Disclaimer: Criminal Minds and all its characters belong to CBS. I own nothing. Feel free to read and review, but please don't copy.
AN- The story Garcia reads to Spencer is "Sun, Moon, and Talia" by Giambattista Basile. It's an old Italian version of Sleeping Beauty and it's an extremely horrible one.
Previously on Criminal Minds- "Otay" Spencer agreed. He thought for a few minutes before breaking into a grin. "Gawcia, have you evew read the owiginal Gwimm's Faiwy Tales?"
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Spencer sighed as he half listened to Garcia's far too perky voice drone on. This story was not what he'd wanted. Technically it was what he'd asked for since it was a Grimm's Fairy Tale. But this was the cleaned up, happily ever after version not the original. He had wanted the violent and more realistic unedited stories. They were great! They were nothing like the new happily ever after that was meant to teach a lesson without frightening children. In Spencer's opinion giving the stories happy endings negated the lesson. If children thought their lives would end happy no matter what they did, they'd…Spencer peered up at Garcia. "Huh?" he asked.
"I said what's wrong." Penelope repeated.
"Nofing, its jut not the vewsion I was hoping fow." Spencer told her. "Fis is the tleaned up towy not the owiginal."
"But it said original." Garcia said.
"I know but it's not. Twust me. I know. I've wead the owiginals." Spencer explained.
"Ok" Garcia said. "Well, how about we look for those originals together? You can help me find the real ones."
"Otay" Spencer agreed. He scooted a little closer to the young blond and stared at the tablet in her hands. Squinting in an attempt to focus on the blurry text, the little boy read bits and pieces from the lists of various titles until finally seeing one that was perfect. "Fat one"
Penelope glanced at the story her junior G-man was pointing to. "Sun, Moon, and Talia? Are you sure that's the one you want?" she questioned. "It's not a Grimm's Fairy Tale."
"I'm suwe." Reid replied.
"Okay" Garcia mumbled as she pressed the button to download the story. Once that was finished, she opened the tale and began. "There once lived a great lord, who was blessed with the birth of a daughter, whom he named Talia."
Spencer leaned back against his pillow, stuck his thumb in his mouth, and closed his eyes. This was going to be good.
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Prentiss and Morgan looked up at a knock on the door.
"Little Pigs! Little Pigs! Let me come in!" a deep voice boomed before the door opened and a grinning Dr. Sawyer strolled in. He scanned the room and then turned back to the profilers. "I'm looking for some piggies to make some piggie pie for lunch. Y'all seen any?"
Derek snickered. "Man, you are one strange doctor. You know that, right?"
"I pride myself on that." Sawyer teased. "Sides, you've gotta be a little silly when you work with kids all day. You don't want them scared of ya."
"True" Emily agreed before frowning. "No offense, but what are you doing here? Did something happen to Spencer?"
"Naw, Little Britches is alright." The physician assured the duo. "I'll check on him before I go home for the day. Right now, I'm here for you."
"Me?" Prentiss asked, her eyes widening in surprise. "You're my new doctor?! But you're a pediatrician!"
Dr. Sawyer looked taken aback by his patient's reaction. "You mean you didn't request…Oh, I get it. This is Curly's way of getting back at the both of us."
"This is his revenge?" Morgan scoffed. "He's not much of a prankster is he?"
"You've got that right." Sawyer agreed. "The guy doesn't know how to do much of anything except act like a pompous ass." Pulling off his stethoscope, he leaned over and then straightened back up and looked over at Morgan. "You know, I've been tempted to set off the sprinklers just to see if he'd drown."
Derek barked out a laugh. "Now that's one thing I'd pay to see."
"I'll remember that." The physician said with a smirk. He then turned to his patient. "Now, let's get back to the business at hand. I wanna examine you and Short Stuff so I can get outta here."
"I can understand that. I feel the same way." Emily responded. She waited for him to finish listening to her heartbeat and then added, "Any chance of you setting me loose?"
"We'll see." Sawyer distractedly answered without looking up from his work.
Smiling, Emily lay still while the doctor continued his exam. She was getting out! She just knew it!
