Hi everyone, sorry it been soooo long between chapters, i have a few more chapters already written so they will all be up shortly. Thanks for reading and please keep leaving reviews so i know what you like and what parts are no good.
Chapter 8
10 years ago:
Spencer had learnt pretty quickly that the easiest way to get what he wanted was to smile cutely and call Hotch daddy.
"Daddy," Spencer smiled "can I please have my gun back?" he asked while Hotch had the safe open and was retrieving his own gun.
Hotch was taken aback, "Why do you want your gun back?"
"In case someone tries to take me again" he replied as though it was the most obvious thing in the world
Hotch crouched down to look at Spencer "No, you can't have your gun back, you know it's not safe for you to use it at the moment" he said calmly
"THAT'S NOT FAIR!" Spencer shouted and stomped his foot "I'm not a REAL child!"
Hotch had to stop himself smiling at how cute Spencer looked with his pouty face "No you're not a child and that's why you should be able to understand how dangerous it would be for you to have a gun"
"Please daddy?" he tried pleading
Hotch pulled Spencer into a hug, "I'm sorry buddy but the answers still no"
"How am I supposed to protect myself then?" he asked angrily as he pushed away from Hotch
"You don't need to worry about that, ill protect you"
"You're not always around you know!" Spencer yelled
"If I'm not around, you will always be with someone I trust to protect you the same as I would"
Xxxxxxxx
When they arrived at the office Spencer ran straight to Emily.
"Hey Spen..."
"Emily, Hotch won't let me have my gun back, tell him I need it!" he interrupted
Emily looked at Hotch over Spencer's head who just shrugged his shoulders and smiled at her. "Sorry pumpkin but he's the boss and what he says goes"
Spencer stomped over to his desk "you're so mean" he said just loudly enough for her to hear it.
"Thanks Hotch, now I'm the bad guy" she smiled
"Better you than me" he laughed as he headed toward his office
Spencer spent the rest of the morning in a huff and tried his best to ignore the rest of the team.
After lunch the team got called away for a case in LA. Before they left Hotch tried to make Spencer feel better, "You know that I won't let you put yourself in danger right?" he asked softly trying to get Spencer to look at him.
"Yes" came a soft reply as Spencer stared at the floor
"And you know that it's too dangerous for you to have a gun right now?"
"Yes"
"Ok then, I have to go but you behave yourself for Garcia ok?"
"Yes sir" Spencer said still looking at the floor
"Can I have a hug goodbye?"
Spencer gave him a quick hug and then walked away
"Don't worry sir, I'll talk to him and I'm sure that he will be fine by the time you get back" Garcia smiled
"Thanks" was all he said has he rushed to catch up with the others
"Don't worry poppet" Garcia started "after we finish this case we'll make some brownies ok? Brownies make everything better" she smiled
Xxxxxxxxxxx
Present day:
Spencer put his gun in the safe with a sigh. They had just returned from a case where a man had been taking women off the streets and chopping them into small pieces while they were alive to see how long they lasted before they died. Right now all he wanted was to curl up in bed with a book and try not to think about the women they were not quick enough to save
"Are you ok Reid?" Hotch asked
"Yeah I'm ok; I just can't stop thinking about the case. If I had just worked out his location quicker we could have saved those last two women."
"I know it's hard but we have to try not to dwell on the "what ifs", if I did that for every case I would probably be a complete mess"
"Yeah I know" he agreed reluctantly
"Hey I was thinking that tomorrow we could do something together?" Hotch said trying to change the subject
"Yeah...maybe... what did you have in mind?"
"I don't know" he confessed "maybe a movie? Or we could go to that second-hand bookshop you love? Or go fishing?"
Reid smiled "since when do you like to fish?"
"Well maybe I could learn to love it" laughed Hotch
Reid shifted uncomfortably "there are actually a few apartments that I would like to go and look at if you want to come with me?"
Hotch quickly hid the disappointment that flashed on his face "sure, that sounds good" he said trying to force himself to smile
"Well it's late," said Reid awkwardly "goodnight dad"
"Goodnight son" Hotch replied automatically
Xxxxxxxx
10 years ago:
Hotch was having a lot of trouble trying to find activities for Spencer outside of work. He had hoped that taking Spencer along to Jack's soccer games on the weekends might make him want to join in but so far Spencer had shown no interest. When Jack was around Spencer was happy to do all the things that normal kids love to do like play cars and trains, play hide and seek, and he happily played whatever crazy game jack made up and even let Jack talk him into pulling pranks on Hotch. Whenever Jack was not with them though Spencer would more often than not be curled up with a book or watching some crazy documentary.
