Work Text:
"He's going to be fine."
Aaron could see the tricorder readings from where he was standing. The display to the side of Spencer's head said the same thing. "Neurotransmitter levels are normalising," the medical officer continued.
Dating while in Starfleet was hard enough. Dating within the same department ran the risk of exactly this, but he didn't care. He stood at the side of the biobed, watching the darkness around the younger man's eyes very slowly pale.toward a more normal - but still dark - level. The amount of time that passed, he wasn't sure. He only knew that he didn't look away from Spencer's face until he saw those warm brown eyes looking back at him, bleary and uncertain.
A smile spread across his face. "Hey," he murmured. "It's good to have you back."
"What happened?" Spencer asked in a murmur.
"I'll tell you as soon as I can. How are you feeling?"
Frowning, he muttered, "Like a warp core exploded inside my skull."
Beside them both, the base's CMO nodded, satisfied. "You're going to feel like that for a while. I could give you an analgesic--"
"No," Spencer said, shaking his head, and Hotch shook his head, too.
"No, I... I think I can take care of it," Hotch said. "You have Lath sedated, correct?"
The CMO nodded once again. "Until the anti-viral takes full effect, it's safer to have her sedated."
"When she comes to, have her transferred to the brig under my orders. I'm taking the Lieutenant Commander to his quarters."
Reid sent him a silently grateful look, despite his confusion.
"Keep an eye on him, and if anything happens--"
"I'll bring him straight back," Hotch finished. "The last thing I want is for anything to happen to him now. Thank you, Lieutenant."
With Hotch's encouragement, Spencer wrapped an arm over his shoulder and settled into a support carry, even though he didn't feel like his limbs were the problem. It was his head that hurt so much, but that was enough reason to be grateful for the assistance. His temporary quarters were, thankfully, not far away, and he was glad of the dimmed lights once they were inside.
"Now," he said as he was helped to sit on the edge of his bed, "what happened?"
Aaron began to undress him, first, and it wasn't a fun kind of undressing. It was for comfort, Spencer knew, and he wasn't going to protest. He didn't want to be in his uniform just now. "We found our perpetrator, but we weren't able to pinpoint her until she got to you," Aaron explained as he drew off Spencer's jacket and tossed it aside, combadge going with it. "But on the plus side, we know your abilities are getting stronger. You're a natural receiver."
"Explains why I catch you projecting so much," he muttered as he let himself flop backward, obediently raising his feet for Aaron to draw off his boots. "But that's not a complete answer."
"Her name is Dalera Lath," Hotch said. "Betazoid. Had a difficult childhood because her telepathic skills weren't as strong as most. She always had vengeful impulses but rarely acted on them -- until she contracted Zanthi fever."
"Ohh, damn, Zanthi..."
"Then she didn't need to act on them. It was convenient - she could just project the want onto someone else and have them do her dirty work."
Hearing that, Spencer sat up. It was too fast for his aching head to appreciate it, but he had to know. "Who... who did she have me go after? Hotch-"
Aaron nodded, reaching up to touch his cheek. "It was me - but you didn't hurt me. That was what broke the case, though. I knew you'd never do that of your own will. So we had to restrain you while we looked back over the people you'd interviewed."
"And Dalera was the last one before..." Spencer trailed off, laying back on the bed again.
"Stay still," Aaron said, squeezing Spencer's hand. "I'm going to bring you a nightshirt."
"Bring me a night-you, too."
He smiled over at Spencer, knowing that if he wasn't in pain, he wouldn't have asked. "Then let me go get clothes of my own, all right?"
Reid nodded. "I'll change while you're out."
The whisper of the door opening and closing was satisfying. It meant Aaron was going to come back ready to spend the night. He'd never known just how comforting it could be to spend the night not just beside someone else but in their arms and now, with this headache, he needed that.
