My deepest apologies for this long overdue update.

Something else I should probably point out, this story is not beta'd.

A sleepy Spencer and a slightly drowsy Aaron trudged into the young agent's apartment. Reid gave the boy the decision on whether he wanted to sleep on the couch, or his bed. He planned to take whichever one Aaron didn't choose. The teen wasn't certain, he had slept on a couch enough times during the week, so a bed sounded nice, but he didn't want to impose, as this was Dr. Reid's home after all, but he was a guest, and the agent assured him that he didn't mind taking the sofa. Aaron finally decided to have the bed, feeling that Spencer would likely insist anyway. He was lead to Reid's bedroom, Spencer pointed out a spot where the younger man could place his belongings. He then showed him the bathroom, and allowed the boy some privacy while he returned to the bedroom to change into PJs.

After pulling on his pajama pants and buttoning his top, he exited his room with an arm full of bedding along with his nightlight so Aaron could settle down once he finished in the bathroom. Spencer began to make a bed of his own on his couch. Aaron appeared out of the bathroom, teeth brushed and his business done. He briefly saw Reid throwing some blankets down onto his sofa before he entered the young profiler's bedroom to change out of his day clothes, or at least his jeans. He put on a pair of flannel pants, the FBI t-shirt the BAU team got for him remained unremoved. Afterward, he proceeded to tell his caregiver goodnight.

"Are you hungry at all, Aaron?" Spencer asked as he sat a pillow down on the couch.

"A little bit." The fourteen year old replied. "But I just brushed my teeth."

"Your teeth should be fine just this once." Reid responded with an assuring smile.

"Okay." Aaron shrugged.

The two went into the kitchen when Spencer realized he probably didn't have much food. Almost anything in the fridge was most likely spoiled, though he had plenty of dry snacks in the cupboard, and the freezer held only an ice cube tray. It would seem that he wasn't quite as prepared as he thought he was to have a second occupant in his home. Aaron silently browsed the cupboard again and pulled out a carton. "These will do." Without another word, he popped a couple goldfish crackers in his mouth and vacated the kitchen. Awkwardly, Reid closed the pantry and followed his charge back to the living room. "Could I have a couple of those?" He asked.

"Oh, sure." Aaron kindly dumped a fair amount of crackers into Reid's cupped hands and they ate their 'meal' in silence. Certainly not the best way to represent one's home for the first time, but the teenager didn't seem to mind, not that it was easy to tell with his stoic features. Meanwhile, Reid made a mental note to go grocery shopping tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow, he wondered if he would need to go into work, and if so, who would Aaron stay with? He wasn't about ready to let him be by himself just yet. Maybe he could stay with Garcia in her office if it wouldn't bother him too much. And as long as another case didn't come up, he would still be within a close proximity with Spencer and the rest of the team, just a few meters away. After all, Penelope was the only one on the team who hasn't met him yet. This would be openly discussed in the morning however, as he was awfully tired now with his stomach full of cheese crackers. By the time they had finished eating, the box was empty and it was promptly thrown in the trash.

"It's late." Spence declared. "We should both go to sleep." With that, he yawned.

"Right." Aaron agreed. He got off the couch and stretched. "Goodnight, Dr. Reid." He said as he approached the bedroom doorway.

"Sleep well, son." Spencer softly replied subconsciously. Upon realizing what just came out of his mouth, his eyes widened and he froze. He cast a glance toward Aaron, the teen hadn't stopped in his tracks, nor had he turned to face the young genius. Either he hadn't heard him, or he was simply too tired to care. Either way, Reid was deeply embarrassed, his red cheeks practically heating the entire room.

Because Aaron had his back turned, the ghost of a smile on his face would remain a secret.

Reid sat there, he couldn't believe what he just said! Regardless if he was actually heard or not, it was almost surreal. Young, awkward Spencer Reid calling a a boy that wasn't his... Gee, maybe he's been hanging around Gideon a little too much. It doesn't matter now, his spoken words were out in the open. With a defeated sigh, he grabbed his nightlight, plugged it in, flipped it on, turned off the lamp, then slip under his covers, resting his head on the pillow. Many thoughts raced around his head, he wasn't sure if he would even get any more sleep tonight.

