Criminal Minds BAU Little Shots :>

01: Brave Boy

(Little Spencer CG Hotch & Morgan)

This is right after Spencer returns during season two after he's kidnapped and abused (?), any who.

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TW: Impure Regression, Crying Little :<

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Morgan was surprised the kid lasted as long as he did. He had gone through the treatment of his injuries, the interrogation and all the trauma that came with it. Somehow, he held onto his big-space, then on the way home. He crashed.

Not in a physical sense perhaps, but a mental sense above all. Reid was a little it was no secret to anyone on the team after a severe panic attack (in which Morgan helped him through it). Sure the team was supportive, but also very nosy. They had dug into his past a bit, nothing past his high school years thank goodness, but dug nonetheless.

Reid felt like his life had been invaded and at first pushed off all signs of his headspace, pushed it so far back that he relapsed, it was small things, scratching his inner arms till they bled picking at his lip and dissociating for long periods of time. The team knew they had messed up, caused Spencer to build the wall that he had. There was nothing that could be done, but to be there for him. He seemed to latch onto Hotch and Morgan the fastest. He saw Morgan as an older brother, sometimes an uncle depending on his headspace age, but Hotch was always his main caregiver his father.

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Once the plane had taken off and everyone was able to move freely, Reid was on the move. Before he had stepped onto the plane he had changed out of his soiled clothes, they felt like a second layer of skin he didn't want, didn't need. Instead, he had stolen a hoodie from his father figure and wore the softest flannel pajama pants he owned. He forwent with his beat up converse, his dress shoes (safely recovered) placed in his go-bag with the rest of his personal items. He kept his satchel on the seat next to him, and messed with an infinite cube between his hands, keeping his oral fixation from getting the better of him.

He could feel his headspace dropping and at first didn't realize how everything seemed so big, how he couldn't seem to hold his head up for himself, his arms felt like lead, his feet glued to the floor, and then he noticed how young he felt. He could feel the tears welling up in his eyes, he was near the back of the plane, a place where one would go if they didn't want to be bothered, but right now, Reid wanted his papa. Silent tears gathered and slid down his cheeks. He couldn't go anywhere, he was just a tiny baby, how was he supposed to know that his papa hadn't abandoned him? Hadn't left him behind? How was he supposed to move to his papa so he could curl up in the other's lap and just cry everything out? He wasn't.

Morgan had gotten up to check on the kid, they were nearly twenty minutes into their flight and he hadn't heard a single peep from their youngest team member. He carefully made his way to the back of the plane and that's where he found the smallest boy he had ever seen. He cooed lightly, his heart breaking at the sight, he carefully knelt before the boy, pulling the other into his arms and rising back to his full height. The baby clung onto his, legs wrapping around his waist and cried heart wrenching sobs into the older's shoulder. Why wasn't his papa here? Had something bad happened to the other? The fear plagued the Little's mind, pulling a single coherent word from the shrieks.

"Papa!" The little shrieked. Hotch was on hit feet in seconds, usually when he got fussy he preferred the former (Morgan) as he often kept small dinosaur figurines on hand to distract the little from his sometimes unstable mood swings.

Hotch made his way to the back of the plane, taking the little from his best friend and one of his most trusted coworkers, Spencer immediately latched onto him, face stuffed into his neck, tears not even close to stopping. Aaron carefully bounces the little, making small rounds up and down the isle of the plane, pausing every couple of moments when he remembers that something might help Spencer. In the end, it's the Little's favorite non-deco paci and stuffed squishmallow a dinosaur he had affectionately named Marie after the famous chemist.

Once Hotch was sure that the little would drop into hysterics if he stopped moving for more than a few seconds, he carefully drops down into one of the couches, digging Spencer's favorite blanket out of a storage bin.

"I know today was scary, bubs," Hotch murmurs as he rubs gentle circles into the little's back. "but I'm so proud of you. You were so brave. Papa's brave boy."

He can feel Spencer's breathing start to even out and deepen, watches as the younger twists his neck up to look at the older's face.

"There's Papa's little Genius," Hotch murmurs, placing a gentle smooch to the younger's forehead. He hears Spencer let out a small giggle, a smile crossing his own face. As long as his baby could still laugh, then he knew everything would be okay.

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Hi! Welcome to the author's note of the first official chapter. I've been on a Criminal Minds binge lately, and I've read quite a few little Spencer fics, but still wanted to try my hand at writing my own and voila! Here it is.

Anywho, thank you for reading, and here's a small explanation a bit further into this AU. So, in this AU, Hotch doesn't have Jack or Hailey which is why he's Spencer's main caregiver and cares so deeply for him, he's never had a child, but always wanted one, and now in a sense has one. :>

Anywho, thank you again so much for reading and I'll see you in the next one!