Adult-FanFiction.org : Television / Streaming

Pretty Boy	By : Wagamama_hime Category: 1 through F > Criminal Minds Views: 4813 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds. It is the sole intellectual property of the CBS Corporation. This is a work of fiction and I am making no profit from its publication.

Chapter List
- 6
- 7
- 8
Chapter 7
Disclaimer: I do not own Criminal Minds, nor am I am making any profit off of this work.
A/N: Thanks for all your reviews, favorites/subscriptions, and support! And thanks to Eskimita, my esteemed beta-reader!
I'm happy you came back for another chapter and I'm glad no one wants to string me up yet for all the bad things I keep doing to our poor Spencer. But, I intend to ease off the personal traumas in this chapter to give you guys a breather. When I wrote the first draft of this chapter it was 50 pages! Ack! But after some serious consideration, I decided it would make more sense if I broke it up into parts. So this will be the first part of the day, and Chapter 8 will follow up with the evening.
Unfortunately there's no real Derek-Spencer 'romantic' contact in this chapter (ah! Don't hurt me!). But of course, that doesn't mean they won't be thinking about each other. I figure we're more honest in our heads than we are out loud most of the time, anyway ;p. This will be mostly a case & character development chapter but I did try to add a little humor, a little mystery & intrigue, and a little personal realization on Spencer's part. Hope you like it!

Derek groaned groggily as he turned over, throwing an arm over his eyes in displeasure. He had been awoken by a combination of the persistent sunlight shining into his eyes and the fact that his neck and back were aching. Shifting slightly, and wincing as his lower back complained, Derek sighed and opened his eyes.
The kid wasn't playing when he said this couch was uncomfortable, he thought to himself. Probably would've been better if I had slept on the floor…
Although his night had been uncomfortable, Derek was just glad that his sleep had been dreamless. He wasn't sure how he would have coped if he had been plagued by yet another X-rated 'Spencer-featurette' when the boy was sleeping just a few feet away from him. Derek was already doing all that he could to keep that very embarrassing information from the boy, and with Spencer's sharp intellect Derek doubted he would believe another weak 'I'm going through some personal things' excuse from him. But, Derek would rather not spend his time dwelling on that difficult issue at the present moment.
Sitting up, and rubbing at his cramped muscles with one hand, he fumbled around on the table to retrieve his cellphone. He had no idea what time it was, but he knew it couldn't be too late in the morning since his alarm hadn't gone off yet.
Closing his hand around the phone, and swiping the screen he saw that it was only 7:35. He also noticed that he had a few text messages from Emily.
J.J. & I are headed over to switch with you now; should be there by 8.
Hotch wants you back at the station by 9, btw
Don't worry, we come bearing coffee & donuts ;p
Ask Spencer what time he's heading into work today
Groaning, Derek tossed the phone back on the table. Not that the idea of coffee and donuts didn't sound great. He was just frustrated at himself for already feeling reluctant to leave Spencer. He knew there was no way he could do his job if he spent all his time with the boy. And he trusted J.J. and Emily in his absence. He just would feel better about it if he was the one doing it.
Thinking back to last night, he was pleased by how things had turned out between him and Spencer. After the boy had wormed his way out of his embrace and made his way into the living room, he had busied himself with trying to get things tidied up. Derek had had to tell the boy to relax and that he wouldn't need very much to get comfortable for the night. But even with this attempt at placating, Spencer had seemed like a chicken with its head cut off. Well, a baby chick, that was. The kid had seemed somewhat nervous, as if he was using the pretense of tidying up as a way to expel his pent up energy. But Derek had chalked that up to Spencer's understandable discomfort with having shared such a big secret with someone like Derek, followed by what was probably an unexpected show of physical affection.
It had taken a bit of convincing, but Derek had talked Spencer into leaving the mess on the table and settling down with him on the couch. Derek had grabbed the remote and flicked on Spencer's old TV and when he landed on a bad sci-fi movie, Spencer had seemed to finally relax. Then the boy had become much more talkative, as he prattled off about ways in which the physics in the movie could have been made to appear more realistic. Two movies, and almost three hours later, Spencer had nodded off and Derek found himself shaking the boy awake. Groggy and disoriented, Spencer had trudged into his bedroom without putting up much of a fight. Derek was thankful for that. He wasn't sure he could deal with a hyperactive Spencer again, especially since it was approaching 11 pm. But, knowing that the boy would appreciate it, Derek made quick work of clearing away the empty takeout containers and tidying up the living room before he himself had settled in for the night.
Shaking his head to clear it of the surprisingly pleasant memories from the night before, Derek decided he should probably get Spencer up before Emily and J.J. arrived. He got to his feet and stretched, pleased to hear the satisfying cracking in his back and neck. He then made his way through the small apartment and paused outside of Spencer's door. Raising his hand, he lightly brought his knuckles down on the door two times. Hearing nothing, he frowned slightly to himself and his thoughts started to race. Was Spencer just a heavy sleeper or… had he pulled another disappearing act? Quickly tossing that idea out, Derek told himself that he was a light sleeper and there was no way Spencer would have made it through the living room and out the door without him having woken up.
Sighing in frustration, Derek knocked on the door again, this time with more force. He heard slight shuffling from behind the door, but there was no response. Rolling his eyes, the agent knocked again.
"Spencer?" Derek called, making sure his voice would carry through the door. "Time to get up, kid! J.J. & Emily are on their way over, and you don't want them to find you still in bed, do you?"
Still receiving no verbal response, but hearing a bit more rustling coming from behind the door, Derek decided he had had enough.
"I'm coming in, kid, so you better be decent," Derek announced, as he turned the doorknob and pushed his way into the room.
Derek would be lying if he said he didn't find the scene in front of him somewhat adorable. Spencer was lying on his stomach, slightly propped up on his elbows, tangled amongst his sheets and blanket, hair sticking up in all directions as he blinked at Derek with squinting, tired eyes.
"What do you want?" Spencer groaned as he flopped back down on to the pillow and attempted to throw the covers back over his head.
"Hey, I'm trying to do you a favor," Derek said with a chuckle. "You're going to have a whole lot of company in a couple of minutes."
"…'s really early," Spencer's muffled voice came from beneath the covers.
Derek pondered on that for a moment. Seven forty-five was considered too early? It wasn't like he was waking the kid up at five. On the other hand, Spencer did work nights.
"Sorry about that," Derek said as he stepped further into the room. "But, like I said, I really doubt you want to still be sleeping when J.J. & Emily get here. You can go back to bed once they're all settled, but for right now, let's try to get up, huh?"
Another frustrated sigh sounded from beneath the covers, but then Spencer threw the sheets back and sat up, casting an angry glare in the agent's direction.
"Well, it's not like I can go back to sleep with you going on and on," Spencer said as he blindly felt around on his nightstand.
Catching on that the boy was looking for his glasses, Derek quickly stepped up to the bedside table and, finding the glasses, handed them over.
Spencer stared at the tall agent for a moment, as he closed his hand around the pair of glasses, but silently accepted them. Shifting his body so he was sitting on the edge of the bed, Spencer pushed the glasses up the bridge of his nose and pushed his messy hair back from his face. Glancing down at himself, Spencer cleared his throat and gripped the sheets slightly, like he was considering pulling them back over himself.
"Um… well, I'm up now… so, you can go… I have to get dressed," Spencer mumbled.
Derek was surprised. It wasn't like Spencer had been sleeping in the nude. Far from it actually. The kid had been wearing an old, over-sized t-shirt that would slip down now and then showing a bit of his shoulder, and a pair of pajama pants. To Derek, Spencer seemed to be more self-conscious in casual clothes than he did in the club. But, who was he to argue?
"Yeah… no problem, kid. I just need to know what time you're heading to work today," Derek said with a small smile.
"Huh?" Spencer asked, still blinking tiredly. "Oh… Four… I go in for four today."
"Alright. I'll let the girls know. I'll be waiting out in the living room for you, ok?" Derek said trying to hold back his chuckle as he backed out of Spencer's room and closed the door behind him.
Derek walked back into the living room and began to get his things in order when he heard Spencer's bedroom door softly creak open, the sound of what seemed to be quickly-shuffling feet, and then a second later the sound of another door slamming shut. Before he could think of what Spencer was doing he heard the familiar sound of water running and chuckled to himself. The kid had literally run from his bedroom to the bathroom, like he was trying to avoid Derek catching sight of him. That's one strange kid, Derek thought amusedly.
About fifteen minutes later, a knock sounded from the front door. As Derek got to his feet, his hand instinctually went to his waist to feel for the presence of his sidearm, and confirming that he was armed, he walked to the door. Glancing through the peephole he immediately recognized the blonde and brunette standing on the opposite side of the door, and quickly opened it.
"Hey, Morgan," Emily said with a smile as she leaned forward, holding her arms out.
