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Growing Up Again	By : hatochiisai Category: 1 through F > Criminal Minds Views: 21443 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds, nor do I make any financial profit off of writing and posting this work.

Chapter List
- 1-Re-Birth
- 2-Age 1
- 3-Age 2
- 4-Age 3
- 5-Age 4
- 6-Age 5 & 6
- 7-Age 7
- 8-Age 8
- 9-Age 9
- 10-Age 10
- 11-Age 11
- 12-Age 12
- 13-Age 13
- 14-Age 14
- 15-Age 15
- 16-Age 16
- 17-Age 17
- 18-Age 18
- 19-Age 19
- 20-Age 20
- 21-Age 21
- 22-Age 22
- 23-Age 23
- 24-Age 24
- 25-All Grown Up
- 13
- 14
- 15
Fourteen Years Old

Hotch woke at about 8:30, which was sleeping in for him. He sighed and rolled to the side, reaching out. He blinked open his eyes and stared at his hand resting on the bed… on the empty bed. And his heart clenched. He missed Spencer…

But it would be inappropriate to sleep in the same bed while he was still a child, he reminded himself. Slowly he sat up, joints popping pleasantly as he stretched. He used the toilet, dressed, and then headed out of the bedroom. He unlocked the door and opened it, and stopped. His heart broke a little bit…

Spencer was curled up on the floor right outside the door, his head on a pillow from the sofa and wrapped up in a blanket, his glasses lying on the floor near his hand. Hotch knelt.

“Spencer?” He called, and Reid frowned slightly, then opened his eyes with a sigh. “What are you doing out here?”

“… You locked the deadbolt, this time.” Reid mumbled.

“Yes. I did.” Hotch confirmed. “Spencer, you can’t sleep with me. Not at this age. And you can’t be sleeping on the floor here. You need to sleep in a bed on your own.” Reid looked away, sadly. “Spencer, do you understand?”

“… Yes.” Came the soft whisper, and Reid seemed to slump in defeat.

“Good…” Hotch said, gently. “Come on now. We need to get dressed and get ready to go.”

Reid nodded and slowly got to his feet. Hotch blinked. “… You grew!” He announced, surprised. Reid had indeed grown a couple of inches overnight.

“Yeah.”

“Finally. You were really small for your age.”

“Always was.” Reid mumbled, and made his way downstairs to find some clothes. He found a pair of jeans that fit, and a Dr. Who t-shirt displaying the TARDIS. He pulled on some mismatching socks and a pair of Converse, and then headed into the kitchen. Hotch had prepared some waffles in the toaster, and Reid ate silently. Hotch eyed the sullen fourteen year old.

“… Spencer.”

“Hm?”

“You’re sulking.”

“So?”

Hotch just sighed and finished his breakfast, then went to shave and brush his teeth. When he came back downstairs, Reid was just sitting on the sofa, petting Artemis, who had approached him for the first time since his de-aging. Apollo was watching warily from the back of the arm chair. Hotch walked over and reached out, stroking Reid’s hair.

“I love you, you know that, right?”

“Yeah. I know.” Reid sighed, his hand falling still on the cat, who blinked and turned to nudge at his fingers with her nose.

“… Come on. Let’s go.” Hotch said, and Reid stood and followed him out to the car, sliding into the passenger seat and buckling his seatbelt, playing with the radio as soon as the engine was on. Then he just slumped back into his seat and closed his eyes, listening to the classical music emanating from the speakers. The drive to the picnic was spent in silence, and Hotch found himself hoping that this was not a sign of what Reid would be like as a teenager…

When they arrived, Garcia and Morgan were already there, and Reid smiled when he saw them.

“You grew!” Garcia squeaked, and Morgan grinned, ruffling Reid’s hair.

“Look at you, Pretty Boy!”

“Hi, Morgan.” Reid acknowledged, grunting as Garcia gave him a big hug.

“I have so got a water balloon with your name on it, kid.” Morgan announced, and Reid frowned.

“We’ll see about that.” He responded calmly.

“Hey Hotch.” Morgan greeted, and Hotch nodded.

