Thank you all so much for the responses!
Note: I haven't done a look through for typos yet, I'll get around to that later.
The BAU team arrived at the station and they entered the building. They greeted the police chief who showed them the room that was set up for them, along with a full pot of coffee and a recently restored pile of donuts.
"Thank you." Gideon said, shaking the man's hand.
"Where is Aaron?" Rossi asked.
"He's in there." They followed his finger toward a window where a blacktop teenager sat at a table, his hands rested beneath the piece of furniture and on his lap, his stoic eyes bore holes into it. From the other side, the profilers tried to study to boy, but much to their surprise, they found it be quite a task. He was compartmentalizing, they could tell that much, but that's all any of them could bring up from his stern expressioned face. He looked as still as statue, it made a couple of them curious as to what his voice even sounded like. On the table was an unopened can of root beer, a bag of chips, and a chocolate covered donut, There was even a few toys such as an action figure, a couple miniature cars, and even a pair of handcuffs with a key.
"Would it be possible for one of us to talk to him?" Emily asked.
The chief shook his head. "You're all welcome to give it a shot, but he won't talk to anyone. We gave him food, even some things to play with, he didn't touch any of them. Heck, he himself hasn't even budged since we brought him in."
"He hasn't said or done anything before then?" Morgan questioned.
"Nothing aside from walking to the room he's in now, he's just sat there." He explained. "Oh, there was one thing, he refused to talk to any woman, he acknowledged men but still wouldn't speak to them either. And as you can tell, a lot of my guys are kind of big and all, they might come off as a little scary."
"That's sort of odd." Dave thought aloud. "Considering the person responsible for the loss of his family was a man."
"Well, the orphanage was run by all female caregivers, if that means anything." The chief paused for a moment. "You don't think any of them did something to the boy, do you?"
"No, I wasn't implying that," Rossi corrected. "What I meant was that you can only imagine how a teenager felt living in an orphanage for as long as Aaron has, watching other kids come and go, while he's still there all that time. And especially after what he witnessed as a young child, all the sympathy and best regards he always recieved, you could say it burned him out on woman."
"I get your point, but Aaron was almost five when he was first brought there, surely at that age someone might've wanted him."
As the others were in conversations, Reid watched the completely still teen through the window, the boy either didn't notice he was being stared at or he didn't care. His very position hadn't changed even a centimeter, Spencer was sure that if he didn't move even just a little, the kid was sure to get a sore neck or something along those lines. He felt bad for Aaron, sure, he felt bad for every victim the team encountered on cases, but there was just something about that boy on the other side of the window that the young doctor couldn't quite explain. Shrugging, he began to look over a large map on the wall.
"Did Aaron ever show signs of PTSD?" JJ asked.
"Can't say for sure, you'd have to ask the people at the orphanage." The chief said.
"It seems likely for a child as young as Aaron." Morgan stated. "There's even some adults that would have nightmares if they saw what Aaron had."
"And what foster parents would want to deal with a traumatized child who's prone to waking up screaming in the middle of the night from dreams about his family being murdered?" Gideon asked no one in particular, he received a collection of brief nods.
"What if Reid talked with Aaron?" Prentiss suggested.
"Who, me?" Spencer inquired as he tore his attention away from the map on the wall. "I-I'm not sure about..." He stuttered nervously.
"She's right, Spencer." Jason said. "Since the boy won't talk to woman or larger men, you're our only chance of getting him to speak at all. By appearance, you're the least threatening out of any of us."
"I agree with Gideon." JJ nodded. "What do you say, Spence?"
"Well," He started but his voice was tiny. He cleared his throat before speaking again more clearer. "O-okay, I'll... I'll try."
"Good man." Gideon said approvingly while he quickly patted his protege on the back as he started to make his way to the door.
"And good luck." Rossi called before Spencer stopped at the door to take a deep breath before entering..The stern faced teen looked up for a few seconds before returning his gaze at the tabletop. In that moment, Reid waved quickly before shutting the door and cautiously edging his way over to the boy.
"Hi Aaron, my name is Dr. Spencer Reid, I work for the Behavioral Analysis Unit of the FBI." He introduced gently as he took a seat on the chair next to silent young man, who cast Reid another short glance. FBI? This guy? They can't be serious. It took a surprising amount of willpower not to show off even a slight smirk, but he still managed to hide his brief amusement, he then returned to staring at the table. Spencer attempted to study him again, he could tell that Aaron was thinking about something, what exactly, he wasn't yet certain about, so he decided to continue. "I was wondering if maybe you could answer a couple questions." The teen went back to being still, he didn't even bat an eyelash. Reid swallowed, he was already feeling his fear of this being a bad idea was being confirmed, he wasn't having very good luck on getting Aaron to talk at all, but the team was counting on him, maybe he just wasn't trying hard enough.
"I know this is hard for you, Aaron, I really do." Spencer started softly. "No child should ever have to endure what you have, I'm really sorry."
