Aaron Hotchner watched out his office windows, if anyone were to ask he'd claim to be observing his team and taking a break from his paperwork, only he knew the truth though, he was keeping his eyes on a certain member. The one who scrunched his nose when eating anything crunchy and randomly while talking, who flapped his hands around as if it helps whatever story he was telling make more sense to those around him, the one who Aaron Hotchner was trying his hardest not to fall in love with. Actively Reid was spinning in his chair talking to Morgan who was leaning on the corner of Reid's desk, practically sitting on it, with his arms crossed clearly trying to keep up with Spencer's quick words.
'Reid, how many times have I told you not to spin in the chair?' Hotch had asked with no real anger in his voice as he walked from the elevator.
'Uh, 7 times Sir?' Reid froze the moment he heard his boss's voice behind him.
Hotch glanced around quickly, seeing none of the other team members around before walking behind Reid and leaning down to whisper in his ear
'Just don't fall out and hurt yourself, Reid' Ruffling Reid's hair slightly then dropped a bag of whatever fast food on his desk for lunch and walked away with a slight tight-lipped smile on his face. Unknowingly leaving the genius with a subtle blush on his cheeks and an awkward smile as he tried to fix his hair.
Smiling fondly at the memory Hotch turned and looked out the window to the outside world. It had started snowing sometime this morning, and Hotch immediately worried about Spencer.
The entire team had been invited to Rossi's for dinner, not for any particular reason or event, and Hotch knew Reid had been planning on walking to Rossi's, it was around a 45-minute walk but after being exposed to anthrax public transport was too gross for Spencer to risk and driving makes Spencer feel overstimulated so he sticks to walking, he had mentioned it slightly to the team but made it very known to Hotch just in case he was late some days, but it had gone from a really nice morning to snowing and Hotch could see Spencer was not prepared for the weather change at all, wearing very light clothing he'd freeze going to Rossi's.
"Reid, are you okay?" The team was in Alaska and Hotch was rooming with Reid, luckily the room had 2 beds but he could hear the others' teeth chattering in the almost silent room, assuming he was shaking and cold even under the multiple layers of blankets he was under.
"Oh uh yea I-I'm fine, you know, colder temperatures usually help you fall into a deep sleep easier and make you feel well rested it's because cold helps with melatonin production and-" Hotch cut off Reid's rambling, something he tried to avoid doing as much as he could,
"Here, take these I don't need one of my best team members getting hypothermia on a case." Hotch threw a pair of heavy sweatpants and a hoodie that he had grabbed out of his bag at Reid, he always kept extra extra clothing just in case.
"Thank you, Hotch, sorry for rambling earlier, I know it's something the team doesn't really find to be as enjoyable as I thought." Reid slipped on the clothing that surprisingly almost fit him perfectly, the sleeves were a bit wider than he needed considering he didn't have nearly the same muscle mass as Hotch but he was warm so he didn't care.
"It's fine Reid, I didn't mean to cut you off, I quite enjoy the rambling I just wanted to make sure you got warm. Goodnight Spencer." Hotch would never mention the thoughts filling his head about the other man wearing his clothing, his scent consuming his body.
"Goodnight Aaron." Hotch waited until he heard faint even breaths before falling asleep that night.
Aaron made his way out of his office, watching as soon as he opened his door to see Reid instantly stop his spinning and smile innocently with Morgan. Hotch kept his hard-boss face on.
"Reid, to my office please." Hotch walked back to his seat and grinned hearing Morgan make fun of Reid like a child being called to the principles office.
"Ooh, prettyboy what'd you do?" Morgan's deep voice rang throughout the bullpen.
"I-I don't know?" Reid sounded a bit panicked but quickly headed to the office, closing the door behind him.
"Reid, do you have a ride to Rossi's tonight? I won't let you walk 45 minutes in the snow, you'll freeze to death." Hotch softened his voice slightly, not wanting Reid to actually think he was in any sort of trouble.
"Oh, no, not yet, I don't wanna be a bother to anyone so I haven't asked or anything." Reid was twisting his hands, looping his fingers together, a habit Hotch had noticed him do quite a bit.
"Nobody would think you're a bother, Reid. Meet me by the elevator around 6:45, I'll drop you off at your house so you can grab anything you want while I go pick up Jack and then I'll be back to pick you up, is that fine?" Hotch didn't want Reid to feel guilty or like a burden, so he made sure to make his voice sound as nonchalant as he could, he always got a bit nervous talking to Reid, it's not like he could casually go 'I'm trying to not fall in love with you and you make that more and more difficult every day'.
"O-okay, yeah, that works. Thank you, Hotch." Reid had a genuine smile as he walked out, sticking his tongue out at Morgan for thinking he was in trouble.
Oh how Hotch loved that smile, he'd do anything to see it all the time.
-
It was 6:30 and Spencer started packing up, double-checking he had everything he needed and then triple checking just to be safe.