An hour later, the picnic was in full swing. JJ and Will arrived with Henry, and Emily not long after that. Rossi arrived last, bringing a package of food. Once he was there, the team waited for a picnic table to be vacated by a group from the Fraud Investigation Department, and then they all sat down. Garcia had packed a picnic basket with food for herself, Kevin Lynch, Morgan and Emily, and Rossi presented Hotch and Reid their lunches. Reid was delighted. There were little loaves of Italian bread which they cut in half, a container with fresh Mozzarella and Provolone cheese, a shaker with oregano, one with pepper and one with garlic, and then a Tupperware of home made meatballs, chicken parmesan and eggplant parmesan and then a dish of marinara to make fresh sub sandwiches. Reid dove into the meal with relish, enjoying every bite. Hotch also ate with enthusiasm, complementing Rossi thoroughly for the delicious meal. Reid had one of each sandwich, and then after a bit while the rest of the team had been talking, came back for a second meatball sandwich. Hotch was slightly alarmed at just how much food Reid had managed to put away… he and Rossi had each only had two sandwiches, but he just shrugged and decided it was because Reid was now a teenage boy.

Finally, the team cleaned up their lunch and put it away, and began to wander around the picnic. At the end of the grounds was a soccer field, where a team from Counter Terrorism was playing a game against a group from the White Collar Crime Division. Several other Agents and their families were cheering on the side lines. Off to the side of the soccer field, several children were having a water war with water balloons and SuperSoakers.

Some older single agents were standing around having some beers and playing horseshoes, and younger (mostly single) agents were playing volleyball. Morgan joined them fairly quickly, and once he had taken off his shirt several female agents gathered to watch the game, which soon became a Beefcake Fest with young hot male agents playing with their shirts off while women ogled them, and the exact opposite was soon happening on the second volleyball court… Garcia and JJ giggled as they caught Rossi staring at the young female agents playing, mouth ajar and eyes wide.

Then, Reid stopped in his tracks and STARED.

“Uh oh… Spence must have spotted someone in a bikini…” JJ laughed.

“Actually… I think he spotted something much more horrifying.” Emily drawled, also staring. The team turned.

“Wow.” JJ blurted.

“Oh God…” Garcia gasped in dismay. Hotch turned to see what all the women (and Spencer) were staring at. And then, he saw it. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped.

Strauss… In a pair of white shorts with a pink tank top and a short sleeved yellow button up shirt over it with pink flip flops and yellow framed sunglasses.… and a pink headband…

“Oh God she is so not dressed appropriately for her age and station…” Emily hissed.

“I’ve officially seen more of her than I ever wanted to…” Reid groaned, staring at her bare legs.

“Don’t let the child see, he’ll be scarred.” Garcia gasped, covering Reid’s eyes with her hand.

“Too late. The scarring has occurred.” Reid drawled in a monotone voice.

“Quick, let’s run!” Emily squealed, and Hotch watched as the three women hustled Reid away, giggling the whole way. And suddenly, Hotch realized that he was standing there all alone… He looked around, then meandered off towards the first familiar face he saw, and quickly sat down to have a beer with Sam Cooper.

Reid in the meantime had managed to escape the girls. Garcia and Kevin had ended up with a large group of Technical Analyst and enjoying Geek Talk, JJ had joined Will who was with Henry getting his face painted, and Emily was asked to dance by a handsome man who apparently had crashed the party…

“Hi!” Reid turned, eyes wide. Another child stood before him, grinning. “Come on! We’re starting a new Water Fight! We need one more on our team!”

“… Uh… what?”

“COME ON!” The boy said, taking Reid’s hand and dragging him towards the field where the kids were preparing their arsenal of water guns and water balloons.

“I… I’ve never done this before!”

“Can you throw a balloon?”

“… Uh… I guess…”

“Can you shoot a water gun?”

“… Yeah…”

“Then you’ll be fine! Come on!” And Reid was dragged over to a group of children on one side of the field, nervously eyeing the group on the other side of the field. The next thing he knew, a water gun was shoved into his hands and the kids were lining up for the charge. Reid stood there, eyes wide.

“Um… Why are we doing this here?” He asked.

“Because it’s the best place.” The kid beside him said, and the others stared at him, confused.

“Well… I mean… wouldn’t it make more sense to do it over there?” Reid asked, pointing to the playground in a grove of large trees, a castle fort at the center of it. The kids blinked, and looked around at one another.

