A Bit Of Death

Back to Work

Reid's POV
The rest of our vacation is relaxing and snuggling and playing with jack. The barbecue was at the end of our first week. I haven't been feeling dizzy or weak anymore but I still get really tired.
When I wake up Aaron has his arms around me and I turn my face into his chest and groan. He chuckles and I whine, "I don't want to go to work".
He smile and says "me too".
He says "come on, let's shower". I nod and he holds my hand as we head to the bathroom. He turns on the shower and asks me "how are you?"
I shrug and say "fine, I guess".
He says "okay" but I know he's still worried about me.
We shower quickly because he has to get to work early to meet with Strauss. He changes into one of his usual suits and I wear a forest green button down and a black tie and waistcoat, with the black skinny jeans from Emily. I slip on my matching green hightops and head downstair while Aaron fixes his hair. I find jack on the couch, dressed and waiting. I make him breakfast and we sit at the table and chat while he eats.
Aaron comes down and kisses me and says "you look gorgeous".
I smile and say "thanks, you look better".
He sits down and says "I doubt it" and start to fix my hair.
Jack laughs and says "Spencer's hair is messy". I pout and he giggles at me. Aaron's attempt to fix my hair is interrupted by the door bell and we know it's Haley. Today is the start of her week with jack, she'll pick him up and bring him to school to start her week.
Aaron gets up to let haley in and she smiles at jack and says "what's so funny?"
He giggles and says "spencer".
She says "it must be the hair".
I let out a fake laugh and we chat a little before they leave. Jack finds my hair funny because it's longer than the average males'. Aaron and I grab jacket to leave in the car just as an extra precaution. At the BAU he heads off to Strauss's office and I make a coffee and relax at my desk before people start to show up. It's not long until I hear Rossi and Morgan come in talking about some sport. Probably football, I don't know, I'm not really listening. Morgan sits at his desk and Rossi leans on Emily's.
Rossi says "you're hear early kid".
I say "yup".
Morgan says back "that's what happens when you live with Hotch". I roll my eyes and the go to make coffee, I glance at my watch before deciding to make Aaron a cup. Based on my calculations he should be back any second. As I finish making his coffee I feel a hand on my lower back and turn to smile at Aaron.
Morgan and Rossi sit at the table as I say "perfect timing" and hand him the cup.
He takes it and says "thanks spence". We lean against the counter and he keeps an arm around my waist.
I ask Morgan and Rossi "so how was your vacations?"
Rossi says "absolutely perfect. Red wine tasting and not other type of human interactions" he turns to Morgan waiting to hear his answer to my question.
Morgan says "bars and clubbing. I scored the bests girl ever man. One word: curves. She has the most smoking body ever".
Rossi says "sounds like a winner to me".
I give them a confused look and Morgan says "what?"
I shake my head and say "I don't understand straight guys".
Morgan laughs and say "there's a lot you have to learn kid".
Rossi says "for a smart kid, there's a lot you don't know".
I frown and Aaron asks "what's wrong spence".
I say "they keep calling me kid".
He pulls me a little closer and says "don't listen to them spence". We both know that there are some people in the office who don't approve of us not just because of our sexual orientation but also our age gap. Aaron and I don't care at all but it's a touchy subject with others. The team supports us but sometimes Aaron and I can get uneasy around them. Even if people joke around we get a little tense. They realize they hit a sore spot for us because of the way Aaron pulls me closer and how I lay my head on his shoulder.
Garcia saves us when she enters and says "good morning my cuties, chocolate thunder, and the David Rossi". Garcia makes her tea and we greet Emily and JJ and they fix themselves some tea and coffee too. They join us to talk and everyone goes quiet when I ask Aaron "what did Strauss want?"
He frowns and says "we could have a case".
When his frown doesn't fade I place a hand on his chest and turn in his grasp to ask quietly "what else?"
He places his other hand on the back of my head and kisses the top of my head and says "she had questions about us".
I place my head on his shoulder and we hug and I ask quietly "are we okay?"
He rubs my back and says "I don't know spence". Everyone stays quiet as we hug. When he lets go he glances at his watch and says "Strauss wants to meet with us in the conference room, she should be here to gather us in five minutes. Just work a little before she shows up". Everyone nods and he kisses my head before we head back to our desks and Rossi and Aaron to their offices.