"Did you ever have any hobbies when you were a child Spencer" Hotch asked one night while they were eating dinner
"No, not really, I was always too busy looking after mum and the only activity we did together was read. She would let me choose a book and then read to me for hours"
"Well then are there any sports or activities that you always wanted to try but didn't have a chance to?"
Spencer thought about it for a while "I never learnt how to ride a bike, because I never had one. I always thought that looked like fun"
"Hmm, that could probably be arranged, anything else?" Hotch smiled already thinking about buying him the perfect bike
"I'll have a think about it and let you know, if that's ok?" Spencer said quietly
"Sure buddy you just let me know" Hotch smiled
Xxxxxxxx
"Hey boy wonder, I was wondering if you would like to come to my place this weekend and hang out with me?" Morgan asked on Friday afternoon while they were getting ready to leave for the day
Spencer started bouncing around at the thought of a fun weekend with Morgan. "Yes yes yes!"
"Ok good" Morgan laughed "you better go and make sure Hotch doesn't mind though"
Spencer took off towards Hotch's office but his little legs couldn't keep up with him and he fell on the stairs hard and started crying. Hotch rushed out of his office to see the whole team running towards Spencer.
"What happened?" he asked as he got to Spencers side first
Spencer got up and threw himself at Hotch who had to steady himself so he didn't fall backwards
"I tripped on the...the... stairs" Spencer wailed "and I hurt my kneeee" he cried
"Let's go have a look" Hotch said calmly picking him up and carrying him into his office followed by the rest of his team members
"Are you ok Spence?" JJ asked with concern as Hotch sat him on the couch and pulled up his pant leg to look at his knee
"I'm ok" Spencer sniffed embarrassed to be caught crying in front of everyone in the office like a baby
"Well I think that your knee will be fine buddy" Hotch said righting Spencers pants and rubbing his knee
"It hurts" he said quietly climbing into Hotch's lap
"Sorry Hotch it was my fault that he tripped, I asked him if he wanted to stay at my place tonight and he was running up here to ask you" said Morgan
"It's not your fault Morgan, it's my stupid baby coordination" Spencer said with contempt and leaned into Hotch
"So you want to go to Morgan's place do you?" Hotch smiled down at Reid
All of a sudden Spencer wasn't sure he wanted to go with Morgan, would Morgan be able to take care of him like Hotch? What if Morgan got a call from some woman and decided to go out and leave him alone? What if he had another accident or a nightmare?
"Umm..."
"I promise that we'll have fun short stuff" Morgan said leaning over to ruffle his hair "and I promise not to let you fall down the stairs" he smiled trying to make Spencer smile too
"It's ok with me if you want to go Spencer" Hotch said
Spencer hesitated "ok" he said quietly
"Great!" exclaimed Morgan
"Ill drop him off to you in a little while Morgan, we have to go home first and get his stuff ok?"
"Ok I'll see you soon!" Morgan said happily
Once Morgan and the others had left his office Spencer shared his concerns with Hotch
"I'm sure Morgan wouldn't leave you alone and I'm sure that if any more accidents happen that Morgan can take good care of you but if you're worried then just take your phone with you so you can call or text me if you want to come home ok?"
"Ok" Spencer agreed
When they arrived at Morgans an hour later, Hotch gave him a lecture for Spencers benefit
"Make sure he doesn't eat too much sugar, or he won't sleep, make sure that he goes to bed at a reasonable time, make sure he brushes his teeth before bed, and make sure you keep an eye on him Morgan, we don't want any more accidents do we? And don't go out and leave him by himself" he gave Morgan his famous Hotch glare and winked at Spencer who giggled behind his hand so Morgan didn't see
"Its ok Hotch, I have looked after kids before you know"
"I'm not a kid!" Spencer insisted
"Ok, sorry kid, now say goodbye to your dad so we can have some fun already!"
Hotch picked Spencer up and kissed him on the forehead, "call me if you need me ok?"
"I will, bye daddy" Spencer waved as Hotch turned and walked back to his car.
Sorry it's not a very long chapter, thanks for reading!