He stood, a little reluctant, and went over to the sink. A good face wash and he felt surprisingly better, but once he had looser clothes on, he felt better still. He was standing there, hands braced on the countertop, when the door opened again. A glance in the mirror and he smiled. Aaron was already changed and when he saw Spencer standing there, he offered his arms.
"C'mere," he said. "My turn to help you."
Spencer had used his abilities to soothe Hotch's mental stresses many times. It had started not long after he'd joined the team - at the same time as Aaron's marriage had started to falter. Aaron could still remember the young man coming to his office and telling him, so quietly, that there was something he'd done for his mother a few times that had helped her. He'd been reluctant to accept, knowing his gifts were so distant that they were barely more than strong intuition, but Spencer had proven it possible.
Over the years, it seemed like a resonance had built between them, and this, now, was just proof. Spencer came into his arms and Aaron brushed his fingers against one aching temple and then they were in contact.
The violence and anger from Dalera Lath had left an aching mark, but after so long in contact with Reid's mind, Aaron knew how those synaptic pathways should lead. Already, Spencer's mind was healing, but with some gentle touches and warm soothing, he helped them further toward normal.
A relieved sigh passed Spencer's lips as the ache dulled - a sound that would've struck right through Aaron, straight to the libido, if they hadn't been involved already. As it was, it only made him smile. That good?
So good. Thank you, he answered, the steadiness of his mental voice the proof. It was quiet and seemed bruised, but Aaron was so glad to hear him at all.
It had taken years of exposure between them but they could finally communicate this way. The word hovered there between them, unsaid as yet. Neither of them was prepared for it yet, but he still smiled as Spencer practically melted against him, letting him hold his weight. Probably be easier if we lay down.
Mm. Then let's lay down, Spencer answered, but he stayed standing, nestled against Aaron's chest, and Aaron found it hard to dislodge him just out of how good it felt. But he scooped Spencer into his arms and brought him the few steps to the bed, laying him down and then laying beside him, keeping his arms around him.
"You're going to be on medical leave for a while," Aaron murmured. "You need the time to recover. I was thinking about extending the same leave to the rest of the team."
"Mm, getting a few weeks of R&R probably wouldn't be a bad thing. But why do I sense you have an ulterior motive?"
"Well..." Aaron nestled himself a little further into the bed. "I just thought that if everyone had leave at the same time, it wouldn't look so odd if I took the same leave you did."
Spencer smirked, nuzzling at Aaron's shoulder. That gentle bit of telepathic therapy had done wonders.
"I also guess this is my way of asking if you'd like to take a couple weeks of vacation with Jack and me."
"That would be really nice," he answered and pressed a kiss to Aaron's neck - the closest skin to where he was resting. "But right now... Do you think you could spare a little more of that... soft touch you have?"
"Anything." The contact, this time, was his cheek to Spencer's hair, but that was enough. Touching Spencer's thoughts was like being covered in a wave of sunlight. The pure warmth made him feel like a plant stretching for nourishment and receiving it in abundance. He'd been so afraid for Spencer, but now that he knew Reid would be all right, such a weight had been lifted from him.
He soothed Spencer's mind back toward normalcy, easing the pain toward something that would naturally ebb before morning. It wasn't perfect, but it was good enough that he felt Spencer relax against him. Sleep, he encouraged, mental voice soft. I promise I'll be right here in the morning.
It took nothing more than that for Spencer to fall asleep, exhausted from the attack and the pain, leaving Aaron to watch over him, to gently stroke his hair away from his face. The sight tugged at his heart, and he knew what he felt - but now wasn't the time. Not yet. Soon, he allowed, maybe. But not yet.
Smiling, he closed his eyes. "Lights to fifteen percent," he murmured, and the computer silently obeyed. Dark enough to sleep, light enough for Spencer's preferences. Soon, they'd have leave together and he looked forward to it - but first, they both needed a good night's sleep. The case was tied up. Spencer was healing. With a heavy exhale, Aaron made himself relax, pulling the cover up over them both. It was so much easier to sleep beside someone. He'd missed it. But tonight, he didn't have to miss it at all.