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"Crying aloud, he beheld her charms and felt his blood course hotly through his veins. He lifted her in his arms and carried her to a bed where he…oh my!" Garcia gasped. She swiftly blanked the screen. "He, he kissed her and she woke up and they married and lived happily ever after. The end."
Spencer stared up at his friend. "Fat's not what it said!" he challenged.
"Yes it is." Penelope fibbed.
"Nuh uh! Wead it wight!" Spencer demanded.
Garcia sighed. "I'm sorry Sweet Pea but I can't do that. That story's not appropriate for well, anybody." She told the youngster.
"But, I wanna heaw the end!" Reid argued. "The weal end!"
"Not happening, Handsome" Penelope replied, shaking her head. "I'm deleting that piece of filth."
"No! Ho-otch! Mate Gawcia finish weading the towy!" Spencer whined.
Aaron sat up and looked over at his grumpy son. While the boy was always cranky when sick or hurt, he didn't usually whine unless…Hotch's eyes narrowed. "Spencer, are you hurting?" he inquired, already knowing the answer.
"No" Reid responded a little too quickly.
"Spencer" Hotch warned.
Spencer slumped back against his pillow. "Fine, my head and awm huwt and I'm a little dizzy." He tearfully admitted.
Aaron nodded. He'd expected as much. "I'll call the nurse." He said as he stood and walked towards the bed.
"No! I don't want anyfing! The medicine mates me leepy." Reid argued, swiping at his eyes.
"That's a good thing, Spencer. Rest is what you need to get better." Aaron pointed out.
"But I wa-wannnna heaw the end of the, the tooooowwwwy!" Spencer protested as tears began raining down his cheeks.
Aaron's face softened in sympathy for the tiny profiler. The strong, independent young man was behaving more like his size than his age. He guessed the events of the past day along with the pain of his injuries were to blame for that. Or it could be the head injury that was messing with his emotions. Right this minute Hotch didn't really care. He had more important things to worry about; like calming Reid down. All that crying had to be murder on his headache. Aaron unlocked and dropped the side railing and then sat down beside his crying son. "Shhh Spencer, take it easy. We'll finish the story." He soothed as he picked up the upset youngster and settled him in his lap. "Come on buddy, calm it down. You're getting too worked up and you're going to make yourself sick. Shhh, it's alright. We're going to read your story all the way through and then we'll call the nurse and get you something for the pain. Okay?"
"O-o-o-otay" Spencer replied. Sniffling, he took the rag Garcia handed him and wiped his tear stained face before blowing his nose on it and handing it back.
Aaron stifled a laugh at the expression on the tech analyst's face when she was handed the used wash rag. She was eyeing the cloth like it was a snake that was about to strike. Hearing a muffled giggle, Hotch glanced down to see Reid staring at the woman as well. Smiling, he bent down and whispered, "It's too bad we didn't get a picture. I'm sure Morgan would have loved to have some blackmail material after everything she's learned from his mother."
Spencer sniggered and then groaned. "D-don't mate me laugh." He moaned, leaning back against his father's chest and closing his eyes.
And just like that Hotch's joking mood morphed back into a worried one. Vowing to read as fast as possible, he began rubbing the little boy's back, knowing the motion comforted his son. "Its okay buddy, its okay" he murmured. Hearing the distinctive clomp of the tech analyst's high heel shoes, Aaron glanced up. "Garcia, hand me the tablet please."
Penelope picked up her IPod and clutched it to her chest. "I don't think you should read that story, Boss Man. It's highly inappropriate and…"
"Garcia! The tablet! Now!" Hotch demanded in a soft but stern tone.
Sighing, Garcia turned the electronic device over to her boss. "Don't say I didn't warn you." she muttered before sauntering over and taking a seat on the couch.
Nodding, Aaron set the IPod on the bed and flipped through the wealth of apps until he came to the reader. He tapped the icon, scrolled down to the fairy tale he wanted, and opened it. The young father carefully scooted to the middle of the bed before beginning to read. "There once lived a great lord, who was blessed with the birth of a daughter, whom he named Talia."
Spencer smiled. Closing his eyes, he let his father figure's voice wash over him.
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"What do you mean you won't release me?" Emily growled, pinning the grinning doctor with a look that would send most men running the other way.