Spencer's eyes opened, no light came from the windows, indicating that it was sometime during the middle of the night. Not fully certain on why he woke up for no apparent reason, he slowly got out of bed. He shivered slightly, the air was unusually chilly. He stopped for a moment so he could apply the last button on his pajama top, but a sound coming from the bedroom immediately drew his attention. Ignoring the cold temperature and his still exposed chest, he made a beeline for the doorway. Not wanting to disturb Aaron, he opened the door slowly, fully unprepared for he was about to see.

A dark figure was standing over a much smaller figure on his bed. The atmosphere sent chills down Reid's spine. Without thinking, he flipped on the light switch. He nearly fainted at what he saw.

Aaron, the boy whom he was responsible for, lay motionless on the bed, his body covered with blood, distinctive wounds all over his torso. And there was a man who he hoped he would never see again without bars separating them, the man who had haunted Aaron almost all of his life. The man who an attempt on his twice before.

"Hello, Dr Reid." Foyet said in a sinister tone, his face hidden from the hood concealing it in it's shadow. The young doctor was at a loss for words. "It looks like I win." Came a cackle.

"No." Reid whispered. "N-no..."

"Yes." Foyet smirked. "But don't worry, I already called 911, they should be here shortly to take care of you." He smirked, then pointed his knife toward Spencer, fresh blood dripping off the tip. He whirled around and headed for the window. Reid instinctively reached for his waist for his gun, but he was wearing his pajamas, his weapon was on the table along with his cell phone. He was about to go retrieve them when a groan emitted from the mortally wounded teen.

"Aaron." Reid breathed. He was still alive!

Aaron sat up, Spencer was about to protest that he should staying lying down because of his injuries, but the kid was up fairly quickly, he turned and sent Reid a cold expression.

"Why did you do this to me?" He asked, his voice almost monotonous.

"What?" Reid was confused. "Aaron, I'm so sorry, I didn't know he would come here. But help is on the way, you're gonna be fine. Here." He held up the bed sheet. "Let's make sure you don't lose anymore blood." But the teen stopped him. "Why did you do this to me?" He repeated. Spencer was genuinely confused.

"Aaron, what are you talking about? Foyet, the man that hurt your family, he was just here, he hurt you too."

Suddenly, Aaron's eyes closed and he plopped back down on the bed. Alarmed, Spencer thought the loss of blood was getting to him. He was about to apply the bed sheet to his wounds, but a hand roughly gripped his forearm, cold metal was felt around his wrist as he heard a rapid clicking sound. He quickly looked behind him to see a couple of officers standing there.

"Spencer Reid, you are under arrest for the murder of Aaron Hotchner."

"Wait, what?" He asked, completely shocked by what he just heard. His other arm was gripped and pulled behind him, cold metal fastened around his other wrist, binding his hands behind his back.

"This has to be a mistake," Spencer pleaded, struggling against the handcuffs. "I'm an FBI agent, my credentials are on my table. I work on Jason Gideon's team, my cell phone has his number." He was lead out of his bedroom where he then saw Gideon talking to a detective. Jason halted whatever conversation he was having and stepped toward the scared young man.

"Gideon, please tell them this is a huge mistake. I would never hurt Aaron, he's... like a son to me." He got no reply, however.

"Agent Gideon, you said that this man is smart, yes?" One of the officers holding onto a visibly shaken Reid asked.

"He's a genius." Jason simply said.

What is going on? Spencer thought. Was this some sort of cruel joke? His forearm was gripped yet again and repositioned, his palm was now facing outward and the cuff was tightened a few more notches. The same procedure was done on his other wrist. Reid swallowed thickly. Now he could barely turn his own wrists at all. He glanced behind him and saw one of the officers taking the key and double locking the joints of the handcuffs. Spencer knew that this process was usually done on suspects considered to be a serious risk, the positioning was to prevent one from picking the restraints they were held in.

But Reid wasn't dangerous, and he couldn't possibly be a suspect. He looked at Gideon again, but his mentor wasn't paying any attention to him. He gulped as sweat began to drip down his face. He tried to move his hands around some to regain just a little bit of comfort, but that proved to be difficult.

