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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
- 6
- 7
- 8
Seven Years Old

For the first time since Reid had been zapped down in age, Hotch woke before the child did. Hotch figured it was because the previous day was so exhausting for the poor little boy. After all, he had spent all day crying in pain and spitting out his baby teeth, which Hotch had collected in a little Ziploc bag. He smiled down at seven year old Spencer Reid, tucking the blankets around him before rising, relieving himself and dressing. Then he set out a new pair of glasses for the child before kissing his little cheek and heading downstairs to make breakfast.

As he worked, there was a knock on the door. Hotch frowned and hurried away from the pancakes, disarming the security system and letting Garcia in.

“Morning! How’s the little man doing?!”

“Shh.” Hotch said, pressing a finger to his lips. “He’s still asleep.”

“How did it go yesterday?” Garcia asked, following Hotch into the kitchen.

“It was a nightmare.” Hotch sighed. “He was crying all day.”

“Really?”

“Really. ALL. DAY.” Hotch said, firmly. “He finally stopped and fell asleep at seven, seven thirty. I joined him around eight.”

“My poor sweet baby butter cream…” Garcia whimpered softly.

“He needs another haircut.” Hotch sighed, smiling slightly.

“Oh?”

“Yeah. It’s really long.” Hotch chuckled. He blinked at another knock on the door.

“And that should be the team!” Garcia said happily.

“… What?!”

“they got back last night! They wanna see Reid!”

“So you invited the team over to MY house?!”

“Yep!” Garcia chirped, and went to answer the door. Hotch looked down at the griddle.

“We’re gonna need more pancakes…” He muttered, flipping some off of the griddle and pouring more batter on.

“Hey Hotch.”

“Good morning, JJ.”

“Wow… Hotch makin’ pancakes?”

“I can cook, no matter what you think, Agent Morgan.”

“Hope there’s enough for all of us.”

“If you want some, you can mix up more batter yourself, Dave.” Hotch snorted, pointing at the box of batter mix.

“I got it.” Emily laughed, grabbing the box and a mixing bowl and beginning to whip up more batter.

“… I’ll make the eggs!” JJ sang, raiding the fridge.

“I got the bacon!” Morgan cheered, opening the freezer. Hotch turned and blinked back at them in surprise, then smirked and shook his head.

A few minutes later, Reid appeared in the doorway, lured in by the smells of breakfast. His eyes widened behind his glasses and he pushed his long hair out of his face, staring around at his team making breakfast. Rossi was setting the table, Garcia was pouring the juice, JJ was making eggs, Morgan the bacon, Hotch and Emily the pancakes.

“Morning, cupcake!” Garcia sang. The team turned and looked at the seven year old boy in the doorway.

“Oh, he’s so cute!” Emily announced.

“Look at his HAIR!” Morgan laughed.

“What’s wrong with my hair?!” Reid demanded to know.

“You need a haircut, Spence.” JJ laughed.

Reid blinked and ran a hand over his hair, which reached his shoulder blades in long, chocolate strands.

“Come on, cupcake.” Garcia said, walking over and taking Reid’s hand. “Let’s go cut your hair.” And she walked him out of the kitchen and took him into Jack’s bathroom after finding a pair of scissors. “Alright sweetie.” She smiled, setting him on the counter top and removing his glasses. “Hold still.”

“You’re not gonna mess it up, are you?” Reid asked, nervously.

“No, sweetie. Just hold still.” Garcia told him gently, and lifted the scissors. Reid sucked in a breath and closed his eyes. And then the snipping began.

Back in the kitchen, Emily was loading some of the newly poured batter on the griddle with blue berries, and Hotch was, to her amusement, sprinkling chocolate chips on some of the others.

“Come on,” her boss said with a grin, “What’s better than chocolate chip pancakes?!”

A few minutes later, they heard little bare feet.

“WHAT DID SHE DO TO ME?!” Reid cried, running into the room. The team turned and looked. Reid had his hands clamped down on his head.

“Sweetie, what’s wrong?!” Garcia ran in a moment later, looking upset.

“MY HAIR!” Reid cried.

“Take your hands off of your head and let me see.” Hotch said, hurrying over and kneeling before the child. Slowly, Reid did as he was told. Hotch stared at his hair, and with fingers on his chin, turned Reid’s head back and forth.

