Chapter 7: Hide n' Seek
A/N: Sorry for the huge delay in updates. I know it's been a few months but I promise I haven't forgotten about this story. This chapter is shorter than the others I usually post but I wanted to get something out there. I am making it my goal to have this story done by Christmas time as I know how frustrating unfinished stories can be. Enjoy the chapter and thanks for staying with it!
Hotch sighed as he looked down at his young charge laying on his chest. When Spencer got home from the hospital he didn't want to let go of Hotch, so giving in Hotch laid down with Spencer trying to get him to calm down so he would go to sleep. He may of gotten Spencer to sleep with a few lullabies and back rubs, but the young boy was woken up that night more times than Hotch could count being terrorized by nightmares. It took a long time for Hotch to get Spencer to wake up from the dreams and when he did Spencer was so frightened that even Hotch's soothing words wouldn't calm him down.
Moving carefully out from under Spencer, Hotch slipped out of the bed making sure the toddler didn't awake. He wanted Spencer to get more sleep after his restless night so he left him in bed as he made his way towards the kitchen. Walking into the kitchen he was greeted by the worried faces of the team. "How is he Hotch? Is he doing any better than last night?" Rossi asked the question that was on the minds of everyone on the team.
"We maybe got a couple hours of sleep the entire night, nightmares kept waking him up."Hotch updated the team, scrubbing a hand across his face. "I left him the room right now to see if he will get more sleep, I will go back in there in a minute, but I wanted to discuss how we are going to handle this. Spencer is still very traumatized by the whole kidnapping and he has regressed. He refuses to talk and he is very clingy not wanting to do anything by himself. I think for the next few days we need to focus on getting him better. We need to rally around him and show him that his family is there for him. I am going to speak to Strauss and not take no for answer about taking us off of rotation for the next few days. Now I am open to suggestions on how to help Spencer get his confidence back and trust in us again." Hotch paused taking a deep breath and contemplated all that was ahead of the team after this setback.
"Of course we will do anything to get my little sugar muffin back, but it might take a while the little man is obviously frightened of everyone and everything after that monster took him. I think taking him out in public right now will just set him back in his progress." Garcia pointed out, tears streaming down her face as she thought of how scared Spencer was.
"Garcia is right, we need to keep it to just us right now so Spencer doesn't get too frightened. Any suggestions of what we all can do together without being in public per say?" Hotch asked looking around at the team of profilers.
"Well I have an old cabin that I used to use when I needed the peace and quiet to write my books. It is tucked away up in the mountains and pretty far away from any type of civilisation. We can go up there and make it like a family camping trip. There is a river for swimming and fishing and some trails for hiking, nature sort of things to do." Rossi offered knowing that the peacefulness of the cabin was just what Spencer needed right now. There was nothing that being out in nature and getting in touch with the world again couldn't fix.
"That's a good idea, but I don't know if I'll be able to get much more than a few days off for all of us with Strauss. We can go up to the cabin for a couple of days, but we need to find other ways to get Spencer's confidence back. " Hotch said his brow furrowing in worry.
"Hotch let's take this one day at a time, first we will go to Rossi's cabin and be with Spencer. If we need to look further into ideas to help Spencer than we will worry about that at the time. Being stressed out and worried is not what is going to help Spencer to start believing in us again." JJ spoke up, cutting into Hotch's worry.
"I think that's a good idea, now why don't we all go and get packed up for a few days and by that time Spencer should be waking up and Hotch would have gotten our time off approved by Strauss. Also Derek should be arriving in about an hour from the airport, so we need to get moving if we are going to make it to Rossi's cabin today." Garcia announced clapping her hands to get everyone moving.
Spencer woke up with a jolt, his eyes widened with fear looking around to make sure that he wasn't still in the crib that felt like a cage. After reassuring himself that he was in Rossi's house Spencer flopped back onto with the bed with a sigh. Logically he knew that the woman that kidnapped him was mentally unstable and was now safely put away in the state mental hospital under lock and key. However he could not seem to stop his mind from being afraid of everyone and everything, thinking that anyone could possibly kidnap him and cage him again. His mind may be able to rationalize his ordeal however his emotions and reactions were more in line with those of a toddler. Therefore he trembled at any small noise and wanted to be within reach of one of his team members at all times. Thinking of this, Spencer looked around wondering where Hotch had gotten to as he had been with him the night before.
