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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
- 19
- 20
- 21
Twenty Years Old

"Mmmmmm…" Came the soft sigh that accompanied the gentle kiss that woke Hotch in the morning. He smiled and lifted his arms, wrapping them around his lover. He ran his hand up and down a bare back, and Reid giggled as they stroked over his ribs. "That tickles." He murmured, and Hotch grinned.
"Good morning." He mumbled.
"Morning." Reid purred back and gently kissed his lover once more. "I'm twenty today."
"You are." Hotch nodded, opening his eyes and looking up. "And you're beautiful." Reid flushed, but smiled. His eyes were sparkling.
"I love you." The young man said, and Hotch reached up and brushed some long strands of hair aside.
"I love you too." He said. "What do you want to do today?"
"Well… I think that Strauss is wanting us to start coming back to work." Reid said. "After all… you only took eighteen to twenty one days off. And as I kind of started working again at eighteen…"
"Screw Strauss, she gave me twenty one days." Hotch grumbled, rolling over, drawing the blankets up and burying his head under his pillow. Reid laughed at that and moved to halfway lie on his lover, resting his head between the man's shoulder blades.
"… Aaron?"
"Hm?"
"Can we go to IHOP? I want pancakes." After a moment, Hotch emerged.
"Sure." He said, and the pair got out of bed, dressed, and headed out to the car. Hotch drove them to IHOP where they settled in and had a long breakfast, enjoying one another's company over pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage and hashbrowns. And then, as they were leaving…
Hotch's phone rang.
"Hotchner." He answered. "Uh-huh? Yeah…? Uhg… alright." He sighed, then hung up and looked at Reid.
"We have to go in."
"Toldja they'd expect us at work." Reid snickered, and Hotch gave him a look.
They arrived at the BAU half an hour later, and headed into the Round Table Room. The rest of the team was there… and so was Strauss.
"Ma'am?" Hotch asked, eying her.
"There are some consults and custodial interviews that need to be done. I'll be supervising and accompanying your team for the next few days." She said.
"May I ask why?" Hotch asked. Her eyes flicked to Reid, and Hotch frowned. "Is there a problem?"
"Not really." She sighed, looking reluctant. "I just… want to be careful with Agent Reid going with you into the field at this age."
"I'm twenty five!" Reid insisted hotly.
"Agent Reid…" Strauss sighed, leaning forward and folding her hands. "You're twenty. And I just want to be… cautious."
"Your supervision won't be necessary." Hotch said calmly, sitting down. "Dr. Reid will remain here, in the office, and will NOT accompany us into the field."
"WHAT?!"
"At least not until he's twenty one." Hotch added, ignoring Reid's outburst.
"Oh. Okay then." Reid said, and sat down in his chair, reaching for the case file. Strauss sighed, leaning back and eying the pair.
"… Alright." She conceded. "But I'll be checking up on you. And you will both undergo a psychiatric evaluation before Dr. Reid goes into the field again."
"WHAT?!" Reid blurted. "Why?!"
"Agent Hotchner has spent three weeks raising you from an infant. There's no doubt that the pair of you have become emotionally invested in one another in a new way. I need to make sure that it will still be appropriate, and SAFE, for the two of you to continue to work together."
"But—"
"Reid." Hotch interrupted the boy. He turned and looked at him. "… She's right. This is… a unique situation and we need to be cautious. Not just for our sake, but for the sake of the team. What affects one of us affects us all." Reid stared at Hotch, and then let out a deep breath and a nod.
"… Yesssir." He said, then looked at Strauss. "But if it HAS to be done, I want to just go ahead and get it done." Strauss considered Reid for a moment, then nodded.
"I'll arrange it." She said, and stood. "Agent Jareau?"
"Yes Ma'am." JJ grinned, standing. Then she walked over and plunked a large stack of folders down before Reid.
"What are these?" Reid asked.
"Consults." JJ said. "Since you can't go into the field I'm heading out with the others."
"Where?" Reid asked, sounding pathetic and looking like he was feeling VERY left out.
"Well, let's see…" Morgan sighed. "JJ and Emily are heading to Hazleton Secure Female Facility to interview a female serial killer by the name of Lisa Martingale."