Derek could see that both J.J. and Emily were hefting large file boxes. J.J. had a tray of four coffees balanced on top of her box and Emily had what looked to be a large white pastry box on top of hers. Surprised that they had juggled all those items up the stairs, Derek quickly relieved them of the boxes while the two women took charge of the food containers.
Walking in first, followed by J.J. and Derek, Emily glanced around.
"Where's Spencer?" she asked.
"Still in the shower. Kid's not really a morning person," Derek said with a light chuckle as he placed the boxes on the counter.
J.J. smiled at the thought.
"Not surprising though," she said, "his job basically requires him to be nocturnal."
Derek nodded in agreement.
"So, Hotch wants us to take over for you for most of the day while you help him and Rossi out at the station. We're expected to keep ourselves busy going through these boxes. It's a good portion of the California cases," J.J. explained as she tapped the top of one of the large boxes. Emily groaned her displeasure at their upcoming workload and began to unpack their breakfast and coffees.
"Did you get an idea of when Spencer needs to head into work?" Emily asked as she glanced up at Derek.
"Yeah, kid says he starts at four," Derek informed them.
"Ok, we figured it'd be something like that. Hotch says we can switch off again then. We'll keep you guys posted on anything that's going down over here, but I'm sure we'll have a pretty quiet morning," J.J. told him.
Derek nodded silently, absorbing that information. He hadn't known that Hotch would let him take over watching Spencer during his shift at the club. He was appreciative of that fact. Spencer could be in a lot more danger when he was out in public, especially in the same location where the Unsub had killed his last victim.
"So, how was your night?" J.J. asked, drawing him out of his thoughts.
"Any contact from the Unsub?" Emily chimed in.
"Nope, things were pretty quiet here, actually. I was expecting that creep to try something, and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little disappointed that I couldn't give him a piece of my mind… or fist, to be more exact," Derek huffed out.
Emily rolled her eyes.
"Yes, yes, I know this Unsub's got all you alpha males in a tizzy. Hotch was more than just a little snippy this morning, as well," she quipped.
Derek rolled his eyes back at her.
"This has nothing to do with my pride," Derek defended himself, as he reached over for one of the coffees.
"If you say so," Emily said, her smile indicating that she didn't believe a word he was saying.
Before Derek could retort, the three agents heard the bathroom door creak open and instinctively turned their heads to stare down the hallway. They were all met with the sight of a flushed and dripping wet Spencer Reid, the light-blue towel wrapped around his waist the only thing concealing his pale body from their eyes.
Upon sight of them, Spencer's face contorted into an embarrassed grimace. He had obviously not expected his kitchen to be full of FBI agents.
"Uh…hi...g-good morning? I'm… gonna go…" Spencer squeaked out as he motioned towards his bedroom and turned on his heel, scurrying off down the hall.
J.J. and Emily laughed quietly to themselves, trying to keep their voices down lest the embarrassed teen hear them. Derek on the other hand caught himself still staring down the hallway after the boy. That image hadn't been helpful to him.
Although it had only been a few brief seconds, his mind had already saved a mental image of the boy's wet, light brown hair, already slightly curling at the edges, his wide, surprised eyes and round mouth curved into an 'oh' of surprise. Not to mention that Derek's eyes had had enough time to follow a stray droplet of water as it curved down Spencer's pale neck, rolled over his prominent collarbone, and had slowly dripped down the boy's left pectoral muscle. His eyes had roved further down the smooth, but lightly muscled abdominals and traced the light, almost blonde hairs that trailed down below the boy's belly button and disappeared into the snug towel. He found himself wondering what it would be like to lick the droplets of water off of Spencer's body…
What is wrong with me? Derek asked himself as he dragged his hands over his face, and focused his attention back on his amused colleagues, thankful that they hadn't caught him staring.
"Spencer's adorable," J.J. mused as she started preparing her coffee, "he gets so embarrassed so easily. It's hard to believe he strips for a living."
"I know. He is really cute though. I don't even think he realizes it," Emily cooed.
Derek was silent as he listened to the two agents, aware of the fact that he was almost outright glaring at them. Noticing his silence, the two women glanced at him.
"Jeeze, Morgan, we get that you probably don't like the idea of us sitting here going on and on about eye candy, but you could try to look a little less disgusted. Let the girls have some fun once in a while," Emily said as she shoved his shoulder.
Derek groaned in annoyance as he shook her hand off.
"I don't really care," he groused. "I just don't think it's super appropriate for women who are almost 10 years older than him to be talking about him like that. On top of being FBI Agents."
"Whoa, whoa," J.J. complained, blue eyes growing wide. "It's closer to five years older in my case, and besides, it's not like we're being serious. We're not interested in him like that. I mean, come on, he's a teenager. It's not like we'd try to put the moves on him. Especially not if he's involved in a case."
"Yeah, you jerk. What's the big deal throwing ages around, anyway. I'm basically the same age as you. I've seen you going after girls who are barely in their 20's all the time. So don't start with the holier-than-though spiel right now," Emily said to him, her displeasure apparent.
Derek looked away from his offended colleagues guiltily, knowing that he had basically just projected his own insecurities on to them. And it hadn't helped hearing them voice the same reasons he knew to be true about why looking at Spencer Reid in any romantic light would be unwise. And 'unwise' would be putting it lightly. Stupid would probably be a better word. Thinking of Spencer as anything more than a witness in a case would be monumentally stupid.
Derek was saved from having to answer the piercing look of his friends when they heard the bedroom door open again. Spencer had saved him. However, in Derek's case, it was more like out of the frying pan and into the fire. Spencer's presence brought with it a whole slew of other problems.
Watching as the boy approached, Derek took in his appearance. Today it was baggy jeans and a long-sleeved dark plaid button-down. Spencer's hair still looked slightly damp, as if he had tried to dry it as best he could with a towel but it would still take a while. Derek found himself thinking of how much he liked Spencer's hair without the product he used to keep the unruly curls in place.
"Morning, guys," Spencer said shyly as he walked up next to Emily and J.J. "Sorry about… um… earlier."
"No problem," Emily said with a genuine smile. "It was definitely a nice early morning pick-me-up."
She then winked at him, causing Spencer to blush.
"Ugh, Emily," J.J said shaking her head and laughing.
"Do you want some coffee, Spencer?" J.J. offered as she picked up the last remaining cup in the holder.
The idea of coffee was apparently very agreeable to Spencer, as he nodded his head and happily reached out to relieve her of the cup.
"And help yourself to some breakfast too," she offered as she popped open the large, rectangular box, unveiling a dozen sweet pastries.
"Oh wow," Spencer said in delight as he leaned over to get a better look at the treats.
Derek found himself smiling at Spencer's endearing behavior. It was easy to forget all the turmoil rolling around in his head when Spencer was smiling. Suddenly, a sharp beeping drew everyone's attention and Derek reached down to his pocket, where the noise was coming from. It was his phone's alarm. It was 8:15.
"Oh man," Derek said as he glanced down at the screen. "I've gotta head out now if I'm going to be able to run back to the hotel, get cleaned up and be back at the precinct before Hotch loses it."
Nodding with sympathetic smiles, the other two agents agreed with him.
Derek pushed away from the counter and hurried into the living room, kneeling to the ground and hurriedly gathering his things. He could hear Spencer and the girls in the kitchen as they chatted and dug into the pastries. Derek was reluctant to leave, but he continued to tell himself that everything would be fine. The Unsub had never struck in the daylight so there was no reason to think that Spencer would be in any more danger than usual. Pushing himself to his feet, Derek affixed his watch to his wrist and checked his sidearm again.
"You better get out of here, Morgan," Emily said as she walked into the living room and tapped her own watch. Spencer and J.J. had followed behind her.
"I know, I know," Derek complained.
"Here," J.J said with a smile as she handed over Derek's untouched cup of coffee and one of the pastries wrapped in a napkin.
"Thanks," Derek said offering a small smile of his own.
The group walked over to the door and Derek hesitated for a second.
"You guys know that if you need anything, I'm just a phone call away, right?" he asked as he stood facing them, one hand on the door.
"Derek," J.J. said with an amused tone as she placed her hand on Spencer's shoulder, "we'll be fine! You don't have to worry about us. Right, Spencer?"
Spencer smiled at the serious-looking agent standing across from him.
"Yeah, we'll be fine," he said softly, feeling slightly touched by the agent's concern.
Nodding, but still feeling as if leaving was the last thing he should be doing, Derek forced a smile and made himself leave.

It was a quarter past 9 when Derek rushed into the LVPD station. Making his way into the conference room that was currently on loan to his team, Derek gained the attention of Hotch, Rossi and Detective Ryan Stone. Hotch nodded at Derek, acknowledging the man's presence and flipped open a case file, ready to get to work.
"We've asked Detective Stone to sit in with us and give us a bit more information on the last time the Unsub killed in Vegas," Hotch said, as Derek got situated.
