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Aaron woke up in his bed, he stayed for a while listening to Spencer breathing beside him. Spencer was in a cocoon of blankets and Aaron laid his head on Spencer’s chest and listened to his heartbeat. The team was on stand down so Aaron had no place to go. He did want to stay in bed but nature was calling. Aaron carefully walked out of the bed and tucked Spencer in so he would not get cold. He then went into the bathroom, when Aaron was done he looked himself in the mirror. He had been seeing Spencer for two years and they were talking about moving in together. His team always said that he was serious and never smiled or laughed. He wondered what they would say if they saw him now, he had a goofy smile on his lips all because of the beautiful man in his bed.
Aaron made his way into the kitchen and started the coffee machine. He then started to make some omelets for breakfast. While he was cooking he heard Spencer move around. He wondered if Spencer needed help but Aaron knew that if Spencer needed help getting out of bed then he would tell him. When Aaron heard Spencer call for him so he stopped cutting the bell pepper and went into the bedroom. From the look on Spencer’s face, he knew that today was a bad day. He helped Spencer put the brace around his back, tightening it until Spencer told him to stop. He then helped Spencer get into his wheelchair.
During the “incident” Spencer called it but Aaron called it an “assault” with the football team and the goalpost. Someone from the football team kicked Spencer hard on his back, fracturing his spine, and leaving him with permanent nerve damage. Spencer was always in pain from that day on, and it hurt Aaron in his soul that someone would do this to Spencer, the kindest and compassionate person in existence. The worst part is that no one was punished, 30 or more 17-18-year-olds attacked an 11-year-old and they all walked free when Spencer never could walk again. Aaron would not go down that train of thought, they were going to have a good calm day at home with a lot of cuddles.
They ate their breakfast and then they moved to the sofa. Aaron cuddled into Spencer’s small frame, listening more to the sound of his heartbeat than the movie. Many would probably think that Spencer would be the one that cuddled into Aaron. But Aaron was usually the one that cuddled into Spencer. Not only because Spencer could not cuddle into Aaron the same way because of his spine. It was also because Spencer was home to Aaron, Spencer was safe, and it was nice and calming to be able to take strength from him, when at work everything laid on Aaron’s shoulders.
They had a perfect Sunday and Aaron did not want to go back to work the next day. But both of them did, Spencer got ready for his work as a professor, and Aaron got ready for the FBI. They kissed and said goodbye, Aaron had a bad feeling about today, he hoped nothing would happen.
Aaron had just come through the doors when he got the phone call, they had a case. Aaron looked over the case file as he waited for the team to come (he was a bit early as usual), and he felt the pit of his stomach sink. Someone had been going around and beating people up and damaging their spine, making them paralyzed. That just made him think of Spencer, the people that never got punished for hurting him. Even worse it happened in Las Vegas Nevada, where Spencer had gotten his injury. God this case was going to be a tough one. Aaron was a bit happy that he was the only one there because there would be no way that he would be able to be neutral to the team just this moment. Aaron called Spencer saying that he would be going to his hometown for a case. Spencer asked him if it was possible if he had time if he could go by a bookstore and buy a book to give to his mother. Aaron said that he would try, and looked over the list of possible books that Aaron could buy.
Aaron had met Diana Reid before and she had been nice when she had not been threatening to scratch his eyes out. If she was having a good day then he might say hello to her but if she was having a bad day then he would leave the book with her doctor so that she could get it at a later date.
The team came and they seemed surprised over the fact that he was introducing the case and not Garcia or JJ. Aaron did not really care he wanted, no he needed to be in control, or everything would fall apart.
“There have been six victims so far, no one has died, but no one can identify who their attacker was.”
“So what happened to them?” Morgan asked, seeming a bit annoyed that he was going a bit too slow.
“They were severely beaten until the last kick made with what they believe is a football shoe from indents which broke their backs. Leaving them paralyzed from the waist down. The unsub then drugged his victims so that they have little to no recollection of what happened, all they recall is pain.”
“That is a very specific emo, so we should look for victims with similar emo that might have been from a learning trial,” Rossi spoke and the team started too throughout theories and ideas about the unsub.