“… It looks fine, buddy.” He said with a smile. “What’s the excitement about?”

“It’s GONE!”

“No it’s not!” Hotch laughed, brushing the still-shaggy bangs from his eyes. Reid’s hair was nicely layered, framing his face and reaching the base of his skull at the longest point. “And your hair is growing quickly right now. So if she had shaved your head, you would have long hair again within a couple of days.”

“You look cute, Spence.” JJ said, ruffling Reid’s freshly trimmed hair. Reid calmed down, and Morgan chuckled at the distressed look on Garcia’s face.

“Alright people. Let’s eat.” Rossi said, and the team all sat down around the kitchen table, beginning to pass around the pancakes, bacon and eggs. Hotch peeled a banana for Reid, insisting that he eat some fruit. Before anyone knew it Hotch was grinning widely, clearly having a good time as he enjoyed breakfast from his team and doted on the seven year old Spencer Reid, who was grinning around his chocolate chip pancakes which Garcia had put whipped cream on.

The team shared pleasant conversation filled with laughter, especially when Reid turned his fork into a catapult and some scrambled egg landed on Morgan’s head with a SPLAT!!! The man froze, eyes wide, and turned to stare at the child who was laughing hysterically, leaning on Hotch. The Unit Chief was also shaking in quiet laughter, the largest smile splitting his face that the team had EVER seen. It was when they noticed the placement of Hotch’s hand near the fork that they realized that Hotch had been in on the egg-assault.

“… Hotch!” Morgan howled, and Reid’s laughter doubled. He all but toppled out of his chair. Grinning, Hotch pulled the child into his lap and kissed his head.

“Good shot, buddy.”

“HOTCH!!!” Morgan shouted. Reid grinned and giggled, then blew a raspberry at Morgan. “Oh, that’s it.” The man snapped, standing. Reid let out a shriek, slid out of Hotch’s lap and RAN, Morgan on his heels, saying, “Oh, I don’t THINK so, kid!” The team heard the back door open, and then turned and watched out the large picture window in the kitchen as Reid ran out into the back yard, Morgan in hot pursuit. They smiled as they watched the pair wind their way through the trees, running and circles.

Morgan finally lunged and wrapped his hands around the small body, lifting the screaming child into the air. Reid’s feet flailed, and he thrashed and shrieked as fingers danced over his ribs. A moment later, the pair were tumbling around in the grass, Morgan tickling little Spencer and grinning at the contagious laughter.

“God, they’re so CUTE.” Garcia cooed, then ran outside with her camera. JJ and Emily grinned, and Rossi snorted as he polished off the rest of his juice. Hotch sighed and shook his head, amused, then stood and began to clear the table. Emily and JJ quickly jumped to join him in helping to clean up breakfast. Within half an hour, the team walked out into the backyard to laugh at Morgan pushing Reid in the hammock, Garcia snapping pictures the whole time.

Reid rolled out of the hammock before Morgan could even realize what was happening and charged across the yard, finally reaching Hotch and jumping into the man’s arms. Hotch grinned and held him, kissing his cheek.

“Having fun?”

“Yeah!” Reid gasped, eyes bright and sparkling. “Will you play with me too?” Hotch blinked, and Rossi turned and looked at the man, quirking a brow. Hotch glanced at Rossi, then looked back at Reid’s hopeful look.

“… Well… Alright.” And he set Reid down. “Better run!”

Reid let out a shriek and did just that, tearing across the yard as fast as his little legs could carry him, and after a moment, Hotch went after him.

“That is so sweet…” Emily sighed with a grin, and JJ couldn’t stop smiling. Garcia started snapping pictures again as Morgan joined in the chase. Reid was letting out shrill screams of delight as he wove amongst the towering trees, avoiding both Hotch and Morgan’s arms. When he was tired, he turned and ran towards the girls.

“JJ!!!” Reid cheered, and the blonde knelt and caught him in a big hug. Reid was grinning, and kissed her cheek. JJ blinked, surprised, but gave him a big grin and kiss on his forehead.

“You havin’ fun growing up again?” She asked.

“Yeah!” Reid nodded as Morgan and Hotch walked over, huffing and puffing… despite being physically fit FBI Agents, no adult could keep up with a kid’s energy.

