Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/5975974.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Major_Character_Death, Rape/Non-Con,
      Underage
  Category:
      M/M
  Fandom:
      Criminal_Minds_(US_TV)
  Relationship:
      Aaron_Hotchner/Spencer_Reid
  Character:
      Aaron_Hotchner, Spencer_Reid, David_Rossi, Derek_Morgan, Jennifer_"JJ"
      Jareau, Emily_Prentiss, Penelope_Garcia
  Additional Tags:
      Will_Cause_Whiplash, Tags_In_Each_Chapter, Extended_Warnings_in_Each
      Chapter
  Collections:
      Evil_Author_Day_2016
  Stats:
      Published: 2016-02-15 Chapters: 2/2 Words: 20013
****** DarkJediQueen & Rivermoon1970's Evil Author Day 2016 ******
by DarkJediQueen, Rivermoon1970
Summary
     For EAD, we've decided to offer up previews of the two fics we are
     writing together.
  This work was inspired by
      Evil_Author_Day_2016 by DarkJediQueen, Evil_Author_Day_2016 by
      Rivermoon1970
***** Hotch Scratch Fever *****
Chapter Summary
     Title: Hotch Scratch Fever
     Fandom: Criminal Minds
     Year: Season 7
     Tags: Fluff, Kitten!Hotch, Magic,
     Ratings: NC-17
     Pairings: Aaron Hotchner/Spencer Reid,
     Characters: Aaron Hotchner, Spencer Reid, Jack Hotchner, Derek
     Morgan, JJ Jareau, David Rossi, Penelope Garcia, Emily Prentiss,
     Jessica Brooks,
     Spoilers: Up Through Season 7
     Summary: It was supposed to be a routine collar, well as routine as
     the BAU ever got. Unfortunately this was anything but routine and now
     Hotch is, well Hotch has been turned.......into a kitten. And no one
     knows how to turn him back.
     Words:
     Notes: None
     Warnings: None
Chapter Notes
     This story has been posted. You can find it here!
Hotch moved towards where he saw the sorcerer run when he'd surprised him. He'd
felt the magic hit him and he'd thrown it off as a distraction spell. He'd
already called the team to tell them where he was. He was trying to hold his
own till the others could arrive. He really hadn’t expected the ritual when he
came to just talk to the witness. Which, unfortunately turned out to be their
suspect.
Hotch released his wand from its wrist holster and raised it towards the
sorcerer, a binding spell just on the tip of his tongue, but he wanted to give
the suspect a chance to surrender peacefully.
“Abernathy Jones, this is the FBI. Stop what you’re doing. You are under
arrest.” Hotch had just enough time to duck around the side of the house when a
curse was aimed at him. Swearing to himself he was wondering where the hell his
team was. They should have already been there. The team had been unable to
exactly figure out the level of their UnSub when it came to magic so he had
hoped they would have hauled ass to get to him.
Hotch tried to look for an opening to get to the victim still unconscious in
the middle of the circle. When Jones had stepped away to look for him he took
his chance. He raced forward and hoped to feel a pulse it was faint but
thankfully still there. That was what got him. He'd stepped fully into the
circle. He felt the power around him and the circle snapped closed trapping him
inside.
“Just exactly what did you hope to accomplish Agent?” Jones stood just inside
with an arrogant smile on his face. There was nothing that Hotch could do and
he knew it. His only hope was that the team would arrive.
“You can stop this right now Jones. We have enough evidence to take you in. You
curse me and you’ll be assaulting a federal agent. You really don’t want to add
that to the extensive charges we have against you.” Hotch tried to get a
dialogue going to draw it out a little to give the team a little more time to
arrive. The look on Jones face told him that it wasn't going to work. They both
sent spells at each other at the same time.
Hotch dropped down next to the victim but he felt strange and couldn’t quite
put his finger on it. He knew something happened he just wasn’t sure what.
Jones was wrapped up in the binding spell that he had already prepared. He
started to feel weird. He knew spells and this one wasn't one that he knew,
that had him a little scared. When he heard loud footsteps coming towards him
he tried to hide even more. He had no clue what was making the noise as it was
much louder than a human's footsteps, even if it was his team rushing to him.
“Hotch.” Someone yelled. He thought maybe it was Prentiss but he couldn’t be
sure.
“Hotch.” That voice he knew. That was the voice of comfort and warmth. Wiggling
out of his hideaway he peaked up at the shaggy-haired man. Reid was a lot
farther away than his mind told him he should be for him being on the floor.
“Meow.” Wait, what? Did he just, “Meow.” What the everliving fuck was going on?
Turning around he tried to see the others and in the corner of his eye he
caught a long fluffy tail. The tip of which was moving back and forth. Glaring
at it he tried to lunge for the tail and tripped over the piece of cloth he was
currently sitting on. The tail disappeared and all he could see was something
black and shiny in front of him.
“Hotch where are you?” Reid called out to him again. His team was frantically
trying to find him. Reid finally looked his way and started to walk towards
him.
“Meow.” Dammit, he still didn’t know why he was doing that. He pushed himself
up from the sprawl trying to get the tail had put him in. Wiggling up he was
able to finally sit up on his back legs. Then he looked down at himself and saw
the two front legs. Letting out a tiny growl he finally came to the conclusion
that he was a cat. No not a cat a damn kitten. A small black kitten. He looked
around for something to compare his size and found his gun, in holster. He was
not much bigger than it. Well hell he thought and wondered just how he was
going to get out of this mess.
“Hotch?” Reid crouched down and looked him in the eye. “You’ve got to be
kidding me.” His hand moved towards him and Hotch wasn't sure if he wanted to
jump at it or run from it. “Hey, it’s okay. I know you’re probably scared but
it's me. It’s Spencer.” The hand didn’t come further but it was there steady
and waiting. Hotch leaned closer and sniffed. He knew what he was supposed to
smell but it was so much more. The scent of the paper files that he'd been
pouring over was strong but stronger was the scent of the books he'd been
reading and there was even the faint scent of gun oil from where he'd been
messing with his revolver the night before. Then there was the scent of Reid.
He leaned even closer and bumped his nose into the younger man's palm.
Reid didn't move that hand but his other raised up but it didn't move towards
him. Instead Hotch saw it stop with his hand clenched. That's when Hotch
noticed the rest of the team spread out behind Reid. Hotch turned to try and
get back into his hideaway but the clothes had dropped down. That would take
too long. Instead he saw his shoe, the shiny black thing and scrambled into it.
There was only one way that anyone could get to him and he could defend
himself.
A strange feeling moved down his hand, no paw and down into the tips. He felt
his paws catch in the lining of the shoes. His claws were out. Morgan stepped
closer to see what was going on.
“Pretty boy, where’s Hotch?” Morgan was looking around trying to find their
Unit Chief.
“Well, he’s in his shoe.” Hotch heard Reid tell Morgan.
“What?” Morgan bent down and put his hand in the shoe. Hotch hissed and took a
swipe at the intruding digits. Morgan yelped as he pulled his hand out and four
deep scratches lined his fingers. “What the hell Hotch?” He glared at the shoe.
“Morgan, he’s scared. Let’s just back off and let him calm down.” The team
backed off but Spencer sat in the circle and waited patiently to see what the
kitten was going to do. When Hotch didn’t hear any movement he slinked forward
and poked his head out and looked up to see Reid sitting there calmly.
"Meow," Hotch said again, cursing that he couldn't speak. Reid moved his hand
back but didn't place it over the shoe, just in front of it so that it didn't
seem like he was trying to grab him. Hotch leaned forward and up to butt his
nose against the palm again. Curling his finger slightly Reid scratched under
Hotch’s chin which had him purring and stretching his neck out for more. The
fingers curled tighter and his nails dug into his fur more. Hotch purred louder
and couldn’t help thinking just how good that felt. Slowly he moved out of the
shoe and crawled up Reid’s arm.
"Reid?" A new voice asked, it took Hotch a second to place it as Dave's voice.
“Well, I don’t know the spell involved but say hello to Hotch.” He carefully
held the little kitten in his hands. Hotch was still purring but as Dave and JJ
stepped close he stopped. Morgan had his fingers wrapped in a bit of his shirt
he'd pulled out from under his vest.
JJ looked between Reid and the kitten, her brows raised so high they
disappeared under her bangs.
“That’s Hotch?” She stepped forward a little more but Hotch hunched down in
Reid’s hands. He wanted to glare at her but he didn't know how, not yet at
least. Instead, he felt his fur start to raise on his back and instead of a
purr, his throat muscles shifted and he growled at her. JJ stopped moving and
Reid pulled him to his chest. He knew that in just a few seconds, he'd start
spitting. He wasn't sure what to think of the instincts that he was feeling.
"Go and secure the UnSub, Morgan. I have Hotch." Reid's voice sounded strong
but Hotch knew him well enough to hear the uncertainty. Morgan and Dave both
moved to the bound Jones and Hotch was happy to see that while the others had
been busy with him, Prentiss had been looking after the victim.
"Reid are you sure it's him?" JJ asked. She looked really unsure.
"He was hiding in Hotch's clothes and he meowed when I called Hotch's name.
Unless Hotch stripped naked and hid a kitten in his clothes, it's him."
Hotch took offense at Reid talking about him stripping naked on a case so he
nipped at the skin closest to him. Which ended up being the sensitive skin
between pointer finger and thumb. The younger man hissed and Hotch was jostled
into one hand and he watch Reid move the wounded flesh to his mouth. The glare
directed at him with serious eyes had Hotch ducking down and he rubbed his
cheek against the hand holding him in apology.
“I know, you’re scared and don’t understand what’s happening to you but don’t
worry, we’ll figure this out.” He held Hotch close to his chest and stroked his
back. Hotch closed his eye and purred against Reid’s chest. This was safety and
he started to relax a little more.
“Okay, we have Jones in the car and I’ve got Hotch’s clothes, gun, wand and
holsters for both,” Prentiss said as she carefully approached Reid. Of course
it was right then that Reid’s phone rang. He jostled Hotch to his other hand
and pulled out his phone. When he saw who was calling he groaned slightly. He
did not need Garcia at the moment but he answered to see what she wanted.
“Hey Garcia, did you have something for us?” Hotch opened his eyes and stared
at the phone wondering what his analyst wanted. He desperately wanted to answer
it but Reid was keeping the phone away from him.
“I’ve been trying to get ahold of Hotch and his phone keeps ringing and
ringing. I’ve left messages and tried again what is going on? Where’s the
bossman? What happened out there…”
“Pen, take a deep breath, okay?” Prentiss looked rather amused at the frantic
call from their resident technomage. “Hotch is….okay.” She didn’t want to say
over the phone what had happened because she didn’t want Garcia to worry more
than she already was.
When a hologram of Garcia popped up on Reid’s phone Prentiss knew right then
that she had made a mistake. She made Garcia worry which made her do weird
things with technology.
“And what does that mean oh my raven princess?” Garcia huffed as she looked at
Prentiss then Reid. Hotch’s eyes widened and he felt very mischievous as he saw
the hologram. Sitting up in Reid’s hand he leaned forward and swatted at the
glowing picture.
“What the hell was that?” Prentiss and Reid were trying to stifle a laugh when
Hotch kept batting his little paw at the hologram. Narrowing his eyes he
glared, he hoped, at the picture. Raising his butt in the air and lowering his
head he wiggled his body then pounced. The squeal from the phone had Hotch
trying to smile. His mouth wouldn’t quite made the gesture but Reid let out
snort he was laughing so hard.
“That Garcia is Hotch.”
“What? What? That can’t be Hotch.” The kitten was now sitting half in Reid’s
arms and half on the phone still trying to glare at the hologram. “Do kittens
glare?” The two stared at each other a moment then Garcia let out an odd noise
even for her. “Oh my god. That’s Hotch. How is that Hotch?” Hotch let out a
little huff of satisfaction before he moved back into Reid’s arms happy that he
at least figured one thing out.
“We’ll explain everything when we get home Garcia. Now what were you calling
about?”
“Oh, it was about Abernathy Jones. He was a professor of transfiguration and
physics magic at Iowa State University. In fact he knows many rare and unused
spells. He had a reputation for experimenting on his students. Most of the time
the spells could be reversed but every-so-often one of his victims would be
left in the form they had been transformed into. When the school’s committee
found out what was going on he was fired. Just before that his wife had left
him. She disappeared two days later.”
“Both of those events so close together must have been the stressors," Prentiss
said with a frown on her face.
“Come on, let’s get back to the station. Let the crime scene guys work.
Hopefully they can get a sample of the magic that was used.” Morgan had walked
back towards them to see how Reid and Hotch were doing.
“Plus we need Jones to tell us exactly what he did and how to reverse it.” The
team all piled into the waiting SUV’s with Reid in the back keeping a gentle
hold on Hotch. Curling up in the genius’s lap Hotch let exhaustion take over as
he felt compelled to take a nap. It was just a bonus that it was on his
favorite human.
Reid's hand rested on his back, rubbing slightly. Fingers trailed his spine and
he settled down more. It was heaven. He started to purr again and it just
helped him drift even farther into sleep. All too soon he was being jostled
awake and he let his annoyance be known. He heard the low chuckle from Reid and
turned his head to look up at him. He had glaring down now and he let Reid know
it. He wasn't prepared to see the younger man covering his face and trying not
to shake too hard from laughing.
“What’s so funny kid?” Dave started to walk with him towards the station
entrance.
“He figured out how to glare and it’s just too adorable.” Reid was still trying
to stifle his laughing as they walked through the doors into the station. Heads
looked up and Hotch was startled to see so many officers inside. He backed
along Reid's arm until he was tucked safely with something at his back and one
side. Something could only get at him from two sides. He could keep a better
eye on two better than three or four.
“Dr. Reid, I’m sorry I have to ask you to take the cat elsewhere. We don’t let
animals in the station.” The Ames Police Chief tells him.
"The cat is a witness and our Unit Chief. He goes where we go." Reid didn’t
wait for an answer as he strode over to the small conference room they had been
using during the investigation.The team followed behind him with Morgan taking
Jones to the holding cells. No one said anything as Reid sat down in the chair
that was farthest from the door. Hotch only crawled away from his side when
Reid was fully seated. He moved down and sat at the end of Reid's knee to look
around. Everything was so much bigger and he didn't like it.
Morgan came in a few minutes later after processing Jones and getting him in a
cell. They wanted to let him sweat for a bit before they started in on the
interrogations.
“Prentiss, you, besides Hotch, are the most attuned to magic. Do you know or
can guess the spell used?” Dave tried to keep the chuckle out of his voice as
he watched Hotch cleaning Reid’s fingers.
“Usually transfigurations are only done on a personal basis. I’ve never seen
another caster turn someone like this. It would take a lot of power.” She
leaned forward on the table and looked over at Reid and Hotch. “We have to find
his grimoire, or the spellbook he used if we can’t get him to reverse the
spell.”
"And if we don't find that?" JJ asked.
"Then someone is going to be getting a litter box and cat toys installed in
their home," Prentiss said.
Reid looked up from Hotch at that. "We are a long way away from that. Don't
even joke like that."
"Jones will talk," Morgan said from the edge of the room. He hadn't got that
close since Hotch had scratched him. Hotch was still sitting on Reid but he was
now cleaning himself.
"Have to give Hotch this. The only transfigurations like this that I have read
about, the target is turned into something that is an inverse to them. Hotch
