Word Count: 1197

A/N: Hey everyone. I hope you all are having a non-stressful holiday season. I myself am not, so that makes me updating somewhat of a miracle. Anyways, thank you all again for your reviews; they are the fuel to the fire for my marsh mellows... or something.

Chapter 5: Punishment Denied

Hotch plopped the bags down on the bed closest to the door. There were two queen sized beds in this room. Once Rossi came in from 'circling the block' a few times, two of them could share a bed. Yes it was cheaper than separate rooms, but he only got one room because the closeness helped Reid calm down after a spanking.

Said agent didn't look like he needed to be calmed down at the moment. His arms were tightly crossed over his chest, a defiant look scrawled across his face. Hotch frowned, sitting on the other bed and motioning Reid over. Reid moved slowly, inching across stained carpet.

"You can stall all you like Spencer; but it's not going to do you any good." Hotch's commanding tone was enough to propel the young man forward, despite scepticism of his wrongdoing. "Sit." Hotch patted the spot on the bed next to him. Reid sat down further away then where his boss had directed him. It made the other man frown, but he let it slide.

"Tell me what happened." He was strict, but the seasoned agent always tried to get the other side of the story.

Before Reid could answer, Hotch's phone rang. He sighed, getting up to check it. In his job, a phone call could be significant.

When he saw the number, he turned and fixated Reid with one look. "I hope I can trust you to stay there." Spencer's jaw stiffened and he glared back fiercely, but he didn't move. Hotch stepped outside.

"What's up Gibbs?"

"Just thought you should know; it was McGee's idea to use Abby's lab. Whether that affects Reid's punishment; well, that's up to you."

"Thanks; I appreciate the heads up." They said their goodbyes and hung up. Hotch pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to hit the pressure point that would ease the oncoming headache; no such luck.

When he got back inside, Reid was in the same spot to his relief. He was sure what he would have to do if his youngest decided to pull a runner.

He sat back down. "I apologise for the interruption; so what happened?"

"We wanted to unwind after the case." Reid's voice showed his stress, vocal volume wobbling like a drunk. "I wanted to show McGee how to make rockets, so we decided to use Abby's lab because the materials were in close proximity to our launch site."

"Who decided to use Abby's lab?"

"It was a mutual decision." Even without his eyes skittering away, Hotch could tell from his voice that he was lying.

"You're sure about that?"

"Very." Reid didn't hesitate, but the deceit still showed.

"And it didn't occur to you that having chemicals and million dollar equipment next to exploding rockets would be irresponsible and dangerous?" Hotch said angrily.

"We actually trained professionals, and we were pretty sure that we could handle it." His voice became higher, snotty intellectual showing through. They did know what they were doing, why on earth were they being treated like little kids who needed mommy and daddy's permission to have some fun?

To his surprise, his boss didn't react. "And the fact that I've talked to you on numerous occasions about not doing this sort of thing at work didn't come up either?" This time, Spencer felt a twinge of guilt. A small part of him at the time had felt bad about going behind his boss's back and disobeying his orders. But a larger part felt that he was an adult, and could more than handle it.

"Well?" Hotch peered intently at him, face showing a miasma of emotion. Reid picked out anger, disappointment, and resignation.

"It did." Hotch raised an eyebrow for him to continue. "I just didn't care." Hotch's eyebrows shot way up.

"You didn't care?" he repeated in disbelief.

"You're always treating me like a little kid!" he burst out furiously. "We knew what we were doing!"

Suddenly he found himself over his boss's lap. He immediately began to struggle, and continued to even after the first smack. Hotch began to lecture him, knowing that between the constant smacks and hurt parent routine, Spencer would acquiesce.

"If you knew what you were doing, then why were you firing rockets in such an ill-conceived location? It was at work, in someone else's work space, where there were too many things that could have gone wrong! I can appreciate that you feel as if we treat you like a child; because we do! When you pull stunts like this, you do look like a child Spencer!" Spencer was still trying to get away, so he grabbed a hand and pinned it down on his back and smacked harder. He stopped squirming, but remained tense.

"Furthermore, if you'd done it elsewhere, I wouldn't have cared. In fact, I'm a big fan of rockets. If you'd just come and talked to me, I probably would have joined you." Hotch sounded so hurt that finally Reid broke down. Any resistance bleed away, and he melted into a sobbing heap on his surrogate father's lap. The realisation that he'd hurt his boss over a defiant attempt to prove a point made him miserable.

Hotch usually didn't keep spanking once his charge started crying. He ceased the assault and carefully let go of Spencer's wrist. He gently rubbed little circles with the lower half of his palm over Reid's back. Gradually, the crying eased and he could flip him over and draw him into a hug.

"Sorry." Reid mumbled, muffled by the shoulder he was pressing his face into.

"Me too." Hotch said softly. He waited several minutes until Reid had wiped his face dry before moving. "You should get ready for bed."

Reid stiffly got down, a shy smile twitching out before he grabbed his things and scurried off to the bathroom. He gave the shower one horrified glance and decided it could wait for tomorrow. He changed carefully, wincing when fabric scraped past sore flesh. He scrubbed his face clean of salt, teeth of plaque and deemed himself ready for bed.

When he came back out, Rossi had come back. He said a quiet hi before putting his things away and crawling gratefully under the covers of the bed nearest the window. Reid got comfy, settling down on his stomach.

He listened to the sounds of the other two men getting ready for bed. He waited until they had gotten into bed too before voicing his misery.

"Hotch?" his voice was timid and small. Hotch instantly came over and sat on the bed, looking at him in concern. "We can still fire rockets now, right?"

Hotch smiled in relief. "Of course Reid. But not-"

"-in Abby's lab." Reid finished quickly. "I know."

"I should hope so." Rossi chuckled quietly. Reid flushed red, glad that the light was dim.

"Good night." Hotch said, smoothing Spencer's hair back before returning to the other bed.

"'Night." Reid laid his head on the pillow, feeling better knowing that he hadn't permanently damaged his relationship with his boss. He was already imagining the fun they could have together.

With those happy thoughts, he drifted into sleep.

~TBC

A/N: Ugh. For some reason, I couldn't stop writing Hotch's thoughts too, so I hope the third person omniscient didn't screw with anyone.

The epilogue will be coming soon; stay tuned!