I know, I know, it's been more than a year. Lot's of stuff going on, I've been able to read fanfictions, but writing hasn't been my greatest strength lately. Fortunately, I've gained some momentum again.

Go ahead, take a swing at me, you know you want to. :P

A big thank you to all who have reviewed, favorited, and followed so far. I apologize for neglecting all of you for so long, leaving a cliffhanger like that. I managed to acquire inspiration to write once more. Let's hope I can keep it up again.

This chapter has some blood. (Blood? Gulp!)

As you may or may not know yet, I do not own Criminal Minds, none of my stories are beta'd. Any typos or inaccuracies are of fault of my own.

"Tomorrow, we can go look for a bed for you." Reid said as he unlocked the door and entered.

"Sounds like a plan." Aaron trailed behind the young agent. "How about a TV set?"

"First things first, son," Spencer smirked. "you need something to sleep on so that I can have my own bed back."

The younger man chuckled. "I'm holding your bed hostage, the ransom is one TV set."

"Aaron..." Spencer tried to sound stern, but the smile on his face gave him away. "How about I get the bed tonight, and I'll think about it?"

"I can handle that."

Reid closed the door behind Aaron and locked it. He then gave the teen the opportunity to go into the bedroom and change into pajamas first. While Aaron was occupying the bedroom, Reid started unpacking his go-bag, pulling out case files and folders and stacking them on the coffee table in front of the sofa, then he removed a few books he brought along and returned them to their designated spots on his various bookshelves. He sat down the sofa to think for a moment about what has happened so far and what has yet to come. Gideon, once reluctant has given him approval to adopt Aaron, a teenage boy whom he barely knew at first, the kid not knowing Reid well either at the time. Over the course of just two days, their bonding bloomed into something spectacular. Never once had Reid imagined what was happening presently, that his parental instincts, or at one point, lack of, had come out in almost full force. What had started out as just another case, lead to Reid discovering the father figure in himself that he, and probably no one else, knew was within him. Reid went from the young, helpless, shy, awkward kid that he was best known as, and transformed into a to-be father just like that. Spencer hadn't stopped to think past events over until now, and it nearly felt like everything happened so fast, with a blur, but his strong memory reminded him that everything leading up to now had happened over the course of a couple weeks. Still, that's a pretty short time period for someone, especially Reid, to even consider the plans to adopt a teenage boy. But he loved Aaron like a son, the feeling was still a bit strange to Reid, who is more used to him being the one everyone took care of, the one who everyone stressed over his safety, the one who's hand was often held when times were tough. Now Spencer would be the one doing all these things, watching after a teenager is considered a grueling task to many, but Aaron had a level of maturity that would make most parents envious.

Aaron was someone who looked up to Reid, the teen counted on him, and Reid could never let him down, especially not with what Aaron has been through. Although the road was bumpy at first, things have smoothed out. Aaron was here to stay, and Spencer, as his father, would always be there for him, wherever, whenever. Reid's mind then fell to his own father, William Reid. They haven't spoken in years. William had never made contact with Spencer after he walked out on them, and Spencer made sure of that, the last thing he wanted was to speak to him again any time soon. He couldn't quite put his finger on whether he truly hated his father or not, but when your own father walks out on the family, leaving only his young son to care for his ailing mother, who wouldn't have sour feelings?

Reid silently made a promise to himself, he would give Aaron the childhood he never had, or what was left of the fourteen year old's young days. He would never leave Aaron to fend himself, he would always do what he could to be the father he himself never had. And even when it came to going away on cases, Aaron did not seem to mind hanging out with Garcia. Unsurprisingly, Penelope adored the teenager about as much as she adored Spencer, as well as every other member of the team. Spencer smiled at the thought of his team, what would he ever do without them?

Spencer made a mental note to ask Garcia to look up and review private schools in the area for Aaron. While he wasn't sure if the teen would endure the same ordeals that he did while in public school, he wasn't certain that he wanted to find out. And in the event that Aaron might be prone to ridicule or flat-out bullying for one reason or another, there was no way on heaven or earth that Spencer would allow him to go through anything like what he did as long as he could help it.

Aaron returned from the bathroom after brushing his teeth, clothed once again in the FBI t-shirt and a pair of flannel pants.

"Aaron, at some point that shirt needs to be washed." Reid chuckled.

Aaron shook his head. "Penelope washed it before you guys got back. It's clean." He insisted.