must have scared Jones pretty bad to turn him into a small kitten." Reid looked
down at Hotch and saw that he had stopped cleaning himself and was glaring
again. He didn't even try and hold back the laugh. Hotch swatted at the hand
that had been petting him.
"Of course, he only swats at you with paws and me with claws." Morgan held up
his now bandaged fingers. Which made the whole team snicker. It took a few
minutes for them to all calm down and when they did they saw a smug looking
Hotch, of course. Dave looked up to Morgan.
“Alright, you want to do this?” Morgan nodded once and the two moved off
towards the interrogation rooms.
“Don’t worry Hotch,” Spencer said and he scratched the kitten’s head. “We’ll
get you out of this.” Hotch purred and rubbed his head against Spencer’s hand.
When food was brought in about an hour later by JJ and Prentiss Hotch started
mewling. It was Chinese which made Hotch meow even louder. When Spencer had
dished out some General Tsao’s Chicken on a plate Hotch immediately pounced on
it.
“Hotch,” Spencer yelped as he watched his food being eaten.
“You had to get his favorite Spencer.” JJ was laughing fairly hard at watching
Hotch try to eat the large cubes of chicken. Of course she shut up right away
when he pounced on her plate trying to steal some noodles. He had a long piece
on the table and instead of eating it Hotch started to play with it. By the
time Spencer had snatched him up he was fully entwined in a Chow Mein noodle.
“Now I just think you’re messing with us.” Spencer held him up in his hands and
looked right in his eyes. “Let’s clean you up.”
Hotch did not like the sound of that at all. He wriggled around to try and
escaped the hands holding him. He cursed Spencer's nimble fingers as the
younger man got a good hold of him.
"JJ, can you see if they have any Dawn in the little kitchenette?" Spencer
asked.
Hotch cried out once as the younger man carried him out the door of the
conference room, trying to block out the sound of the team laughing. He gave
another wiggle but Spencer just pulled him closer to his body, trapping him
even worse. He gave up again and resigned himself to his fate. He went limp in
Spencer's hands. He didn't figure it would be that bad. It was going to be
Spencer bathing him. Spencer was his favorite.
"Thanks, JJ," Spencer said as JJ followed him into the men's room and set the
small bottle of dish soap on the edge of one of the sinks. Spencer set Hotch
down inside the bowl the same sink.
"I'd lock the door so that someone doesn't come in and he escapes."
"It's Hotch, he's not going to try and escape."
JJ laughed and left the room and Spencer eyed where he set the cat and frowned
as he leaned over and locked the door. He'd never bathed a cat before. He knew
the mechanics were similar to bathing anything but that a cat was sentient.
This cat however used to be a person, was still a person in mind and bathing
someone was a rather personal experience. Hotch's fur was matted with the Chow
Mein sauce and his face had the spicy sauce from the chicken all over it. He
looked utterly adorable trying to wash it off using his paws. Spencer watched
him for a moment before moving back to him.
Hotch licked at his paw to get it wet and then rubbed it on his face then
licked the paw clean and started the process over again. It was working but it
was very slow going as the sauce was very thick. Spencer picked him up and set
him on the back of the sink. He turned the knobs to try and get the water to a
temperature that he thought wouldn't hurt Hotch's skin.
"Are you ready?" Spencer asked.
Hotch eyed the sink that had about an inch of water in it from where the water
wasn't going down the drain as fast as it was coming out of the faucet. He
reached out and batted at the water and jumped back at how it sprayed water all
over him. Hotch hunkered down trying to make himself small. He knew that he
shouldn't be afraid of the water but it felt so weird on his fur.
Spencer felt bad for him but they didn't need a sticky cat running around with
them until they got Jones to give up how to turn him back. He wasn't letting
his mind go elsewhere about what would happen if they didn't get him turned
back. He wasn't letting himself think of Jack yet.
“Are you going to let me do this or are you going to fight?” Spencer held Hotch
in one hand while he cupped a little water in the other. He then carefully
dripped it along his back letting him get used to the warm wetness. Hotch
protested. Loudly. Which of course made Spencer try to stifle a laugh, which
made him lose his grip on the kitten who then landed in the puddle of water in
the sink splashing Spencer fairly spectacularly. Hotch sat in the middle of the
water with a stunned look on his face. He didn’t know quite what to do.
Spencer acted quickly by grabbing the Dawn and putting a little in his hand
then gently held Hotch by the scruff of his neck and started to clean. Hotch
hung there in his hand with an air of petulance about him. Spencer wondered if
this was how Hotch felt bathing Jack when he was younger, wanting to laugh as
the boy fought him with attitude if not trying to get away. Finally he was
rinsing and grabbed the soft cloth that JJ had left him when she brought the
Dawn. He wrapped a traumatized Hotch up in the cloth and held him against his
chest. He rubbed gently trying to dry him and settle him at the same time. He
focused on Hotch's head first, carefully wiping around his eyes before going
after his cheeks. Next was his belly. The kitten started to purr as he was
rubbing the cloth all over his belly. When it was as dry as Hotch was going to
allow him to do, Spencer started to rub the cloth along his back.
Hotch stretched up his chest so Spencer could get at his back easier as well as
bump his now clean face on the underside of Spencer's chin. The genius couldn’t
help the smile that crossed his lips as Hotch rubbed his head along Spencer’s
cheek.
“I promise, we’ll figure this out.” Spencer sighed as Hotch curled up under his
neck and purred. He worked the buttons on his vest open and checked the shirt
underneath. Thankfully it was dry. He'd have to just swap the vest out. His
pants were a little wet but nothing that he couldn't stand for the small amount
of time it would take for them to dry. He reached over and unlocked the door,
opening it but he didn't step out. He looked back towards where the holding
cells were to make sure that no one was coming from that way. He was glad as
two officers came running.
Spencer ducked his head back into the bathroom and waited for them to pass. He
watched them as they made their way into the conference room where the others
were.
“Oh no, this isn’t good.” He held onto Hotch as he swiftly made his way into
the conference room. When he got there everyone was talking at once. Morgan and
Dave yelling at the officers that were trying to explain what happened. JJ and
Prentiss were trying to get the guys to stop but were having no luck. The
kitten in his arms shifted and then let out some ungodly screech that Spencer
swore he'd only heard when he'd stepped on a cat once at a neighbor's house
growing up. Every single eye in the room turned to look at Hotch and him and
their mouths all snapped shut. Hotch dropped his butt down into Spencer's palm
and just stared at them.
“Okay, what is going on?” Spencer walked fully in the room waiting for some
explanation for what the hell was going on. The problem was no one wanted to
speak-up. They knew that this news just might freak Spencer out and no one
wanted to do that. Spencer’s temper could be righteous and this was one of
those times that could possibly set him off. Finally it was Morgan who braved
the situation.
“Jones escaped.” Spencer’s eyes widened and he thanked every deity he could
that when he felt his knees buckle that there was a chair underneath to catch
him. He didn’t say anything, he couldn’t as his thoughts started pinging all
over the place.
“Wha-what?” He finally managed to get out.
“We’ll find him Reid. I promise but Jones is gone. He escaped right out of the
precinct. Seems someone decided to change out his cuffs from the spelled
binding cuffs to normal ones and he vanished.” Hotch jumped out of Spencer’s
vest and crossed the table getting as close to the officers as he could. Then
he let them have it. He was letting his displeasure at their stupidity be
known.
If it wasn't for the severity of the situation, Spencer knew that he'd be on
the floor rolling back and forth while clutching his sides at the image of tiny
kitten Hotch at the edge of the table hissing, spitting, and yowling at the two
officers. The hair on his back was up as straight as it could be.
Dave was doing his best to keep himself under control when he looked at the two
officers who are red in face with embarrassment.
“I would suggest you two going back out to Jones’s place and checking to see if
he is there. If you have a caster on your team take them and this time keep the
spelled cuffs on him.” Dave gave them his own glare and they quickly left to do
as he suggested.
About an hour later the officers came back empty handed. Jones was gone with no
idea how to find him. The team minus Spencer went to the house to gather
evidence and hopefully find the grimoire. Spencer sat back in one of the chairs
with Hotch curled up in his arm asleep again and tried not to think the worst.
When everyone finally made it back into the station after hours of combing
through Jones’s house they came back with very little information. They found a
spellbook but not Jones’s personal grimoire. Prentiss took the book and wanted
to study it to see if she could figure out the spell that could turn Hotch
back.
“There’s nothing more we can do. Jones is gone in the wind. We’re going to have
to just go back home and try to figure this out.”
“Who’s going to take care of Hotch?” Morgan was visibly shaken that they had
failed to keep the sorcerer locked-up. He was furious and tried to keep check
on his emotions. Dave smiled as the looked at Spencer holding a contented
sleeping kitten.
“I think Hotch already chose who he wants to take care of him.”
“What? I, I can’t take care of a cat.”
“Kid, he practically mauled Morgan, and though we can get close, he hunches
down into you. He chose you so that means you are going to have to take him
with you.”
Spencer wanted to glare down at Hotch but when he looked at the tiny sleeping
form in his hands his expression softened and he smiled to himself. When he
took a moment to think about it he didn’t mind taking Hotch with him.
“Well then I’m going to need to go to a pet store and get a carrier and JJ we
need to let the pilot know what happened so we don’t have any problems.” JJ
smiled and said she was on it. Morgan agreed to take Reid to the pet store
before it closed but they had to hurry because it was already getting late.
Dave said he'd call Strauss to warn her as well.
Thankfully the pet store was one that Spencer could take Hotch inside of. The
kitten woke up just as Morgan was putting the SUV in park. Spencer watched as
Hotch jolted awake and looked around his surroundings before he looked up at
Spencer and seemed to relax in that single instance. As he got out of the
vehicle, he lifted Hotch up to where he could climb onto his shoulder. He
settled where he was leaning against Spencer's neck, touching as much skin as
he could.
"I hope that Hotch remembers every single second of this because it would be a
great big injustice if he doesn't remember himself cuddling up to people,"
Morgan said as he rounded the vehicle. The doors of the store were not
automatic, given that animals were allowed inside, Spencer understood it.
"Hi!" One of the workers greeted as they entered. She thankfully didn't try and
reach out and touch Hotch. "He's a cutie. What's his name?"
"Hotch," Spencer answered and watched as her face crinkled up in confusion. It
was a really weird name for a cat but he wasn't going to tell her Aaron nor was
he going to make up some cat friendly name for him. "I need at least a carrier
for him."
"Okay, they are..." The worker stopped when she saw the guns on Spencer and
Morgan's hips. Her eyes widened and Morgan pulled his badge out. "They are in
aisle one."
"Thank you." Spencer looked up at the aisle listings and started in that
direction. He wasn't paying attention to Hotch at all then he had claws digging
into him and then no Hotch on his shoulder. He turned around to find Hotch
hanging from a bit of stretchy string. He had what looked liked a stuffed bird
in his mouth. Morgan was stopped dead just staring. The only thing that was
keeping Hotch in the air was that the string was attached to a pole and that
pole was rooted in a block of plastic. Spencer moved towards him to get him
away from it but before he could he heard the snap of a picture.
"You know that Mama is going to be mad if she heard this story and I didn't
have a picture."
"It's your head," Spencer said as he cupped Hotch from the bottom and lifted
him up. He was greeted with a growl and the kitten trying to pull the small
stuffed bird free to take with him. He almost backed off of Spencer's hand,
only quick thinking on Spencer's part and Hotch letting go of the bird saved
him from a tumble to the hard floor. "Why don't we find the carriers and then
we can see about a toy to keep you entertained on the flight home?"
Morgan snorted and Spencer turned to glare at him.
"Why don't you find the dog section and get Clooney a few toys and maybe some
treats?" Spencer asked. He forced an edge into his tone and watched as Morgan
raised his hands before backing away. Hotch meowed at him and Spencer grabbed
the toy from the shelf but he didn't let Hotch play with it. He marveled at how
much Hotch was like himself but then seemed to have moments where he was acting
purely like a kitten. The noodle incident and then the toy there. There was no
trace of the spellwork used to turn him into a cat and since he was the only
survivor, there was no way to go back over the victims. All of them had stayed
in their animal form for a long time after their death only changing to a human
body on the full moon. It's why it had taken so long to get the BAU out to work
on the case as there was only a jump in dead animals before it was figured out
that their bodies were staying transfigured after death.
There was a small bit of hope that Hotch would turn back with the full moon but
Spencer wasn't holding to that. The moon held power over things that no longer
were and Hotch was still alive. They would have to find Jones and he was in the
wind and there was no way that the FBI would approve them for a man hunt across
the country. The LEO and the local field office would be tasked with it. The
BAU would help and do their own searching from the office. Short flights to
places to check things out would be it. All the while, Hotch was going to be a
kitten. SInce it happened in the line of duty, he'd still get his normal pay
plus a hazard bonus.
"Meow," Hotch called as he stretched up and butted his nose into Spencer's,
trying to get his attention. Spencer looked down at him and he was graced with
a lick of tongue on his cheek. Hotch was worried about him. He rubbed their
cheeks together and the bussed the top of Hotch's head. Morgan wasn't around so
he could allow more familiarity with Hotch.
"I'm fine, Aaron. Just got lost in my head. Let's see if they have a carrier
that you'll deign to be seen in." Spencer smiled. Hotch swatted at his face
with claws retracted, pulling a laugh from him. "We don't know if you are going
to get bigger but we can go with one you like for now and get a bigger one
later if we need."
There was a big row of carriers and Spencer set Hotch down and let him move
along them until he plopped down in front of one. Spencer fiddled with the
latch until he had it open and Hotch crawled inside. He turned around in a
circle before settling down in a ball in the middle of it. He started to purr
to show that he liked it. Spencer picked it up and tipped it so that Hotch slid
to the front and caught him with one hand and his chest. The glare he got was
nowhere near the Hotchner glare and it made him want to break out in a laugh
but he didn't.
He started to make his way towards Morgan when he saw the row of collars. There
were all kinds of styles and colors but what got him were the rows of small
charms that could be attached. When he saw the little paisley colored tie charm
he had to stop and stare. Putting the carrier down he picked-up the charm and
held it out to Hotch.
“Meow.” Hotch batted at the little charm and sat up straighter in Spencer’s
hand. He almost pulled off a prim look and Spencer would swear later that he
actually stretched his neck up.
“You like that do you?” Spencer chuckled as he held onto the charm. “Well if
you want to wear it we have to find a collar.” Spencer watched as Hotch eyed
the choices with a very determined look. As Spencer passed by the rows nothing
caught his eye till the very end. It was a dark blue from the ‘fashion’ line.
Hotch reached out his little paw and started to bat at it. Spencer picked it up