Oh, great, more sympathy. He almost rolled his eyes, almost. And I'm not a child anymore! God, why can't people just let this drop?
Reid stopped when he noticed the young man's behavior alter slightly, he felt that he may have pushed a button within him, he could finally be making progress, this is good. Outside, Gideon watched them through the window, since it wasn't an interrogation room, he had to strain in order to hear what was being said, but so far, it was only Spencer that has done any talking, but his profiling skills told him the young agent was getting closer and closer, he just needed to keep it up and say the right things.
"The man who did this to you, your family, he's, uh, well, you probably know by now that he's still out there and just last night he hurt another family, we- I was hoping that maybe there was something else you'd be willing to tell me, something that could help us catch this man so he can't hurt any more innocent people." He honestly wasn't expecting a reply, which was why he was startled when he actually got one.
"I already told them everything I know, they never caught him anyway." Aaron sighed, his gaze remained on the table.
"But, that's why we're here, the team I work with, we catch criminals by thinking like them and predicting their next move, and the more information we have, the better."
The boy scoffed and shook his head. "Well, if it will really help, there was one other thing I still remember."
Four year old Aaron stared wide eyed at his mutilated sister, there was so much blood everywhere, he may be young, but he was certain that he would soon be like her, as well as the rest of his family, his mother, his father, his brother Sean, all of them. The man with the mask had already shot them, but for some unknown reason, he decided to use his knife on their already dead bodies too, this confused Aaron as much as it frightened him, he was too scared to even cry. The man appeared into the bedroom and he slowly approached the boy, he stuffed his gun in his pocket but kept ahold of his knife, Aaron really wanted to back up and get away from him, but instead he swallowed thickly and sat there, refusing to move, he met eyes with his family's killer, they gave him the chills, and not the good kind.
Once he was in front of the child, he crouched down to his level, pointing his knife at him. "I'll be back for you." He said sinisterly. Once again, Aaron was puzzled as he was afraid, the man got up and ran out of the house, Aaron didn't dare move a muscle until he heard the screeching tires of a speeding car. Jumping to his feet, he didn't bother trying to check over any of his parents or siblings, he could tell they were already gone, so there was no use, he snatched the phone from his parent's bedroom and dialed 911.
Reid had been listening intently to the boy's story. He felt terrible for him, it's been ten years and no justice has ever been served. He looked closely at Aaron's expressions, he could tell the teen needed to cry, badly, but was refusing to allow himself to do so. Spencer bit his lip, wondering how he should approach him on the matter.
"Aaron... You can cry if you want, I think it'd be good to let it out." He spoke softly. The young man simply shook his head wordlessly. "I could close the window blinds and nobody would see you, I promise." Aaron said nothing, but he started to rock back in forth slightly, he was trying very hard to keep it all in, and he was struggling. Spencer got up from his chair and saw Gideon still watching, he gestured something inaudible to his mentor and closed the blinds. Jason cocked an eyebrow, not fully sure on what Reid was getting at, but he wasn't about to disturb him and the boy to find out. He sat back down on the chair, Aaron's movements had yet to change. Reid cleared his throat and spoke again. "I really want to help you, your family deserves justice, and if you'd be willing to let me, I can make that happen."
Aaron suddenly clenched his eyes shut as they threatened to get watery, no, he can't cry, he cannot cry. But his eyes were saying otherwise, he resorted to blinking them back, but one still managed to escape down his cheek. Nobody has ever said something so kind to him like that since his family had first died. Spencer's voice was so comforting, so nice, it finally was releasing the emotions he'd been keeping locked away for so long. "It's okay, Aaron, let it out, please, you'll feel a lot better."
Much to his surprise, as well as Spencer's, Aaron found himself falling right into the young profiler's chest, Reid wasn't used to comforting people like this, ever, but his instincts were kicking in, he wrapped one lanky arm around the teen's shoulders, then used his free hand to rub soothing circles on his back. Aaron never emitted a single weep, never choked out one sob, but the tears were still there just the same, soaking Reid's sweater vest, but he didn't care, the least he could do was give the boy reassurance in his time of need. "It's okay, you're okay." He whispered kindly.
Aaron wasn't sure if he was doing the right thing, Spencer told him it was okay to cry, though he always knew better to before, he found it hard believe he was actually crying in his arms. His pride was shouting for him to back off and keep away, but his heart was telling him to keep it up, and he did just that.
Spencer stared down at the silently crying teen, there was that feeling again, no matter how hard he tried, he just could not explain it whatsoever. He couldn't even think up a way to describe it so he could ask one of his teammates about it. He pushed it in the back of his mind for now, because as of the moment, he needed to focus on helping Aaron, he wasn't entirely sure how exactly, but he was ready to do whatever it takes to make his life better.
That was another thing that left the young genius stumped, he never felt this way around other victims before, not even that autistic boy from that one case.
To be continued...