“Cool!” Said the kid who seemed to be the leader of the team, and he ran across the field towards the other team shouting “HOLD YOUR FIRE!!!” the leader of the other team ran out to meet him and they talked for a minute, looking at the playground. And then they returned to their teams.

“Let’s go!” Said the team leader, and all the kids ran for the playground. Reid followed reluctantly. And once again, they prepared to charge.

“Wait…” Reid said, and they all looked at him again. “You’re just… charging in there blind? No plan?”

“… Half of us go that way, half go that way.” The team leader said, pointing in two directions. Reid sighed and shook his head.

“That’s stupid.” He said. “Look. The forth is there, we should use it. There are,” he glanced around, “thirteen of us. We should flank them, yes, but we should also take the fort. Especially the central tower. We should have three up there. One to cover the left, one the right and one the center facing our opponent. They should take the majority of the water balloons. The rest of us flank the fort and keep the opponent away from it long enough for them to get up there. And then once they’re there, they can help cover US.” The team leader stared at Reid.

“… Alright. Yeah.” He turned and pointed out three kids. “You, you and you. Take the fort. You guys, go around that side. And the rest of you will come with me around this side.”

They all tensed when a whistle blew.

“GO!” The team leader commanded, and the kids charged. Reid blinked and sighed, then followed the team leader’s group, wondering how the hell he had let himself get dragged into this. Kids were screaming and shouting, and water balloons were flying. Reid leapt under a concrete pipe half buried in the ground and crawled to the other end. Then he lifted his gun and when a kid he didn’t recognize ran by, he soaked him. The kid shrieked, turning and lobbing a water balloon in Reid’s direction, and it exploded on the top of the concrete tunnel. Reid kept shooting until the screaming kid ran away.

He smirked to himself and looked around, then darted out of his shelter and ran for the fort, ducking under it and shooting a kid as he ran by. And as he ran around the corner… a water balloon exploded over his shoulder. Reid gasped in shock at the sudden dousing and turned, staring at the kid who was grinning at him. But then, he frowned and calmly raised his gun. The kid stared, smile vanishing. And then he ran, a stream of water catching him in the back of the head.

“You’re a good shot!” One of Reid’s teammates said with a grin, and Reid offered a shy smile.

“Thanks.” He said, softly.

“DOWN!” Another child shouted, and Reid instinctively hit the ground. The other kid followed his example, and they watched several water balloons sailing overhead. The kids in the tower were bombarding their opponents, and within seconds, they were in full retreat and Reid’s team was cheering boisterously.

When things calmed down, they heard a voice over a bullhorn back at the picnic site calling all of the children back to find their parents. And so the kids all headed back to the picnic tables running to their parents as the games were announced, to be played in teams of an agent and their child, to be done by age groups of the kids. Reid sighed and wandered over to a picnic table off to the side, sitting down and watching.

A moment later, he perked up.

“Spencer?!” He heard. “SPENCER?!” He looked. Hotch was looking around, searching the children with a worried expression on his face. Reid smiled and stood, walking over to where Hotch was, by the dunk tank.

“Have you found him yet?” He heard Emily call, and she ran over to Hotch.

“No!”

“Oh God… It’s been almost an hour!” He heard Garcia whimper from out of his site behind the tank.

“He… He HAS to be here somewhere.” He heard Rossi say, nervously.

“No one would be ballsy enough to snatch a kid from an FBI Picnic…” Morgan reasoned.

“Actually,” Reid announced, stepping around the tank. “we’ve seen UnSubs do things equally ‘ballsy’, as you so eloquently put it.”

“Spencer!” Hotch gasped, relief filling him.

“OOMPH!” Reid grunted as he was crushed to the man’s chest.

“Where have you been?!” Hotch asked, kneeling before the boy. Then he blinked. “… You’re soaked.”

“Hotch, I’m twenty five! And I was drafted to take part in the water wars.” Reid shrugged.

“You’re FOURTEEN!” Hotch said, shaking Reid slightly.

“And I’m a Profiler with the BAU. I know enough to keep from being snatched by a hebephile.” Reid said, looking annoyed. Hotch didn’t respond for several moments, but then sighed and nodded.