"OK." Spencer laughed. "Excuse me while I change." Getting up from the sofa, Reid picked up the files and folders and his go-bag, then he disappeared into the bedroom. He reemerged a few minutes later, walking as he finished buttoning his pajama top. "I've got some clean blankets and pillows in the closet." He opened a door and pulled out some bedding then carried it to the sofa where Aaron began to make his bed for the night. Satisfied that his charge was settling in, Spencer went to the bathroom to brush his teeth. When he returned, Aaron had finished and was preparing to sink under the covers. Reid stifled a yawn before glancing at his watch. It was pretty late. Walking over to the sofa, Reid tucked Aaron in, the teen, once focused on his pride, did not protest. The young male breathed as his head touched the pillow. Once Spencer was done moving the blankets up closer, he knelt down and gently planted a soft kiss on the teen's forehead. Neither of them were sure who was blushing more, but much to his own surprise, Spencer was the first to recover.

"Get used it, kiddo, you're stuck with me now." He smiled.

"You still need to make it official." Aaron reminded, returning a smile of his own.

"I know that, smarty-pants."

"You have an IQ higher than Einstein and you're calling me a 'smarty-pants'?"

"Oh, hush." Spencer laughed, leaning over to plant one more peck. "Goodnight, Aaron." He spoke softly. "I love you, son." He ruffled his hair gently.

"I love you too." Aaron returned. "Goodnight... dad." With that, Aaron slowly shut his eyes. Smiling, Reid quickly walked over to turn off the lamp, checking over Aaron once more to make sure he was comfortable. The rhythmic sounds of his breathing indicated that he was asleep, or nearing sleep. Hastily making his way to his bedroom, Spencer shut the door and shut off the overhead light, leaving on a lamp so that he could read for a while before going to sleep himself. Setting a book down on the nightstand, the skinny profiler slid into the covers, picked the book back up and began reading.

Foyet wiped the drool hanging from the edge of his mouth and blinked. He looked around, ensuring that no one had seen him in his hiding spot in the bushes. He scanned around the quiet parking lot, Reid's Chevy Suburban still sat in the place he had parked it, meaning that they were still home. Street lights were still on, but the clear sky showed hints of blue, orange, and yellow. It was dawn, but the sun has not yet risen. The air was cold, the sound of a consistent, light wind among nearby road traffic could be heard. Looking down at his watch, The Reaper saw that it was 5:30 in the morning. "God damn it!" He cursed, not realizing that he had fallen asleep, and for so long. He didn't quite know Reid's schedule, or if he even worked today as it was a Saturday. If he is working, Foyet hoped that Reid didn't have one of those early-riser type schedules. Or his plan would require major modifications. The issue would be that other neighbors who may be early birds might infringe on his scheme.

That worry was confirmed when a couple exited the building. By the way they were dressed, they were heading off to somewhere important. Growling, Foyet was forced to rethink how he would get to Dr. Reid and Aaron without other residents seeing him. He looked too suspicious for most to ignore. The crazed serial killer waited until the couple were out of sight before he vacated his hiding place, heading around toward the back of the building. Believing that he had pin-pointed Spencer Reid's apartment, he climbed up a nearby tree that conveniently lead up the patio balcony. Ensuring that the branches would support his weight, Foyet edged his off the tree and onto the balcony. He peeked through the glass sliding door, a crack in the curtains was all that he could see. He was able to spy book shelves as far as the eye could see, but not much of an indication that an FBI agent lived here. Spencer Reid certainly came off as the nerdy type though. He walked over to a window and attempted to peek through, he could make out a single figure lying on the bed, long, brown curls protruded from underneath the covers, there was book, presumably dropped, on the floor next to the bed. A firearm sat atop of the dresser next to a shiny object that appeared to be a badge.

This is it. He thought. He had found the right apartment, Dr. Reid appeared to be sleeping peacefully. For now. Foyet observed his surroundings, making sure that no one was watching him or had seen him. Once he was satisfied, he returned to the patio and began working on picking the lock. Once the door was open, Foyet took extra care to be quiet, not knowing how light or heavy of a sleeper Reid was. He carefully slid the door shut and locked it again. Creeping through the home, he glanced down at the sofa where Aaron slept. As he continued tiptoeing, he kept an eye on the teen, who did not budge in the slightest. Smiling a sinister smile, Foyet made his way to the bedroom.