“Okay, weals up in thirty Garcia I want you to start looking into similar victims.” They all got ready and the bad feeling that Aaron had had just doubled. Rossi stayed after showing Aaron that his discomfort with this case had shown.
“Are you okay Aaron?”
“You know that in some cases you just have a bad feeling about.” After receiving a nod from Rossi, Aaron continued. “Well, I have a bad feeling about this case.” After that, he left and got ready for the flight.
You could feel the tension in the plane, it seemed like the team was giving him space. They started to speak and Aaron made sure to put his personal feelings on backtrack. But it was hard, he had seen firsthand how Spencer’s attack still affected him. They got to Las Vegas
Aaron made sure that he went to the police station and that JJ, Prentiss, and Morgan did the interviews.
They spoke to the detectives and then they got a call that they had their first female victim. The unsub was changing his emo, and his waiting period had gone down to one day waiting period. He got a call from Morgan saying that all the people that they had tried interviewed three of the five (now six) victims. They all remembered a voice but they could not say if it was a male or a woman that it belonged to. It was a light voice that was too dark to be a woman but too light to be a man. So either a woman with a deep voice or a man with a light voice. Aaron also told them that they were staying to interview the rest of the victims but also the new woman.
Garcia called and told them that all the victims were in the same class in school. When she said the name of the school Aaron felt his blood go cold, that was the school Spencer went to. But he did not have time to think about it because the sheriff called them to him, telling them that there had been a new victim, a woman again but this time. Two victims the same day, and when Aaron heard the name he froze, the name on the new victim was Harper Williams. She was the girl that had lured Spencer into that football field.
He left the police station and Aaron just walked. They had a vigilante, someone that was punishing the people that hurt his Spencer. He took out his phone; he just needed to hear Spencer’s voice.
“Aaron is something wrong. Aaron! You are worrying me.”
“I am here, I am here. I just, God, I had to hear your voice.”
“What is wrong… Aaron answer me! That is it I am getting on a plane right now, and there is nothing you can do about it!”
“Spencer, you do not need to do that. Please don’t.”
“Then tell me what is happening.”
“We have a vigilante, this person is punishing the people that hurt you. They are paralyzing them as they did you.”
“I am still coming to Las Vegas… Do not try to argue with me, I am your best witness, and you need me there.”
“Okay, but don’t order a flight, you will fly in out yet with Garcia.” They said their goodbyes and there “I love you”. They would get through this together. Aaron was going to call Garcia but she managed to call him first.
“Sir, I found that one Spencer Reid suffered similar injuries to our victims, he was attacked at...”
“Garcia I know. You will be coming here with the yet so pack, you will be traveling here with Spencer, you will not speak about his injuries with him.”
After that Aaron bought a cup of coffee and collected himself. He then left and went back to the police station. Where he met Rossi, he then got the bad news that the assaults had started to show up on the internet. It seemed that Rossi was prepared to argue that Garcia needed to come down and was surprised over the fact that Aaron had already directed her to come here. Aaron also told him about his theory that they had a vigilante, he then proceeded to explain what happened to Spencer. After he was done Rossi started to ask him some questions.
“This Spencer, who is he to you, Aaron, because you don’t look so surprised, I have heard you tell other people's stories before, but this time you look like you are in pain.” Aaron looked at his old mentor and now his friend.
“Dave, when Spencer is in pain I am too.” Dave only responded with a nod, he understood what Aaron meant.
The rest of the team got back from the hospital after interviewing everyone. They looked so tired, it was never fun to do interviews especially not when the witness was in so much pain. Aaron got Rossi to tell the team about Spencer as he drove to pick up Spencer and Garcia. Aaron did not need to hear Spencer’s story from Dave, he had heard it when Spencer cried in his arms. Aaron got out of his car and saw Garcia and Spencer. He walked over to them and gave Garcia a hello before hugging Spencer.
They got to the car and Garcia looked like she wanted to help Spencer but did not know-how. Aaron helped Spencer into the passenger seat before folding Spencer’s chair and putting it in the back. They drove to the police station and Aaron asked Garcia to go into the building so that he could have some alone time with Spencer.
“Hey, how are you feeling.”