"Sorry Su, I mean ma'am but I can't give ya a get outta jail card just yet; not with your stats where they are and not when you're still having some trouble with dizziness." Sawyer told the aggravated woman as he walked to the end of the bed to add a few notes to her chart. "Don't wig out on me though. You should be good to go by tonight sometime."
"I'm gonna hold you to that." Prentiss snapped.
"I know you are Mrs…" the doctor looked over at the duo. "This says your name is Prentiss." He turned to Derek. "But your last name is Morgan, right?"
Morgan winced. "Yeah, about that. There's uhhh, there's something you should, ummm, should know." He said.
Dr. Sawyer looked confused for a moment before horror flashed across his face. "I, uhhh I really don't need to hear it." he stammered, holding up his hands. "Whatever y'all do is none of my business. Really, I don't wanna…"
"Prentiss and I aren't married." Morgan broke in. "We're not dating or a couple or anything like that. We're just colleagues and friends."
The physician gaped at the two before breaking into a smirk. "And the others?" he asked.
"The only couple is JJ and Will. Mrs. Morgan is really Derek's mom, too. But the rest of us aren't related. We're just part of the BAU family. We only made up the couples and family bit so we could stay with Spencer in the ER a few months ago." Emily replied.
"What about Little Britches? Where does he fit in to all this?" Sawyer questioned as he leaned against the footboard of the bed.
"Spencer is Hotch's nephew." Morgan fibbed. "He's the kid's guardian and has been for a while now."
Dr. Sawyer grinned. "You guys snookered me good." He told the profilers. "I thought y'all were some wacked out hippy type group or something."
Morgan laughed. "We did sound kinda crazy." He admitted. "I've gotta admit though. It was fun to see your face whenever one of us slipped up."
"Can you blame me? A sister and brother with a kid together even though she's…"
"Lunch time!" an overly cheerful voice called from the doorway.
"Guess that's my cue to leave." Dr. Sawyer said. "You hang in there Sugar and I'll be back to check you out and then probably turn you loose sometime tonight."
"Sugar?" Morgan repeated, raising an eyebrow.
"Hey, just cause she's not your honey that doesn't mean she can't be mine." Sawyer teased before walking out of the room.
Derek shook his head. "He's something else." He commented.
"I don't know. I think he's kind of cute." Emily said, snickering at her friend's WTF expression. "What? He is."
Morgan ran a hand over his bald head. "Okay, you've officially creeped me out." He huffed. "I'm going to sit with Spencer for a while."
"Give him a kiss for me." Emily called. Seeing the muscular man's face grimace in disgust, she rolled her eyes. "I mean Spencer, you moron."
"I knew that." Morgan scoffed, turning red.
"Right" Emily said with a smirk. "Go on. Get outta here." she instructed.
"Later" Derek called before walking out the door.
Shaking her head, Emily turned and dug into her meal. She needed all the energy she could get because she had a trip to make.
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"The end" Aaron whispered, adding finally under his breath. Setting the IPod down, he reached over and pushed the call button.
"Yes" a voice called from the speaker.
"Spencer needs some medication for pain." Hotch relayed.
"Okay sir, someone will be there in a few minutes." The voice replied.
"Thank you" Aaron sighed. "Hear that buddy? Help's on the way."
"K" Spencer weakly answered as he burrowed further into his daddy's chest.
Feeling his son's trembling, Aaron began softly humming a lullaby to distract Spencer from the pain. He thought about rocking since the motion soothed his little one but he didn't think that was wise; not with the dizziness and nausea problems the youngster was experiencing. So Aaron settled for humming and rubbing Reid's back.
True to her word a RN strode into the room before the BAU leader could finish his lullaby. She placed the syringe into the port in the IV and slowly pushed the plunger delivering the needed pain meds. After disposing of the used syringe, she turned to the worried father. "He's probably going to sleep for a while." She whispered, smiling down at the already slumbering boy.
Aaron nodded. "Thank you" he told her.
"You're welcome sir." Barbara replied as she backed towards the door. "Don't hesitate to call if you need anything else."
"I won't." Aaron answered. He waited for the RN to leave the room and then slowly slid down to lie on the bed. Wrapping his arms carefully around Spencer, Aaron closed his eyes and joined his son in dreamland.