Quietly pushing open the door, the unsub crept over to the bed. With a knife in one hand, he pulled out a roll of duct tape, quietly stretching out a strip and cutting it off the roll, he stuck it over Reid's mouth, the young doctor didn't awaken. Doing the same process again, Foyet took a much longer piece of tape grabbing both of Reid's hands, he held them against the headboard and he wrapped the duct tape around them. Spencer emitted a muffled moan. By now Foyet had finished and he watched and waited for Dr. Reid to wake up. But when he didn't, the Reaper grew impatient and took matters into his own hands. Gently slapping Reid on the cheek, Foyet said in singsong "Wake up, Dr. Reid."

Emitting out another muffled moan, Spencer blinked and slowly opened his eyes, now more aware of the weight that was on top of him, his eyes shot open, first catching sight of the knife in Foyet's hand, then he trailed upward to see Foyet himself, grinning evily. "I thought you'd like to be awake for the fun." Spencer tried to speak, but all that came out was a muffled whimper, he then realized that his hands were duct taped to the bed.

Outside in the living room, Aaron awoke, unsure why seeing that it was barely six in the morning. The dark, quiet apartment seemed to indicate that he was only one awake. He relaxed and closed his eyes, but he wasn't very tired, so any more sleep effectively eluded him. Sitting up, Aaron scanned around the many books Reid had, feeling that the young agent wouldn't mind if his to-be son read something to pass the time until whenever he woke up.

Aaron started to reconsider. If they were to go shopping today, why don't they go ahead and get an earlier start? If they got done soon enough, maybe they could see if the rest of the team was free to meet for lunch or dinner. After going over the thought once more, the teen shuffled over to Reid's bedroom, hoping that he had slept well enough to get up at this hour of the morning.

Inside, Spencer let out another muffled scream as Foyet twisted the knife around his abdomen. By now, the deranged unsub had ripped off his clothing, leaving only his boxer shorts intact. Reid's skin and bed was covered in already dried blood from the wounds that had been inflicted on him so far. Spencer tried to struggle his hands free, but the more pain he felt, the more weaker he became. He feared that if he lost consciousness or died from his injuries, he would not be able to help Aaron once The Reaper went after him, and even if Aaron managed to get away, Reid wouldn't be there for him like he had promised to himself that he would be. It ached Reid on the inside almost as much on the outside to think that he had failed his son. As he lied there tied to the bed, and nearing unconsciousness, he wondered if taking in Aaron was good idea after all. Maybe Aaron really would have been better off at the orphanage. It hurt Reid to think that he might be responsible for the young man's incoming demise. Once Foyet had had his fun with Spencer, he would resume it with Aaron. Reid could only hope that Aaron would make it out alive, but not being able to save him, and needing someone to save himself, that seemed unlikely. What if Aaron decided to not fight back and accept his fate, as a way to see his family again? Maybe him and Reid would still get to be together as father and son on the other side... Don't think like that, Spencer! You'll make it through this, and so will Aaron. You both been through so much as it is, you can't give up now! But it was so hard to remain optimistic. Reid made another struggle to free his hands from the duct tape, but it was no use, he was just too damn weak.

Foyet pulled out the knife, causing Reid to let out a muffled sob. He admired his handy work. As fresh tears flowed down his face, Spencer wished that the cruel man could have shown a little bit of mercy and just killed him so that he would not have to endure any more pain, but just when he thought his last thread had been cut, Foyet backed off to allow the young genius to regather himself before going for another round of "fun".

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna kill you, yet." He sneered with a smirk. "I want you to at least see what I do to little Aaron next." Reid closed his eyes in defeat. This was it, this was how he was going to go, and likely Aaron too. Spencer had promised himself that he would be the best father he could be to the teen, but as he already concluded, he had failed Aaron. Not only that, but he had failed his team, he had failed his mother, he failed Gideon, he had failed himself.

I'm so sorry. Spencer said in his mind, feeling that only a failure such as himself could deserve this sort of fate.

His vision started to get dark, Spencer knew that he was fading from consciousness, and against his better judgment, he was ready to welcome it with open arms.

"Drop the knife."

Reid's bloodshot eyes shot open at the unexpected voice. Foyet too looked equally surprised when the intruder spoke up. Both men slowly turned to look over near the door where Aaron stood, his stern face hiding all emotion. Spencer's and Foyet's eyes trailed over to what was in Aaron's rather calm hands, Reid's firearm, pointed directly at The Boston Reaper.

To be continued...

Oh, look, another cliffhanger!