Derek glanced over at the man in question. He hadn't had much of an opportunity to spend time with Stone, and this was the first time he had really observed him. Stone was a serious-looking man of average height and weight. His hair was completely slate-gray, even though his face seemed to show that he couldn't be any older than 40. Accompanying the gray hair were deep creases around the corners of his eyes. The hardened appearance was often the result of many years dedicated to law enforcement. Derek had seen that many times before.
"I'm more than a little worried that the Judgment Maker has reared his head in Vegas again," Stone said, somberly. "I've had my guys hitting the streets looking for any witnesses from the strip club, but everyone's got the same story: 'I didn't see nothin'.' It's like this guy's a damn ghost."
The other three men in the room nodded silently.
"He's very good at what he's doing," Rossi said. "He's had time to practice."
"But to kill someone in such a public place, it's impossible that no one saw him," Stone said, his frustration evident in his voice.
"We believe the Unsub must not have stood out," Hotch explained. "He's probably a very average-looking individual, and he's using this to his advantage. That, or he's a regular, and his presence at the club that night wouldn't have drawn attention."
"We have our technical analyst running checks on the membership list, so hopefully we'll have a better list of suspects soon," Rossi offered.
"You were able to get the club's membership list?" Stone asked, sounding impressed.
"We have a very skilled analyst," Hotch said, lip turned up slightly in a smile, voice laced with pride.
Stone whistled his appreciation. But then he frowned again.
"I heard from one of my boys that one of the people I interviewed at the club suddenly changed his story?" Stone asked as he looked at the agents.
Derek cringed a bit. They hadn't yet discussed how they wanted to disclose to the police that the club had purposefully tried to obstruct the investigation.
"There's a lot involved there, and at this point in time, I don't think it's prudent to try to pursue anything against those who may have initially withheld information," Hotch said, taking ownership for the decision. "Spencer Reid is a vital witness to our case. It's understandable that he was hesitant to come forward at first, especially seeing as he had witnessed a brutal murder."
"This Spencer Reid kid… the one we have the protective detail on? He lied to the police. There's not much ambiguity there. How do we know he's not involved in this?" Stone asked, his rising hostility apparent.
"He's not involved," Derek said firmly. "If you see this kid, he's terrified. The Unsub has set his sights on him. And we don't know why. The only thing we know is that he's obsessed."
"That still doesn't have me convinced," Stone said as he locked eyes with Derek. "This Reid character's a stripper in a seedy nightclub. The guy making contact could be some spurned lover of his. You know, an occupational hazard for some in that line of work. And I read the transcripts of his interview. All that promising to be a 'good boy' for him, shit? That phone conversation sounds personal to me. How much digging have you people really done into Reid's background? He could be in on this for all we know."
"He has a spotless record. Probably cleaner than any of us in this room. And if you had read the transcripts properly, you'd have also seen that this guy told Spencer he killed Victor LaRoux for him. He already identified himself as the Unsub, not some past lover, and there's no reason to think he has a partner," Derek said, testily. "This man's become fixated on Spencer. And he's dangerous. Spencer didn't do anything to encourage his attention."
"Oh, it's just Spencer, now, eh?" Stone asked with a raised eyebrow and a laugh.
Derek's face darkened at the man's tone.
"Look, we're doing our due diligence to investigate all leads in this case," Rossi said, before Derek could respond. "We appreciate all the insight and help LVPD has given us, but we also have to work with, and incorporate, the information gained from the killings in the other states. You know, the kills that make this a federal case. Nothing that we've seen so far connects Spencer with the earlier kills. So, for right now, we can't go jumping to any quick conclusions."
Stone shot a glare in Rossi's direction, apparently not pleased at the man's attempt to pull rank.
The ringing of a phone cut through the thick silence in the room.
Hotch leaned back and checked his phone.
"It's Garcia," he announced, as he looked around the room. "Detective Stone, our technical analyst may have some updates on the case. I'd like you to listen in. We'd appreciate any input you could offer."
Hotch ignored the obvious eye-roll that came from Derek, and engaged the call.
"Hi there, boss-man," Garcia said cheerfully.
"Did you make any headway on the member list?" Hotch asked.
"Still crunching through it, sir. But I wanted to bring to your attention something strange I just found in VICAP," Garcia said.
"What is it?" Hotch asked.
"Ok, so I was searching through to see if there were any past cases that were similar to our killer's M.O., right? And I came across this case that kind of seems like it could be our guy, but it's missing some of the signature," Garcia told them.
"What is it, baby girl?" Derek asked as he sat up straighter, attention piqued.
"So, there was this murder about four years ago. The guy was named Demetri Santos. He ran some adult-film company. Apparently he was murdered after-hours at his office. The cops saw it as burglary gone wrong. The M.E. report that I found shows that there were signs of choking. But it wasn't manual strangulation, like our guy has been using. The report says Santos was likely strangled with a belt or something like that. But what really got my attention was that the body was found with a 10" serrated blade protruding from his forehead… And that's definitely the same type of knife our guy likes to use," Garcia said.
"I remember that case… Demetri Santos was a scumbag porn-distributor, who was later discovered to be peddling in kiddy-porn on the side. His death was not one to be mourned," Stone said, a hard edge to his voice.
Hotch frowned.
"Were there any open cases or pending charges against him at the time he died?" he asked the man.
"Well… yeah, actually…sort of. A few kids came forward and made accusations against him. I think there were four of them, ranging from 14-16. They claimed they had been assaulted and coerced into performing in photo shoots and movies for the company. But when we investigated they either were unable to substantiate their claims or they recanted. We figured they were being paid off. And when we executed a warrant on Santos' office we couldn't find anything linking him to them. So we couldn't pursue it. Then, a few months later, he turned up dead," Stone explained, with a shrug.
"Paying people off to cover his crimes, hmm?" Rossi said. "That sounds like the type of thing that ticks off our Unsub."
"So, what about the fact that it doesn't fit the signature?" Stone asked.
"Well, this could have been an unplanned kill," Derek offered. "It's possible he didn't have his usual supplies and had to improvise."
"Yes, it seems too coincidental not to at least investigate it," Hotch said.
"Garcia, you mentioned that the police thought it was a burglary. Was anything taken?" Hotch asked, directing his comment to the waiting analyst.
"The cops think he took the security footage of the main door. The recorder was empty and the employees said that was abnormal. Other than that, nothing much seems to have been taken. He had some pretty valuable things in his office, including the jewelry he was wearing, and there was even an open laptop on his desk. But the killer left everything." Garcia informed them.
"We… had a hunch about what was on that computer," Stone spoke up.
The three agents turned to him.
"When they investigated the murder, they tore the place apart and came across a hidden back room with a number of DVDs locked in a safe. They seem to have been tapes of some type of…'audition.' They found about two dozen videos of different individuals performing sexual favors for Santos in his office. Apparently he was recording these people without their knowledge. 11 of the videos we found looked to have been of minors. All the videos were numbered, but one was missing—number 20. We never found it, no matter how much we looked. We… thought maybe Santos was watching this video when he was killed and the killer took it with him when he left." Stone explained.
Hotch raised an eyebrow.
"So… it begs the question, who was on that tape?" Hotch asked.
"We don't know. We weren't able to get much out of the employees. Of course everyone denied knowledge of Santos' dealings. No one wanted to be connected with that. And we were only able to track down a handful of the people on the tapes. Santos didn't exactly keep records. In any case, we're sure these videos aren't an exhaustive list of the people he's harmed," Stone explained.
Hotch sighed and shook his head. These were the times he felt torn about his job. He was here to hunt a serial killer, but his mind was currently absorbed with the fact that some cretin had been taking advantage of vulnerable individuals and they had never gotten justice. But he couldn't let his mind linger. There wasn't enough time in the world to save everyone.
"Is his company still in business?" Hotch asked, with a frown.
"Actually, yes. But under new management. I'm not sure who's running it now. But I think it may be one of the former employees," Stone responded.
"Garcia, get us that information," Hotch said briskly.
"And Morgan?" Hotch said as he turned to his subordinate. "I want you to get down there and interview the new owner. If they were a prior employee, they might be able to tell us something helpful."
"I just sent it to your mobile, hot chocolate," Garcia informed him.
"Thanks," Derek said as he got to his feet.
"Keep me posted."

Emily and J.J. had spent the better part of the morning going through the large boxes of case files and bouncing ideas off of each other, while Spencer busied himself with cleaning his apartment. Spencer had seemed set on making sure they were comfortable, but the two women had told him to pretend like they weren't there and to go about his business as usual. So while they were not actively engaging each other, the atmosphere in the room was comfortable and friendly. Spencer found that he actually liked having them there, and listening absent-mindedly to the soft, lilting tones of their voices.
They had come across a bit of a disagreement, however, when Spencer announced he needed to go down to the basement to do his laundry. Both agents had volunteered to accompany him, but seeing that they were knee-deep in case files Spencer had protested. Once he was able to convince them that the laundry was only one floor down and there was no way anyone could access the room from outside the building, they had reluctantly agreed to let him go, but had told him that if they didn't see him back in the apartment in under five minutes they would be forced to come looking for him.