Just like Aaron said Strauss shows up five minutes and says "everyone to the conference room".
We all nod and follow her to the room. I sit next to Aaron but we focus on Strauss, he knows I'm uneasy because he squeezes my hand quickly under the table. She starts by saying, "unfortunately when you all get a vacation your cases pile up," mumbling she adds "especially a long one the director didn't agree with". No one says any and she starts to brief us, "there's been two killings in LA, local police just called about an hour ago."
Morgan asks "it's not serial so why are we be called?"
Strauss answers, "because both victims had the word sex written on their chests in blood".
Emily says "both at female victims, could this be caused by hate and rage?"
Strauss says "I don't know, but I want you leaving as soon as possible".
Aaron says "okay, wheels up in 20". We all head to grab our go-bags and I notice Rossi stays to talk with Strauss. When he joins us in the elevator he seems pissed.
JJ asks Rossi "is everything okay?"
He says "fine....hopefully".
No one pries more but I keep close to Aaron. When we get to the jet Aaron and I take seats at the bigger table and across from us Emily and JJ sit. Rossi and Morgan sit on the couch. I start to feel a little tired but I ignore it because we are on a case. We go through the case one more time before relaxing a little. I get up to make a coffee and Rossi stays quiet, everyone else chats and Aaron's phone goes off he picks up and heads to the opposite end of the jet. I can't tell if everything's okay so when I finish making my coffee I head to the other end of the jet and slip my hand into his and mouth "what?" He frowns and wraps his arm around me, I place my coffee on the counter and hug him. I rest my head on his shoulders and he holds me with one arm wrapped around my waist.
I finial here him say "yes" and then after another pause "okay". Soon after he says again "no, I understand.....thank you". Then he hangs up. I start to ask him a question but he says "shhhh" and wraps both arms around me. We both know the team is probably watching but right now we don't care. When we finally break apart and sit back down I have no interest in my coffee. I just mindlessly stare at the mug, Aaron is talking with the team but I'm not listening. When he stops saying whatever he was saying he wraps an arm around me pulling me close and then he hugs me and says "it's okay spence".
As he rubs my back I say "that's such a cliché thing to say Aaron".
He frowns and says "I honestly don't know what will happen....I would tell you not to worry but you're pointing out cliché so there's no point" everyone laughs a little and I give a small smile and snuggle closer to him.
I say quietly for only him "I'm scared".
I turn my head into him and he says "shhh spence shhh". I let my coffee get cold and Aaron hold me the whole jet ride. Mumbling he says "you can stay with me," he says it so only I can hear and I nod.
I sit up and he says to the team "JJ and Morgan go to the crime scene. Rossi and Emily go to the station to talk to the sherif and start running interviews. Reid and I will go to the morgue". Everyone knows that I'm good at the whole examine a corpse thing so hopefully no one really cares that it's Aaron and I going. Turns to me he asks "will you be okay?"
I nod a little and say "yeah....I think so".
He doesn't look to convinced so he gives me another try, "are you sure?"
I sigh and say "yes".
We both know I'm not sure out about this so he says "okay, we won't be long".
He knows that I still get waves of tiredness that are pretty bad. I get them once or twice a day, I haven't felt dizzy in about two days but it still could happen. JJ frowns at me but I ignore her frown until the jet lands. We all get SUVs and head off our separate ways.
Aaron drives and says quietly "Strauss wanted to ask about our last case because of the sherif. She wanted to know if we could still work or if having a relation within a team has become distracting. The director is already dealing with other relationship problems and is starting to doubt their choice in the matter."
I ask "what other problems?"
Aaron frowns and says "there was a couple fucking in the bathrooms while we were out".
I mouth the word "oh" and then say "so what did Strauss have to say".
He sighs and says "she was considering switching one of us from the team because of our field performance. She said it may be the only way we can keep our jobs".
"What did she want on the plane?" I ask.
He says "she was calling to say that she will be meet with the director later and to quote her exactly 'fighting to the death' for us. Apparently someone spoke out of line professionally to tell her how wrong she is."
I say "Rossi stayed to talk with her and seemed pretty pissed after."
He nods and says "I wouldn't be surprised. We'll be getting a call later today to determine if we get to stay on a team, get transferred, or be fired". I slip my hand into his and squeeze tightly and he says "I know spence, I know".
We pull in and my mind races with terror. He kissed my forehead and then we head in.