Realizing he was all alone in the room Spencer jumped up and heart pounding ran out of the room in search of a familiar face. Rounding a corner he spotted the team members sitting around the dining room table, running full force Spencer slammed into the first set of legs he could find.
Emily looked down as she felt a pain in her legs, seeing that it was Spencer that had run into her legs Prentiss leaned down and ran a hand up and down the trembling boy's back. "What's wrong Spencer, what happened?"
"I wote up and no one was there. I fought I was all alone again." Spencer sobbed hugging Emily's knees closer.
"Oh buddy, we would never leave you Hotch just left you alone so you could get more sleep." Emily replied picking Spencer up and cuddling him into her side. Rocking him from side to side and humming a nonsensical lullaby Emily managed to calm Spencer down enough that the trembling was just a minimal shake. Seeing that Emily had Spencer handled the rest of the team parted from the table going in separate directions to get what they needed for a couple days away at Rossi's cabin.
Prentiss looked down at the quiet boy in her arms, his eyes looked wearily up at her his thumb migrating towards his mouth. "How does some breakfast sound huh?" Emily asked trying to keep her voice light so Spencer would not get anymore scared.
Spencer frowned and shook his head, he had no appetite to speak of and he wasn't sure that he would be able to keep down any food if he ate.
Prentiss sighed getting more worried about the toddler's psychological wellbeing. " Well we have to get something into your tummy, so if you don't think you can handle food how does a smoothie sound?"
Spencer just shrugged refusing to take his thumb out of his mouth and give an answer. Emily just sighed guessing that was the most of a response that she was going to get out of the little boy. Standing up and moving to place Spencer down in the chair Emily was met with resistance in the form of two little clenched fists in her shirt. Giving in, Emily kept hold of Spencer making the smoothie with one less hand.
Twenty minutes later the rest of the team gathered in the kitchen, packing done for the weekend and ready to head out as soon as Spencer was done. Noticing that Spencer had not left the comfort of Emily's arms and he was sipping a smoothie through a straw, Hotch gathered that Spencer was more traumatized than any of them had thought. Walking over and picking up Spencer from Emily's lap, Hotch turned toward Rossi. "I will just quickly get Spencer dressed and then we can head out, so if you can pack up the SUV than we can be on our way sooner. "
Hotch walked out the kitchen and into the bedroom placing Spencer down on the bed, he turned towards the dresser deciding what he should dress Spencer in for the day. Hearing a whimper Hotch turned back around and saw that Spencer had crocodile tears running down his face. Rushing over to the edge of the bed Hotch wiped the tears off of Spencer's face and asked "What is it buddy, what made you so upset?"
"I don't like being left alone, it tares me." Spencer answered looking down at his hands that were placed in his lap.
"Buddy I was still in the room, I wasn't leaving you . Why are you so afraid of being left alone?" Hotch questioned.
"I don't know why I'm so tared. I teep thinking of being left all alone in the crib and I don't want to feel like that again." Spencer sobbed, reaching up a hand to wipe the tears of his face.
"Spencer I need you to look at me, what I'm about to say is important." Hotch waited until the little boy turned his face up to his. "It's okay to feel scared for a little while and we all understand how traumatizing it was to be taken by that lady. We are all here for you, so don't feel bad about needing us close by. It may feel like you are always going to be scared, but I promise that eventually the scared feeling will go away and you'll be back to your normal two year old self. Do you understand?"
Spencer nodded wiping the last of the tears from his face and taking a deep shuddering breath to try and regain control of his emotions.