"Are you ready Reid?" Hotch had silently snuck up behind him making him jump.
"Mhm, I think I've got everything." Grabbing his bag and his 'far too sweet' coffee-Hotches words not his own- and followed his boss out silently thinking. Hotch was always so caring, making sure people didn't underestimate Reid, making sure he was always comfortable, helped him when he was feeling overstimulated by the world, everything Hotch did was caring nature, he could tell Reid he was a bad person and Reid would know it was somehow in a protective caring way.
Reid was sitting in fear, a gun pointed at his head, occasionally moving to Hotches instead which left him in even more fear.
"They knew he was in here, they knew he was armed and dangerous, and they knew he was gonna fight until the last round. And they sent me in here with an unarmed kid who can't shoot his way out of a wet paper bag." That wasn't the first time Hotch was pretending to be mean but it still hurt. Spencer knew it shouldn't because he was just trying to convince the unsub he was kind of on his side but that doesn't stop it from leaving a sting inside his chest.
"You know why they took away boy genius's gun? He failed his qualification, twice a year I gotta listen to him whine about requalifying, soItutor him and he fails,again." Spencer was trying to not let the words affect him but if some tears rolled down his cheeks he could blame the fear of a gun to his face instead of genuinely being hurt by the other man's words. "Put him next to the barricade that way when they blast in both of our problems will be solved, that kind of thing will ruin a cop's career." That was when Spencer finally realized part of the plan, of course, Hotch needed the unsub to believe he hated Spencer.
He may be a genius but that doesn't mean he immediately understands everything, Hotch could hate him but he was too much help to the team for him to end up dead in such a stupid way.
Spencer allowed himself to zone out as the conversation continued, not wanting to hear many more things that could affect him, but he immediately zoned back in hearing Hotch say "I figure the chances of me getting out of here are pretty slim," That couldn't be true, Hotch would have to survive this. Spencer wouldn't be able to live with himself if he let his boss die. "I want to kick the snot out of this kid." Spencer looked at Hotch with a look begging him not to but he knew it'd do nothing. "He's made my life miserable for three lousy years." Silently hoping the unsub would say no Spencer looked between both men, small smears of blood already covering his face.
Laying on the ground Spencer realized Hotch wasn't kicking as hard as he could, looking at his ankles Reid spotted Hotchs' extra gun, in a fit of fake pain and suffering Reid grabbed the gun before hiding it between his thighs, trying to act like he was in school being bullied all over again.
"I think he got the message." Both were hoping the unsub wouldn't notice the gun holster outside his pant leg but luck didn't seem to be on their side,
"What's that?" He knew. Spencer instantly rolled over, spotting the gun pointed at Hotches head, and used every bit of training from Hotch to shoot Phillip Dowd directly in the forehead, the thought of losing Hotch gave him the ability to hit his target spot on. He could not lose Hotch.
Neither man spoke to the other until they were out of the zip-tie makeshift cuffs and outside in the ambulances being checked out. Hotch walked up and looked at Spencer, making sure he didn't leave any marks on the man, "You alright?" Hotch really didn't want to hurt Reid at all but it was either that or they both end up dead. "Nice shot." A soft smile on both men's faces as Spencer held the gun carefully in his hands.
Nobody talked on their walk to the car, Reid was trying to regenerate his social battery as much as he could before the night at Rossi's, and Hotch knew that so instead of talking the two men just enjoyed the silence, it wasn't an awkward silence just peaceful.
"I'll be back in around 30 minutes" Hotch watched Spencer get out of the car, leaving his bag on purpose.
"Drive safe Hotch" Those were the only words spoken before Spencer went up to his apartment to change and Aaron went home to grab Jack.
-
Hotch was back in Spencer's apartment parking lot sooner than either of them expected but nobody was complaining, the ride to Rossi's was filled with Jack asking random questions that, of course, Spencer knew all the answers to. Jack had always liked Spencer, at first it was because he knew everything about all of Jack's interests and did cool magic tricks but then it was because he saw how his dad smiled around the other man, it wasn't hard for him to get a smile out of his dad but he never seemed to smile around anybody on their team. Except for Spencer, and for that Jack will forever love Spencer because anyone who can make his dad smile like that deserves to be loved until the end of time.
Jack was asking questions the entire car ride and listening intently as Spencer would ramble every answer, Hotch was listening with a slight smile on his face that Spencer must've missed because he mumbled a small sorry to the older man between answers for Jack, slightly shaking his head Hotch just continued listening, he'd already tried convincing himself that tonight would be a good night to tell Spencer about his feelings but he knew he never actually would.
Rossi's driveway was fairly full, it looked like everyone had arrived before them, getting out of the car they could see Henry and Michael waiting by the window for them to arrive. Immediately Jack ran into the front door, instantly feeling the warmth in the big house, being followed by Spencer and Hotch slightly behind him.