The sound of the door creaking open caused both agents to look up as Spencer entered the apartment. Emily glanced down at her watch and noted with approval that he had only been gone for four minutes and twenty seconds. The two women looked on, amused, as the boy in question dragged what appeared to be his third load of laundry across the small apartment on his way toward his bedroom. Apparently he had been neglecting that duty for a while.
"Is that the last load?" Emily asked, a teasing lilt to her words.
Spencer stopped and blushed once he realized he had attracted their attention.
"Yeah…" he said. "I-I'm not a slob, or anything. I've just been really busy, plus the machines here are expensive, so I kind of put it off for a while."
"No problem, Spencer. You don't have to explain anything to us. Really, we're just hoping we're not getting in your way," J.J. said
"N-no," Spencer said, looking down at his hands with a small smile. "I don't really have people over all that often… so, it's actually kind of nice having you guys here."
J.J. and Emily looked at him with surprise but both returned his smile, genuinely.
"So, do you have any other errands to run? Anything we can help with?" Emily asked as she laid down the file she had been holding and stretched languidly.
"Ah… I should probably get some groceries? But I can just run out real quick… probably be back in about an hour?" Spencer said.
Emily laughed.
"Spencer, come on. You're not leaving here without us," she said.
"Yeah, we're a 'protective detail.' We're going to go with you everywhere. Even getting groceries," J.J. said with a smile.
"Um… but I don't want to be a bother. And you know, I take the bus so…" Spencer mumbled.
Emily couldn't help but laugh again.
"Well, it's lucky for you that we have a nice and roomy government-issue SUV. So it won't be a bother for us to take you. You'd actually be doing us a favor by letting us drive, because it'd make our job a lot harder if we had to try to guard you while riding on a bus full of people," Emily explained.
Spencer laughed lightly.
"Yeah… I guess that makes sense… if you already have the car and all," he agreed.
"Ok," Emily said as she got to her feet and glanced down at her watch. "It's only about 11:00. We should be able to do a quick supplies run and be back in time to get some lunch. Sound good?"
J.J. nodded as she also got up and worked the kinks out of her body. She wasn't going to object to a reason to take a break from the thick stack of files they had waiting for them.
Spencer watched on in fascination as both agents, almost simultaneously, reached for their individual weapons and checked them, chocking them and moving a round into the chamber. He wondered when it had happened that his life was now one in which firearms were required for a run to the grocery store. He knew that over the past few days he had been trying to avoid facing the reality that his life had drastically changed in the course of a few moments. But now that he watched the two women, who had only moments before been playful and carefree, fluidly morph into all-business, and obviously very capable, federal agents, he saw how serious his situation was. Until this man was caught, he could never be left alone. He would constantly have to be watching over his shoulder. Constantly living in fear…
"Hey, Spence," J.J. asked as she pulled a jacket on, effectively concealing the holstered weapon at her side. "You ok?"
"Huh?" he asked, turning his wide eyes on to her. The unexpected nickname had drawn him out of his thoughts. And, blinking, he realized that J.J. had asked him a question.
"Y-yeah… I'm fine," he mumbled quietly.
Emily and J.J. looked at him for a moment but decided not to comment.
"Ok, so are you ready to go?" Emily asked.
"Sure, let me just grab my shoes," Spencer said as he wrangled the neglected bag of laundry and rushed towards his bedroom. He returned a few minutes later, sporting his Converses.
"You really love those things, huh?" Emily asked with a smile as she looked down at the beat up sneakers.
Spencer laughed and looked down at his feet fondly.
"Yeah," he said. "I don't buy too many things for myself. But, I like these. And I actually have a couple pairs in different colors, but… you just can't beat tried and true, you know?"
J.J. laughed and couldn't contain the urge to reach over and ruffle his hair.
"Come on, let's go," she said as she reached over and pulled the door open, escorting the motley bunch out the door.

Derek grimaced as he stepped into the shabby interior of Xquisite Incorporated, and whipped off his sunglasses. Garcia had given him a rundown on the type of business that took place here, but he hadn't been prepared for how sleazy the vibe would be. Glancing around, he saw numerous posters promoting various types of adult films adorning the walls. Apparently Xquisite Inc. catered to all kinds of tastes.
As Derek walked further down the hall, he began to feel impatient. Garcia had told him the individual he was going to be interviewing would be waiting for him, but from what Derek could see there was no one here. Shoving his hand into his pocket, intending to find his cellphone and reach out to Garcia, Derek's attention was drawn by the sound of a door creaking open at the end of the long corridor.
He looked up and saw a tall man in his mid-30's start to make his way down the hall.
"You the guy with the FBI?" the man asked skeptically.
"Yes, that's me," Derek said as he pulled out his credentials.
"Ok. Someone called me and told me you'd be on your way over, but you looked a little lost so I figured I'd come out here and meet you," the man explained.
"Oh, how'd you know I was out here?" Derek asked, eyebrow raised.
"Cameras," the man said as he pointed to a corner above Derek's head at the opposite end of the hallway.
Derek turned around and squinted up at the inconspicuous corner. He knew that if he hadn't been directed to its location he would never have seen it. It wasn't a common-place dome camera, the type usually used when one wanted the camera's presence to be known and act as a crime deterrent. This seemed to be a concealed camera, used to observe visitors covertly.
Frowning Derek turned back to the man.
"I'm Supervisory Special Agent Derek Morgan," he said as he held his hand out to the man. "And you are?"
"Danny Wallace, CEO of Xquisite Inc. I hear you want to talk about Demetri Santos?" the man asked, furrowing his brow, but shaking the agent's hand.
"Yes, we have some questions related to his case." Derek explained.
"I… don't really know what I can tell you. That happened almost four years ago. I'm sure I told the cops everything I knew back then," Danny said.
"Well, the FBI tends to have different questions from the local police. Although it was a long time ago, it might help us in a current investigation. Do you think we could just talk for a few minutes, in private?" Derek asked as he glanced around the corridor, looking to see if there were any more cameras.
"Oh, sure, no problem. Come into my office," Danny said as he turned and led Derek back to the door he had originally exited from.
Derek followed behind the man and walked into a large office. Looking around, he saw that the office was probably the nicest part of the building. It was tastefully decorated in a contemporary style that seemed to fit well with the man's image. This Danny Wallace didn't give off an obviously sleazy vibe, as Derek would have expected. Instead, he seemed like an average, casual businessman, dressed in relaxed-fit gray slacks and a dark-blue button down. His skin was lightly tanned and he had dark hair, cut short. He seemed pleasant enough, but Derek noticed that the man's smile never met his dark eyes. He seemed more like a shark. Predatory and opportunistic.
Sitting down in the plush armchair the man gestured to, Derek flipped out his notepad.
"You were working here when Mr. Santos was killed?" he asked.
"Yes, I was one of his employees at that time," Danny responded as he took a seat behind his desk.
"I see. And in what capacity did you work for him?" Derek asked.
Danny drew in an exaggerated breath and sighed, leaning back in his chair and looking up at the ceiling.
"I was a scout… I'd walk up and down the Strip seeing if there was any viable talent out there and I'd bring them back to see if they were up to Demetri's standards," Danny said, eyes never leaving the ceiling.
Derek flinched. Something about this scenario niggled at his subconscious. He didn't have a good feeling about Danny Wallace, but he couldn't quite place his discomfort.
"Any of that 'talent' include minors?" Derek asked plainly.
Danny leaned forward and trained his eyes on Derek. He smiled sympathetically.
"Agent, I might not have all the schooling you do, but please don't take me for a fool. You're not going to get me to sit here and incriminate myself. I never engaged in any criminal or illegal activity and had no knowledge of what Demetri was doing in his free time. He was running a legitimate business, for all I knew." he said.
Derek raised an eyebrow and leaned forward.
"I'm sure you paid a very skilled lawyer to tell you to say all that," he replied.
Danny frowned, smile disappearing.
"Agent, I thought you wanted my help?" he asked, staring at the man in front of him challengingly.
"You're right, my apologies," Derek said as he leaned back, a slight hint of sarcasm in his voice. "Tell me what you knew about Demetri."
Danny sighed and shook his head.
"Well, I can't deny it. I know what the cops found. Apparently, Demetri had certain… 'tastes.' It wasn't anything I was in to, and once I found out about it, I made sure that we no longer produced any of those videos," Danny said, a contrite expression on his face.
Derek frowned, unimpressed with the man's words. It wasn't like he had a choice to stop distributing content that basically amounted to child pornography. Once the place was on the cops' radar after Santos' death, an injunction had been instituted against the company. In all honesty, Derek was shocked the company had actually managed to survive after the investigation of Santos. Wallace must have been a very savvy businessman to have been able to keep the production company afloat once he got his hands on it.
"The cops said Santos kept a secret stash of videos. Auditions, they called them. You know anything about that?" Derek asked, training his dark eyes on Danny's.
