Hey everyone! It's the next chapter, please enjoy! It's shorter than my last one, but I hope its ok. I don't own Criminal Minds; unfortunately it's just wishful thinking.

Reviews are welcome as always! :)

Chapter 4 – Unwilling saviour

5th September 2013

Disorientated he barely managed to register that there were three minds surrounding him, surprising to him they all had shields as high as Gideon and Professor Strauss's but he distinctly remembered her saying staff had the high levelled one's and students the basic/ low level ones.

"What… what d-do you want?"

The leader of the trio took a menacing step toward the terrified boy, who was trying but couldn't back any further into the wall.

"Aw, aren't you a pretty. Little. Thing.". The snide in the voice was unmistakeable and the tone made Spencer feel like he was back to that day when the football team had… "Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you. I just want to make sure as fresh meat you know your place.".

Squirming a little to the left, Spencer was trying to slip out –

"ARGH!"

A hand prevented him from slumping to the ground, and pulled him back upright and kept him there or else he believed jelly legs would let him collapse on the floor.

"Now that was rude wasn't it, here we are trying to have a nice chat with you and instead you're trying to run off? That's a bit unfair isn't it? Please don't do it again, or else…". Spencer's eyes fixed onto the bully's fingertips, watching as little jolts of light electricity danced out and across to the other fingers.

"Let's try again… you know what'll happen otherwise. Why don't we start with a nice, easy question? What. Do. You. Do?" Another flash was added for effect and each time the stubble faced boy inched his index finger closer to Spencer's chest. Spencer gulped, feeling his Adam's apple practically jump into his mouth and drop into his stomach.

"Well, I mean, I'm smart. Very smart, inhumanly so, like a genius." He babbled the words out in such a flurry he wasn't sure if they had caught what he's said but the bemused expressions on all their faces and the glances between the two henchmen and the shared glance in their eyes, told him they had and the unreassuring looks gave him the impression they weren't done. Breaking the glance, the boy on the left coughed in the that way that just spelled 'liar'; the leader looked back, and both raised their eyebrows in a cocky way, before he turned back to Spencer with a smug menacing smirk.

"Was he lying to us, Raphael?" His eyes boring into Spencer, definitely trying to scrutinise him… and it was working.

"No Tobias, he was telling the truth but…err… I don't think the kid was telling the whole story.". The predatory glaze in his grey eyes disturbed Spencer to his core, his focus was pulled from the redhead though by the brunette in front of him edging his fingers back towards Spencer's chest, causing his mouth to go desert dry.

"Well, in that case I might just have to –"

"HANKEL! What are you doing?". The voice sounded stern and almost emotionless however with the three boys in the way, Spencer couldn't see who his saviour was.

"Hotchner, not that it's any of your business but we were just meeting the newbie… but I think we've made ourselves known. Come on Raphael, Charles – Charles, bro, quit looking at him. See ya later junior!".

As Hankel and his henchmen trudged away, Spencer felt his knees go weak again and a hand shot out keeping him from falling. He looked up at his saviour for the first time. The young man didn't look happy to have helped him, if anything he looked serious and slightly annoyed, his lips in a expressionless lien and his dark brown unyielding eyes towered above Spencer.

"You should be careful." The way he said that made Spencer feel as though he had an IQ of 18.7 not 187, his face flushed in embarrassment. "Gideon said you were smart but that situation didn't exactly seem it. Aaron Hotchner, I have been assigned by Prof – Gideon, as your mentor because I owe him a favour. Honestly at the moment I have better things to do but you sound like you are on Hankel's hit list. You are lucky I was nearby the conference room or else I might have heard you with heading to the outside door ."

"You! You're the one with the radar and sonar hearing!". Spencer had been confused at first , the conference room was at least about twenty-five meters away and none of the scuffle was shouted infact it was only spoken normally and at loud whispers; until he remembered what Gideon had said the night before about the mutant two doors down, the one who was… Elle's boyfriend.

Hotchner's eyebrows cocked suspiciously. "And you know – Gideon."

It was more of a statement than question but Spencer nodded earnestly all the same, his saviour almost, almost rolled his eyes but didn't.

"Wonderful." The sarcasm caught Spencer off guard, he never expected the stern elder to be one to use sarcasm but then again he hardly knew the person before him. "He said you might need me watching your back, that – wonderfully for me – seems true so far, joy. He also said that you were special and that 'specialness' would somehow benefit me in some way. I don't see how but I'm I clear that I do not; I repeat I do not need any help. Understand?"

"Yes…Hotch?". He used Hotch after remembering how his friends had referred to their leader before.

"Hotch…is fine. Just remember don't try any power bullshit on me, and if I hear you are going to, I will hand you back over to Hankel and his crew of bible buddies. ". Spencer trembled and nodded, the expression on his… mentor's face left no room for argument.

'Gideon! Come on! My mentor is another guy that hates me and to top it off he's the leader of my friends. What is it? Do all alpha males hate me for some unknown reason!?'

Hotch had been observing the boy, who was clearly talking to himself and deciding to bring him out of it, he commented that he thought he could hear them – but the kid, who Gideon had called something Reid, maybe Spencer, cut in stating they were in the living room and hastily explaining that's where they had been before, when Anderson had come and collected him.

"Tuh, typical Anderson.".

Hotch began walking down the corridor to his friends, unsure what to do Spencer shifted from one foot to the other, unsure whether to follow Hotch, find Gideon – he was just…

"Aren't you coming?".

An accidental smile spread on his face at having at least some sort of acceptance off his mentor, a reaction which caused, just for a second, a quirk in the other's mouth of hidden amusement at the younger boy.

They walked in a comfortable silence down the corridor. Hotch was tuned into the conservation his friends were having, it was quit being the distance they were from them but he could still hear their conversation about the new addition to the team and what they thought of him. Spencer meanwhile was listening to the soothing hum of Hotch's mental shield and was focused on blocking out the other unwanted thoughts around them.

"Oh and Reid, if you ever betray me or the team for any reason, I will hear you no matter where you hide and I when I find you I will personally kill you.". Spencer stopped but Hotch kept on walking, the fact there was no hint of jest in his voice made it clear that was he had said was no joke. This guy wasn't as scary as Morgan, oh no, he was way scarier.

"Is that what you're going to do to Randall Garner?".

That made Hotch stop and Spencer ducked his head submissively, shuffling past his mentor; who was glaring down at Spencer, not wanting to look him in the eye.

There you have it guys, Spencer meeting Hotch, what do you think?

Reviews please!