“Alright. You’re right. I’m sorry.” And he stood and hugged Reid. “I just… worry.”

“I can tell.” Reid mumbled into Hotch’s shirt. “You’re being ridiculously overprotective.”

“I love you. You mean so much to me, and… Well… you have a knack for getting into trouble.”

“Thanks for reminding me.” Reid sighed. Hotch smiled.

“Come on.” He said, and put an arm around Reid’s shoulders, guiding him over to where the games were being played. Several yards away, Reid froze.

“Whoa. Wait…” He blurted, eyes wide. “We… We’re not going to do THAT, are we?!” He asked, looking at the three-legged race going on. The kids 10-14 age group was up next…

“Why not?” Reid turned and stared up at Strauss like a deer in headlights. “Hello, Spencer.” Reid blinked, then frowned and stepped back.

“He still prefers ‘Reid’, Erin.” Rossi said. Reid nodded, looking up gratefully at the elder profiler.

“I see. My apologies then.” Strauss nodded, taking off her sun glasses. Reid’s eyes widened. She had tanned slightly, and looked like a raccoon. He could hear the smothered giggles from Garcia behind him, and heard Emily snort before she could contain herself.

“Why don’t you give it a try.” Strauss asked, looking at the kids and their parents.

“… Hotch isn’t my dad.” Reid immediately said.

“I’m sure they’ll make an exception.” Strauss said.

“He’s my boss. That’s just weird.” Reid tried again.

“But he’s been raising you.” Strauss pointed out.

“These things aren’t really his thing.” Hotch said, finally stepping in. “Maybe if there were a chess tournament…” Strauss blinked, but then nodded and walked away.

“Thanks.” Reid said, and Hotch nodded to him, but then gave him a small smile.

“Are you sure you don’t want to? I would be honored… And I’m sure you never got to do anything like this with your dad.”

“And for good reason!” Reid laughed. “Thanks, but I’d rather not make a fool out of BOTH of us in front of the entire Bureau.”

“Alright.” Hotch conceded, and headed over to where the rest of the team was now sitting. Reid glanced over at JJ, who was doing the Egg Toss with Henry. Then, Reid blinked and hurried after his guardian.

“Hotch?”

“Yes?”

“… Why didn’t you bring Jack?” He asked. Hotch stared at Reid for a moment, then sighed.

“Because I had you.” He said. Reid stared at Hotch, and then slowly, his eyes widened, a look of horror crossing his face.

“What?” He gasped. Hotch blinked, not expecting this reaction. “You… You didn’t… bring Jack because… No. That… that’s not right!” Reid cried, his voice high and shrill. The team stared at him, startled.

“Spencer?” Hotch asked, standing and reaching out to place a hand on the child’s shoulder. But Reid jerked away.

“NONE of this is RIGHT!!!” Reid shrieked. “I know you feel bad for me about my childhood! But you know what?! There’s nothing you can do about it! My childhood SUCKED and that’s just how it is!!! And I know you like to see this as my second chance, but it’s NOT!!! My body may be that of a kid, but here?!” He pressing his fingers to his temples. “I’m twenty five, Hotch!”

“Spencer, you—“

“TWENTY FIVE!!!” Reid shouted, and several people turned to stare at the scene he was making. “We only get one chance to grow up! One REAL chance! I had mine! And it didn’t turn out so good. So what?! Shit happens!” Several parents turned to glare. Strauss and a few other agents appeared on the edge of the crowd to see what was going on.

“But Jack is living his childhood right now!” Reid continued, his voice still raised. “Jack should be THERE!” And Reid pointed towards JJ and Henry. “With YOU! With his DAD! But he’s not! Because of ME!!! And I told you long ago! Jack must ALWAYS come first!!! ALWAYS!!! Because this is his childhood! And he’s not going to have a second one! This day will never happen again! It’s a one time thing! He’s never going to be this age again, Hotch!!! You only had ONE CHANCE to be here with him, at this age, TODAY! And you THREW IT AWAY!!! Because of ME!!! And that is NOT RIGHT!!! You’re NOT my father! You’re HIS!!! You should be with HIM!!! But you… you…” Reid trailed off, tears rolling down his cheeks. He glared at Hotch, who was staring at him, stunned and hurt. And then he turned and ran, disappearing into the crowd.