and looked at the label.
“Seriously? Only you would find the Armani collar.” Spencer couldn't quite tell
but he thought Hotch had a very smug look on his face.
“Did you find one pretty boy?” Morgan asked as he stopped by them with a
handful of things for Clooney. Spencer held up the collar and the charm for
Morgan to see and the look on his face was priceless. "That'll look very nice
on Hotch. I found a nice blanket that we can put in the carrier for Hotch so
that he's not on hard plastic."
"Thanks." Spencer set the blanket inside the carrier and added the bird toy to
the inside as well. Hotch's eyed it. "We should probably get him some food and
and a set of dishes."
"Those are in the next aisle. Along with what looks like some nice canned
food.” Morgan had put all of his items in a basket and led Spencer to the
catfood aisle. Hotch was eyeing the cans rather dubiously and protested when
Spencer picked out one that looked rather promising. He next grabbed a snack
sized bag of dry food. Thinking about what else Hotch might need Spencer moved
to the aisle with the kitty litter and found a small pan that was made to
travel. It had a liner with the litter and a lid to dispose of it. He grabbed
one of those and threw it in the basket. Hotch looked at the pan then looked up
at Spencer almost as if to say I don’t think so. Spencer and Morgan both
chuckled at the displeased look on the kitten’s face.
“Come on kid. I think you have enough of the basics for tonight and the plane
ride home. Let’s get back and crash. I’m exhausted.”
“Yeah, it’s been an interesting day.” They got in line and Spencer was rather
amused by the look Hotch was giving the check-out girl when she kept saying how
cute he was. Spencer wasn’t sure if Hotch was annoyed or amused. They finished
paying then hauled everything to the SUV and made their way back to the hotel.
When the desk manager started to protest them bringing in an animal Morgan
quietly explained the situation and said that they would make sure Hotch didn’t
ruin anything in the room. Finally after some haggling they hauled everything
upstairs to their room.
Spencer was exhausted by the time he fell on the bed and finally felt
comfortable enough to let Hotch go. He was falling asleep when he felt a paw
batting at his nose.
“Meow.” Hotch was painfully kneading his chest but there was an anxiousness in
his little body that had Reid trying to wake-up.
“What is it Hotch? I’m exhausted.”
“Meow, meow,” The anxiousness increased and Hotch’s little body was vibrating.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Spencer was now sitting up anxious himself trying to
figure out what was wrong.
“Um Reid, I think he may have to go to the bathroom.”
“Mrrowr.” Hotch jumped off the bed, which almost gave Spencer a heart-attack,
and he ran to the bathroom door. Sighing Spencer got up off the bed and grabbed
the travel litter box and set it up under the open sink. Picking up the kitten
Spencer set him in the box and waited.
Hotch pawed at the hard things under his paws and found he definitely did not
like it at all.
“Mrowwwwwr.” He cried out and crawled out of the box without using it. He went
to the toilet and rubbed his head against the cool smoothness of it trying to
get Spencer’s attention.
“You’re kidding right?” Spencer was looking at him like he was nuts. When Hotch
became more demanding Spencer let out a very put upon sigh, picked Hotch up and
set him on the rim of the toilet seat. Finally Hotch got some relief but then
he started slipping. His little paws were sliding on the slick surface and he
was scrambling to try to keep ahold but unfortunately he had nothing his sharp
little nails could hook onto and with a horrified expression he slipped into
the toilet before Spencer could grab him. He let out a screech that had even
Morgan running into the bathroom in a panic.
“What happened?” He looked at Spencer holding a dripping Hotch up by the scruff
of his neck and he just lost it. He had been holding back all day but this,
this hit his limit and Morgan fell on his butt as peals of laughter issued from
his throat.
Spencer actually wanted to cuss him out till he looked over and saw the wide-
eyed expression on Hotch’s tiny kitten face and he just couldn’t help it
himself. This whole situation was utterly ridiculous and he finally let out the
laughter he had been holding in all day. He set Hotch down on a towel so that
he wouldn’t drop him. Then he fell next to Morgan laughing so hard he was
holding his stomach. It didn’t help anything when a very indignant Hotch
trotted over and shook his little body all over his laughing agents. Which of
course made them laugh even harder. It took several long minutes for the two
men to finally start to calm down.
Spencer was still laughing in starts and stops when tears started to fall down
his face. Morgan looked over at his best friend and noticed that he was no
longer laughing. The tears were real and Spencer was crying.
“Hey, Reid. What’s going on?” Morgan didn’t know quite what to do when he
scooted closer to Spencer and just pulled the young man against him and let him
purge his emotions. When it seemed he was finally spent Morgan felt it safe to
speak.
“Reid, what’s wrong?”
“What if I never get him back?” He asked more to himself than anyone else, he
also hadn’t realized what he said.
“What do you mean Reid?” Hotch was watching Spencer and it broke his heart to
see his favorite human crying. Mewling softly he slowly walked over and crawled
into Spencer’s lap and curled up trying to comfort him.
“We.” Reid wrapped a gentle hand around Hotch and scratched at the wet fur. “We
were together and he wanted me to move in. I, I got scared and we fought and
now, now I may not get a chance to fix this.”
“Reid, we’ll figure this out, okay?” Morgan didn’t want to ask a lot of
questions at the moment he knew if he pressed too hard Reid would pull back
inside himself and hold everything in. “We’ll get him back and you can fix
things with Hotch.”
Spencer just picked the kitten up and held him close to his heart, not caring
that he was still wet. Setting him on the bed Spencer slowly peeled out of his
clothes and crawled into bed. Hotch crawled up and circled a few times on
Spencer’s pillow then curled-up and fell asleep close to Spencer’s head.
When Spencer woke up the next morning he knew his sleep hadn't been restful. He
reached out for Hotch but the kitten wasn't on the pillow anymore. He sat up
and grabbed his glasses to look around. Morgan wasn't in the room either. He
looked at the clock and saw that he'd slept in. His alarms hadn't gone off. He
grabbed his phone and found that his alarms had been turned off. Next to the
phone was a sheet of paper. Morgan was going out to get breakfast for the two
of them that the team was taking care of closing down the case and he only
needed to worry about Hotch.
Looking around, Spencer saw that his go bag had been gotten into. His clothes
were strewn all over the place. He got up, stiff from sleeping wrong and
started to pick up his clothes. If he didn't know any better he'd say someone
had been going through it. When he had it all packed again, he was missing two
items. His vest that had got soaked the day before and a sock. He looked around
but Hotch was nowhere to be found. He started to panic. The bathroom door was
shut so he looked there but no kitten.
He closed his eyes and tried to imagine the room and where Hotch would go.
Morgan would have never let him escape when he left that morning. He'd looked
in the closet, under the beds, and behind the tv stand/dresser. Then he saw it
in the corner, the carrier. Sticking out from it was a bit of fabric that was
the same shade as his vest. He moved over and crouched in front of it. His vest
was inside with Hotch curled up on top of it, dead asleep. Clutched in his paws
was the missing sock as well. He looked adorable and Spencer didn't want to
wake him so he left him there. He grabbed his shower kit and moved towards the
bathroom so he could shower and get ready for the day.
After dressing, Spencer opened the bathroom door to find Morgan setting up food
on the small table.
"Morning."
"Good morning. How long has Hotch laid claim to my vest?"
"I tried to get it back but after the first swipe I gave up. He woke me up
going batshit with the sock," Morgan said as he handed over a cup of coffee.
"He kept flinging it up into the air and scrambling to find it again. He got it
up on the bed once and I now have bandages on both hands and my hip. He has
some sharp claws."
"He was playing?" Spencer looked back at the carrier and the sleeping kitten
within. Or had been sleeping kitten. Hotch was stretching with his back half
still in the carrier and his front half touching the ground he was stretched
out so much. When he was done he looked at the bed and took off at a run and
jumped until onto the bed, nearly missing the top. His front paws caught in the
bedspread and he hauled himself up. He stalked up to the pillow and then yowled
while turning. Spencer was moving towards him before he got fully turned and he
picked him up. As soon as he had Hotch up to his neck, the kitten started to
purr.
Hotch didn't like waking up and Spencer not being where he had last seen him.
He started to purr as soon as Spencer had him up to his head. Morgan looked
worried but he didn't move closer or say a thing. Instead, he moved over to the
table where the smell of bacon, eggs, and potatoes was making his tummy growl
in hunger. He meowed at Spencer and hoped that Morgan got enough for him.
"Hungry? Let's get you set up for food. Morgan, where are the bags with his
food dish and food?"
Hotch pulled away from Spencer and looked him in the face. He was not going to
eat the bag of food he'd bought and he really wasn't going to eat the wet food.
He watched as Spencer pulled out the bowl and washed it. It was dried and set
down with dry food inside. Hotch batted at the bowl until it tipped over. The
dry food scattered everywhere and he ignored it, even though he wanted to bat
the pieces around the floor.
"Hotch!"
"Maybe he wants the wet food," Morgan said as he sat down and started to eat
his food. Hotch started towards him, not caring about not wanting to be touched
by anyone but Spencer if it got him bacon. He sat at Morgan's feet and meowed
and stretched up his leg letting his claws barely catch in the cloth of his
pants. He'd learned while playing with the sock overnight how much he could
bring out his claws and not catch what was under the cloth. "I think he wants
the wet food."
Hotch sat down and glared at the dark skinned agent. He just stared until he
felt Spencer's hand wrap around his belly and pick him up. He was set down in
front of the bowl. Instead of the dry food, there was a mass of wet food that
looked like the food he'd fed Jack as a baby except worse. He leaned over and
smelled it and then looked at Spencer who was moving towards where Morgan was
uncovering the boxed food. The younger man took a drink of his coffee and sat
down. Hotch spared a glance at his bowl of food and then made a decision that
he wasn't eating it if it was the last thing in the world.
He stared at Spencer and tried to figure out the best way to get what he wanted
and that was bacon. He waited for Spencer to settle into the seat and crossed
his leg over his other. That meant he was relaxed. He stalked around the room,
trying not to catch the eye of either human. He made it around to Morgan's bed,
which was closest to the table and crawled up it. He settled down with his butt
in the air. Listening, he waited for the perfect time to strike.
"So...last night," Morgan started.
"I didn't mean for you to find out like that. That was another thing that Hotch
and I fought about. I wasn't ready for it."
"You said Hotch wanted you to move in. How long have you two been...together?"
"A year. We celebrated a year together a month ago." Spencer had bacon in one
hand and reached out for his coffee with the other. Hotch ducked his head down
and prepared to launch. As soon as Spencer set his coffee down he jumped. He
landed on Spencer's lap, right in the middle and grabbed the bacon from his
stunned hand. He bound off the other side and landed with his prize in hand.
"He always goes for the bacon. Always."
"It seems to me like he's choosing you, Reid. If he was upset, he wouldn't be
like this with you."
Hotch settled down and started to chew on his bacon. He was so focused on it
that he didn't see the hand going for him. At the first touch, he growled. He
tried to sound as loud as he could and as menacing but the hand still gripped
him and lifted him up. He found himself in Spencer's lap. The human didn't try
and take the bacon from him and let go of him as soon as he was settled.
"He obviously was trying to butter you up to get food," Spencer said. He sighed
and placed a napkin on his knee and set down a bits of scrambled egg. Hotch
dove for them and started to eat. He watched as Spencer picked up the bacon and
broke it into small pieces.
“I just got so scared. He offered me everything I've ever wanted and I kept
wondering, why me?” He unconsciously scratched at Hotch’s head.
“You really have to ask that Spencer? I see you guys around each other and
there’s a lot you have in common. I know he holds back a lot with everyone else
but not you. I think, when this is over, you just need to tell him everything.”
Morgan sat back and watched Spencer process and smiled at how careful and
loving he was with Hotch. The kid doesn't even realize he's in love.
“I know. But, what if…” Morgan cut him off before he finished that thought.
“We’ll get him back.” Hotch tried to follow what was being said but his whole
focus was on the food that Spencer kept supplying him with. When Hotch was
finally done he sniffed the air and smelled the coffee that Spencer kept
sipping. He looked between Morgan and Spencer and saw they weren’t paying
attention to him when he leapt on top of the table and peered inside the coffee
cup. He was hesitant for a moment but decided to try it anyway. He licked into
the liquid and waited for the taste to settle. He knew what it should taste
like but he wasn't sure it would still taste like that. He took another drink
when the taste didn't make him want to run from it. He sat down and started to
enjoy a drink. Spencer hadn't left a lot of the coffee in the cup so he had to
lean down really far after a minute. He leaned over too far and him and the cup
tumbled down.
"Hotch?" Spencer's voice sounded worried and he was picked up. He was pulled to
the genius's chest and settled there. "You just live to get dirty don't you?"
"Meow," Hotch said. He stayed still while Spencer used a napkin to wipe off the
little bit of coffee he'd gotten on his face.
"I swear that he's messing with me," Spencer said as he settled the kitten on
his chest. He leaned down and grabbed the bag that held the collar and charm.
Hotch sat up as soon as he saw it and held still for Spencer to wrap the collar
around his neck and buckle it. When it was fastened he affixed the charm on the
front. The kitten started to purr as soon as he pulled his hands away and
rubbed his face against Spencer's.
"No, he's still Hotch, just with a few added impulses." An alert went off on
Morgan's phone. "Team's done and will meet us at the airstrip. Strauss is
calling for us to be pulled back but from home we can track Jones to our
heart's content as long as paperwork and cases came first.”
***** The Mirror Crack'd *****
Chapter Summary
     Title: The Mirror Crack'd
     Fandom: Criminal Minds
     Year: Season 7
     Tags: Mirror Verse, Hard BDSM, D/s, Impact Play, Mind Games, Twisted
     Love, Bad Science, Ephebophilia,
     Ratings: NC-17
     Pairings: Aaron Hotchner/Spencer Reid, Mirror!Aaron Hotchner/
     Mirror!Spencer Reid, Mirror!Aaron Hotchner/Spencer Reid, Aaron
     Hotchner/Mirror!Spencer Reid,
     Characters: Aaron Hotchner, Spencer Reid, David Rossi, Derek Morgan,
     JJ Jareau, Emily Prentiss, Penelope Garcia, Jack Hotchner, George
     Foyet,
     Spoilers: Up Through Season 7
     Summary: The science was fun, and though they knew there was an
     element of danger Spencer thought they had all the calculations down
     pat. But, when the blast door sealed shut he knew he had only
     seconds. Those seconds changed his life. Thrown into a world he
     doesn't understand, with danger coming from those he trusted, can he
     get back home in one piece? Or will he be lost and damaged forever?
     Words:
     Notes:
     Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence, Character Death, Torture,
     Underage, Rape, Child Abuse, Canon Child Rape,
Chapter Notes
     Okay, so this started as a prompt from the Hotch/Reid prompt meme and
     has spanned well...something massive. Once we get the first part here
     fully edited ready, we'll be posting it up as it's own story, out of
     the EAD post.
     You can visit the HxR Prompt Meme HERE!
     And this WIP has started being posted. You can find it HERE!
 