“Tomorrow, the REAL fun begins.” Garcia said with a smile. “Hotch is going to take you to the aquarium!” Reid’s eyes widened and his face lit up.

“… Really?!” He gasped, looking back and forth between Hotch and Garcia.

“We sure are.” Hotch said with a grin. “What else would you like to do while you’re growing up again?”

“Can we go to the zoo?”

“Sure.” Hotch said with a nod.

“… The Smithsonian Natural History Museum?”

“If that’s what you want.” Hotch said with a nod. Reid frowned slightly, thinking.

“So tomorrow I’ll be eight… Smithsonian National Zoo when I’m nine… Smithsonian Natural History Museum when I’m ten…”

“What do you want to do when you’re eleven?” Emily asked. “The Air And Space Museum?”

“Nah… I’ve done that one five times…”

“American Art Museum?” Rossi asked.

“No… Did that with Gideon…” Reid said, frowning. “I’ve seen ALL of the Art Museums… Can… can we have a picnic?” The child asked, looking up hopefully.

“Like… with the whole team?” Hotch asked.

“Yeah.” Reid said, smiling and nodding. “They’re my family!”

“Oh! The FBI is having that Family Picnic day next week! We could take him to that!”

“Yeah!” Reid agreed with Garcia. “As a family!”

“Awwww… GROUP HUG!!!” Garcia cheered, tackling Rossi and Morgan.

“Whah!? Crazy broad!” Rossi yelped. “Oh… uh…” He blinked and looked down when Reid threw his arms around his knees, grinning as he hugged the veteran profiler. Then, he sighed and stopped struggling as Emily and JJ joined the hug. Hotch picked up Reid and moved in, letting Reid wrap his arms around Rossi and Emily’s necks, grinning.

“Calm down, Dave.” Hotch chuckled.

“Yeah. Calm down, Dave.” Reid giggled, and Rossi gave the little boy a look. Reid just grinned, and kissed the man on the cheek. That made everyone else laugh. But to their surprise (and delight), after staring at the child in shock, Rossi’s face suddenly softened. Reid blinked owlishly at him. “We are a family… aren’t we?” The boy asked.

“… Yeah, kiddo.” Rossi said, gently. “We are.” And Hotch relinquished his hold on Reid as Rossi picked him up and gave him a big hug. “And if you want to have a picnic, we’ll have a picnic.”

“Yay!” Reid cheered. “Will you make my lunch?”

“Sure thing, kiddo.” Rossi said with a nod.

“Oh! Will you make mine too?!” Garcia gasped.

“… NO!” Rossi howled.

“How about mine?” Hotch asked, smirking.

“… Only because you have your hands full with this one.” Rossi said, bouncing the little boy in his arms before setting him on his feet. Reid promptly tackled Morgan again, and the man obliged by falling to the ground and wrestling with the child. The team moved out of the way and watched the pair roll around in the grass.

“… He never did this as a kid, did he?” Garcia asked, softly.

“I don’t think so.” Hotch said, frowning. “His father was still with him at this age, but…”

“He wasn’t the nurturing type.” Rossi finished.

“No.” Hotch agreed, smiling as Morgan ended up lying on his chest with Reid straddling his waist and wrenching the man’s arm up between his shoulder blades.

“Alright kid, you got me. Hey, you got me, you— OW!!! Reid!” Morgan howled, and Reid just burst out laughing. “Oh, I don’t think so, kid!” Morgan snorted, and rolled. Reid tumbled into the grass and Morgan pounced. The team grinned at the shrill screams and giggles as Morgan started to tickle the child into submission again.

“You know what might be fun for him?” JJ suddenly blurted, and Hotch looked at her. “A working farm.”

“What?” The man asked, blinking.

“Take him to a farm. One of those that welcome guests with their kids. Let him spend a day on the farm. He grew up indoors in Vegas, Hotch. Can you imagine how different it would be?”

“Ah.” The man nodded, smiling. “Yes, I see your point. Garcia?”

“Yessir?”

“Can we push the plans all back by a day? I think tomorrow would be the perfect age for a farm field trip.”

“Yessir.” She said with a grin, and hurried away to arrange things.

Finally, Morgan was all worn out and carried the squirming child back to the house. When they walked in, they went straight to the kitchen where JJ and Garcia had lunch all ready.