"Wasn't she the one who… castrated her victims?" Strauss asked carefully.
"Not exactly," Reid piped up eagerly. "Castration involves simply removing the testicles. Martingale completely removed the genitals, testicles, scrotum and penis, and—"
"Thank you, Reid. Do your Consults please." Rossi rolled his eyes as Strauss turned red.
"And Rossi and I are heading to the Allenwood US Penitentiary." Morgan continued.
"… Have fun." Reid grumbled, scowling.
"Stop pouting, you're twenty." Hotch scolded. Strauss quirked a brow, then sighed and stood.
"I'll arrange your evaluations." She said, and left.

Hotch sighed as he stared at the door before him. He was not thrilled with this, but he understood the necessity. He knocked on the door.
"Come on in!" Came the call. Hotch took a deep breath, and pushed the door open. "Agent Hotchner!" The man stood from the sofa and shoved his feet into his shoes, which looked like… house slippers? Ah well...
He was slightly taller than Hotch, and in his late forties. He had coppery red hair that was staring to turn silver, and had a well groomed beard that was a bit more silver than his hair. His face was tanned, covered in freckles and was deeply lined, betraying him as a man who smiled a LOT. His eyes were a pale blue, and sparkled pleasantly as he reached out and firmly shook hands with the BAU's Unit Chief.
"I'm Mike Brennan." He greeted cheerfully, and Hotch detected the slightest hint of an Irish accent. "I know you probably don't want to be, here… I'll try to make it as painless as possible."
"I appreciate that." Hotch nodded, and he and Brennan moved to a pair of large plush armchairs. Hotch noted that Brennan's desk was shoved into the corner of his office, and several little newspaper clippings of comics making fun of psychiatrists had been stuck all over the wall over the desk with scotch tape. And then, displayed more prominently over the desk were several messy crayon drawings. There were no photos on the desk itself, but several on the numerous bookshelves, and Hotch's eyes fell on a family photo. Brennan was there with a woman who had wavy red hair and green eyes. And they had twins, apparently, a boy and a girl, both with red hair and blue eyes and looking to be about twelve or so. The boy was sitting beside a Golden Retriever, and the girl was holding two little terriers. In the wife's lap was a smaller boy, about three, and standing before Dr. Brennan was a six year old boy.
Hotch noted a de-motivational calendar on the wall with snarky, sarcastic sayings on it… for example… The current one had a photo of people in a running race. The word below it was "DEFEAT". The description? "For every winner, there are dozens of losers. Odds are you're one of them." There were a few little bamboo plants here and there throughout the office and a little tranquility fountain on the side table beside the sofa against the wall. There was a twenty gallon fish tank on the side table by the door fill with little plastic Greek Ruins props. It was filled with guppies and neon tetras. An algae eater was stuck on the side of the tank, as if he were making faces at Hotch through the glass.
There were some professional magazines laid out on the coffee table, but unless Hotch was mistaken, there was a Batman comic book peeking out from underneath one…
"Are you finished?" Brennan asked, pleasantly. Hotch turned and looked at him. "Have you come up with a profile of me?" Hotch frowned and opened his mouth, but there was a sudden painful, grinding whirr coming from the tranquility fountain.
"Oh, dammit. 'Scuse me." Brennan bitched. He stood and trotted over to the table. Hotch watched as he pulled a gallon jug half full of water from under the table and poured it into the fountain. It gurgled noisily, and then water bubbled up and began trickling down merrily once more. Brennan shoved the jug under the table again, and then trotted back to his chair, sitting down.
"Alright!" He smiled. "You seem to be a man who likes to cut to the chase." He announced, leaning back and crossing his legs. "So let's just cut to the chase." He picked up a folder and glanced through it. "Your uh… Your Section Chief briefed me on what happened. I'll admit, I'm completely stunned. This is… new territory for ALL of us, Agent Hotchner. I can't promise that the evaluation I give her is going to be the one you want, or the one that's right. All I can do is my best, but… there's no precedence with this so… we're all just going to have to bear with it and play it by ear." Hotch nodded his understanding. "I want to start by saying," Brennan continued, "that you did a wonderful thing for your colleague. I have all of the notes from Chief Strauss…" He looked down the page and chuckled. "Such as the uh… phone calls that your agent answered at age two…" Hotch couldn't help but smile at that. "According to her, he was adorable."