Seeing that Spencer had calmed down somewhat, Hotch turned back to the task at hand and began looking for some clothes to change Spencer into for the day. Knowing that it was going to get warmer later on that day, Hotch opted for a pair of plaid shorts and a t-shirt with a sweatshirt thrown on top to ward off the morning chill.
Stepping out into the hallway with a fully dressed Spencer in his arms, Hotch spotted the dark-skinned agent walking through the door. Nudging the toddler in his arms he whispered, "Hey buddy, look who just arrived."
Spencer pulled his head from Hotch's shoulder and looked in the direction that the leader was pointing. His face lit up as he realized that it was Morgan that was walking towards them. Squirming in Hotch's arms to be let down, once his feet hit the wood floor he took off sprinting towards the muscular agent.
Morgan turned around at the sound of pattering feet behind him just in time to catch the toddler before he slammed into his groin. Swinging Spencer up into his arms, Derek hugged Spencer hard needing the reassurance of the boy in his arms to know that Reid was indeed alright and in one piece. It killed him knowing that he was halfway across the country when Spencer needed him the most, so seeing the little boy so happy to see him now lightened his guilty conscience.
"I missed you Dewek." Came a small voice from where Spencer had buried his head into Derek's shoulder.
"I missed you too little man, I'm so sorry that I wasn't here for you." Derek choked out, his voice laced with unshed tears. He tightened his grip on the small boy in his arms trying to convey how truly sorry he was that he wasn't there when Spencer was kidnapped.
"It wasn't your fault Dewek, it was Winda's and you touldn't have stopped her evwen if you were here." Spencer reassured Derek, knowing that the strong agent would feel that it was his fault that Spencer was kidnapped while he was away.
Seeing that the two agents were having a personal moment, Hotch decided to give them a little space and see if everything was ready to go.
After Derek was reunited with his little man everyone piled into two SUVs and begin the two hour journey to Rossi's cabin. The trip was made quick with tales of Rossi's wild youth and Derek singing along to the top 40 radio station.
Stepping out of the vehicle Rossi breathed deep, taking in the fresh air and already feeling better being in nature and away from the bustling city. He knew without a doubt that these few days away at the cabin would do Spencer a world of good. Turning back towards the vehicle he smirked at the dumbfounded expressions on his teammates faces.
Prentiss whistled as she took in the estate that was tucked into the trees, because Rossi's "cabin" could only be described as an estate based on its sheer size. "There must be something seriously wrong with your vision Rossi, if you describe this as a cabin."
Rossi chuckled at Prentiss's remark "Well I want to retire here someday and I wanted all the comforts of home that I'm used to. Now if you all can pick up your jaws from the floor we need to start getting unpacked so we can start having some fun."
Being goaded into action form Rossi's comment the rest of the team jumped into action to grab their bags so they could start exploring what Rossi's cabin had to offer.
After putting everything away in their proper place the team decided to go outside and see what there was to occupy their time. They weren't disappointed, Rossi not only had a massive cabin but the outside was something to make even the most unimpressed jealous. Rossi's cabin backed onto a lake, with his own private dock that was littered with Seadoos, a motorboat, kayaks, canoes and even a tall slide that emptied straight into the lake. Further out on the lake, there was a water trampoline that guests could use to do back flips into the water. And tucked away in a shed at the edge of the property were a couple of atvs and a gator tractor.
After looking around, Spencer decided that he would try out the water slide first as the afternoon was already starting to get very hot. Quickly going to change into their bathing suits the team made their way out to the dock to enjoy the afternoon sun and play in the water.
Later that afternoon Rossi was lounging on the dock watching as everyone was having fun in the water. The girls were sunbathing on the dock while Hotch was standing at the bottom of the waterslide waiting to catch Spencer who was seated at the top of the slide. Derek was a little farther out on the trampoline trying to do as many flips as he could before hitting the water. Rossi smiled to himself, knowing that this trip to the cottage was just the right thing to help Spencer get over the kidnapping. He even heard Spencer laugh a few times in glee that afternoon as he was splashing around in the water. He knew that there would be times when Spencer would still be frightened but he hoped that this weekend would bring more laughs then tears.