“I know it is not true and I know it is wrong but I feel like all of this is my fault.” At hearing Spencer say that Aaron quickly looked him straight in his eyes.
“Nothing of this is your fault. No, do not try to argue with me I am right. The teachers and principal should have protected you. The police should have protected you. You are the victim, nothing is your fault. Spencer, you were eleven.” Spencer closed his eyes and Aaron brought him into an embrace. They sat there for some time loving the closeness. Aaron kissed Spencer on the top of his head before he pulled back and gave him one on his lips.
“Thank you, I needed to hear that.”
“Are you ready to meet my team?”
“As ready as I ever will be.” Aaron gave Spencer one more kiss before exiting the car and helping Spencer into his wheelchair. They entered the building and went to the team.
“Okay everyone, this is Dr. Spencer Reid, he will be here as a consultant for the time being.” Spencer waived at the team, the team greeted him back. Aaron knew his team and therefore he noticed that they were more interested in Spencer than a witness, which meant that Dave had told them about him and Spencer.
“Mr, Reid if you could compile a list of everyone that was there during your assault that would help us.”
“It Dr, Reid, JJ.” Aaron knew that he was protective over Spencer, but he knew and had seen the way people treat him. “Sorry, Dr”
“It’s okay, I can make a list but I am not sure how many people were there. I was surrounded.”
“Well, how many can you name?” Rossi asked and Aaron could see that the team was looking sick over the fact that there were so many people present that someone with an eidetic can’t remember.
“I can name 33 people, but I do believe that there were more people present.” Spencer went and grabbed a notebook and started to write. As he wrote the team continued talking about the profile, it was a lot easier now that they knew that they had a vigilante at their hands.
Aaron looked up when Spencer said that he was done. He looked over the name and his suspicion was confirmed. All the victims were on Spencer’s list.
“Garcia I want you to contact everyone that is on that list and tell them that we need to speak to them. Also, warn them and tell them to be hyper-vigilant.”
“Aaron, do you know what time it is now?” The whole team looked a bit confused by Spencer’s teasing voice until they looked at their watches and saw that it was one o clock am.
“Okay everyone let's go to the hotel and I want all of you to sleep, we start tomorrow again.” They all went to the hotel and booked themself in. Aaron was going to share a room with Spencer. The team seemed a little bit hesitant about Spencer. Aaron could not blame them, if Spencer had not been paralyzed from the waist down he would be their best suspect.
They got into their room and got ready. Aaron knew that Spencer was feeling guilty as if this unsub was punishing his tormentors for him. He hated the fact that Spencer was so quick to blame himself and so quick to apologize. They went into the bed and Aaron laid his head on Spencer’s chest, leaving a kiss there.
“You know that nothing is your fault.”
“I don’t know Aaron, the unsub is punishing the people that hurt me if I had pushed harder for the case to go to court, If I had not made my dad leave, if I had a better budget then I would have gotten a lawyer, if… if. “
“No, no if’s. You were a victim, they hurt you. You are not to blame, someone has just taken your story and decided to be your savior. That is not your fault.” Aaron could see that Spencer was holding tears back. “I love you, and it pains me how fast you blame yourself for other people's actions.” Aaron looked Spencer in his eyes so that he would know that he was sincere. “I love you too Aaron.” “I know” After that they went to sleep.
The next morning they woke up and Aaron helped Spencer with his brace before they left. Spencer was not the happiest person before he had his coffee and was grumbling in his chair that everything was too bright and too loud. They went and sat down at a cafe and Aaron texted the rest of the team where they were if they wanted to join them. They had just gotten their breakfast when the rest of the team joined them. Everyone on the team noticed that Aaron had a smile on his lips and was noticeably happy with Spencer by his side. It was a rare sight to see even rarer during a case.
After the food Aaron got a call saying that there had been a new attack, now the unsub had 6 victims under his belt. 6 of 33 that Spencer knew the name of and they could warn if there was anyone else present they would not be able to warn them. They could try to do a TV announcement, but then they had to say what the victim's alleged crime was, which was just a quick way to get a lawsuit. Garcia would get everyone's address and phone number, and the rest of the team would contact them. Morgan would interview Spencer to see if he saw someone that he may have missed or who may be the unsub. Aaron hated the fact that Spencer had to relive his trauma, but it had been his own decision.