"He certainly was." Hotch admitted.
"Obviously," Brennan went on, "the concern is, how has the past three weeks changed your relationship with your agent. Because it HAS. There's no way you can go through that and NOT have it change."
"Of course." Hotch nodded. He sighed, frowning as he wondered just how much he should tell this doctor. He knew he was protected by Doctor/Patient confidentiality… but…
"Remember. Everything you say, stays between us. I will simply deliver a report to Strauss about whether or not it should be okay for you and Dr. Reid to return to the field TOGETHER."
Hotch nodded. "Spencer and I… have gotten closer. There's no doubt about that." Hotch admitted. "Have I become more emotionally involved in him? Yes. There's no way I couldn't. I… I changed his diapers. I fed him and burped him. I bathed him and dressed him… tucked him in to bed at night. Held him when he had nightmares or hurt himself… and when he cried about the… childhood that he didn't heave… about his father abandoning him… I tried to be both the encouragement and discipline… And… it wasn't easy." Hotch admitted, looking up at Brennan. "But it was one of the… best experiences of my life." Brennan was smiling slightly.
"Do you see him as… a son, now?"
"… Honestly? I did when he was younger… but… the older he gets, the less I feel that way about him. Don't get me wrong. I do… love him in a new way now. But I had loved him before this ever happened. Our team is a family. And I would do anything for any of them. But Reid himself has always… drawn that out in all of us much more." Brennan nodded, looking down at the file again.
"Yyyyeah… I get that." He chuckled, flipping through the pages. "Agent Morgan took him for his haircut?"
"Don't get me started on that." Hotch snorted, and Brennan chuckled.
"Yes, I heard about the Mohawk."
"I almost shot him in the foot for that." Hotch grumbled, and Brennan grinned.
"I'll bet." Then, he took a deep breath. "Tell me about… the worst moment of the past three weeks. And then tell me about the best."
Hotch smiled slightly. "Picking a best moment would be hard… When he was only a baby, seeing him smile and climb the stairs to get to me…" Hotch began. "Hearing him call my name, even when he couldn't say it right…"
"Hotch is what they call you?"
"… He was using my first name." Hotch chuckled. "He called me 'Ahnn' at first, and then 'Ah'ron'…" Brennan smiled. "He would rattle off scientific names of butterflies on our walk, even though he couldn't get them out right…"
"And I hear you took him on outings?"
"Yes. One of the scariest moments was at the farm when he fell off of the horse."
"He was okay?"
"He laughed and asked if he could do it again." Hotch chuckled, and Brennan grinned. "I think my biggest panic moment was when he got lost at the zoo. One moment he was there, and the next he was gone."
"What happened?"
"He got swept up in a flood of junior high students." Hotch snorted, and Brennan nodded. "And… I was terrified."
"How do you mean?"
"I've seen what can happen when a child disappears." Hotch said, darkly. "All I could think was… the clock was ticking. It was the closest to panic I've ever been."
"What about in the… interrogation a couple of days ago…"
Hotch scowled darkly. "I would have been furious with him either way. Whether this… whole three weeks had happened or not. Whether it was him, or Agent Prentiss or Jareau, or even Agent Morgan."
"But it got to you more."
"… Yes." Hotch admitted. "It did."
"Why?"
"… He was only eighteen… and I knew what this man had done…"
"But do you think you felt more protective because of the past few weeks?"
"… Yes."
"Why?"
"As you said… how could I not? I had spent the last two and a half weeks nurturing and protecting him… comforting him when he cried or was hurt…"
"When did he get hurt?" Brennan asked.
"Well… at one point, he had gotten mad at me and ran off. I found him in the park in our neighborhood being beaten up by some older boys… And then that day when he was six or seven was an absolute nightmare…"
"Oh really?" Brennan said, looking quite surprised. "May I ask why?"
"Well… what happens at around that age?" Hotch asked, and shrugged. "They lose their teeth and get their adult set in. Spencer had to do that all in one day. He spent the entire day crying from the pain…"
"Oh…" Brennan's face was overcome with emotion at that. His pencil dropped to the page and he shook his head in dismay. "That poor little thing… Bless his heart…"
They were silent for a moment, and then Brennan shifted in his chair. "Agent Hotchner. I want you to give me an open and honest self assessment."
