple boxes in the back of her car. As Morgan and Hotch helped her unload the car, Morgan teased "You know we only had to pack for a few weeks right, not completely move in."
JJ shoved Morgan's chest saying "Those aren't for me doofus, they some of Henry's old things that I thought Spencer could use. You know like more clothes, toys, a stroller, potty training stuff and a night light."
"Don't let Pretty Boy see the potty training stuff, he is already is embarrassed enough that he can't control his toddler body and have to have us help him." Morgan said while walking inside carrying two of the boxes.
"Well we just have to show him that there is nothing to be embarrassed about, and all he has to worry about is having the most fun a two year old can have. It'll be hard as Spencer is so fiercely independent, but if we show him that it is safe to act like a two year old, I'm sure he'll become more comfortable in his new body." Hotch chimed in bringing up the rear with the last two boxes.
Unloading the boxes and bags, the team started to yawn decided to call it a night. After retreating to their separate room, the common thought running through all of their minds was on their littlest agent and how they could make sure that his second childhood was happier than his first.
AN: Didn't expect to update this fast, but all the great reviews and follows motivated me to finish this second chapter. Enjoy and review if there are any experiences that you want to see Spencer have.