Hotch stared after him, shocked. Garcia was looking back and forth between Hotch and the crowd, clutching Kevin’s hand tightly.

“Aaron?” Rossi called carefully, and Hotch slowly sank to sit down on the bench of the picnic table.

“Prentiss.” Morgan said, and she looked at him. The man jerked his head towards the crowd, and then jogged off after Reid, and Emily immediately followed.

“Hotch?” Garcia asked tentatively.

“Maybe I’m going about this all wrong…” Hotch murmured. “Maybe he’s right. Maybe I am being too overprotective… I mean… he IS twenty five.”

“No, he’s not.” Garcia said firmly, and Hotch looked at her. “And I know that you know this. He may have twenty five years worth of MEMORIES, but in every other way… He’s a kid.”

“she’s right, Hotch.” Rossi nodded. “He has the memories. That’s it. Physically, he’s only fourteen right now. And EMOTIONALLY? He’s less than that, Hotch. We all know he’s not the same emotional age as his chronological and physical age. He was emotionally stunted. He’s always been emotionally young, and now he’s back even younger. You’re NOT being overprotective. You know that he needs you. He needs to be cared for and nurtured. But he’s never had that. And so he can’t just… accept that.

“These next few days are going to be very difficult, but they’ll be crucial. He’s a teenager now. Puberty is about to set in, and he’s going to go crazy. He’s not going to want to recognize that he’s still a kid, and you’re going to need to be ready to stand your ground with him. He’s going to resist being treated like a kid. But he is STILL a KID. Just… get through a few more days, Hotch. It will be a pain in the ass, but in the end it will all be fine.”

Meanwhile, Morgan and Prentiss reached the edge of the crowd, looking around. Reid was nowhere to be seen.

“Excuse me.” Emily said, barging in on some men who were talking. “Did you see a kid go running by? About this tall, brown hair, glasses?”

Morgan was doing the same with some young mothers and their young children. One nodded and pointed, and Morgan called to Emily and jogged off towards the parking area. They reached the cars and looked around.

“Reid?” Emily called.

“Reid!” Morgan shouted, beginning to walk down the row of cars.

“Reid, where are you?” He heard Emily calling in the other direction.

“MORGAN!” the man turned at Emily’s shout. She was standing at the back of a mini van, where a woman was changing her baby’s diaper in the trunk. Emily waved to Morgan and pointed. Morgan ran over to her and followed her between a few cars. And then they approached Hotch’s car. Reid was sitting on the ground leaning against the tire, hugging his knees to his chest and hiding his face in them.

Morgan approached, Emily right behind him. They stood over Reid for a moment, and then silently, Morgan moved to sit beside him. Emily followed his lead, sitting on Reid’s other side. They were silent for a moment, and then Emily tentatively reached out and placed an arm around Reid. Reid tensed for a moment, but then turned and leaned against her, crying.

“Shhhh…” she soothed, gently stroking Reid’s hair.

“I… I don’t… know who to be… more angry with!” Reid cried into her shoulder. “Him… or me!” Emily glanced at Morgan. “I had… no right… to say those things!!!” Reid continued. “It’s not fair!”

“I’m sure he knows you didn’t mean it…” Morgan said gently.

“But I DID mean it!!!” Reid cried, turning to look up at Morgan, his glasses spattered with tears. Morgan gave Reid a gentle smile, drawing the glasses off of the boy’s face and cleaning them on his t-shirt.

“Look, kid… Sometimes we say things we wish we could take back.” Morgan sighed. “But we can’t. What’s done is done. So we do what we can. We apologize. And hope that we’re forgiven. And Hotch WILL forgive you.”

“I… I just… I feel so guilty. He said that he didn’t bring Jack because he had me. He didn’t bring his own son, because he had to bring ME. Jack’s not here, with his father, because of ME!!!”

“Reid, that’s not true!” Emily said, quickly.

“But it IS!!! If I were my normal age, Hotch would be out there right now with Jack!”

“You don’t know that.” Emily said. “He might be out there with YOU. Maybe Jack couldn’t come. Maybe you and Hotch wouldn’t be here at all. Maybe you would have just decided to stay home.”