Hotch blinked, surprised. "Self assessment?" He repeated, and Brennan nodded. "Well… okay. Open and honest?" Brennan nodded again. "Alright… I don't know." Brennan blinked. "I could tell you what you want to hear. I could tell you what I really think. But I believe that, ultimately, no matter what I think I will do to handle the situation, when it comes down to it, in the field… well… you never know. Things can change. And I'm not sure that I can promise you that how I currently THINK I will act, sitting here in this office, is how I actually WILL act in the field. It's a very difficult situation that has never been seen before. I can tell myself all I want that now that Reid is an adult again, I'll treat him just as I had before a month ago… but… that's probably a lie. I don't KNOW how this will affect us. All I know is that… I will do anything to keep my team safe, and intact."
Brennan regarded Hotch thoughtfully for a long time, and then nodded.
"Fair enough," he said, and flipped to a new fresh piece of paper. "Tell me about when you first realized what had happened to Agent Reid?"

Reid was pacing in the corridor when Hotch emerged.
"Dr. Reid?" Brennan called, and Hotch approached Reid. Reid looked up at him, anxiously. Hotch just smiled and gripped his shoulder, and then walked away. Reid took a deep breath, and stepped into the office. Brennan watched the young man look over his office, just like Agent Hotchner had done. He waited for Reid's eyes to turn to him.
"Ready?" He asked, and Reid just shrugged. "Alright then. I'm Mike Brennan and obviously, I'll be conducting this evaluation." Reid nodded. "Have a seat, make yourself comfortable." And Brennan sat down. Reid did not. He wandered over to the bookcase and began to scan the titles, curiously. Brennan allowed him to do what he wished.
"I've already had a lengthy chat with Agent Hotchner—"
"Two hours, seven minutes and twenty two seconds." Reid murmured. Brennan blinked, surprised.
"… Um. Probably." He admitted with a chuckle. "So. Tell me how you feel about your… experience. What are you coming out of it with?"
Reid was silent for a long time, and then he turned and looked at Brennan. "It was… surprisingly positive." Reid announced. "I've come out of it looking back on it fondly."
"Good to hear. Agent Hotchner feels the same." Brennan said, and he observed the smile that touched Reid's features as the boy finally sat down.
"Tell me… is there any awkwardness between you now?"
"Why would there be?" Reid asked.
"Well… he's seen you at your best and worst now. Seen you at your strongest… and weakest. He's changed your diapers, bathed you, held you when you cried…"
"He was there for me and took care of me. He did everything he could to make sure that this would be a positive experience for me." Reid said firmly.
"… Yes." Brennan nodded, scribbling on his paper. "He did." And he smiled at Reid. "But he also had to enforce boundaries and discipline. He made you angry."
"He frustrated me. But… not as much as the overall situation." Reid admitted with a nod.
"I see." Brennan said. "Well… as much as possibly can…" He grinned and chuckled. "I have no IDEA what it must be like to have been in your shoes."
"I sincerely doubt it." Reid conceded with a smile. "It was confusing at first. At the younger ages. The only thing I wasn't confused about was… Hotch."
"How so?"
"Well… I was very young and had all these thoughts and knowledge and memories… my brain was too young and immature to process them."
"Of course."
"But I knew who Hotch was. I knew I could trust him and rely on him."
"And so you latched onto him."
"Yeah. I guess." Reid shrugged.
"What do you think was the best moment, and the worst moment of the whole event?"
"Oh, I dunno." Reid said, eyes widening. "There was so much that was so wonderful… I think when I spent an entire day crying and spitting out teeth was probably the lowest point. But the best? I dunno. I don't think I could settle on one. Milking the cows was fun, and getting the eggs from the chickens on the farm… But then again, so was just sitting on the sofa and playing video games with him. Even if neither of us are very good." And Reid chuckled.
"Do you see him as a father, now?"
"No." Reid said firmly.
"You didn't even have to think about that." Brennan observed.
