A/N: Hey everybody *waves* Here comes a new chapter and I hope you will like it. *smiles hopefully* and at least it didn't take me a whole year to update *sheepish smile*

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Comments would be most appreciated *hopeful look*

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Thank you, of course, to Lenika08, ObsessiveCompulsiveReader, MikeyL0Ver, Elura The Strange, finlaure, MissShawnaAlice, Shady79MM, silverwrym, criminalminds94, Quiet Ryter, Guest1, RogueStorm84, marcallie, Stiffinme, omgnotagain, Joyce S(Guest2), sweetteatwo, OhWell1960, Solo16, A Person, IntoTheWilds, Guest3, fireball1012, aspiegiraffe, , Samie TW-1D-Merlin-RotG, alina, Post U Later, allisondasher, SongsAndShadows84, 1sunfun, DisasterousMethods, BlackAndWitheRoseWolf, ILoveAnime89 and Pinkuro for all your kind comments *hugs you all* Your kind words mean a lot to me *smiles*

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Warnings: non-con (mention of rape, but nothing explicit)

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Disclaimer: None of the Criminal Minds characters belong to me. I just borrowed them for this little story. This story isn't meant to offend anybody in any way... this is not for money either...

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Chapter 6


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"Hotch, three days ago I was attacked... and... raped..."

The words hung in the room and Hotch had to take a deep breath, even though, if he was honest with himself for a moment, he had already suspected that he was about to hear something like that. But to really have his suspicions confirmed was an altogether different matter, because now it wasn't just speculation anymore. He watched the youngest member of his team, sadness washing through him.

Reid looked so small and fragile in the hospital bed and Hotch felt his heart go out to the young genius and he had to fight his own guilt that was gnawing at him that he hadn't realized sooner what had happened to Reid. He was a profiler after all and no matter that they had the rule not to profile each other, that was something Hotch, as team leader should have seen. Aaron tried to distance himself from the guilt by getting back into profiler mode. So he took out a small notepad to take notes if necessary.

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"What happened?" he questioned, because he knew that words of sympathy and pity wouldn't make things better right now and he knew how much Reid hated to be pitied. So this, trying to find whoever had done this to Spencer, was the easiest thing to do, because it also stopped Hotch from punching something, because he had let that happen to one of his team. Spencer, meanwhile, took a deep breath and stared at the sheet draped over his legs, so that he didn't have to look at his both. Only then did he finally start talking.

"It was, as I said, three days ago on our day off. I needed to get my mind off of certain things, so I went to a bar and drank a little too much to get my brain to shut up for once..."

Hotch raised an eyebrow at that. The way Reid kept things vague meant, that he didn't want to give Hotch any details about why he had got himself drunk. But it had to be something pretty big, because Reid almost never drank. Aaron, however, decided to keep quiet and ask that question later, so that Reid could continue to talk and proceed to tell him what had happened.

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"I was so drunk that the barkeeper decided that I had enough and should take a taxi home," Reid continued, self-loathing, that he had lost control this much, evident in his voice and it only got worse with every part of the story he told.

"And even though I'm supposed to be a genius, I was stupid and allowed myself to trust the man that the barkeeper had asked to put me into a cab, no matter that he was a complete stranger. Details after that are a little fuzzy to be honest. The next thing I really know is, that I'm in a dark alley or somewhere comparable, I was blindfolded and it was dark anyway... and then..."

Reid almost clinically retold what had happened then, every word his rapist had said, every touch and every little gesture and Hotch felt his stomach roll, for once cursing Reid's brilliant memory, even though he knew that it probably wasn't only that. Traumatic experiences tended to make an impression on anybody. But the team leader kept quiet until he was sure that Reid wanted him to say something.

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"The worst part was, that he kept calling me "pretty boy" and that he loved my long hair... that he loved touching and playing with it," Reid explained and then he finally stopped, giving Hotch a few minutes to regain his composure. And some things also suddenly made horrible sense to Aaron.

"That's why you cut your hair and why you snapped when Morgan called you "pretty boy"."

It wasn't a question, merely a statement of a fact, but Reid still nodded in confirmation. After that the two sat in silence for a moment and Spencer nervously played with the sheets, which told Hotch that there was something else the younger man needed to tell him. So he waited patiently until Spencer was ready to continue. And Reid's voice was soft when he continued: "Hotch, the man's MO, it matches the one of our UnSub."

Even though Aaron should be surprised, he really wasn't and so he nodded slowly.

"I figured as much," he admitted, because he had wondered why Reid had all of sudden been willing to tell him about the rape, when he hadn't seemed too eager a few hours ago and he had come to the conclusion that it had something to do with their current case. He was a little startled, when Reid had something else to ad.

"Well, it matches, except the fact that I'm not dead and that he called me "the best" and his "first prize". I'm not really sure what exactly he meant by that, because my brain seems to be a little slow when it comes to what has happened."

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Hotch made a mental note, that Reid, after the initial statement, hadn't used the word "rape" once, no matter in what context, so he probably was still trying to not associate that crime with himself. Aaron rubbed his temple, contemplating what to say next. He finally put a hand on Reid's shoulder, of course seeing the flinch of the younger man at the unexpected touch.

"It means you're a victim now and a witness and we'll put you under protection." Reid flinched again when Aaron used the word "victim", further proof to Hotch that Spencer was, at least partially, still in denial about what had happened to him. And Hotch was pretty sure, that the younger man wouldn't like what he had to say next.

"Reid, you know that I have to tell the rest of the team. They need the information you've just provided me with to complete our profile."

Reid nodded meekly.

