Here's the new chapter! Working on updating more often. I might start setting goals or something, I just don't know.

As promised, the small town was, well, small. The team had arrived and immediately jumped into the investigation. Everyone was welcoming and hospitable, except for the sheriff. However, the other officers in his department welcomed the FBI warmly. At least once, every officer thanked them for their arrival and told them they were happy they were there. The sheriff told his deputy to take care of the agents. Other than that he was never seen. Nothing much was said of the phone call. However, Hotch still worried about Reid's future.

The town was small enough that there was no hotel. However, there were some bed and breakfasts, one of which was inside a restored Gilded Age home. They had taken it since it was off season and the cheapest accommodations. Only three rooms were available. The fourth was taken by an out of towner visiting family. The fifth and six owned by the owner, his wife, and son. So sharing the rooms was not optional. The girls got a room to themselves, Morgan and Rossi received a room and, under a tense Morgan and giggling trio of girls, Hotch and Reid.

They visited their first suspect, Cles, and returned to look over the case files. Garcia had laid claimed to Cles's computer and records. So far nothing, but she hadn't stopped working. However, everyone else had gone to bed to get up early and question witnesses.

Reid sat dressed in his t-shirt and shorts. He traced the pattern of the bed spread with a long, slender finger. Hotch watched him from the bathroom as he brushed his teeth. Reid had been unusually quiet since there return. Not his usual quiet. The kind that was classified as a side effect of a deep thoughtfulness. It worried Hotch.

"Spencer, you alright?" He called after rinsing out his mouth.

Reid looked up at him and shrugged and looked back down.

Hotch walked into the bedroom and crawled onto the bed beside Reid. The younger man made no response. Hotch coaxed Reid to lie with him. Reid complied and they nestled into the covers, Hotch's arms wrapped around Reid's lithe body and Reid rubbing Hotch's bare arms. Their bodies pressed together. Reid had his head resting away, staring at Hotch's chin. Hotch waited, rubbing Reid's back.

"Aaron?" Reid whispered, finally looking up at him.

"Yea, Spencer?"

Silence.

Reid looked away and pressed into Hotch, burying his face into the other man's neck. "Love you."

Hotch smiled wider and kissed Reid's hair. "Love you, too, Spencer."

Silence.

Hotch waited, but knew Reid wasn't ready to talk. He could wait for his lover to be ready. As long as Reid was calm and comfortable when he talked, it didn't matter how long he had to wait. However, Hotch had something he needed to talk about. "Spencer, can I ask you something?"

"What?" Reid asked looking up at him.

"What would you do if you lost your job?" Hotch asked quietly, rubbing Reid's back.

"I guess I'd go teach," Reid said smiling sadly. "I get enough offers with universities; I could get a job somewhere. I wouldn't want to get another job. I love working at the BAU…." Reid looked up at Hotch and kissed him. "Am I being fired?"

"No!" Hotch smiled and nuzzled Reid's nose. "At least not yet."

Reid pouted, but nodded. He sighed and burrowed back into Hotch's chest. "I'm sorry, Aaron."

"No, you're not."

"You're right, I'm just sorry I'm worrying you," Reid said quietly, stroking Hotch's back. He closed his eyes and bit his lip. "Aaron there's something I really want to talk to you about, but I-I can't think how I want to breech the subject. I wanted to wait, but if I wait any longer I'll never get through it-."

"Spencer, you can talk to me about anything, you know that," Hotch whispered kissing Reid's forehead before tangling his fingers in his hair.

"Well," Reid paused and swallowed. "I told my mom you and I are dating. She was apprehensive at first, but she really wants to meet you. I know you've met before, but she wants to meet you as my lover."

Hotch stayed silent moments after Reid finished speaking. Reid pulled away to look up at him, but looked down at his chin when he saw Hotch's stoic expression. "Really?"

Reid glanced up and away and nodded. "Yes. It could be during out next vacation, o-or whenever we get a case in Las Vegas again, or something. Or not at all. Whichever."

"Spencer," Hotch swallowed and tugged on the strands tangled around his fingers. Reid looked back up at him and saw the small smile pulling Hotch's lips back. "We can go. Whenever we get the chance, okay?"

Reid's face lit up, "Really?"

"Yes."

The apartment was as the agents had left it earlier that day. The bedroom was just as sparsely, yet tastefully furnished as the rest of the apartment. Cles sat up, the covers draped over his legs. He nibbled his finger as he listened to the running water from the bathroom. The gray cat, Rasputin, was curled on the pillow beside him. He didn't notice except the warmth through the blankets.

"You look about a million miles away," Adrik joked as he walked in. His upper body was muscled. The skin stretched over it was rosy from the warm shower. The sweatpants hung low on his hips. He always knew how to catch his husband's attention.

"I was just thinking," Cles said his eyes falling over Adrik's chest, abs, and arms. He reached up and motioned for him to come closer. Adrik smiled and claimed Cles's lips. "About those agents that were here."

"Are you going to tell me it was you. You all along? You are the killer?" Adrik chuckled and kissed Cles's neck. Cles mewed and laid back, pulling his husband on top of him.

"No, but I got a new idea for a story," Cles murmured pressing into Adrik's warm, firm body.

"Everything gives you an idea for a story," Adrik chuckled and looked down at his husband. He straddled Cles's hips and grinded slowly. "Right now, stay in this world and work on your story tomorrow. Okay?"

Cles smiled. "More than okay!"

The morning came and everyone, save Garcia, was downstairs in the dining room for breakfast. The group chatted lazily, all fueling up on coffee for their morning. Hotch nudged more food onto Reid's plate like he always did making the youngest agent pout. Everyone just laughed.

Garcia ran in breathless and slid into the seat beside Morgan. "Guys, I think I found something on Cles's computer."

Chapter 4- End

TBC