Our World
 
Spencer Reid grabbed his phone as it buzzed. He was almost done with his files
for the day and Hotch had promised him that he could leave as soon as he was
done. It was near two and he figured he could be out of the office by two
thirty if no one bothered him. It was a text from Hotch asking him to come to
his office before he left. Spencer set his phone back down and worked his way
through the rest of his files.
 
At two twenty nine he slipped his files into the outbox and grabbed his phone.
He sent off a text, stood up, and moved towards Hotch's office. His boss was on
the phone but waved him in when he stepped into the doorway. The man motioned
for him to shut the door and Spencer did, taking the seat across the desk from
him.
 
"No, it's fine. I'll just slip out with Reid and I can go right to your place
to pick up Jack." Hotch smiled a little and laughed. "No, Reid has other plans
with a friend tonight so he's not coming over for mac 'n cheese and hot dogs."
 
Spencer laughed, drawing one of his legs up into the chair to rest his knee on.
He let his mind wander towards what he was going to be doing with Charlie later
on in the day and how much it was going to help him relax. Stress relief was
high on the things that he needed to do. It was why Hotch had asked him to try
and find something to do once a week that was fun for him, once the man had
confronted him about the headaches. Getting lost in the science and helping
Charlie had  helped immensely with his headaches. Every once in awhile that
also meant spending time with Hotch and Jack relaxing and letting go. Mainly
Hotch.
 
"I'll see you soon, Jessica." Hotch hung up the phone and looked at Spencer.
There was that soft look in his eyes again that Spencer cherished seeing. It
was different than the look that Jack always got. Different but it meant mostly
the same things. They'd been dancing around this for months, moving in slow
steps closer and closer. There was no rush to it. The most intimate was when
they had been sharing a room three weeks back and Spencer had been having
trouble sleeping. Hotch had slipped into bed with him and held him. The feel of
the other man with him had allowed him to slip into a dreamless sleep, his mind
stopping turning over the facts of the case as it focused on the new
sensations. And those sensations lulled him into sleep.
 
"What did you need, Hotch?" Spencer asked. He kept his leg up in the chair,
staring at his boss.
 
"Jessica and Jack are going to see a movie tomorrow night. Something animated
that I am happy for not seeing. I guess they have been making plans for weeks
to have a date night. Jack's been saving up for it."
 
"That's sweet."
 
"Yes. Jack had me get his suit out of my closet. It's at the dry cleaners and
Jessica is picking it up tomorrow."
 
Spencer smiled, watching as Hotch packed up his things for the day. Something
must have come up for Jessica and Hotch needed to go and take care of Jack.
"What happened?"
 