"As long as I don't have to face them when you do," he requested, hands clenching into the sheets, a sure sign that he wasn't happy with it, but knew it was necessary. Hotch really couldn't blame the younger man for not wanting to face Morgan, JJ and the others when they finally learned the truth and he had already formed a plan, one that would also give Reid a little more time to prepare himself for their reactions when they found out.

"Don't worry, Reid. I'll take care of things. You just concentrate on getting better," he said, trying to soften his voice to show Spencer that he had Aaron's support.

"Thank you," was all Spencer said to that, before lowering his eyes again.

"Can I be alone for a while now, please? And Dr. Lester wants to talk to me about something else anyway," he questioned softly. Hotch granted his wish, squeezing Reid's shoulder once more, before leaving the room, putting his plan into action, also after collecting all the evidence Dr. Lester had put together for him.

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"We have a new victim."

Half an hour later Hotch was addressing the team minus Reid of course. They were gathered at the police station. It had taken Hotch a while to persuade them to leave the hospital and to come back to the station and in the end, after getting into a heated argument with Morgan, he had simply ordered them, of course only after making sure that there were two uniformed police officers in front of Reid's room to protect the younger man when none of the team was present.

So, now they were gathered in their makeshift office, Hotch was about to tell them what he had learned from Reid.

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After his statement, the team had looked at him a little wide-eyed and surprised.

"When did we get a new victim?" JJ asked, because the calls for that case normally went through her, but she hadn't taken any calls at the hospital.

Hotch, however, simply ignored that question and looked at the piece of paper, where he'd written down Reid's statement.

"Our victim is 28 years old. He left the bar "Velvet" on Saturday night shortly after midnight. The barkeeper had ordered him a taxi. The victim doesn't remember much after that, only that he was left in the alley where he was attacked and raped."

Here Hotch had to stop for a moment to get Reid's face when he had told him about the attack, out of his head.

"Our UnSub helped his victim get dressed and called him "the best", "pretty boy" and "his first prize". Then the UnSub simply left the victim alone."

"But that's not our UnSub's usual MO," Morgan pointed out, a feeling of dread pooling in his stomach for some reason, especially when then asked: "So why do you think, that it's our UnSub?"

Hotch took another deep breath and then he took the picture of Reid and the set of pictures of his injuries and bruises that had been taken by the hospital out of the file.

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He handed the ones showing the bruises to the team. They all quickly started scanning the through them, all wondering why the pale skin and the long, lean limbs looked so familiar. But when they finally looked up to the board where the victims were listed, a photograph underneath their name, Hotch was just pinning a picture underneath the yellow post-it with "victim #8" on it.

And suddenly Dr. Spencer Reid was looking at them with sad eyes.

For a moment there was absolute silence in the room, before it was as suddenly as it had fallen, was broken, when Morgan suddenly sprang up from his chair, making it clatter noisily to the ground behind him. Derek whirled around, throwing the fallen chair across the room.

"Morgan," JJ exclaimed a little startled, especially when Derek started muttering obscenities and curses under his breath, that none of them really understood, but it was probably for the best. The whole team watched in silence, letting Morgan vent the frustration they all felt, because it helped them overcome the shock after having learned what had happened to Reid.

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"Hotch, I'm going to the hospital right now," Morgan informed in a voice that left no argument, after he had calmed a little, even though his hands were still clenched into fists. And to be honest, Aaron really had no objections. He now wanted one of the team with Reid at all times anyway, because something was definitely going on here. There was almost always a reason when an UnSub changed parts of his MO. And Hotch knew that it was because of Reid that their UnSub had done things differently, even though he hadn't figured out why or what that meant for Reid, but he was determined to get there.

And Morgan could probably best relate to Spencer, given his own history. And Hotch figured that Derek also wanted to apologize for triggering Spencer's memories of the rape by calling him "pretty boy", no matter that it had been totally unintentional.

So Hotch simply nodded, before cautioning: "But Morgan, don't pressure him. If he doesn't want to talk to you, he doesn't have to. Just leave him be and support him until he's ready."

Morgan shot him a glare at those words, because they were completely unnecessary in Derek's opinion. But then he nodded, before he left without another word.

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Hotch watched him go, before he turned to the rest of his team again, observing them quietly.

JJ had a hard time holding back her tears, Emily had a supporting hand on her arm, while her other hand was clenched into a tight fist. Rossi had his lips pressed together and Hotch could easily see the anger shining in the other man's eyes. Even Garcia, who had listened in over the laptop, was pale and unusually subdued, tears streaming down her face. Aaron sighed, rubbing his temple again, before addressing the whole team: "I know that it's hard, but we need to treat Reid like any other victim, so that we can solve that case and put the man, that did that to Reid and the others behind bars."

Sure, Hotch knew, that they were all professionals, but once in a while a case got too personal and with Reid being a victim, it was damn personal, so he felt the need to remind them, that they had to keep their emotions in check, no matter that it would be hard for all of them, him included. But Hotch felt proud of his team, that his words had the desired effect and they pulled themselves together to be profilers again. And if JJ's voice wavered slightly and Garcia still had tears in her eyes when they talked, Hotch could ignore it, since they were making progress, especially with the name Reid had given Hotch.

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to be continued...

Well, in the next chapter there will be a confrontation between Reid and Morgan and that probably won't end pretty... and there will be more reaction of the rest of the team, I promise *smiles sheepishly*

I hope you liked this chapter. And for Reid's age, since this is set after The Internet is forever in season 5 and he turns 30 in True Genius in Season 7, I figured that he'd be around 28 in season 5, so that's the age I'm going with *smiles*