"Agent Gideon." One of the men holding him called out. "Did you want us to bring him straight to the lockup?"

Jason shook his head. "No, he doesn't belong in jail." Spencer breathed a heavy sigh of relief. "I want you to transport him to Las Vegas, Nevada, and promptly admit him to Bennington Sanitarium."

Reid froze instantly. "Gideon, I'm not crazy, I didn't do this." He was literary dragged on his feet toward the door.

Gideon just chuckled. "I'm sure your imaginary friend Foyet can testify for you."

"What? No! Gideon, you know I'm not crazy. I didn't do this! I could never do this! I cared about Aaron. I'm not a killer. You know who George Foyet is, he killed multiple families, us and the whole team were on the case!" Spencer protested before he and the two officers disappeared outside.

Gideon sighed as he watched his protege be taken away into a white van. "Such a nice young man, but I knew he would lose it someday."

Reid was sobbing by now, his long curls sticking to his wet cheeks. He made one last pitiful struggle to get free, but he was far too weak. Securely restrained in handcuffs, he was strapped to a seat.

"This can't be happening." He whimpered to himself. "I didn't do this, I am not crazy. I did not hurt Aaron. Aaron! AARON!" One of the officers in the front seat turned to face the young genius with an annoyed scowl on his face.

"Dr. Reid, wake up!" He shouted.

Wait a minute.

He felt himself shaking, or being shook.

"I said wake up!" A whole new voice began to emerge.

Spencer gasped as his eyes shot open, Aaron immediately took notice of how red and bloodshot they were. Reid panted, trying to catch his breath once he realized his charge was holding onto his shoulders. His face was soaked with tears, his long, soft curls stuck to his face. Spencer tried to remove his hair when his hands that were situated behind his back didn't budge. Tensing as fresh, horrid memories became prominent, he looked behind him and saw that his wrists were entangled in his own blanket. He blushed before Aaron let go of his shoulders and helped Spencer free himself.

"Are you okay, Dr. Reid?" The worried teenager questioned.

Still shaken from his awful, though somewhat detailed nightmare, Reid wasn't prepared to answer the question, how could he possibly explain to Aaron about the dream he just experienced?

"I'm okay, Aaron, I just had a nightmare." That was about the best excuse he could conduct at the moment. Way to state the obvious, Spencer! He thought to himself. Aaron was rather curious, but his profiling skills told him that he should refrain from prying, at least for now. It seemed like neither of them would be getting much more sleep for the rest of the night.

Reid tried to convince Aaron to go back to bed, and that he was fine, but the boy proved stubborn. So the next few hours until morning were spent watching TV together until Reid's alarm clock in his bedroom sounded off. He had meant to turn it off so it wouldn't disturb Aaron, but he himself managed to take care of the disturbing part. The menu for breakfast was cereal without milk, as the dairy product was long past it's expiration date. Reid didn't bother smelling it, he threw it away. There was just enough cereal for Aaron, so Spencer made himself some coffee. They sat down at the table in thick silence before one of them spoke up.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine, Aaron." He assured, despite the bags under his eyes. "Thank you for asking." A short pause. "Aaron," He cleared his throat. "I have to work today, but I'm gonna take you with me, you can stay with my team's technical analyst, Penelope Garcia. She works in an office close to my desk."

"Alright." Aaron complied without argument. After what happened last night, he didn't want to be too far from Spencer.

After breakfast, they got dressed. Spencer holstered his weapon and cell phone, he swallowed when he picked up his handcuffs and hung them on his pants. Taking a deep breath, he grabbed his keys. For some reason, he didn't feel like walking or taking the train. Besides, he wasn't sure if Aaron would be up to either of the two anyway. Once his charge was ready, they left the apartment, making sure it was locked, then went downstairs to where Reid's personal black suburban that he rarely drove sat in it's parking space. They got in and Spencer put the key in the ignition and turned it, the engine roared to life. After putting on their seatbelts, the SUV pulled out and they made their way to the FBI headquarters.

Neither Spencer nor Aaron were aware of a hooded figure in the bushes, watching them as they drove off.

To be continued...

Maybe Reid shouldn't eat goldfish crackers before bed anymore?