"Jessica's dad needs her for something and Jack doesn't want to go with her. I
told her it's fine. I can take the afternoon. I have all of my have to dos
done. I figure that we can both make a break for it at the same time and it
won't raise too many eyebrows."
 
"Okay. I'm done. Was that all?" The timeline didn't fit. Jessica had just
called. He'd got the text a half an hour ago.
 
"No. Did you want to go to dinner with me tomorrow night?" Hotch's body
language was normal but there was something in his eyes. Wariness, anxiousness.
Spencer let his eyes move up and down what he could see of Hotch's body and the
longer he was silent the more his hands moved, the sound of shifting feet
sounded from under the desk.
 
Spencer swallowed. "A date?"
 
"Yes." Hotch relaxed again and Spencer let his leg drop down to the floor. He
sat up straight and smiled. As he did, Hotch's whole body fully relaxed.
 
"Of course." There was no hesitation in accepting. They had been working
towards it and he was actually shocked that Hotch was asking. He figured that
they would circle around each other for a while longer. They both knew where it
was leading but were enjoying getting to know each other outside of work fully
before even attempting to add another layer. Obviously the other man thought
that he was ready. Spencer knew that he was as well.
 
"Dress nice. I have us reservations at seven. I'll pick you up at your place."
Hotch stood up and grabbed his briefcase. Spencer stood up as the older man
neared his chair. They walked together to the door. Just as Spencer was
grabbing the knob, he felt a hand on his upper arm and he was being spun a
little around. He looked at Hotch in confusion. The older man stepped into his
personal space and before Spencer could stop himself he was taking a step back.
His back pressed into the wood of the door. "Spencer, can I kiss you?"
 
"Yes." Spencer closed his eyes as Hotch stepped in again. The pressure on his
lips was light until he pressed back in as well. The hand on his arm shifted up
to cup the back of his head then the other man was pressing him farther into
the door. It felt natural to slip his tongue out from between his lips and
licked at Hotch's lips. He felt the first tentative touch of tongue on his own
and couldn't help the moan that escaped. The older man pulled back quickly and
Spencer was a little dizzy.
 
"If I didn't stop, we weren't going to."
 
"I know." Spencer reached up and cupped the left side of Hotch's face and
pressed their lips together for one last chaste kiss before the man stepped
fully away from him.
 
"Go have fun at Georgetown. I'll talk to you tonight, yes?"
 
"Yes. Have fun with Jack." Spencer turned to open the door and felt a brush of
hand at his shoulder and it trailed down to the small of his back before
lifting away. His step stuttered as he took the first one out of the office
when he had the door fully open. He heard the chuckle from Hotch before he got
his feet under him. He wanted to turn his head and stick his tongue out at him
but not here. Not at work.
____________________________________________________________________
 
Spencer settled down in front of the computer that was in the corner of the
lab. He could hear Charlie Epps moving around behind him. He had been happy
when Charlie had settled in the area after his going abroad. He finished the
mathematical sequence and hit enter. For Charlie this was his lifeblood but for
Spencer it was fun. It was a chance to unwind and be fully himself. To revel in
science and not have to watch what he says. He can say anything and Charlie
understands it. From the most complex equation to the weirdest scientific
theory. He loved his team and he enjoyed working with them but he hadn't
realized exactly how much he would miss this.
 
"Spencer, have you finished inputting all the data?"
 
"Yes. It's all in there." Spencer turned in his chair to look at Charlie. His
friend had been at Georgetown for a few months studying the God Particle with
CERN. Charlie had had a breakthrough earlier in the week while Spencer had been
on a case and they were a lot closer to replicating the recent experiments
coming out of CERN. The biggest breakthrough before that had been when they had
got the scale model of the  Hadron Collider working in the lab. One of only two
in the world that had been successful at this scale. The rest of the people
working with Charlie were already gone for the day having put in at least
twelve hours. He liked working with just his friend. It was fun.
 
"Good. Are you ready?" Charlie moved towards the door that separated the
collider from the rest of the lab with thirteen and a half inch Lexan. The rest
of the walls were all steel and concrete. Spencer followed him into the main
computer bay and stood behind as Charlie started up the sequence. It was almost
ten o'clock and Spencer had another hour before he had to leave to be able to
get at least enough sleep to function at work. And on his date with Hotch.
 
Rubbing at his eye, Spencer was happy he'd changed into his glasses before
coming to see Charlie. The rooms in the lab were very dry and between them and
sitting at the computer his eyes always started to dry out some and with
contacts it made his eyes itchier than they already were.
 
"Go." Spencer watched as the enter button was hit before he moved his gaze to
the collider. His mind was supplying the graphics needed to understand what was
happening. He gripped the back of Charlie's chair tight. If something was going
to go wrong it would be in the next ten point seven seconds. He could feel his
friends agitation like it was another person in the room.
 
The time for a problem to pop up came and went. Spencer counted the seconds
after, giving it another ten and Charlie released a breath. He turned his head
to look at Spencer, smiling.
 
"Ready for me to go and collect the data?" Spencer grabbed the notebook that
the rest of the data was written on.
 
"Go. We can introduce the God Particle in a few minutes if the data is what we
want." Charlie stood up to move to the computer bay behind him while Spencer
moved to the door. The blast door opened and he entered the room. He looked at
the collider and smiled. The screen of the computer in the corner was full of
information and Spencer took his time collecting it. Everything was lining up
with what they wanted and needed. He had just wrote down the last little bit
when he turned. Charlie was trying to open the blast door, pressing the
emergency pneumatic button. It was two seconds later that the klaxon started to
go off. Spencer raced to the door, pressing his button but it wasn't moving.
Spencer looked around and tried to find something to hide behind when he
remembered the small alcove where some of the servers were located. Cursing
that fact that something bad was going to happen and he wasn't going to get his
date, Spencer moved his fastest. He ran to it and just as he touched them he
felt the concussive force and then nothing.
===============================================================================
 
Mirror World
 
Spencer walked into the house with a spring in his step. He knew Aaron would be
pleased with the information he was able to get from the woman. This was their
first big breakthrough on Foyet’s people and it’s just what they needed to
fight against him. Spencer went immediately to the bedroom and took off his
clothes. His hand rested on the collar around his neck and smiled. He put his
clothes away, Aaron did not like even the slightest bit of messiness. He had
learned that the hard way a long-time ago. Spencer had a getaway room that he
was allowed to make as much mess as he wanted. Of course that mostly consisted
of papers and research. He wasn’t messy, though. Too many years having
cleanliness and neatness just about pounded into his brain he unconsciously
kept things in their designated places.
 
He took another moment before he stepped into the bathroom and got ready to
take a shower. When the water was finally warm he stepped under and sighed at
the feel of the pounding water cascading over his mostly hairless body. He’d
gone through laser hair removal, only keeping the hair on his head, eyebrows
and his groin, at Aaron’s insistence. Of course it wasn’t that hard to give in
to what the man wanted, Spencer would always give in, no matter what it was
Aaron wanted. The man had saved him from a life of pain and terror. The only
pain he received now was consensual and wanted. Rewards for a job well done.
 
After he was clean he grabbed the bottle of water resistant lube and started to
prepare himself. By the time he slid in the plug and seated it properly he
couldn’t help the surge of desire. His cock wasn’t hard though and that was
another thing he had quickly learned to control, another thing he understood.
His erection and his pleasure belonged to Aaron and it was something he never
forgot. Of course the rewards for obedience far outweighed anything else
Spencer could think of and he happily gave his submission to the man that had
saved him.
 
Spencer hummed as he dried himself off, making sure every part of him was
completely and thoroughly dry. Aaron hated it when even his hair dripped wet.
When he was done he stood in front of the full-length mirror admiring the scars
that riddled his body, remembering just when he received each and every one and
loved them. He brushed a hand over the piercings, the ones on his nipples and
the one at his belly button. He sighed softly as he smiled and admired himself
in the mirror. He knew intellectually that he was damaged, knew exactly who and
what he was and he had absolutely no desire to change it. He loved every single
moment of his life. Aaron didn’t just use his body, which he could bring him to
the most glorious heights, then down into absolute perfection when he was
rewarded with subspace. Aaron used his mind as well, and he gladly let himself
be used. He was a tool, a precision instrument that could strike swift and
deadly. He trained his body as well as he trained his mind. He no longer
worried about bullies or adults who wanted to use him up, he had power and he
relished it.
 
He stepped away from the mirror and walked back into the bedroom but didn’t get
dressed. He moved to the side of the bed and pulled out the sub-bench, slowly
lowered himself, then wrapped his legs around the underside and sat up with his
back straight. He bowed his head and laid his hands on his thighs palms-up,
holding the pose he waited for Aaron to come home, hoping for a reward for the
information he got on Foyet’s operation.
____________________________________________________________________
 
When Aaron came home the first thing he did was to seek out his son and find
out how his day was. He found the boy in his room reading on his bed, the room
ruthlessly clean with his stack of homework neatly sitting on his desk. It was
no less than what Aaron would expect from his son.
 
“Jack, were you good today?” Aaron pulled the boy into his lap and gave him a
hug.
 
“Yes Dad. Uncle Derek says I’m getting better at my hand-to-hand and Emily let
me shoot a glock. That was harder than the Colt Diamondback, but Emily said I
learn quickly so I should be able to handle it better soon.”
 
Aaron smiled and kissed the top of Jack’s head, his pride in his son clearly
written on his face.
 
“Yes, you will. Did you get all of the homework Spencer set out for you done?”
 
“Yes, it’s in my folder for Papa to check.”
 
“Then you get two more hours reading time, then it’s dinner. If Papa says your
homework all looks good we’ll watch a movie, okay?”
 
“Yes. Can we watch Die Hard? Please Daddy?” The ten-year old jumped off Aaron’s
lap and had such excitement in his eyes Aaron just couldn’t say no.
 
“Of course. You can read in here or if you want to go into the library you
can.”
 
“Thank you Dad.” Jack jumped up excitedly as he ran towards the library. Aaron
chuckled at his son and picked-up the folder with Jack’s homework and walked
towards his bedroom.
 
Entering the bedroom his eyes immediately took in Spencer. He smiled as he
walked around him, admiring every single naked inch of him. He didn’t touch
him, not yet. He was going to let the man wait, raising the anticipation.
 
Without saying a word Aaron entered his walk-in closet and carefully stripped
putting each piece of his bespoke suit back in it’s exact spot. He did the same
with his shoes, watch and cufflinks. He threw the fitted button-up and boxers
in separate bins. One for the dry cleaning, and one for the regular laundry.
 
Opening a drawer, he pulled out a pair of black linen pants and a tight black
t-shirt. After he was changed he stepped back into the bedroom and was pleased
that Spencer hadn’t moved. He moved one of the vanity chairs and placed it in
front of Spencer then lowered himself in the chair. He reached behind Spencer’s
head and grabbed his hair and made him look-up.
 
“And how was the rest of your day my Pet? Was your errand successful?”
 
Spencer tried not to close his eyes at the feel of the hand in his hair. Aaron
knew just how much pleasure Spencer got from him grabbing and pulling his hair.
Aaron rested the other hand just under Spencer’s neck right at the breastbone.
The promise of either pleasure, or pain which depended on what Spencer was
going to tell him.
 
“The woman gave me everything. Names, dates of possible attacks against you and
their current base of operations. She also gave me the name of the new agents
in Foyet’s unit. I haven’t written it down yet. Wanted to wait for you.” Aaron
was more than pleased with how well Spencer was controlling himself and the
information was a boon. He hadn’t been sure how much the woman knew but it was
worth it to hear that she had known the names of the new agents.
 
“And what did you do with the woman, Pet?”
 
Spencer smiled a cruel smiled as he looked-up at Aaron with soft dreamy eyes.
 
“She screamed for me so pretty, Sir. Then I made her light go out and it was
beautiful.”
 