"Perfect time we all agreed if you weren't here by the time food's done we were gonna eat without you and let you starve." Rossi came out from the kitchen with a tray of many bowls, all filled with whatever pasta he wanted that night. Hotch gasped in fake offense,
"I can't believe they'd let us starve, can you believe that Spence?" the nickname slipped off his tongue before he could think to add the R sound at the end. Spencer put his hand on his heart and pretended to begin crying
"I can't believe this, I thought we were family" Ignoring the heat on his cheeks Spencer managed to get a single fake tear out of his eye before everyone started laughing and finding seats to eat.
Chatter filled everyone's ears, Henry and Jack asking Spencer random questions and then telling JJ, Will, and Emily exactly what Spencer had said, Rossi and Hotch mumbling to each other about a topic unknown to everyone else, Derek and Penelope trying to pry secrets out of Hotch, everyone acting like a family and all Hotch can think about is Spencer. The lights are bright, there are a lot of voices and conversations happening, Aaron can feel Spencer's leg bouncing, smiling at his inability to sit still but keeping an eye on him, seeing his eyes open slightly wider than normal like a deer, blinking more often, not talking as much, those were all the signs of Spencer being overstimulated.
"Hey Reid, wanna come and help me grab more drinks?" Hotch wanted to use any excuse he could to get Spencer away from the noise, Reid looked up shocked to hear his name before nodding his head slightly and standing up, following Hotch. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay, I know it was loud out there" Spencer looked thankful as the quiet calmed him a bit.
"Thank you, the entire team being together is great they're just..." Spencer's sentence trailed off, not entirely sure how to finish it without sounding rude.
"Alot? Loud? Tiring? Don't worry, I get it Reid." Both men slightly nodded in mutual agreement that they love the team but they were loud, before either of them could take a breath there was a crash from the other room immediately followed by crying, JJ rushed in with Jack in front of her
"He fell off the chair in the other room and landed weirdly, he wanted you two." She walked out of the room to give them privacy, Jack was holding his left wrist and clearly in pain, Spencer wasn't sure why Jack wanted him but remained in the room, looking at Jack's wrist, as Hotch spoke softly, as he always does with Jack,
"Hey bud, how bad is it? Do you think you need the hospital?" Right away Jack nodded his head and Hotch hurried for his keys.
"Reid, will you ride with? I know you don't like hospitals but I'd like someone to go and-" Spencer cut off Hotch before he could take up any more time
"Of course I will Hotch, cmon Jack." The three of them quickly said bye and left for the hospital.
Jack and Spencer sat in the backseat, Hotch noticed Jack's crying had calmed down quite a bit, he could hear Spencer quietly talking about all the different types of dragons in ancient mythology, a recent interest of Jack's, aside from making sure Jack was okay Hotch could only think about how much he adores Spencer, the man is so good with kids, the Reid effect has left entirely over the last couple of years, animals and kids both adored Spencer Reid, he was somehow helping Jack through probably the worst physical pain of his life and staying calm during the entire process.
At the hospital Hotch and Reid waited and waited, then Hotch had to sign some papers, then they waited some more while the doctors worked on making sure the wrist would heal properly and after a couple of hours, they were finally free to leave with a much more calm Jack who happened to have a cast on his wrist, a tired Aaron, and a slightly overstimulated Spencer.
Before driving away Hotch took a moment to finally breathe in the car, "Thank you, Spencer, for everything, helping Jack, coming to the hospital, making sure I wasn't alone, seriously Reid, I appreciate you."
Spencer looked over at Aaron and smiled as he made eye contact with the other man, "You're welcome Aaron, I uh- I understand."
Jack stayed silent in the backseat hoping they'd forget he was there as he watched his dad reach out for Spencer's hand before quickly changing his mind and grabbing Spencer's face instead, kissing him. Jack let the two men kiss for a second before making fake gagging noises, scaring them away from each other.
"Jack! I forgot you were back there, you were so quiet bud." Aaron tried to pretend his son hadn't just witnessed that but instead of hearing questions or complaining from the youngest boy he shouted,
"The plan worked! My plans always work!" Jack had been bouncing in his seat, repeating random phrases about his plans working while Spencer and Aaron just looked at each other.
"Y-You planned to break your wrist so we would kiss? I mean clearly, it worked but there was a much better way around that Jack, breaking your wrist could've gone way worse than it did, broken bones are-" Jack cut off Spencer
"I wasn't technically planning on breaking my wrist, just kinda hurting it? but breaking it worked too! Either way, I got you guys to kiss, so can Spencer move in with us now Dad?" Spencer and Aaron both let out shocked noises, trying to figure out what to say next,
"That will probably have to wait a bit Jack, but don't worry Spencer and I will talk about things later after you're asleep and figure stuff out." Spencer looked over at Hotch surprised
"We'll talk about things?" Hotch kept his eyes on the road
"Did you really expect me to kiss you and then drop you off at your house with no explanation? You can spend the night at my place and we can talk-no wewilltalk."