Spencer and Morgan went into an empty room. Morgan started to guide Spencer through everything. Spencer having an eidetic memory made it so that he already remembered a lot more than other people. But Spencer was aware of the fact that he had suppressed the memory. After the exercise, Spencer remembered two more names, but he didn't remember anyone that acted in the manner that the unsub would have.
As Morgan and Spencer worked at that the rest of the team had to call a lot of people. Aaron did find some private joy in the faces of the people he spoke to when they realized that he knew what they had done to a twelve-year-old. They then tried to convince him that they are good people and that they never meant any harm. But Aaron could not let it go that they were eighteen and while their brains were not fully developed. But Aaron has met many kids at the age of four that would know what they did was wrong.
They had not even had the time to warn everyone when Aaron got a call that there had been one more victim. This unsub was doing two people per day. Aaron could not understand how they would be able to take so many victims but still not be seen. Even more frustrating is because of the drugs they could not say how they sounded. Aaron was going to be the one that would interview. It was something that he had avoided this whole time.
Aaron got to the hospital and started to speak with the victims he started with Harper, and it happened. The mistake they have been waiting for. Harper had a built-up resilience against the drugs that they used on her. So she remembered more than the rest, she was able to tell them that there were two people, one woman, and one man. It was too fussy for her to remember who but it was the best evidence they had gotten so far from a witness. Aaron left the room and called the team and told them about the news.
The sun went down and after a while, they had contacted everyone and there was no further progress. So, they all went back to the hotel and got ready. Aaron laid in bed with Spencer loving the feeling of a warm body beside his. It was the one thing he missed the most when he had a case. They were just about to sleep when a phone started to ring. Both of them went wide awake and Aaron first thought that it was his phone but it was the wrong sound. Someone was calling Spencer’s phone from a private number. Aaron gave the phone to Spencer and he answered and put the person on speaker while Aaron had his phone record everything.
“Hello, this is doctor Spencer Reid, how can I help you?”
“You can help me by leaving the FBI alone!” Through the phone came the angry voice of a woman.
“Sorry I do not understand who are you?”
“I am the person that is making sure that the people that hurt you are getting punished, and you are interfering with me!” Spencer having a criminal degree knew how to handle the situation so Aaron just let him speak unguided.
“Oh, I never meant to interfere with you. I just wanted to spend some time with my boyfriend. May I ask how you know who you are supposed to punish?”
“I punish pedophiles, and there are the biggest bunch that I have ever met. It is a pleasure to make sure that they get punished, it is my duty to punish them.”
“I know, I really do not mean to come in your way. May I ask how many names you have? Just to make sure that you have the same number as I”
“I have the names of twenty-two people, that is in your case.”
“Oh, how many cases have you completed if you don’t mind me asking.”
“I can tell you that I have done this for a while and you, my dove is my case number 7. But that is all I am going to say. Good day, Spencer, and I am glad you appreciate our work.” After that, she hung up. Spencer looked at Aaron, they both were thinking about the same thing, there were more victims. Seven cases and if Spencer’s case was not a rarity then there were multiple victims in each. Aaron found it faster if he just went up and knocked on the doors where everyone was sleeping. They would have a meeting in Aaron and Spencer’s room and they would then try to get some more rest to work.
The whole team was now in Spencer’s and Aaron’s hotel room. Aaron helped Spencer sit up comfortably in the bed before he started to tell the team about what happened. They listened to the recording and started to speculate where she would have gotten the names of Spencer’s attackers. They had to wait for Garcia to wake up to be able to run other possible “cases” that this woman had closed. Then was the fact that she said our work, did she mean her and the man or were there more people in play than they knew about. The only good thing is the fact that they only knew about 20 people while Spencer knew the name of 35. This meant that they believe that they are halfway done and if things continue as they are they will get more and more reckless. It would be easier to catch them but they did not have any idea of how many people would be taken with them.
They worked on the profile and when Garcia was up they searched for the other victims. Aaron also made sure that Garcia would be connected to Spencer’s phone so that if they rang again they may be able to triangulate their position. While they were following their new leads they got a call that there had been a new victim.