“Then you deserve a reward, Pet.” Aaron slid his hand up and lightly wrapped
his fingers around Spencer’s neck eliciting a sharp intake of breath and a
shiver. Slowly he released him then slid his hand further up to cup Spencer’s
cheek and leaned down to kiss him softly as his fingers tightened on the sub’s
hair. He pulled away after a moment and ordered Spencer to stand. Aaron walked
to a large locked cabinet and taking the key from around his neck he opened it.
 
“Come here Pet.” He gestured for Spencer to join him. As soon as the young man
was standing in front of him Aaron turned him to look inside the cabinet. He
wrapped his arms around Spencer, kissing and licking up the side of his neck.
“Choose two.” Aaron whispered in Spencer’s ear making the sub shiver in
anticipation.
 
Aaron heard Spencer suck in his breath as he ran his hand over each of the
items hanging in the cabinet. It took him a few minutes to decide and Aaron
stayed patient. Spencer finally picked up a suede and silicon knotted flogger
and the long split-tail bullwhip. He turned in Aaron’s arms and handed the two
impact instruments to him.
 
Aaron set the items on the bed then pulled open a drawer with various sized
compartments. Almost like a jewelry drawer, but this one held so much more.
Taking out what looked-like a set of teardrop charms he attacked them to
Spencer’s nipple rings which made them pull down, they were small weights
specifically made just for this purpose. He then pulled out a y-chain and
attached the two ends to the nipple rings and the other to the belly ring, the
slight weight of the chain also pulled on the nipple rings.
 
Aaron then reached in and pulled out a leash that he threw on the bed. The last
thing he took out before they left the room was a soft leather cock cage. He
took a moment and grabbed Spencer’s half-hard cock and roughly stroked till he
was fully erect. He snapped each band together making sure it was snug against
Spencer’s cock, keeping him erect but it would also prevent him from coming too
soon.
 
“Go to your closet and put on the purple and black robe, nothing else.” Aaron
rumbled in Spencer’s ear.
 
Biting his lip Spencer turned and immediately left the main room. He came back
a moment later with the robe tied around his waist to keep it closed. Picking-
up the leash Aaron attached it to Spencer’s collar and tugging lightly on it he
signaled Spencer that they were leaving the bedroom. They padded softly through
the large house till they got to the stairs that led to the dungeon.
 
As soon as they entered and the door clicked shut Aaron grabbed the belt of the
robe and untied it. Slowly he slid the robe off Spencer, and stepped closer to
capture his mouth in a deep kiss. He felt Spencer’s arms come around him and
felt how his lover moaned in pleasure. He allowed the small indiscretion for he
enjoyed kissing Spencer more than anything else. Aaron licked at his lips
encouraging Spencer to open for him.
 
They stood wrapped together devouring each other’s mouths, each kiss hungrier
than the last. Each kiss, each touch was calculated on Aaron’s part, he wanted
Spencer hard and aching. Before the night was done he knew he’d have Spencer
begging for his cock. Just that thought alone made Aaron hard, but he had too
much control over his own body and would only come when he was buried in his
sub’s ass.
 
Aaron pulled back and grabbed Spencer’s right wrist and gently forced his arm
back behind him. He did the same with the left then held both wrists in an iron
grip. Sliding his free hand over Spencer’s now flushed skin Aaron took the time
to relish in the feel of each scar as he slowly slid his hand down to grip
Spencer’ already leaking cock.
 
“Should I let you come Spencer?” Aaron asked as he gripped the caged cock in
his hand tight.
 
Spencer whimpered in his arms and tried not to thrust.
 
“Words Spencer, or this will end.”
 
“Please, Sir.”
 
“What’s your safe word?”
 
“Desmios.” Spencer practically whined at what Aaron was doing to him. The word
had been picked by Spencer a long time ago because he loved the Greek language.
The younger man had chosen the word to show he was bound to Aaron. Forever.
 
“Will it take the edge off Pet?” Aaron kissed him then slid his tongue up along
Spencer’s cheek.
 
“Yes.” Spencer whined as his eyes closed and his head lolled back.
 
“I’m going to take off the cage and remember don’t come.”
 
“Yes, Sir.”
 
Aaron unsnapped the cage and slipped it in the pocket of his pants. He lowered
to his knees and took Spencer’s now engorged cock in his mouth. Slowly he slid
his lips up and down the hard flesh before he eventually let it slide all the
way to the back of his throat. He released Spencer’s wrists and gripped his
hips with both hands then relaxed his throat and let Spencer slide even more in
his mouth. He was deep throating his sub knowing it was going to be the
quickest way for him to achieve release. He knew Spencer wanted to touch, but
he waited for permission. Aaron lifted a hand and grabbed one of Spencer’s and
placed it on his head, it was an unspoken signal that it was okay to touch him.
As soon as Spencer buried his fingers in Aaron’s hair, he felt he was close to
release. Aaron hummed as he made little bobbing head movements keeping the head
at the back of his throat. Spencer grunted as he came down Aaron’s throat.
 
Aaron stood and kissed Spencer once again, letting the sub chase the flavor of
himself in Aaron’s mouth. It didn’t take long to get his sub hard again and
when he did he put the cage back on then led him to the wall that hand chains
dangling from it. Aaron had Spencer face the wall and he chained his arms out
to the sides. Aaron put cuffs at wrists, elbows and upper arm to help support
him. He then put cuffs around his ankles and thighs.
 
“So beautiful for me Spence. If you want to cry out, you can. I’ll have you
begging for my cock before we’re through, isn’t that right Pet?”
 
Panting hard as he leaned into the wall he looked to the side, “Yes, Sir.”
 
Aaron had put the two items Spencer had picked out on a table near the wall.
But before he used either of those he picked-up a soft suede flogger that he
would start with. This was used to let Spencer settle and let himself get in
the right headspace for what Aaron had planned.
After working Spencer over for a few minutes he exchanged instruments and
grabbed the knotted flogger. He didn’t hold back. Each stroke of the whip made
such beautiful sounds against Spencer’s body it made Aaron hard. When Spencer
started to break out in a sweat and his body was full of welts Aaron paused.
 
“Tell me how you are Spencer.” Aaron grabbed Spencer’s hair holding his head
up.
 
“S’good. Sir.” Aaron knew that Spencer was slipping into subspace but he wasn’t
quite all the way there. Smiling he stepped away and went to the small fridge
and pulled out a bottle of water then grabbed a straw and put it in so it would
be easier for Spencer to drink.
 
“Drink.” He commanded.
 
Spencer looked up at him with glassy eyes and grinned. Aaron put the straw in
his mouth and let Spencer take a few sips. Taking it away he set the water on
the table then exchanged the flogger for the bullwhip.
 
Aaron took a moment, snapping the whip expertly against the floor Spencer’s
body shook with each loud crack that resonated through the air. When he was
satisfied with his wrist movements he snapped the whip against Spencer’s body,
who then cried out at the sudden flare of pain. The split tail with the sharp
leather darts on the end making even more pronounced marks on the subs body.
Pulling back, he waited a moment and snapped it again hitting the soft flesh.
Spencer screamed out and Aaron hardened even more.
 
“Sir, please, sir fuck me, please fuck me.” Spencer was begging with each crack
of the whip against his body. Aaron gave his sub a few more strokes and only
stopped when he saw how much Spencer was shaking with need.
 
He set the whip aside and grabbed a towel from the stack he kept next to the
large sink. He wet one with some warm water then walked back to Spencer and
carefully wiped the sweat off his body.
 
“Please,” he was begging to the point of tears. Aaron reached down and started
to pull out the plug when Spencer groaned. Smiling to himself he gripped the
base of the plug and slowly fucked Spencer with it as he wrapped an arm around
his front and tugged on the chain. Spencer arched almost violently at the
sudden pull then slumped back forward.
 
“Please what Spencer?” Aaron whispered in his ear.
 
“Please I need you. Please fuck me, make me come.” He begged again. Aaron
leaned in and slowly inhaled smelling Spencer’s arousal mixed with his sweat.
It was intoxicating. He licked up Spencer’s neck, then his cheek.
 
“Only because you’ve done so well.” Aaron pulled the plug all the way out
before he grabbed the lube that was also on the small table near the wall. He
took off his pants and t-shirt then generously slicked-up his cock after he
came to stand behind Spencer. Lining himself up he pushed inside, the head
pushing past the tight ring of muscle. Spencer’s head lolled back onto Aaron’s
shoulder which gave him incentive to push himself all the way in. When his
groin was flush with Spencer’s ass he started to move.
 
“Yes, Sir. Fuck me so good sir.” Spencer was slipping farther, his eyes glazed
and his mouth was slack as Aaron pumped in and out fast and hard. When he felt
he was close he reached around and once again undid the cage and threw it
aside. He wrapped his hand around the now achingly hard member and whispered in
Spencer’s ear.
 
“Come for me Spencer.” The deep growl in his ear and the commanding tone had
his body responding before his brain could catch-up. His body tensed and he
cried out as he came.
Aaron’s eyes rolled in the back of his head as his movements sped up and he
fucked his sub hard and fast coming only moments later. Still buried inside
Spencer he reached over and undid the cuffs holding Spencer’s wrists, and arms.
He released one at a time and just held the limp man against his chest.
 
“Can you stand Pet?”
 
Aaron had Spencer lean against the wall while he uncuffed his legs, then helped
him back in his robe. He grabbed his pants and shirt and put them back on then
led Spencer up to their room. After getting him to drink some water and a
soothing bath Aaron bundled Spencer up and led him to the bed. He laid the
blissed out man down and pulled the wrist cuffs out from their cubby and
secured them around Spencer’s wrists. Kissing the side of his neck he crawled
in beside him and pulled the man close. He knew Spencer would need a couple of
hours sleep before they had dinner and the promised movie with Jack.
 
Several hours later they put a very happy, but tired little boy to bed, then
went back to their own room and also got ready for bed. Once again Spencer was
cuffed and he immediately fell asleep, contentment shone on his face.
 
“Sleep well my Pet.” Aaron said as he snuggled down next to Spencer holding him
close, his own contentment settling over him.
===============================================================================
Our World
 
Spencer was cold and that was a jarring sensation. He was never cold. Not after
a night like he'd had before. He shifted and his wrist rubbed on the bed, he
felt the bed linens on his wrist. His naked wrist. He jerked up to a sitting
position and threw his eyes open wide. Beyond the bed all he saw was blurs but
he pulled his wrist up to his eyes. They were bare. His cuffs were gone. Aaron
never took off his cuffs when he was sleeping. The sound of talking was trying
to break through but all he could hear was the beeping of machines. One of them
was beeping rapidly, in tune with his heart. He forced himself to settle down
and as he did his vision cleared. He listened to the machine until the beeping
was normal.
 
He wanted to know what happened because Aaron had played tame with him. There
was no way that he'd been injured but it was the only reason that Aaron would
have him in a hospital. It was the only reason that his cuffs would have been
removed before he woke. He couldn't sleep without them. He hadn't slept without
cuffs on his wrists since Aaron had saved him.
 
"Sir?" Spencer called out as he took in the faces around him. Sir was easy to
say and choose. It would calm his lover if he was upset with him. Showing his
submission. A touch on his arm had him settling down even more. He took in the
face to his left and his whole body jerked. Aaron had shaved. He hadn't been
clean shaven in the time that Spencer had known him. There were pictures in
childhood and teen years where he was clean shaven but Spencer had only ever
glimpsed them. It was when the shock wore off of seeing Aaron's cheeks that he
realized that Aaron was standing beside the bed and not sitting on it. He
looked at him questionly. He didn't remember doing anything wrong and that was
the only thing that he could figure out for why Aaron wasn't touching him more.
 
"Kid?" Rossi's voice drew his gaze over and Spencer's heart leaped to his
throat. That wasn't his Rossi. His mind raced with anything and everything that
he could figure out. Everyone except for Rossi was the same except for their
eyes. Aaron's people cared for him. He was useful and he was an instrument of
Aaron's. They would only all be in his room if something bad had happened and
Aaron was afraid for him. He tried to remember the last thing he could
remember. If there was something after falling asleep in their bed, in Aaron's
arms but there was nothing. There was nothing at all. Wherever he was, he
wasn't these people's Spencer.
 
