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“You are bleeding!”
“I’ve had worse,” Hotch calls, aiming for his office.
“Jesus christ, no '' Derek curses underneath his breath before hurrying to get the first aid kit before following him up the stairs where Hotch is pacing in his office while Spencer is sitting on the couch looking partly worried, partly disgusted at their boyfriend.
“You need to help him“ Spencer speaks up, pointing at Hotch,
“I could tell, thank you very much” Derek snaps before approaching Aaron, “Come here”
“No”
“Come here, I am just going to put some bandaids on your hand”
“No” Derek suppresses a sight, knowing there is one thing that makes Hotch as well as Spencer feel invlaid in their struggles is when he does so, “I don’t want bandaids.”
“We need to protect the wounds, you know that” There are little cuts spread all over his hand after standing near an explosion.
Hotch is right though, he had worse and Derek had just been glad the explosion didn’t seem to have damaged Hotch’s hearing even more but that doesn’t mean they can let this slight, “Do you want Dave to do this?”
“I don’t want bandaids”
“I understand but you need them, you are bleeding all over the floor already” Derek reminds him, “Why don’t you sit down next to Spencer and we will do this together.”
“No”
“Love-“
“I am fine” Hotch insists, “I am fine, go”
“Spencer will go, I will stay here”
“Why?” Spencer asks, frowning at them, “I can help”
“Spencer please go to someone else on the team okay?” Derek directs again, knowing that if Hotch loses it and has a meltdown, Spencer will be left in distress too. “Thank you, love”
“Can I do something?”
“Can you send me Rossi?”
“Yes”
“Thank you” Derek quickly kisses him on the cheek before turning his attention back to Hotch again, “Sit down please”
“I am not hurt” He states again as if it will save him from getting his hand treated, “I am okay”
“We will just sit down” Hesitant Hotch looks over to the couch but only does what Derek tells him after an ensuring nod from him, “Good job, we will take a deep breath now”
“I am okay”
“I know” Derek gifts him a soft smile, holding Hotch’s wrist as the man tries to stop the bleeding on his hand, “Deep breath, we are okay”
“Good that Spencer wasn’t there” Hotch chokes out tears forming in his eyes.
“Very good”
“He would have not handled the explosion well, it would have been too loud for him.” He brings out his breath still sounding cut off and Derek understands what his boyfriend wants to tell him. Please, please it was so loud, please make everything stop, please why do my ears throb so painfully, please why is everything so tight, please-
“Aaron, hey, you are okay, in through your nose.” Derek hears the door opening behind him, hoping it's Dave helping him. The man seems to do wonders for Hotch and even if not, Derek is always more than glad to have a second person with him when Hotch is close to breaking down. He had to learn the hard way that Hotch starts to be a danger to himself, his own strength comes to an end and while he can safely restrain Spencer, he can’t do this for Hotch without hurting him even more in the process. “Look who is here, he is going to help us with your hand okay?”
Hurting Hotch chokes out another sob, looking up to the men Derek knows he has probably a deeper connection to than any of them will ever understand, “Oh bambino” Comforting Dave reaches down, placing his hand on Hotch’s cheek,
“What happened?”
Instead of words, a whine leaves Hotch mouth as he reaches up to pull the man closer, “I am here, I will sit down next to you, it’s okay” Gently, Dave pries the hands of him, minding Hotch’s injuries before he sits down next to him on the couch, “Just look at me, focus on me, kiddo”
One arm wrapped around his waist, one hand still placed on his face, running his thumb up and down Hotch’s nose, Rossi captures Hotch’s attention while Derek starts to treat the hand, a cold-hot rush shooting through his body everytime Hotch sounds like he is going to protest.
“Thank you, babe” Derek whispers as he gets up in front of him and presses a kiss to Hotch’s cheek, “Good job”
“Emily is with Spencer, he seemed a little bit shaken up, I told him to go seek her out.” Rossi tells him, “I can stay with Aaron”
“You sure?”
“We are gonna be okay, right?” Rossi asks with a soft smile while Hotch slowly seems to calm down, “Can you maybe get his headphones first?”
“Of course” While Hotch avoids using sensory aids at all cost at work, Derek knows it's still better to be safe and have them with him if needed. Sometimes Hotch will just grab them from his bag or desk, no questions asked, no please, no thank you and the team knows he needs his space until he quietly slips them back again, “There you go”
“Thank you” Hotch whispers and closes his eyes in relief, “Thank you, thank you”
Derek finds Spencer sitting at the conference table, sketching in his book while Emily sits next to him doing something on her tablet until Derek gives her a sign to give them a minute alone, “You okay, baby?”
“Yes”
“Are you sure?” Derek asks worriedly, noticing the red skin around Spencer’s eyes from crying.
“Is Aaron okay?”
“Yes, we treated his wounds and now Dave is with him.” Uncomfortably Spencer moves in his chair, he is, just as Hotch, wearing his headphones. “I know that that's what you are worried about, but he did not have a violent meltdown. Its okay, he started crying and had a little bit trouble breathing but once Dave was there he seemed to be doing better”
“Just because they are not violent doesn’t mean they are not exhausting.” Spencer speaks, “Sometimes even quite the opposite because then it feels like you aren’t done yet”
“We can check on Hotch together if you want to.”
“Can I take my sketchbook?”
“Of course, come here” Gently he takes his hand, leading him out of the room and back at the office. Spencer takes a quick moment in which he steps closer to Hotch, gifting him a quick smile and Hotch does the same, both other men noticing how he tries pulling himself together for Spencer before the youngest agent sits down in one of the armchairs and starts doodling again, blending out what is happening around him but still feeling like he is spending comfort by being there, “I guess you two deserve your favorite dinner tonight then”
Dave smirks at that, knowing Derek already feels sick even thinking about having to cook this again, “Pasta with tomato sauce without anything in it it is, again.” Derek explains and when he notices the smirk he adds, “And do you two want to know the fun thing? He is going to cook it and will add something edible for us as well”
Hotch manages a soft smile at that, before looking up to Derek and even if his body language isn’t saying this yet, his eyes tell him that even after what just happened, he feels nothing but safe with him.