Danny's lips turned down into a frown.
"Look… I knew he had cameras in his office. And his office was usually where he had the new talent 'try out' for him. It just follows that the auditions would be caught on tape. I just didn't think he was saving them… I guess that was his downfall," Danny said with a shrug.
Derek felt his eyebrow twitch in annoyance.
No, Derek found himself wanting to say. His 'downfall' was that he was sexually assaulting underage kids.
Instead, Derek asked, "Do you think it's possible he was sharing those videos with anyone else?"
Danny paused, as if he were really mulling the question over.
"Honestly… it's possible. He never showed them to me, and I never asked. I just didn't find the idea of watching some desperate person fucking an old man all that appealing. Plus, he was pretty indifferent on gender, so I'm sure I probably wouldn't have liked everything I saw. But, I know he had business meetings after hours here. I could see him being the type to show off to his friends, if he had something like that on tape," he admitted, noncommittally.
"Did he have any 'business meetings' scheduled for the night he died?" Derek asked.
"No. The cops asked the same thing. He had nothing on his schedule for that night. And the cops said he was killed between two and three a.m. That was late to be here, even in Demetri's case. I can't think of any reasons he'd have been here at that time," Danny replied.
"Look, I'm going to ask you a question, and tell you that any answer you give me won't incriminate you in any future prosecution," Derek said seriously.
Danny looked at him, unimpressed.
"Well, you can ask away, Agent. There's no guarantee I'm going to answer," he responded.
Derek narrowed his eyes, but then forced himself to relax.
"When they searched Demetri's secret stash of videos, they found the videos were labeled from 1-22. But one was missing. It was number 20. They think whoever killed Santos took that video. Do you know who or what was on that video?" he asked.
Danny leaned back and folded his arms behind his head.
"I told you I never saw the videos, Agent," he said simply
"At this point, I don't care if you turned a blind eye to what Santos was doing. We're not going to come after you now. We think the man who killed Santos four years ago is the same man who killed another person in your city, just last week. He's a serial killer. The more you do nothing, the more likely it is that you could be his next victim," Derek said, sending the man a hard glare.
Danny looked at him carefully, as if he was trying to see if the agent was telling the truth.
He then sighed.
"Off the record," he said as he leaned forward and gave the agent a meaningful look.
Derek nodded silently.
"I never watched the videos," Danny said as he averted his eyes. "But… I was in charge of burning them to discs and labeling them. I can't remember every single one but I know that for the latter part of that year Demetri seemed to only want boys… young ones. I never knew their ages or anything. I purposefully didn't ask. As long as they looked like they were at least in high school—you know, so that we could deny we knew their real ages—I was supposed to bring them in. I never asked them their names, where they were from, what they did… I didn't want to know. And there's no way I can remember who number '20' was, after all this time, but I can tell you that the person on that video is going to be some young boy. That's the best I can do for you."
Derek felt himself grinding his teeth, but he couldn't say anything to the man in front of him. Telling him how he thought he was despicable scum wasn't going to aid in getting the man to divulge any more information. And what he needed right now was information. As much as he could get.
"Was Santos a member of Mon Petit Chien? It's a club on-" Derek began before Danny cut him off.
"He was an investor in that club," he said with wide eyes. "He got me a membership."
Derek blinked in surprise. That was unexpected.
"Do you know anything about his business dealings there?" Derek asked.
Danny shook his head in the negative.
"The club opened up a couple years back. Maybe five or six years ago? I was just a talent scout. Demetri wouldn't talk to me about the intricate details of his investments. But, he liked me and wanted to expose me to the types of people who were a part of it. The club was pretty exclusive so him getting me the membership was kind of like him vouching for me," Danny explained.
"So… people use the membership in these clubs as social collateral?" Derek asked, his confusion apparent.
"Yeah, you'd be surprised who's on the membership list," Danny said with a slight smile. "I don't hang out at the actual establishments. I see enough naked bodies in my every day work life. Doesn't really make sense for me to go to a strip club and pay for it. But, I do go to the events. It's good for networking," Danny said.
"Events?" Derek asked.
"Yeah, a few times a month a member hosts a theme party at their house. They hire some of the dancers from the clubs to act as wait-staff. Basically, it's a night of debauchery, and, honestly, anything goes. But, you can meet some really important people at the same time." Danny said with a shrug.
Derek's eyes narrowed. Was this the 'sex party' Spencer was talking about? He thought to himself.
"How do people get invited to these things?" he asked.
Danny looked at him curiously.
"Well, it's more like word of mouth. The person who's hosting usually invites their circle of friends, and then they'll tell someone else, etc., etc. The investors and managers always know whenever a party's happening though. They usually attend most of them."
"When's the next party?" Derek asked.
Danny blinked in surprise.
"I don't know what you're thinking, but you're not getting into one of these parties, Agent. I mean, you might be the FBI, and all, but I'm talking really important people here. If they don't know you, you're not getting in. You'd need a warrant, and good luck getting a judge here to sign off on that," Danny said with a laugh.
"When's the next party?" Derek demanded, his voice leaving no room for argument.
Danny blanched at the agent's stern tone.
"There's one this Friday actually… it's the "Prince's Ball," he said, all humor leaving his voice.
"Where?" Derek barked.
Danny leaned back, as if intimidated.
"I-I don't know. Seriously. I didn't plan on going to this one. The Prince's Ball would've been more Demetri's cup of tea, if you get my drift. The entertainment's strictly gonna be a bunch of young, half-naked guys."
Derek sighed in frustration as he got to his feet. He didn't have any more time to waste on this evasive and apparently useless, bottom-feeder. He could probably get better results with Garcia. Shoving his hand into his pocket and retrieving his card-holder he quickly yanked out one of his business cards.
"If you remember anything else, make sure you give me a call." He said as he tossed the card on to the man's desk. "And I hope I don't have to tell you not to go anywhere. I'm sure we'll have some follow up questions for you."
Danny nodded, dumbfounded, and watched as the tall agent strode from the room.

As Spencer, J.J and Emily strolled through the aisles of the grocery story, Spencer was shocked by how quickly the two female agents had commandeered control of his shopping choices. His shopping habits leaned towards quick, easy, and non-perishable. He also had one hell of a sweet tooth. But the two agents had fussed over him like mother hens, complaining about the certain deterioration of his health if he continued to eat the way he did. They had forced him to get more vegetables (even if they were frozen), whole grains, and other nutritious items. They also seriously reduced his stash of sweet treats. The one place he found himself putting up any amount of a fight was with the coffee, so J.J. and Emily had quickly backed off. And even though he wasn't used to all the meddling, he found himself somewhat enjoying their company. It kind of reminded him of when he was younger and would go shopping with his mother.
Although the trip to the store was comfortable, and almost even fun, Spencer was aware of J.J. and Emily's divided attention. The agents supported each other smoothly, and even though to outsiders it would never look like the two women were law enforcement officers canvassing a supermarket, Spencer could see the ways in which they were communicating with each other. Every time they entered an aisle, either J.J. or Emily would go first. The other one was always right behind Spencer, with her back to her partner and her front facing the opening of the aisle. He was surprised that they could do this without even announcing their intentions.
The two agents had acted similarly when they left the apartment and filed into the large SUV. They had flanked Spencer on both sides and he watched on as their discerning eyes quickly took in all the activity on the streets around them. They had even incorporated their training into how they required Spencer to sit in the car. J.J. climbed into the driver's seat while Emily climbed into the back with him. When Spencer asked why she wasn't riding in the passenger seat, Emily had shrugged and explained that if, for some reason, the front of the car was incapacitated someone would always be in the back to protect him. She had smiled and placed an arm on his shoulder, saying, "We're prepared to do anything to protect you, kid." He had been silent, overcome with the idea that these women could so easily offer to lay down their lives for him. In just the small amount of time he had spent with them, Spencer quickly grew even more of an appreciation for the work that they did.
When they had finished checking out, and were on their way back to the car, the agents made Spencer sit in the car as they packed the trunk. He had really whined about that, thinking it was unfair to make them lug all his groceries, but J.J. had smiled at him from behind her sunglasses and said, "Spencer, trust us. It's easier for us to keep an eye on you back there than it is for us to spend our time trying to make sure someone's not going to take a shot at you." He had blanched at that idea, and J.J. had quickly tried to backpedal.
"Well… this guy's not the shooting type. But, this is just protocol. Ok? We don't mind. You don't have that much stuff," she said with a smile, hoping she had soothed the boy.
"See, all done," Emily said as she wiped her hands and stepped back from the trunk.
Both agents closed the trunk and had soon piled back into the car, with Emily sitting next to him like before.
"See, that wasn't too bad, huh?" Emily asked as she leaned towards the boy and they listened to the sound of the car starting up.
"And we're off," J.J. announced as she pulled out of the lot, heading back to Spencer's apartment.