"What do you remember Spence?" JJ asked.
 
Spencer looked at her in shock. He'd have to play dumb until he could figure
all of this out. Morgan shifted closer to him and he saw a flash of a badge. He
looked around the room more and all of them had on badges and guns. They were
all FBI!
 
"Agent Reid, you are awake. Good," a doctor said as he entered the room.
 
The only thought that he could process was that he was an agent as well. Aaron
stepped away from the bed and allowed the doctor in close. He submitted to the
exam and was tightlipped with responses. He gave his name, his birth date, and
what he hoped was the current year.
 
"What do you remember of last night?" The doctor asked.
 
Spencer was a consummate liar. He had to be to be everything that his Aaron
needed. Whatever happened to him hadn't happened to the others. He'd been
alone.
 
"I remember leaving the the office." Generalities were best. He had to make it
out of this. He had to get away from the hospital to figure out exactly what
happened and how to get back to HIS Aaron. He'd never be forgiven if he died in
this world. He could only assume that whatever Spencer lived in his world was
in his own. Aaron would know instantly that it wasn't him. He doubted that the
other Spencer wore Aaron's marks. Looking at Aaron, Spencer didn't see anything
of his Aaron in his eyes. No, that Spencer wasn't going to be able to hide at
all. "I don't...I don't remember anything after that."
 
Faking a panic attack was easy, even enough to fool the machines he was hooked
up to. The heart rate monitor started to beep erratically. It only took seconds
for Aaron to push past the doctor and touch his arm again. So there was
something there. Even if it wasn't his Aaron, his body knew that touch and even
though he was just faking it, his body started to calm down. He gulped in a
mouthful of air and tried to act like he was scared. He couldn't fail Aaron.
 
"Why don't I remember?"
 
"Doc?" Aaron asked.
 
"Agent Reid, you were in an explosion at Georgetown last night. You were mostly
protected but you were thrown into the wall. You have no breaks or fractures
and the worst of your injuries are some scrapes. Now, some of your hair was
burned so we had to cut it away but your scalp wasn't burned."
 
Spencer's hand flew to his hair. It was short. This time the panic attack
wasn't faked. He tried to breathe but he couldn't. He couldn't get in enough
air. Even the hand on his arm and the one that settled on his chest couldn't
stop him. Aaron was going to be so pissed. His hair was so short. He was going
to be in so much trouble. He'd never have been allowed to cut it so short. He
wouldn't want it that short. Aaron couldn't get a good grip on it. It wouldn't
feel as good. His lungs forced him to breath and he calmed down slightly. It
wasn't something he could have controlled. Aaron wouldn't punish him for
something that he had no way of stopping. Aaron wasn't unfair when it came to
things like that. Even his genius mind couldn't predict everything.
 
"Was anyone else hurt?" Spencer asked when he could fully breath again. Aaron's
hands were still on him but he didn't look at the man. He had to figure out
everything. He needed to get out of the hospital. He had to get to wherever
this Spencer lived and then figure out how to get himself back to his world. To
his Aaron. To Jack. He held back the sob at that. Jack was smart. Aaron was
going to try and lie but Jack would know. It wouldn't take long.
 
"No. Doctor Epps was behind the blast doors. He's outside waiting to talk to
you but your team has kept him out."
 
Doctor Epps? Spencer sorted through his memories for an Epps. He had found a
small article in the latest newsletter from CERN about joint research between a
Charlie Epps and them. There had been no location given for it but it had to be
that. What the hell happened in this world that a hole was ripped and he had
switched places with what seemed like a good version of himself?
 
"Charlie is safe." Spencer sighed in relief. Hating already the game he was
forced to play. "I want to see him."
 
"Agent Reid, I need to see you eat some food. The scans you had over the night
show that we can't find anything wrong with you and the memory issues are not
that big of a deal. An explosion is a traumatic event and memory loss for the
hours preceding the event is not uncommon, even with a brain like yours."
 
"Oatmeal?" Spencer asked. He had no clue exactly what the other Spencer ate but
Aaron preferred oatmeal most work mornings and it was hard for a hospital to
mess up oatmeal.
 
"I'll have the kitchen send up a tray as soon as they can." The doctor moved
away from the edge of his bed and as he did, the others crowded in. He wasn't
sure what he thought of that. Obviously they were all rather close. JJ went
right to one side, dodging the machines and settled on the edge of the bed. Her
arm went around him and he cuddled down into her side. It wasn't his JJ but
this was a JJ. In his world she was the mother that he'd never had as a child.
She'd been there at Aaron's side for a long time. Penny moved up on that side
of the bed as well. She was like his sister. He was happy that Rossi took up a
spot at the end of his bed. Spencer respected his Rossi's mind but was always a
little creeped out by him. He was too much of a womanizer and his skin crawled
the few times the man touched him. Derek moved into the space between Rossi and
Aaron. He counted his Derek as a friend but they weren't close. He was the
consummate lothario when it came to women. There wasn't a one who had ever
turned him down but when it came to his male dalliances, he liked them a little
too young for Spencer's tastes. Derek was damaged and Spencer knew why. Aaron
made sure that he knew everything about his inner group. Emily was at the back
of the room. There was a distance to her that had Spencer trying to figure out
why she was back there when the rest of them were closer.
 
"I'm glad you are okay, Boy Wonder." Penny's hand touched at his blanket
covered knee.
 
"Epps called Hotch just after he called security on campus," Derek said.
 
"By the time that we all made it there, you were already enroute to the
hospital. They didn't let us in to see you until they had all the scans done."
 
"I didn't call your mother," Aaron said his hand finally dropping from his
chest. Spencer whipped his head from looking at JJ and Penny to look at him.
His mother? His mother was still alive? His body reacted. He needed to get
away. He needed to get to safety. He had to get where she couldn't find him.
His hand ripped the needle from his arm. The leads were next. He had them off
of him at the same time that he pushed between JJ and Penny. The first door he
found was the bathroom. He slipped inside and slammed the door shut, locking
it. He turned to find that it had a stall shower. He slipped into it and closed
the glass door. It wasn't much protection but he could defend himself if needed
from there. He sat there shivering.
 
The pounding on the door started and Spencer pulled more into a ball. He could
hear his mother on the other side of the door. Screaming at him. Her screeches
were making him feel like his ears were bleeding. He covered his ears and tried
to block it all out. His breath was coming in short pants. He wanted Aaron. He
wanted HIS Aaron. To feel safe in his arms. He wanted Aaron to kill her again.
He wanted to see her blood spreading on the floor with Aaron standing above
her. He pulled harder on the memory.
 
His mother had been in the middle of one her her more violent episodes. She'd
had a knife in her hand from where she'd attacked him. He'd been cooking dinner
for her since he was home from college for the weekend when the power had gone
out. The cut had run across his chest and he remembered that he had screamed.
He'd tried to get to the closet that he'd reinforced so that she couldn't get
in. He had almost made it when her hand had grabbed him and threw him to the
floor. He'd rolled to his back to try and fend her off when the front door had
shuddered and then ripped off the hinges. His mother had turned to face the new
person. It was dark and Spencer had only seen the outline of him at first. The
person rushed her and when it was all over, the lights flicked back on and
Aaron had been standing above her with the knife in his hand and his mother's
throat was slit.
 
Aaron. The terror was gripping him but he knew that she was dead. He pulled on
memories of Aaron calming him down during his flashbacks when he was younger.
The hand on his hair, petting him. Never causing pain. Pain would push him
farther into the flashback. The hand would pet him over and over. He could feel
the ghost of the hand. With every not there touch, he calmed down.
 
" That's it, Pet. Breathe for me. " Aaron's voice was like it was right there.
He could feel the ghosting of breath on his skin. The hand stayed petting his
hair but the other moved to his waist, lifting him into his lap. Warmth pulled
him in and he stopped shaking. The banging on the door faded away. He listened
to the voices on the other side of the door.
 
"...Do you think it was a flashback?" Garcia asked.
 
"To what?" Rossi asked.
 
"Hankel?" Derek's voice was clear and the name of Hankel got Spencer angry. It
brought back thoughts of Jason Gideon, the man who had tried to take him away
from Aaron. Who had lied to him. The man who had lied about Aaron. Who tried to
convince him that his lover was cheating on him. The rest of the flashback fell
off of him like water. Whoever Hankel was in this world, he'd got his hands on
this Spencer as well. Obviously it had left a mark. He could play that. He
needed to get to wherever Spencer lived and then wherever he worked. Both
places would hold the most memory.
 
"Maybe he moved and felt the needle in his arm," JJ said. Spencer looked down
at his arm where the saline drip had been. The blood had stopped. Whatever
Hankel had done to Spencer in this world involved needles.
 
Spencer made himself move out of the shower. He stepped to the door and pressed
his ear to it.
 
"Let's just give him some space. Morgan, Garcia, Dave, Prentiss, go back to the
office. I had Anderson get his bag and car from Georgetown. I have your keys
and the car is at your apartment."
 
"No one wants to talk to him?" Rossi sounded shocked.
 
"Every single bit of it is on camera with full audio. Epps is handling it all.
Epps is the scientist on record and it's his equations, his research, his
everything. It was Epps' scale collider that caused the explosion. JJ and I
will stay and when Reid is released, I'll drive him home." Aaron's voice was
calm. At least he knew where Spencer lived. The shuffle of feet told him that
the others were leaving.
 
"Hotch, shouldn't we..."
 
"He'll come out when he's ready."
 
"Agent Hotchner," the doctor's voice barely carried through the door so Spencer
breathed as shallow as he could. "Agent Reid's clothes were unsavable due to
the smoke damage and slight singeing. His rings are here in the bag."
 
"Rings?" JJ's voice was confused. "Spence does wear any rings."
 
"Um..."
 
Spencer knew exactly what rings the doctor was talking about. He slid his hand
under the gown and brushed at his navel and then up to his nipples. He was
happy that something that Aaron had bought for him came with him. That he had
something of him in this crazy world.
 
"Not rings for your fingers. ma'am."
 
Spencer didn't like the thought of anyone touching what was his. He opened the
bathroom door and stepped out. He held out his hand for the bag and the doctor
gave it over. There was a tray of food sitting on the end of this bed. He sat
down and started to eat, keeping the gown closed. Aaron and JJ were silent,
staring at him. He could feel their eyes. He ate every single bit of food on
the tray.
 
"When can I go?"
 
"I want you to follow up with a neurologist in a few days to make sure that
nothing else is going on in there and if you have any dizzy spells, nausea, or
pain, please come back. I'll have a nurse bring by your discharge papers." The
doctor smiled at him and left. Spencer sat back on the bed and looked at JJ and
Aaron.
 
"Epps had to leave, Reid but he'll visit you at your apartment tomorrow," Aaron
said and it answered the question on exactly what that relationship was or in
this case wasn't. Spencer nodded and looked down at his gown.
 
"I stopped by your place and grabbed you a change of clothes," JJ said as she
lifted up a bag. Spencer smiled and her.
 
"Thank you."
 
Spencer debated going into the bathroom to change but when JJ stepped back and
pulled the curtain closed around the bed to give him privacy, he just let go of
the gown and shimmied until it dropped to the bed. Aaron turned around but
before he did, Spencer caught a faint blush on his cheeks. There was more there
than meets the eye and he was going to figure out exactly what. He changed
quickly and was kind of upset that the clothes were ordinary. A button up with
a pair of slacks. Next was a pair of underwear, thankfully boxers. At least
there was something the same between them. What stopped him was the items
sitting below the boxers. He laid them down on the bed and picked up the pair
of socks. They were mismatched. His hands shook as he slipped each one on his
feet. It had been so long since he'd worn mismatched socks. He hadn't cared
about them in the grand scheme of getting away from him mother and not going
into foster care. Aaron had protected him, allowed him to go to school. Aaron
had given him everything that he needed and what he wanted. It felt weird to
look at his feet with mismatching socks. If JJ knew enough to get him them, it
would be noticeable if he changed that so he'd have to get used to it. The
clothing though would have to go. He was sure he'd find something in Spencer's
closet that he would be able to wear day in and day out. Spencer would thank
him for it.
 