"No." Reid said, just as firmly as before. "Aaron Hotchner is most certainly not my father. He is someone who is indeed very important in my life, but…" Reid smiled. "Our team is family. I love them all dearly. Do I have a deeper connection with Hotch now because of this? Yes. But he is not a father figure. Maybe in the first days, yes, but…" He trailed off, then leaned forward and snagged the Batman comic that Hotch had spotted peeking out from under a magazine, and began to flip through it.
Brennan smiled to himself in amusement.
"Do you think you will have any problems returning to the field with him?"
"Not at all." Reid said, reading the comic.
"You don't think that you might be a bit more likely to… defy him?"
"I was not a rebellious child." Reid chuckled. "Either time around."
"Yes, he did say that you were a very well behaved child… other than the uh… tantrum in which you ran away?" Brennan said, glancing back over his notes with Hotch. Reid snorted.
"I wasn't running away. I was just… running to clear my head. I was upset. It wasn't intended as an act of rebellion."
"Hm." Brennan hummed, a knowing smile on his face.
"… What does that mean?" Reid demanded.
"Nothing!" Brennan sang, grinning at Reid's suspicious look. "So! Tell me about your little tantrum at the picnic."
Reid groaned.

Hotch and Reid were going over some consultations in Hotch's office when there was a knock on the door. Both looked up and Hotch called, "come in".
Dr. Brennan stepped in. He looked very serious, and appeared as though he had steeled himself before entering.
"Gentlemen." He greeted. Hotch frowned and stood.
"Is there a problem?" Hotch asked.
"… I'm afraid there is." Brennan said, and closed the door to Hotch's office. He noted the panicked look on Reid's face. "I've come to a conclusion in regards to your evaluations."
"And?" Hotch prompted.
"I've concluded that the two of you haven't been entirely truthful with me." Hotch and Reid both blinked at that announcement.
"What do you mean?" Hotch asked, his voice hard and cold. He seemed to hover over Reid in a protective manner.
"Look…" Brennan sighed. "I know you're hiding something from me, and unless you can be honest here, I will have to report that you are not being entirely forthcoming. And that will prevent BOTH of you from returning to the field. I don't want to do that. So please… what is going on between the two of you?"
"Excuse us." Hotch said shortly, and he and Reid shuffled into the far corner and began to murmur to one another, heads together. Reid shook his head vigorously at something, then sighed and nodded a moment later. And finally, he shrugged and the pair turned back to Brennan.
"Dr. Reid and I are involved." Hotch said shortly. Brennan stared.
"… What?" He finally asked. "Define 'involved'!"
"We are in a romantic relationship." Hotch explained. Slowly, Brennan sank onto the sofa, watching as Hotch took Reid's hand.
"You raised him… and came out of this romantically involved?" He said, weakly.
"Not exactly." Reid said. "Hotch and I have been in a relationship for a year and a half now."
"Oh… Oh! Oh, thank God… I was starting to worry that you had been… sleeping with him. You know. Over the past month."
"Well… we were, technically." Reid said, making Hotch want to smack him. "I mean, we share a bed, after all…"
"You slept in the same BED?!" Brennan cried.
"Not like that!" Hotch cried in dismay, and Reid made a face. "He would throw the most god awful tantrums until I relented—"
"I WOULD NOT!"
"— and when he was older he would just pick the lock!"
"It's my bed too!" Reid cried, then pointed an accusing finger at Hotch while looking at Brennan. "HE tried to make me sleep in his son's room and the then the guest room! I wanted to sleep in MY room!"
And then, right before Brennan's eyes, the pair turned on each other and broke into a lover's quarrel. Both were talking rapidly in angry voices, Hotch glaring and sticking a finger in Reid's face, while Reid's hands waved about excitedly. Brennan closed his eyes and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"… I need a raise." He mumbled to himself. "Gentlemen! Gentlemen?! AGENTS!"
Both men stopped arguing and looked at the doctor.
"Alright… I'm not here to play Couples' Counseling. But I think it's time for you to come clean… We're all mature adults…" Hotch glanced at Reid, and Brennan waved a hand dismissively, "For the most part…"
"Hey!"
"Let's sit down and discuss this."
Reid sat down, grumbling, and after a moment, so did Hotch.
"Alright then, Agents." Brennan said, his eyes stern. "Spill."
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Growing Up Again