The three piled into the apartment about a half an hour later, and Spencer let out a sigh of relief. He was thankful to be back in the familiar safety of his apartment. Although the agents had done a great job at making him feel safe while they were out earlier, he couldn't help but feel tense. He also didn't like the idea that they had been in danger on account of him. That was a lot harder for him to bear. As he placed the groceries on the counter, he watched as the agents made their way into the living room placing down their lunches on the coffee table.
"Hey, when you're done in there come and join us," Emily called out to him.
On the way back to his apartment, the agents had stopped for sandwiches and (again) forced Spencer into accepting food from them. He wasn't used to being spoiled like this and he wondered, for a brief second, whether he would miss all the attention once the case was over and all the agents were gone.
He made quick work of the groceries, packing his cupboards and fridge and was surprised at how full they looked. He hadn't put this much effort into stocking his supplies in a while and it made it clear to him that he probably really wasn't taking very good care of himself. He had been reminded of that more times than he wanted to count over the last few days. By his mother, J.J. and Emily, and, of course, Derek Morgan. The women he was used to. It seemed to be in their very nature to worry about weak animals, and he was sure that, to them, he looked like some injured bird that needed saving. But why was Derek concerned, Spencer wondered to himself.
He believed the agent had been sincere in the things he had said last night. Thinking back on it, Spencer wasn't even sure he knew why he had been so open with Derek in the first place. Was I just starved for affection, he asked himself. But even though he couldn't quite pinpoint the reason why he had shared with the agent something that he had never told another living soul, he didn't regret that he had done it. He was sure it was because Derek hadn't reacted negatively. Sure, Derek had been angry when he found out that those things had happened to him and Spencer hadn't done anything about it. But he hadn't seemed mad at Spencer, or like he thought it was in any way his fault. Instead, Derek had only seemed mad at the men that had done those things to him.
And then Derek had hugged him… Spencer hadn't been hugged by anyone, other than his mother, in the longest time. And Spencer would've thought himself someone who wouldn't have looked forward to the idea of a hug from an almost complete stranger. But, to Spencer's surprise, the hug had definitely been… nice. It felt good to be enveloped by a warm, protective body. And Derek had felt safe, he smelled good, and it seemed like all he had wanted to do was make Spencer feel better. There was no ulterior motive. Derek was selfless. But Spencer had pushed away… afraid about getting too used to feeling something like that. He knew it was an experience that wouldn't be happening to him often.
Shaking his head, he walked out of the kitchen and joined the agents sitting on his couch. As the three of them dug into their sandwiches and began chatting quietly, Emily soon became aware of the fact that Spencer's voice had all but dropped out of the conversation. Glancing over at him, she watched the boy as he sat with his sandwich in his hands, chewing slowly and staring off into the distance, as if he were lost in thought.
"Spencer… what's wrong with you? Why're you so quiet," Emily said, as an off-hand comment.
The boy in question looked up from his sandwich with wide eyes.
Emily blinked in surprise, as if she hadn't even intended to voice that thought out loud.
"I-I mean… not that you're… you know, you don't really talk a lot in general. But, today you were more talkative than usual. Suddenly, you got really quiet. Is everything ok?" she asked.
"Oh…" Spencer said as he placed his sandwich back down on to its wrapper and glanced away. "Um… I guess I've got some stuff on my mind."
J.J. frowned, eyebrows furrowed in concern.
"Is it about the case…?" she asked carefully.
Spencer blinked curiously as he looked up at her.
"Actually… no… I haven't been thinking about the case much today, as strange as that sounds," he admitted reluctantly.
J.J. and Emily exchanged glances. They weren't sure what exactly could distract someone from a murder investigation involving a serial killer, especially when that killer in question seemed to have taken a particular interest in you.
"So… what's been on your mind, then?" J.J. asked.
"Ugh," Spencer said as he ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "I… I don't know. I've just been thinking a lot about a person lately. And it's really been bugging me. I find I can't keep my train of thought and I don't know why. It's extremely distracting…"
Emily and J.J. looked at each other with wide-eyes, both of their mouths slightly parted in surprise. Spencer seemed so frustrated with his thoughts that he wasn't even really aware of their presence or reactions. But both the agents had the same thought crossing their minds. It sounded like Spencer was… infatuated.
"You… can't stop thinking about a person…?" Emily asked, hesitantly.
"Yeah," Spencer said flatly, as he looked up at Emily, the confused frown still on his face.
"Spencer," J.J. said, trying to keep the smile out of her voice. "Are these like… 'pleasant' thoughts, or are you saying you keep thinking about this person because you're mad at them, or they did something to you that bothers you?"
Spencer pursed his lips and furrowed his brows as he mulled over her question.
"No… I'm not mad at them, and they didn't do anything to me. And… I guess thinking about him is… pleasant? I don't know. I wouldn't really categorize my feelings as leaning any particular way. But I just keep thinking about him… even when I don't intend to do it on purpose." The boy said, eyebrows furrowing again, like he was trying to figure out some complicated equation.
"Spencer!" J.J. said as she whacked his arm, this time unable to contain her excitement. "That sounds like you like this person!"
Spencer looked at her, aghast, eyes as wide as saucers.
"What?" he asked, as if the mere thought of it was inconceivable.
"You don't know how to tell if you like someone?" Emily asked, eyes wide in shock, but excitement also filling her voice.
"No… I mean… I don't like him. I don't 'like' anyone… this is just absurd," he said, shaking his head at them in disbelief.
"Spencer!" J.J. said again, her voice becoming almost painfully high, in Spencer's opinion. "Haven't you ever liked someone before? You know, like a crush? If you're thinking about someone all the time, to the point where it's distracting you from everything else, chances are you have a crush!"
As understanding dawned on Spencer, his face blossomed into a deep shade of red. He couldn't believe it. Could it possibly be true? Had he somehow suddenly become enamored with Derek Morgan? It didn't make sense. Derek was objectively attractive, but that didn't mean Spencer was attracted to him, right? He just thought about him a lot because he was nice. And if anything, it was Derek's fault that he was currently in Spencer's mind. The agent wouldn't leave him alone!
J.J. watched the boy's emotions play over his face with both mirth and incredulity. She couldn't believe Spencer had never had a crush before. He was 19-years-old and, well, he worked as a stripper. On the other hand, Spencer was… different, to say the least. He had been a child prodigy and his life had been nothing but academics up until the age of 15. The fact that he had resorted to this type of job was the only uncharacteristic element. She actually didn't find it so hard to believe that he had jumped from sheltered genius to stripper without taking any of the steps of maturity or life experiences in between.
"Who is it?" Emily asked, unable to control herself.
"What?" Spencer asked, feeling his face get even hotter, if that was possible. "There's no way I'm talking to you two about this!"
The two agents placed their hands up in surrender, chuckling slightly, but seeming willing to give the boy a break.
"Ok, ok," Emily said looking pointedly at him. "If you don't want to talk, that's fine. But we can't do anything about the fact that your head is filled with…whoever-he-is if you won't talk to us."
Spencer cast a weak glare in her direction and turned back to his sandwich.
Trying to contain their smiles, Emily and J.J. resumed eating as well. As the silence stretched out, the tension coming off the boy became more and more palpable. It was obvious the gears in Spencer's brain were turning at a mile a minute, even though the boy refused to voice his thoughts. Finally, after a few minutes had passed, Spencer tossed his half-eaten sandwich back on the table.
"So… if—and I'm just saying this hypothetically—if… I, you know, 'liked' someone… what should I do?" he asked, hesitantly, face flushed in a light pink.
J.J.'s eyebrows went up in surprise. She suddenly felt like they were faced with an unprecedented situation. Sure, she and Emily had been good-naturedly teasing Spencer a few minutes earlier. It probably was because Spencer seemed so serious all the time, and hearing him talk about having a crush had been both surprising and entertaining. But… as federal agents on duty, should they really be spending their time giving an obviously confused boy dating advice? A boy who also just happened to be a witness in their murder investigation and the current stalking victim of said killer. It just seemed a bit…unprofessional.
J.J. glanced at her colleague and Emily could only shrug. She didn't seem to know what the right answer was either. Sighing slightly J.J turned to face Spencer.
"You've never dated anyone before?" she asked carefully, as she caught the boy's light brown eyes with her piercing blue ones.
"No," Spencer said matter-of-factly, no hint of embarrassment in his voice. "It just never appealed to me. And it's not like I'd date any of the people I work with…or my clients."
Emily and J.J. nodded their understanding. It made sense. Spencer spent almost the entire week at the club, where he was likely over-immersed in an artificial world of 'attraction.' It wasn't surprising that he'd want to avoid anything associated with that in his personal life. It made the agents curious, however. If Spencer said he wasn't attracted to his colleagues or clients, who exactly did he meet that drew his attention? And when?
"Hmm… well… the first thing I'd say for you to do if you like someone is flirt, kid," Emily said, deeming that there was no harm in giving Spencer some advice.
"Flirt…" Spencer said, as if mulling the term over in his head.