Dressing was quick but he stopped when he realized that he didn't see shoes. He
looked around and spotted what looked like Converse shoes on one of the guest
chairs. He tapped Aaron's shoulder as he passed to grab the shoes. Once in
hand, he opened the curtain and JJ smiled at him. Taking the seat, he slipped
the shoes on and tied them up.
 
"Okay, Agent Reid, here are your papers." The nurse handed them over. Spencer
scanned through them. The voice of Aaron in his head. He'd never signed
anything without reading it. Ever. He knew everything to look for but given
that he himself hadn't been in the explosion he knew he'd be fine. He had a
brief second to worry for the other Spencer but Aaron would know he wasn't him
and would get the truth out of him and make sure he had an eye kept on him. He
signed in the places he needed and then initialed. It was quick and painless.
He waited to see what Aaron was going to do.
 
JJ stepped up to hug him and then she was gone with a promise to call him.
Aaron motioned for him to go first out of the room. Spencer stuffed the bag
with his rings in it, into his pocket before he took that first step. Just as
he breached the door, Aaron's hand settled on the small of his back. A
possesive claim. Spencer could work with that.
===============================================================================
 
 
Mirror World
 
Spencer slowly woke fully expecting to be in a hospital bed. What he didn’t
expect were the cuffs around his wrists. That was the first thing that
registered in his mind. His eyes flew open and he stayed perfectly still. It
was the heavy arm around his waist and the very unmistakable hard erection
moving against his ass that kept him from struggling. Inside, though, he was
panicking and ready to jump out of his skin at any moment.
When the arm around his waist moved and the hand gripped his cock he whimpered
and tried not to involuntarily thrust into the hand. He had an idea who it was
behind him but he wasn’t sure what the hell was going on.
“Morning Pet.” The low rumble in his ear and the soft kisses along his neck
were quickly short-circuiting his brain. A hand was in his hair, then stilled.
Spencer didn’t dare breathe or move. He had no idea what was going on so he was
trying not to panic. When the hand that was working his cock started to caress
his upper body, touching him everywhere he shivered, partially in fear and
partially because he recognized the hand as well as the voice in his ear.
“Morning Aaron.” Which must have been the wrong thing to say because he was
violently shoved onto his back and pinned down on the bed.
“Who the fucking-hell are you?” Aaron glared, but it was different, darker and
Spencer recognized that look. He’d seen it enough times from the unsubs he has
interviewed over the years.
“I, I, I’m Doctor Spencer Reid.”
Aaron’s hand wrapped around his throat and lightly squeezed. Spencer closed his
eyes and willed the tears that sprang-up not to fall.
“You are not Spencer. You know how I can tell?” Spencer tried to swallow around
the hand at his throat but couldn’t.
“N-no.” He squeaked out.
“My Spencer, my beautiful Pet, his hair is longer. He never gets it cut without
my permission.” Aaron moved his free hand down the smooth chest free of scars.
“He has scars. Very beautiful scars that I gave him. He has no body hair, head,
eyebrows, groin, that’s it.  I know his body better than my own.” Aaron thrust
against Spencer who closed his eyes tight and tried to keep the rising panic
attack at bay.
“I swear; I swear to you I’m Doctor Spencer Reid. Please, please don’t hurt me
Aaron.”
“Who sent you and how did you get in my house? Was it Foyet?” Aaron grabbed
Spencer’s face and felt along trying to find possible reconstruction scars.
“Foyet? Aaron, Foyet is dead. You killed him.”
“Not yet, but I’m certainly going to try.”
Spencer was trying to figure out just what the hell was going on. He also
noticed that this Aaron was different. He had a close shaved beard, the dark
circles under his eyes were gone and his pallor was a little darker, like he
got more sun than his Aaron usually got.
“Is that why you’re here? But then it wouldn’t explain how you got in our bed,
cuffed. And somehow I think killing you would be a very bad idea.”
Spencer tried to remain calm, he thought back to Charlie and the experiment.
“Oh shit.”
“That is one thing we can agree on.”
“No, look let me explain, please, please give me a chance to explain.”
Aaron studied his face a moment then backed off. He stood and glared at the man
on the bed as he crossed his arms.
“I’m going to go take a shower. You are staying right there, and before you
try, they can’t be picked. Then and only then will you explain to me who you
are and what the fuck is going on.” Aaron strode from the room and a moment
later Spencer heard the water turning on. He didn’t waste a second. He pulled
his hands down and looked around for something, anything to use to try to pick
the locks on the cuffs.
Spencer stood and tested how far the chain went, which wasn’t far at all. But
it gave him just enough length to look through the nightstand drawers. He was
quickly rummaging through it and growled in frustration as not even a single
paper clip existed in the drawers. He did, however, find a photo album. He made
a mental note to look at it later. The pictures on the nightstand also caught
his eye. There was Aaron, him and Jack. Jack was older and cuddled in Spencer’s
lap. He swallowed hard as he stared at the picture. He didn’t know Jack that
well, Aaron didn’t let him spend a lot of time with the boy alone. Well, not
yet anyway. He knew Aaron’s trust issues and knew it would take time. He let
thoughts of Jack go and refocused on trying to find something, anything he
could use to pick the locks on the cuff.
“Shit.” He let out the curse when he didn’t find anything within arm’s length
he could use. He heard the shower turn off which made him scramble back on the
bed trying to calm his beating heart.
Aaron walked back out of the bathroom completely naked and Spencer had to
swallow back the whine that wanted to escape. It didn’t help that the man
smiled at him. He knew Aaron had heard him.
“I’m going to undo the cuffs, but you’d better talk and talk fast.”
Aaron took the key he kept in his nightstand drawer and unlocked the cuffs. He
slowly backed away keeping an eye on Spencer. He moved the same vanity chair
from the day before next to the bed and sat with his arms crossed, waiting.
“You’re just going to stay naked?” Spencer couldn’t help the sarcastic tone in
his voice as he felt his ears getting warm.
“And you have quite the mouth on you, don’t you? Do I need to put it to better
use?” Aaron glared as he leaned forward and filed away the look in Spencer’s
eyes to use at another time. “Start talking. My generosity only goes so far.”
Spencer took a deep breath and told Aaron about the experiment, how everything
was fine until they added the God Particle. He admitted he was a little fuzzy
on the details after the explosion. He said he thought he was going to wake-up
in a hospital, not cuffed to a bed. He was thrown into the panic attack that
had been threatening all morning when he was all of a sudden pinned down with
hands around his throat and a murderous look in the other man’s eye.
“You stupid fucking idiot. Do you know what you’ve done?” Aaron pressed down
along Spencer’s body and lowered his face close to Spencer’s, “Tell me now why
I shouldn’t kill you right here, right now.”
Spencer was trying to swallow but was having difficulty with the hands around
his throat.
“If you kill me, you’ll never get him back.” Spencer was trying to claw at the
hands around his throat as he saw the struggle in Aaron’s eyes as he shoved
away and stood up. He was pacing angrily when he whirled back on Spencer.
“How could you be so goddamned stupid? No one has been able to build a stable
scale model of the Hadron Collider. Anyone who’s tried has ended up dead. How
the hell did your Aaron ever think to let you do something this dangerous and
stupid?”
“Look,” Spencer stood and got in Aaron’s face, “I have a mind of my own. It
took me a long time to know my worth and I do. No one, and I mean no one tells
me what the fuck to do.”
“Yeah? Well maybe someone needs to. You are going to figure out how to get  my
Spencer back.” Aaron grabbed the back of Spencer’s neck with one hand and his
cock with the other. “If you were my Spencer, my Pet, you’d be wearing a
punishment collar and cock cage.” Aaron’s glare was hard and like nothing
Spencer had ever seen. Even their run-in with Chester Hardwicke, when Aaron was
practically snarling at the man, did Spencer see such a look.
“P-p-please, please don’t hurt me and I’ll do whatever you want.”
“That is a very bold statement and not one that I think you understand. But for
now you are going to have to assume the role of my Spencer. If not, you could
get us both killed, you understand?”
“What do I have to do?”
Aaron let Spencer’s cock go, which he was both relieved and a little sad about.
He didn’t want to think what that meant about his current state of mind. The
part of him that was half-in-love with Aaron Hotchner recognized this man, but
his more rational mind knew this was nothing like the man in his own world.
“You will have to wear a collar, not negotiable. Your closet is over there and
you will wear the clothes I pick for you on a daily basis. You are also my
legal assistant so you will be going to work with me. You’ll sleep in my bed
and to keep up appearances, that means cuffed. Jack likes to come snuggle with
us on the weekends and we don’t want anything to look out of the ordinary. It’s
Friday and we have a deposition in the James Heathridge case. I’m going for
insanity and I’m going to get it. The kid should have been put in an asylum
years ago.”
“And if I say no.”
Aaron turned that deadly stare on Spencer, “You have no choice Pet. You got him
into this situation and you are going to get him out. And as your punishment,
you will do what I say because you won’t like me at all if you don’t.”
Spencer swallowed hard and considered his options. He could run and try to
figure out a way on his own on how to get back. The problem with that was he
didn’t understand this world. He was stuck, at least until he learned all he
could, then he would make his move, whatever that would be.
“Fine. You’re right. I did get your Spencer in this and I will try to get him
out. But, I need Charlie Epps. He’s a math professor at Cal Sci, or at least in
my world he is. Get him here and the two of us can figure out how to reverse
what we did.”
“Fine.” Aaron went to the cabinet and opened it. Spencer couldn’t help his
curiosity as he looked inside. His eyes widened as he tried to identify all of
the obvious BDSM equipment in there. Aaron turned and before he could protest a
collar was wrapped around his neck. “This is one of Spencer’s first ones. It
has a tracking device. It’s also lock-pick proof, so don’t even try it. I’ll
know where you are at all times. It’s waterproof so you won’t have to take it
off. Now, go shower and make sure you shave, at least your face for now. We’ll
work out what to do about your body hair later. Then, in your closet, there is
a light gray suit. Wear it with the lilac button up and the lilac accessories.
Choose whatever cufflinks you want.”
Spencer moved his neck around trying to get used to the feeling of the collar
and found that he didn’t like it at all. He knew, though, that he had to go
along, at least for now. He scuttled into the bathroom and turned the water on
hot. He needed the warmth because he felt so cold inside. He knew he was still
riding that edge of the panic attack and needed to calm down. Taking his time
he did what Aaron asked and shaved, which was fine with him, he hated having
facial hair anyway. As he was shaving he wondered at just what Aaron meant
about his body hair, he shivered slightly trying not to think about that. He
didn’t want to take too long so he quickly finished-up and stepped out of the
shower. Looking in the fogged-up mirror he wiped a hand across so he could see
better.
 
“Well Spencer, when you fuck-up, you really fuck-up.” He hung his head a moment
before taking a deep, steadying breath then dried off.
 
After getting out of the bathroom he strode across to the indicated closet and
found the suit and other items Aaron told him to put on. He looked around for
shoes and didn’t see any Converse or other casual shoes. He looked in each of
the individual shoe drawers and found a pair of dark grey loafers. He put those
on then walked back out to the bedroom. He stopped in his tracks and couldn’t
help but admire Aaron in the obviously expensive suit that was cut just for
him. His mouth went dry and he licked his lips trying not to lust after this
man, but it was very difficult.
 
Spencer had been squinting, and though his eyesight wasn’t that bad, it was bad
enough he was having trouble. He was startled when a pair of glasses were
pressed into his hands. He put them on and though they weren’t his normal
prescription he could see enough to get by, for now at least.
“Perfect.” Aaron curled his lip in a crooked smile. “Showtime Pet.” Aaron led
Spencer out of the room and the younger man wondered just how long he was going
to have to play along, And what he was going to have to do to survive.
 
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