“Aaron, I believe that there have to be more than two people.”
“Really why is that.”
“Just the fact that they seem to move so fast but even if you ignore that, the exhaustion they would feel after every victim. I mean, you have to subdue them, hurt, and then kick the victim in the back so hard that their spine gets damaged. That takes a lot of force therefore a lot of energy.”
“How many people do you think may be involved?”
“I believe at the minimum at least four people and that is stretching it.”
As they worked Spencer's phone started to ring again. they waited for Garcia to be ready before Spencer answered.
“Hello, this is doctor Spencer Reid, how can I help you?”
“I need the names.” You could hear that this time it was the same woman as before but her tone and voice were different.
“Sorry, but I would need you to specify your question.”
“You got quiet when I mentioned that I had the names of 20 people. Then this predator says some more names, I need to know how many people hurt you.”
“Sorry but I am not aware of the total number, I just know that I was surrounded and had nowhere to go.”
“Well I now have the names of 25 people do you know more?” Spencer knew the plan how they would be able to catch them before they could hurt more people. They had to set up a trap.
“Well, I may not be able to tell you the names of all the people there. I know the names of 35 people that were present.”
“Tell me!”
“Is there any way that we can meet? I want to meet you in person and thank you.”
“Let me think about it, I will call you back within ten minutes.” After that, she hung up. Aaron knew that this was the best plan of getting the unsubs but that did not mean that he had to like it. Garcia had been able to say an area that she may be but that was a really big plot of land with thousands of people living there. They waited and after ten minutes and on the second Spencer’s phone started to ring.
“Okay, we will meet up at an abandoned playground.” Spencer knew that that would be a bad idea as it would mean little coverage for him and from the look on Aaron’s face he saw that he agreed.
“I am up to meeting you. But with my chair, I can go on gravel rounds without great difficulty so it would need to be somewhere else.” You could hear her speak to someone else before she started to speak to them again.
“Sorry, I forgot that you got paralyzed by those idiots. What about the park by the casino, I do believe that it has real roads.” Spencer looked over at Aaron and saw him confirming that it would be a good place to meet.”
“When do you want me there?”
“Be there at 10 pm.” After that, she hung up. They now had seven hours to prepare for the meeting. They went back and worked. Morgan and Emily went and looked at the park dressed as civilians and looked out for good places where they would be able to hide. It was all going well until an article was posted. It seemed like the people that were punishing Spencer's attackers had gotten enough at the speculations as to why they did what they did. So the article had a description where Spencer was hurt and it painted all the victims in a bad light.
“Aaron I have a bad feeling about this. They are trying to get people to stop being sympathetic toward the victims.” The thought that it seemed like they were starting their end game hung heavy in the room. Aaron made sure that more officers were ready. After a while, Spencer’s ride came. Spencer gave Aaron one last kiss on his lips before getting into the car.
The park was a bit from the strip and therefore was quiet. Spencer got into his intended spot and waited. After a while, he saw a woman coming towards him. Spencer did not recognize her face. She went to him and they just greeted each other when she asked for the list with the names. Spencer gave it to her and tried to make her speak. He was tabbed so that Garcia heard and recorded everything that she said. She walked right into the trap and started to speak about how she got her boyfriend to deliver the kick to the victim's back and that she always made sure that she had the drugs ready. She was so into describing how the victims cried and how pathetic they were that she did not notice that Morgan and Aaron were behind her. They managed to arrest her but from her, they now knew that there were four unsubs which meant that they were missing three.
They looked at her phone and they managed to find the rest of them. Spencer felt sick, how all of them used him to justify their actions. How they thought that he would be grateful for the actions. They could not understand why he had helped catch them. They would stay one more night at the hotel and Spencer knew that he would not be getting any sleep. Aaron and Spencer got ready and went into bed and Aaron surprised Spencer by bringing his laptop into bed. They spent the night in each other preachers watching the original Star Trek and they knew that they had only gotten closer because of this.
At the plane, everyone sat down and Spencer got to see them when they were not in a high-stress situation. He got a lot of questions and Spencer even managed to make Aaron blush the smallest bit but it went unnoticed by no one. Aaron felt at home with his team and his lover by his side he felt as if he could conquer anything.