He had been taught to flirt. Or, more correctly, he had been taught to be seductive, enticing, and sultry. He wasn't exactly sure that would play out well with Agent Morgan.
"You know, you got to put feelers out to see if he's into you too," J.J. explained.
"So, how do I put 'feelers' out?" Spencer asked, still seeming to have a hard time processing the information.
"Uh…" J.J. said as she glanced at Emily, seeming to be seeking her intervention.
The brunette made a face, but turned to Spencer.
"Well, you can try to get close to him, make it obvious that you like the things he's saying or doing… laugh when he says something funny and make sure to smile at him." Emily explained.
Spencer nodded, face as serious as a student absorbing a vital part of his curriculum.
"And, I guess, if all else fails, touching is always a surefire way to get the point across," she said as she winked at him. "You can find lots of reasons to accidentally brush up against someone."
"Oh…" Spencer said as he blinked in surprise. He then stared down at his hands, thinking carefully.
Emily and J.J. weren't sure if Spencer was put off by their advice, or if he was simply having trouble making sense of it. Before they could inquire further, a phone began to ring. Spencer looked up, recognizing the tone to be his and thankful for a diversion, he scrambled to his feet and into the kitchen, where he remembered seeing his phone last. Both agents looked on as the boy hurried away from them.
When Spencer closed his hand around his phone he frowned to see that it was an unknown number. Feeling slightly apprehensive, he walked back into the living room with the phone still ringing in his hands. J.J. and Emily looked up at him in confusion but when they saw the paleness of his face they both became concerned.
"What's wrong?" J.J. asked.
"I… I don't recognize this number," Spencer said hesitantly, as the phone continued to ring. "Do you think it could be…?"
Realizing what Spencer was suggesting, both agents kicked into action.
"Ok, you're going to have to answer it Spencer, but make sure to put it on speaker. If it's the Unsub, we're going to try to trace it but to do that you're going to have to stay on the phone as long as you can, ok?" Emily said.
In the meantime, J.J was already dialing into Garcia's line.
Spencer nodded numbly and pressed the answer button after the sixth ring.
"Spencer," a chilling voice purred.
Spencer immediately recognized the voice as belonging to the man who had called him two nights ago and he felt his throat close up in fear. Turning to Emily with wide eyes, Spencer nodded silently to her and Emily nudged J.J.. Understanding that they had their suspect on the phone, J.J. got to her feet and quickly walked into the backroom so she could speak to Garcia without interfering with the phone call.
"Spencer?" the man said again, a hint of annoyance in his tone.
Spencer could see Emily signaling him to begin talking, and swallowing down his nervousness Spencer followed her instruction.
"U-um… hello?" he asked tentatively.
"Ah, there you are, Spencer! I've missed hearing your voice. How are you, my pet? Have you been good, as I asked?" the voice inquired.
Spencer felt his face flush slightly at the demeaning-nature of the man's words, but he knew he had to respond.
"Y-yes," he said softly.
Out of the corner of his eye, Spencer saw J.J. return from the back room and she gave a thumbs-up to Emily, seemingly signaling that she had been able to get in touch with their technical analyst.
"I don't think that's true, Spencer," the man responded, a hard edge overtaking his tone. "And I don't like the idea of you lying to me."
Spencer blinked in surprise and the two agents frowned hearing the man's word.
"What do you mean? I haven't done anyth-" Spencer began but was sharply cut off.
"What was that man doing spending the night at your apartment then, Spencer!?" the man almost shouted.
Spencer jumped at the sharpness in his tone, and he looked at the two agents in desperation. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to say in reference to the FBI's protective detail.
"Derek Morgan was his name, wasn't it?" the man asked, saving Spencer from having to answer him. Apparently he already knew the identity of the man in question. Both Emily and J.J. tensed at this admission. It complicated things if the Unsub knew enough about them that he had their names.
"How could you invite that man to spend the night with you, Spencer? Why do you have to be such a slut? I thought you were better than that!" the man spat.
Spencer blushed furiously, but he also felt himself getting angry.
"I-! It's nothing like that!" Spencer snapped. "He was here to protect me from you!"
Emily shot to her feet, ready to rip the phone out of Spencer's hands. She wasn't sure if antagonizing this man was the best idea. But Spencer stepped back slightly.
"Protect you? You think that muscle-bound FBI thug can do anything for you? What's to stop me from coming in there and putting a bullet in his brain while he sleeps? You all think you're so clever, agents? Huh?" the man asked angrily.
Emily and J.J.'s eyes narrowed. They didn't take lightly to the man's threat against their colleague. And it seemed that the man had been addressing them personally. Like he knew they were there.
"I know you're there!" the man shouted, confirming their suspicions. "Answer me!"
J.J stood to her feet and placed a hand on Emily's shoulder as she stepped in front of her and took her place next to Spencer.
"We're here," J.J said calmly. "What can we do for you?"
"Spencer doesn't need you to protect him from me," the man growled out. "I'm the only one that can save him. I've been protecting him all along! We're destined! Why don't you understand that?"
J.J. shook her head as she tried to make sense of the man's words.
"We know you want to protect Spencer, but the things you're doing are scaring him. I don't think that's what you really want, is it?" she asked.
The man laughed.
"Who am I speaking to? Is it Emily? Or is this Jennifer?" the man asked.
J.J. flinched.
"How do you know-" she began but the man cut her off again.
"Answer me!" he demanded.
"This is Agent Jareau," J.J. responded in a level tone.
"Ah, Jennifer," the man purred, ignoring her title. "Don't presume that you know what I want. Spencer needs to know his place. If he doesn't yet appreciate that I'm what's best for him then he needs to be trained until he does! Stop. Interfering."
Spencer gripped the phone in his hand tightly, disgusted and terrified by the man's words.
"And, Spencer," the man said, voice taking on a sweet tone. "If I see another man staying over at your place, you're going to regret it. Am I understood?"
Spencer felt tears prickling the corners of his eyes, but he found himself nodding.
"U-understood," he breathed out.
And then the line went dead.
J.J. and Emily stared at the phone gripped in his hands in shock. This was not what they were expecting of the Unsub at all. His obsession was more deep-seated than they had originally realized. There was no telling what the Unsub would be willing to do if he didn't get his way.
Snapping out of her stupor, J.J. quickly pulled away from Emily and Spencer and re-dialed Garcia.
"Garcia!" she said quickly once the line had engaged. "Did we get anything?"
"Unfortunately no… I mean, the call was short. Definitely under two minutes, but I didn't even figure I'd need that much time. The guy was using a cellphone this time, but once I locked on to the signal it continued to bounce back and forth amongst numerous towers, as if something was scrambling it. It's impossible to triangulate that. The best I could give you is that he's within a 10-mile radius," Garcia explained, apologetically.
"What?" J.J. asked in shock. "That's impossible… I was sure he'd be somewhere in closer proximity. The way he talked, it was like he could see that we were here."
"That might be so. But if he has some kind of device to mess with the signals, we're out of luck," Garcia explained.
J.J could only sigh her frustration.
"Look, are you guys going to be alright over there? Should I tell Hotch to send additional backup?" Garcia asked, concern evident in her voice.
"No… We'll update Hotch ourselves. I think we'll be fine over here. At this point, this guy's all steam. He seems really worked up, but I don't think he'll make any attempts on Spencer right now. And, even if he does, Emily and I can handle it," J.J. reassured her.
"Ok, stay safe my doves," Garcia said, before she ended the call.
When J.J. turned back to Emily and Spencer, she could see Emily softly stroking Spencer's arm, as if trying to comfort him. The boy looked upset, but his face showed more anger than fear.
"Hey…" J.J. said as she approached them and caught Emily's eyes, as if to ask if everything was ok. Emily just frowned and shook her head.
"So, Garcia wasn't able to trace the call. Apparently this guy's using something to scramble his signal. So she has no idea where he was calling from. I'm guessing he was somewhere close, though. He knew we were here, so it's likely he's been watching us." J.J. informed them.
"This is ridiculous," Spencer finally said as he balled his hands into fists and looked up at the two agents. "Why would he say things like that? Who does he think he is? He doesn't know me! I don't owe him anything! And I didn't ask for this!"
"We know that Spencer," Emily said soothingly. "He's obsessed. Sometimes the slightest, inconsequential thing to us, could be the world for someone who's infatuated with you. It could be something as small as smiling at someone in a coffee shop. It doesn't have to make sense to you or me, it just has to make sense to him."
"With that said, it might be best if you just stay in today, Spencer. He seems to be angry that we're here, and we don't want to run the risk of you having a run-in with him at the club," J.J. suggested.
Spencer stared at her in disbelief.
"No," he said, indignantly. "What? Am I expected to just sit cooped up here like a scared animal until you guys catch this maniac? You haven't been doing such a great job of that so far. And last I checked, I still have to eat. I don't have the luxury of just calling out of work."