“Here you go, pumpkin.” Garcia said with a grin, setting a plate down before Reid. “Lunch!”

“Will you make us dinner?” Reid asked, turning and looking up at Rossi.

“Uh… well…”

“We’ll help out.” Emily said, smiling at the man.

“… Okay.” Rossi sighed, and Reid grinned before taking a big bite of his sandwich, swinging his legs under the table. When lunch was over, to everyone’s amusement (and relief) Reid went down for a nap without complaint… in fact, he conked out with Morgan on the sofa, snuggled into the man’s side and resting his little shaggy head on the man’s chest. And Morgan had his head back snoring, with an arm around Reid.

Garcia, after slipping Reid’s glasses off of his small face, took several pictures and then the team split up. JJ, Emily and Rossi went to the store to get things to make dinner, and Hotch soon found himself dozed off in the hammock out back. Garcia was asleep in the chair near Morgan and Reid…

About an hour later, Hotch’s cell phone went off in the study…

Strauss waited patiently for an answer. She straightened when she heard it being picked up.

“… Hello?” Came the small voice. She blinked, then smiled slightly.

“Hello. This is Erin Strauss. Is this… Spencer?” She asked, kindly.

“Uh-huh.”

“And how old are you today?”

“I’m seven, and I have ALL my big teeth!”

“I see. That’s very exciting to hear. Is Aaron there?”

“YOU’RE Erin!” The boy giggled. Strauss blinked, then leaned back in her chair.

“That’s right, I am. I suppose Agent Hotchner and I have the same name, don’t we?”

“Uh huh. They SOUND the same. But they’re not.” The little boy suddenly said. “The name ‘Aaron’, pronounced ‘AAH-ron’, is a male name that comes from the Hebrew Bible, referring to the Biblical figure who was the older brother of Moses. It may have unknown roots in Egyptian and is a masculine name. YOUR name, which is pronounced ‘EHR-in’, is a Hiberno-English derivative of the word ‘Eirinn’ which came from the word ‘Eire’ which is the Irish word for Ireland. It is mostly used for females.”

Strauss just sat there, eyes wide and mouth open, surprised and impressed at the child’s eloquence.

“Well… That’s fascinating, Spencer.” She finally said. “You’re VERY smart for such a young boy.”

“I’m seven today, but I’m REALLY twenty five!” Reid announced. Strauss smiled.

“Yes, Spencer, I know.”

“… Can I come back to work?”

“Come back to work?” Strauss echoed, eyebrows raising. “What on earth for?”

“So I can work the cases with the team!”

“Oh. I see. Well, Spencer, maybe when you’re twenty five and eighteen, not twenty five and seven.”

“… Awwww…” Reid whined. The front door opened then, and Reid trotted over and smiled as JJ, Emily and Rossi returned from the grocery store. “Hiiii!!!” Strauss winced at the shout, pulling the phone away from her ear.

“Hey there, Spence… are you playing with the phone?”

“I’m talkin’.” Reid said, shrugging.

“Oh?” Emily asked. “Who are you talking to?”

“Strauss.” Reid said happily. The man and two women froze, staring at him.

“Uh… Kid… why don’t you give me the phone.” Rossi said, looking both worried and amused.

“No! I’m talking!” Reid cried, holding the phone out of Rossi’s reach.

“Reid, I think that Strauss called for a reason.”

“I’M talking to her!” Reid whined.

“I think she wanted to talk to me.”

“If she wanted to talk to YOU,” Reid said, and Strauss sighed as she listened in helplessly. “She would have called YOUR phone.”

“And if she wanted to talk to you, she would have called YOUR phone.” Rossi pointed out. “Whose phone is that?”

“… Aaron’s.”

“So who did Strauss call to talk to?”

“… Aaron. But he’s asleep!”

“Well… don’t you think you should wake him up?”

“… Okay!” Reid chirped, and ran from the room. He ran outside and across the yard, towards the man napping in the hammock, and with a flying leap he threw himself into the hammock with the man.

“AAAAH!!!” Hotch yelped, his body stiffening. He desperately attempted to steady the hammock, but it was too late. It flipped, dumping Aaron Hotchner on the grass. Reid however shrieked with laughter. The spinning hammock had caught him up like a fly in the web, and he giggled as he swung back and forth.