“Reid…” Morgan said, slowly. “You know that until you grow up, Hotch really can’t see Jack, right?”

“What?” Reid asked.

“This is being kept quiet… what happened to you. No one can know. Haley can’t ever know. And if Hotch were to take Jack, and Jack came home and told his mom about Uncle Spencer being a kid again… well…” Morgan trailed off with a shrug. But instead of comforting Reid, his words seemed to do the opposite.

“He can’t see his own son because of ME?!” Reid cried.

“What? No!” Morgan yelped, eyes wide.

“You just said—“

“Reid, someone had to raise you again!”

“I could have gone with someone else for a couple of days!!!” Reid wailed. “I could have stayed with either one of you!!!”

“Reid?” Emily asked, smiling. “Do you really think Hotch would have let you out of his sight?” Reid sniffled and rubbed his eyes.

“He’s loving this, kid. Every minute of it. And it’s only for a few weeks.” Morgan said, putting an arm around Reid. “In another week and a half, you’ll be back to normal, and Hotch can bring Jack over and you can all spend time together. But right now, Hotch is treasuring the time he’s getting to spend with you. He’s getting something no one else has ever had. He’s getting to spend time with the man he loves at every age. He’s getting to see you the way most people have never seen the one they love. This isn’t just a special experience for YOU, Pretty Boy. This is special to HIM. And he’s grateful for it. I know he’s going to cherish the memories of these weeks with you for the rest of his life.”

“Really?” Reid asked, staring up at Morgan.

“Really.” Morgan assured him, and slid the glasses back onto Reid’s face. Reid blinked up at him, and slowly smiled. “You ready to go find Hotch?”

“… Yeah. I think I am.” Reid said, softly.

“Then let’s go find him.” Emily said with a smile, the trio stood and headed back to the picnic. Hotch was right where they had left him, Rossi and Garcia by his side. He looked up when Emily and Morgan emerged from the crowd, Reid between them. Reid immediately ran forwards, and Hotch stood and caught him.

“I’m sorry.” Reid whimpered.

“It’s okay…” Hotch told him, stroking the dark hair. “It’s okay…” Reid shook his head. “Yes, it is.” Hotch insisted.

“I wanna go home.” Reid mumbled.

“Are you sure?” Hotch asked. “They’re about to open the Sundae Station.”

“Sundaes! Let’s go!” Garcia cheered, snatching Reid’s hand and dragging him away. Reid yelped, managing to catch Hotch’s hand and dragging the man along for the ride. “Sundae Train!” Garcia sang, and a laughing Emily caught Hotch and Morgan’s hands, and Morgan chuckled as he was dragged along for the ride, Rossi sauntering after them with an amused smirk and tossing in a few jokes about Morgan being the Sundae Train’s caboose.

And soon the team was sitting at their picnic table, enjoying Ice Cream Sundaes and Banana Splits, Henry chattering away happily to Reid, who wasn’t sure what to do.

And as the sun began to set, the team headed to their cars.

“Thanks for lunch, Rossi.” Reid said, looking up at the man.

“You’re welcome, kiddo.” Rossi smiled, and bid Hotch and Reid goodbye. Reid grinned as Emily, JJ and Garcia hugged him and Morgan ruffled his hair. And then he climbed into the car, and Hotch drove them home. Reid dozed off in the car on the way, and Hotch had to shake him awake when they got home. Then the pair split up to prepare for bed. When Hotch was showered and in his pajamas, he headed downstairs… and found Reid in bed in the guest room in a nightshirt.

“You’re going to sleep in here on your own?” Hotch asked, skeptically.

“I think you’ve made it quite obvious that you’re not going to let me sleep with you anymore.” Reid mumbled, sadly.

“Just for a week.” Hotch told him. “Until you’re twenty one.” Reid sighed, and nodded. Hotch smiled, leaning down and kissing Reid’s cheek. “I love you, Spencer.”

“I love you too.” Reid said, allowing Hotch to tuck him in. Then Hotch turned out the lights and left the room, heading up to bed.

It had been a day of extremes… It had been a day of fun and happiness, but there had also been some anxiety filled moments too. He hoped that tomorrow would be better. For BOTH of them…
- 13
- 14
- 15
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Growing Up Again