The boy's tone caused the two agents to flinch. They didn't have much of a defense to his accusations, even though they knew they were doing their best to catch the Unsub. To someone who was living through this, nothing would seem like it was good enough.
"Spencer, we understand that this is a difficult situation for you, but you've got to think about what will keep you safest for the time being," J.J. tried to explain.
Spencer scoffed.
"Look, you have a job to do, and so do I. You're just going to have to figure out how to do it while I work. I can't afford to not get paid," Spencer said firmly, leaving no room for argument.
Emily sighed in resignation.
"Then…we'll see what we can do," she offered.
"Fine," Spencer said, some of the edge leaving his voice.
He glanced up at the concerned looking agents, and suddenly felt ashamed of how he had snapped at them.
"Look… Is it ok if I just take some time to myself?" he asked them, as he gestured to the back room.
Emily nodded.
"Sure thing. Take all the time you want. We'll be right out here if you need us," she said with a small smile.
The two women watched silently as the younger male turned and walked down the hall. After hearing the door click quietly behind him, they turned to each other and let out heavy sighs.
"We've got to update the others on this situation. I don't think Hotch is going to like this," J.J. said as she whipped out her phone.

When Derek returned to the precinct, he was relieved to see that Detective Stone had taken his leave, but he was not expecting to see Hotch and Rossi huddled around the phone looking somber.
"What's going on?" he asked as he took a seat at the table.
"I just got off the phone with J.J," Hotch explained.
Derek sat up straighter. Hotch's statement immediately had his mind running through an endless list of unpleasant scenarios.
"Everything's fine, Morgan," Hotch placated, seeing Derek's panic. "But, they did get another call from the Unsub."
Derek narrowed his eyes.
"What did that bastard want this time?" he asked.
Rossi sighed, while shaking his head.
"Apparently he's been conducting some intel of his own. He knew J.J. and Emily's names… he knew yours as well. He seemed to have been particularly displeased that Spencer had you spend the night. He said some nasty things to the kid regarding that," Rossi said.
"What?" Derek asked, confusion apparent on his face.
"It seems the Unsub read something illicit into your presence there and took that as a betrayal by Spencer," Hotch explained.
"That doesn't make any sense!" Derek exclaimed. "There's nothing like that going on."
"Well, we know that kid. But this guy isn't exactly thinking straight. I'm sure it's just because you're a man and he seems to think he has some type of ownership over Spencer," Rossi offered.
Derek frowned at that.
"Another concerning issue is that the Unsub knew Derek spent the whole night over at the kid's," Rossi pointed out as he turned to face Hotch.
"True," Hotch said with a weary sigh. "So that means he's either sitting watch all night, or he has the place bugged."
Derek paled at the thought, his mind racing over all the case-related, not to mention personal, information that had been divulged in that apartment.
"I'll make sure to have someone go over there and sweep for bugs when Spencer leaves for work today," Hotch said. "And if they find nothing, I think we should do a stakeout. If the Unsub's sticking this close to Spencer we might have a good chance of intercepting him."
The other two men nodded their agreement.
"What'd the Unsub say to Spencer, exactly?" Derek asked, still feeling guilty that his presence had caused Spencer to be subjected to the man's ire.
Hotch watched Derek's face carefully before speaking, as if he was trying to determine whether he should mince his words or not.
"We're not too worried about Spencer, actually," Hotch responded after a moment. "It was the same possessive posturing as usual. We know he's just trying to scare Spencer into submission. What we're more concerned about is that the Unsub specifically threatened you. J.J. said he alluded to wanting to put a bullet in your head."
"Fuck that, Hotch!" Derek said in anger. "It's not like I'm afraid of this guy."
Hotch rolled his eyes at Derek's outburst.
"We know that. But, we don't need your presence to be the factor that incites this guy to act," Hotch said seriously.
"So, what, are you going to just leave him to J.J. and Emily? What happens when he threatens to put a bullet in one of them?" Derek asked.
Hotch didn't take Derek's bait. He knew that Derek always wanted to play the role of the 'protector.' He was always going to be the one to volunteer to put himself on the line if it meant he could prevent it happening to one of his colleagues. It was a habit Hotch had talked to him about more times than he could count.
"We're just asking you to be careful, Derek," Hotch said simply. "I can't afford to pull you off of this anyway. It would be too much of a strain on the team to require Prentiss & J.J. to be his exclusive detail. I just need you to know that this guy views you as a threat and if he's likely to attack anyone, it'll probably be you."
Derek nodded quietly, mulling over Hotch's words. He understood what Hotch was saying. He also agreed that it would probably make sense to pull back if it seemed the Unsub was more threatened by a male staying with Spencer than the females. But, it was exactly because the Unsub had gotten angry with Spencer as a result of Derek having spent the night that he felt he wanted to stay by the kid. He didn't want Spencer thinking he was going to turn his back on him as soon as the going got tough. And in any case, Derek was more than willing to take the Unsub on if he ever decided to follow through on his threats against Spencer.
"Morgan, I don't want this distracting you from the big picture," Hotch said, drawing Derek from his thoughts. "What did you find out during your interview?"
Derek sighed his frustration, but flipped out his notebook.
"Ok, the guy I met with was named Danny Wallace. He was working at Xquisite back when Santos was murdered, but now he's the new owner. He's acting all wide-eyed and claiming innocence, but, believe me, this cat knew what was going on behind closed doors. I don't believe he was actually taking part in any of it, but he definitely knew Santos was auditioning minors and was turning a blind eye to it. So if you ask me, he's just as guilty as that sick creep." Derek said, frowning.
Hotch and Rossi nodded. They had expected as much.
"Ok, so was he able to give you anything helpful regarding the night of the murder?" Hotch asked.
"Not really," Derek admitted. "It was a long time ago, and there was no evidence of who came by that night. But, he did tell me that he can say with certainty that the missing DVD would have been of a boy. Apparently that was Santos' preference. Wallace says it could have been possible that Santos was showing a visitor the DVD. He wouldn't put that past him. But what I thought was the most interesting is that Santos was an investor at Mon Petit Chien," Derek informed them.
"Investor?" Hotch asked.
"Yea, apparently he was one of the people who got the club on its feet a couple of years back," Derek responded.
"So he would've been more involved in the club than an average member," Rossi postulated.
"Yeah, and Wallace says Santos actually bought a membership for him. Not necessarily to use the club's services, but so he would have access to the private events. It was Santos' way of getting Wallace business contacts," Derek said.
"That's interesting," Hotch said to himself. "Our Unsub could very well be connected to the club on the business side, not necessarily on the pleasure side. And here we have mention of those private events yet again."
"Did this Wallace character say anything else?" Rossi asked.
Derek hesitated for a moment, and then sighed.
"Yeah… Wallace said that the investors and managers usually attend every party. And… they'll be having a party this Friday. It's called the Prince's Ball." Derek informed them.
Hotch and Rossi stared at him expectantly.
"Apparently this party caters to those who like their entertainment to be… young and male." Derek admitted reluctantly.
"Oh." Rossi said, simply.
Hotch just nodded.
The three men were silent for a while as they all absorbed the information.
"Look, I'm going to have Garcia see if she can find any information about these investors. I imagine that'll be a much shorter list than the general membership. If she can find anyone who has a connection to the victims, that'll be a good place to start," Hotch said.
He then looked at Derek.
"But, we're running out of time. I refuse to let this guy slip away again, and like I said before, we have an unprecedented opportunity with Spencer. If Garcia can't get us a list of names that's short enough to work with, our best option might be to have Spencer attend that party. Especially if the theme is one in which he fits the criteria. He won't stand out. If the Unsub is an investor and he knows Spencer's going to be there, that might be a way to draw him out into the open," Hotch said, eyes searching Derek's.
Derek fought hard to conceal his emotions and smother his desire to tell his boss how much he disagreed with his plan.
"That runs the risk of putting Spencer into a lot of danger, Hotch," Derek said somberly. "It just… it doesn't sit right with me."
"I understand your reservations. It's not my first choice plan, by far. But we would have no legitimate reason to be entering that party. The only person who could show up there and stay under the radar is Spencer." Hotch said.
Derek opened his mouth as if ready to make his case against this plan but Hotch cut him off with a raised hand.
"I haven't made any decisions yet. If I do, we'll sit down and have a serious conversation with Spencer about the risks. We can't force him to do this, and he has every right to say no if he feels uncomfortable. Ok? So, for right now, let's just table that, and work on trying to narrow down the list of suspects," Hotch said.
Derek nodded his agreement and decided he'd put his faith in his trusted technical analyst.
"Now, let's get Garcia on the line, and see if we can make a dent in this case," Hotch said, determination evident in his voice.

A/N: So, there you have it! It seems some things from the past have come back to haunt Spencer. On top of that, what's a boy to do when he has all these feelings and he has no idea what to do with them? Maybe that boy will try to make a move on the agent who's caught his attention? Who knows… ;P. Guess you'll have to wait and see!
xoxo
- 6
- 7
- 8
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Pretty Boy