“Spencer!” Hotch groaned, sitting up.

“Phone!” Reid chirped, pointing to the phone on the ground.

“Phone?” Hotch asked, picking it up. Then, he froze. His eyes widened, and he slowly lifted it to his ear. “… Hello?”

“Hello, Agent Hotchner.”

Hotch winced. “Chief Strauss…”

“I see you have your hands full.” She drawled. “Though I now know the origin of both of our first names.”

Hotch winced and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I apologize, ma’am, I—“

“No need. He’s an active child. And he sounds happy. So it seems you’re doing a good job with him. I actually had just wanted to check in with you to see how it’s going.”

“It’s fine.” Hotch said, calmly pushing the hammock with his free hand, smiling at the little “wheee!” that he got from his young charge. “But… he IS a big handful. He’s more active than I had anticipated. I think he’s making up for all the missed opportunities as a child.”

“Well, he should.” Strauss said. “How many would love the chance to be a kid again?”

“Right.” Hotch nodded, finally standing.

“Aaron! I have to go to the bathroom!” Reid suddenly announced, loudly.

“And on that note, I’ll let you go.” Strauss said, unable to keep the amusement from her tone.

“Uh… yeah. Thanks.”

“Good evening, Aaron.”

“Bye.” Hotch mumbled, hanging up the phone and untangling Reid from the hammock. Then he watched the boy run into the house. He sighed, then smiled and shook his head, tucking his phone into his pocket before heading back inside himself.

Rossi and Emily cooked for the rest of the afternoon, and more than once chased Reid from the kitchen when little curious fingers tried to get into things. Garcia, JJ and Morgan did all they could to entertain Reid, but his brilliant little brain got bored easily. It was a relief to everyone when they were called into the kitchen for dinner. Morgan grinned, lifting Reid up onto his chair and ruffling the kid’s hair. Emily and Rossi served dinner, and the team dug in eagerly. Hotch was constantly wiping Reid’s face as he got the pasta sauce smeared across his face over and over again. At one point, Morgan lunged across the table, snatching Reid’s fork.

“Don’t you DARE, kid!” He said fiercely, taking away the boy’s little makeshift catapult and his meat-ball-turned-cannon-ball. The team laughed as Reid pouted, whining about how he couldn’t finish his dinner without his fork. But by the time dinner was over, the little boy was rubbing sleepy eyes.

“Alright baby…” Hotch sighed, standing and lifting Reid into his arms. “It’s bath time.”

“I don’ wanna…” Reid mumbled.

“Awwww… do you want me to come with?” Garcia asked. Reid shook his head, then turned and twisted in Hotch’s arms.

“Morgan…” He whined softly. Morgan blinked.

“You want ME to give you a bath?” The man asked. Little Reid nodded his head. “Uh… okay…” Morgan stood and reached out, taking Reid from Hotch, who was smiling.

“Use Jack’s bathroom. I’ll bring you a night shirt for him.” He said, and Morgan nodded. He carried Reid into the bathroom and ran a warm bath, helped him undress, and then plunked him into the tub. He smiled and knelt by the side of the bath as Reid sleepily washed himself. Morgan washed his thin back, and shampooed his hair, and then dried him off. Hotch brought in the night shirt, and Morgan managed to get the sleepy child into it, smiling as it fell off of one shoulder.

“Alright, Pretty Boy.” Morgan said, taking Reid’s hand and leading him to Jack’s bed. “Sleepy time.” And he tucked Reid in. Reid stared at the man.

“Read me a story?” He asked.

“… Sure thing, kid.”

He emerged from the bedroom only twenty minutes later.

“He asleep?” Hotch asked from where he stood with JJ, drying the dishes.

“Yeah. He passed out pretty quick.” Morgan nodded.

“Thanks for doing that.” Hotch said.

“No problem. But now, I gotta head home.”

“Yeah. Me too.” Emily yawned.

“Thank you all.” Hotch said, smiling at the team. “It… meant a lot to both of us, your being here today.”

“And if all goes well, we’ll do it again for the picnic.” Garcia said. Hotch nodded.

“I look forward to it.” He said, and saw the team to the door, bidding them all good night. Then he himself showered and went to bed. And he was fast asleep when the little boy made his way upstairs and crawled into bed with him, going back to sleep himself.
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Growing Up Again